Hi all, A quick note to offer guidance on the new website. As well as the layout changes that make it easier to access content for new readers, it comes with a dramatically improved sign-up and resubscription process, greatly enhanced speed, and a much better mobile experience (since 95% of traffic is now phone!). The
The housing finance commitments for the December quarter from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the number of investor mortgages issued over the quarter hit a record after jumping by 5.5% over the quarter to 60,445: The value of investor lending also surged by 7.9% over the quarter and 31.8% over the year,
Australia’s universities say they are over-regulated—and the chief executive of Universities Australia (UA), Luke Sheehy, has just secured a promise from education minister Jason Clare to give his members a break. A “better regulation” working group composed of “regulators, university peak bodies, unions and student representatives” will lead the charge in reducing regulation and cutting
International Reading: Days before the national debt is due to hit $39 trillion, President Trump didn’t mention it once during the longest State of the Union ever – Fortune If AI Causes an Office Job Wipeout, It’ll Cause Huge Problems for Blue Collar Work Too – Futurism Trump Administration Provides Biggest Illegal Tax Cuts Yet
In this week’s podcast, Nucleus Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer, Damien Klassen, breaks down the rise of HALO companies — the resilient, pricing-power businesses proving largely “immune” to AI disruption — exploring why they continue to outperform, what protects their economics from technological shocks, and how investors can position around this defensive theme. Download presentation slides
The tsunami of auction activity is beginning to weigh on home values in Melbourne and Sydney. On Thursday, Cotality released its final auction results for last weekend, which showed that the national clearance rate declined to 62.0%, down from 63.3% the prior week and 66.1% three weekends ago. The decline in the national clearance rate
Roll the tape. Iron-ore giant Fortescue is speeding up its switch to green iron because CEO Dino Otranto told investors that the Pilbara must help China decarbonise steelmaking in order to stay competitive. Otranto said on the company’s earnings call that work on Fortescue’s Green Metal project at Christmas Creek is going well and that
The worst treasurer since Jim Cairns, and the dumbest since Wayne Swan is certainly not the unluckiest. Having squandered incredible national income windfalls as record inflation outbreaks, slaughtering real incomes, Treasurer Jim “chicken” Chalmers is ready to ride another unlooked-for river of gold flowing into his backside. This time, it is literally a river of
Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black delivered a keynote address to the Universities Australia Solutions Summit that repeated the same old myths and fallacies about the vital importance that international students play in the Australian economy. Is international education a major economic pillar? Black claims that international education is a major economic pillar:
TME with the charts. NVDA blowout revenues were not good enough. Semiconductors are flirting with a top. Could the next AI victim be capex spend and hardware? Open AI cutting investment was a bad sign. If so, watch out for the red-hot semi-bourses in Asia. Sell semis and buy software? How big are those cojonies?
Victoria has legislated a target to source 95% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2035. This is one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in Australia and globally, designed to accelerate the state’s transition away from cheap brown coal toward cleaner energy sources, such as wind and solar. The Renewable Energy (Jobs and
The Grattan Institute argues that NSW could make 1 million additional homes feasible to build by copying Victoria’s planning rules that allow terraces and three‑storey apartments “as of right” across most residential zones. This would remove councils’ ability to block low‑rise infill housing that already meets clear design standards. Victoria now allows terraces, townhouses, and
The ferrous complex closed the jaws again yesterday. However, the first major data dump post-LNY was bad. CISA mid-February output was up but far below last year. Worse, steel inventories skyrocketed 20%Â and are far above 2025. Some of this will be CNY and Two Sessions distortion, but with a weak demand outlook in H1,
The usual suspects are putting the boot in as One Nation has proposed a new royalty on Australian gas production, aiming to raise $10bn–$13bn annually by charging producers $1.70–$2 per gigajoule based on output rather than profits. Economists say that even though the party says the plan will “end the rort” on natural gas supplies,
When the final tally of results for the last federal election was released, it revealed that One Nation received 6.4% of the primary vote in the lower house. This result was well within the ballpark of its previous results, with an all-time peak of 8.4% of the primary vote at the 1998 election and 5.0%
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has released its National Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the September quarter of 2025. It shows that overall greenhouse gas emissions declined by 1.9% over the year to September 30, 2025: As illustrated above, Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions are tracking at the same level
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has attacked the proposed reduction in the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, arguing that: Reducing the CGT discount (from 50% to 25%) would push landlords to raise rents to compensate for lower after‑tax capital gains. The proposed reduction could potentially affect about 2.4 million renting households. In a
ABS private capex numbers are out and are impressive, if rather narrow. Future capex is expected to rise 7.3% over the next year. Growth in equipment and machinery has soared to 14.3%. Driving the lion’s share of services investment. While mining capex is expected to fall o.4%. The industry segments provide a clear picture. Data
Victoria’s infrastructure program—intended to support a fast‑growing population—has been undermined by corruption and lawlessness. Productivity in the construction sector has fallen over the past decade, while costs have risen sharply. Investigations into the Victorian branch of the CFMEU uncovered systemic criminality and corruption across major construction sites, including: Violence and threats of violence. Infiltration by
Charts from TME. NDX is holding at a convergence of massive support lines. Tech volatility is still ramping on the IA fear trade churning under the bonnet. Puts galore! The last time volatility hit these levels, the squeeze was impressive. Are we at peak capex? If so, the money from hyperscalers will soon flow back
A record 760,000 Australians aged over 65 are now in the workforce—the highest number since records began in 1995 and up nearly 20% since 2022. This marks a major shift in older‑age labour participation. The Coalition claims that cost‑of‑living pressures are forcing people to retire later, but economists and ageing advocates say the picture is
Data from China’s Golden Week Lunar New Year holiday is filtering through, and it’s another bust, after all. The hospitality industry’s growth momentum from long holidays before Lunar New Year (LNY) Golden Week strengthened but it was all about numbers not per capita spending.. After taking into account the length of the holidays, domestic visitors
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is celebrating the tiny 0.4% decline in Australia’s transport emissions in the year to September 2025, which Bowen claims is “proof” that his government’s heavy subsidisation of battery electric vehicles (EVs) is working. “We are on track to meet our climate targets if we stay the course and
Punter’s Politics is spot on about the gas cartel today. The excise on beer is significantly higher than what we collect via the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT): HECS is also a revenue boom versus gas: Below is another cracker chart: Or try Norway for a comparison: Any way you cut it, Australia is being
DXY traded sideways as the American madman couldn’t stop loving the sound of his own voice with the longest SOTU ever. It said nothing of importance. CNY is off, and AUD will trail it. No Iran war and oil tumbles. Gold up for no reason tall. AI metals party resumes. Mining parabolas too. Copper is
In the debate over the appropriate level of migration into Australia, the argument is often made that there would be significant economic downsides if a major reduction in intake were to be realised. On a very short-term time horizon, that is almost certainly the case. With 10 out of the last 13 quarters seeing falls
