Housing costs crisis needs ‘decades’ of falling prices
Australia’s housing downturn might need to continue for a generation if home ownership is to become affordable again. Home prices fell 0.4 per cent nationwide in June after a 0.3…
Rocky year in shares as miners dig market out of a hole
Australia’s stock market has lagged well behind its global peers during the past year, with two sectors racking up heavy losses. Overall, the local bourse ended the 12 months to…
NDIS price caps. The ceiling became the flaw
The NDIS was meant to create competition to keep disability service prices low. Instead, most service providers charge the maximum allowed. Claudia Weisenberger reports. The majority of NDIS providers who…
Mining town denied Coles store as watchdog tests powers
Supermarket giant Coles has been blocked from setting up a new store in a regional mining town in an unprecedented move to protect local competitors. Australia’s second-largest supermarket chain has…
Robert Pether stuck in Iraq. UN experts on torture voice concern
Robert Pether, the Australian engineer jailed for five years on trumped-up charges, remains in Iraq facing life-threatening illness, unable to leave for treatment. A group of UN experts on cruel…