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
Last week was seminal for immigration policy in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released population data for the March quarter of 2026, highlighting the record net overseas migration (NOM) under the Albanese government since it took office in June 2022. NOM averaged a whopping 1,106 per day over the first 3.75 years of
Last weekend, there was talk that the housing correction may be stabilising after the national auction clearance rate rose to a 19-week high of 52.6%. That belief was shattered this weekend, with Cotality’s preliminary auction results reporting a sharp retracement, with the preliminary clearance rate falling by 4.6% to 54.0% across the combined capital cities. The
A discussion paper evaluating a new, forward-only retirement system funded by non-marketable government bonds, run alongside the existing superannuation pool rather than replacing it. Prepared September 2026 By Deep T, Edited, Gunnamatta Executive summary The original 3 blog critique (Pt1 here, Pt2 here, and Pt3 here)argued that Australia’s compulsory superannuation system fails on ten
In his Citizenship Day address to the National Press Club, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke offered aspiring immigrants what he called “a relatively simple proposition”: “If you want to come on a temporary basis to Australia, apply for a temporary visa. If you want to come to Australia permanently, apply for a permanent visa.” He
International Reading: Full blown catastrophe: Trump’s Iran War leaves gas stations “out of diesel” – News Week Some gas stations “out of diesel” as prices surge – Yahoo Farmers slam Trump over record diesel prices: “we just can’t survive” – News Week Warsh Suggests Fed Rate Hike Is Good-News Story, Touting Growth | Fed Chair
By Deep T, editing Gunnamatta Intro to subject here, first 5 reasons here. A critical examination of a $4.4 trillion compulsory savings experiment Fund Managers Operate Under a Narrow Mandate That May Diverge From the National Interest Super fund trustees are legally required to act in the “best financial interests”
Australia’s economy has experienced some of the weakest per capita growth in the OECD over the past four years, with per capita GDP declining by 0.3% between Q2 2022 and Q2 2026. The only thing keeping the Australian economy from experiencing an actual technical recession is the nation’s strong population growth (via immigration), which is
Several Australian journalists and economists have claimed this week that One Nation’s sensible proposal to reduce the stock of temporary migrants back to pre-pandemic levels would create skills shortages and worsen population ageing. The following Tweet from journalist Hugh Riminton encapsulates this way of thinking: The argument is as asinine as it is ignorant. First,
Iron ore is staging a little recovery, just for fun. The normalised price, accounting for elevated freight costs, is roughly $10 lower. Chinese demand remains poor. The forward orderbook trend of most steel mills picked up MoM in September, and saw weaker than normal seasonality. High-frequency weekly data suggest steel demand declined by 6.0% yoy
Effin Albo. As industry and the energy transition run off the rails owing to our perverse gas shortage, Japan is reselling Aussie gas hand over fist. The biggest Japanese LNG importer and largest power producer, JERA, plans to sell liquefied natural gas in the long term as part of a strategy to tap global LNG
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 to cleaner energy sources such as wind, solar, and storage. The target is embedded
All it took was a few days off attacks on energy infrastructure, and everything except DXY is to the moon! AUD rebound. The twins of doom reverse roles. Energy relief was metals relief. Mining relief. EM relief. Junk relief. Yield relief. Stocks relief. It’s all one trade, correlation one with oil and products. This should
War headlines today. Pakistan mulls Mecca agreement attack on Houthis. China rumoured to pressure Iran on Houthis. Hormuz traffic has slowed. Madman mulls Iran “annihilation”. Brent and diesel pull back. TME sums up oil market positioning. Range-bound, crowded and convex Oil is sending conflicting signals. The long-term chart remains trendless and volatility refuses to panic,
Recently, there was an analysis published in the Wall Street Journal based on data from the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which detailed the median household income in the United States against the income required to purchase a median-priced home and have all housing-related expenses (homeowners association dues, strata fees, insurance, property taxes
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday released the official population data for the March quarter of 2026. Australia’s population increased by 130,900 in the March quarter, driven by net overseas migration (NOM) of 101,000: Over the year, Australia’s population grew by 392,800, driven by NOM of 292,100: Australia’s NOM comprised a historically high
Australian tenants have faced a torrid period since the pandemic, with advertised rents nationally soaring by more than 40% over the past five years. Gerard Burg, Cotality’s Head of Research, noted last month that “the median rent has risen by over $200 per week in the last five years” and that households were “paying a
In this week’s podcast, Nucleus Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer, Damien Klassen, examines just how bad the Middle East oil shock could get — as disruptions spread beyond the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices climb above $100 a barrel. We explore how much global supply is really at risk, what happens if the conflict continues
Yesterday, LVO argued that coal use is still rising using this chart. I will make the basic point that LVO overlooked: in economics, the rate of change matters more than the absolute amount. In those terms, coal use is clearly slowing fast, notwithstanding the recent surge in AI-related demand and post-COVID shocks The IEA put out
Australians face soaring interest repayments on government debt due to a combination of growing debt loads and rising interest rates. As a result, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) forecasts that interest costs will rise from 4.1% of government revenue in 2024-25 to 6.2% in 2029-30: The PBO has forecast that the combined debt of the
There was a time, very recently, when the Trump campaign to contain China was working smoothly. Chinese property was crashing; Beijing was panicking as trade wars disrupted its economic model, capital fled, and CNY fell. China’s economic future as a rising hegemon looked grim. Enter Trump 2.0 and his anarcho-imperialism, and the game has changed.
Realestate.com.au has a virtual monopoly on listing homes for sale or rent. If you are a vendor looking to sell your home, you have little choice but to list it on Realestate.com.au to ensure buyers can find it. Realestate.com.au often charges high, price-discriminatory fees based on a suburb’s value and popularity. However, Realestate.com.au does not
DXY roared as the Fed hiked. AUD was crushed. Oil eased but still looks poised. Woe is gold. No immediate growth worries in metals. Big miners on the other hand… When the Fed hikes, EM panics. Junk spreads are warming up for a legit puke. The long end rallied a little, but Fed dovishness
War headlines today. The Israeli military bombs Lebanon. Saudi Arabia says a drone launched by the Houthis towards Mecca was intercepted, while the Houthis call it a “nauseating lie.” Is this a classic false flag to trigger the Mecca Agreement? Houthis target oil facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port and Khamis Mushait airbase. But is
As the debate surrounding the right level of migration into Australia continues to be one of the defining issues of this parliamentary term, there continues to be vast differences in opinion on the impact of immigration on wages growth between various policymakers. On one hand, Deputy Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson stated in September 2021 that:
Property developer Bathla Group entered voluntary administration late last month after running out of cash, leaving $3.6 billion in private‑credit debt, 2,000 homes mid‑construction, and 15,000 planned dwellings in limbo. Around 40 private credit funds are owed more than $3 billion, including PAG, Balmain, Trilogy, Centuria Bass, Ray White Capital, and La Trobe Financial. Larry Kaine,
