Category Archives: Australian economy

Capital city home prices fall across Australia as experts predict slump could last a year and cut values by 10%

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Buyers abandon auctions and Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra median house prices end May lower than they were at the end of 2025

Home prices in Australia’s capital cities have begun to fall, with experts predicting the decline could last at least a year and wipe as much as 10% from values.

The median capital city home price fell in May, the first decline since January 2025, as high interest rates and inflation stretched buyer budgets, Cotality reported on Monday. Auction success hit a new low for the year.

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Labor to announce easing of jobseeker mutual obligations requirements in major overhaul of employment system

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Employment minister Amanda Rishworth plans to move system from a ‘one size fits all’ employment services model to three streams of support

The Albanese government has flagged a major overhaul of Australia’s employment system, with minister Amanda Rishworth on Wednesday expected to outline plans to ease Centrelink’s much-maligned mutual obligations regime.

Rishworth is expected to tell the National Press Club that mutual obligation requirements were not helping Australians find work in a system that was “ill-equipped” and wasting the time of people who use welfare.

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Pocock open to independents forming party to counter Hanson – as it happened

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Climate activists say they have blocked two coal ships from entering Newcastle port

Climate activists say they have stopped two coal ships from entering the Port of Newcastle this morning after kayakers and a small boat entered the channel.

I grew up in the best years economically in Australia’s history, and I can’t sleep at night thinking about my 5 great-grandkids trying to live on a dead planet if we keep mining coal. I want to see more people my age standing up for what’s right.

There’s plenty of conversations going on all the time.

I think there’s so many people in politics for the right reasons and, when you’re in there, you want to say, well, how do we actually ensure that people can elect people that are going to come here and really deal with the root causes of the problems that we’re facing, because we haven’t seen that.

How do you be part of changing our country for the better? For me at the moment, that is serving people in the ACT, engaging on each issue, bringing solutions, using whatever power I have in the Senate to actually work on behalf of the people that have sent me there. As to what that looks like in the future, who knows?

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MPs urged to ignore fearmongering and pass Labor’s ‘long overdue’ negative gearing and CGT changes

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Exclusive: Any attempt to use the budget measures as an excuse to raise rent is opportunistic profiteering, housing advocates say

Australia’s peak community and housing groups have urged federal parliament to quickly pass Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, saying the reforms would improve fairness for renters and young homebuyers.

The government may introduce its negative gearing and CGT changes into parliament as soon as the coming sitting fortnight, with hopes of passing the legislation soon after with the support of the Greens.

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Australia news live: Albanese congratulates Delta Goodrem on Eurovision fourth-place finish; Queensland Labor set to win Stafford byelection

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Follow the day’s news live

Jim Chalmers says the opposition’s policy to index tax brackets would cost the budget a quarter of a trillion dollars over ten years, while claiming that the government is returning bracket creep to taxpayers.

It’s a slightly tricky position, as Angus Taylor argues that Labor is “betraying” itself because the high figure is actually how much the government is keeping and spending through bracket creep ever year.

This is a Government that returns bracket creep when it is responsible to do that.

That [policy] would cost tens of billions of dollars in extra debt interest, because he’s got these uncosted, unfunded, tax announcements that he [Taylor] made in his Budget reply, which was all about trying to stave off One Nation.”

What Angus Taylor is proposing to do is to pump the most money into the economy when inflation is already at its highest.

“This betrays the fact that the government plans to raise income tax rates to the tune of $35 billion This says more about their plan than our plan ...

If Labor’s saying that they plan to raise income taxes to the tune of $250 billion in the next 10 years ... [if] that is their tax hike, that’s their planned income tax increases.”

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Australia news live: Delta Goodrem hits the stage in Eurovision semi; Angus Taylor accused of ‘dog whistle’ budget reply

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Australian pop star performs song Eclipse in second semi-final before Sunday’s final. Follow today’s news live

Advocates for migrants last night accused Angus Taylor of using his budget reply speech to “chase votes with dog whistles, fear and division”.

Taylor claimed that migrants were coming to Australia and claiming benefits before they were becoming citizens, a situation which he said Australians did not accept.

The Coalition’s dangerous decision to return to its harmful, failed refugee policies of the past shows what a mess they are in. They have no new policy ideas. Temporary protection visas have harmed countless people and kept many families apart for over a decade. So many are still trying to recover.

