Arabic version: مقياس الازدهار الأسترالي يراوح مكانه مع تدهور المزاج السياسي

According to ABC News, Australia’s real net national disposable income (RNNDI) per capita fell 0.4 per cent in the June quarter from the previous three months and was unchanged from a year earlier. The Australian Bureau of Statistics describes RNNDI as a broader measure of prosperity than real GDP because it reflects the income people can spend and save after inflation.

The measure has either declined or been largely flat over the past two years, in contrast to steady gains through much of the past half century, apart from periods including the early 1990s recession and the post-global financial crisis slowdown. The article said the weakness reflects a deterioration in living standards and prosperity, with a majority of Australians believing the country is heading in the wrong direction.

A nationwide JWS Research poll conducted in August found perceptions of the national economy, and of state and territory economies, were at their lowest levels since the firm began testing the question in 2013. Views of state and territory governments were at their lowest point since early 2017, while assessments of the Albanese government’s performance had never been harsher, according to JWS.

Former prime minister Paul Keating told an audience in Sydney that governments were “afraid of change”. While noting legislated adjustments to negative gearing and capital gains on housing, he said Australia needed to manage capital accretion more ambitiously. Keating said the country had gone 26 years without structural change, pointing to lagging productivity and growth. A new history by historian James Curran, Grand Ambition, examines Keating’s economic reform record and his role in turning APEC into a leaders’ forum.