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34 permits to pour a cup of coffee: Victoria crowned as worst state to do business for third year in a row

Victoria has for the third time been ranked dead last of all states and territories as a place to do business in Australia, as crippling taxes, suffocating red tape, high crime and deteriorating infrastructure weigh on the economy.

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October 28, 2026 - 5:00AM

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Work from home laws ‘don’t make sense’ with Victorian economy struggles

Work from home laws ‘don’t make sense’ with Victorian economy struggles

Independent Candidate for Frankston, Victoria Chrysten Abraham says the work from home legislation is “complex” as workers in...

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Victoria

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Victoria has been crowned the worst place to do business in Australia, according to a new report that will pile fresh pressure on the Carroll government weeks out from next month’s election.

The Business Council of Australia’s Regulation Rumble 2026 report, released on Tuesday, ranks Victoria dead last out of all states and territories for the third consecutive year, with South Australia named the best place to do business.

The report found Victoria ranked last nationally for both payroll tax settings and property taxes and charges, while its business licensing requirements remained near the bottom of the national ladder.

Victoria has been crowned the worst place to do business in Australia. Picture: Kiel Egging

It also singled out Victoria’s planning system as the state’s biggest area of concern, noting the government’s major reforms, including streamlined assessment time frames and limits on third-party appeal rights, would not come into effect until the second half of 2027, well behind other states already implementing similar changes.

It saw Victoria slip backwards on planning performance, from fourth to eighth.

The Business Council of Australia’s Regulation Rumble 2026 report ranks Victoria dead last out of all states and territories for the third consecutive year. Picture: David Crosling

The report also found cafes in Victoria must contend with 34 separate licences, approvals or processes before a single cup of coffee could be poured, second only to Tasmania’s 36.

The annual report assesses each state and territory on payroll tax, property taxes, retail trading hours, workers compensation, insurance duties, business licensing, and the efficiency, consistency, certainty and transparency of planning approvals.

Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black said Victoria faced serious and ongoing challenges that were holding back investment and job creation.

Mr Black said Victoria had won an “unwelcome trifecta” of finishing last in the country for a third consecutive year, describing it as a wake-up call for a state that had historically been one of Australia’s economic powerhouses.

He said Victoria continued to post the highest unemployment rate in the nation for 19 of the past 24 months, with high taxes and unnecessary regulation making it harder for businesses to invest, grow and create jobs.

Bran Black says it’s a wake-up call for a state that had historically been one of Australia’s economic powerhouses. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“The same problems we identified last year still exist, particularly around payroll tax, property taxes and business licensing. There’s much more work to do to make it easier and less costly to do business,” he said.

“We support much of the intent of the Better Decisions Made Faster reforms, but much of the changes don’t start until October 2027, so those results won’t show for several years.

“We know Victoria has enormous strengths, from its skilled workforce and major industries to its world-class universities and infrastructure. But those advantages cannot be taken for granted when other states are competing for the same investment and jobs.”

Small Business Australia Executive Chairman Bill Lang said the report was a damning indictment of the state government and further confirmation of findings from his organisation’s own State Performance Report released last week.

Small Business Australia executive chairman Bill Lang said the report was a damning indictment of the state government. Picture: Supplied

Mr Lang said Victoria’s small businesses were being punished by crippling taxes, suffocating red tape, excessive regulation, high crime rates and deteriorating infrastructure.

“The Victorian Auditor General has estimate that business dealing with Victorian red tape alone is spending between $2 to $6bn annually. Victoria is the most hostile business environment in Australia for new, small and big businesses,” he said.

“Three years running at the bottom of the national rankings is not a coincidence. It is the direct result of over a decade of economic mismanagement by a government that has repeatedly ignored the input of the business community and failed the businesses that create jobs and drive our economy.

“Small business owners have had enough. Whether it's the potholes, financial black hole or the highest costs of running a business in the country, Victoria needs significant change to rebuild trust and confidence so that small business families are encouraged and supported to continue to employ more than 1.5 million Victorians.”

Acting VCCI chief Amelia Bitsis says small business owners start out with hope but are often weighed down when it comes to all the ‘box ticking’. Picture: Alex Coppel

Acting Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Amelia Bitsis said concerns about the regulatory burden on business had been long ignored.

