Blogotariat

Home buyer demand increased recently following the federal election and expectations of an imminent interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). As illustrated below, final auction clearance rates (current to 18 May) showed a marked rebound across Sydney, Melbourne, and the combined capital city markets. This weekend’s preliminary auction results from Cotality

The post Home buyers pounce after RBA rate cut appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an income support policy under which all individuals receive a regular unconditional cash payment from the government, regardless of employment status or income level. In other words, every adult citizen (and sometimes children, at a lesser amount) is granted a basic stipend periodically, with no means test or work requirement attached. The primary goals of a UBI are to ensure a minimum standard of living, reduce poverty, and simplify the social safety net by replacing or complementing targeted and more complex welfare programs1.

The AEC finished the distribution of preferences for Bradfield late on Friday night, after a fascinating day that started with teal independent Nicolette Boele leading by 28 votes and ending with her 8 votes behind. This was a shift of 48 votes from Boele’s 40-vote margin at the end of the indicative 2CP count on Monday afternoon.

This has automatically triggered a recount, as the margin is less than 100 votes. The recount will commence on Monday.

International Reading: Trump Is Slowly but Surely Killing U.S. Economy, Experts Warn – New Republic Walmart announces 1,500 job cuts after Trump tells US retail giant to ‘eat the tariffs’ – Economic Times Americans favor labor unions over big business now more than ever – EPI The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History

The post Weekend reading and MB media appearances appeared first on MacroBusiness.

My latest in The East Asia Forum

The May 2025 federal election campaign was characterised by a studious avoidance of the main issues facing Australia, most notably the country’s future relationships with the United States and China. Canberra should confront the quandaries redefining the US relationship, initiated by President Donald Trump’s second term. Washington’s radical reorientation shows no sign of reversing even after 2028, when Trump is due to leave office.

Big batteries are having a growing influence on evening demand peaks in Australia and in California, where their output hit 10 gigawatts for the first time this week.

Australia's path to ultra low cost solar and a game-changing price of just $20/MWh is being made easier by breakthroughs in robot and Ai technology.

Big Four Austr

Australian Renewable Energy Agency boss Darren Miller on the path to ultra low cost solar, grid forming inverters, V2G and green hydrogen. Plus: News of the week.

Melbourne has been the worst-performing housing market among major capital cities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and April 2025, Melbourne dwelling values rose by 16.2%, versus 43.3% growth at the combined capital city level. The underperformance of Melbourne’s housing market has seen its median house price fall to cyclical lows

The post Melbourne house prices poised for strong rebound appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the Q1 2025 wage price index, which revealed that Australian real wages were tracking at Q4 2011 levels, 6.1% below their Q2 2020 peak: The OECD also released data showing that Australian real per capita household disposable income was tracking 7.6% below its Q1 2022 peak

The post Australia’s long, painful income recession appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The Australian Automobile Association has published the Electric Vehicle Index for Q1 2025. The data paints a picture of an industry struggling to gain a foothold, despite generous subsidies and incentives from the federal government (read taxpayers). In Q1 2025, only 17,914 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were sold in Australia, down 29.9% from 25,552 in

The post EV sales would collapse without subsidies appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Hapless customers have had to pay for an expensive grid design that has delivered a lot of capacity that sits idle most of the time. There is a smarter solution.