By Stephen Saunders At times, Canberra is another world. From its Press Gallery comes this Financial Review bedtime-story of “best performer” Jim Chalmers with his “disdain for” inequality. The 28 February AFR gushes for the “smartest person” in the room and his enthralling (who among average Australians even cares?) insider skirmishes with the Reserve Bank.
The most recidivist liar in the parliament is Treasurer Jim “chicken” Chalmers. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Australian economy has turned a corner after the strongest GDP growth figures since the pandemic, but economists say any recovery will be shallow as long as productivity remains stuck at 2016 levels and business investment stays tepid. The
Recent polling undertaken by SEC Newgate Australia suggested that Victorians do not see the $200 billion Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) as a high-priority project. The Orwellian Victorian Labor government has responded with propaganda, declaring the SRL “Australia’s largest housing project”: The gaslighting is unbelievable. The SRL is a rail project, and not a very good
Credit Agricole lists the top ten priorities of the new yawnulus package. The ten major government work tasks for the year: Boost consumption and stimulate domestic demand by increasing household income and boosting consumption in the cultural, tourism & sports sectors. China will continue to support consumer goods trade-in programmes as well as investment in
The iron ore jaws remain wide. The news from the NPC is steel output cuts. The world’s largest steelmaker and consumer will “promote restructuring of the steel industry through output reduction”, according to an official report on Wednesday. “We will introduce policies and measures for resolving structural problems in key industries and end the phenomenon
The latest net permanent and long-term arrivals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that 446,504 net migrants arrived in 2024, slightly less than the record 449,813 that arrived in 2023. While net arrivals declined since March 2024 compared to 2023, each month in 2024 was higher than in the corresponding month in
The federal Labor Party announced its Powering Australia Plan in late 2021, promising to cut National Energy Market (NEM) wholesale power costs by $11 per MWh, from $62 to $51, by 2025. Labor bragged that its Powering Australia Plan will save Australians $275 on residential electricity bills in 2025 and $379 in 2030. According to
The Market Ear on the dead cat. NASDAQ – “oversoldest” NASDAQ has not been this oversold since August last year. Note that RSI at these levels, with NASDAQ trading below the 200-day as it touches the big trend line, has only occurred twice before since the great bull started. Source: Refinitiv “Netted out” Gross leverage
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is now forecast to hit Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the NSW Northern Rivers on Friday, with fears it is slowly strengthening into a category 3 system, unleashing winds greater than 150 km/h. The impacted regions are expected to experience major flooding, and up to 400 mm of rain is predicted. The
Wednesday’s Q4 2024 national accounts release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the economy finally emerged from its per capita recession. The economy has finally broken the record seven consecutive quarter streak of real per capita GDP declines with a 0.1% quarterly expansion (with eight out of the last 10 quarters recording