There’s nothing quite like the spectacle of the most hated group of people in Australia banning hate! Politicians! Anthony Albanese’s bill to combat antisemitism will pass parliament in coming days despite an 11th-hour hurdle thrown up by opposition MPs harbouring concerns over proposed new powers that would allow the government to proscribe and ban “hate groups”. Despite
According to Cotality, Australia’s dwelling value-to-income ratio was tracking at a record high of 8.2 in the September quarter of 2025. Despite three 25-bp interest rate decreases from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the percentage of median family income required to service a new mortgage on a median-priced home was still historically high, at
Wall Street futures fell sharply alongside the USD (and Bitcoin) while gold and undollars rose on the weekend tariff orders from the Trump regime, with the Europeans playing hardball. Asian share markets are all in the red given the risk off mood with the latest Chinese economic figures (and more importantly – population figures –
TME with the details. That was the soft launch They told us AI was a chatbot. A productivity toy. A nicer autocomplete. That was the soft launch. In its latest Tech Predictions, CB Insights argues that AI’s next phase is no longer digital, but physical. Models are moving into machines, vehicles, warehouses, and defense systems,
The first of two current shipments from Simndou has arrived in China. There are no reports of further January shipments. Operations are limited by the return of 18 locomotives to China, which were supposed instead to be made by Wabtec (Westinghouse) or in the US. Another 37 locomotives are scheduled for delivery by March, and
With the release of the latest gross operating company profit data from the ABS, it was revealed that they were flat in nominal terms for the quarter, despite analysts expecting a 1.5% quarter-over-quarter rise. This result leaves the nation’s gross operating company profits in an undesirable position when it comes to contributing to GDP, up
BofA’s master strategist is bullish on China. The Price is Right:“new world order = new world bull” as Trump drives global fiscal excess; stay long international stocks (Chart 3) as US exceptionalism positions rotate to global rebalancing (note $1.6tn US equity inflow in 2020s vs. just $0.4tn to global funds–Chart 4); China our favorite long
Since the Albanese government came to power in May 2022, the size of day-to-day government spending relative to GDP has gotten larger and larger, to the point where only the absolute height of the Covid panic saw government playing a greater role in the economy. Concerns about this meteoric rise have often been dismissed and
It’s baaaaack, and it’s not much improved. The government is edging closer to passing most of its hate speech laws, with the Coalition open to striking a deal that would bolster safeguards to address fears about an overreach of new powers to criminalise hate groups. …the Coalition wants to impose safeguards around a power that
With the release of the latest Commonwealth Bank Household Spending data, it was revealed that for yet another year most households saw their spending go backwards once adjusted for inflation. In headline terms, the result was relatively robust at first glance: growth of 0.7% for the month of December and 6.3% for the 2025 calendar