The state of the economy at the street level

[wayneL]

Idea! - reduce the NG on new property's to 95% loss deduction, growing by 5% every 2 years until zero, would be a lot more politically palatable for all concerned...

The Noalition spin on this of course would be the usual slippery slope stuff, shame really.

It might surprise many here to know that I am against negative gearing in its current form.

In normal non real estate business if an activity is undertaken with the express intention of making a loss for an extended period of time for the express purpose of claiming a deduction, the deduction is disallowed.

I think this should apply to property investment also.

I am not against claiming losses against potential future profit can be shown that prophet is intended and achievable within a reasonable period of time. However, again as with normal business, if the ownership of the property is in a separate structure, those losses can only be claimed against future profits and not offset against other income.

In other words real estate investment should be treated just like any other business, whether it be a butcher baker or candlestick maker.

FWIW

 

[mullokintyre]

I thought that I read or heard that he had a few. Most likely in his new wife's name, or perhaps his son's.

Its not hard to check on real data.
A quick look at the declared interests of politicians will show that he has two properties in his own name, and two others in dual ownership with his spouse.
His spouse has another property in her own right.
Data from ICAC Interests.
mick

 

[sptrawler]

Well at least we saved ten years of subsidies to the Australian car industry, the way things are going at the moment, China will be the only vehicle manufacturer supplying Australia in a few years IMO.
As was shown when Commodore and Falcon sales plummeted, Australians love a bargain.
Funny that now that China is screwing the U.S it's cheating, yet when they were pushing globalisation and outsourcing everyone's manufacturing to third world countries, it was being economically responsible.
Karma's a bitch

Why Chinese-made cars are becoming so common on Australia's roads

The rapid rise of Chinese electric vehicles has been met with resistance in the US and Europe. So why are Australians buying them at record levels?

www.abc.net.au

This year, vehicles from China became the third most popular choice for new car sales in Australia, knocking South Korea — the home of Kia and Hyundai — down to fourth place, and rapidly gaining ground on manufacturing leaders Thailand and Japan.

The rise of Chinese cars in Australia has been meteoric, jumping from 4,154 sales in 2014 to 193,433 last year.

And it's likely to keep growing, with models from Chinese giants Guangzhou Automobile Group and Geely Auto set to roll onto Australian roads next year.

The success of China's auto industry has been met with hostility in the US, with the White House last month quadrupling the border tax on Chinese electric vehicles (EV) from 25 per cent to 100 per cent.

The tariff is an unabashed attempt to protect America's auto industry from Chinese competition, with President Joe Biden also introducing punitive measures against other Chinese imports including computer chips, batteries and steel.

"They're flooding the market," Mr Biden said.

"It's not competing, it's cheating."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well IMO it is game over in the E.V space.

 

[JohnDe]

Well at least we saved ten years of subsidies to the Australian car industry, the way things are going at the moment, China will be the only vehicle manufacturer supplying Australia in a few years IMO.
As was shown when Commodore and Falcon sales plummeted, Australians love a bargain.
Funny that now that China is screwing the U.S it's cheating, yet when they were pushing globalisation and outsourcing everyone's manufacturing to third world countries, it was being economically responsible.
Karma's a bitch

Why Chinese-made cars are becoming so common on Australia's roads

The rapid rise of Chinese electric vehicles has been met with resistance in the US and Europe. So why are Australians buying them at record levels?

www.abc.net.au

This year, vehicles from China became the third most popular choice for new car sales in Australia, knocking South Korea — the home of Kia and Hyundai — down to fourth place, and rapidly gaining ground on manufacturing leaders Thailand and Japan.

The rise of Chinese cars in Australia has been meteoric, jumping from 4,154 sales in 2014 to 193,433 last year.

And it's likely to keep growing, with models from Chinese giants Guangzhou Automobile Group and Geely Auto set to roll onto Australian roads next year.

The success of China's auto industry has been met with hostility in the US, with the White House last month quadrupling the border tax on Chinese electric vehicles (EV) from 25 per cent to 100 per cent.

