Category Archives: Cost of living crisis

NSW nurses and midwives announce strike – as it happened

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Australia’s ‘sex report card’ released

The latest Australian Study of Health and Relationships was revealed at a conference in Sydney this week held by the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Rent assistance went up by $25 and … average rents have gone up by more than $100. What might look like a big percentage increase is, frankly, fuck all, and that’s one of the reasons that this is so upsetting.

When CRA is indexed, the amount of rent that you have to pay before you get any rent assistance increases. So the proportion of your rent, where you qualify for it, reduces if you aren’t receiving the maximum payment.

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Politics live: Senate question time spars over housing and the economy; plan for Australia to build rocket motors for ‘world’s most advanced missiles’

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Albanese says it’s a ‘good thing’ Trump is safe after apparent assassination attempt

Anthony Albanese has responded to news about an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Everyone wants the democratic process to be peaceful and to be orderly. This incident in the United States is of concern, again. It is good that President Trump has said that he is safe and that the incident, the details of which are still coming out, so it’s not quite clear all of those details but what is clear is that President Trump is safe. That is a good thing.

The first round of Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord programs will deliver 4,220 social and 9,522 affordable homes, including 1,267 homes for women and children escaping domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness.

In just the first round of these programs, the Albanese Government is directly supporting more social and affordable housing than the Liberals and Nationals did in their entire nine years in office.

Housing Australia has recommended contract negotiations for 185 projects, with construction on almost 40 per cent of the 13,742 dwellings forecast to get underway this financial year.

Round one of the programs’ funding will unlock $9.2 billion of investment in social and affordable housing across Commonwealth, State and Territory government, and the private and community housing sectors.

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Despite all the doom and gloom on Australia’s economy, could the worst be behind us?

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We hear about the ‘weakest growth in decades’ and being ‘smashed’ by the RBA, but positive tidings abound – if you want to look for them

In a week dominated by headlines declaring the “weakest growth in decades” (excluding Covid) with an economy being “smashed” by the Reserve Bank, it might seem Australia teeters on the edge on an abyss.

For some households and businesses, the challenge of paying stratospheric housing costs amid 13-year-high interest rates will alas be overwhelming.

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Australia news live: parts of Victoria told to plan for up to 72 hours without power; two Tasmanian emergency workers injured during floods response

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Weather situation overnight in Victoria has led to about 1,900 calls to the SES for assistance. Follow today’s news live

Delays predicted at Melbourne airport amid strike action

Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted, with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am at the domestic airport.

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Dutton’s nuclear reactor in Collie would have a 10th of the output of renewables, Chris Bowen says – as it happened

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The energy minister has been taking every opportunity to undermine the Coalition’s ‘plan’ on nuclear energy. This blog is now closed

Bragg defends NSW Liberal chief’s position after council elections debacle

Finally, Bragg has also defended Liberal party’s NSW president, Don Harwin, staying in his role after the “catastrophic failure” of the division to nominate candidates for local government elections.

I’m more interested in looking at the core competency of the division rather than getting into personality debates.

I don’t see any case for Don to go. I think he’s done a good job as president. I don’t think that having an election for president now inside the New South Wales division would be in the interests of the party, and at the end of the day, people love talking about these things, but the core competencies are on display – you’ve got candidates in the field and you’re raising money.

It’s been my view for a long time that gender identity and sexual orientation are reasonable questions to ask in a modern society. I think the fact the PM has tied himself in knots on this issue shows a great weakness in his own leadership.

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Coles profit surges to $1.1bn as shoppers grapple with cost-of-living crisis

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Greens accuse company of price-gouging, as supermarket attributes sales boost to seasonal campaigns and rising digital revenue

Coles has posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business and expanded supermarket profit margins to the highest level recorded in the pandemic era, even as shoppers grapple with fast-rising household costs.

The revenue bump underpinned a robust rise in annual profit to $1.1bn. It threatens to draw Australia’s second largest chain back into the public limelight as cost-of-living pressures become a central political issue for the next federal election.

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From cars to coffee machines, here’s how Australian spending habits are weathering the high cost of living

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Retailers like Temple & Webster have slashed their pricing and tweaked their product range to lure gen Z and millennials – and it’s working

Many Australian businesses are feeling the pinch as customers can no longer afford the armchairs, gadgets, clothing brands and new bathrooms they could before the cost of living shot up.

But spending patterns remain uneven, and at times counterintuitive, leading to a mixed corporate earnings season marked by subdued but not collapsing demand.

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Melbourne lord mayor floats plan to slash power bills by bulk buying renewable energy

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‘MPower’ would be Australia’s largest scheme of its kind – with neighbouring councils invited to join in

Melbourne residents and business owners could have their electricity bills slashed by hundreds of dollars each year in a radical plan proposed by the city’s lord mayor.

Nick Reece has pledged to facilitate Australia’s largest community-led bulk purchasing scheme for renewable energy if he is re-elected.

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Australians’ mortgage payments hit high not seen since before GFC, data shows

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The average mortgage holder is parting with more than a fifth of their pre-tax income, double what they were spending in the 90s

Mortgage holders are spending well over 20% of their pre-tax income on their loans, representing one of the highest levels on record, data compiled by Commonwealth Bank shows.

It has rocketed in recent years amid rising interest rates and high living costs to a level last seen two decades ago when frothy property prices took hold before the 2008 global financial crisis.

