Young Albo would be proud of himself. But the Albo of today owes two people an apology for what he said at the Cabinet table: Political insider PETER VAN ONSELEN on what lies behind PM's Palestine call
It is easy to see why Albo has done what he has. Within the Labor Party and within his faction, the Left, the PM has long been an activist for the Palestinian cause.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Albanese praises RBA's rate cut despite housing concerns
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has embraced the RBA's recent rate cut despite experts raising fears the decision will price more Aussies out of the property market. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to cut the cash rate for the third time this year, bringing it down 25 basis points to 3.60 per cent. Within an hour, Mr Albanese praised the decision as the result of his government's efforts to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. 'Interest rates have just been cut again. It will mean Australians paying less on their mortgages,' he said. 'We're working hard to help families with the cost of living . There's more to do and that's what we're focused on every day.' The announcement fell on deaf ears, with a number of Australians pointing out the decision will drive up demand for housing, ultimately pushing up prices. 'Historically, every time interest rates have been cut, home prices tend to increase,' Mr van Onselen told the Daily Mail. 'Cutting interest rates is a band-aid. It can increase your borrowing capacity and it can reduce your monthly mortgage payments - so if you already have a mortgage, it's great if you're looking to buy again. 'It can lower your payments on a new home loan because you've got to pay less monthly. 'But as that lower interest rate gets capitalized into higher prices, it then reduces affordability going ahead. So, it makes affordability structurally worse down the road.' Mr Van Onselen says the root cause of the housing crisis was rising immigration. 'We've grown by 8.7million people in less than 25 years - 46 per cent population growth - and you wonder why we don't have enough housing, we don't have enough infrastructure. 'We've run one of the biggest immigration programs in the world, and we haven't built enough houses, enough infrastructure, enough anything, to cope with it.' According to his analysis, if Australia's population growth slowed by 15 per cent over the next five years, the country would end up with a surplus of 40,000 homes. 'That was buried at the back of the NHSAC's report and what that tells you is that the solution to this mess is to cut immigration,' Mr van Onselen said. The Albanese government has committed to shoring up Australia's housing supply, with a target of 1.2 million new homes in the next five years. Meanwhile, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council predicted in May the government will fall short of its goal by at least 250,000. Even if it were to reach its goal, Mr van Onselen said rising demand fueled by government policy would keep accessibility out of reach. 'It's a government policy failure - we've got the supply issues but it won't get better until the government stops pumping demand with things like its five per cent deposit scheme and mass immigration,' he said. Despite the government's efforts to address the supply issue, NSHAC predicted Australia's housing shortage will worsen over the next five years. According to Loan Market, home loan pre-approvals spiked across the country last month as homebuyers scrambled to secure financing ahead of an expected rate cut. Loan pre-approvals were 53 per cent higher in July compared to the same time last year, with an 80 per cent spike in the Northern Territory and South Australia. Pre-approvals were up 79 per cent in Western Australia while the eastern states all recorded upticks of nearly 50 per cent. Loan Market chief executive David McQueen said a tight housing stock was forcing homebuyers to test their borrowing capacity ahead of the Spring rush.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Morning Mail: plan to charge EVs for road use, which jobs are least vulnerable to AI, Paul Kelly's Gravy sequel revealed
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Elsewhere, 400 people have died from extreme heat in Arizona's Maricopa county alone this summer, while Alaska's capital city of Juneau is urging many residents to evacuate because of the risk of flooding caused by glacial melt. Veteran US scientists are planning a response to a government report casting doubt on the consensus on the climate crisis. Trump pledge | Donald Trump said there would be 'severe consequences' if Russia doesn't agree to end the war after he spoke to European leaders before his summit with Vladimir Putin tomorrow. A Pitts take | Los Angeles police have formally linked a break-in at Brad Pitt's home in the city in June to a string of other burglaries at properties belonging to celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Austin Butler. Caught out | David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, has referred himself to the environment watchdog after going fishing with JD Vance without the required licence during the US vice-president's trip to the UK. 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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Taliban use force to divert international aid, US watchdog says
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers divert international aid by force and other means, block minority communities from receiving aid and may collude with U.N. officials to seek kickbacks, a U.S. watchdog said on Tuesday. The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said its findings were based on input from nearly 90 current and former U.S. officials, U.N. officials and others. The sources included Afghans in Afghanistan, the report said. "In Afghanistan, SIGAR found that the Taliban use every means at their disposal, including force, to ensure that aid goes where they want it to go, as opposed to where donors intend," the report said. Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat denied the allegations. He said international aid is distributed independently in Afghanistan and government agencies cooperate "to ensure transparency" and prevent diversion. SIGAR said an employee of an Afghan aid organization who participated in the report was killed for exposing the diversion of food aid to a Taliban military training camp. But it could not confirm who was responsible. The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently confirm the charges. International donors provided $10.72 billion in aid, including $3.83 billion by the United States, between August 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan and April 2025 when the Trump administration ended most U.S. aid, the report said. The report said the Taliban used force and regulatory powers among other means to control aid. This included determining which humanitarian groups can operate, directing U.S.-funded aid to favored majority Pashtun communities at the expense of minorities and extorting humanitarian workers. SIGAR also heard from interviewees allegations that U.N. officials demanded bribes from companies and aid groups for U.N. contracts, the report said. Taliban officials allegedly "collude with U.N. officials to extort bribes from U.N. contractors and then split the proceeds," the report said.
