Australia’s teen social media ban and efforts to rein in AI will be selling points in a pitch to gain a place on the United Nations Security Council.

Anthony Albanese will launch Australia’s official campaign for a seat on the powerful body in New York late on Sunday, Australian time, ahead of a week of meetings with global leaders at the UN General Assembly high-level week.

Australia is seeking a two-year term on the security council in 2029 and 2030 as one of the 10 non-permanent members of the 15-seat body.

A vote for the positions will not be held until mid-2028, but lobbying will intensify during the UN General Assembly.

The campaign, called “we listen, we partner, we protect”, will focus on aiming to boost the voices of middle powers and smaller nations at the UN.

Australia becoming the first nation to ban people younger than 16 from holding social media accounts will be at the forefront of the campaign, alongside recent efforts to place guardrails on the rapid-fire expansion of artificial intelligence.

Mr Albanese said Australia could provide a critical voice on the security council.

“The hopes of Australians are the hopes of people everywhere – to live in peace and build a better future,” he said.

“That is the voice that Australia will bring to the security council.

“Australia played a pivotal role in the founding of the United Nations, because we have always understood how important it is for small and mid-sized nations to have their voices heard on the challenges facing our world.”

Australia’s credentials in combating climate change and the nation’s role in the Pacific will be highlighted as part of the campaign, as will efforts to uphold ocean protections.

Imagery of native species such as kangaroos will feature heavily in the campaign

Two countries are elected to the security council from the Western Europe and Others Group, which includes Australia.

So far, only Australia and Finland have put their hands up for a spot on the council, but other countries from the bloc could still launch bids.

Even if the two countries run unopposed, Australia will need support from two-thirds of the 193 UN member states to be successful.

There are 15 members on the security council. China, France, the US, UK and Russia are permanent members, while the remainder serve two-year terms.

Australia was a member of the security council in 2013 and 2014, when it helped lead the response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by Russia.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, also in New York for the summit, said Australia would seek to uphold international order through the security council.

“As an active and ambitious middle power, we have a practical contribution to international peace and security,” she said.

“Australia’s focus on the UN Security Council will be conflict prevention, the protection of civilians and defending the rules that protect us all.”

The average Aussie will live to their mid-to-late 80s within a few generations, but the nation will have to get its health policies right to make the most of the added years.

Treasury’s latest Intergenerational Report, to be published in full on Monday, will project the impact of government policies 40 years into the future.

An extract released on Sunday showed life expectancy at birth was forecast to reach almost 90 for women by 2065/66, up from about 86 years at present.

Life expectancy for men was predicted to rise to 86 years in the next four decades, up from 82 years.

The figures would retain Australia’s record for one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

Australian Medical Association chief Danielle McMullen welcomed the rise as a sign of policy success, but warned of the challenge to ensure the extra years were worth living.

“Over the last few generations we’re living longer, but we’re also living more years in ill health with chronic disease or mental illness,” she told ABC News on Sunday.

“That’s certainly something as doctors we would want to turn around and make sure people are staying healthy as well as living longer lives.”

More focus should be put on preventative health, Dr McMullen said, noting regular interactions with doctors earlier in life could reduce chronic ailments later on.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the report laid out the case for further investments in Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and the rollout of urgent care clinics.

But a growing and aging population would also be at the centre of long-term budget pressures, Dr Chalmers told News24’s Sunday Agenda program.

“There are elements of the intergenerational report which are confronting, but it’s not a pessimistic report … because Australians are genuinely better placed and better prepared for all of this accelerating change that we are seeing,” he said.

Australia’s population is expected to be slightly lower by the mid-2060s than forecast in the 2023 Intergenerational Report.

Population growth was expected to slow to 0.9 per cent per year over the next four decades, down from 1.4 per cent annually in the previous 40 years, according to Treasury forecasts.

The nation’s population was predicted to reach 39.3 million by 2065/66, 1.8 million lower than the 2023 forecast.

Much of the slowdown in population growth was tied to lower fertility rates as women continued to have fewer children.

