Blogotariat

Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham to discuss the collapse of the Tasmanian government just 15 months after the last election, and to look at some of the early moves for independents to find a new party home.

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please.

I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here.

Our government owned retailer has jacked up our electricity tariffs by 25 pct, to "close the gap" on the default market offer. Will regulators curb this rampant profiteering?

Australian remote and off-grid power specialist Zenith Energy has been snapped up by US investment giant in a deal reported to be valued at more than $A2 billion.

Australia’s first "DC-coupled" wind and battery project is preparing to power up in central western Victoria, as part of a one-turbine pilot retrofit at a 312 MW wind farm.

An Abu Dhabi oil company and private equity behemoth Carlyle have made a bid for one of Australia's biggest oil and gas producers.

Following one of the largest increases in the industrialised world during the Covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand’s housing prices fell sharply. According to the REINZ home price index, presented below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, New Zealand’s real inflation-adjusted home prices have reverted to pre-pandemic levels. Separate data provided this month by Cotality reported that

ANZ has a good idea. Property construction will decline another 30% to 580 million m2 by 2035 in our baseline scenario. Over 50% of new demand will stem from upgrading, instead of urbanisation. Urban renewal is unlikely to contribute much to the sector. Property rent rather than property price will be crucial to stabilise the

The post Chinese property bottom far, far away appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Policy makers and economists are concerned that the retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and an ageing population could see the nation’s workforce heavily diminished in the future. For example, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned in January 2023, just as immigration was ramping to record levels, that longer life expectancy and a sharp decline in

The post Australia should not fear population ageing appeared first on MacroBusiness.

May Chinese credit was soft. The recent acceleration in total social financing stalled at 8.7% year-on-year stock growth. And don’t forget that a lot of this is debt swaps with local governments, so the real number is more like 8%. Other indicators are pretty soft as well. Power is tepid. Tourism remained tepid. Exports are

The post Chinese credit and economy slide appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Markets are half-panicked by the latest Middle East war. Oil Israel’s attacks on Iranian air defense systems and nuclear capabilities re-opens awide range of possible avenues via which oil supply could be disrupted. Importantly, it may also derail the process of US-Iran nuclear deal talks which were scheduled to continue in Oman on Sunday, although

The post Israel and Iran same old, same old? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Ah, the gas cartel, that wondrous beast that knows no bounds of decency. Via Petroleum Australia: Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), the country’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter on the east coast, has agreed to a substantial price reduction under its flagship 7.6 million tonne per annum contract with China’s Sinopec. The move, anticipated to cost

The post Aussies pay much more than China for own gas appeared first on MacroBusiness.