Sixty years on from the Vietnam War marches, Australian union bosses are mostly MIA when it comes to protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Andrew Gardiner reports. The genocide in Gaza, and moves to muzzle talking about it in universities and schools, have rank-and-file unionists up in arms. But union officials
While top bureaucrats are now earning one million a year, the tribunal that decides who gets what is doing its best to keep its decisions secret. Rex Patrick reports. The head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet gets over $1 million a year, and the Secretaries of
At one of the apartments that Nayan Das visited in the hope of finding another relatively short term home, having pretty much given up on owning a home, he met another prospective tenant who seemed a bit panicked. She had just a week to go before being officially homeless. Should he give up his application in her favour?
“If people cannot be ...
In the built environment, sustainability is often treated as a problem of performance. We measure, compare, and optimise, relying on indicators to assess energy efficiency, water management, carbon footprint, or biodiversity.
These tools are necessary. But they also tend to focus attention on a moment that comes too late in the life of a project: when ...
Australia is in a housing quagmire. Each aimless and counterproductive lurch finds us mired deeper in a morass.
In my eleven years in Australia I’ve seen multiple attempts at increasing affordability. None of these affordability measures are designed to lower housing prices. Pretending there is a way to make housing more affordable without somebody ...
If asked to identify a stock that has achieved over a 500% total return, compounded earnings at an annualized growth rate of 10% or greater, traded at an earnings multiple of less than 15x, and maintained or raised its dividend for over 20 consecutive years, what names come to mind?
If you answered Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, or Nvidia, you would only ...
This chart shows the inflation and policy cash rate picture in Australia from 1993. The dots in the upper section represent annual (rolling four-quarter) CPI inflation each quarter (as quarterly has been the main reporting interval for inflation in Australia).
Click to enlarge
Red dots for inflation above 3%; black dots for inflation below 2%; and ...
In 2025, with credit spreads normalising, and in some segments moving below long-term averages, a number of yield hungry credit investors responded by adding risk to meet investment objectives. The approach taken to sustain portfolio yields of 6%+ varied from increasing credit risk, interest/spread duration and/or leverage.
While mostly still at ...
The first publication of Firstlinks (as Cuffelinks) was 13 years ago in Feb 2013. Longevity was an issue back then. Paul Keating reflected on the growing gap in our retirement incomes system through people living longer. David Bell wondered if people looked back, would they reflect on the performance of their super fund – or the attainment of goals and ...
Australia’s commercial real estate sector exhibited a recovery through 2025, with property values stabilising and returns moving into positive territory. As we enter 2026, this momentum is expected to continue, supported by strong fundamentals across all core commercial real estate sectors.
Commercial real estate continues to demonstrate compelling ...
While most Australians struggle with housing affordability, savvy buyers are leveraging over 50 government schemes to break into the property market. The difference? They know the rules of the game.
Melbourne's controversial success story
Last week, I encountered a fascinating perspective on Melbourne's property market. What many dismiss as a ‘basket ...
Jewish orgs request Tony Burke reject Australian visa for Israeli journalist as his funders’ links to IDF emerge. Stephanie Tran reports. A coalition of Australian Jewish organisations has written to the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, urging him to cancel the visa of Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli on character grounds,
Sixty years on from the Vietnam War marches, Australian union bosses are mostly MIA when it comes to protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Andrew Gardiner reports. The genocide in Gaza, and moves to muzzle talking about it in universities and schools, have rank-and-file unionists up in arms. But union officials
While top bureaucrats are now earning one million a year, the tribunal that decides who gets what is doing its best to keep its decisions secret. Rex Patrick reports. The head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet gets over $1 million a year, and the Secretaries of
At one of the apartments that Nayan Das visited in the hope of finding another relatively short term home, having pretty much given up on owning a home, he met another prospective tenant who seemed a bit panicked. She had just a week to go before being officially homeless. Should he give up his application in her favour?
“If people cannot be ...
In the built environment, sustainability is often treated as a problem of performance. We measure, compare, and optimise, relying on indicators to assess energy efficiency, water management, carbon footprint, or biodiversity.
These tools are necessary. But they also tend to focus attention on a moment that comes too late in the life of a project: when ...
Australia is in a housing quagmire. Each aimless and counterproductive lurch finds us mired deeper in a morass.
In my eleven years in Australia I’ve seen multiple attempts at increasing affordability. None of these affordability measures are designed to lower housing prices. Pretending there is a way to make housing more affordable without somebody ...
If asked to identify a stock that has achieved over a 500% total return, compounded earnings at an annualized growth rate of 10% or greater, traded at an earnings multiple of less than 15x, and maintained or raised its dividend for over 20 consecutive years, what names come to mind?
If you answered Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, or Nvidia, you would only ...
This chart shows the inflation and policy cash rate picture in Australia from 1993. The dots in the upper section represent annual (rolling four-quarter) CPI inflation each quarter (as quarterly has been the main reporting interval for inflation in Australia).
Click to enlarge
Red dots for inflation above 3%; black dots for inflation below 2%; and ...
In 2025, with credit spreads normalising, and in some segments moving below long-term averages, a number of yield hungry credit investors responded by adding risk to meet investment objectives. The approach taken to sustain portfolio yields of 6%+ varied from increasing credit risk, interest/spread duration and/or leverage.
While mostly still at ...
The first publication of Firstlinks (as Cuffelinks) was 13 years ago in Feb 2013. Longevity was an issue back then. Paul Keating reflected on the growing gap in our retirement incomes system through people living longer. David Bell wondered if people looked back, would they reflect on the performance of their super fund – or the attainment of goals and ...
Australia’s commercial real estate sector exhibited a recovery through 2025, with property values stabilising and returns moving into positive territory. As we enter 2026, this momentum is expected to continue, supported by strong fundamentals across all core commercial real estate sectors.
Commercial real estate continues to demonstrate compelling ...
While most Australians struggle with housing affordability, savvy buyers are leveraging over 50 government schemes to break into the property market. The difference? They know the rules of the game.
Melbourne's controversial success story
Last week, I encountered a fascinating perspective on Melbourne's property market. What many dismiss as a ‘basket ...
Jewish orgs request Tony Burke reject Australian visa for Israeli journalist as his funders’ links to IDF emerge. Stephanie Tran reports. A coalition of Australian Jewish organisations has written to the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, urging him to cancel the visa of Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli on character grounds,
