Category Archives: Australian economy

Coalition pledges to cut medication costs; 53 Covid deaths – as it happened

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Prime minister announces a $10 cut to PBS scripts from next year in an attempt to tackle cost-of-living pressure, while Labor vows to hold a royal commission into the robodebt scandal. This blog is now closed

Now some questions on China’s security deal with the Solomon Islands.

Morrison, asked about the timing of the announcement, says:

We’re very aware of the influence that the Chinese government seeks to have in this country. We, in fact, introduced laws to prevent it. So any suggestion that the Chinese government doesn’t seek to interfere in Australia – well, we didn’t put that legislation in for no reason. We put it in there to ensure that Australian security could be safeguarded from foreign influence in our own country.

The Chinese government would say that, wouldn’t they?

There are temporary measures that we put on the budget, longer term measures in the mid-year statement. It is a fairly common way that we do budgets …

This is a longer term measure and it will start next calendar year. So the reason that we’re talking about it now, normally we would make an announcement like that later in the year.

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Victoria’s government quietly prepares an election budget while attention is diverted

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Analysis: In the days before last year’s budget, $4.2bn in commitments were announced. Just $277m has been announced ahead of Tuesday’s

With all eyes fixed on the federal election campaign, you’d be forgiven for nearly forgetting Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, is set to hand down a state budget in a couple of days.

So far, all we know is that health will be a main theme of the pre-election budget. Improving lengthy ambulance wait times, emergency department overcrowding and the state’s triple zero call-taking system are front of mind after several much-publicised deaths, including that of a 72-year-old man who waited more than three hours for a bed at a regional hospital earlier this month.

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Buyers warned about rushing into government’s First Home Guarantee scheme

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Predicted rate rises and falls in property values pose risks to those considering loans with a 5% deposit, experts say

First-home buyers have been warned to plan carefully before taking advantage of a federal government scheme that would allow them to secure property with a 5% deposit, at a time interest rates are predicted to rise.

Experts say the First Home Guarantee scheme could be appropriate for people who plan to stay in one spot for a while and are comfortable riding out a possible property value trough, but warn it could still be risky, especially in regional areas.

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Australia faces prospect of pre-election rate rise as inflation and consumer prices soar

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Annual CPI rate rise to 5.1% was higher than expectations and reflects higher fuel and food costs, sparking fears of an interest rate rise

Australia faces the prospect of a pre-election rate rise by the Reserve Bank after underlying inflation pace soared to its highest in 13 years while the broader consumer price measure increased at the quickest pace since the GST was introduced in 2000.

The 5.1% annual consumer price index (CPI) reading for the March quarter easily topped the market expectation of 4.6% pace. The so-called trimmed mean inflation, which strips out volatile changes and is used by the central bank to set rates, rose 3.7%, or the most since March 2009.

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Payne says China military base in Solomons would be a ‘red line’ – as it happened

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Queensland senator Matt Canavan adds to uncertainty about Coalition climate commitments; foreign minister accuses Labor of ‘playing politics’ on national security after Penny Wong criticises Scott Morrison for ‘refusing to take responsibility in Pacific’; at least 50 Covid deaths as WA to ease mask mandate in some settings. This blog is now closed

Scott Morrison is in Townsville (north Queensland) today where he will be making announcements on energy.

Given what we just heard from Scott Morrison there, it’s worth your time having a listen to climate and environment editor Adam Morton on today’s Full Story podcast examining if the policy differences between the Coalition and Labor and ultimately asking: is either party preparing enough for the transformational change ahead?

Economic modelling should be used as a guide. Both sides of politics lean on it more as a forecast that will be fact ... I don’t think anybody can tell us exactly what our power bills will be in 2025, 2030, 2050 but no one disagrees that more solar and wind is good in terms of lowering prices because it is much, much cheaper to generate what’s in place.

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Australia’s first-home buyers urged to ‘go in with eyes wide open’ about future rate rises

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The good news is more places on offer in the first home guarantee scheme. The bad news could be higher mortgage repayments

Laura Valencic has never had the luxury of calling the “bank of mum and dad” to help her buy a home.

After the federal government announced more places under the first home guarantee scheme in the budget, Valencic feels like she finally has an in. But she’s wary of a potential pitfall in the future: will she be able to afford the mortgage repayments when interest rates rise?

