Blogotariat

Last year, former federal Treasury official Stephen Anthony warned that Victoria could require a federal “bailout” amid soaring state debt, which hit $27,729 per person in 2023-24. “Victoria is on a suicide mission to record borrowing, just as global interest rates are about to hit 5%”, Anthony warned. “Potholes can’t get filled, emergency departments can’t

The post Victoria turns welfare state appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Knowing well in advance that Russia would reject it, the U.S. and Ukraine announced with fanfare that its ceasefire deal was in “Russia’s court” in what was an exercise of pure public relations, writes Joe Lauria.

CoreLogic’s preliminary auction results reported a clearance rate of 71.4% for Sydney. This was the sixth consecutive week that the preliminary clearance rate was above 70%. The following chart shows the strong rebound in final Sydney clearance rates since the beginning of the year. Sydney’s final auction clearance rate has rebounded from an average of

The post Sydney leads house price upswing appeared first on MacroBusiness.

US bombs Yemen: As it happenedThe US president has ordered a “powerful military action” against the Yemeni-based Houthi militants

Dozens of people were killed or injured after the US launched a major airstrike campaign against Yemeni-based Houthi militants, with President Donald Trump personally observing the operation as it unfolded.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that Kiev has received widespread applause from its Western backers over its handling of the recent talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. The diplomatic success, he stated, puts Russia in a difficult situation that could be hard to “wiggle out of.”

During a meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, the Ukrainian delegation agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire.

6:00 – Polls have just closed for the by-election for the New South Wales state seat of Port Macquarie, covering one of the larger regional cities on the mid north coast.

I’m out tonight so probably won’t be live-blogging much, but you can discuss the results here and I might drop in a little bit.

The face ripper is here as DXY falls and EUR rises. AUD to the moon! Lead boots are heavy. Base metals sold the fact. RIO’s copper is opening jaws to BHP. EM meh. Junk firmed. Bad new for all. Yields up as Germany’s Merz got his fiscal deal. Stocks to the moon! Three points of

The post Australian dollar face ripper arrives appeared first on MacroBusiness.

HAVING BEEN A FOLLOWER OF PETER SELLERS SINCE THE 1960s AND USING THE GOON SHOW REPEATS ON BBC (ONE?) TO SHARPEN MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ITS HUMOUR — I HAVE RECENTLY DISCOVERED A LITTLE GEM FROM THE MASTER OF BUMBLING ALONG. 

IN THE PICTURE ABOVE, THE RUSSIANS AND THE EUROPEANS ARE PLAYING THE GAME OF DIPLOMACY — WHICH IS A VERSION OF MONOPOLY, IN WHICH THE PLAYERS CAN BUY AND SELL OR DESTROY COUNTRIES…

We have reached a point where, with regard to Russia, the US is more reasonable and less bellicose than its currently semi-rebellious European vassals.

Washington is trying to end the senseless proxy war against Russia via Ukraine and also to facilitate a broader détente with Moscow. The NATO-EU European elites are desperate to keep the war going and to build their own countries’ whole futures on confronting Russia – forever.

Asian share markets have rebounded into the final session of the trading week with mostly positive sessions across the region as traders seemingly giving up trying to decipher where the battle lines are being drawn in the ongoing trade wars started by Orangus Maximus in the Oval Office. The USD is trying to fight back

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

With most Dickson homes using solar but few affording batteries, Independent candidate Ellie Smith has called for rebates and loans to boost resilience and cut costs.

Over the last few years I have had the privilege of making submissions and then appearing before parliamentary inquiries reviewing the conduct of the most recent federal election and the most recent state elections in New South Wales and Victoria.

Each of these inquiries are a standard practice following every general election, and are conducted by a standing joint committee dedicated to electoral matters. In NSW and federally it is called the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM), and in Victoria it is called the Electoral Matters Committee.