The financial destruction of the State of Victoria over the past decade is astonishing. In the Labor government’s first state budget in 2015, Victoria’s net debt was only $22.3 billion. It has since climbed to $155.5 billion and is projected over the budget forward estimates to hit $194 billion by 2028-29. Victorian net debt per
The federal government recently used its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) annual wage review to call for an “economically sustainable” increase in the minimum wage. FWC president Justice Adam Hatcher has asked the Treasury whether wage growth forecasts of 3.1% to 3.25% in 2025-26 would be consistent with inflation staying within the Reserve
DXY no bueno. AUD bueno. Lead boots going nowhere. Gold bueno. Metals no bueno. Miners no bueno. EM no bueno. Junk no bueno. Yields very no bueno. Stocks no bueno. Here’s the issue. The Trump administration has no credibility with markets after the tariff debacle. Now it is going to unleash its tax cut bill
I have often argued that the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) reported $51 billion of education exports is exaggerated and grossly overstates the benefits of international students to the Australian economy. The ABS calculates this remarkable export figure using “an average spend estimate from Tourism Research Australia … supplemented by the addition of total expenditure
Its all about bonds overnight with the Japanese selloff extending to US sovereign debt as the latest Trump “Tax” Deal (aka blowing out the deficit forever) and a weak 20 year auction saw yields rise to new heights across the curve. This led to a selloff on Wall Street and is ringing alarm bells across
RBA Governor Michele Bullock’s media appearance this week was viewed as a victory lap in the fight against inflation. Bullock admitted that the RBA board had considered cutting the official cash rate by 0.5% at its Tuesday meeting, but “it wasn’t the strongest argument in the room”. She also suggested that the RBA was less worried
Nobody believed that the federal government’s target to build 1.2 million homes over five years was realistic. The highest single year of construction in Australia’s history was 225,500 in 2017, 6% below the annual target of 240,000 homes a year. As shown above, new housing supply is tracking near decade lows, with only 177,000 new
Risk markets in Asia are building positive momentum despite the flat sessions on Wall Street overnight although all eyes are on Japan as their longer dated bond yields spike again while the fiscal situation in the US is deteriorating the Trump regime continues to ram through its wealth redistribution tax bill that will enshrine trillion
The Productivity Commission (PC) recently announced a review of the corporate tax system, with the PC expected to release a draft report in late July and its final recommendations in December. Commission chair Danielle Wood says the review will examine issues such as tax incentives for new capital expenditure and cutting the tax rate paid
Some more on sinking Chinese property today, a subject that just keeps on giving. Anywhere outside of Tier One is a black hole. Another yawnulus bites the dust. Inventory improved a little. So long as you don’t count all those half-finished hulks and holes in the ground. I reckon I’ll be writing this post for