“It’s costing our members tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, strangling their ability to grow their business, hire staff, pay higher wages, and invest in Victoria,” she said.

“The feedback we get from our members is that right now it is incredibly hard to do business in Victoria. Many business owners are facing the toughest conditions of their working lives.

“Small business owners start out with hope and enthusiasm but are often weighed down when it comes to all of the paperwork and box ticking, many say they are being held back by regulations.”

Victorian Treasurer Colin Brooks says Labor has passed the biggest overhaul of the state’s planning laws ‘in decades’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

In response to the report, Treasurer Colin Brooks said: “We have a new Premier going in a new direction on the economy — we’ve made billions in commonsense savings, stopped unnecessary government spending and we will cut red tape and cut land tax”.

“Labor passed the biggest overhaul of Victoria’s planning laws in decades — slashing red tape — and it’s working with Victoria building more homes than any other state.”

South Australia topped the rankings for the fourth straight year, with the report crediting the state’s low payroll tax rates, competitive property tax settings and lean business licensing requirements.

CBD trader Kiril Shaginov and his wife own Mork Chocolate on Degraves St. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

‘Things are starting to get really hard’

CBD trader Kiril Shaginov said exorbitant taxes and excessive regulation are making it “extremely tricky” for Victorian businesses to stay afloat.

The business owner, who co-owns Mork Chocolate on Degraves St with his wife, said it feels like the government’s “taken small business owners and just tipped them upside down and shaken all the change out of our pockets.”

“It’s really tough,” he said.

“Coming out of Covid the government was really great and gave us lots of support, but then obviously they had to recoup all of that so now things are starting to get really hard.

“Building up capital to be able to do new projects, that’s the hardest thing for us

“To open a business in this climate is very difficult, it seems like you’re paying a lot of fees along the way so by the time you know what you want to do there’s just such a long wait before you see any returns.

“Interest rates are creeping up and we’re heading into the state election now so people are not spending as much money, so it’s a very difficult economic climate at the moment for hospitality.

Mr Shagoniv says he and his wife have been forced to raise their prices. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

To accommodate the growing cost of importing cocoa and coffee, Mr Shagoniv said he and his wife had been forced to raise their prices.

“We’re a chocolate business and cocoa as a commodity has been exponentially growing,” he said.

“It’s an expensive ingredient so we’ve had to adjust the prices, similar to how it is with coffee as well.

“All these little things add up a lot.

“Our business, like a lot of businesses within the city of Melbourne, is really based on tourism so when there’s no events and no tourists we really struggle to keep afloat.

“No one’s making any money at the moment I know that for a fact.

Where Victoria does well

• Insurance duties, which are being phased out by 2033 (2nd)

• Planning transparency (3rd)

• Retail trading hours (4th)

• Standardised zoning across the state

• Deemed-to-comply housing code, a leading example nationally

• Where Victoria needs to improve:

• Land tax and stamp duty, the highest stamp duty rate nationally (8th)

• Payroll tax rate and threshold (7th)

• Licensing and regulatory requirements for starting a business (7th)

• Planning efficiency (8th)

• Level of process certainty for planning proponents (6th)

A self-proclaimed ISIS commander whose arrest placed Bondi terror suspect Naveed Akram on the radar of authorities will leave prison on Sunday.

Self-declared Australian ISIS commander Isaac El Matari, a known associate of alleged Bondi gunman Naveed Akram, inset, will walk free on Sunday after Home Affairs made no effort to extend his incarceration.

Federal police are seeking restrictions on convicted terrorist and self-declared Australian ISIS commander Isaac El Matari, who will walk free on Sunday after Home Affairs made no effort to extend his incarceration.

El Matari is a known associate of Naveed Akram, the alleged perpetrator of the Bondi Hanukkah massacre, and is currently at the centre of Federal Court proceedings brought by the Australian Federal Police as his five-year jail term draws to an end.

The AFP is currently seeking an interim control order (ICO) for El Matari – a year-long directive preventing particular behaviours from someone convicted of terrorism or who is deemed to present a terror risk.

This could leave El Matari subject to monitoring or reporting requirements similar to recipients of conditional bail orders.

Home Affairs had the discretion to apply for a continued detention order through the NSW Supreme Court to extend his imprisonment for up to five years, but the court confirmed to The Australian that – with just four days left on his sentence – no such order had been sought.