“Almost half the decline in fertility rates is actually because fewer people are having three or more kids and what that reflects is mums having fewer kids later in life,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Our job is to make it a little bit easier for people to make that choice if they want to,” he said, noting Labor’s policies to subsidise child care, increase paid parental leave and lift mandatory superannuation contributions.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said young families should be able to have confidence they could afford to have children, but the coalition had no plans to revive the Howard and Costello-era “baby bonus” policy.

Future government debt is expected to be slashed by half a trillion dollars compared to forecasts in the 2023 report, but much of the economic progress relies on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

“Overwhelmingly, the fiscal story is a little bit better; but still, lots, lots more work to do to manage some of these pressures and risks,” Dr Chalmers said.

Previous Treasury advice suggested AI could provide significant productivity gains across the public and private sectors if the nation kept pace with the global shift towards the technology.

Mr Taylor said Labor would “cook the books” and rely on rosy productivity assumptions to deliver better-than-expected budget forecasts.

Motorists could be protected from the worst of global oil price shocks under a coalition pledge to automatically cut fuel taxes when the cost of the commodity soars.

The opposition’s proposed “fuel price shield” would automatically halve the fuel excise – saving drivers about 27c per litre on petrol or diesel – for up to three months when the price of crude oil topped $US100 per barrel, on average, for two weeks.

The heavy road user charge would also be halted.

The estimated cost of the policy while it was in operation would be almost $1 billion per month.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the policy would be funded by another coalition promise to cut the tobacco excise by 80 per cent.

“The cut to tobacco excise will raise $8 billion of funding,” he told reporters outside a petrol station in Canberra on Sunday.

“We worked through that with the Parliamentary Budget Office and that will fully fund the cut to the fuel excise.”

The policy would be “anti-inflationary”, Mr Taylor said, as it would take pressure off transport costs and provide relief for motorists when prices approached $3 per litre at the bowser.

The price of Brent crude oil has repeatedly breached $US100 during the US-Israel war on Iran, which has led to Tehran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel.

More recently, fuel supplies have been further disrupted with attacks on Saudi oil exports.

In response, petrol prices have leapt across Australia, reaching an average of $2.30 per litre or higher across state capitals.

The May budget forecast prices to return to $US80 by mid-2027, but some experts have since predicted oil prices could reach as high as $US150 per barrel as global stockpiles are depleted.

In response to soaring prices at the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, the government temporarily halved fuel excise in April, slashing about 26 cents per litre from the cost at the bowser.

A scaled-back extension of the discount, at 16 cents per litre for petrol and diesel, lasted until August 2.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed the coalition policy as a political move performed in response to rising voter support for One Nation.

“What we’ve seen overnight from Angus Taylor is more about polling numbers than petrol prices,” he told News24’s Sunday Agenda program.

“He is under very serious political pressure and that matters much more to him than the cost-of-living pressures that people are feeling around the country.”

Labor has not ruled out another temporary cut to fuel excise if international conditions deteriorate.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen is set to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss the flow of oil to refineries around the world.

Economists will be closely watching unemployment figures and a handful of Reserve Bank appearances ahead of the central bank’s crucial interest rate decision.

The countdown is on to the September 28-29 board meeting as anticipation ramps up that the Reserve Bank will hike rates for a fourth time this year. 

Outside of its decision to hike rates in March immediately following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the last time the Reserve Bank adjusted the cash rate at a meeting not preceded by quarterly inflation figures was mid-2023.

But central bank officials have taken a markedly more hawkish tone in recent commentary, prompting economists and traders to reassess the Reserve Bank’s reaction function – essentially, how determined the bank is to tame high inflation, even at the expense of jobs.

With the Middle East conflict and the AI boom pushing up prices for energy, agricultural commodities and tech products, it appeared upside risks to inflation flagged by the Reserve Bank had come to pass, governor Michele Bullock told a parliamentary committee on Friday.

While the bank was still trying to keep the employment market in good shape, Ms Bullock made it clear getting inflation back to the middle of its two to three per cent target band was the main game.

“This particular Middle East shock has made us poorer, and we can’t respond to that by letting inflation get out of control,” she said.

“In fact, it’s more important than ever that we bring inflation back to target.”

Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis brought her rate rise prediction forward from November to September on the back of Ms Bullock’s comments.