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Furniture is getting really expensive. That doesn’t bode well for the Australian economy

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Annual results underline fears cost-of-living pressures will limit spending – including on side tables and lamps – so much that the economy will shift into reverse

What do sales of six-seat modular sofas and matching buffet tables tell us about the financial health of households and the broader economy? Quite a lot, it turns out. And, according to market professionals, it does not look good.

Annual profit at Sydney-headquartered furniture retailer Nick Scali fell almost 20%, according to results released on Friday. Crucially, sales order growth for the past two months has turned negative, down 1.2% from the prior year.

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‘Too high for comfort’: transport costs rising at almost three times rate of inflation, data reveals

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Households ‘hurting’ as people forced to spend more of their income on driving, petrol, tolls and public transport fares

Australians are being forced to spend more of their income on transport, with spending on driving, petrol, tolls and public transport fares growing at almost three times the rate of inflation, new data reveals.

In the 12 months to 30 June, transport costs rose by 10.5% across the board, well above the CPI increase of 3.8% over the same period, the latest Australian Automobile Association’s (AAA) transport affordability index showed.

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Australians shunning petrol-powered cars for hybrid vehicles as bowser prices rise

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Trend also reflects concerns over range and a lack of charging infrastructure affecting purely electric vehicles, experts say

Australians are buying more cars than ever but are increasingly choosing hybrid vehicles over petrol-powered cars due to rising costs at the bowser, new data by the Australian Automobiles Association shows.

Quarterly vehicle sales data released on Monday revealed a further uptick in demand for hybrid vehicles, a trend the industry believes reflects both the rising cost of living, as well as range anxiety and concerns over a lack of charging infrastructure affecting purely electric vehicles.

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Demonstrators in Nigeria gather days early for anti-government protests

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Crowds converge on Suleja over economic hardship and record inflation amid warnings against mass action

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in central Nigeria days before planned national demonstrations over economic hardship and record inflation.

The protesters, many of them young people, converged in the town of Suleja, 3o miles outside the federal capital, Abuja, with placards criticising the government’s policies. Week-long nationwide protests had been due to begin on Wednesday.

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Australia in biggest ‘baby recession’ since 1970s as pandemic birth boom fades

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Sydney has biggest drop in births as economist says couples delaying children because of cost-of-living crisis

Australia is in the grips of a “baby recession”, which some have attributed to rising cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty.

The number of births in Australia dropped to 289,100 in 2023, the lowest recorded since 2006, analysis from KPMG Australia showed.

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PM accuses Dutton of pulling Liberals further to the right; jail sentence for second Blockade Australia protester – as it happened

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Married couple allegedly intended to hand defence force material to Russia, AFP chief says

Reece Kershaw says the AFP arrested the pair – a married couple – yesterday morning at their Everton Park home in Brisbane.

The counter foreign interference taskforce, which includes AFP, Asio and other commonwealth partners, has dedicated significant resources and capability to Operation Bergazada.

The AFP will allege the individuals worked together to access Australian defence force material that related to Australia’s national security interests.

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Uber is cutting fares before Australia’s minimum gig work standards take effect, drivers say

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Ride-hail giant is lowering the starting point for negotiations under the closing loopholes regime, one driver claims

Uber drivers say looming cuts to fares will squeeze them even more in a cost-of-living crisis, arguing the ride-hailing giant is reducing what they are paid before new standards under the government’s closing loopholes legislation are determined.

Last week, Uber told drivers that rider fares would be cut from 7 August. The company has not told drivers the exact amount, but it is understood it would be an average of less than 5%.

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Queensland Greens unveil plan to cap grocery prices and ‘smash up’ Coles and Woolworths duopoly’

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Party’s new policy includes limiting cost increases on 30 essential items, with the shopping list to be determined by a ‘Fair Prices Authority’

The price of 30 basic essentials such as bread, milk and nappies would be capped, with increases tied to wages, under a new policy to be announced by the Queensland Greens on Wednesday.

The party will also lay out a plan to break up the Coles and Woolworths “duopoly” by requiring the companies to sell supermarkets if they own more than 20% of the market.

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Fatima Payman indefinitely suspended from Labor caucus – as it happened

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“I think he has the capacity,” Marles says when asked if Joe Biden has what it takes for the next four years. “I’ve got no doubt there will be no issues in relation to that.”

Marles says Biden administration doing ‘fantastic job’

We work very closely with him and we are very pleased with how we’re progressing with the United States both in terms of their position in the world, but also in terms of our equities, most significantly, of course, the Aukus arrangements that we have in place.

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Are Australia’s public transport discounts for seniors too generous? Are they fair?

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School and tertiary students receive concessions, but their fares are still more than three times those offered to seniors in some states

It’s the uncomfortable question few politicians would dare to ask. Are generous travel discounts afforded to Australia’s older citizens, especially self-funded retirees who are not means tested, sustainable? Moreover, are they fair?

Seniors have long enjoyed heavily subsidised public transport fares across Australia. But as the population ages, public finance strains and a cost-of-living crisis weighs disproportionately on younger generations, some are suggesting a rethink.

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Lift prices, find your niche or shut: Australian cafes face tough choices as inflation bites

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Hospitality outlets are being forced to evolve as cost-of-living pressures change the way cash-strapped consumers spend their money

The Sydney eatery John Montagu is known for its sandwiches.

The cafe in the harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo has an avid following, especially among those who appreciate that it is named after the Earl of Sandwich, which may sound comical but is a bone fide noble title.

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