The tariff is an unabashed attempt to protect America's auto industry from Chinese competition, with President Joe Biden also introducing punitive measures against other Chinese imports including computer chips, batteries and steel.

"They're flooding the market," Mr Biden said.

"It's not competing, it's cheating."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well IMO it is game over in the E.V space.

View attachment 177886

China started on the EV development road many years before other countries, throwing vast amount of money into R&D, while giving companies massive government assistance. If it wasn't for Tesla the US probably wouldn't have an EV industry.

The US has added huge tariffs to the China EVs for three reasons:

1. Biden is panicking that people will listen to Trumps call for high tariffs
2. Protect the US auto industry
3. Punish China for dumping EVs at below cost and steeling a lot of the technology.

 

[farmerge]

China started on the EV development road many years before other countries, throwing vast amount of money into R&D, while giving companies massive government assistance. If it wasn't for Tesla the US probably wouldn't have an EV industry.

The US has added huge tariffs to the China EVs for three reasons:

1. Biden is panicking that people will listen to Trumps call for high tariffs
2. Protect the US auto industry
3. Punish China for dumping EVs at below cost and steeling a lot of the technology.

@JohnDe Isn't that how the Chinese operate, though. They aren't shy about whacking tarriffs on imports if it suits them.

 

[TimeISmoney]

I was in Aldi today at the cashier, and a lady came into the store and asked if they accepted ZIP so they could buy an Aldi Phone card.

 

[sptrawler]

Well you can't say Aussies aren't creative, when it comes to saving money.

The graveyard for caravans that is creating parking pain for residents

There were 17 caravans left in a quiet side street next to St Kilda Cemetery last week, and residents say the practice has created an eyesore and parking problems.

www.theage.com.au

A quiet side street next to St Kilda Cemetery is turning into a resting place of a different sort, with a growing number of caravans parked there.

When this masthead visited Alexandra Street in St Kilda East last week, there were 17 caravans along the street, taking up almost half the parking spots.
“It’s like a game of sardines,” City of Port Phillip Mayor Heather Cunsolo says. “Like, one person does it and then the others join in.”

Residents are unimpressed and say the caravans make it difficult for them to park their cars near their homes, and raise concerns about safety.
“[Caravan owners] don’t want to put them in industrial zones or pay for storage so they just put them in someone else’s street.”

Murray has lived in the area for 20 years and believes the influx of caravans are not owned by locals. “They drive up and drive away,” he says.

Caravan ownership boomed during the COVID pandemic, but private caravan storage costs around $1080 a year at sites close to Melbourne.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

There's a few of them where I live. ... both caravans and boat trailers. The parking is sort of managed by council then introducing, in residential streets, things like 6m length limits. So you find them parked near reserves, in industrial estates, etc

In general, the caravans disappear in April - grey nomad migration - and summer break, and the trailers seem to stay around apart from the shirt summer season.

A friend with a caravan uses his for weekend carousing. A muso, he goes out to gigs and sessions, then crawls into the van for a sleep, to return home the next day.

 

[moXJO]

Very weird out there. Spending has stopped on all but food and utilities. Some of the local pubs and clubs had to stop charging an entry fee or kids won't go there. I heard mdma is making a return as it's cheaper than drinking.
I'm seeing a large disconnect from the system.

 

[sptrawler]

Very weird out there. Spending has stopped on all but food and utilities. Some of the local pubs and clubs had to stop charging an entry fee or kids won't go there. I heard mdma is making a return as it's cheaper than drinking.
I'm seeing a large disconnect from the system.

We are going to have to bribe overseas kids to come and join our military, because our kids won't join up, talk about a social disconnect.

We have only just finished telling the kids it isn't their country and we stole it, now we are wondering why kids won't take on the responsibility to defend it, politicians and media absolute FWts.
Australia's getting exactly what it deserves for it's smugness, a completely fed up population, sick to the teeth of been lectured to by the elite's.
I've never seen a more dejected younger generation in my life and I've lived around the traps a lot.