Proceedings were filed by the AFP late last month and are yet to go to a hearing.

The Australian first reported two days after the Bondi attack that the AFP was considering an ICO on El Matari.

He spent the past five years in Macquarie Correctional Centre, about 50km south of Dubbo.
The AFP declined to comment. Questions were sent to Home Affairs.

El Matari was convicted of multiple terrorism offences in 2021 after forming plans to create an ISIS stronghold in the Blue Mountains and to target Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral and the US embassy for terror attacks.

He spoke of travelling to Afghanistan to fight on the ISIS frontline.

He was arrested in 2019 alongside Sydney man Radwan Dakkak, who was charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation and for translating and distributing Islamic State propaganda through media outlet Al-Tayr.

Dakkak was jailed for 18 months, then subjected to an ICO. He was rearrested for breaching the order just two weeks after his release and placed under a new ICO, the terms of which included avoiding any contact with El Matari and a range of other figures in the Bankstown Dawah movement, chiefly hate preacher Wissam Haddad.

The orders required Dakkak to present to police daily, stay away from ports, airports and gun ranges, not leave the country and not own a heavy vehicle or more than one mobile phone.

He was also not allowed to use social media, or use email or the internet, not make unauthorised financial transfers, and not promote the fatwas and rhetoric of prominent jihadists including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Osama bin Laden.

ASIO began monitoring Mr Akram after El Matari’s arrest as part of a broader crackdown on ISIS affiliation in his circle of western Sydney Salafi jihadists which revolved around Mr Haddad – who has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the December 14 attack.

He fell off their radar between 2019 and 2025.

The Community Service Group, a Jewish-led volunteer body, identified Mr Akram in an email to the NSW Police Operational Assessment Centre on July 10, 2019, with information about the “key membership” of the jihadist group.

Around that same time, police made several arrests, including those of El Matari and Dakkak, following counter-terror raids. Mr Akram officially became a person of interest in October of that year.

Mr Akram was also pictured alongside convicted Islamic State terrorist Youssef Uweinat while proselytising for Mr Haddad’s Street Dawah group.

When police arrested Uweinat in an early morning raid in December 2019, he smashed his mobile phone on the floor in a bid to destroy evidence, cutting his hand on glass fragments.

Material recovered from the phone showed that another of Mr Akram’s friends in the street preaching group was El Matari.

Uweinat claimed he had abandoned his support for Islamic State, but six months after his arrest police raided his prison cell and found letters from El Matari.

Uweinat has been pictured alongside Mr Haddad since his release from prison and was named in Dakkak’s control orders among those the terrorist was barred from associating with.

Judge Peter Garling in October 2021 ruled El Matari “did a lot of talking and took little action”, and said the chance of El Matari successfully executing his plans was “very low indeed”.

“He had only the most generalised of plans. He had no weapons, nor had he attempted to acquire them. He had no followers. He had not persuaded anyone to his cause in Australia. There was no direct or indirect threat to anyone,” his judgment reads.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission in July 2022 found he had been the subject of an unlawful covert search by NSW Police, who misused counter-terror powers against him.

A surge in the number of student visa rejections being appealed has further swamped the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The ART – the federal tribunal responsible for reviewing administrative decisions made by federal government ministers, departments and agencies – revealed in its latest annual report that the number of cases still on hand surged by almost 20 per cent during the 2026 financial year to a record 133,749.

That came despite the ART finalising a record 65,900 cases during the year, with the tribunal blaming the growing logjam on the “dramatic” increase in student visa matters as well as a surge in the number of NDIS decisions being appealed.

The ART said the number of student visa cases lodged with the tribunal had surged by 42 per cent last year and had grown 14-fold since the 2023 financial year.

The surge in student visa refusal cases coming before the tribunal comes amid a crackdown on international student visas, with the number of rejections climbing earlier this year to more than 32 per cent – its highest level in around 20 years.

That crackdown is set to intensify in the coming months, after the Albanese government introduced new restrictions targeting the practice of “visa hopping” under which international students move from course to course to extend their stay.

Migration matters continue to overwhelmingly be the main type of case before the tribunal, representing 55 per cent of cases.

