Sydney housing to remain unaffordable until at least the 2030s: UNSW, UTS studyNew research from the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology Sydney has found that Sydney’s housing market will remain unaffordable until at least the 2030s.The study has found that having a stable and regular income is no longer enough to comfortably enter the housing market anywhere in Sydney, and that there is nowhere in greater Sydney someone on a median part-time or full-time income can afford to buy property. Instead, income supplements – such as existing wealth or significant cash gifts from family – would be needed to buy and to afford mortgage repayments.Prof Chyi Lin Lee from UNSW says researchers expected housing affordability to be “severe” for part-time earners, but “found that full-time employees are also significantly affected.”
This highlights the widespread housing affordability crisis and the need for comprehensive policy solutions … It’s clear the Australian dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly harder to attain … The situation may also lead to housing-induced poverty, where households might forgo other essential activities to cover housing expenses.
Researchers developed an affordability index based on likely mortgage repayments of a prospective buyer with a 20% deposit, the average housing lending rate and a loan period of 30 years. Then, they looked at which areas of Sydney were affordable on median party-time and full-time earnings based on a cost-to-take-home pay ratio of 30%.They found that nowhere in Sydney was affordable for part-time employees on $600, and part-time earners in almost all parts of Sydney could not afford to buy a property even if they spent their entire salary on housing. The researchers forecast that without intervention, there would still be nowhere in Sydney that someone on a median part-time or full-time income alone could afford to buy until at least 2031.New houses, like these being built at Menangle Park on the outskirts of Sydney, are out of reach for many prospective buyers. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianShareUpdated at 02.57 CESTKey eventsAdvanced ‘ship killer’ missile gets Navy’s green tickThe HMAS Sydney fired a new anti-ship naval strike missile for the first time during the RIMPAC training drill hosted by the United States off the coast of Hawaii, sinking the decommissioned USS Tarawa.The missile is the replacement for the ageing Harpoon weapon system on Australian destroyers and is part of a $1 billion package.Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy described the missile fitted onto the guided destroyer to boost air defence and maritime protection of accompanying vessels and land forces as a major milestone.“They will be equipping our three air warfare destroyers, our Anzac class frigates and our Hunter class anti-submarine frigates when they come online, so they’ll be the main ship killing missile in our inventory,” he told reporters in Canberra.More than $1.3 billion will also be spent on more than 200 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, Conroy said.
This is all about giving us a modern Navy capable of deterring aggression in our region.
Exercises such as RIMPAC were important theatres to test new missiles, he added.It’s not often that you get to fire a missile at an actual target,” he said.
We obviously won’t go into too much detail but my advice from the navy was it was a very successful test firing and it gives us one of the most advanced anti-ship missiles in the world.
– Australian Assosciated Press ShareJosh ButlerAlbanese says federal government in negotiations about PNG team joining NRLReturning to prime minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference in Cairns earlier, he says the federal government is still in negotiations about a Papua New Guinea team joining the National Rugby League, but is very keen to see it happen.Albanese’s government has long talked about supporting a team in PNG, where league is very popular, as something that would be good for the football competition but also helpful from an economic and geopolitical perspective. In Cairns, where the PNG team could have an Australian base, Albanese again backed the idea.
We are working with PNG, as well as working with the NRL and there is no doubt that, if PNG is successful in putting a team into the NRL, that will be good news for Papua New Guinea, for its economic development – but it will also be good news for Cairns, given the location, given the relationships.
We are in negotiations about the range of issues when it comes to PNG entering a team into the National Rugby League. We will continue to have those discussions.
Anthony Albanese backs the idea of a PNG team joining the NRL. Photograph: Brian Cassey(copyright)/AAPAlbanese is in north Queensland on a few days holiday leave – which he of course interrupted to give a press conference on Joe Biden’s decision to not contest the US presidential election. The PM said he’d be on leave until Wednesday.
This is a wonderful part of the world and a great part of Australia. And it’s been wonderful to be able to engage with people. I watched the Souths Tigers game, to go back to the NRL reference, at a pub here – talked with lots of locals.
