President Donald Trump’s decision to blame Ukraine for the war with Russia potentially represents a watershed moment for Australia, and raises questions about how much we can still rely on Uncle Sam.
Simone Grogan
Donald Trump’s trade war will slow Australia’s economy, RBA boss Michele Bullock says, but the impact on inflation remains unclear.
Matt Mckenzie
Parliament’s economics committee says it remains “deeply concerned” about cultural problems in the banking sector, with ANZ in the firing line.
Strong employment growth and a fresh record level of Aussies participating in the labour market has backed up the Reserve Bank’s cautious approach to interest rates.
Aussie wage growth slowed in the year to December as economists battled over the chances of another interest rate rise, with an analyst saying the RBA will be forced to act for one key reason.
Financial markets reckon borrowers could get another two doses of rate relief before 2025 is over — but the RBA is still talking tough.
Michele Bullock has warned borrowers not to bank on further interest rate cuts after the RBA offered a dose of mortgage relief to millions of Aussie households.
Experts warn an interest rate cut is not a done deal today as millions of Australians hope for mortgage relief at the Reserve Bank’s first board meeting of the year.
Matt Mckenzie & Katina Curtis
Australian builders are finishing half as many homes per hour as they were 30 years ago, prompting a top economic umpire to demand red tape be shredded to fix the housing crisis.
Housing, hospital and school costs have more than tripled in Perth across the past 25 years as analysis by The West Australian reveals where inflation has hit households hardest.
Australian companies need a tax cut and relief from the inflation-driving impacts of ballooning government spending, a top business lobby group has declared.
Shane Oliver has warned Aussies may be waiting until 2032 before real wages return to their 2020 peak, unless politicians cut taxes and red tape to get the economy moving again.
Financial markets reckon an interest rate cut next week is very likely, but Judo Bank’s Warren Hogan has warned the Reserve Bank should be cautious.
Jim Chalmers has reassured big business leaders he wants to slash red tape, boost productivity and sieze the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence in a second term Labor government.
Katina Curtis
China has slapped tariffs on a range of US products including sales of LNG.
Bloomberg
Donald Trump’s threat of a trade war has pushed another top economist to predict the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates later this month.
Donald Trump’s fresh trade war should set alarm bells ringing. A threat to free trade is a threat to Western Australia’s prosperity and way of life.
WA’s struggling lithium hydroxide producers are on the verge of being dealt another major blow with China clamping down on specialised technicians and equipment leaving its borders.
Adrian Rauso
All four big banks now expect an interest rate cut in February.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has issued a pre-election plea for both parties to end .transactional politics (and) hyper-partisan point-scoring’.
Jackson Hewett
Australian borrowers have received a dose of good news as core inflation fell to its slowest pace in three years, sparking hopes interest rate relief may finally be within reach.
Matt Mckenzie, Jessica Page & Jackson Hewett
Rents and home construction costs surged in Perth through 2024 as the latest inflation data confirmed the city’s place at the epicentre of the national housing crisis.
It is bad news for households already smashed by cost-of-living pressures. New forecasts reveal Australians will have to wait another five years until their disposable income recovers to pre-COVID levels.
Cheyanne Enciso
A top bank reckons Australia’s unemployment rate can remain close to 4 per cent without driving up inflation, bolstering the case for the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates.
