It’s Tuesday the 27^th of May, and electricity costs are set to jump sharply, PM Anthony Albanese returns from his overseas travels, and a major private hospital operator collapses. Plus, meat prices are on the rise, and Lilo & Stitch beat Tom Cruise.

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News in brief

Households face power bill increases of up to 10 per cent after electricity costs rose faster than anticipated in parts of the country over the past year. The Australian Energy Market Operator sets safety net prices known as a default market offer as part of its annual review. While the ruling applies to just ten per cent of customers, it sets a benchmark for the broader market.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has resurfaced back home, following nearly a fortnight overseas. Yesterday he criticised Israel for its ongoing blockade of Gaza, and defended the government’s green credentials ahead of a decision on a massive gas development off the north-west shelf of WA.

Healthscope’s 37 private hospitals will continue to operate after the beleaguered group’s bankers, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank, agreed to provide funds to keep the medical facilities open.

Meat prices are set to rise this year as drought conditions in parts of the country reduce livestock herds hitting supply, while demand from overseas, particularly Japan and South Korea, picks up.

Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible has garnered much of the media attention, but Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake made all the money, taking in $US146m over the weekend in North America.

Fear-o-meter

Consumers are being hit with higher energy costs and there is little relief ahead. It is the cost of the energy transition.

Renewable power - solar, wind and others - needs new infrastructure to transmit the power from the windmills to people’s homes. Batteries are a big part of it, and they need to get larger and more efficient. It will cost tens of billions of dollars, or more, to build out the electricity network across the country.

As much as we want to complain, it is just the price of transitioning to greener energy, away from ageing coal-fired power stations.

The ALP’s target is to have 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. To succeed, energy costs will need to keep rising.

Who's talking today?

On the rise of Airbnb for business travellers, what consumers are searching for, and how the platform responds to claims short-term rentals have exacerbated the housing crisis.

 

"The housing crisis is absolutely a real thing and it is very, very difficult for governments to deal with. So I understand why they're looking at every lever they can pull. I think the reality is the entire short-term stay market is less than 1% of the housing stock in Australia. And we know from Airbnb, 80 % of our hosts only have one listing on the platform. So that means it's the home that they live in or it's a family-owned holiday home, which is not or has never been on the long-term rental market.

 

So for us, we really want to make sure that people understand actually what's happening on the platform. The reason why Airbnb is actually so good for the economy is that 73% of our hosts need the money they make from hosting to stay in their own home or to offset the rising cost of living."

Greed-o-meter

It's been a massive weekend at the international box office, with two blockbusters opening: Disney's live-action remake of the animated Lilo & Stitch, and Tom Cruise's eighth (and likely final) instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. It coincided with the Memorial Day holiday in the States to make for a very solid weekend at cinemas.

Source: Deadline, Boxoffice Pro, Reuters

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