Yep, he’s missing the empathy gene. At the ABC: An Australian family stranded in London have expressed frustration their pet dog and cat have already arrived in Sydney while they are still stuck overseas. The Fotheringhams have been in the UK for the past two and a half years and were in the process of
Great stuff from the PLA today as it obliterates…Alcatraz?: What, no more retro posters?
The mask has slipped and the reason Australia has had such high immigration rates has been revealed: The Property Council has called on the Federal Government to extend its successful HomeBuilder stimulus program for new housing construction for a further six months to July 2021. The Property Council has also recommended a ‘Welcome to Australia’
According to Richard Gluyas at The Australian, Australia’s major banks have deployed more staff to their financial hardship units as loan deferral periods for mortgage and small business customers begin to wind down. The banks are also anticipating a sharp rise in loan defaults as government stimulus measures begin to be scaled back. National Australia
Earlier this month, we reported how the Morrison Government’s JobKeeper subsidy has been an absolute boon for Australian business owners, juicing company dividends and profits. This was reflected in the latest national accounts for the June quarter, which showed that employee wages & salaries fell by 3.3% over the quarter while company profits soared by
A good appearance from Louis Christopher at the money-losing machine over at Switzer. Balanced and solidly argued.
Burn you bastard. Burn! At the ABC: A government program to bring international university students back to Australia is yet to get off the ground, as businesses reliant on overseas students warn the market will take years to recover, even in the unlikely event borders reopened for next year’s semester one intake. The Federal Education
This information is not new: The arguments put forward by the “whistleblower” have been around for six months: Some respectable virologists support this thesis. Others do not. My own view is it is likely the right explanation. The dubious process by which RatG13 suddenly appeared as an intellectual figment without samples, which were supposedly lost,
With up to 100,000 Aussies stranded abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has written to state governments demanding they lift their hotel quarantine capacity so that the arrival cap on returning Aussies can be lifted from 4,000 a week to 6,000 a week: New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia have each been asked to
The Department of Home Affairs yesterday released permanent migration outcomes for 2019-20: The permanent migration intake was 140,366 in 2019-20. Seventy per cent of the visas were granted through the skilled stream (95,843 in total), including 4,109 places under the highly skilled Global Talent – Independent program, launched in November 2019. There were 23,372 regional
Craig Emerson massively over-egging impacts of deteriorating relations with China by telling us that iron ore is at risk. Sure, by 2030. Of course, there’ll be an adjustment as other exports fall way but we’ll be fine as the AUD craters and boosts exports to other nations. Commodities are fungible. The only thing “stupid” here
Today’s new mortgage data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recorded a strong rebound in July as COVID-19 restrictions were eased: The next chart plots the time series: Total new mortgage commitments (excluding refinancings) rose by 8.9% in July, with owner-occupied mortgages surging 10.7% and investor mortgages rising 3.5%. Year-on-year, total new mortgage commitments
CBA’s head of Australian economics has revised down its forecast for peak-to-trough property price falls and now believes that values will rebound strongly in 2021: Key Points The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on Australian residential property prices, but outcomes vary significantly by capital city. We expect dwelling prices to continue to decline
Suspended student @DrewPavlou lights a “victory cigar” outside the University of Queensland’s campus, after the federal government announced an inquiry into foreign interference at universities in Australia. https://t.co/VZ3A1cpmr5 #auspol #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/qiDPKiAEbA — 7NEWS Brisbane (@7NewsBrisbane) August 31, 2020 Sack UQ management. Reinstate Pavlou with compensation.
I noted last week how the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) had abandoned its responsible mortgage lending case against Westpac amid pressure from the heads of the RBA and Treasury, who warned that continuing would cripple Australia’s economic recovery post COVID-19. Today, ASIC chairman James Shipton has confirmed that the regulator does not want to
More nice work from Alan Kolher today: As things stand the temporary lifting of the ban on trading while insolvent is due to end on September 27 and loan repayment deferrals were due to end at the same time but have been extended… up to a point. …The JobSeeker coronavirus supplement goes to 1.6 million
Hoocoodanode that most Aussies would put the lives of loved ones above a few fallacious silver pieces? Via The Australian: An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australians shows the federal political contest tightening between the two major parties, with Labor recovering ground to post its highest primary vote since April and levelling the political playing
Via Paul Kelly: The new law will give the Foreign Minister discretion similar to that enjoyed by the Treasurer on foreign investment decisions. In relation to agreements between Australian states and other governments, Foreign Minister approval will be required at two points — before negotiations begin and when the agreement is finalised. The minister can
Techradar has reported that new cheaper NBN plans could be on their way before Christmas following consultation between NBN Co and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC): While consumers may think the problem of pricing lies with the ISP they’ve signed up with, the issue starts with NBN Co, who charge the providers a
Via the AFR: Commonwealth Bank says its most over-leveraged borrowers – those whose prospects for returning to work after the coronavirus look the bleakest – could be encouraged to downsize the family home or sell multiple investment properties. Angus Sullivan, head of CBA’s retail bank, reassured all struggling borrowers that it won’t move too quickly
Check this out from MOZ: Another 300-500 stores gone. Or is it a war with Westfield over rent? SCG today: Malls are filling with tumbleweeds and somebody is going to lose big.
God help me, I now agree with Peta Credlin, at least on the immigration and Innes Willox questions: She’s wrong on reform and energy though.
No wonder this party is so buggered, with navel-gazing like this: Labor has quite simply made a habit of failing at national elections for the past quarter of a century because it can’t get that right. At the last nine federal elections, it has managed to win a lower house majority just once, in 2007.
Victoria’s rate of COVID-19 infections is falling fast, raising hopes that draconian stage 4 restrictions can be lifted earlier than the scheduled 13 September end date. However, today I want to present the opposite case of why I believe that Stage 4 restrictions should be extended for two weeks until 27 September. 1) It would
Master Builders Chief Executive Denita Wawn is pushing to allow first home buyers (FHB) early access to up to $50,000 of their superannuation funds to build or purchase their first homes, alongside a $5 billion construction stimulus in the October budget: Ms Wawn said Mr Frydenberg should allow compulsory super to be used “to help
The latest temporary visa data from the Department of Home Affairs showed that the number of temporary visa holders in Australia fell by 167,100 in the year to June 2020, as migrants have headed home following the COVID-19 pandemic: Abul Rizvi has released data showing that temporary visa holders continued to go home in July:
This is editorialism run wild at the AFR: The reality dawning on doctors that hundreds more cancer and chronic disease sufferers will probably die as a result of Melbourne’s stage four lockdown scaring people from taking medical tests could prove to be a tipping point to scrutinise the trade-offs of the policy responses to COVID-19.
Let’s rewind a week or so to AUSMIN: Australia and the US have established a top-secret defence co-operation framework to counter Chinese military aggression, and put Darwin at the centre of future military plans with a new strategic fuel reserve for the city. The classified defence framework, agreed at high-level talks in Washington, creates a
Via Thomas Greene at Medium: The Bronx of my childhood was a paradise. My street ran parallel to a section of the old Croton Aqueduct, by then long disused, which we kids called the Ackey. Along its banks grew trees and bushes and wild flowers forming a ribbon of thicket in which we played, and
Via News: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he intends to make a COVID-19 vaccine “as mandatory as possible” for all Australians once it becomes available. News.com.au revealed today that the Morrison Government has confirmed a landmark agreement with drug giant AstraZeneca to manufacture one of the world’s most promising coronavirus vaccines currently being developed by