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Australia news live updates: MPs respond to Morrison criticism; 20 Covid deaths; major Optus mobile network outage

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Foreign and defence ministers label Putin a ‘war criminal’; major Optus mobile network outage; ministers respond to criticism of Scott Morrison; NSW records 12 Covid deaths and 19,183 new infections; Victoria records eight deaths and 12,007 new infections. Follow all the latest updates live

Another senior Liberal has taken aim at Scott Morrison, accusing him of “self-serving ruthless bullying” and claiming he has “ruined” the Liberal party.

Catherine Cusack, a NSW Liberal who announced two weeks ago she would resign from the Legislative Council over her anger about flood relief, adds her voice to a growing chorus of critics of Morrison from within his own party in an opinion piece for Guardian Australia.

The concerns over the prime minister’s character are now well established, and they’re well established not by the Labor party, but the people who know him best.

I mean his own deputy prime minister called him a liar and a hypocrite*. These people know him best, they’ve served in cabinet with him, in the Liberal party with him over a period of many years ...

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Australia’s minimum wage should be raised by 5% to counter inflation and living costs, unions say

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ACTU secretary Sally McManus says increase needed for low-paid workers to ‘keep their heads above water’

Australia’s lowest-paid workers should get a 5% pay rise – or $2,000 more a year, according to a submission from unions to the industrial umpire.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has called for the minimum wage to increase from $20.33 an hour to $21.35, to boost the wages of 2.67m employees who rely on the annual wage review for a pay rise.

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Australia news live updates: many Lismore buildings ‘expected to flood again’; new Russia sanctions; man’s body found in Qld flood waters

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Many buildings in Lismore are ‘expected to flood again’ as CBD ordered to evacuate; severe weather warning for large parts of NSW; foreign minister announces ‘Magnitsky-style sanctions’ targeting 39 Russians; treasurer Josh Frydenberg says election will be held ‘in a matter of weeks’; nation records 24 Covid deaths, with record high daily case numbers in Tasmania. Follow the latest updates live

The New South Wales government has approved fewer than 400 disaster relief grants for flood-ravaged northern rivers businesses, despite receiving almost 8,000 requests for help since applications opened almost a month ago.

After the state’s north was left reeling by weeks of devastating floods, the government announced grants of up to $50,000 for small businesses to help pay for cleanup costs, repairs, replace damaged stock and to lease temporary premises.

Today it’s been revealed that the unemployment rate will have a friend for the first time in 50 years. This is a remarkable achievement that belongs to 26 million Australians. We’ve avoided the scouring of the labour market so reminiscent of previous recessions in Australia in the 80s and 90s.

We now have an unemployment rate that is very, very low and we are banking that dividend, now with the cost of living.

Would you be providing that if Australians weren’t going to the polls in a matter of weeks?

We would of course be providing cost-of-living relief given the circumstances that Australia now faces. There’s higher expected inflation, indeed, it’s a global phenomenon. There’s petrol prices rising above $2 a litre and with the other challenges on Australian companies.

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Morrison government predicts unemployment will drop to 50-year low as it spruiks pre-election budget

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Treasurer’s office says dip to last years, as Labor points to stagnant wages and vows to lift them

Josh Frydenberg’s pre-election budget will project Australia’s unemployment rate will drop to 3.75% this year, its lowest figure in 50 years, with the Coalition to talk up a “remarkable” post-pandemic recovery.

The treasurer’s fourth federal budget will also fund an extra 15,000 subsidised training courses for aged care workers, in a nearly $50m promise to boost the sector’s workforce.

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Australia live news update: man drowns at Sydney beach; Labor’s Katy Gallagher says ‘mean girls’ label ‘diminishes women’; 11 Covid deaths

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Man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches; Labor senator Katy Gallagher says she had no ‘difficult arguments’ with Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; Victoria records five Covid deaths and 7,466 new cases; NSW records one death and 17,450 new cases; Queensland records 7,738 new cases and one death; Western Australia records 7,197 new cases, four deaths. Follow developments live

The NSW Labor opposition has outlined a plan for the state to rebuild and recover from the devastating floods that have left about 1,500 people in emergency accommodation and damaged or destroyed about 95,000 homes, AAP reports.

The federal and New South Wales governments were too slow to act in the immediate response and have been too slow in their support, NSW Labor has said in a statement today.

The difference is, David, we’re looking for maximum community benefit and economic benefit while the government’s looking for maximum political benefit.

