Slumbering Green

I finally bit the bullet and commissioned a company to put in solar panels. A guy came around canvassing households and I got to talking with him. Later he got another guy to come and go through the numbers, explain the process. After that I signed a contract and the company Think Renewables called me to organise a site visit by the installer.  They’ve consulted with Ausgrid about voltage and the installer comes next week to survey the house. This is where I am in the process, and it’s not going to cost me anything at the outset. What happens is that the government pays a subsidy to the company on my behalf and then I pay a monthly fee to Think Renewables’ money handler named Plenti by putting money in my transaction account, which they debit. The guy who came around to get the sale is named Charlie and he’s a Brit. He carefully described how my quarterly electricity bill will be reduced after installing the system. He also said that it would be double the cost if I got a battery, ...

It started in Queensland with the ability of landlords to raise rents just once a year. This is bad enough because it’ll lead to bigger jumps as landlords try to anticipate the market. Why would you move if you have to pay for transport? But the Greens have been pushing for rent control for a long time. If Albanese introduces the same measure in other states, especially Sydney and Melbourne, the problem of high rents will just get worse for renters there. Then if you put a cap on rents that the government decides more and more landlords – who are already getting out of the market – will sell their properties because owning a property as an investment will become more unattractive. The upshot all this regulation will cause is fewer rental properties. It’s already a margin call owning a property as an investment, there are other ways for people to place their funds than in bricks and mortar. When Covid hit many landlords went backwards as rents tumbled. Then came inflation and high...

Albanese is getting ready to increase taxes other than those on superannuation. Super is his stalking horse, he's softening up the electorate and seeing how voters in NSW behave this month in the state poll. The NSW election is a referendum on Labor's federal Super policy. If ALP win in NSW he'll make further tax policy announcements, going back on the policies regarding capital gains tax and negative gearing that he took to last federal election. The Guardian reported in a headline that the ALP isn’t planning to change capital gains policy with regards to the family home. BUT he will change the ALP policy with regard to a second or third property etc. It’s on the cards if the Guardian is saying this because the Guardian is a staunch leftwing paper that supports more redistribution. Labor is getting ready to Venezuela the economy. Even a death tax won’t be off the table. I listened to a popular economic correspondent that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) often ...