While the Reserve Bank board has previously shown a preference to wait for quarterly inflation data, which is due out the day after the meeting concludes, recent rhetoric showed the bank’s leadership was anxious to move, Dr Ellis said.

JP Morgan’s antipodean analysts don’t expect labour market data released on Thursday to prevent a September hike.

“We expect the unemployment rate to hold at 4.5 per cent, alongside a 15,000 employment gain and steady participation rate,” JP Morgan’s Ben Jarman, Tom Kennedy and Tom Ryan said.

“Our forecast, if realised, is unlikely to alter the RBA’s outlook for the labour market and, in our view, keeps the board on track to hike 25 basis points at next week’s meeting.”

With markets pricing in a September hike at about 90 per cent, Reserve Bank officials still have more opportunities to rein in expectations if they think the odds are overcooked.

Reserve Bank chief economist Sarah Hunter will be interviewed by newly announced Today Show co-host Sylvia Jeffreys on a Nine Network podcast to be released on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Ms Bullock will feature in a fireside chat at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Sydney later in the day.

Inflation worries are meanwhile front and centre for Wall Street investors.

US markets closed a volatile week on a muted note on Friday as benchmark Treasury yields topped 5.0 per cent while crude prices reversed earlier gains but remained above $US100 per barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 95.40 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 51,682.64, the S&P 500 gained 0.17 per cent to 7,650.50 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 0.40 per cent to 26,522.55.

Australian share futures have slipped 57 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 11,451.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 1.2 points on Friday, down 0.01 per cent to 8,731.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 12 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,922.9.

The risks posed by the growing use of AI need to be mitigated, the prime minister has warned, as he spruiks Australia’s world-leading social media ban with tech titans.

Anthony Albanese met with former Apple head Tim Cook and other executives at the company’s headquarters in California on Sunday morning, Australian time.

The one-hour, closed-door meeting followed a phone call between Mr Albanese and Mr Cook in June after Apple rolled out child safety features on its devices, some inspired by Australia’s social media account ban for under-16s.

International rules surrounding the use of artificial intelligence were also raised during the discussions as the prime minister joined a push among other middle powers at the United Nations for more regulations in the sector.

While Australia could not be left behind in the global AI race, safety features also needed to be front of mind, Mr Albanese said.

“I certainly accept that there are risks and that’s why we need to mitigate them,” he told reporters in California.

“There is a need for a discussion about what the global framework is for the rollout of AI, because it is moving very quickly.

“We need to make sure that humans remain in control.”

National AI standards were unveiled in July to require data centres to be powered by additional, renewable energy.

Mr Albanese said a balance needed to be struck between the benefits of the technology and mitigating its potential harms.

“You’ll see some statements this week emerge as well from nations that recognise that we need to work together and co-operate,” he said.

The push at the UN coincides with OpenAI head Sam Altman and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei calling for a slowdown in the technology’s development.

But US President Donald Trump has rejected calls for further guardrails, warning America could lose the AI race to China as a result.

Mr Albanese said writers and other creative artists would still have ownership of their work ahead of looming changes to copyright laws brought on by the rise of AI.

But he left the door open for a model that would allow creators to opt out of their work being used to train or otherwise inform AI technology.

Copyright laws have been flagged as a potential hurdle for AI companies with plans to invest in operations in Australia.

The nation needed to remain an attractive destination for AI developers, Mr Albanese said.

“The protection of the creative sector is very important and we’re engaged constructively; I think there’s a way through this,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“We can’t afford to be spectators (to AI). We’ve got to be participants.”

During his meeting with Apple, Mr Albanese received a demonstration of the safety features the company has rolled out to its devices.

Apple has imposed measures such as additional parental controls and time limits on the use of apps and social media that parents can set.

The prime minister said the iPhone maker and other tech companies had acknowledged Australia’s pioneering role in online safety.

“It was a proud moment today … when the head of a major company that has changed the world, like Apple, recognises the leadership that Australia has shown,” he said.

Mr Albanese also raised further planned social media reforms with Mr Cook, including plans to allow social media users to opt out of algorithmic feeds.

Australians still want a home of their own, financial security and the freedom to enjoy life.

But increasingly, getting there means waiting longer, working more, spending less and finding different ways to live.