Citizenship fast-track: Australian Defence Force opens ranks to foreign nationals

Foreigners will soon be able to join the Australian Defence Force under a fast-track to citizenship in a bid boost the military's size.

www.sbs.com.au

 

[JohnDe]

Very weird out there. Spending has stopped on all but food and utilities. Some of the local pubs and clubs had to stop charging an entry fee or kids won't go there. I heard mdma is making a return as it's cheaper than drinking.
I'm seeing a large disconnect from the system.

I am seeing that, but not in all suburbs or industry.

The local barber shop with 6 staff is flat out Tuesday to Sunday, whereas the hairdresser has started reducing staff hours.

The craft brewery I frequented when they first opened 3 years ago stopped taking cash, and last month they put up a sign CASH IS WELCOME.

My local footy club (I'm a member) has a bistro that serves quality pub type meals, I went with 4 others on the weekend and had lunch to a half empty venue, which is usually full. Outside for the game, people that usually have a schnitzel were chomping on a pie or sausage sanga. The attendance numbers were good for a Sunday game, we usually play on Saturdays.

A boutique coffee bar and restaurant that I attended the opening 22 years ago, was on the news. The new owners of 6 years were working for free. After paying the bills and being drowned in paperwork they have been trying to sell for a year and now closing the doors. A few doors down from them the fast-food shop is flat out selling fatty meals and sugary drinks.

I had this conversation with a friend, she disagrees, saying that when her and partner go out all the restaurants are bustling. The thing is, she lives in an area where the average wage one of the highest in the state.

I hope this article in wrong -

Watch out, wave of retrenchments coming

Sadly, but not surprisingly, a vast number of small enterprises are set to fail under the relentless pressure of higher costs that can’t be passed in. The latest wage rise is just another blow. But there is an even more serious problem for the nation.

Solvent large and small enterprises around Australia are in a state a shock. Businesses where solvency is not an issue are stepping back and trying to work out what happens next because nobody really knows what the Albanese’s policies combined with the effect of state, deficits will do to the national economy.

As they see it, we are facing an unprecedented, serious socialist intervention covering the way they manage their business and hire their staff. It's a new era of business for Australia — akin to the 1950s-1970s era but without tariffs.

Yesterday, I described how BHP is waiting a couple of years before committing to massive South Australian investment. But that long term “wait and see strategy does not apply to day trading of Australian businesses. They will watch the impact of the government’s “sugar hit” led by wages rises, tax cuts, power subsidies etc to see if it's possible to pass their cost rises on in prices. By August, they will know.

In the crises of 1975 and 1989 many large companies were imperilled by too much debt. This time, the bulk of large and medium-sized ASX companies are not at debt risk. It is their employees that are at risk. And many of those employees can now sense the danger and that is impacting their previously abundant spending

The cost rises continue to hit business covering areas like the energy, rent, insurance, land tax (in some states) or government charges. Many enterprises are trying to work out an enterprise agreement, but now learn from my commentaries and other sources that the industrial relations legislation directs them away from enterprise agreements into industry agreements. That means higher costs and less productivity.

Then there are all the other nasties in the industrial relations legislation yet to impact, including higher transport costs and the total mess of casual labour. At the same time, enterprises with more than 15 employees must send their “union representatives” way from their workplace to be trained in how to share with management control of the business.

These are revolutionary socialist blows coming at a time of economic turmoil where an increasing number of business customers are suffering. The Federal government forged on with its socialist experiment via the industrial relations legislation in the full knowledge that what they were doing was undertaking unprecedented actions at the time of a Reserve Bank squeeze on the economy. Albanese was either oblivious of the dangers or did not care. He had once chance to deliver for ALP financiers, unions, and took it.

Meanwhile, the numbers under rent and mortgage stress are increasing as it spreads into what were affluent areas. In Victoria, the tax attack on holiday homes and landlords is relentless and the number of unsold holiday homes grows. The number of investment properties decline.

In this calm before the storm, companies are realising they have three choices – lower profits; increase prices to maintain margins or become more productive through retrenchment our better organisational structures. If it is to be the third choice, then the impending IR legislation means action must be swift. Telstra showed the way.

