It’s Thursday, and Australia is recalibrating.

Retirement savings are being stolen in plain sight — $6.3 billion a year, quietly drained from workers who never see it coming. The Big Four accounting firms are finally facing scrutiny from the government. And the builders meant to solve the housing crisis say the real problem isn’t the code — it’s the system above it.

Meanwhile, Australians are getting creative at the checkout. Two in three would rather buy the ugly tomato than pay full price. That’s not a trend. That’s a shift.

This week’s Financial Register covers the policy decisions – and the daily trade-offs – that shape how Australians work, retire, build, and eat.

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In today’s email:

• Unpaid Super Bill Reaches $6.3 Billion as Payday Laws Take Effect

• Treasury Opens Audit and Consulting Regulation Review as Big Four Face Structural Break-Up Prospect

• Building Governance Failures Threaten Australia’s 1.2 Million Home Target, Industry Body Warns

• Digital Publishers Alliance Chair Calls for Urgent Government Action to Protect Australian Media Ecosystem

• Cost-of-Living Squeeze Pushes Australians Toward Imperfect Produce and Unconventional Shopping

Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos 👇

MARKET CLOSE: 01 JULY26

Data is provided by ASX Stock data as of At close 29/06 (AEST)

Unpaid Super Bill Reaches $6.3 Billion as Payday Laws Take Effect

What happened

New analysis of Australian Taxation Office data by the Super Members Council shows unpaid superannuation now costs Australian workers $6.3 billion annually in lost retirement savings — a $500 million increase on the prior year. The findings land on the same day payday super legislation comes into force, requiring employers to pay superannuation contributions at the same time as wages rather than quarterly.

Why it matters

The scale of underpayment is broad and the individual impact is compounding. More than one in four workers — approximately 3.4 million Australians — were underpaid an average of $1,850 in superannuation during 2023-24, up from $1,730 the year before. Over a working life, the ATO estimates the loss of compounding investment returns could leave some workers more than $30,000 worse off at retirement. The problem falls hardest on those least able to absorb it: women, who already retire with roughly a quarter less super than men, are disproportionately affected, as are younger workers and low-income earners — with one in two workers earning less than $25,000 a year carrying unpaid super entitlements. NSW alone recorded underpayments exceeding $2 billion, while Western Australia and NSW shared the highest proportion of underpaid workers at 29% each.

Zoom out

The quarterly payment model has long been identified as a structural enabler of underpayment — infrequent remittance cycles create both administrative lag and opportunities for cashflow-driven non-compliance that are difficult for workers to detect in real time. The payday super reform closes that gap by synchronising super payments with payroll, making discrepancies immediately visible through single touch payroll reporting systems already available to all employers. The transition is already underway: since the policy was announced, around 19,000 additional employers have shifted to paying super more frequently than quarterly, a 2.4 percentage point increase. The ATO has confirmed it will take a graduated enforcement approach in the first 12 months, concentrating compliance resources on the highest-risk cases rather than penalising businesses still adapting to the new cadence. Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert estimates the reform could add more than $9,000 to the average worker’s retirement balance through the compounding effect of more frequent contributions.

Bottom line

The $500 million single-year blowout in unpaid super — despite years of policy focus on the issue — demonstrates that quarterly remittance cycles were structurally incapable of containing the problem. Payday super doesn’t just change when employers pay; it changes how detectable non-compliance becomes, which is ultimately what enforcement depends on. Today marks the shift from a system that tolerated a $6.3 billion annual transfer away from workers’ retirement savings to one designed to make it visible and recoverable in near real time.

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Treasury Opens Audit and Consulting Regulation Review as Big Four Face Structural Break-Up Prospect

What happened

The Australian Treasury has released a consultation paper examining regulatory gaps in the accounting, auditing and consulting sector, with a separation of audit and consulting activities among the options under consideration. Assistant Treasurer Dr Daniel Mulino announced the review today. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), which represents more than 140,000 financial professionals, has welcomed the consultation and committed to engaging constructively with Treasury and ASIC on the design of any reforms.

Why it matters

The potential structural separation of audit and advisory functions would represent the most significant change to the Big Four business model in decades. At issue is a structural incentive conflict that regulators have allowed to persist: firms are simultaneously expected to provide independent assurance over financial statements while competing for the same clients’ highly profitable consulting mandates. RMIT University finance professor Angel Zhong characterised the dynamic plainly — the Big Four have effectively been assessing their own work, and Treasury is now considering whether that arrangement remains tenable. The quality of audit assurance is not an abstract governance question for businesses, superannuation funds, and government agencies that rely on these opinions to make decisions. It is the foundation on which capital allocation, financial reporting credibility and regulatory compliance rest.

Zoom out

Australia’s review sits within a broader international recalibration. Regulators across multiple jurisdictions are reassessing whether traditional partnership structures and self-regulatory frameworks remain appropriate for professional services firms that have grown into large, globally interconnected and politically influential institutions. The Australian context has been sharpened by a sequence of high-profile scandals — most notably the PwC tax leaks affair — that demonstrated how consulting relationships and confidential government access can coexist in ways that compromise both. CA ANZ’s statement is notable for its tone: the body acknowledged that its own disciplinary processes, strengthened by member vote in October 2023, are insufficient on their own, and that the regulatory framework around audit must keep pace with what professional bodies can deliver internally. That is an unusual admission from a peak body, and it signals that the profession’s credibility problem is severe enough that sector representatives are actively inviting external oversight rather than resisting it. The ATO notes that the options paper presents a wide range of measures requiring careful consideration, particularly to avoid unintended consequences for smaller firms that operate very differently from the Big Four.

