The Albanese government is tightening Australia’s migration system, with new restrictions aimed particularly at international students, backpackers and people using temporary visas to extend their stay.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke wants to give priority to skilled migrants in areas including healthcare, construction, education, defence, resources and agriculture. At the same time, the government will make it harder for students to bring family members to Australia or move onto another visa when their studies finish.

Working holiday makers wanting to stay beyond their first year will face a ballot system, while applications will take longer to approve. Visitor visas will also carry a “No Further Stay” condition, and compliance efforts will target an estimated 80,000 overstayers.

The government wants net overseas migration to fall to 245,000 this financial year and 225,000 by 2028.

But there’s a potential economic cost. Regional businesses and farmers rely heavily on backpackers, particularly during harvest — meaning some of the areas most concerned about migration could also feel the labour squeeze most sharply.

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Greed-o-meter

Asia dominates the latest ranking of the world’s best hotels, taking six of the top 10 spots – including the entire top three. Australia has just one hotel in the top 50, with Capella Sydney slipping four places to 16th, while Brisbane’s The Calile dropped out of the top 50 altogether.

Source: The 50, reported in AFR

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the big change coming to text messages in Australia, and what it means for businesses communicating with customers:

 

“RCS actually is a present technology in Australia already. If you're using an Android device you'll use RCS to send messages from Android device to Android device. What's changing is that iOS, Apple and Google Android are going to interconnect, so they're going to play nicely together.

 

“So that's the fundamental change. And then the upshot is that that gives businesses access to a kind of richer messaging environment. But the fundamental thing that's driving this is Google Android devices are going to play nicer with Apple devices. So peer to peer, you can send me a picture, you can join an iOS group chat. So there's kind of an uplift for peer to peer. But then also the benefit for businesses comes in effectively – it allows businesses to completely transform the way they talk to their customers in that messaging inbox.”

 

Visit Sinch for more information - Sinch is a supporter of Fear & Greed.

News in brief

BHP emissions: BHP says its emissions will remain higher for longer after delaying about $US4 billion of spending on battery-powered trucks and trains. The miner says current electric haul trucks require too much charging downtime, with its revised plan putting 2035 emissions about 33 per cent above its previous forecast.

IMF warning: The IMF has urged federal and state governments to rein in spending as public debt reaches about $1.6 trillion and borrowing costs rise. It says greater budget restraint could take some pressure off the RBA as it battles stubborn inflation.

$40b in dividends: Almost $40 billion in dividends will hit Australian investors’ accounts across September and October after a bumper reporting season. Total dividends reached $105.9 billion last financial year, ending three consecutive years of falling payouts.

Copyright: OpenAI wants clearer copyright rules that would allow AI models to learn from publicly available material while maintaining protections against piracy. It argues the regulatory framework could influence how much AI companies invest in Australian data centres, research and model development.

Shoplifting: Retail theft is climbing along the east coast. NSW recorded a 10.4 per cent increase over two years, Victoria reported an 11.7 per cent rise in alleged retail-theft offender incidents, while Queensland has also recorded sharp increases — adding to retailers’ costs for security, insurance and staff safety.

Japanese centenarians: Japan now has 107,677 people aged 100 or older, up almost 8,000 in a year. It’s an extraordinary longevity milestone but also illustrates the country’s demographic challenge as a shrinking workforce supports an increasingly elderly population.

Fear-o-meter

VanEck Head of Investments & Capital Markets, Russel Chesler:

The Federal Reserve’s 25 basis point hike was widely anticipated. What markets may not be prepared for is what comes next. The renewed surge in oil prices threatens to intensify inflation across the global economy, increasing the likelihood that both the Fed and the RBA will need to raise rates more than once.

Inflation in the US remains well above the Fed’s target rate of 2 per cent. The US economy also remains resilient. Unemployment is around 4.1 per cent, and consumer and business spending remains reasonably strong. This data gives the Fed scope to tighten without immediately threatening the labour market.

However, the more pressing question is whether one rate hike is enough to bring inflation down and if the Fed will need to enter a tightening cycle.

In Australia, the trimmed mean is stuck at 3.6 per cent. Only 77 per cent of the Australian market is of the view that the RBA will increase rates at the September meeting. In our view, the RBA has no other option but to increase the cash rate by 25 bps bringing it to 4.7 per cent.

The knock-on effects of higher oil prices flowing through to logistics, manufacturing and even food prices pose a significant risk of pushing the trimmed mean number higher, and a second rate increase may also be on the cards for the RBA still this year.

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