Australian Economy

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index has been released and reveals that sentiment has crashed to a four-year low: The November fall was driven by a sharp deterioration in the near-term economic outlook.

In recent years, more New Zealanders than usual have moved to Australia.

Australia’s productivity growth over the past decade has been among the poorest in the OECD, hampering economic and per capita growth and contributing to the nation’s inflationary pressures.

In a recent appearance on ABC’s Insiders program, Treasurer Jim Chalmers made the claim that the Albanese government had made an enormous amount of savings on the federal budget, touting the government’s skills at economic and fiscal management.

A month ago, I reported on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Australian Energy Update 2026.

In a recent interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made what they characterised as a “sharp comment” against the RBA.

Australian real per capita GDP declined by 0.5% over the first four years of the Albanese government – i.e., between Q2 2022 and Q2 2026.

The Australian’s Simon Benson has clearly been tapped on the shoulder by the business lobby and told to shill for mass immigration: Benson has parroted spurious research from the Australian Industry Group (AiG) claiming that cutting immigration would deprive the nation of highly skilled workers, harming productivity growth and the economy.

As the Albanese government continues to attempt to redirect responsibility for the current issue with inflation away from itself and on to other issues, the latest polling from Essential suggests these efforts are falling flat with voters.

Tim Toohey of Yarra Capital Management argues that the Reserve Bank is misdiagnosing Australia’s inflation problem as primarily one of excess private-sector demand and, as a result, risks keeping monetary policy too tight for too long.

Major banks CBA, NAB and HSBC have downgraded their outlooks for the Australian economy amid rising interest rates and inflation, along with falling housing prices and turnover.

Global diesel prices are tracking at record highs in real, inflation-adjusted terms as conflicts in the Middle East and Russia continue to disrupt refinery operations and export routes.

For months, I have been calling for the abolition of the pension income test so seniors can take on additional work without losing access to the Aged Pension.

Westpac’s credit card tracker is powering.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked the official cash rate four times this year to a 15-year high of 4.60%.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for September 2026.

News is leading the charge, oddly.

Last week’s ultra-hawkish commentary from RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser immediately sent expectations of interest rate hikes among economists and in financial markets skyward.

Recent Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commentary on inflation and interest rates has been inconsistent, leading to wide swings in interest rate expectations.

I recently had a conversation with Cameron Murray about the economics of an ageing population, and some of his arguments challenged the way we usually think about demographics.

The analysis from CEDA argues that Australians are experiencing a renewed rise in economic hardship, with the country’s “misery index” returning to near post-pandemic highs after all improvements since 2023 were reversed.

The private credit market, which has grown to around $200 billion in assets, has become a key lender to developers as traditional banks pull back from construction lending due to tightening risk appetites.