Your Briefing: Queensland’s battered credit profile under fire

Hello readers. Qld’s mounting debt sparks credit rating warning and APRA moves to avert a property crisis as housing downturn accelerates.

Hello readers. Queensland’s mounting debt has sparked a credit rating warning and APRA has moved to avert a property crisis as the housing downturn accelerates.

Premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk arrives and speaks to the media before the start of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Adelaide, Wednesday, 12 December 2018. (AAP Image/Kelly Barnes) NO ARCHIVING

Debt fears as Labor’s wages bill soars

Queensland’s mounting debt has sparked a warning amid revelations wages have spiked by $7 billion since Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took office.

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iStock photo of agent handing over keys in front of a for sale / sold sign. For On the Pulse column in Cairns Post weekend real estate liftout.

Interest-only loan limits cut

As the housing downturn accelerates, regulators scrap limits that have led to a sharp drop in interest-only mortgage lending.

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**SKY NEWS OUT NEWS.COM.AU OUT AUSTRALIAN OUT** Andrew Broad Nationals MP with wife Rachel in Red Cliffs just outside Mildura. Picture: Jason Edwards

Broad ‘put moral bar too high’

Embattled MP Andrew Broad’s stance as a moralist was hypocritical and ensured he paid the price when he was exposed as a “sugar daddy”, says Larry Anthony. Despite the salacious revelations, Mr Broad’s wife, Rachel, appeared in public with her husband, holding his hand.

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 19: Majak Daw of the Kangaroos in action at Arden Street Ground on April 19, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Hidden pain of AFL trailblazer

Deep inside AFL star Majak Daw there is a dangerous fault line. Late on Monday night, it nearly swallowed him whole.

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Janet Albrechtsen says the government is a policy free zone.

Anyone home at Liberal HQ?

The Morrison government is trailing Labor because, despite a projected budget bonanza, it is still struggling to explain to itself, let alone to voters, what it stands for, writes Janet Albrechtsen.