In 2019, Four Corners aired a story titled Cracking Up, which revealed systemic issues with construction quality across the nation’s apartment market. “We’ve got a real problem here. It’s systemic, and it’s infecting lots of buildings across the landscape, in all parts of the country. It’s very clear”, one building analyst told Four Corners in
According to Judo Bank and S&P, Australia’s interim PMI® data grew more slowly in February after a robust start to the year. In terms of output and new business, there were widespread slowdowns in the manufacturing and service sectors. Although it cooled, business sentiment stayed upbeat. In the meantime, job growth sped rapidly to accommodate
Will Hamilton, the CEO and founder of Hamilton Wealth Partners, is the latest commentator to warn of dire impacts on Australia’s rental market if the federal government reduces the capital gains tax (CGT) discount or limits negative gearing. It is worth critiquing Hamilton’s main arguments as they pertain to the rental market. First, Hamilton argues
As we know, AI capex keeps going up through February 2026, with data centres leading, followed closely by semiconductors. What evidence is there that this is impacting labour markets? In the US, Goldman has an AI tracker to monitor developments. According to the bank, firm adoption has gone up to 18.9% of US businesses and
Government and regulatory decisions are driving up Australia’s inflation and making the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) job significantly more difficult. As illustrated below by Alex Joiner from IFM Investors, administered prices like essential utilities (e.g., electricity, water, and gas), council rates, public transport fares, etc., rose by 7.55% last calendar year, roughly double the
The AFR hates nothing more than a resolution to eastern Australia’s energy woes. But there is good news today from the old hag. APA Group has committed to the east coast pipline expansion needed to ship QLD south during peak demand periods, instead of building LNG import terminals. The investment includes $260 million for compression
DXY is threatening to break higher again as Iran and oil heat up. AUD can’t catch a bid with China closed and JPY falling. Oil and gold are on the up as geopolitical risk rises. Not so good for AI metals, which still look rather nastily topped out. Big miners are momo, not fundamentals. Is
In the years since the pandemic and high inflation began impacting the Australian economy, the nation’s workers have gone backwards dramatically. Today, inflation-adjusted wages sit at roughly the same point as they did at the start of 2010, erasing all of the progress of the last 16 years. As the chart below, based on the
Build Skills Australia’s recent report claimed that there aren’t enough tradespeople to meet Labor’s target of building 1.2 million homes over five years, which is currently tracking 27% below target. According to Build Skills Australia, Australia’s housing construction rate per new resident has plummeted, even though the number of homes built over the last 20
Is there anything our government does right? Having single-handedly created a monster black market valued at $5.6 billion (ranging from $4.1 billion to $6.9 billion), Canberra now wants to take a piece of the action. Up to 1.5 million Australians are predicted to be buying cigarettes on the black market in what has been described