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 Great Australian house price boom is losing momentum fast. As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, monthly dwelling value growth across the five major capital cities has fallen sharply so far in April, with all major markets losing momentum or, in the case of Sydney and Melbourne, recording outright price falls. The
At last, somebody else has noticed what is happening in the gas market. Ian Verrender at the ABC. Late last year, it was decided to introduce a gas reservation policy to ensure Australians had access to their own gas supplies. While the principle has been accepted, the design has yet to be finalised and that’s
The month of March saw a record 15,839 electric vehicles (EVs) sold, up 42% from February. As a result, 14.6% of all new car sales in February were EVs. The SMH’s Victoria Devine argued that the EV Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for novated leases under $91,387 is the main driver of EV sales. However,
And here it comes. Worse than COVID. Worse than the Ukraine War. Anything made of timber, plastic, or concrete uses abundant diesel, and since we no longer make plastic items, we should also include shipping. Building products giant Boral has more than doubled the surcharge it charges customers for concrete as the fallout from the
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) argues that outdated minimum lot-size rules embedded in planning schemes are preventing new homes from being delivered in established suburbs, making it nearly impossible to meet the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes. “Governments are setting housing targets with one hand and shutting down supply with the other”,
Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence today is a smoking crater. Fatih in every housing segment has crashed. It ain’t short-term. Finally, inflation expectations are…ahem…a little unanchored. The RBA must be praying the war resumes to let it off the hook. Otherwise it’s hikeapaloosa!
While ordinary Australians are suffering through the worst cost-of-living crisis in generations and a record decline in real wages. Australia’s senior public servants continue to receive substantial pay increases. As at 1 July 2025, total remuneration for secretaries ranged from $828,550 to $1,035,690, with most secretaries on between $880,340 and $983,910. Current secretary salaries exceed
TME with the charts. Teflon tech Tech is trading like nothing sticks. NDX has broken the range and stayed bid despite being deep in overbought territory, with flows and options driving the move. The shift to spot-up, vol-up has forced upside chasing via calls, reinforcing the squeeze and keeping pressure on dealers. The bid is
Here’s the latest on the peace talks that Trumpgod has fantasised into existence. In private, Iranian officials say they’re preparing to resume peace talks with the United States. In public, however, they are far more wary, even pugnacious at times, as they blame the White House for putting diplomacy at risk. On Monday, Iran’s foreign
Over the last 60 years, the amount of oil required to generate $1,000 worth of GDP output has fallen by approximately 94.2%, from 5.3 barrels per dollar in 1965 to 0.3 barrels in 2024. This is described in some quarters as the “oil intensity” of economies. At first glance, this appears to be a brilliant
Last decade’s high-rise apartment boom was built on shoebox apartments. As illustrated below by the ABC, small apartments with two or fewer bedrooms dominated apartment supply across the three largest capital cities: Unfortunately, many of these ‘shoebox’ apartments were also riddled with defects. Sydney’s Opal and Mascot Towers, for instance, were the most visible examples
Australia’s housing market continues to split in two, with Sydney and Melbourne recording solid declines in value. In contrast, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide continue to power on, albeit at a slightly slower rate. The weekend’s preliminary auction results remained weak, with the nation’s two largest markets – Melbourne and Sydney – again recording preliminary results
Crypto coins and Stablecoins have evolved from fringe experiments to integral components of the global financial architecture by 2026. Many commentators have called digital scams or worthless but what began as speculative tokens and volatile digital dollars now underpin cross-border payments, institutional treasury management, and even central bank strategies. This aricle explores their current roles,
As Chris Uhlmann wrote in The Australian over the weekend, the Albanese government seems to be on a propaganda tour promoting electrification of the nation’s vehicle fleet as a key solution to the nation’s energy security: Transport Minister Catherine King declared this week that the world had moved on from drilling for oil in the
According to three Australian surveys today, the country’s political landscape is divided, with Labour remaining still competitive on primary vote. Labour is at 31%, the Coalition is at 21%, One Nation is at 24% (down), and the Greens are at 13% (up) in Newspoll. Angus Taylor’s approval dropped to 33%, while Anthony Albanese’s marginally increases
Australia’s retirement system has been based on the presumption that the overwhelming majority of people would own their homes outright upon retirement. However, due to declining homeownership rates, Australians buying homes later, and carrying larger mortgages into retirement, that assumption is clearly crumbling. Westpac notes that people over the age of 40 accounted for around
Albo the coward has a fight on his hands. Key welfare groups are calling on the Albanese government to make major changes to the tax system, including establishing a 25 per cent gas tax, to help Australians struggling with the cost of living crisis. The Australian Council of Social Service and Oxfam Australia are two
Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh holds a PhD in economics. So, he should know better before spouting blatant immigration lies. In a September 2025 interview with the ABC, Leigh stated the following blatant lie about Australia’s immigration numbers: “We’ve reduced migration from the record highs it was under the Coalition”… Leigh released a video on Twitter (X)
TME with the charts. It’s déjà vu all over again We’ve seen this movie before. Violent selloff, positioning collapse, then a face-ripping rally fueled by liquidity and re-leveraging. From hedge funds to CTAs, the setup looks eerily similar to 2025—and if that analogy holds, this move may be far from over. The velocity of the
The iron ore jaws are wide on the war. Seasonality is strong, but Coldman channel checks confirm this is not the case. Orderbook trend: The forward orderbook trend of most steel mills are mixed in April, and weaker than normal seasonality. High-frequency weekly data suggest steel demand declined by 6.6% yoy for construction steel but
Whether you study the ancient history of Rome or you watch the Star Wars saga, you will know a little about the danger of the martial republics morphing into empires. In certain instances, this phenomenon seems inherent to human nature. A lust for power afflicts our species. Every so often, this is embodied in the
When the Germans began their push towards Stalingrad in June 1942, the bombing campaign on the city by the Luftwaffe was a significant element in the strategy to secure the city that bore the name of their enemy’s leader. On the 23rd of August alone, the Luftwaffe launched 1,600 sorties over the city, dropping thousands
Tim Toohey from Yarra Capital recently warned that if AI is “deployed at scale in Australia over the next two years”, then the nation’s unemployment rate could rise to over 6%, up from 4.3% currently. The latest Mercer survey of Australian senior executives, human resources personnel, and employees also revealed that 100% of HR managers believed
You would think that Australia should be able to have an informed, logical discussion about immigration. It is, after all, one of the world’s migration success stories, and currently about a third of us were born elsewhere, with more than half of us having a parent born elsewhere. Compared with the rest of the world,
The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are doing more than reshaping geopolitics—they are forcing nations to rapidly accelerate their move away from fossil fuels in the name of energy security. But when it comes to the energy transition, the debate is often muddied by disingenuous arguments, linear thinking, and theoretical solutions. As