New research paints a picture of aspiration, dislocation and growing isolation as Australians adjust their lives in tough economic times.

Seven in 10 Australians still see home ownership as a sign of financial success but almost two-thirds are prepared to delay it and similar milestones – as long as they reach that goal eventually.

Almost six in 10 have made or expect to make significant sacrifices to reach their goals, according to a national YouGov survey commissioned by customer-owned bank NGM Group.

More than half have cut lifestyle spending, 30 per cent work longer hours or multiple jobs and 22 per cent have changed jobs or career paths.

NGM Group’s James Cudmore says the findings challenge the idea younger Australians are turning their backs on traditional aspirations.

“Despite the affordability challenges and economic uncertainty they’ve experienced, our findings suggest that aspirations such as home ownership, family, and financial security still really appeal to young people,” he says.

For Perth couple Chris Dinham, 35, and Bec Davies, 34, getting a foot on the property ladder meant changing their idea of what owning a home should look like.

After five years travelling Australia in a minibus and documenting their journey online as “Salt” and “Charcoal”, they found a remote property on the NSW Mid North Coast for much less than they could afford in their hometown or major cities, and built a tiny home.

“We realised we didn’t need a large house to live a beautiful lifestyle,” Chris says.

“Once we got clear on what makes us happy, we built our home ownership journey around that.”

For others, the wait for a home of their own is stretching much further.

A separate study of 3562 people living in or hosting share accommodation found 44 per cent were aged 40 or older – making them the largest age group surveyed and challenging the image of the sharehouse as a temporary stop in young adulthood.

More than two-thirds said when they were 20, they thought they would have been out of share housing by the age they are now. That number rose to 78 per cent among those older than 40.

Three-quarters said high housing costs had extended how long they would continue sharing.

Almost one in three respondents said they did not expect they would ever own a home.

More than a third had already lived in shared accommodation for at least five years and almost one in five had done so for more than a decade.

Homerun founder Scott McKeon says sharehousing has become a more permanent part of Australia’s housing landscape.

“Sharehousing is a far more permanent housing class than the public perceives, and the profile of who lives in one is much broader than the stereotype,” he says.

Yet the shift towards shared living has an interesting counterpoint.

Some 86 per cent of respondents described their sharehouse as a positive place to live, with residents citing community and cost as the most common benefits.

Despite this positivity around communal living, Australians across the wider population appear to be becoming less connected.

University of Sydney researchers examining 23 years of nationally representative HILDA data found social isolation had almost doubled, from 16.9 per cent in 2001 to 29.9 per cent in 2023.

Chronic loneliness also increased, from 6.3 per cent in 2002 to 8.4 per cent in 2023.

The burden was not evenly shared.

Loneliness and social isolation were consistently more common among unemployed Australians, people living in more disadvantaged areas, those living alone or widowed and people with lower levels of education.

University of Sydney professor Melody Ding said employment, housing, living arrangements, community participation and neighbourhood disadvantage all helped shape people’s social connections.

“The widening social inequalities Australia has experienced in the last two decades may have contributed to worsening social connections as well,” she says.

“Social isolation and loneliness can have potential long-term health impacts, highlighting the need for sustained policy and public health action across the life course.”

Big tech has a responsibility to ensure children and other internet users are safe online, the prime minister says ahead of talks with Apple executives.

Anthony Albanese has arrived in California, where he will meet with former Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Sunday morning Australian time.

The talks follow a conversation between the pair in June about Australia’s world-leading ban on social media for those younger than 16.

Apple has said parental control and child safety features recently rolled out on its devices were in part inspired by Australia’s social media ban.

Mr Albanese, who will see a demonstration of the measures when he visits Apple’s headquarters, said they proved tech giants could make the internet safer and set a precedent for the sector.

“Tim Cook and Apple are showing that the industry can, and must, compete on safety standards, not just convenience,” he said in a statement.

“Australia is proud to lead the world with our social media age ban and online safety approach.

“We know addressing children’s safety online is complex and requires ongoing effort and innovation.”

The prime minister will also discuss Apple’s investments in Australian television, after laws passed parliament in 2025 requiring streaming platforms to spend a portion of their earnings on local content.

Digital safety will also form part of Mr Albanese’s agenda when he visits the United Nations in New York for the forum’s high-level week.

