Australian Economy
If Australia gets a Trump, this is why
COULD Australia get its own Donald Trump? Easily, if we’re not careful. The latest underemployment stats paint a scary picture.
What American vote means for Australia
IF YOU thought this election had no impact on Aussies, think again. Here’s what life could be like under Donald Trump’s rule.
PM open to debate on five cent coin
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has admitted that it’s a “fair point” that many Australians want to ditch the nation’s five cent piece.
It’s official: we’re deeper in debt
AUSTRALIA’S national debt grew again between the midyear and full-year budgets, and it isn’t pleasant reading.
Australia’s first true megacity?
SYDNEY and Melbourne could become one powerhouse city. It sounds bonkers, but 900km doesn’t have to be that far apart.
Vote that tore the nation apart
TODAY marks 100 years since this vote that could have “devastated” Australia. If it were held today, would you tick “yes” or “no”?
Turnbull at odds with his own ministers
NEW figures have shown thousands of Australians are better off on welfare than at work. In response, the Prime Minister is dithering.
Why we should smile at Chinese tourists
THERE’S been a massive boom in Chinese tourists travelling to Australia, it’s just one of the ways we are benefiting from China’s rise.
The most over budget road in Australia
THE final cost for this highway was five times its original budget. It’s just one of a slew of projects costing taxpayers more than $28bn.
Watch your back NSW, they’re coming for you
NEW South Wales may has been named Australia’s best-performing state, but it’s not all good news. The crown could soon pass to its biggest rival.
Could AAA downgrade hit your wallet?
A DOWNGRADE of Australia’s AAA rating is almost certain, so what does this mean for consumers and interest rates?
What will Mike Baird spend $40bn on?
NO WONDER the NSW Premier is happy, he’s got billions burning a hole in his pocket. But what are the big ticket projects now under consideration?
What was Lucy Turnbull thinking?
MOVE the NSW Parliament from Sydney to Parramatta? Seriously? Some people think the idea has merit but the Premier’s not one of them.
Property set to become ‘worst investment’
IF YOU were hoping to join the property investment boom, you may be too late to the party as warnings of a downturn increase.
Why you can’t get a payrise
IF IT feels like ages since you got a decent payrise, you are not alone — so don’t blame your boss for being stingy just yet.
What RBA isn’t telling you about housing
THE Reserve Bank seems to think housing is a smaller danger to the economy than in the past. But there’s something they’re not telling us.
Apartment boom risks start showing
THE risks of oversupply the Brisbane and Melbourne apartment markets are “coming to the fore”, the Reserve Bank warns.
You’re worse off than you think
WE’RE always told how lucky Australia is compared to other countries, but we’re actually getting a deeply misleading picture.
Housing a bigger threat than China
A HOUSING market downturn is a bigger threat to Australia’s financial stability than the slowdown in China, investors have warned.
Mum and dad’s big lending problem
THE number of parents lending their kids cash for both deposits and mortgages is out of control. And it could harm our economy.
Refugees heading to retirement home
PAULINE Hanson has slammed a plan to house Syrian and Iraqi refugees alongside elderly residents at a retirement village as an “absolute disgrace”.
How China has eclipsed Australia
THIS is the graph that shows how China has managed to dominate Australia for the past 25 years.
Shonky colleges — your time is up
THEY’VE been accused of signing up students who will never complete their course — now the government wants to clean up private colleges.
All aboard the barf fast train
THE Hyperloop promises to get you from Sydney to Melbourne in 55 minutes, but the proposal didn’t mention the downside.
CBA admits: ‘We have done wrong’
COMMONWEALTH Bank chief Ian Narev admits his company’s insurance arm did wrong by some, but they haven't sacked anyone.
Why the new $5 note is getting rejected
THE rollout of the new $5 note isn’t going as smoothly as everyone hoped. All around the country, shops and vending machines are rejecting it.
‘Sydney to Melbourne in 55 mins’
A SUPERSONIC rail that travels at a lightning speed of more than 1000km/h could be coming to Australia. But there’s a catch.
Are big bank grillings just a ‘sham’?
THE big four banks are fronting up to be grilled by Australia’s politicians, but Labor thinks they’re getting off easy.
Chinese grey market a ‘$1 billion tax hole’
THE network of Chinese personal shoppers known as daigou have been quietly operating a grey market for years, but do they pay tax?
Government slaps $5 tax on all overseas flights
AIRLINE passengers will pay more for tickets to make up for revenue lost in the government’s U-turn on a backpacker tax.
Backpacker tax has $10 million sweetener
THE Federal Government has bowed to pressure over its unpopular backpacker tax, with a compromise that has a $10 million sweetener.
Big myth about so-called dole bludgers
THE government is making a lot of noise about welfare payments, but it pays to look a little deeper at the issue.
