With trade tensions between China and the United States continuing unabated, federal Treasury secretary Josh Frydenberg will renew his call for reform of the world trade organization. Josh Frydenberg said he would like the WTO to have a better dispute settlement mechanism. He also wants the wto to be given the power to handle and…
Urban nature plays a vital role in the future livability of cities. An emerging study suggests that bringing nature into our cities can bring a range of truly impressive benefits, from health and well-being to adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In addition to the benefits to people, cities are often hot spots for threatened…
Property professionals say first-time buyers are flooding back into the market and the Morrison administration’s first home loan deposit scheme, due to start in January, will put further upward pressure on prices. Banks have said the interest rates and other features of the loans will give them high market competitiveness, the sources said. The documents…
Former Australian prime minister John Howard said he was surprised that all australians were suggesting phasing out the country’s coal industry in a speech to a conference of Chinese and Australian entrepreneurs. ‘this is one of our biggest assets,’ he said at the china-australia business summit. Exports of iron ore and coal are the foundation…
preface Early European design influenced the use of shading and ventilation strategies. The wraparound balconies and typical queenslanders are examples of responses to the harsh Australian summer. This design response is often matched by children playing under a lawn sprinkler or sleeping on a balcony to catch the night wind. The rise of air conditioning…
Australia’s central bank (RBA) announced a small cut in consumer spending and economic growth, this is the fourth cut this year. The reserve bank of Australia blamed a combination of drought, high taxes and low investment for continuing weak incomes. Unconventional monetary policy may be in advance The reserve bank of Australia said it was…
According to the latest polls, both parties are now tied at 50 percent. Labor’s fortunes have changed as prime minister Morrison has mishandled his handling of drought and the recession. The government’s multi-billion dollar drought relief package failed to impress voters, according to Australian reports. Labour, for its part, last week released a report into…
The decision to pause the rate cut after October’s rate cut was widely expected because unemployment had improved slightly and inflation had risen slightly. Futures markets expect less than a 10 per cent chance of a rate cut, and prices are no longer pricing in another 25 basis points over 18 months. Although improved unemployment…
Prime minister Morrison called his meeting with Chinese premier li keqiang “honest” and “candid,” but was not satisfied with the “grim” nature of the talks. The premier met li keqiang on the sidelines of the southeast Asia summit in Thailand. “There is a frank recognition that we are quite different countries.” Morrison told reporters in…
Australian companies are taking action against climate change. Last week, at the United Nations climate summit, Atlassian co-founder Michael cannon-brookes announced the a $26 billion Australian software company’s commitment to zero emissions by 2050. Such “net zero” commitments are becoming more common, but there is no way to really achieve this momentum in different parts…