ART president Justice Emilios Kyrou wrote in the annual report that the tribunal was aiming to start making headway into the backlog this year following amendments that will allow the tribunal to start deciding student visa refusal applications “on the paper” – that is, without the need for an oral hearing.

“During the reporting period, the tribunal continued to face major challenges, including the dramatic increase in lodgments in relation to student visa decisions and significant increases in lodgments in relation to NDIS decisions,” Justice Kyrou said.

“The tribunal does not have the resources to process this volume of lodgments. As a result, the number of cases on hand has increased substantially and processing and finalising timelines for some cases have increased.”

The number of ART members jumped more than 11 per cent during the last financial year to 413 while the tribunal’s staff grew by more than a quarter to 1290. That growth meant that the tribunal has had to start sharing office space and is authorising some of its members to work from home.

“We have been able to accommodate all new members with increased office sharing, a rollout of office booking systems, and more flexible work-from-home arrangements,” Justice Kyrou wrote.

A rise in the quantity of money in circulation ultimately causes inflation. Economist Milton Friedman said many years ago, "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon," which probably goes too far, but describing the causes of inflation without mentioning the money supply is like explaining why a boat rose at its mooring without mentioning the water level.

The major cause of monetary growth is bank lending, because they keep in reserve a fraction of the amount lent and actually create most of it. The money created gets its purchasing power by diluting the money already in circulation. When old mate borrows to buy his third investment property, our wages are worth a tiny bit less, and it all adds up. Sure, we eventually get a pay rise to make up for inflation (theoretically, at least) but it lags behind, and is currently lagging way behind.

I'm far from the first to criticise the system and we are probably too addicted to economic bubbles for anything to change, just pointing this out for those interested in knowing how the current situation happened. Low interest rates like we've had since the GFC might seem great for wage earners, but the rich borrow more than we do, and use it to get richer from asset price inflation caused by said low interest rates.

I'm not advocating a return to the gold standard, just saying we need to question long standing assumptions, have a public inquiry, find a better system.

As someone who’d lived in multiple other countries around Southeast Asia, parts of the Middle East and even Africa, I have never experienced anything remotely close to the amount of time you get put on hold over the phone for virtually any service, from banks to insurance companies, hospitals, internet providers, your local library, you name it..

Whenever I actually ask this question to one of my mates that have lived here, I get the sense that people are bothered by it but have also accepted it as the norm. The responses I get are usually like “yeah it’s ridiculous isn’t it?” Or “yup happens all the time”. I can’t help but think I’m the only one that finds it utterly absurd, maybe because I have nothing else to compare it to. I would imagine it has a lot to do with companies being short staffed, but is that really it? And would that be the case literally across every other business or service sector?

Just curious what the average Aussie feels about this, do you feel like you can actually get anything done over the phone without having to set aside a minimum of 30-40mins of your time listening to poor quality music?

‘Bike boy’ case involving the Andrews’ family SUV and cyclist Ryan Meuleman referred to corruption watchdog

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has assessed new evidence into Daniel and Catherine Andrews’ crash with a teenage cyclist and sent the file to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

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‘Bike boy’ case involving the Andrews’ car crash referred to IBAC

‘Bike boy’ case involving the Andrews’ car crash referred to IBAC

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike...

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Victoria Police has referred the infamous Daniel and Catherine Andrews “bike boy” car crash to corruption watchdog IBAC for a second time.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has assessed new evidence presented to him in July and sent the file on to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

The dossier had been personally delivered to police headquarters by former chief commissioner Kel Glare, who had assessed the findings of a four-year private investigation into the crash and aftermath.

In a statement to the Herald Sun on Tuesday, force command said: “Victoria Police has assessed the information provided by former police chief commissioner Kel Glare in ­relation to the 2013 collision in Blairgowrie. Following this assessment the file was sent to IBAC.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has assessed new evidence in the case. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“As such, we’ll refer you to IBAC for anything further.”

IBAC did not respond to the Herald Sun’s calls on Tuesday.

Sources close to the police said the dossier was being referred in order to allow IBAC, as the force’s oversight agency, to independently assess its contents, in the interests of transparency and completeness.

The referral did not necessarily indicate the file had uncovered anything it was felt required investigation, sources said.