Efforts to force tech companies to remove harmful content online through a digital duty of care will be highlighted on the world stage, as will efforts to give social media users the option to opt out of algorithmic feeds.

“Other nations are reaching out, looking at the work that Australia has done,” Mr Albanese told reporters as he arrived in the US.

“Australia has no greater friend than the US and tomorrow … will be an important day looking at new technology and how we make sure we protect children in particular.”

National standards for AI companies, requiring them to be powered by renewable energy and for data centres to underwrite new power supply, are also expected to feature prominently in Australian addresses.

Mr Albanese said countries around the world were grappling with the rapid expansion of AI.

“We need to make sure we shape its use in the interests of humanity, rather than allow it to shape us,” he said.

“This is something that goes beyond national boundaries and that’s why it requires discussion at the multilateral level.”

The prime minister will travel to New York on Friday as Australia lobbies to secure a seat on the UN Security Council.

Australia is bidding to become one of the 10 non-permanent members of the 15-seat council for a two-year term in 2029 and 2030.

A vote for the positions won’t take place until 2028.

So far, Australia and Finland are the only countries with a hand up for the two spots available from the Western Europe and Others Group but two-thirds of UN members still need to endorse the role if no others come forward.

Mr Albanese will also receive an Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award on the sidelines of the UN, recognising his role in promoting security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

He will be one of four people recognised by the council, alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali and Oscar nominee and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo.

Some are taking the long way, with flights via other capitals, Bali or Singapore.

Some are reaching deep into their wallets to get to Melbourne direct.

And some have even begun the 3300km drive across the Nullarbor.

Whatever the way and whatever the price, Fremantle fans are beating a path to the MCG, with the club booking a historic second AFL grand final appearance next Saturday.

The Dockers won their way to the 2026 decider after a comeback defeat of Sydney on Friday night.

In the hours after the triumph, airlines added dozens of new flights between Perth and Melbourne.

For those yet to book, reaching Melbourne from Perth is likely to cost as much as a trip to Europe.

Virgin added 20 flights and almost 4000 seats to help ferry passengers east, with Qantas and Virgin also bolstering capacity on Friday evening.

Almost all of those travellers will be paying a minimum return fare of roughly $2000 and, most likely, closer to $3000.

“It’s absolutely gouging but we’re a hostage to them. We’re at their mercy,” die-hard Fremantle fan Matt Richardson told AAP.

A review on Saturday morning shows just a handful of direct flights in the days before and after the grand final costing less than $1000.

Among 65 bookable flights from Perth to Melbourne across Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the minimum fare for 55 of those flights topped $1000.

The cheapest was a Virgin fare of $825 before add-ons, arriving at 11pm on grand final eve.

Heading home, prices are also sky-high, with the cheapest direct fare across 34 bookable flights on Sunday costing $1092, and just four flights of 43 across next Monday and Tuesday priced at less than $1000.

AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko said the prices were “a disgrace”.

“For the ordinary fans who go every week and then finally reach a grand final and want to be there, to have airlines gouge to that extent is un-Australian,” he told AAP.

“It happens unfortunately and it also happens during Gather Round.”

Mr Richardson, who lives 10 minutes from Fremantle, spent up big attending in 2013 – the Dockers’ only prior grand final outing – booking at three-quarter time of their preliminary final to beat the rush.

That mission, via Sydney, cost $2100.

This time around, he’s cutting short a family fishing trip and flying direct to Melbourne and then home via Brisbane on Sunday for $1600, booked months ago with creditable fares.

“People will pay whatever they have to pay because you just don’t know when the next grand final will be,” he said.

A Qantas spokesperson said the lowest fares available for the newly added flights were $766 but by 9am Saturday, they were nowhere to be seen.

The cost and stress of organising last-minute flights have led some to organise charter flights, which were conditional on Fremantle making the sell-out event featuring homegrown superstar Kylie Minogue as the half-time act.

Amid the euphoria, Fremantle fan groups on social media were awash with supporters asking about transport plans and chartered seats.

If 2026 is anything like 2013, Dockers fans will find creative ways to get to the G.

“I know guys that have already started driving over from Perth … you can do it in three days,” Mr Richardson said.