Taylor’s comments tonight are inflammatory and desperate. The fact that he feels the need to dog-whistle about mass deportations of so-called ‘overstayers’, many of whom are actually trapped in a massively blown-out court and tribunal system created through years of Coalition underfunding, shows they are far more interested in stoking fear than delivering serious policy solutions.

The language in tonight’s address misleads the nation by claiming that migrants are arriving and immediately accessing welfare payments, which is a blatant lie. In reality most of the restrictions he’s talking about already exist and there are lengthy wait periods for welfare payments.

The Coalition knows all this and is deliberately misleading Australians about how the welfare system already operates in order to whip up fear and division.

If I may answer - it will be below 200,000. There’s no doubt about that.

And then the right mix will depend on the circumstances of the time. What is clear, what is clear, is that the number of students in this country has been at record levels.

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Federal budget 2026 winners and losers: rich families, overseas travellers and illegal tobacco – summary

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Taxpayers and first home buyers are the winners in Labor’s 2026 budget, while rich families could be among the losers. Find out who is better off and who is worse off in Chalmers’ budget

Being a winner or a loser from the federal budget can be the difference between hundreds of dollars – or tightening your belt even further.

Tuesday’s federal budget comes at a strange time. Donald Trump is waging a war on Iran that is impacting fuel supplies globally, including Australia. Inflation is still causing havoc on household budgets. Government programs are costing more than ever.

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Australia’s property investor borrowing rises at fastest rate in a decade – despite interest rate rises

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Owner-occupier mortgage growth slowed under growing costs while investor loans grew by $42bn in the year to March, a 9.6% increase

Property investor borrowing rose at its fastest rate in a decade in March, according to the Reserve Bank, despite higher interest rates and speculation about property tax changes.

Owner-occupier loan growth slowed under the weight of growing mortgage costs but investor lending is continuing its record surge.

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News live: Bell says royal commission will look at ‘ugly displays of hostility’ towards Jewish Australians as hearings begin

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Meanwhile treasurer says next week’s budget will save more than it spends. Follow today’s news live

Jim Chalmers says next Tuesday’s budget will not extend the 26 cent fuel tax cut beyond June.

But with Australia “hostage” to the wild swings in global oil prices amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran, the treasurer said there was “a range of contingencies” prepared to help support households and the economy from any escalating damage as a result of the Middle East conflict.

The budget will be calibrated for the conditions, but it will also still be consistent with our ambitions.

The election began a year of delivery, and the budget will begin a year of more ambitious reform, reform which is made more not less, urgent by global inflation and global economic uncertainty.

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Australia news live: Canavan says ‘too much talk of diversity’ in address to Canberra anti-immigration rally – as it happened

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The health and NDIS minister, Mark Butler, says Queensland will be “answerable to their community” if they don’t sign on to NDIS reforms, with billions of dollars of hospital funding on the line.

Every state and territory except for the sunshine state has signed a bilateral agreement with the government for the Thriving Kids program, which is designed to take children under nine with developmental delays or low to moderate autism off the NDIS.

Now every state and territory has signed a bilateral agreement with us that details the broad details of the Thriving Kids program … The only state that hasn’t signed yet is Queensland.

I tried to make clear again last week that is part of the deal that sees them get additional hospital funding and, frankly, they are answerable to their community if they don’t put the additional supports.

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Australia news live: ‘weeks’ to restore production at Geelong refinery after blaze, Viva says; Chalmers warns of ‘big risks’ to inflation and growth

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Meanwhile ACT independent David Pocock is calling for a 25% tax on gas exports to fund welfare and housing. Follow today’s news live

Treasurer says capital gains changes and other tax reform still under consideration

Sticking with the budget, Chalmers said the government hasn’t made any decisions on capital gains tax reform.

We haven’t taken any decisions on those policies, whether the specific ones you mentioned [or others].

There’s more work to do on our options for tax reform in this budget.

The savings package won’t be exactly the same as what we would have been contemplating over the summer, but it will be a substantial savings package.

When we came to office the NDIS was out of control and it had strayed a long way from its original intended purpose.

It was growing around 22% when we got to office.

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Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crimes allegations – As it happened

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Defence Minister Richard Marles says the success of Australia’s alliance with the United States should not be measured against a single president or federal government in Canberra, insisting the longstanding ties will endure.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not assisting with the war in Iran, while federal Labor, including Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, say the White House has not made any specific request for assistance.

