Cost of living
There’s an easy solution to housing affordability. But voters hate it
No one ever stopped John Howard in the street to complain about the value of their house going up. But are we at a tipping point?
- by Jim Malo
Latest
Updated
Inflation
Pre-election interest rate cut on the cards despite inflation uptick
Monthly inflation edged higher ahead of the Reserve Bank’s first interest rate decision for the year, but the key measure of underlying inflation dropped.
- by Millie Muroi
Unhappy campers: Caravan park fees soar as free sites snapped up
Victorians are finding campsites cost almost as much as hotels, putting them out of reach for many families.
- by Marta Pascual Juanola
Opinion
Opinion
Don’t say the S-word out loud, but Australia secretly loves socialism
Our nation has long considered itself the land of the fair go. But as housing affordability and healthcare standards slip, are we kidding ourselves?
- by Gary Newman
Started a new year health kick? Beware the ‘subscription trap’
Gyms, streaming services and meal-kit providers are being targeted by proposed new laws that will crack down on unfair business practices.
- by Millie Muroi
Man lives in garbage bin to save money on housing
The 30-year-old has lived in a converted skip bin for two years. It’s a cost-saving measure and a statement about the housing crisis.
- by Orana Durney-Benson
Opinion
Bills
What’s happened to the cost of living is trickier than you think
While we complain about “the cost of living”, the mugs who elected Donald Trump again were on about “inflation”. Aren’t they the same thing? Maybe, maybe not.
- by Ross Gittins
Exclusive
Australian economy
‘We’ve been vindicated’: Chalmers says government spending has saved the nation from recession
After coming under fire from for his mid-year budget update, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says: “We’ve rejected this free advice that says slash and burn in the budget”.
- by Shane Wright and David Crowe
How high-income earners are coping with higher interest rates
Tree-changing, downsizing, moving back in with parents – even households on solid professional incomes can no longer keep up with mortgages.
- by Elizabeth Redman
Updated
Perth
‘Who is the economy booming for?’: Damning report unveils scale of WA cost-of-living crisis
A new report into the rising cost-of-living crisis in WA has found even dual waged households are struggling to make ends meet and many of those on middle incomes have exhausted their savings, prompting fresh calls for targeted relief.
- by Jesinta Burton
Exclusive
Electric vehicles
Police, nurses and firefighters to be enticed to buy electric vehicles
Essential workers and low and middle-income earners will be enticed with government-subsidised cheaper loans to take up electric vehicles, including second-hand EVs.
- by Bianca Hall
Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/cost-of-living-jfq