“I knew guys in 2013 that went via Bali and Singapore … you have to get creative if you want to do it.”

The travel considerations are separate to the challenge of snaring a ticket – which for many is guaranteed with membership.

And of course, attending is no guarantee of success, something Mr Richardson knows well.

“If you’re a Freo fan as long as I have been you learn to get your heart broken,” he said.

Australian fashion is facing a catastrophic crunch. 

The spectacular collapse of rag trade stable Mosaic meant household names Katies, Millers, Rockmans, Noni B and Rivers all pulled the shutters down in 2025. 

Swimwear brand Tigerlily and luxury fashion label Dion Lee both fell into administration in 2024, while long-standing favourite Sass & Bide announced months later it too would close most of its standalone stores.

Just this week, one of the nation’s longest-running fashion groups, Cue, and Sydney-based Veronika Maine also went into receivership.

It’s no secret the sector is swimming against the tide.

Experts say a business model already difficult to make work is being squeezed from several directions at once, with structural pressures putting the future of Aussie fashion houses in doubt. 

There is no single explanation for brand failure but mid-market labels are most at risk, according to Carol Tan from RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles.

“I don’t think this is simply a story about the decline of bricks-and-mortar retail,” she tells AAP.

Many recent retail collapses share similar themes.

Rising operating costs seem to top the list, yet fixed outgoings such as rent, wages, inventory and store operations are no doubt up there.

Then there is the challenge of sustaining large physical retail networks.

“Many of these retailers were built in an era when store footprint was a major competitive advantage,” Associate Professor Tan says.

The past decade has seen a transformational shift in how Australians shop alongside escalating cost-of-living pressures.

“Today, consumers have more choice and increasingly research, compare and purchase products online,” Assoc Prof Tan says.

“They have access to more brands, more information and more purchasing channels than ever.”

The brands that are succeeding have adapted to changing consumer expectations and behaviours.

“What’s also notable is that we’re seeing distress across multiple retail categories and price points, not just fashion,” Assoc Prof Tan says.

“The fact retailers in sectors as diverse as fashion, footwear, craft retail and specialty retail are facing similar challenges suggests broader structural pressures affecting Australian retail, rather than a problem unique to fashion.”

With brand heritage no longer a guarantee of success, retailers need a compelling reason for customers to choose them.

“I don’t think these collapses are simply a story about declining retail demand,” Assoc Prof Tan says.

“They reflect a combination of rising operating costs, changing consumer behaviour, increasing competition and business models that have struggled to evolve alongside the market.

“The brands that are succeeding today aren’t just selling products – they’re offering a clear value proposition. 

“Whether that’s innovation, functionality, quality, sustainability or solving a specific customer problem, consumers increasingly want to know why a brand matters.”

In the case of Cue, a brand with strong heritage and a 60-year reputation, the challenge wasn’t necessarily the product but whether the economics of the business remained sustainable.

Retail insolvency specialists FTI Consulting – tasked with handling the brand’s receivership – noted an increase in sales and other improvements across the group.

“But these were insufficient to mitigate the impact of overhead costs,” a company spokesperson says.

The heart of the problem is often a brand’s margin, Jirsch Sutherland insolvency expert Andrew Spring says.

“A retailer can have strong sales and a much-loved brand but still be in distress if margins are being eroded, stock isn’t turning and the business isn’t generating sufficient cash to meet its obligations,” he tells AAP.

Australian fashion retailers are being hit by softer discretionary spending, higher operating costs, global online competition, changing consumer behaviour and sustained discounting. 

“Ultimately, many of those pressures attack the same thing: margin,” Mr Spring says.

But inadequate margins, poor cash flow, excessive debt, high fixed costs, poor inventory management and failure to respond to changing consumer behaviour have always plagued retail businesses. 

“What’s different is the intensity and combination of the pressures,” Mr Spring says.

Fashion also presents a particular inventory challenge.

“Retailers commit cash to stock before knowing how well it will sell … go too hard on a trend and you’re left with obsolete stock; go too lightly and you miss the opportunity,” he says.

The latest Australian brand collapses reflect a possible wider concern of whether the domestic fashion industry has become structurally unprofitable.

