Australia has fallen further behind its ambitious target to build 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade.

The timeline to meet the target has been pushed back by another three months since April, according to the government’s housing advisory body.

The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s latest quarterly report, released on Friday, forecast the target will be reached by the end of 2030 – 18 months later than the deadline of mid-2029.

Although building approvals have risen by 26 per cent and commencements have jumped 15 per cent since the start of the accord period in July 2024, progress has been stifled by the Middle East conflict and higher interest rates in 2026.

Construction costs rose two per cent in the June quarter and are 51 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.

“Higher fuel and petrochemical prices arising from the conflict in the Middle East have had flow-on impacts on housing construction costs in recent months,” the council said. 

“Increasing construction costs may reduce the financial feasibility of some housing projects, which presents risks to housing supply in the near term.”

While recent curbs to investor tax breaks in the budget would have a “modest” impact on supply, the council supported the measures as a step to improve affordability.

Growth in construction costs had eased from 17 per cent per year in 2022 to 3.8 per cent, in line with inflation, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said.

“We came to government with a housing system that wasn’t working for Australians,” she said.

“We’re turning that around – building more homes, helping renters and investing in 55,000 new social and affordable homes.”

Following the budget tax changes, focus among progressive housing advocates has shifted to the way Australia funds social and affordable homes.

Despite the name, critics say the model results in homes that are not affordable for low-to-medium income earners.

Scrutiny has grown on the Housing Australia Future Fund, the $10.9 billion centrepiece of Labor’s efforts to fix the housing crisis, which provides periodic disbursements to community housing providers, builders, and state governments.

A report by the Australian National Audit Office in July showed the fund had only delivered 1432 homes almost two years into its five-year, 40,000-home target.

Almost half of those had been purchased by the fund and handed to social and affordable housing providers, rather than built from scratch.

On Thursday, the Senate established an inquiry to investigate the social and affordable housing sector and the housing fund.

Housing Industry Association managing director Jocelyn Martin welcomed the six-month inquiry, saying it must address the bottlenecks holding back social housing supply, such as planning delays and workforce shortages.

Greens housing spokeswoman Barbara Pocock, who will lead the inquiry, said the HAFF was  “too small, too slow and too complicated”.

“The notion of affordability is fuzzy,” Senator Pocock told AAP.

“We need a model of affordability which goes to the per cent of income.”

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute classifies housing as affordable when it does not exceed more than 30 per cent of gross household income.

The lack of a single nationally-applied definition of “affordable housing” means many taxpayer-subsidised developments marketed as affordable housing set rents at 75 per cent of what is deemed market rate, Independent MP Nicolette Boele said.

But when the median rental in Sydney costs $841 a week, according to data firm Cotality, even a 25 per cent discount places properties out of reach for a large proportion of low-income earners who qualify for housing assistance.

Hal Pawson, associate director at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, said the greatest need for affordable housing tended to be in the most expensive areas of capital cities.

 A planned overhaul of Australia’s migration numbers is still being worked through to avoid unintentional consequences to the community.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was due to unveil sweeping changes to Australia’s migration numbers earlier in August in a speech to the National Press Club.

The address was cancelled at the eleventh-hour due to all the details of the policy not being finalised by federal cabinet amid internal disagreement.

Mr Burke confirmed the final details of the policy were still being worked through, but a date had not been set for it being made public.

“We are working through our some significant announcements with respect to immigration,” he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

“If you simply did some measures, rather than working through something comprehensively, you get a behavioural change that doesn’t necessarily fix the problem.

“Everything that you do in immigration has an extra consequence in other areas.”

Mr Burke defended his cancellation of his press club appearance.

“I had believed that we’d get there in that time. We weren’t going to get there in that time, and that’s fine.”

The rise of One Nation in the polls has spurred a re-think on migration by Labor and the coalition.

One Nation has pledged to reduce migration numbers to 130,000 a year, well below the government’s target of 225,000 people.

Current migration numbers are at 301,000 people.

The coalition is also yet to reveal its own migration numbers, instead previously calling for the annual intake to be tied to housing completion.

Opposition frontbencher Andrew Bragg raised eyebrows within the party when he suggested overseas migration be capped at 180,000 people in a speech to the National Press Club, which earnt a rebuke from party leadership.

Mr Burke said Senator Bragg’s speech was an example of policy being made up on the run.

“The silliest thing is to get into the exact situation where you haven’t completed the consultation, you give the speech anyway, and that’s exactly what Andrew Bragg did,” he said.

“We won’t make any apology for having a consultative and a sensible process.”

A leading footwear retailer at the centre of a bruising takeover battle has posted its first-ever unprofitable year after more than two decades as a public company. 

Accent Group reported a bottom-line loss of $13.8 million for the 52 weeks to June 28, after making a $57.7 million profit in 2024/25.