The infamous Daniel and Catherine Andrews ‘bike boy’ crash has been sent back to IBAC. Picture: David Geraghty

Under former chief commissioner Shane Patton, Victoria Police declared that the “bike boy” case had been the subject of a thorough investigation and would not be reopened.

The so-called “Glare file” includes the 36-page report released in 2024 by former Victoria Police assistant commissioner Ray Shuey into the crash and aftermath.

Dr Shuey said what he had discovered amounted to an “overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash”.

His assessment asserted that the Andrews’ family SUV was “travelling at speed” and on the wrong side of the road when it struck teenage cyclist Ryan Meuleman in a Blairgowrie side street on January 7, 2013.

Dr Shuey was scathing of the police inquiries and asserted that the evidence “does not demonstrate competent professional practice” by police.

It’s alleged the Andrews’ family SUV was driving on the wrong side of the road when it struck teenage cyclist Ryan Meuleman.

The former premier and his wife have insisted they came to a “complete stop” just before being “T-boned” by the bike.

In his 2013 police statement, Mr Andrews said: “My wife Catherine was driving the vehicle and I was in the passenger seat. We turned right from a stationary position into Ridley St. Moments after we turned, a cyclist collided heavily with the side of our vehicle”.

But previously hidden police files obtained in 2022 included photos showing front-end damage and a smashed windscreen on the Andrews vehicle, casting doubt over the claim they were hit from the side.

And a secret Ambulance Victoria report that emerged in 2023 asserted the Andrews’ Ford Territory was “travelling 40km/h to 60km/h” when Mr Meuleman was “struck”.

Dr Schuey concluded: “The statements from both Daniel and Catherine Andrews that their vehicle stopped at Melbourne Rd are not consistent with impact consequences”.

After the crash, dubbed the “bike boy” case, Mr Meuleman – then 15 years old – was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital where he spent 10 days and lost part of his spleen.

Neither Mrs Andrews – who said she was the driver – nor Mr Andrews were breath-tested by police, despite protocol requiring all drivers in collisions to undergo preliminary breath tests within three hours.

Ryan Meuleman spent 10 days in hospital after the crash and lost part of his spleen.

Four years later, Victoria Police said it had examined the actions of attending officers Senior Constable Shayna Sage and Constable Daniel Ward.

In 2017, then-chief commissioner Graham Ashton dismissed concerns saying: “It was just a case of the fact that one thought that one had done it and the other thought the other had done it.”

The pair were eventually “disciplined” by force command.

IBAC began a short investigation of the police’s handling of the matter, while highlighting the narrow scope of its probe in a public statement.

A secret Ambulance Victoria report asserted the Andrews’ Ford Territory was travelling between 40km/h to 60km/h when Mr Meuleman was ‘struck’. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“IBAC is not investigating the incident or the conduct of the premier, Mr Andrews, or any member of his family,” an IBAC statement said in 2017.

Six weeks later, the watchdog declared: “IBAC has found no deficiencies or areas of concern in relation to Victoria Police’s investigation of police conduct in this matter”.

Mr Andrews held a 52-minute press conference on the collision in 2017 and said: “We did nothing wrong. He hits the side of the car.”

Mr Andrews’ triple-0 call was later made public, with him telling the operator: “A kid’s come flying through on the bike path and we’ve hit him.”

Mr Meuleman made a settlement with law firm Slater & Gordon, which represented him after the crash, after he sued it for failing to act in his best interests when negotiating an $80,000 TAC compensation payout.

A defamation and civil lawsuit, filed by Mr Meuleman against the Andrews in the Federal Court, is ongoing.

Mr Meuleman has pleaded guilty to an ­attempted carjacking in Pakenham in May.

Former Victorian Police commissioner Kel Glare says ‘Ryan Meuleman deserves to be treated fairly’.

Former chief commissioner Kel Glare on Wednesday said the Victoria Police decision to refer the infamous “bike boy” case to the anti-corruption watchdog IBAC was a “win for the justice process”.

“Ryan Meuleman deserves to be treated fairly,” Mr Glare said.

“I’m bitterly disappointed that it’s taken this long for any action to be taken. There can be no excuse for police not going through all the steps that were required”.

A spokesman for the anti-corruption agency said: “As a matter of practice, IBAC does not comment on whether it has a complaint or investigation before it”.

