Tuesday night’s federal Budget forecast a “surge in net overseas migration” over the next couple of years, as fewer people leave and many overseas students, skilled temporary visa holders and working holidaymakers return following the pandemic. The “surge” is expected to be temporary – a rebound from the huge decline in net migration during the pandemic – but never one to miss out on a headline, opposition leader Peter Dutton went on the attack:

Today is federal Budget day, which means I’d be remiss if I didn’t write something about it; after all, everything from the $14 billion in ‘cost of living relief’ to the first surplus in 15 years has already been leaked to the media. The surplus # Don’t let the word ‘surplus’ lead you astray; this Budget will be as big spending as any of the previous 15 years' worth of debt-building deficits.

Anyone who has dabbled in the wide world of video games will probably know of Activision Blizzard, or at the very least will have heard of its games. Think Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft. Yes, even Candy Crush! If you happened to produce a top gaming console, it sure would be nice to have all of those games in-house.

There is no doubt that Australia has plenty of problems. Inflation is still running hot, rental properties are expensive and ridiculously hard to find, and profits for some companies – especially those in the mining sector – are, or at least were recently, at/close to record highs. Meanwhile, real wages are declining and the nation’s productivity over the last decade (the key driver of long-run real wages growth) was at a 60-year low.

On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised everyone, hiking rates by 25 basis points to combat persistent inflation (financial markets were pricing in 100% chance of no change). The usual suspects wasted no time reaching for their pitchforks. Daniel Andrews, Premier of Australia’s most indebted state, Victoria, blamed the RBA for his own government’s lavish spending: