This disastrous annual result is a blow to the retailers’ peak bodies, the mainstream media and the Turnbull government.
The unthinkable has happened to Australia’s shopkeepers: growth in retail sales over the last financial year has been the lowest since records began. And this during the most sustained global upswing in trade, corporate profits, jobs and executive salaries in decades.
The latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show total retail sales for 2017-18 at $315.8 billion. This is an increase of $7.8 billion – or just 2.55% – over the previous financial year.
Important data released this week will give us an idea of how the economy fared in 2018 — and enable us to assess the government's claims to economic competence ahead of the election.
Morrison’s ‘major’ speech showed an empty man with nothing to offer but noise
Scott Morrison's speech on the economy was marked by complete silence on the three biggest issues facing the government.
The revolution will not be trending
The troubles of one website don’t amount to much, but the trouble at BuzzFeed perversely fulfils the site's mission of letting us know where things are at.
Why the arrest of Huawei’s CFO has the world on edge
The arrest of Meng Wanzhou may restart the US-China trade war, but it will just be a headwind of the looming global financial crash.
In an alternative universe, Turnbull could be poised for victory
With continuing jobs growth and a commodity price boom, a Turnbull government would have been well-placed to go to the polls and win an unlikely victory.
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