The startling illustration of the housing problem, which major banks declared was the largest policy crisis Australia faced, came as July 1 marked the start of a five-year promise by the Albanese government to build a million new homes.
Academics dispute a direct correlation between the net overseas migration intake, including temporary residents, and the housing shortfall.
However, the housing industry has declared the shortfall is probably an underestimation.
Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon said 120,000 homes would have to be built to accommodate natural population growth and replacement of ageing stock before migration was even taken into account.
According to official statistics, only 163,836 new dwelling were constructed in 2023 – an 11-year low and 10.4 per cent down on the previous year.
Continue reading at the link in our bio.
#Housing#Property
Australia faces a ‘harmful sexual socialisation of an entire generation’ if unfettered access by children to pornography is not reversed with tech companies given six months to act or face forced regulation.
The call for action follows a spike in the exposure of young Australians to pornographic material on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, which “violates their terms of service”.
With Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton warning of the need for stricter age-verification rules amid concerns about the social perils of porn, tech companies have been set an October deadline to present preliminary codes.
Read the full story at the link in our bio.
Joe Biden’s performance in last week’s debate against Donald Trump has triggered speculation he might be replaced at the Democratic Party’s August convention in Chicago, where the US President was expected to be official nominated to be the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
Convincing a stubborn 81-year-old President to stand aside won’t be easy, especially given his family has encouraged him to stay in the race despite growing calls from left-wing media outlets and some top Democratic Party donors for him to move on.
It’s ultimately Mr Biden’s decision: all the delegates he has won during the Democratic Party’s primary process, which recently wound up, are obliged to vote for him at the convention unless he releases them to vote for someone else.
Should the President’s closest advisers dissuade him from seeking re-election, swipe for the obvious alternatives, and hit the link in our bio to read more about the possible candidates.
#JoeBiden#USElection#World
From triumph to terror: the pictures that captured a new millennium 📷️
The image of Hanabeth Luke’s selfless help to an injured Tom Singer became etched on our memories in this challenging decade, along with moments of Olympic glory, a fire truck dwarfed by furious flames and Schapelle Corby facing Indonesian justice. All seen through our photographers’ lenses.
1: September 2000 - Cathy Freeman focuses before winning gold and fulfilling the hopes of a nation in the 400m at the Sydney Olympic Games.
2: September 2001 - The second hijacked airliner flies directly into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
3, top: September 2009 - A dust storm from outback NSW envelopes Sydney, leaving Balmain’s Ariella, 6, and sister Romy, 3, to play in its eerie orange glow.
3, bottom: May 2006 - Todd Russell, left, and Brant Webb emerge after 14 days trapped in Tasmania’s Beaconsfield gold mine. Larry Knight was killed.
4: May 2005 - Schapelle Corby bursts into tears in a Denpasar courtroom as she is sentenced to 20 years’ jail for importing marijuana into Indonesia’s island of Bali.
5, top: August 2001 - 433 rescued asylum seekers on the deck of the Norwegian cargo ship MV Tampa off Christmas Island after the Howard government rejected permission to land.
5, bottom: February 2008 - Prime minister Kevin Rudd greets Indigenous leader Lowitja O’Donoghue at Parliament House before his formal apology to the Stolen Generations.
6: April 2003 - US Marines pull down the statue of defeated Iraq leader Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on April 9.
7, top: February 2009 - A giant ball of smoke and flames towers over a fire truck on Black Saturday in Labertouche, Victoria. The most deadly fires since colonisation killed 173.
7, bottom: December 2005- An angry mob attacks men of Middle Eastern appearance on a train following the race-based riots at Cronulla beach.
8: October 2002 - Hanabeth Luke, 22, helps Tom Singer, 17, after the terror attack on Sari nightclub in Bali. Tom died four weeks later from his injuries.
US President Joe Biden has slammed the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity that was seen as a win for his election rival, former President Donald Trump, calling it a dangerous precedent that did a disservice to the American people.
