Merchants of anger, fear and hatred thrive in Australia

Malicious lies continue to destroy social cohesion, life satisfaction and awareness of the state of the world, as Alan Austin reports.

AUSTRALIA’S NEWS and social media are awash with self-styled business experts who prosper by making audiences anxious and afraid. Above all, their audiences must be kept profoundly ignorant with distortions and lies.

Confusion ensures addiction

One of these is Scott Kuru, whose YouTube videos, broadcast several times a week, have attracted 117,000 subscribers.

His audience is kept in a state of constant agitation and rage, as shown in their published reactions. He has recently pushed two urgent messages.

The first was the focus of a June video, headed ‘Get out before it’s too late’, subtitled ‘The UNIMAGINABLE Is About To Happen To Australia’s Housing Market (78% Decline Incoming?)’.

This portended imminent destruction of civilisation as we know it:

“2026 might be the year of the biggest crash Australia’s housing market has ever seen. The same crash people have been expecting for over 20 years... The real question is by how much the market will decline?”

Kuru's viewers reacted to this inevitable collapse in house prices with vile anger towards the Albanese Administration.

One [Knuckle87] opined:

‘So this lying government has brought down a budget that is going to possibly tip us into recession and none of the banks have any idea what the hell is going to happen!’

The second dire prediction dominated last Tuesday’s video, headed, ‘THREE MONTHS UNTIL THE PANIC’ and subtitled ‘“Start Preparing Yourself”, Warns RBA: Aussies Could Be Hit With 7% Interest Rates In Three Months’.

Kuru decried that:

“Wages have gone backwards. The average Australian grocery bill has jumped 11.5% in two years... Construction costs remain elevated. House prices are still soaring!”

So which is it, Scott? Is Australia being devastated by crashing housing prices, or destroyed by prices still soaring?

Falsehoods ensure ignorance

This person does not have the first clue. His apparent ignorance of basic economics is astounding. His purpose is not to provide data on which consumers can make informed choices. He crams as many blatant falsehoods as possible into a 15-minute presentation to ensure his viewers remain confused, upset and addicted to his fear porn.

Tuesday’s program began with this diatribe:

“Australia has never been this exposed to a generational economic collapse. And the people who are meant to save it, well, let’s have a look.”

The video then showed Treasurer Jim Chalmers calmly reporting – accurately – that inflation had fallen for two months and came in below forecast. Then followed Reserve Bank (RBA) chief Michele Bullock, saying inflation is still too high — which is what Chalmers had also said in the previous truncated clip.

Investors applaud resilient economy while newsrooms refuse to report it

Encouraging information on jobs and wealth has been greeted with a range of interpretations.

Both comments were entirely in accord, but Kuru falsified this:

“Bit of a different story, right? These people are not aligned and have no idea how to save Aussie households from the imminent economic doom. But wait. This messed-up economic chaos continues. Jim Chalmers – Jim Flation, I like to call him – just told the nation that wages are rising and households are getting ahead. Are you crazy? This is a blatant lie.”

Kuru then displayed a screenshot from the Australian Financial Review (AFR), which has been proven multiple times to have distorted the data and fabricated falsehoods.

The facts, according to the Bureau of Statistics, are that prices overall increased 9.7% from June 2023 to June 2026 while wages jumped 13.3%, yielding a 3.6% real wage rise. Chalmers was not lying. Kuru was.

Secret wisdom only this guru knows

One of Kuru’s tricks is to claim knowledge of internal bank machinations hidden from mere mortals.

Last Thursday’s broadcast claimed:

“Those banks have just hit the panic button and are on the verge of a once-in-a-lifetime collapse. This is about to have an unquantifiable impact on Aussie households... This panic has permeated across the entire financial sector.”

Kuru then forecast a repeat of the 2008 Financial Crisis:

“At that time, millions of people all around the world lost their jobs, economies collapsed, and it took years for the world to recover... Should we actually be scared that the Australian banks are about to have a collapse?”

So what was the critical event which revealed to Kuru this looming financial Armageddon?

Here it is: the Macquarie Bank cut its mortgage rate from 6.09% to 6.04%. Yes, by a staggering 0.05 percentage points:

The reality is that banks are now making life much easier for mortgage holders. They are more open to negotiation, require lower deposits than previously, offer longer terms and variable periods of interest-only repayments. Kuru has no clue.

Unprecedented economic stability

In fact, Australia has never had such a secure financial regime as today. Interest rates have been within the optimum band 3% to 5% for 45 months. The July jobless rate was 4.46%, making a record 56 months below 4.5%.

Inflation in June was down to 3.75% with no sign of approaching the 7% under Scott Morrison, or 9% under Bob Hawke, or 14% under Malcolm Fraser, or 23% under Bob Menzies.

Wages have risen well ahead of prices under Labor, as have pensions and benefits. Productivity is advancing, as proven by real wage rises and solid company profits.

Moody’s has affirmed Australia’s AAA rating, noting that:

'Despite facing successive shocks in recent years, Australia's economy has maintained a relatively stable growth trajectory compared with other advanced economies.'

Doomsayers proliferating

Other fear porn purveyors who warrant exposure include Dave Hughes, the Daily Mail’s Peter van Onselen, The Spectator’s David Flint, Tom Elliott and Jacqui Felgate at 2GB, several “writers” at the AFR, almost all News24 presenters and several former Murdoch employees now with ABC News.

Their removal will enhance Australia’s community wellbeing, national confidence and mental health.

Neo-Liberal comic economics with Dave Hughes

Previously a comedian, Dave Hughes has become a self-professed corruption crusader and economics maven, denouncing the Labor Party as "corrupt" and appearing as a spokesperson for the Liberal Party.

Alan Austin is an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @alanaustin001 and Bluesky @alanaustin.bsky.social.