The company behind Platypus, Skechers, The Athlete’s Foot, Stylerunner, Nude Lucy and Hype DC footwear chains had until Friday maintained an unbroken streak of annual profitability, including during the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The loss came after Accent Group said it would write off $48.6 million in goodwill after reviewing a recent drop in sales. Its underlying profit, which excludes that impairment, was $51 million.

The group, which is also the Australian wholesaler for Hoka, Vans, Dr Martens and other brands, had total sales of $1.64 billion, up from $1.62 billion a year ago.

But like-for-like sales were down 0.9 per cent after dropping by two per cent in the second half of the year.

It’s been a tough time for retailers, with consumer confidence dropping significantly in the June quarter amid escalating geopolitical tensions, chief executive Daniel Agostinelli said.

Promotional intensity has been high, challenging margins.

“Certainly, the customer’s chasing value,” he added.

“Every other week, someone in our segment is having a sale and providing product, and we’re making sure we compete.”

Accent Group has been cutting costs by closing 59 stores and laying off 100 staff, mostly back-office personnel.

It also opened 43 new stores during 2025/26, leaving it with 876 across Australia and New Zealand at year-end, with 102 stores being flagged for review as they come up for lease renewal.

The company launched the British sporting goods brand Sports Direct in Australia in November under a long-term agreement with the UK’s Frasers Group, but that turned into a significant headache for Accent Group after Frasers launched a hostile takeover in June.

Accent Group has spent $2.1 million on adviser costs related to Frasers’ on-market takeover proposal, which expires on September 30.

It has also opened three physical Sports Direct stores in Australia plus a website, with online sales outperforming expectations amid excitement for the FIFA World Cup.

The company hopes to open four more Sports Direct stores by December.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen said the results were “messy” but consistent with happenings at the company.

But after working through a large number of adjustments, it appeared the result was at the top end of guidance, Mr Chen said.

Shareholders seemed disappointed, however, with Accent Group shares dropping 9.5 per cent to 71.5 cents in afternoon trading.

Accent Group declared a final dividend of 1.25 cents per share, taking the total for the year to 4.5 cents. 

Mr Chen viewed the continuation of dividend payments as imprudent given the group’s balance sheet and capital requirements.

The company’s net debt hit $141 million at year-end, from $100 million a year ago, with gross borrowing up from $140 million to $214 million.

Accent Group listed on the stock exchange in 2004 under the name RCG Corp, before being rebranded in 2017.

Australian shares are heading towards a second straight week of losses, tracking a Wall Street slump as oil prices and bond market jitters continue to weigh on investor confidence.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 18.8 points by midday on Friday, down 0.21 per cent, to 9,065, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 21.8 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 9,276.7.

“US equity markets closed lower overnight as a rebound in (US) Treasury yields and the unrelenting climb higher in energy prices reignited inflation worries, leaving investors in a cautious mood after the impact of (US) Treasury’s buy-back plans the previous day faded,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.

Utilities and energy stock outperformed the other sectors, as Brent crude topped $US93 a barrel for the first time in three weeks, after the Trump administration threatened “the toughest sanctions in history” against Iran, and left the door open to penalising its trading partners.

The financial sector rebounded 0.3 per cent after falling for nine of the past 10 sessions, clawing back a skerrick of the previous fortnight’s eight per cent tumble, as housing market concerns swell.

Resources stocks were mixed, as precious metals continued their push higher on bond market concerns, with gold trading near 11-week highs at $US4,526 ($A6,350) an ounce.

The worries have reawakened Bitcoin — so-called digital gold — from its recent slumber, the cryptocurrency charging more than 15 per cent since Wednesday to three-month highs near $US75,000 ($A105,207).

BHP retreated from near all-time highs, easing to $65.33 as it struggled to find a catalyst to launch it to a new record peak.

Consumer discretionary stocks were heavy as Wesfarmers dragged and Super Retail handed back some of Thursday’s post-earnings push after some broker downgrades.

The health care sector also came off the boil, falling 1.1 per cent after rallying as much as 14 per cent higher since Monday on the back of strong results from CSL and Pro Medicus.

In other earnings news, chicken meat supplier Inghams shares dropped roughly five per cent as cost growth and a softer wholesale market  weighed as its full-year net profit fell by more than 60 per cent to $34.6 million.

Mexican-themed restaurant chain Guzman y Gomez shares rocketed more than 11 per cent higher as Australian sales surged more than 17 per cent to 1.4 billion in 2025/26, while its now completed US exit dragged the company to a $26.7 million net loss.

TPG Telecom shares also improved after mobile customer growth and cost-cutting drove a solid first-half earnings result.

Turning to listings, local artificial infrastructure player SCX.ai has tumbled on its ASX debut to 22 cents from its 30 cent offer price.

The Australian dollar is buying 71.34 US cents, up slightly from 71.22 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.

The expulsion of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O from the line-up of Australia’s number two radio network has left big holes in its revenue and earnings.