Success for the homegrown home-sewn fashion house might be ever more illusory. 

Down the block from the Horse and Hound Hotel and across from a farm supply shop doing a roaring trade in sheep drench, sits one of Australia’s last woollen sock factories.

Lindner Socks produces 40,000 pairs every year from a nondescript shopfront on Crookwell’s main drag, a quiet captain of industry in the heart of NSW Southern Tablelands sheep-grazing country.

The air in the wood-panelled factory is rich with the warm scent of oil, which keeps rows of knitting machines humming with a rhythmic clickety-clack.

The half-century-old knitters are equipped with a ring of needles that follow a pattern, hooking, spinning and whirring to form tightly crocheted and cosy tubes of Merino wool.

Socks come off the machines in lengths like strings of sausages, ready to be cut and finished by hand.

“The pattern is set up like an old printer,” sock maker Andrew Lindner tells AAP   over the thrum of the machines on the factory floor.

“It’s like an old analogue computer or a pianola.”

A 10th-generation sock maker, Mr Lindner is carrying on the tradition of his father and German forebears.

Their surname comes from the German word linde, meaning lime, for a family who lived near a citrus grove.

While life has changed markedly since 1700s Germany, Mr Lindner says consumers are increasingly looking to the past for quality and connection in their clothing.

“What we’re doing here is not just socks,” he says.

“Humans are finding we’ve had everything at our fingertips at a cheap price but it’s not quite doing what we want. 

“We want to go back to a farm, see stuff come out of the ground, taste things, get back to the natural good and reconnect.”

The quirks of the nation’s economy come to life inside the walls of the compact Crookwell factory.

Lindner is an outlier in textiles, with about 97 per cent of clothes sold in Australia made offshore.

Free trade policies introduced from the 1980s were the death knell for local textile manufacturing, while capabilities to scour and spin fibres on a large scale also disappeared.

Despite being a global leader in wool production, Australia exports about 280,000 tonnes per year for textiles, along with one million tonnes of cotton.

While small amounts of Merino wool can still be processed in micro mills in Victoria and South Australia, much of the nation’s favourite fibre has to be sent overseas for yarn processing.

This has forced Australia to confront the significance of sovereign capability, as oil prices rise and political instability fractures supply chains, Deakin University textiles researcher Chris Hurren says.

It’s an opportunity for small manufacturers like Lindner, which could well be trailblazers for the future by sticking with traditions, he says. 

“If we had difficult global tensions, we wouldn’t be able to clothe ourselves,” Associate Professor Hurren tells AAP.

The fashion industry and major universities are banding together to create a circular economy and bring fibre processing back to Australia, a movement Assoc Prof Hurren says is gaining momentum.

“It’s close to that sort of thing coming back into Australia because of the level of automation … and the capabilities we have with low-cost power from renewable sources,” he says.

“There’s potential; it’s just getting that policy in place.”

One existing policy mandates that defence force combat uniforms be made in Australia, keeping local companies like Stewart and Heaton in business.

The industry push also aims to cut textile waste, with an average shopper buying 27kg of new apparel yearly while tossing out 23kg, according to 2023 research.

While Australian garment makers can voluntarily join a scheme to divert clothing from landfill, knowledge about consumer behaviour has long been limited.

Adelaide University researcher Kate Sansome interviewed almost 600 shoppers and people in the fashion industry about their wardrobe cycles.

She found durability was a key influence in keeping and caring for garments.

“There’s physical durability, which is the design and whether it’s been manufactured to last for a very long time,” Dr Sansome says.

“Then emotional durability is thinking about the aesthetic of the clothing; do you feel like it fits your style, is it something that … represents yourself.”

Mr Lindner says his small-batch creations give him a competitive edge.

“This is old school,” he says.

“Like your organic slow-cook wood fire, we’re bringing in all these beautiful ingredients.”

While lying awake at night, Mr Lindner imagines what his customers need in the paddock, on the snowfields or even how his products might assist with smelly feet.

Ultimately, it comes down to attention to detail and using natural materials that go the distance, he says.

“If we see you come back in three months’ time, we probably haven’t done our job,” he says.

“But three or four years later, a person might bring in a visitor, so over time it grows.

“In fact, not selling might be even more powerful.”