UTS Business School’s Professor Warren Hogan says the economy is in “a sort of phony recession” supported by government stimulus, and the real position of the economy won’t be known until next year.
During the week the ABS announced Australia is officially in a recession, following a second consecutive quarter of negative economic growth. The June quarter saw the nation’s economy contract by a record seven per cent, following March’s decline of 0.3 per cent.
“The job losses are real, but people are getting extra payments and of course this all will change next year as those emergency support are pulled back,” Professor Hogan told Sky News. “Not just JobKeeper winding down and JobSeeker normalising, we’re also going to see the bank moratorium finish in January next year. “And that will be the day of reckoning around mortgagees and SME loans. “We are in a bit of a holding pattern in the economy, despite how severe these numbers are.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
It feels like Australia is living in an “Orwellian parallel universe” | Sky News AustraliaSky News contributor Jane Marwick says it feels like we are living in a dystopian “Orwellian parallel universe” amid the arrest of a pregnant woman in Victoria who was arrested for incitement after making a Facebook post.\n\nVision emerged of a pregnant Victorian woman being arrested at her Miners Rest home - near Ballarat - during a police raid for her alleged involvement in organising an anti-lockdown rally for Saturday.\n\n“A pregnant woman in front of her young children, she was compliant, there was no indication that she was going to resist any form of police directive,” Ms Marwick told Sky News host Peta Credlin.\n\n“It feels dystopian to me, it feels like we’re living in some horrible Orwellian parallel universe.”\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
State premier's border politics are the ‘deliberate destruction of what Australia is’ | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Gary Hardgrave says the border politics being played by premiers in Australia amid the coronavirus pandemic are becoming a deliberate destruction of what Australia as a nation is.\n\nState premiers have recently come under scrutiny as a result of tough border restrictions and safety measures implemented in response to the pandemic.\n\n“This whole thing is now becoming a deliberate destruction of what Australia as nation has been since 1901,” Mr Hardgrave said.\n\n“The federation fathers would be fuming tonight and rightly so.\n\n“Too many of the states are acting in a heartless fashion, they don’t give a damn about anybody who doesn’t vote for them.”\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
‘Untenable’ to propose states stay closed until vaccine is found | Sky News AustraliaJournalist Rebecca Weisser says it is untenable to propose Australian states should remain shut until a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is found.\n\nRecent polling suggests the residents of locked down states actually do support the decisions of their premiers, with the West Australian reporting 91 per cent of the state’s residents support Premier Mark McGowan’s hard border rules.\n\n“It is simply untenable to propose that you keep a state shutdown forever, or at least until a vaccine possibly arrives,” Ms Weisser told Sky News host Chris Kenny.\n\n“Particularly when it’s a Federal Government that’s paying for a lot of the costs involved.”\n
Read more »
WHO: Vaccine not likely until mid-2021 | Sky News AustraliaThe World Health Organisation says it does not expect a COVID-19 vaccine to be widely available until the middle of next year. \n\nA spokesperson announced the clinical trials of multiple vaccines across the world were promising but acknowledged the third and most rigorous phase of testing would take the longest. \n\nThe global body said health care workers and other vulnerable groups would likely be the first to receive vaccines.\n\nThey also stressed a vaccine for the coronavirus was a 'global public good' that must be available to the entire world.
Read more »
'This thing can turn': Biden’s election 'is a foregone conclusion until it’s not' | Sky News AustraliaFormer Republican Congressman Zach Wamp says President Donald Trump’s numbers are not looking good in lead up to the November election, but that can change quickly as evidenced in the 2016 election. \n\n“Hillary Clinton’s election was a forgone conclusion until it wasn’t, and Joe Biden’s election is a foregone conclusion until it’s not,” he said. \n\n“This thing can turn and I don’t think when you look at the polls and it still shows Biden with a 10-point lead among the popular vote that that translates into electoral victory. \n\n“We don’t elect presidents here by who gets the most votes, we elect them based on who gets the most electors under the electoral college system. \n\n“If he gets those Midwest seats he could lose the popular vote by as much as four million votes and still under our constitution be re-elected as President.” \n\nMr Wamp said Mr Trump proved himself on trade in the past four years but let the country down with his personality. \n\n“He’s put his foot down on trade, on national security and foreign policy, and frankly his supreme court appointments have been consistent and constitutional,” he said. \n\n“But the way he treats people is completely unacceptable. He is not a role model for our children.' \n\nMr Wamp said the President also acted irresponsibly with the Budget, saying “it’s been reckless”. \n\n“Even before COVID we were running trillion dollar annual deficits, and that’s not the conservative thing to do,” he said. \n\nImage: AP
Read more »
Melbourne lockdown extended until September 28 | Sky News AustraliaThe Melbourne metropolitan area will stay under its strict stage four restrictions for at least another two weeks until September 28 but will see the evening curfew eased by one hour.\n\nPremier Daniel Andrews made the announcement on Sunday, where he outlined the state’s roadmap out.\n\n“From 11:59pm on the 13 September, we will have to extend out for two weeks the current stage four restrictions that Victorians are living under, this is for Metro Melbourne,” he said\n\nThe curfew will be slightly eased to 9:00pm and people will be allowed to exercise for two hours per day, \n\nFrom September 28 there will be second easing of restrictions.\n
Read more »