Bottom line

Treasury’s consultation must answer whether the preferred remedy is structural separation, enhanced independent oversight, or a combination of both, because evidence shows current governance arrangements are inadequate. Professor Zhong’s framing is instructive: the success of any reform will be measured not by how firms are reorganised but by whether confidence in audit independence is genuinely restored. Structural change that fails to address the underlying incentive problem would leave the core issue intact.

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Building Governance Failures Threaten Australia’s 1.2 Million Home Target, Industry Body Warns

What happened

The Building Products Industry Council (BPIC) has warned that Australia’s national housing target of 1.2 million new homes is being jeopardised by structural failures in the building governance system — not the building code itself. The peak body, which represents industries directly employing more than 243,000 Australians, made the call in response to Federal Treasury’s ongoing NCC Modernisation Project, arguing the review is focused on the wrong problem.

Why it matters

BPIC Executive Officer Rodger Hills said the current governance model — anchored by an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between state and territory building ministers — is producing the opposite of its intended effect. Rather than delivering national consistency, the system is generating conflicting state policies, opaque decision-making, and no meaningful feedback mechanism for industry or the public. Building ministers’ meetings are irregular, lack consistent agendas, and exclude industry input entirely. Hills described these as “structural failures that directly affect housing supply, productivity and the cost of building in Australia” — outcomes felt not just by the construction sector but by homebuyers, renters, and anyone waiting for new housing stock to materialise.

Zoom out

The critique carries weight given the NCC Modernisation Project’s final report is due in October-November 2026, making the window for course correction narrow. BPIC’s position is that reforming the National Construction Code without overhauling the governance architecture above it is an exercise in futility — “like renovating a house on weak foundations,” as Hills framed it. The body is calling for a package of structural reforms: regular and transparent building ministers’ meetings with direct industry input; a restructured IGA with clear medium and long-term priorities; elevation of the Australian Building Codes Board to statutory body status; early industry engagement on proposed code changes; and measurable performance indicators for regulatory outcomes. These are not novel concepts in regulatory design — statutory bodies, transparency requirements, and performance benchmarking are standard features of functional national frameworks in other sectors. Their absence from building governance reflects how long the system has operated without meaningful accountability.

Bottom line

Australia’s housing ambition is running on a governance model that was already struggling before construction demand intensified. BPIC’s intervention puts a clear choice to the Treasury review: use the October deadline to address the IGA and governance architecture, or produce a modernised code that the same dysfunctional system will continue to implement inconsistently. The building products sector is effectively arguing that the government cannot code its way out of a governance problem.

Digital Publishers Alliance Chair Calls for Urgent Government Action to Protect Australian Media Ecosystem

Tim Duggan, Chair of the Digital Publishers Alliance (DPA) and founder of the former independent media company Junkie Media, used a keynote address at the National Press Club in Canberra to outline three existential threats facing Australia’s media industry and propose four concrete policy solutions, urging the federal government to act immediately to prevent irreversible damage to the country’s democratic information infrastructure.

What Happened

Duggan, speaking before an audience that included News Corp Executive Chairman Michael Miller, Greens Communications Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, and representatives from more than 150 independent digital publishers, framed Australia’s media landscape as a “Great Media Reef” — a complex, interdependent ecosystem that he assessed as sitting somewhere between “vulnerable” and “endangered” on a conservation-style threat scale.

He identified three primary threats: the predatory conduct of global big tech and AI platforms; sustained government paralysis in responding to that conduct; and an accelerating crisis of trust fuelled by misinformation and AI-generated content.

Why It Matters

The consequences Duggan described are neither abstract nor distant. Google’s shift to AI-generated search overviews has already caused a 33% decline in referral traffic to news publishers globally over the past year alone, fracturing what had been a functionally symbiotic relationship between search and publishing. Meta, meanwhile, abandoned Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code more than two years ago — and in the period since, the Australian government has continued directing an estimated portion of approximately $200 million in digital advertising spend toward Meta and Google, rewarding platforms that have actively harmed the local industry.

The AI dimension compounds the threat further. Duggan cited data suggesting that one major AI company scrapes approximately 24,000 pages of publisher content for every single human referral it returns — a ratio he described as illustrative of “what a broken ecosystem looks like.” He disclosed that his own published books — Cult Status, Killer Thinking and Work Backwards — were among 7.5 million titles allegedly ingested without payment through the pirated Library Genesis catalogue, used by Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic to train their models.

The trust dimension is measurable: three in four Australians report concern about distinguishing real from fake content online, the highest rate of such concern recorded anywhere in the world. Duggan linked declining news consumption directly to a reduced capacity for misinformation detection and increased political polarisation.

Zoom Out

Duggan’s address arrives at a moment of genuine structural fragility for independent Australian publishing. While large organisations like Nine, Seven, News Corp, and national broadcasters ABC and SBS have the resources to weather market disruption, smaller and mid-sized independent publishers — which Duggan described as the most agile and community-connected part of the ecosystem — do not have the balance sheets to absorb prolonged platform hostility and legislative delay.

The government again pushed back the proposed News Bargaining Incentive, its successor mechanism to the news media bargaining code, from the parliamentary agenda in the days before the address. For Duggan, the pace mismatch is structural: “The slow speed of government is being strangled by the fast pace of technology.”

His four proposed solutions carry genuine policy precedent. A tax offset for journalist salaries, modelled on the existing 30-to-40% producer offset for film and television content — which returned $713 million to the Australian screen industry in the last financial year — could, according to economic analysis by expert Megan Brownlow, generate approximately $216 million annually for journalism if applied at a comparable rate. Denmark, Sweden, France and Canada have all deployed similar tax reduction schemes for news industries.

