Experts have highlighted China’s dominance of solar manufacturing and the dangers of being “under the thumb” of one country as the world grapples with the “first global energy crisis”. International Energy Agency executive director Dr Fatih Birol said the current energy crisis was “interwoven by many factors, including geopolitics”. Countries around the world are currently grappling with skyrocketing gas prices ...

MP declares A cost of living crisis has Australians crying out continued petrol price relief, an independent MP has declared. At the time, both sides of politics agreed the temporary cut was necessary in the hope prices would have dropped by the time the tax was reinstated in September. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has repeatedly said the Albanese government would not ...

A grocer in Adelaide has unleashed on supermarket chains for “jacking up their f***ing prices” in a fiery rant on social media, declaring his shop in the city’s east has refused to use inflation as an “excuse” to charge more for fresh produce. Johnny Kapiris, who runs St Bernards Fruit and Veg with his wife Leannda, posted the video to ...

Australia’s welfare system is set for a major shake-up when new obligations for jobseekers come into effect. Some payments will also receive a bump, while the price of some medicines are set to drop from Friday. Individuals on unemployment benefits will no longer need to apply for 20 jobs a month when the scheme is replaced by a points-based activation ...

Australia’s biggest bank has announced a huge hike to one of its interest rates in a sign borrowers will continue to feel the pain. Financial analysts are shocked at the size of Commonwealth Bank’s fixed rate hike of 1.40 percentage points for both owner-occupiers and investors that comes into force on Thursday. “Today’s fixed rate hikes from Australia’s biggest bank ...

Billionaire Elon Musk has predicted an economic disaster that would send ripples around the world is likely to happen soon. Billionaire Elon Musk has predicted an “inevitable” recession in the United States is likely to happen “in the near term” and detailed all the consequences it would entail for the rest of the world. Mr Musk, the CEO of Tesla ...

All of Australia’s big four banks have increased their mortgage rates in line with Tuesday’s RBA interest rate rise. ANZ and NAB announced the move on Wednesday, bringing them in line with Commonwealth Bank. Macquarie Bank, Westpac and Bank of Queensland had already moved in line with the RBA. Wednesday’s news came after Westpac revealed it would pass on RBA’s ...

A top Australian finance expert has urged Australians to refinance their homes if they are feeling the pressure of the RBA’s latest cash rate hike. At 0.85 per cent, the official cash rate was lifted to its highest level since September 2019 on Tuesday, and marked the first back-to-back rate rise in 12 years. Prior to the announcement, experts believed ...

Most Australian households are well-placed to absorb interest rate hikes despite fears of more cost-of-living stress, official Reserve Bank data shows. The RBA announced a higher-than-expected rate rise of 50 basis points to 0.85 per cent on Tuesday, fuelling fears of more living costs amid surging inflation. However the hike is intended to do the opposite and Australian households are ...

Mining and extractive industries like oil and gas often say that they are “saving Australia”. So their argument goes, when commodity prices are high, Australia can prosper no matter what is happening elsewhere. This was always only half of the argument, though, because commodity prices often fall and when they do extractive industries lead Australia down. But what happens when ...