Why Australia’s big cities are miserable
BAD news. Our major cities have some pretty huge flaws. Unless we act to fix them, the problems will only get worse.
Traffic chaos is costing us billions
AUSTRALIA’S chaotic roads are forcing us to spend up to 151 extra hours a year in traffic. And that’s costing us a whole lot of money.
Wagging kids’ parents could be punished
WAGGING school could get Australia’s kids into trouble with more than just their principal under radical plans to overhaul the welfare system.
Shake-up targets youths on welfare
THE Federal Government today launched a campaign to save young people at risk of being buried for life in welfare dependence.
Apartment builders face ‘sharp correction’
APARTMENT construction firms will continue to benefit from migration and population growth, but a “sharp correction” is looming this year.
‘Australia needs to do an OzExit’
ONE of our senators has called for Australia to follow in the footsteps of Brexit and cut ourselves off. You might wonder what from.
Warning, your parents are ripping you off
YOUNGER Australians are being robbed and screwed over by the older generation — and they’re tired of copping the blame.
Aussie sharemarket closes in the red
FEARS of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike has driven the Australian share market to its lowest level in two months, with all sectors closing in the red.
‘Six weeks’ from a housing collapse
UH OH. Australia has just “six weeks” to prevent a housing market collapse, a worrying new report has warned.
What will be the future of our cities?
OUR cities are built on two major factors: income and wealth. So what can we expect them to look like in the future?
Some good news for our wallets
OUR personal disposable income is finally back to where it was in 2008. This is the first economic good news story in quite a while.
Why a strong economy is bad news for ScoMo
TREASURER Scott Morrison marked 25 years of economic growth in Australia. But why is this bad news for the Coalition?
How much land China really owns
AUSTRALIAN voters are worried about Chinese interests buying up our land. How much does China actually own?
Sneaky way they are ripping you off
IT IS being promoted as a fairer system for all commuters. But it’s really just a sneaky way to make you pay hundreds more a year on your commute.
Hidden features of new $5 note
LOVE it or hate it, the new $5 note is about to replace more than 165 million old ones. But there’s more to its redesign than meets the eye.
Turnbull’s obsession is a big mistake
IT’S Malcolm Turnbull’s favourite buzzword, but a US policy expert says his obsession with this popular ideology may do more harm than good.
How we can stop the next Thermomix
FROM exploding Thermomixes to petrol price gouging, Aussies are increasingly getting stung by dodgy behaviour. This plan could fix that.
This could cost every Aussie $500
THERE is a growing gap between the rich and poor in Australia. And it could soon be costing you $500 a year, according to a new report.
The six things we need to fix our cities
AUSTRALIAN cities face mounting pressure over expensive housing, urban sprawl and traffic nightmares. This is how we can fix them.
What it’s like to be a Census worker
IF YOU felt put out by last week’s Census fail, spare a thought for the workers who are getting hammered by a furious public.
RBA boss warns on foreign cash
THE outgoing boss of the Reserve Bank has sounded a warning for Australia about letting foreigners buy up our assets en masse.
Why botched Census boss won’t be sacked
MALCOLM Turnbull says “heads will roll” over the Census disaster, but it turns out that the man in charge of the hacked survey is not so easy to get rid of.
Push to end banks’ ‘bastard acts’
THE call for a Royal Commission into the banks appears to be dividing the Coalition, as Nationals Senators want to tackle “bank bastardry”.
Shorten slams Turnbull’s GST shake up
BILL Shorten claims Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed GST changes are merely a way to rescue the Liberal WA Government in the face of a looming state election.
‘National security concerns’
BREAKING: Treasurer Scott Morrison has blocked the sale of Ausgrid to a consortium from China citing concerns about national security.
Shorten: ‘Australia’s worst-run Census’
BILL Shorten has slammed the Government over the Census fail saying it was a “Turnbull train wreck” full of “gold class incompetence”.
Will you have to pay a Census fine?
THE site is down, your Census isn’t done. Here’s what you need to know about fines and other crucial myths explained.
Your 5 minute guide to the Census
TODAY is officially Census day — here’s everything you need to know before you fill out your form and what to avoid.
Will tonight’s Census be derailed?
PRIVACY concerns have led to high-profile calls for a boycott of the Census. If you refuse to give your correct details, expect a knock at the door.
Will Census be a massive fail?
ABOUT 15 million Australians are expected to flood online today to complete their Census forms. Will it break the internet?
China is about to get even more powerful
THE government is about to make a crucial decision on whether to sell NSW’s power network to the Chinese. Are we making a big mistake?
‘Don’t be a d*ck’
SUCK it up people and stop freaking out about our national survey. We all have to do it for a very good reason.
The truth about the Census
WE’VE all got to do it and a lot of people are worried about it. A demographer debunks the myths about the Census.
Proof our banks are the greediest
AUSTRALIAN banks — which this week withheld interest rate relief from borrowers — are officially the most profitable in the world.