On copyright, Duggan argued that the enforcement mechanism already exists: the Copyright Act, in operation since 1968 and administered through the Copyright Agency for more than 50 years, already provides the licensing framework AI companies claim is unworkable. Media monitoring companies such as Isentia and Meltwater already operate under licensed content-scraping arrangements. The argument that AI companies cannot do the same, Duggan suggested, was not a technical constraint but a political choice.

On government advertising, the $250 million annual federal advertising budget currently flowing substantially to offshore platforms represents a lever that has, according to Duggan, never been modelled against the alternative: the combined reach of every domestic television network, out-of-home operator, magazine, radio station, independent publisher and community newspaper. He pointed to New York City’s 2019 commitment to direct at least 50% of its print and digital advertising to community and ethnic media — an initiative that reached more than 220 outlets in its first year — as an existing proof of concept.

The fourth proposal, a restructured News Bargaining Incentive with an explicit set-aside for smaller independent publishers, would address what Duggan characterised as the central failure of the original bargaining code: that its benefits flowed overwhelmingly to the largest media organisations, leaving independent publishers underserved. A rare joint statement from the DPA, Local Independent News Association, Community Broadcast Association of Australia, Public Interest Journalism Initiative, Independent Multicultural Media Australia, and the Alliance for Journalist Freedom – the first such united position from smaller publisher bodies – formally endorsed this principle.

Cost-of-Living Squeeze Pushes Australians Towards Imperfect Produce and Unconventional Shopping

What happened

New consumer research from ING Australia, released June 26, shows that an estimated two in three Australians (65%) would buy imperfect-looking produce to save money on groceries, with 86% having taken at least one cost-reduction action on fruit and vegetables in the past 12 months. The findings, drawn from ING’s consumer insights research, reflect sustained household budget pressure reshaping how Australians approach food spending.

Why it matters

The behavioural shifts are both broad and deepening. More than seven in ten Australians say rising fresh produce costs are actively changing their shopping decisions — with strict seasonal shopping (37%) and discounted produce (35%) among the most common adaptations. A meaningful share are moving beyond supermarkets entirely: one in six have grown their own produce or sourced food through community and neighbour networks, while one in eight are now preserving surplus fruit and vegetables instead of discarding them. Separately, ING’s Sense of Us 2026 report found that 55% of Australians have adjusted their diets outright to offset grocery cost increases — suggesting that the imperfect-produce trend sits within a wider pattern of dietary compromise rather than simply savvy shopping. ING Head of Consumer and Market Insights Matt Bowen described the response as “shopping smarter” rather than cutting back, though the distinction between the two is narrowing for many households.

Zoom out

The generational split in the data is telling. Older Australians — Gen X and Baby Boomers — are significantly more willing to accept cosmetically imperfect produce (51% and 50% respectively) than younger cohorts (Gen Z at 34%, Millennials at 38%). Younger generations, however, are more prepared to sacrifice convenience — around 29% of Gen Z and Millennials versus 16% of Gen X and 14% of Baby Boomers — suggesting different but equally pragmatic responses to the same budget pressure. The willingness of 71% of respondents to acknowledge that cosmetically graded produce going to waste bothers them points to an emerging alignment between financial self-interest and waste reduction attitudes. Retailers and food producers have long faced resistance to imperfect produce programs; sustained cost-of-living pressure may accomplish what sustainability campaigns have not.

Bottom line

When 86% of the population is actively modifying grocery behaviour within a single year, it crosses from trend into structural shift. The cosmetic standards that have historically governed supermarket ranging decisions — and driven significant food waste upstream — are colliding with household budget reality in a way that creates both commercial opportunity for retailers willing to act on it and a policy question about whether existing produce grading conventions remain fit for purpose.

FROM OUR TEAM

📖 I appreciate you taking the time to read! See you in the next issue. Got a question or criticism? Just click on Reply. We can talk while we are here.

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It's Tuesday! Australia’s mood is souring — well-being is down, trust in Washington is at a record low, and property auctions are showing their weakest results since COVID.

But Australians aren’t passive. They’re cutting spending, moving their bodies, and quietly rethinking who matters most on the world stage.

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In today’s email:

• Australians Lean on Healthy Habits, Tight Budgets as Wellbeing Index Falls to 61.9

• Self-Directed Investors Urged to Use EOFY as Portfolio Review Moment

• Sydney and Melbourne Auction Clearance Rates Hit Multi-Year Lows Amid Budget-Driven Market Squeeze

Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos

MARKET CLOSE: 29 JUNE 26

Data is provided by Market Index. Stock data as of At close 29/06 (AEST)

Australians Lean on Healthy Habits, Tight Budgets as Wellbeing Index Falls to 61.9

What happened

Australia’s national wellbeing index dropped 2.2 points to 61.9 in Q2, according to NAB’s latest Wellbeing Survey, with the cost of living remaining the dominant pressure point alongside health costs, housing affordability, and work and income stress.

Why it matters

The headline index decline masks a more interesting behavioural signal: Australians aren’t passive under pressure. Nearly half (47%) are actively cutting non-essential spending, more than a third (35%) have increased physical activity, and roughly one in four are building budgets or shopping around to switch providers for savings. The data suggests a population recalibrating around controllables — routines, sleep, connection, mindfulness — rather than waiting for macroeconomic relief that has yet to arrive. For financial services, retail, and wellness operators, this behavioural pivot has direct commercial implications.