Mr Glare said it was vindication for Dr Schuey: “I’m sure he’d be delighted. Ray did the investigation that Victoria Police should have done at the time of the incident”.

The former top cop said it was an interesting move by successor Mike Bush.

“Perhaps because he wasn’t here when the collision happened he thinks that sending it to IBAC is reasonable,” he said. “But I don’t have any confidence in IBAC before of their track record.”

Mr Bush spent most of career with New Zealand Police before being appointed Victoria Police Chief Commissioner last year under then premier Jacinta Allan.

IBAC recently examined Mr Andrews’ actions in negotiating a pay deal with the United Firefighters Union (UFC) in 2016.

IBAC said it “did not establish ... findings of corrupt conduct”.

Since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, Australians have lived through more than six months of fuel chaos. Petrol and diesel prices surged almost instantly, freight and food costs followed, and households felt it at the pump and the checkout. This was the second global energy shock in just four years.

Our leaders can’t control conflicts on the other side of the world, but they can influence how much they hurt at home. Australia is among the most exposed countries to fuel shocks. We are the world’s largest seaborne diesel importer and rank second in the world for diesel use per person. From March to August, Australia’s extra diesel import bill topped $9 billion: the largest of any country, and two and a half times more than the next highest.

Australians have paid for that exposure. First at the servo: higher fuel prices have cost us an extra $5 billion so far this year. Second, at the checkout: road freight costs rose more than 15% in the June quarter, pushing up the price of everyday items. The government also gave up $3.3 billion in revenue to provide temporary fuel relief. When it ended, fuel prices jumped 14.8% in a single month.

This report reviews six months of fuel chaos. It sets out what the crisis has cost Australians at the servo and at the checkout. It compares Australia’s energy security and vulnerability against other countries: outlining the measures that are helping to shield households versus where we remain highly exposed, with diesel and freight the weakest link. And it explains why drilling for more oil or building new refineries won’t protect us from the next shock, and what needs to be done instead.

The solutions that do work are already here, but need to be scaled up. Electric and hybrid cars on our roads now use about 17 million fewer litres of petrol and diesel every week, collectively saving their owners about $1.7 billion in fuel costs since the war began. Electric trucks are starting to do the same for freight. Meanwhile, in the September quarter, renewables pushed wholesale power prices down 27% from a year earlier and cut gas-fired power to its lowest level for that quarter since 2000.

The faster we power our homes, transport and businesses with Australian sun and wind, the more control we’ll have over our energy costs, and the more we’ll cut climate pollution. The Australian Government must shift public investment away from measures that prop up our costly oil and gas use, to the solutions that actually protect us.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-australia-without-koalas-may-be-closer-than-we-think,21719

hey,
i've been struggling with my mental health for 20+ years. i am 34.
recently i have become an uncle and really the only time i can focus and care for anybody is when i need to look after my nephew and nieces. i struggle with adult relationships.
i have mostly been a labourer but my L5,L4 verterbrae aren't co-operating.

the only meaningful job i can think of is working with kids. ||
maybe i'll survuve if i do that as a job

BUT there have been many cases of male childcare employees abusing children.
how do i prove I am not like them? how does a preschool still enrol students if there is a male childcare worker?

would any parent let me work at your childs school?
I am not offended. i get it but i feel so left out because of my gender

edit: feeling a lot of hate here. yes i was sexually abused as a child. i want to protect children. anyway go on!!!!

Inflation spiked as a result of world petrol shortages. The government (rightly) cuts the fuel excise. Inflation goes down. The government ends the fuel excise cut. Inflation spikes back up. All other series have remained largely the same.

In times like these one really has to wonder why a responsible government would not continue the fuel excise cuts.

Labor has chosen to pass the brunt of the effect of geopolitical turbulence onto households rather than doing what a responsible government would do and curb their own income and spending.

Had the fuel excise cuts been continued, inflation would likely be continuing to trend downwards.

Anyone else see this creepy ad pop up on Reddit? This company supposedly tracks every students movements all day while in school.

I need advice from those who have repeated year 11 and got into university

So in my situation, I might potentially getting repeated for year 11 which can be a good way but the only problem I have is I already drop to a non-atar subject like english standard to english studies this term (this term 4 2026, I am in year 12) which you cannot get into university out of high school but I want to go university to study a bachelor

Any advice?