Cost of living
Who’s bankrolling Sydney’s private school fees? The bank of nan and pop
More parents are missing school payments as they struggle with massive mortgage payments. Cashed-up baby boomers are here to help.
- by Christopher Harris
Latest
Opinion
Federal budget
If Chalmers gets the budget wrong, interest rate rises may kill his government
For Treasurer Jim Chalmers, this budget is existential. Bad decisions could increase unemployment or provoke more interest rate rises. Both would be political nails in the government’s coffin.
- by Shane Wright
Metronet costs balloon by $700 million as state pays to get people moving
Stage one of the Labor government’s flagship Metronet project climbed $2 billion in 2023 alone, taking the total cost of the network to around $11.5 billion.
- by Holly Thompson
Relief for struggling families but Victoria’s crushing debt burden to rise
Support for parents of school children and housing affordability will be priorities in a state budget that will show Victoria’s net debt hitting a new peak.
- by Annika Smethurst, Kieran Rooney and Rachel Eddie
Landlords hike rents nearly 50 per cent since the lows of lockdown
Rental prices for units have skyrocketed since COVID-19 lockdown, and house rents have jumped too. Is any relief in sight?
- by Jemimah Clegg
Opinion
Property market
Coalition’s super-for-housing policy would only help wealthier homebuyers
The Coalition’s plan to allow Australians to use their super for housing would disproportionately help wealthier people buy more expensive homes.
- by Brendan Coates and Joey Moloney
Guess who we overtook? Perth rental growth is country’s highest
Landlords have hiked rents more than 70 per cent since their COVID low point, with Perth’s now the third-most expensive rental market in the country.
- by Sarah Brookes
Opinion
HECS
The government’s HECS change is good, but another tweak is still needed
Timing is important – and that’s one of the clear shortfalls in the federal government’s surprise for young people with student loans.
- by Millie Muroi
NAB boss says most of its home loans are written at a discount
Chief executive Andrew Irvine reported a 13 per cent tumble in half-year profits, but said households were mostly proving resilient in the cost-of-living crisis.
- by Millie Muroi
‘Path forward remains uncertain’: Spending slumps before RBA’s pre-budget rates call
Retail spending growth over the year to the end of March was just 0.8 per cent – the weakest growth on record outside the pandemic and the introduction of the GST in 2000.
- by Rachel Clun
Geography hacking: How home buyers can (almost) afford a house on their current salary
Plans to move out of the city and buy a home in the regions come very close to stacking up - if workers can pull it off.
- by Jemimah Clegg