ShareUpdated at 03.37 CESTPorsche recalls more than 1600 Taycan luxury EVs in Australia due to brake defaultMore than 1600 Australian electric car drivers will be slowed down by a worldwide recall after a luxury car brand revealed a serious braking problem with one of its most popular models, AAP reports.The federal transport department issued a recall for all Porsche Taycan models in Australia, in a notice that will affect 1657 vehicles. The recall is the second to impact electric cars in Australia in a week, following a seatbelt software issue identified with Tesla’s Model 3 last Monday.The Porsche electric vehicles were recalled because of a risk of a “brake fluid leak” that the transport department warned could put drivers in danger. The notice says:
Due to a manufacturing defect, the front brake hoses may be defective. A reduction in braking performance could increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users.
Owners are being urged to contact Porsche to organise a free vehicle repair.In Australia, figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show Porsche sold 163 Taycan models in the first six months of 2024, and 535 last year. The price of the electric sports car starts at $164,400.Luxury Porsche Taycan EVs have been recalled. Photograph: Martyn Lucy/Getty ImagesShareUpdated at 03.27 CESTArthur Sinodinos, a former Australian ambassador to the US, has penned some thoughts on Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race, and what this means for Australia. You can read his full piece below:Share‘Cheap’ renewable energy would have to be shut off to cope with nuclear power in Qld, report findsThe Queensland Conservation Council has released new analysis showing the equivalent of 45,000 household solar systems in the state would need to be shut off every day to allow just one nuclear power station to operate in 2040.Energy strategist Clare Silcock says:
Nuclear power stations can’t easily be turned off, which means by 2040, we’d have to turn off a staggering 3,700 GWh of cheap renewable energy every year instead so we don’t overload the grid. We would be shutting off cheap energy to allow expensive nuclear power to run.
This report shows that nuclear power simply doesn’t fit into a modern grid and isn’t what we need to meet our future energy demands at the least cost.
Silcock argues that Australia’s power system was built on baseload generation but this is not what we need in the future. “Saying that we need baseload generation is like saying that we need floppy disks to transfer files between computers.”
What we need is flexible generation and storage which can move energy from when we have lots of it, in the middle of the day, to when we need it overnight. That is not how nuclear power stations work …
We would like to see the federal opposition focus on a real plan for bringing down emissions and power prices and that would mean backing renewable energy and storage.
The equivalent of 45,000 household solar systems would have to be turned off if nuclear power was generated in Queensland, researchers say. Photograph: Glenn Hunt/AAPShareUpdated at 03.02 CESTFederal government to underwrite 6.5 terawatt hours of wind, solar power in Western Australia Australia will build more wind and solar farms and big batteries, not gas or nuclear plants, under the latest federal funding agreement.As AAP reports, Western Australia is the latest state to sign a Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement (RETA) and has also opened bidding for the first Capacity Investment Scheme tender for the state.Under the agreement announced today, the federal government will underwrite at least 6.5 terawatt hours of new wind and solar generation in WA, as well as 1.1GW of new energy storage.But critics say the doubling of wholesale electricity prices in WA since 2021 has put the competitiveness of businesses and industry at risk, and are more concerned about a near-term gas shortfall. Regulators forecast a domestic gas deficit for the state between 2024 and 2029, despite the state being one of the world’s biggest gas exporters.The commonwealth will underwrite at least 6.5 terawatt hours of new wind and solar generation in Western Australia. Photograph: Krystle Wright/The GuardianThe first capacity tender in WA will target enough to power 450,000 homes or 2000 megawatt hours of dispatchable capacity in the state’s wholesale electricity market, which is separate to the national electricity market.Energy minister Chris Bowen says it builds on the success of the first national tender, which received more than 25GW of bids for a 6GW tender, and was the only plan backed by experts to deliver a cheap, reliable and resilient energy system.State governments have been warned that some subsidies may be re-allocated beyond their borders if commitments fall short.ShareUpdated at 02.47 CESTSydney housing to remain unaffordable until at least the 2030s: UNSW, UTS studyNew research from the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology Sydney has found that Sydney’s housing market will remain unaffordable until at least the 2030s.The study has found that having a stable and regular income is no longer enough to comfortably enter the housing market anywhere in Sydney, and that there is nowhere in greater Sydney someone on a median part-time or full-time income can afford to buy property. Instead, income supplements – such as existing wealth or significant cash gifts from family – would be needed to buy and to afford mortgage repayments.Prof Chyi Lin Lee from UNSW says researchers expected housing affordability to be “severe” for part-time earners, but “found that full-time employees are also significantly affected.”