Zoom out

The Q2 reading fits a broader pattern visible across developed economies: when sustained cost pressure outlasts consumers’ tolerance for abstract optimism, they shift into what behavioural economists call “efficacy-seeking” — prioritising actions that restore a sense of agency even when the underlying stressors remain unchanged. That’s the market logic behind the simultaneous rise in budget apps, breathwork studios, and discount grocery formats. The 19% using mindfulness techniques and the 26% building spending plans aren’t separate trends — they’re the same psychological impulse expressed across different spending categories. The wellness industry, in particular, has historically outperformed in late-cycle consumer stress environments precisely because low-cost, high-agency products (breathwork, journaling, community fitness) offer tangible relief without requiring discretionary outlay. NAB’s observation that “early signs things may be easing” is doing a lot of hedging work in what is otherwise a story about persistent strain.

Bottom line

The decline in wellbeing is real, but the more useful information for market participants is the behavioural adaptation data: Australians under financial stress are still spending, just in different ways, with a strong preference for products and services that restore control, connection, and routine.

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Self-Directed Investors Urged to Use EOFY as Portfolio Review Moment

What happened

InvestmentMarkets CEO Darren Connolly called on Australia’s self-directed investors Monday to treat the end of the financial year as a portfolio management opportunity rather than a routine administrative milestone, as the June 30 deadline approaches.

Why it matters

For the country’s growing cohort of self-managed investors, EOFY represents one of the few natural points in the calendar where portfolio scrutiny is both timely and culturally expected. Connolly said many investors fall into the trap of focusing on compliance tasks while overlooking a more consequential question: whether their existing holdings still make sense.

“Investors spend a lot of time ticking boxes, but often the most valuable exercise is reviewing existing holdings and asking a simple question: would I make the same investment decision today?” Connolly said. “If the answer is no, that asset deserves closer scrutiny.”

Concentration risk — where capital becomes too heavily weighted in a single asset, sector, or structure — is among the most common and underexamined problems he identified. With self-directed investors increasingly holding assets across multiple platforms and investment structures, Connolly argued that EOFY is the ideal moment to consolidate that information and assess the full picture.

Zoom out

The call comes against a backdrop of meaningful structural change in Australia’s retail investment landscape. Shifting interest rate expectations, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and broader access to private market products have complicated portfolio construction for investors who manage their own capital. InvestmentMarkets, which lists more than 750 products across 20 asset categories, is among the platforms that have expanded that access — but Connolly acknowledged that availability alone does not equal informed decision-making.

“The challenge is making informed decisions, maintaining a clear investment framework and ensuring capital is being deployed where it has the strongest potential to support long-term objectives,” he said.

This highlights a wider tension in the self-directed investor market: product availability has outpaced financial literacy infrastructure, leaving more individual investors navigating complex allocations without professional guidance.

Bottom line

The practical advice here is straightforward: use June 30 as a forcing function to ask whether every holding in your portfolio would survive a fresh investment decision today. Many investors who haven’t closely examined diversification or concentration risk since last EOFY may find the answer more uncomfortable than expected.

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Australians' Trust in U.S. Hits Record Low as Economic Pessimism Surges, Lowy Poll Finds

What happened

Australian trust in the United States has fallen to its lowest level in the 22-year history of the Lowy Institute Poll, with just 31 percent of Australians saying they trust Washington to act responsibly in world affairs — a 25-point collapse from 2024. The 2026 poll, released June 23, also recorded the highest economic pessimism ever measured in the survey’s history, with 59 percent of Australians now pessimistic about the country’s economic performance over the next five years.

Why it matters

The numbers represent a fundamental shift in how Australians perceive their place in the world, not just a reaction to a single political figure. Confidence in President Donald Trump stands at 21 percent — the lowest recorded for any U.S. president in Lowy’s polling history — with 60 percent of respondents saying they have “no confidence at all” in him to do the right thing in world affairs. More striking still: for the first time in the poll’s history, a majority of Australians (51 percent) now say the relationship with China is more important than the one with the United States. Trust in China, meanwhile, has risen eight points to 28 percent, narrowing the gap between the two superpowers to just three percentage points — down from 53 points in 2022.

Zoom out

The poll captures a public in the middle of a significant worldview recalibration. Economic anxiety is running hotter than at any point during the COVID pandemic or the Global Financial Crisis, suggesting the current unease isn’t being driven by a discrete shock but by something more structural — a diffuse sense that the global order underpinning Australian prosperity is becoming less reliable. That anxiety is spilling into domestic attitudes as well: support for cultural diversity has recorded the largest two-year movement on any societal question in the poll’s history, dropping nearly 20 points from 90 percent in 2024 to 73 percent today, while 64 percent of Australians now say AI’s risks outweigh its benefits, up 12 points since 2024. The one area of relative stability is AUKUS — two-thirds of Australians still support the nuclear-powered submarine program — but even alliance support has fallen seven points in a single year, the sharpest sustained drop the poll has recorded.

Bottom line

Australia’s strategic consensus — that the U.S. alliance is the bedrock of national security and that openness is a net positive — is eroding faster than at any point in a generation, driven by a combination of Trump-era disillusionment, economic anxiety, and a public increasingly skeptical of the institutions and trends that defined the post-Cold War era.

France Heatwave Disrupts Flights, Closes Attractions as Heat Persists Across Country

What happened

France is experiencing its most intense early-summer heatwave on record, with Météo-France running its national alert system at peak levels since June 16. At the height of the event on June 24, up to 58 departments were placed under a red heatwave alert, with around 90 departments under red or orange in total, covering roughly 91 percent of the population. As of June 29, the red alert over Paris and Île-de-France has eased to orange, but the heat has not fully broken.

