Victoria’s infrastructure program—intended to support a fast‑growing population—has been undermined by corruption and lawlessness. Productivity in the construction sector has fallen over the past decade, while costs have risen sharply. Investigations into the Victorian branch of the CFMEU uncovered systemic criminality and corruption across major construction sites, including: Violence and threats of violence. Infiltration by
Charts from TME. NDX is holding at a convergence of massive support lines. Tech volatility is still ramping on the IA fear trade churning under the bonnet. Puts galore! The last time volatility hit these levels, the squeeze was impressive. Are we at peak capex? If so, the money from hyperscalers will soon flow back
A record 760,000 Australians aged over 65 are now in the workforce—the highest number since records began in 1995 and up nearly 20% since 2022. This marks a major shift in older‑age labour participation. The Coalition claims that cost‑of‑living pressures are forcing people to retire later, but economists and ageing advocates say the picture is
Data from China’s Golden Week Lunar New Year holiday is filtering through, and it’s another bust, after all. The hospitality industry’s growth momentum from long holidays before Lunar New Year (LNY) Golden Week strengthened but it was all about numbers not per capita spending.. After taking into account the length of the holidays, domestic visitors
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is celebrating the tiny 0.4% decline in Australia’s transport emissions in the year to September 2025, which Bowen claims is “proof” that his government’s heavy subsidisation of battery electric vehicles (EVs) is working. “We are on track to meet our climate targets if we stay the course and
Punter’s Politics is spot on about the gas cartel today. The excise on beer is significantly higher than what we collect via the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT): HECS is also a revenue boom versus gas: Below is another cracker chart: Or try Norway for a comparison: Any way you cut it, Australia is being
DXY traded sideways as the American madman couldn’t stop loving the sound of his own voice with the longest SOTU ever. It said nothing of importance. CNY is off, and AUD will trail it. No Iran war and oil tumbles. Gold up for no reason tall. AI metals party resumes. Mining parabolas too. Copper is
In the debate over the appropriate level of migration into Australia, the argument is often made that there would be significant economic downsides if a major reduction in intake were to be realised. On a very short-term time horizon, that is almost certainly the case. With 10 out of the last 13 quarters seeing falls
Australia recorded the strongest net overseas migration (NOM) in the nation’s history between Q4 2019 and Q2 2025, with 266,000 net migrants arriving annually, including the Covid-19 border closure: This huge immigration inflow had a devastating impact on the rental market. Since the end of 2019, the record net migration flows (i.e., 266,000 per annum)
Adelaide Airport managing director Brenton Cox has labelled immigration critics “economically illiterate”, arguing that lower immigration levels would hinder growth and hinder housing supply. “Those things (people say) like people coming to Australia are ‘taking jobs and taking our houses’… But the macro (economic) work absolutely disproves that”. “It makes clear (immigrants) are creating jobs