The federal government, opposition and business groups have united to attack One Nation’s immigration policy, warning it would cause major labour shortages and damage the economy.
One Nation wants to reduce Australia’s temporary and illegal resident population by 766,000 over three years, primarily by cutting student visas and family reunion programs. There are currently about three million temporary visa holders in Australia, around one million more than when Labor came to power.
Under the plan, temporary skilled migrants would also lose the ability to bring spouses, children and other dependants to Australia.
Health Minister Mark Butler warned the policy would hit construction, health, aged care and disability services, particularly in regional Australia. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor also criticised the proposal, saying it lacked economic modelling and would hurt businesses including farms, builders and cafés.
Business groups went further, warning the reduction in workers could deliver a bigger economic shock than the pandemic.
Pauline Hanson dismissed the criticism as predictable opposition from “vested interests and elite economists”, setting up immigration as an increasingly significant political and economic battleground.
US universities dominate a global ranking of where startup founders studied, with UC Berkeley taking top spot ahead of Stanford and Harvard, according to PitchBook. The University of Sydney is Australia’s highest-ranked institution at 64th, followed by Monash, UNSW and the University of Melbourne. (In case you were wondering, PitchBook defines founders as those whose companies received a round of venture funding between 2015 and mid-2026.)
Rank
University
Founders
Companies
1
UC Berkeley
2,380
2,155
2
Stanford University
1,997
1,787
3
Harvard University
1,697
1,532
4
Cornell University
1,541
1,436
5
MIT
1,525
1,342
6
University of Pennsylvania
1,466
1,354
7
University of Waterloo
1,303
1,006
8
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1,085
1,012
9
Tel Aviv University
1,084
918
10
University of Texas, Austin
1,036
948
64
University of Sydney
362
344
=66
Monash University
356
329
72
UNSW Sydney
345
316
76
University of Melbourne
323
297
Source: PitchBook
Fear & Greed Q+A today
The chair of Australia's financial regulator on the risks facing banks, insurers and super funds, holding more than $10 trillion on behalf of Australians:
“I think the horror scenario, Sean, would be if you have a crystallisation of multiple risks at the same time, what we call a polycrisis. And that's why we're spending a lot of time, as we set out in the corporate plan, looking at the links in the Australian financial system.
We've done a platform piece of work on the cross-industry stress test. If there was a stress in the banking system, how would that feed through into superannuation and vice versa?
We're spending a lot of time on crisis preparation. We're asking banks, insurers and super funds to think about possible scenarios. We're asking them to do desktop scenarios, do some drills and make sure they've got a plan when something goes wrong so that money can continue to flow, customers can continue to have the services that they're accustomed to.”
Inflation is already too high and renewed Middle East tensions are making the problem worse, according to RBA chief economist Sarah Hunter. Her comments add to expectations of another interest rate rise this year, potentially as soon as the end of September.
Up to 600 workers will lose their jobs at the Whyalla steelworks, after administrators and the South Australian government abandoned efforts to restart its ageing blast furnace. A rolling mill will continue operating using imported semi-finished steel.
Healthscope’s future has finally been resolved, with a Calvary Health Care-led consortium taking over the collapsed private hospital group. Its 25 hospitals will be split among four operators, with Calvary taking 14.
Tesla owners could receive cheaper insurance for using Full Self-Driving technology. Zurich believes cars using the supervised system are less likely to crash, although it’s not yet clear whether the insurance saving will outweigh Tesla’s $149-a-month subscription.
AI is increasingly taking control of the entire recruitment process. Job seekers are using it to write applications, employers are using it to screen them, and AI systems are even conducting interviews — creating the strange prospect of an algorithm effectively applying for a job with another algorithm.
Fear-o-meter
Strong company earnings may be masking a less sustainable economic backdrop, according to Schroders’ Australian equities team.
Despite Australian companies delivering a broadly positive reporting season, investors should be cautious, says Schroders Head of Australian Equities, Martin Conlon, who believes the disconnect between equity markets and bond markets was becoming increasingly important for investors.
“Results were broadly positive, but investors need to understand why the operating environment is so supportive at the moment,” said Conlon.
“The government is spending a lot more than they collect in taxes, there's still relatively strong credit growth in the private sector, and you've also got a lot of spending by the hyperscalers. All of that is building up to an inflationary environment. But it also means that lots of companies have plenty of revenue growth. Where they do have pricing power, they're generally exercising it, which means the results are pretty good for those companies benefiting from strong pricing environments.
“The question for investors is whether those conditions are sustainable. We think they are currently better than normal, and the bond market is increasingly telling the equity market that those conditions will need to be constrained.”
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