Via the ABC come Australia’s greatest challenges for the future according to Q&A gallahs: LIFE PRIORITIES Tara McDonald asked: We seem to be fixated on living longer at any cost and prolonging the inevitable which is death. Could we be spending more time and money on protecting future generations instead of ourselves? FOOD & WASTE
Via Crikey: The Nine papers’ months of bubbling property-price reporting finally came to the boil this morning. The Australian Financial Review was packed with breathless coverage of an apparent spike in residential real estate prices. National affairs editor Jennifer Hewett used her column to share an anecdote of attending an auction with her son, who “made a few limited
Amid the widespread media gushing over ‘tiny homes’, it is nice to finally read an honest appraisal on why they are a retrograde solution for chronic housing policy failures: Finally, an ingenious solution to a housing crisis that is sapping the quality of life of an entire generation: the humble van. More than 21,000 Britons
Perth’s housing crash has been well documented on MB. According to CoreLogic, Perth’s house price bust has dragged on for more than five years, with values down more than 21% – easily exceeding prior busts: Perth rents have also collapsed by 22% since December 2014, according to the ABS: Now, newly released data from Landgate
The NSW Office of State Revenue has released stamp duty data to September, which reveals a massive $1.59 billion (25%) decline over the past year and a $2.58 billion (35%) decline since stamp duty receipts peaked in September 2017: The slump in stamp duty receipts follows a sharp 22% decline in property transfers in the
Via Gottiboff today: Relations between Australia and China have rarely been worse and there has been a sudden slump in the buying of Australian real estate by mainland Chinese—led by lower demand for Sydney apartments. There are fears the real estate downturn may extend to education and tourism –an escalation that is almost certain if
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor, Philip Lowe, has told an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington that the Australian economy appears to be on track to return to its trend growth rate in 2020, which should put downward pressure on the unemployment rate and gradually boost wages. From The Australian: “I don’t think it’s
The head of Victoria’s cladding safety agency, Dan O’Brien, claims that 35% of buildings audited have flammable cladding, and has likened the problem to asbestos: Mr O’Brien said the Statewide Cladding Audit by the Victorian Building Authority had inspected 2300 buildings since it began in 2017, with 805 found to have aluminium composite panels or
Via The National Interest: The People’s Liberation Army Navy—more commonly known outside of China as the Chinese Navy—is modernizing at a breakneck pace. Chinese shipbuilders have built more than one hundred warships in the past decade, a build rate outstripping the mighty U.S. Navy. Most importantly, China now has two aircraft carriers—Liaoning and a second
For years, MB has highlighted the deep flaws in Australia’s purported ‘skilled’ visa system, which accounts for around two-thirds of Australia’s planned migrant intake: Our concerns has been based upon three main flaws, specifically: The overwhelming majority of migrants under the skilled stream are not actually skilled; Those that have arrived in Australia have overwhelmingly
Wage theft from international students has been an enduring theme across the Australian economy over times. Earlier this year, Alan Fels – the chair of the Migrant Workers Taskforce – described wage theft as “widespread and systematic”, and estimated that one-third of international students are being underpaid, typically by migrant employers of the same nationality:
There are few greater proponents of the mass immigration economic model than David Crowe at Domain. At least, there were. He used to defend it at every turn. Produced ridiculous propaganda. And declared it was impossible to cut. Not any more. Today Crowe finally saw what MB has seen for many years. That mass immigration
Over the June quarter, Australia’s household debt hit a record high 191% of household disposable income, after roughly tripling since the late-1980s: The latest Bank for International Settlements (BIS) global household debt data also confirmed that Australia has the second highest debt load in the world behind Switzerland, as well as the second highest average
Via Herald Sun: A close friend of Liberal MP Gladys Liu last year set up a group to campaign for China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative within Australia and the Pacific. Prominent property developer Chen Guo Jing has been described on Chinese language sites as the “implementer” of the Australasia Belt and Road Advocacy initiative.
This is probably the most frightening one hour of viewing I have seen since the end of Cold War. Kyle Bass with Gen. Robert Spalding: Pass it on.
A generally positive day across Asian risk markets excepting mainland China, following the good mood on Wall Street overnight. The Australian dollar continued to tank following yesterday’s release of the RBA minutes while the NZD was relatively stable despite an uptick in monthly CPI. Yen strengthened slightly after a big breakout in USD strength overnight
Tribalism is the bane of Australian progress. It is the default position for a populist Australian psychology that is always far more ready to adopt partisanship over national interest or even ideology. To wit, at The Guardian: While national politics frets about its trust crisis, the bulk of Australian voters appear reasonably sanguine with both
The Australia Institute’s Maryanne Slattery has hit out at the new found push to build dams across regional Australia to alleviate drought, arguing that it would be both costly and pointless given there will not be enough rain to fill them due to climate change: …if new dams can solve Australia’s water problems, why didn’t
Via the ABC: Owners and residents of Sydney’s Mascot Towers have been advised existing cracks in the building have widened and new cracking has developed requiring urgent remediation works to avoid a “structural failure”. In the latest update on the troubled apartment block, law firm Mills Oakley, acting on behalf of the owners corporation, said
David Bassanese has a whinge about the RBA: …so far at least, lower official interest rates have gone down like a lead balloon with households and business. Key measures of both business and consumer confidence are now lower than before the first RBA rate cut. Retail sales are still barely growing, and anecdotes from retailers
Every day it is the same now. Chris Kenny: The extent of daily political deception in the global warming debate is extraordinary. The most obvious and relevant facts go unreported and the most pressing questions are not asked. It is an unspoken conspiracy of misinformation perpetrated by large elements of the media whose starting point
He did nothing all of the time and when goaded into movement did stupid, via the ABC: The promised Snowy Hydro 2.0 project will be an expensive white elephant according to a leading energy expert. “Here is a project that is likely to cost five times more than the then prime minister [Malcolm Turnbull] said
With Australian real household disposable incomes lower today than seven years ago: The AFR reports that private school fees have risen at roughly twice the rate of inflation every year for the past decade: Edstart, which lends money for education, says private school fees have gone up 3.1 per cent this year – nearly twice
The NSW regional city of Tamworth is currently facing Stage 4 water restrictions, with the Chaffey Dam at just 18.9% capacity after experiencing record low inflows: The Peel Valley region is also predicted to run out of water by June 2020 unless there is significant rain fall. Not to worry. The NSW and Federal Governments
The Morrison Government is hailing the success of its regional visa scheme after new figures reveal that the number of ‘skilled’ migrants landing in Tasmania has more than doubled: Figures to be released today by Immigration Minister David Coleman show 609 people came to Tasmania between July and September under the regional sponsored migration and
Via the ABC: One of the Morrison Government’s most senior figures has taken a direct swipe at Beijing, accusing the Chinese Communist Party of behaving in ways that are “inconsistent” with Australian values. The Home Affairs Minster also criticised China’s Belt and Road Initiative and defended a ban on using Huawei to help build Australia’s
Via The Australian comes the oligarchs: Fortescue Metals Group boss Elizabeth Gaines has warned that China will look to develop alternative iron ore supplies outside the Pilbara if Australia neglects its relationship with its biggest trading partner…Ms Gaines said the Australian business community needed to maintain its influence in public debate on political policies. “The
Recessionberg! Via Martin North: In our latest release to September 2019, the DFA Household Financial Confidence Index fell again, having move sideways more recently. In essence households are simply reflecting that rate cuts, a lower dollar and the international bad news from Trump’s Trade Wars, Brexit and Hong Kong are all making them more concerned,
Via the ABC’s Michael Janda: As house prices start taking off again, especially in Australia’s two biggest cities, many first-time buyers are wondering how they can break into the market. But what if there are tricks to save tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars on a home, without trading off size, location or
The Joint Standing Committee on Trade (JSCOT) has released its report rubber stamping the Hong Kong and Indonesia Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The Indonesian FTA, in particular, will permit several thousand more Indonesians working rights, thus leading to more temporary migrant rorting, more low cost labour for business, and further undermining Australian wages and working
