Newsrooms cry misery, but facts support spending boom

Most Australians are enjoying increasing wealth and income as Labor’s reforms come to fruition. Alan Austin reports.

THE NUMBER of Australians who flew abroad in January came to an all-time high of 1.54 million, the highest for any month ever, both in quantum and relative to population.

This was a thumping 152,000 more than in January 2024, or 10.9% higher. It follows a record travel year in 2024 when Australians took more than 11.6 million* overseas flights.

Below the stratosphere, general aviation is also soaring. A record 12,362 single-engined light aircraft were registered in 2024 to zip in and out of Australia’s regional and city aerodromes and hundreds of small private airstrips.

The Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has shown a strong upswing in luxury imports in its latest report, confirming that quality of life is returning after the dismal Coalition years.

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Total imports of aircraft and associated technology surged to $4.84 billion in 2024 — up from $3.45 billion the year before and just $2.29 billion in 2018. ABS imports data doesn’t separate light aircraft from commercial airliners, but either way, this validates a sustained recovery.

The sweet smell of prosperity

Perfumes and cosmetics imported for Australian customers averaged $2,167 million through the eight Coalition years from 2014 to 2021. This jumped to a record $3,589 in 2023 and was exceeded handily in 2024 at $3,721 million.

Demand for jewellery, gold, silver and gems has also surged since spending power has accelerated. Imports in this classification from 2014 to 2021 averaged $1,533 million. This surged to $2,499 million in 2022 and has stayed above that since. (See chart below.)

Imported artworks, collectors' pieces and antiques are also higher. The average value of this classification from 2014 to 2021 was $198 million. In 2023, this reached $253 million and in 2024 an impressive $319 million.

Watches and clocks imported have similarly surged in volume and value, along with many other luxury items now affordable by more cashed-up Australians.

It should be noted that these increases are not due to normal population growth. The percentages confirm this. In 2012, imports of perfumes, jewels, artworks and watches comprised 1.11% of all imports. This rose to 1.58% by 2015, where it stayed until 2022. Then, in the last two years, this has leapt above 1.74%.

These ABS imports results are entirely consistent with data from other private and public agencies. Car dealers are reporting strong sales — except, perhaps, for Tesla vehicles. Construction is expanding, as are most areas of private enterprise. Business turnover rose in January for the sixth consecutive month, the strongest period of sustained growth since August 2022.

The latest update of total retail sales relative to gross domestic product to December shows further expansion. (See chart below.)

Quality of life 1: Personal and business financial stress

Along with spending patterns, trends in financial counselling confirm hardship is easing.

The National Debt Helpline (NDH) reports the number of emergency calls it receives each month on the morning of the first day of the following month. That’s impressive promptness and extremely useful as a real-time indicator of economic well-being.

NDH answered 12,901 calls in February, well below normal for this time of year. February calls last year came to 13,281. If we go back before the artificial COVID stimulus, February calls were 16,016 in 2018, 18,005 in 2019 and 16,084 in 2020. Those days are gone.

Quality of life 2: Elderly workers free to retire

Last Thursday’s ABS employment data showed a dip in the job participation rate, which may, in fact, be good news.

Senior statistician Bjorn Jarvis observed:

‘Fewer older workers returning to work in February contributed to the fall in employment this month, with lower levels of employment in the older age groups in February 2025 compared with 2024.’

The more workers in their 70s and 80s who are now free to spend time with their grandkids instead of at the office, the better for everyone. This may be one of Labor’s most positive economic recovery achievements.

Quality of life 3: Easier life for welfare recipients

Since Labor’s first budget in late 2022, the cost of living has increased by 6.6%. The age pension, which was raised again last week to $1051.30 per fortnight, is now up 12.2% over that period.

The fortnightly adult unemployment benefit – now at $781.10 – is up 16.9% and youth allowance has increased by 25.1%.

Of course, not everyone has benefited equally. Pockets of poverty certainly remain, although these are now smaller than ever before relative to population.

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Media mendacity

Meanwhile, craven media hacks in ABC's newsrooms continue their tiresome task of making all Australians feel poor, miserable and defeated as they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the current recovery and constantly talk down the economy.

The latest of their relentlessly negative 2025 headlines include:

‘Plummeting gas demand averts looming gas crisis as AEMO dials down warning’, 20 March
‘The epic policy failures that’s to blame for rising household power bills’, 18 March
‘Drought-stricken SA farmers take calls for help to steps of Parliament House’, 19 March
‘Treasurer issues grim message on economy if trade war takes hold’, 18 March
‘Construction workforce issues contributing to national housing target shortfall’, 19 February
‘Leading budget watcher warns Australia's economic luck could be running out’, 17 March

Finally, as a follow-up to last Monday’s column, Finland has recently been confirmed as having the world’s happiest citizens again (eight years in a row since 2018), while Australia slipped from tenth place to 11th.

As feared, the Australian media’s constant mendacious messages of misery and despair keep taking their toll.

Editor's note: The second paragraph has been edited since first publication to correct an inadvertent transcription error.