Why it matters

The disruption is tangible for anyone with France on their itinerary. Flight-tracking aggregators reported roughly 1,150 delays and around 50 cancellations across French airports in a single day, with Paris Charles de Gaulle the hardest hit at about 477 delays and 13 cancellations, and Paris Orly close behind at about 292 delays and 8 cancellations. Beyond airports, major attractions have cut or reorganized their hours — the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre both imposed early 4 p.m. closures during the peak, while Mont Saint-Michel urged visitors to postpone trips entirely during the red alert period. The health risk is also material: French health authority Santé publique France has linked roughly 1,000 excess deaths to this heatwave episode.

Zoom out

This event fits a pattern of increasingly severe early-season heat events across Europe that are compressing the traditional summer travel window and forcing tourism infrastructure — airports, rail networks, heritage attractions — to adapt in real time rather than in advance. Extreme heat affects aviation in concrete ways: high temperatures reduce aircraft performance, soften tarmac, and strain ground crews working in the open, while storms that often follow a heat spike add further delays. The broader implication for travel operators and insurers is that heatwave disruption is no longer a rare exception to be managed reactively — it is a recurring operational variable requiring contingency planning on par with industrial action or severe storms.

Bottom line

Foreign offices are advising caution rather than telling people to stay away, but travelers heading to France should expect schedule changes, possible flight and rail delays, and real health risks from extreme heat — and should confirm attraction hours, flight status, and local alert levels before departing.

Sydney and Melbourne Auction Clearance Rates Hit Multi-Year Lows Amid Budget-Driven Market Squeeze

What happened

Australia’s housing auction market recorded its weakest results in years over the weekend of June 28, with a preliminary national clearance rate of 49.2 percent — meaning fewer than half of all homes taken to auction found a buyer, according to property research firm Cotality. Sydney’s clearance rate of 47.3 percent was its lowest since April 2020, while Melbourne’s 50.2 percent result was its weakest since the COVID-19 lockdowns of September 2021. Cotality estimates the final figure will fall closer to 40 percent once all results are counted.

Why it matters

A clearance rate above 60 percent is the industry benchmark for a balanced market — so readings in the high 40s represent meaningful weakness, not a rounding error. AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina pointed to budget changes as a key near-term driver, noting that upcoming negative gearing restrictions — which from July 2027 will limit the concession to new builds only — are weighing on investor demand for established properties. The capital gains tax discount is also being overhauled, replaced with an inflation-based system and a minimum 30 percent tax on gains. AMP now expects home prices to fall about 5 percent over the next year. Brisbane fared worst of any capital city at 39.3 percent, while Adelaide bucked the trend with a 68.7 percent clearance rate on auction volumes that jumped nearly 24 percent.

Zoom out

The results land at an inflection point for Australian housing policy. The May budget changes represent the most significant structural intervention in property taxation in decades, and the market is beginning to price them in ahead of their implementation. Mousina flagged the dynamic clearly: supply constraints will put a floor under prices, but softening investor demand and a reluctance among sellers to list into a weak market could leave prospective buyers frustrated even as headline prices ease. Treasurer Jim Chalmers appeared on ABC Insiders to downplay the data, drawing comparisons to the 2022 rate rise cycle — a signal the government is not inclined to walk back the reforms in response to short-term market softness.

Bottom line

The auction data suggests the property market is repricing around the government’s tax changes before they even take effect — and with AMP forecasting a 5 percent price fall, the next 12 months will test whether Canberra’s housing affordability wager delivers relief for buyers or simply cools a market without fixing the underlying supply problem.

FROM OUR TEAM

📖 I appreciate you taking the time to read! See you in the next issue. Got a question or criticism? Just click on Reply. We can talk while we are here.

🎧 Check out our podcasts. This podcast seeks the truth to answer the most pressing questions using the highest journalistic standards

✍️ Give us a press release and a good-sized landscape photo. Make sure it's newsworthy. Send press releases to newsdesk@readmencari.com or click here. Editorially, we may rewrite headlines and descriptions.

🚀 Got a news tip ? Contact our editor via Proton Mail encrypted, X Direct Message, LinkedIn. You can securely message him on Signal by using his username, Miko Santos.

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Good morning! It's Thursday, 12 June. Welcome to INSIDE AUSTRALIA, where you'll find all the latest business and financial news, plus our take on what's going on around the world.

In today's news from Australia, Qantas has ceased operations of its subsidiary Jetstar Asia, citing increasing costs as the primary reason. Meanwhile, a collaborative agreement has been reached between the United States and China concerning the relaxation of export controls, following trade negotiations in London.

Please support us and spread the word to your family and friends about our newsletter. As always, contact us via email and don't forget to sign up for this newsletter here if you haven't already!

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In today’s email:

• Qantas Shutters Asian Subsidiary to Fund Fleet Expansion

• Australia Sets August Productivity Summit Amid Reform Pressure

• Millions Face Missing Junk Insurance Refunds as Deadline Looms

• NAB Staff Confront Scammer Live, Save Customer $50,000

Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos

MARKET CLOSE: 11 JUNE 25

The Aussie market cracked a fresh record high intra-day on news of a China-US trade truce.

Data is provided by CommSec. Stock data as of At close 011/06 (AEST)

Qantas Shutters Asian Subsidiary to Fund Fleet Expansion

What happened: Qantas Group announced today it will close Singapore-based subsidiary Jetstar Asia on July 31, 2025, after the low-cost carrier posted a projected $35 million underlying EBIT loss this financial year. The closure, decided jointly with majority shareholder Westbrook Investments, affects 16 intra-Asia routes and releases 13 Airbus A320 aircraft for redeployment to Australia and New Zealand operations.