The answer to your Census panic
THERE’S only three days left until Census night, but you still haven’t received the form in the mail. This is what you need to know.
All your Census questions answered
WHY do I have to do this thing? With the Census less than a week away, we’ve answered your most asked questions.
This explains the rise of Trump
AUSTRALIAN politics needs to pay attention to income equality if it wants to avoid the emergence of our own Trump.
Wagging finger at banks won’t work
WITH the big banks failing to pass on the full rate cut to homeowners, Bill Shorten says the PM is too weak on the issue.
Is Queensland about to go bust?
THE mining industry is terminal, and 3223 businesses are on the brink. What has happened to the sunny state?
The big problem with the Census
IT IS building into the most controversial census as, one week out, the agency in charge is being accused of snubbing families.
Huge fine for not filling out Census
NEXT week millions of Aussies will be expected to fill out the Census and those who don’t will face significant fines.
Why your degree is now worthless
FROM the barista with a law degree to the aspiring engineer bartender, unis churn out more graduates with “broken dreams”.
Rising shares many miss out on
A REBOUND on the sharemarket has delivered Aussies strong investment gains, but many mum-and-dad investors are missing out.
Moody’s warns of rating pressures
MOODY’S has confirmed it sees the coalition’s narrow election win as credit negative for Australia’s triple-A rating.
Who the government’s really screwing
THE super-rich are having a conniption over new government plans, but there are 130,000 average Aussies who are going to be much worse off.
Why your wallet feels so much lighter
IF YOU feel like you’re going backwards financially, you probably are, and it’s been happening for a while. This depressing graph explains why.
What’s left of Turnbull’s authority?
MALCOLM Turnbull is back in Canberra today with the dismal task of sweeping up the scraps of the mandate he had hoped to win.
Australia’s future just got bleaker
THIS is what happens when you don’t pay your bills. Australia is one step closer towards losing its coveted triple-A credit rating.
Decision that gave Labor its edge
THIS is the moment when Labor made a crucial decision that would go on to define the election — and bring it to the brink of toppling Malcolm Turnbull.
Hung parliament is very bad for business
THE possibility of another hung parliament is bad news for the business and economy, experts have warned, no matter who becomes Prime Minister.
The real reason Labor didn’t win
IT was the biggest gamble of the election — a promise to make houses more affordable. But not everyone was buying it.
So, uh, what happens now?
IT’S Sunday morning and we don’t know who’s won, and counting won’t start again for days. Here’s what comes next.
Malcolm Turnbull’s big gamble backfired
THIS election was meant to be all about cleaning the “crazies” out of the Senate. But the PM’s big power play backfired.
Australia, brace for a whole lot of pain
MALCOLM Turnbull has copped a huge rebuke from voters, and now Australia faces the prospect of another hung parliament.
Tally: Where does the vote stand?
“ERRATIC” swings across the nation have left the election on a knife-edge - the final result won’t be known for days.
Turnbull goes rogue in final hours
MALCOLM Turnbull has ditched the media pack in the campaign’s dying hours and is taking his election day publicity into his own hands.
Number one issue on voters’ minds
IT’S the crisis affecting millions of Australians that could tip the result of this weekend’s election. Here’s how the major parties plan to fix it.
Since when is $1.2 billion spare change?
THE Coalition is gloating that it has committed a “very low $1.2 billion” since the start of the campaign. Should they really get a pat on the back for that?
Experts back PM’s corporate tax cut
TWO of the nation’s top economists have laid waste to Labor’s claims company tax cuts are a big business “giveaway”, saying they’re the biggest drag on the economy.
Brexit a ‘king hit’ to Australia
THE PM is calling for calm, but both sides of politics are being slammed for keeping Aussies in the dark over the impact of Brexit.
Why Brexit is terrible for us
BRITAIN’S shock decision to break away from the European Union will have far-reaching impacts on the Australian way of life.
What does Brexit mean for us?
MARKETS are in meltdown, birds are falling out of the sky and dogs are walking on their hind legs. But here’s the good news.
‘Vote Labor or you’ll die of cancer’
LABOR has been slammed for a “grubby” robocall which describes a “vote for Labor” as a “vote for cancer patients”.
Bitter truth about Australian jobs
AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate is at 5.7 per cent, which sounds pretty low. But the true story is a lot worse.
How your life will change on July 1
FROM healthcare and family payments to stamp duty, wages and power hikes, here’s what to expect in the new financial year.
NSW Budget winners and losers
IN A budget that keeps a lid on spending while splurging $73 billion on infrastructure, we can’t all be winners.
$73 billion splurge to transform NSW
NSW has unveiled a stunning Budget turnaround and its residents are benefiting big time.
The real winners in a slow economy
WHEN the economy slows down and people start losing their jobs, there’s one group of people who shine. And 2016 could be their year.
