So says Labor legend Jenny George. The Australian. Regular warnings about gas shortages in Victoria are troubling. Despite its opposition to fossil fuels and having the highest renewables targets, Victoria is considering importing gas, underwritten by the public, at an estimated cost upwards of $20 a gigajoule. It makes no sense. Market failure is the
On Monday, I spoke to Ben Davis on Brisbane Radio 4BC Mornings to unpack the housing policies announced by Labor and the Coalition over the weekend. I described these as “some of the worst policy making I’ve seen in my 47 years of life”. I added that Australian “households are among the most indebted in
The ferrous market is not strong. Data is all over the place. We’ve had strong Chinese credit, but much of it is debt swaps with only marginal growth impact. Goldman. March total social financing (TSF) flows and new RMB loans came in above market expectations, mainly due to strong expansion of short-term corporate loans. Government
Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, published research on the record boom in international students and temporary migrants. Dr You noted that there were a record 111,740 net permanent and long-term arrivals into Australia in February 2025, a daily average of 3,991. “That’s approximately 3 arrivals a minute on a net
Steve Austin from ABC Radio Brisbane interviewed me about the Greens’ housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather’s claim that immigration does not negatively impact housing affordability. Chandler-Mather told Austin that targeting migrants was “scapegoating”: “We think that’s scapegoating a group that’s not responsible for the crisis. There’s a good study out now that demonstrates that international students
The Market Ear on the great flush. No one’s in Positioning is wrecked, volatility just snapped lower, and risk appetite has fallen off a cliff. But with buybacks set to return, vol-control exhaustion kicking in, and sentiment at extreme lows, the stage might be quietly set for a rebound no one’s ready for. Zooming out
DXY is at critical support. AUD is a bipolar maniac. Concrete boots are hanging in. Gold and oil came off. The copper market is wrecked. Mining bear market rock solid. EM bounce. Junk off the worst. Yields eased, doubtless on the Fed’s calming words Friday. Stocks firmed. Now what? DXY is unhinged from Treasuries. While
Risk sentiment is slowly lifting and stock volatility moving lower but all eyes must remain on global bond markets and the USD as the big shift is happening beyond the equity market headlines. The short covering rally on Wall Street could continue for a little longer but USD is still slowly losing its reserve currency
I have warned repeatedly that Australian housing affordability will not improve by blanketing our cities with high-rise apartments, as planned by state and federal governments. The reason is simple: it costs too much to build apartments. Therefore, they cannot be delivered at an affordable price to buyers. The exorbitant cost of apartment construction was highlighted
Finally a relatively non-volatile trading session today although the newsflow remains weird with more Trumpian two-steps around tariffs on Chinese goods, while all eyes remain on the canary in the mine – the bond markets. The USD is still slowly weakening as it loses its reserve currency status with almost all the majors including gold