#America#JoeBiden#DonaldTrump
The Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that former presidents can enjoy immunity for their acts while in office.
The president “may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.
The court on its own threw out parts of the prosecution’s case against Trump, including on his alleged efforts to use the Justice Department to advance his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud and submit slates of false electors to replace those President Biden won.
The decision effectively gave Trump nearly everything he could have hoped for, a victory the presumptive Republican presidential nominee quickly celebrated on his social-media platform.
So what does this mean for the upcoming election? Read the full story at the link in our bio.
#DonaldTrump#JoeBiden#World
The optics of our US ambassador Kevin Rudd travelling on an executive jet with a convicted man who stole national security communications and handed them over to the media is a very poor look. And it hasn’t gone down well in America.
Read the full commentary piece by Alexander Downer at the link in our bio.
#JulianAssange
The dark, tannin-stained waters of Lake Ainsworth near Lennox Head on the NSW far north coast may be the last resting place of missing mother Bronwyn Winfield, according to her relatives.
“It’s a dark lake,” said Bronwyn's brother, Andy Read. “It’s completely filled with tannin from the tea-trees. By the time you put your arm in the water and you go to the length of your arm, the chances are you can’t even see your hand.
The renewed theories about Bronwyn’s whereabouts have been prompted by the recent bombshell claims to the podcast of neighbour Judy Singh, who said she believed she saw Bronwyn’s husband, Jon Winfield, drive past her house late on that Sunday night with what looked like a sheet-wrapped corpse in the back seat of his Ford Falcon.
For decades, Bronwyn’s relations wondered what happened to her body. After Ms Singh’s allegations – she was interviewed last week be members of the NSW police unsolved homicide unit – the family now said it believed Bronwyn’s remains were closer to home in Lennox Head.
Read the full story at the link in our bio.
Australia’s top women Olympians, in a historic move, have graced the cover of Vogue Australia for the very first time.
Front and centre of the issue is Fowler, whose profile has rocketed since the Women’s World Cup last year.
Fowler, at just 21, has already competed in her first Olympics and two World Cups, and she reveals how her eyes are set firmly on winning a medal, something the Matildas haven’t quite been able to do – yet.
See the cover and read how it came together at the link in our bio.
#ParisOlympics#MaryFowler#Matildas
The fees of medical specialists around the country have been revealed publicly for the first time in an online referral database that shows psychiatrists, obstetricians and paediatricians are charging some of the highest specialist fees in the nation.
The new database confirms patients face hefty out of pocket costs for consultations in all types of medicine amid indications that the rising cost of healthcare and difficulty accessing appointments is a major deterrent for millions of Australians seeking medical care.
See a state by state breakdown at the link in our bio.
#Healthcare
Prominent businesswoman Sam Mostyn has been sworn in as the country's next governor-general in the senate chamber.
Numerous dignitaries, including the British High Commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell and Japanese ambassador to Australia, Kazuhiro Suzuki were present.
Ms Mostyn read and signed an oath of allegiance to his majesty, King Charles III, overseen by Chief Justice Stephen Gageler.
Ms Mostyn proceeded to make a speech in which she spoke about her father, an army officer who served for over 40 years in the Australian Defence Force, and her mother, who would have been "the proudest person here" if she were still alive.
She said she had "reflected very deeply" on the words of the Prime Minister, who said he had seen in her a "modern optimistic governor-general".
Ms Mostyn said contemporary challenges including violence against women, growing economic inequality, the lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic and the "pernicious impact of social media" were "placing strains" on the confidence Australians have in their country.
Ms Mostyn said her first priority in reflecting on this was to meet with all five living former governors-general, including her immediate predecessor, General David Hurley and then to meet the King.
Read more at the link in our bio.
#SamMostyn
You’ll be welcomed royally as one of only a few tourists who visit this pristine paradise each year. But be warned, this is the only country to have a daily ‘sustainable development’ tax for travellers.