This highlights the widespread housing affordability crisis and the need for comprehensive policy solutions … It’s clear the Australian dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly harder to attain … The situation may also lead to housing-induced poverty, where households might forgo other essential activities to cover housing expenses.
Researchers developed an affordability index based on likely mortgage repayments of a prospective buyer with a 20% deposit, the average housing lending rate and a loan period of 30 years. Then, they looked at which areas of Sydney were affordable on median party-time and full-time earnings based on a cost-to-take-home pay ratio of 30%.They found that nowhere in Sydney was affordable for part-time employees on $600, and part-time earners in almost all parts of Sydney could not afford to buy a property even if they spent their entire salary on housing. The researchers forecast that without intervention, there would still be nowhere in Sydney that someone on a median part-time or full-time income alone could afford to buy until at least 2031.New houses, like these being built at Menangle Park on the outskirts of Sydney, are out of reach for many prospective buyers. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianShareUpdated at 02.57 CESTMan charged after alleged act of indecency on international flight into SydneyA Sydney man has been charged after allegedly harassing a fellow passenger on an international flight.The 50-year-old was travelling on a flight from Dubai to Sydney and allegedly harassed a fellow passenger. The passenger alerted airline crew, who then notified the Australian Federal Police.AFP officers interviewed passenger and airline crew at the scene on 27 April, and on 10 June, the man attended the AFP office at Sydney airport where he was issued a court attendance notice.He will face one count of an act of indecency without consent, and is expected to appear before Downing Centre local court today.AFP acting Sydney airport police commander Dom Stephenson says all travellers have the right to feel safe and should not be subjected to offensive behaviour.ShareUpdated at 02.26 CESTBill Shorten praises Biden’s decision to ‘walk away from power’The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, says Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 US presidential race shows he is putting what he believes is in the nation’s interest first, “rather than his own ego or his own pride”.Speaking on Sunrise this morning, Shorten says:
I think Joe Biden’s been very good for Australia-American relations. And I also salute Joe Biden for his service. It takes a person of exceedingly strong character to walk away from power. It hasn’t happened very often in American politics. I think the last time it happened was Lyndon Johnson in 1968, and before then, probably only about four times in the whole history of America.
ShareUpdated at 02.15 CESTSoutheast Queensland wakes to widespread frost, chilly temperaturesResidents of southeast Queensland have woken to a frosty morning, with widespread frost visible on satellite images of the west and south of Toowoomba.The Bureau of Meteorology says a number of locations had their coldest morning of the year today, including the rural town of Oakey at -4.4C.🥶Sunrise reveals a frosty start in #SEQld, with widespread frost visible on satellite to the west and south of Toowoomba (grey hue). A number of locations had their coldest morning of the year, including Oakey on -4.4 °C. Observations: https://t.co/Za5afBEYP7 pic.twitter.com/HJLa14fN6M— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) July 21, 2024ShareUpdated at 02.06 CESTVictorian police investigating alleged theft of tractor from farmVictorian police are investigating the alleged theft of a tractor from a vegetable farm in West Pearcedale, last month.Police say that “unknown offenders” allegedly attended the market garden of the property on 22 June and stole the large, green 2000 model John Deere tractor, worth $60,000.Police are appealing for assistance for the return of the tractor, releasing CCTV from a neighbouring property showing the stolen piece of machinery being driven north on South Boundary Road towards Baxter-Tooradin Road.ShareUpdated at 02.01 CEST