Why it matters: The shutdown unlocks up to $500 million in capital that Qantas will redirect toward its historic fleet renewal program, which includes nearly 200 firm aircraft orders. Passengers holding bookings on cancelled Jetstar Asia flights will receive full refunds, while affected employees face redundancy (though Qantas promises employment support and potential positions within the broader group). The 13 freed aircraft will create more than 100 local jobs in Australia and New Zealand while replacing costlier leased planes in Jetstar Airways' domestic operations.

Zoom out: Jetstar Asia's demise reflects intensifying pressure across Asia's low-cost carrier segment, where supplier costs have increased up to 200 percent according to Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson. The closure aligns with Qantas's strategic pivot toward higher-performing core markets as it executes an ambitious expansion plan including the upcoming Airbus A321XLR delivery this month and Project Sunrise A350-1000ULR aircraft in 2026. Singapore remains critical to Qantas as its third-largest international hub, with service continuing through codeshare partnerships and Jetstar Airways' unchanged Australia-Asia routes.

Bottom line: Qantas is trading short-term disruption for long-term positioning, cutting losses in a margin-compressed Asian market to fuel growth in stronger home markets during aviation's post-pandemic transformation.

BIG PICTURE

➡️ IM Motors Launches Tesla Rival Electric Cars in Australia: IM5 Sedan and IM6 SUV From $60,990. IM Motors, the luxury electric vehicle brand owned by MG, has launched pre-orders in Australia for their Tesla-rivaling IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV, both starting at $60,990 drive-away with delivery expected in 12 weeks.

➡️ Young Australian Woman Shocks TikTok After Revealing $19,000 Afterpay Debt in Two Years. A 21-year-old Tasmanian woman named Shyneka Long went viral on TikTok after discovering she spent $19,000 on Afterpay purchases over two years, sparking conversations about buy now, pay later addiction as other users revealed even higher debts reaching over $100,000.

➡️ Australia's $10 Billion Mining Diesel Subsidy Under Fire as Costs Set to Rise. Australian taxpayers currently subsidize over $10 billion annually in diesel fuel costs for mining companies through a tax credit scheme that critics argue undermines renewable energy transition and wastes public money that could fund essential services.

Australia Sets August Productivity Summit Amid Reform Pressure

What happened: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia will convene a national productivity summit in August, responding to mounting pressure from Independent MP Allegra Spender and business leaders for structural reforms to address chronic efficiency problems. The summit represents the government's most significant attempt to tackle productivity constraints that have hampered economic growth for decades, with businesses currently waiting 13-18 months for visa approvals and up to 200 days for local development applications.

Why it matters: Australia's productivity crisis is strangling business operations and economic growth at every level of government. The delays aren't just bureaucratic inconveniences—they're preventing companies from scaling, hiring, and investing at the pace needed to compete globally. When businesses can't get basic approvals processed efficiently, it cascades into slower job creation, reduced innovation, and ultimately lower living standards for workers whose wage growth depends on productivity improvements.

Zoom out: This productivity push comes as Australia faces a critical economic inflection point. The country lacks a comprehensive AI strategy while competitors like South Korea have had frameworks in place for years, leaving Australian businesses navigating technological transformation without government guidance. Meanwhile, the tax system remains largely unchanged since the Henry Review over a decade ago, despite mounting evidence that capital gains and GST structures are hampering business investment. The summit timing suggests Labor recognizes it has a unique political window—with its substantial parliamentary majority—to implement reforms that previous governments avoided for two decades.

Bottom line: The August summit will test whether Australia's government can move beyond talking about productivity to actually implementing the difficult reforms around taxation, regulation, and AI strategy that businesses desperately need. Success requires coordinated action across federal, state, and local levels—something that has proven politically impossible for every administration since the early 2000s.

Millions Face Missing Junk Insurance Refunds as Deadline Looms

What happened: The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has set a June 30 deadline for consumers to claim refunds on junk insurance products sold before July 2019, with an estimated 5 million Australians potentially eligible for compensation worth billions of dollars. Banks and insurers sold over 10 million add-on insurance policies over 29 years, paying out as little as 11 cents per dollar while generating up to $10 billion in revenue, according to financial refund service Claimo founder Nathan Mortlock.

Why it matters: Since the banking royal commission exposed these practices in 2019, only $270 million has been refunded to customers who were mis-sold consumer credit insurance and car-yard add-ons—leaving potentially billions unclaimed. Claimo has processed 70,000 cases worth $67 million, with individual payouts ranging from thousands to over $20,000. The surge of 50,000 new enquiries since November suggests widespread ignorance of entitlements, meaning legitimate claimants could lose their right to compensation simply due to lack of awareness.

Zoom out: Australia's approach contrasts sharply with Britain's handling of a similar scandal, where regulators forced financial institutions to repay £48 billion ($99.5 billion) to customers through high-profile awareness campaigns including Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator" advertisements. The UK gave consumers nearly a decade to claim, while Australia's deadline arrives with minimal fanfare despite ASIC identifying the problem as early as 2011. Consumer advocates argue the burden should be on banks to identify affected customers rather than forcing consumers to prove they weren't previously aware of their rights.

Bottom line: Australia's hands-off approach to consumer redress means millions of victims of documented financial misconduct may forfeit billions in legitimate compensation due to inadequate public awareness—a policy choice that benefits the institutions that caused the harm.