Accordingly, given there is increased nervousness now about lifting prices, the period of sitting back and waiting and see what happens will not last long. Boards will require management to act. My guess is that on August 26 when the industrial relations act comes into operation will make August the month when companies that can’t lift prices will stop sitting back and watching and will take action. There will be a wave of retrenchments of some magnitude.

Banks warn us that if unemployment gets to five per cent (it’s currently around 4.1 per cent) then we will see falling property prices and a much deeper crisis. That would leave the way open for an interest-rate cut later this year.

But as I have pointed out many times our interest rates are significantly lower than the US and other developed countries, so if we are not careful our dollar will be the subject of a market raid if we cut interest rates too far. This week, we are seeing Japan’s central bank supporting the yen because traders have been hitting the currency. Australia is a much better target.

 

[divs4ever]

I am seeing that, but not in all suburbs or industry.

The local barber shop with 6 staff is flat out Tuesday to Sunday, whereas the hairdresser has started reducing staff hours.

The craft brewery I frequented when they first opened 3 years ago stopped taking cash, and last month they put up a sign CASH IS WELCOME.

My local footy club (I'm a member) has a bistro that serves quality pub type meals, I went with 4 others on the weekend and had lunch to a half empty venue, which is usually full. Outside for the game, people that usually have a schnitzel were chomping on a pie or sausage sanga. The attendance numbers were good for a Sunday game, we usually play on Saturdays.

A boutique coffee bar and restaurant that I attended the opening 22 years ago, was on the news. The new owners of 6 years were working for free. After paying the bills and being drowned in paperwork they have been trying to sell for a year and now closing the doors. A few doors down from them the fast-food shop is flat out selling fatty meals and sugary drinks.

I had this conversation with a friend, she disagrees, saying that when her and partner go out all the restaurants are bustling. The thing is, she lives in an area where the average wage one of the highest in the state.

I hope this article in wrong -

but you are probably not ( wrong )

this is similar to the trend after the 1970's inflation where wage rises hit already struggling businesses

 

[wayneL]

I am seeing that, but not in all suburbs or industry.

The local barber shop with 6 staff is flat out Tuesday to Sunday, whereas the hairdresser has started reducing staff hours.

The craft brewery I frequented when they first opened 3 years ago stopped taking cash, and last month they put up a sign CASH IS WELCOME.

My local footy club (I'm a member) has a bistro that serves quality pub type meals, I went with 4 others on the weekend and had lunch to a half empty venue, which is usually full. Outside for the game, people that usually have a schnitzel were chomping on a pie or sausage sanga. The attendance numbers were good for a Sunday game, we usually play on Saturdays.

A boutique coffee bar and restaurant that I attended the opening 22 years ago, was on the news. The new owners of 6 years were working for free. After paying the bills and being drowned in paperwork they have been trying to sell for a year and now closing the doors. A few doors down from them the fast-food shop is flat out selling fatty meals and sugary drinks.

I had this conversation with a friend, she disagrees, saying that when her and partner go out all the restaurants are bustling. The thing is, she lives in an area where the average wage one of the highest in the state.

I hope this article in wrong -

Recessions have always, and always will be a two-tier affair.

Even in the great depression of the 30s some people absolutely thrived.

 

[moXJO]

I am seeing that, but not in all suburbs or industry.

The local barber shop with 6 staff is flat out Tuesday to Sunday, whereas the hairdresser has started reducing staff hours.

The craft brewery I frequented when they first opened 3 years ago stopped taking cash, and last month they put up a sign CASH IS WELCOME.

My local footy club (I'm a member) has a bistro that serves quality pub type meals, I went with 4 others on the weekend and had lunch to a half empty venue, which is usually full. Outside for the game, people that usually have a schnitzel were chomping on a pie or sausage sanga. The attendance numbers were good for a Sunday game, we usually play on Saturdays.

A boutique coffee bar and restaurant that I attended the opening 22 years ago, was on the news. The new owners of 6 years were working for free. After paying the bills and being drowned in paperwork they have been trying to sell for a year and now closing the doors. A few doors down from them the fast-food shop is flat out selling fatty meals and sugary drinks.

