The Block has begun its 19th season this month, billed as “a Block that’s entirely relatable to people right around Australia”. This year, contestants renovate five “authentic ’50s dream homes” in “the perfectly named Charming Street, in Melbourne’s Hampton East”. But if the median price for a four-bedroom house in Hampton East is around A$1.6…
The government has provided another $1 billion for public and community housing to secure a deal with the Greens to finally pass the Housing Australia Future Fund. After months of stalling, the Greens agreed to pass the legislation through the Senate this week, despite the government refusing to give ground on the minor party’s demand…
The cul-de-sac is a suburban trap. It’s virtually useless as a road, doesn’t support public transport, cycling or walking, and doesn’t work well as a play or gathering place. Its literal translation from French is “bottom of a sack” – which sounds a lot less glamorous, you’ll agree. And yet we persist with them. The…
Surely Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe won’t move to a private bank after his term as governor ends next week. After having chaired his last board meeting on Tuesday, there’s nothing to stop him, and – as shabby as it seems – he wouldn’t be the first. There are three reasons why he shouldn’t join…
Such simple stories are likely part of the explanation why polling by the Australia-China Relations Institute finds three-quarters of Australians think our economy is “too reliant on China”. In the middle of last year, indicators emerged that China’s large, and iron-ore-hungry, property construction sector was struggling. This meant, according to an analysis published by News.com.au,…
Australia’s economy grew a mere 0.4% in the June quarter according to figures released by the Bureau of Statistics today, a performance Treasurer Jim Chalmers describes as “steady in the face of unrelenting pressure”. The lacklustre growth follows growth of 0.4% the previous quarter, and is a step down from the growth of 0.7% in…
A group of crossbench parliamentarians have revived the idea of increasing the rate of the goods and services tax from 10% or removing exemptions on food, education and health purchases. The group, which includes Allegra Spender and David Pocock, say increasing the GST rate would raise revenue to lessen government dependence on income tax as…
What if nearly everything that’s been written about this month’s Intergenerational Report is wrong? I’ll explain. But first, here’s a sample of the headlines: “Young Australians at risk of a poorer future”, “Fewer workers to shoulder soaring income tax”, “Ageing population driving $140 billion blowout in spending”, and so on. On radio it was worse….
Cost of living pressures are acute for some, but in different ways for different types of household. The Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price index has climbed by 6% per year for each of the past two years. In the decade before that, it only climbed by an average of 1.8% per year. So, on…
Australia presents a mixed picture of national well-being, according to the government’s Measuring What Matters report released by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. On the positive side, over the past two decades, life expectancy has increased, income and job opportunities have improved, and we are better at accepting diversity. But Australians now have more chronic health conditions,…
