Due to security concerns about the winning bidder, the Victorian Liberal Party was forced to return more than $300,000 from the fundraising auction, including money raised with the Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Matthew Guy dinner auctions. The auction, which was attended by the then Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Victorian Opposition Leaders, was brought…
Infrastructure Australia announced that the expansion of the East Coast suburbs has ended and warned that the biggest challenge for the government will be to provide adequate inland services to cope with the growing population. Romilly Madew, the chief executive of the infrastructure regulator, said, “The 70-year leading trend in our urban fringe has ended.”…
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott warned that if banks become more conservative, the revised plan for responsible lending regulations may further hamper borrowers’ access to credit and undermine the economy. In a panel discussion at the loan company Aussie Home Loans’ biennial national conference, Mr. Elliott said that if banks and other lenders become more cautious…
In August, Liberal MP Peter Phelps issued a fierce roar in the New South Wales House of Lords, saying that the traffic lights were “Bolshevik threats.” He believes that traffic lights are in line with the state’s suppression of individual freedom. Instead, he demanded that we need more roundabouts: “The roundabout represents freedom. The roundabout…
The release of the 2016 Census data provides a good opportunity to reflect the future growth of Australian cities. Is there a better future use case than Tokyo? The city is often the subject of a futuristic vision and has experienced one of the fastest post-war population growth periods in the world. The Greater Tokyo…
According to Commsec’s state market reports, Victoria has earned the title of Australia’s best performing economy. Due to its strength in economic growth, retail, job market and construction, Victoria’s overall economic performance ranked first for the first time in three quarters. The new state, which previously occupied the top spot with Victoria, is ranked…
The Morrison government will invest A$500 million to help island countries in the Pacific region invest in renewable energy. The Australian government hopes this will help Pacific island countries strengthen their ability to cope with climate change and natural disasters. Leaders of Pacific island countries have also called on Australia to take more steps to…
Philip Lowe, the RBA’s President, warned that the cap on civil servants’ pay was contributing to low wage increases and wanted to raise it to at least 3%. Lowe told a congressional economic committee on Friday that federal and state pay caps of 2 to 2.5 percent are helping to hold down wages by regulating…
Trade minister Simon Birmingham has some advice for his coalition colleagues: think before you speak. In an opinion piece last week Andrew Hastie, a liberal backbench mp, compared China’s rise to Germany’s. “I want to encourage my colleagues, in fact anyone who wants to comment on sensitive diplomatic issues, to think about a few things…
We live in a global urban age. Australia’s major urban areas are expanding rapidly. Melbourne had 91,600 residents in 2014-15, an annual growth rate of 2.1%. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the developed world. Other big Australian cities have also seen rapid growth over the past year – Sydney at 1.7…