I had this conversation with a friend, she disagrees, saying that when her and partner go out all the restaurants are bustling. The thing is, she lives in an area where the average wage one of the highest in the state.

I hope this article in wrong -

I agree with the socialist aspect. Currently running immigration and not getting houses built and destroying investor confidence in the housing market. Then blaming landlords for the housing woes.

 

[divs4ever]

I agree with the socialist aspect. Currently running immigration and not getting houses built and destroying investor confidence in the housing market. Then blaming landlords for the housing woes.

standard ALP playbook

a real opposition would highlight how many investment houses/units are owned by MP families ( and their trusts )

for example , take Queensland it signed up for an Olympics Games , knowing full well some athletes and spectators will deliberately over-stay when there is already an accommodation issue. ( and the Games are unlikely to make a profit )

all that taxpayer money building/renovating stadiums ( instead of housing and infrastructure )

 

[Smurf1976]

Even in the great depression of the 30s some people absolutely thrived.

Success in a time of overall failure isn't plain sailing however.

A family story passed down so I can't prove the accuracy but apparently someone I'm related to was a successful salesman for a large company in the UK during that time. As part of the job he was provided with a car for personal use and a rather expensive one at that.

Long story short once the depression hit, it wasn't the company that wanted to take the car but it was him who wanted to get rid of it. Because looking like you're rich, with a current model upmarket car, when most are desperately poor isn't a great idea for all sorts of reasons as he apparently realised.

 

[wayneL]

Success in a time of overall failure isn't plain sailing however.

A family story passed down so I can't prove the accuracy but apparently someone I'm related to was a successful salesman for a large company in the UK during that time. As part of the job he was provided with a car for personal use and a rather expensive one at that.

Long story short once the depression hit, it wasn't the company that wanted to take the car but it was him who wanted to get rid of it. Because looking like you're rich, with a current model upmarket car, when most are desperately poor isn't a great idea for all sorts of reasons as he apparently realised.

That applies even in the best of times.

Top Poppy syndrome, anyone?

 

[divs4ever]

That applies even in the best of times.

Top Poppy syndrome, anyone?

i believe that syndrome still exists

however looking rich was never my thing

 

[sptrawler]

Not a good sign for the "made in Australia" solar panel manufacturing, we already closed a plant 14 years ago and now even Germany is sending it to China.
Still hopefully it is more than just chook fodder for the 7.30 report, they love to talk up the rhetoric.

Germany’s Solarwatt Shifting Manufacturing To China​

First it was Solarwatt’s panels, now the German company has reportedly said it will be ending local production of batteries and shifting manufacturing of both to Asia.

Solarwatt has been around for 30 years and has built a reputation for quality and a price tag to match. It once had the longest solar panel product warranty around – 30 years, which was eclipsed by SunPower Maxeon only a couple of years ago with their 40-year warranty.

In recent years, Solarwatt was one of the only (quality) companies to be manufacturing solar panels in Europe. But this distinction will soon end. The firm announced in April it would close its 300MW manufacturing plant in Dresden, Saxony in August this year.

Commenting on the situation at the time, Saxony’s Energy and Climate Protection Minister Wolfram Günther said (translated):

“This is a blow for the employees and their families and it is another black day for the Saxon and European solar industry and for the energy transition as a whole. Because we want to equip the energy transition with technology made in Europe and not with technology from China that is sold off here at dumping prices.”

Solarwatt had warned back in January it would consider shuttering the plant if the German government did not come up with a solution to what it said was unfair competition from China. Prior to this, in November last year it announced intentions to lay off 85 employees by the end of 2023.

Battery production is next.

In 2021, in a partnership with BMW Group, Solarwatt launched the “Battery flex” energy storage system ( also made in Germany) to replace its MyReserve battery product. But earlier this week, PV Magazine reported Solarwatt will shut down its battery factory in Dresden and the company will move all battery and solar panel production to China. This will affect around 170 local employees.

 

[moXJO]

Did the Indian stockmarket crash?