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Over a third of all Australians live in childcare ‘deserts’, research says

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Report also shows women’s participation in workforce lower in areas where children outnumber available places by 3:1 or more

When Nicole Greem decided to return to her job as a nurse after maternity leave, her biggest stumbling block wasn’t whether she could find work, but whether she could access childcare.

Like many places in regional New South Wales, Bourke, where Greem and her family live, had been crying out for healthcare workers. But even those who lived there were struggling to take up the shifts they wanted.

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Labor government would present second 2022 budget to correct ‘decade of rorts and waste’, shadow treasurer says

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Jim Chalmers says if elected, an Albanese government will deliver a ‘proper’ budget before the end of the year to amend ‘damage of the last 10 years’

A Labor government would present a second “proper” budget in 2022 if elected to correct the “decade of rorts and waste” they expect to be bookended by treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s budget next week.

The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will tell the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday an Albanese government would release its own budget by the time of the traditional mid-year fiscal update in December, if not sooner.

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‘Stunning pay rise’: commodity boom to fuel improved Australian budget

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Export revenues and low jobless rate combine to cut almost $90bn from projected federal budget deficit

Soaring commodity prices and a shrinking jobless rate will combine to slice almost $90bn from projected federal budget deficits out to 2024-25, although excessive pre-election promises would undermine the government’s fiscal repair efforts, according to Chris Richardson, a senior economist at Deloitte.

The predicted improvement compares with forecasts in the government’s mid-year outlook (Myefo) released last December. The current year’s deficit alone will be cut almost a third from a projected $99.2bn to $69bn as the economy’s rebound from Covid disruptions quickens, Richardson said.

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Australia bans exports of aluminium ores to Russia over ‘illegal’ aggression towards Ukraine

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Expanded sanctions seek to limit Russia’s ability to produce aluminium which is critical to arms and munitions manufacturing

Australia has banned the sale of alumina and aluminium ores to Russia in response to what it described as “unrelenting and illegal aggression” towards Ukraine.

Also on Sunday, prime minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would donate coal and further military equipment to Ukraine to “support the brave and courageous resistance” as part of a new aid package that also includes $30m in emergency humanitarian assistance.

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Josh Frydenberg announces ‘targeted’ cost of living measures ahead of federal budget

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Treasurer says ‘crisis level’ spending must stop amid Australia’s improving economic conditions

The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, says improved economic conditions will allow the government to deliver a “targeted” cost of living package in this month’s budget, while gradually improving the budget bottom line.

In the traditional pre-budget speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday, Frydenberg will set out how the 29 March budget will mark a return to normal budget settings as Australia emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, warning that “crisis level” spending must stop.

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Australia’s unemployment rate falls to 4% – the lowest since 2008

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The jobless rate for women fell to the lowest rate since May 1974 at 3.8%, as the economy added a net 77,400 jobs in February

Australia’s jobless rate sank to a new 13-year low last month with a big rise in full-time positions, as the economy shrugged off more of the Omicron Covid disruptions.

The country’s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 4.0% in February, compared with 4.2% in January. That’s the lowest rate since August 2008, the ABS said.

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Average Australian worker went backwards by $800 in 2021, says ACTU chief Michele O’Neil

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Soaring cost of living sees employees worse off as Covid hit supply chains and casualisation hindered bargaining power

Australia’s soaring cost of living is outstripping wage increases, leaving the average worker more than $800 worse off in 2021, the steepest cut in real terms for more than 20 years, according to Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Michele O’Neil.

The contraction in spending power happened during Covid supply chain shortages, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only propelled prices of fuel and food higher.

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Australia’s unemployment rate could hit 4% even as cost of living pressures grow

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Economy bounces back from Omicron wave, but economists expect east coast floods to be reflected in March jobs figures

The unemployment rate could hit 4% when the latest labour force figures are released this week, as the economy recovers from the impact of the Omicron variant.

The jobless rate touched 4% in February 2008 and again in August of that year under Kevin Rudd’s Labor government, but has never been lower according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures stretching back to 1978.

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States on borrowing binge as Morrison government predicts $1tn in net debt by 2024-25 fiscal year

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Pandemic and other disaster recovery efforts will further power state debt, says rating agency

Australia’s states and the ACT have almost doubled their borrowings in the past three years, placing them on track to hit the half-trillion dollar debt mark by mid-year, according to rating agency S&P Global.

The borrowing binge comes as the Morrison government projects almost $1tn in net debt by the 2024-25 fiscal year, with commonwealth outlays on the economy and health during the Covid pandemic amounting to more than 14% of gross domestic product.

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