Higher GST a low wattage idea

Independent MP Rob Oakshott stepped into the media spotlight yesterday saying both the Coalition and Labor want to raise the GST rate – after the election. Sadly, he is correct. ”It shouldn’t just be about the GST. This is about why on earth in Australia...

Steer Around the GFC

15 November 2012 The mining investment boom that carried Australia though the Global Financial Crisis is declining rapidly and new engines of growth are urgently needed to steer around the ‘Controlled Depression’ that is driving the world into a spiral of misery...

No, House Prices are not ‘Recovering’

A storm of triumphant prose rolled out to greet yesterday’s release of the authoritative ABS Eight Capital Cities House Price Indexes. Normally-sober Bloomberg told its global audience: “Prices climbed 0.3 per cent in the September quarter from a year ago.” They did...

Goodbye to high land prices

  Next week, a disappointed man and his family are flying out to a new life in Seattle, Washington. They came to Australia seeking new opportunities in a high growth economy. They love Australia, love Melbourne, but have been driven away by land prices that would...