NAB Staff Confront Scammer Live, Save Customer $50,000

What happened: NAB staff at an East Maitland branch intercepted a live remote access scam targeting an 84-year-old customer attempting to transfer $50,000 to criminals posing as tech support representatives. Customer advisor Tiffany Bailey identified red flags when the victim requested her daily limit be increased while on a suspicious phone call, leading branch manager Vanessa Kruger to directly confront the scammer and terminate the fraud attempt.

Why it matters: The incident demonstrates how frontline banking staff are becoming the last line of defense against increasingly sophisticated remote access scams that combine phone manipulation, computer hijacking, and social engineering. The criminals had gained remote access to the victim's computer, generated fake debt images, and coached her on what to tell bank staff—illustrating the elaborate preparation scammers now deploy against vulnerable customers. Without intervention, the retiree would have faced complete financial devastation.

Zoom out: Remote access scams represent a growing threat vector where criminals exploit both technological vulnerabilities and psychological manipulation, particularly targeting elderly customers with complex scenarios involving fake tech support, manufactured urgency, and fabricated debts. NAB's response reflects the banking sector's shift toward proactive scam detection through staff training and real-time intervention protocols, with Group Investigations Executive Chris Sheehan positioning Australia's "ecosystem approach" as world-leading despite acknowledging scam prevention resembles "playing whack-a-mole."

Bottom line: Banks are increasingly positioning branch staff as human circuit breakers against digital fraud, but the sophistication of remote access scams suggests traditional customer education alone won't solve the problem.

FROM OUR TEAM

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Good morning! It's Wednesday, 5 June. Welcome to INSIDE AUSTRALIA, where you'll find all the latest business and financial news, plus our take on what's going on around the world.

Today, we're going to chat about the steel tariff and some penalties from two of Australia's biggest companies.

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In today’s email:

• Australian Economy Signals Cautious Resilience Amid Weather Disruptions

• ASIC Sues Westpac Subsidiary RAMS Over Systematic Home Loan Fraud.

• Super Tax Standoff: Treasurer Rules Out Compromise Despite PM's Openness

• Coalition Demands Steel Tariff Exemption After UK Secures Deal with US

Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos

MARKET CLOSE: 4 JUNE 25

After a solid lead from Wall Street and softer than expected GDP data, the Australian share market pushed higher for a second day most sectors improving.

Data is provided by CommSec. Stock data as of At close 04/06 (AEST)

Australian Economy Signals Cautious Resilience Amid Weather Disruptions

What happened: Australia's GDP crawled forward 0.2% in the March 2025 quarter, reaching 1.3% annual growth, according to fresh Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today. The sluggish quarterly performance reflects a confluence of extreme weather impacts, flat government spending, and shifting household behavior that's reshaping the economic landscape.

Why it matters: This represents Australia's economic reality check—growth that's technically positive but practically underwhelming. GDP per capita actually declined 0.2%, meaning the average Australian is marginally worse off despite headline growth. More revealing: households are dramatically increasing their savings rate to 5.2%, up from 3.9% last quarter, signaling either growing economic anxiety or strategic financial positioning ahead of uncertain times.

The weather disruption story cuts deeper than typical seasonal variations. Coal and LNG exports—Australia's economic backbone—took substantial hits from severe weather affecting both production and shipping. When your primary export industries stumble due to climate events, it's not just a quarterly blip; it's a preview of structural challenges facing resource-dependent economies.

Zoom out: Australia finds itself navigating three converging trends that define modern economic management. First, the household savings surge reflects post-pandemic financial behavior that's becoming permanent—people are prioritizing financial buffers over consumption. Second, government spending has plateaued after years of stimulus, marking a shift toward fiscal restraint that's rippling through growth metrics. Third, climate-related disruptions are moving from occasional inconveniences to regular economic factors requiring systematic planning.

The international student revenue decline adds another layer of complexity. Australia's education export industry—historically a reliable growth driver—is showing signs of saturation or policy-induced slowdown, removing a key economic pillar just as other sectors face headwinds.

Private investment showed resilience with 0.7% growth, driven by housing and infrastructure projects. This suggests business confidence remains intact despite broader economic softness, potentially indicating that private sector actors see opportunities where headline numbers suggest caution.

Market Implications:

• Australian dollar faces downward pressure as growth disappointments mount

• Reserve Bank of Australia's February rate cut appears well-timed given emerging weakness

• Resource sector volatility likely to persist given climate impact frequency

• Consumer discretionary spending patterns shifting toward essential categories

Worth watching: How quickly weather-disrupted export capacity recovers and whether the household savings surge represents temporary caution or permanent behavioral change. The intersection of climate resilience planning and economic policy will increasingly determine Australia's growth trajectory.

Bottom line: Australia's economy is demonstrating cautious resilience rather than robust expansion. The 0.2% growth figure masks a more complex story of households building financial defenses, weather events reshaping export reliability, and government stepping back from growth support. This isn't economic crisis—it's economic adaptation to a more volatile operating environment.

The real test lies ahead: whether Australia can maintain stable growth while simultaneously building climate resilience, managing shifting global demand for its resources, and supporting households through what appears to be a prolonged period of modest expansion. Current indicators suggest the economy is choosing stability over speed, which may prove prescient given global uncertainties.

For investors and policymakers, this data confirms that Australia's economic future depends less on traditional growth levers and more on adaptive capacity—the ability to maintain steady progress despite increasing environmental and structural disruptions.

BIG PICTURE

➡️ ASIC Sues Westpac Subsidiary RAMS Over Systematic Home Loan Fraud. Australia's financial regulator ASIC is taking legal action against RAMS Financial Group, a Westpac subsidiary, for systematic misconduct in home loan arrangements between 2019-2023, including fake documents and inadequate supervision that allowed unqualified borrowers to receive loans.