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Australia news live: refinery fire will not lead to tougher fuel restrictions, PM says, though petrol production down by 40% at plant

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Australia secures extra fertilizer and 100m extra litres of fuel, PM says

Albanese has also provided an update on Australia’s talks with its allies in Asia to shore up imports of fuel and other goods affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The advice that we have received today is that 80% of diesel production is continuing, 80% of aviation fuel is continuing, ongoing.

It has been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which are there, but 60% of petrol production [is] proceeding today as well.

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Chalmers warns of ‘more polarising politics’ – as it happened

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Seven-year-old girl drowns at swimming spot on Brisbane River

A seven-year-old girl has drowned at a popular swimming spot on the Brisbane River in the south-west of the city, AAP reports.

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News live: Labor dismisses Tony Abbott’s calls for Australia to join war; Queensland MP Jimmy Sullivan found dead

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Former PM asks ‘What is the point of having armed forces if they’re not to be used to support our allies in a just cause.’ Follow updates live

Head of IMF says Iran war will permanently scar global economy even if peace is reached

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the Iran war will permanently scar the global economy even if a durable peace deal in the Middle East can be reached.

But now, even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade. Even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo.

Penny Wong’s previous statements, whether it’s concerned or gravely concerned, have had no effect.

But cancelling more than a billion dollars in Israeli arms contracts – that would not only respond to the moral situation of the appalling Israeli military attacks, it would also have the benefit of putting a very real material pressure on Israel to pull back from what is a disastrous, illegal, immoral war in Lebanon that is threatening the entire globe’s peace.

We should not be buying weapons that have been tested by Israeli defence manufacturers in conflicts like Gaza and Lebanon, and we should not be contributing any weapons parts.

Right now it also would have the important additional benefit of making it clear to Israel that this comes at a direct and real cost to them.

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Debit and credit card surcharges to be removed in Australia by October

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says changes will help with cost of living and ‘Australians hate paying’ the surcharges

Debit and credit card surcharges will be gone by October under Reserve Bank reforms, with big banks likely to foot the bill for the cost-of-living measures.

The new rules, announced on Tuesday, will enable businesses to remove added fees on Mastercard, visa and eftpos card payments.

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Older Australians in ‘immediate danger’ as fuel crisis affects travel for aged care workers

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Unions and farmers call for government intervention as agriculture, construction and waste industries also at risk from higher prices

Care workers, tradespeople and transport drivers are being hit hard by ballooning fuel costs, with some industry groups urging the government to roll out assistance packages or even a jobkeeper-style wage assistance program to help businesses avoid laying off staff.

Reports of small mining businesses scaling back operations and some construction companies deciding against hiring more apprentices have prompted suggestions the government should step in to help, with the Master Builders Association already forecasting a downturn in the number of homes that will be built this year.

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‘Makes Covid look like a tea party’: Australian food prices could rise for the next year, farmers warn

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Iran conflict could see shortages not just in fuel, but fertiliser and fossil fuel resins – used to make milk bottles

Farmers say Australian consumers could pay more for everyday staples for the next year at least as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran.

But the CEO of dairy farmer cooperative Norco, Michael Hampson, says a six- to 12-month disruption to food supply is likely a best-case scenario, depending on the strait of Hormuz reopening soon and global petrochemical supply chains beginning to stabilise.

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‘Political Band-aid’: cutting Australia’s fuel excise could make petrol shortages worse, economists say

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Fuel tax cuts also risk adding to inflation by enabling some households with enough income to spend more

Fuel excise cuts would be a “political Band-aid” that could worsen petrol shortages and add to inflation, economists have warned.

The mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, Tasmania’s state premier and Liberal opposition leaders in New South Wales and Victoria have called for the Albanese government to cut the excise on petrol and diesel.

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Hundreds of petrol stations across Australia run out of fuel as Albanese inks supply deal with Singapore

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Energy minister, Chris Bowen, says ‘we’re a long way’ from further action like fuel rationing despite shortages

Hundreds of service stations across Australia have run out of fuel, with the federal government inking a deal with Singapore, one of the country’s biggest sources of refined petroleum, to keep supplies of diesel and petrol flowing.

Concerns are now broadening to supplies of fertiliser and other chemicals, heaping more pressure on the Albanese government’s leveraging of overseas exports of coal and gas in a bid to handle of the crisis.

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