Labour force data released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the nation’s official unemployment rate eased to a seven-month low of 4.1% in December. The result compared with 4.3% in November and economists’ expectations that unemployment would rise to 4.4%. The latest Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) from the Reserve
Australia’s housing market is an unmitigated disaster on almost every metric. Cotality’s latest housing affordability report showed that dwelling values relative to household incomes were tracking at a record high of 8.2 in the September quarter of 2025: The ratio of mortgage payments to household income was tracking at a near record high of 45.0%
The news first. Andrew Hastie has been given the blessing of his young family to enter the Liberal leadership race, as conservative powerbrokers lean towards backing the 43-year-old to replace Sussan Ley. Just hours after likely leadership rival Angus Taylor returned from overseas, sources close to Mr Hastie confirmed that the West Australian MP had discussed
From the marvellous Michael Hartnett at BofA. Zeitgeist: “When the market goes up, they should lower rates” Trump on the Fed. Zeitgeist: “Only three certainties are death, taxes, and new highs in Japanese banks.” Tale of the Tape: Japan yen weakest vs. China renminbi since 1992 (Chart 6); biggest risk to max bull Q1 consensus
New Zealand experienced one of the biggest house price booms in the world during the pandemic. However, since prices peaked in late 2021, values in real inflation-adjusted terms have plummeted by more than 30% to levels last seen in 2019, nearly six years ago. The latest house price results from the REINZ showed that home
Last year, I claimed that the Australian Treasury’s modelling of Labor’s 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers demonstrated that the Treasury had become the federal government’s propaganda arm. Labor’s First Home Buyer Guarantee program, which went into effect in October 2025, allows nearly all first home buyers to purchase a property with only a
The Great Chinese Depression is in full swing. Property sales are catastrophic in the new year. The secondary market looks like a run for the exits. As prices fall relentlessly. Energy consumption is better but only due to the weather. China is at peak oil. Fiscal is booming. But building is going backwards. The boom
The ferrous jaws have to close. Sorry! Steel data is mixed. Mysteel demand is up, but only because CNY is three weeks later this year. MySteel production data is dead flat. But, again, arguably down YOY seasonally adjusted. WorldSteel ended the year with a whimper. World crude steel production for the 70 countries reporting to
No matter how hard you try. No matter how many facts you put in its way. The fake left will never acknowledge the terrible truth. It was they who abandoned class politics for culture wars and created the populist right in the process. It’s not rocket surgery, but central to fake left ideology is the
For as long as I can remember, the date of Australia Day has been a source of controversy, with ‘Invasion Day’ protests taking place year after year. But recent polling from Resolve suggests that public opinion has shifted significantly toward the date remaining on the 26th of January. According to Resolve, 68% of Australian voters