➡️ ACMA Penalizes Telstra Over Disability Emergency Call Service Disruption During Server Upgrade. Australia's telecommunications regulator ACMA fined Telstra $18,780 after the company accidentally disabled the 106 emergency call relay service used by people with hearing and speech impairments for nearly 13 hours during a July 2024 server migration, marking another failure in the telco's emergency service obligations.

➡️ Australia's $68 Billion Crime Crisis: AUSTRAC Expands Financial Regulations to Target Lawyers and Real Estate Agents. Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC will impose new anti-money laundering obligations on 80,000 businesses including lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents from July 2025, targeting the $68 billion annual cost of organized crime that exploits regulatory gaps in professional services to launder illicit funds.

Super Tax Standoff: Treasurer Rules Out Compromise Despite PM's Openness

What happened: Treasurer Jim Chalmers today rejected any compromise on Labor's controversial superannuation tax reforms, directly contradicting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's apparent willingness to negotiate on the policy just one day earlier.

Speaking after releasing March quarter GDP figures, Chalmers defended the government's plan to tax unrealized capital gains on super balances above $3 million, dismissing Coalition calls for changes to the calculation method. "We've given people multiple opportunities to propose alternatives to this calculation," Chalmers said. "Treasury proposed it to us. We did multiple rounds of consultation."

The comments put Chalmers at odds with Albanese, who reportedly indicated yesterday he was open to compromising on elements of the super tax policy.

Shadow Treasurer Ted O'Brien immediately seized on the apparent division, telling reporters: "Only yesterday we had the Prime Minister saying that he is willing to compromise on their superannuation tax, which includes unrealised capital gains. But today we have the Treasurer saying there's no hope that he will be compromising on that policy."

O'Brien described Labor's policy as "super big and super bad," arguing it would damage the Australian economy through both direct effects and "second-order effects."

Why it matters: The superannuation tax has become a major political battleground, with the Coalition positioning it as a key attack line against the government. The apparent disagreement between Labor's two most senior economic figures signals potential internal tensions over one of their signature policies reforms.

Chalmers used the press conference to clarify that Prime Minister Albanese and other politicians on defined benefit schemes are included in the tax changes, addressing claims they would be exempt. "We've had people, I think shamefully, say that the Prime Minister or other senior politicians at the federal level on defined benefits are somehow exempt from this change. They are not," he said.

Zoom out: The super tax controversy reflects broader challenges facing the government as it attempts to balance budget repair with political sustainability. The policy affects only an estimated 80,000 Australians with super balances exceeding $3 million, but has generated significant opposition from industry groups and the Coalition.

Bottom line: With the Coalition ruling out any support and internal Labor messaging appearing fractured, the government faces an uphill battle to pass the legislation through a hostile Senate.

Coalition Demands Steel Tariff Exemption After UK Secures Deal with US

Coalition Demands Steel Tariff Exemption After UK Secures Deal with US

What happened: The Coalition is demanding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secure Australia a steel tariff exemption from the United States, following reports that the UK negotiated to maintain 25% levies on its steel imports rather than face higher rates.

Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan criticized the government's approach to the Trump administration, revealing Australia exports only "1% of our overall steel production" to the US but warning of broader economic consequences from escalating trade tensions.

"I firmly believe that Trump's tariff policies is bad policy, obviously for us, for the global growth, global trade, but also for the American consumer," Hogan told reporters. "It just makes everything more expensive for them."

The UK deal, struck last month, allows current 25% levies to remain in place, though they could rise in July if key conditions aren't met.

Why it matters: Australia's steel industry faces potential disruption from US trade policies, with some producers having American operations potentially benefiting while exports could suffer. The issue highlights broader concerns about Australia's diplomatic engagement with the Trump administration.

Hogan revealed Albanese has not held a face-to-face meeting with President Trump "seven months in since the president's been elected," arguing this puts Australia at a disadvantage in securing favorable trade terms.

"We do want the Prime Minister to get on the front foot, have a physical meeting," Hogan said. "We need to get on the front with that, you know, sell that story well very forcefully."

Zoom out: The steel tariff dispute reflects wider tensions around Trump's protectionist trade agenda and its impact on traditional US allies. Australia's position as both a security partner through AUKUS and a major commodity exporter creates complex dynamics in trade negotiations.

Hogan emphasized Australia shouldn't accept quid pro quo arrangements, arguing the country's national security contributions and reliable supply chains should warrant preferential treatment without strings attached.

"We can be a really reliable partner with some of the critical minerals and other things that people want," he said. "There's a holistic way we can look at this, but it certainly shouldn't be quid pro quo."

Bottom line: With global trade tensions escalating and allies securing separate deals, Australia faces pressure to strengthen diplomatic engagement with Washington to protect its economic interests.

FROM OUR TEAM

📖 I appreciate you taking the time to read! See you in the next issue. Got a question or criticism? Just click on Reply. We can talk while we are here.

🎧 Check out our podcasts. This podcast seeks the truth to answer the most pressing questions using the highest journalistic standards

✍️ Give us a press release and a good-sized landscape photo. Make sure it's newsworthy. Send press releases to newsdesk@readmencari.com or click here. Editorially, we may rewrite headlines and descriptions.

🚀 Got a news tip ? Contact our editor via Proton Mail encrypted, X Direct Message, LinkedIn. You can securely message him on Signal by using his username, Miko Santos.

Get more from Miko Santos in the Substack app

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