Sandilands and former co-host Jackie Henderson were let go by media group ARN after an on-air spat during their top-rated KIIS FM morning breakfast show in March.

The blow-up sparked a backlash from advertisers after many were targeted in a campaign led by a high-profile activist group Mad F***king Witches.

ARN spent an earnings briefing on Friday playing up its push into digital entertainment and touting a “reset” of its media business, after revealing its first earnings loss in years.

The group’s statutory loss came to $28.3 million, a sharp turnaround from the $818,000 it made in the prior corresponding period.

Revenue fell 14 per cent to $126.8 million, while its underlying earnings also fell – by 27 per cent – to $18.2 million, in the six months ended June 30.

“While the first half result is not where we want ARN to be, the board is clear that the decisions being made now are the right decisions to change the trajectory of the company,” chair Hamish McLennand said.

The revenue decline reflected a drop in Metro radio advertising earnings “as a result of brand safety concerns” linked to the Kyle and Jackie O show.

But ARN also said it was coming off a relatively high base due to earnings from federal election campaign advertising in the year-before period.

The net loss included the impact of $17.2 million in legal costs and settlement to be paid to Sandilands over three years, as well as an impairment charge of $25 million.

Both hosts launched lawsuits against their former employers, and Henderson’s remains before the courts.

Chief executive Michael Stephenson led the charge to dump the radio stars – who were a couple of years into a $100 million 10-year contract – after more than 20 years on air.

Asked about the group’s thinking on new talent and rebuilding its audience share, the radio boss said ARN was close to finalising talent agreements with new stars who will join in the “coming weeks and months”.

“Very rarely do you get an opportunity to reset your talent base, and that’s what we’ve had in this six-month period,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of demand from a lot of people wanting to join ARN for these very, very premium roles in our breakfast time slot.”

The group’s boss admitted there was now a mismatch between advertising revenue and the Metro radio network’s market share – its audience share is 25 per cent while its revenue share is 18.5 per cent.

ARN estimates that every market share point gained is worth about $6 million a year, arguing that it has a revenue “growth opportunity” worth about $38.4 million

“Our immediate priority is to regain the revenue share that we have lost,” Mr Stephenson told an earnings call.

ARN tallies its national commercial radio audience at 12 million people a month.

“We enter into a new world, where sure the audiences might be lower to start with, and I have every expectation that will grow over time,” Mr Stephenson said.

“We will generate as much revenue as we did previously, albeit on a different model.” 

In the meantime, ARN expects its increased focus on digital revenue growth – including livestreaming, video and podcasts – will negate radio declines.

Of its interim revenue, metro radio accounted for $60 million, followed by regional radio ($54.2 million) and digital ($13.7 million).

“Over time, any decline in radio revenues will be more than offset by the growth in digital revenues and this growth will come from audio and video podcasts and live streaming,” Mr Stephenson said.

The digital video and social video markets are worth $5 billion and $2 billion, respectively, a year, he said.

ARN has suspended dividend payments.

A Russian-Australian man has been charged with foreign interference by the Australian Federal Police.

The dual citizen, a 27-year-old Victorian man, was arrested on Thursday in Brisbane’s southwest.

He will face Brisbane Magistrates Court later on Friday, charged with attempting to engage in intentional foreign interference.

The arrest came following an investigation by the federal police’s counter foreign interference task force.

Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett will provide an update on the arrest on Friday afternoon.

Most Asian share indices are heading for weekly falls as stress in global bond markets shows little sign ‌of abating, while a diplomatic deadlock in the Gulf lifted oil prices to one-month highs and kept inflation risks to the fore.

Yields on US Treasuries had resumed their climb after Wednesday’s surprise intervention by ‌Treasury brought barely a day of relief from selling.

The rise came even as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he could further increase the government’s repurchases of Treasuries, and floated the idea of fiscal consolidation.

Analysts ‌were sceptical he could find enough spending cuts to seriously curb a budget deficit of more than 6 per cent of gross domestic product, with interest charges alone this year running at $1.2 trillion.

“Historically, markets have pushed back when they believe fundamentals – like record debt level and historically large deficits – are on their side, and further interventions could become too costly to bear,” cautioned Steven Zeng, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.

Investors showed ‌their scepticism by nudging 30-year ⁠bond yields back up to 5.25 per cent, while the 10-year hit 4.71 per cent. Markets assume 5.30 per cent is now a pain threshold for Treasury, much like ​the 160.00 yen level has become for Japanese policymakers.

Higher yields lift debt costs globally, just as tech giants are borrowing heavily to fund AI capex, while raising the discount on corporate earnings and challenging stock valuations.

The strain was evident in the Nikkei which slipped 0.8 per cent, bringing losses for the week so far to 4.4 per cent. South Korea and Taiwan both edged higher, but again were down on the week.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5 per cent.

In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures were a fraction lower, while FTSE futures dipped 0.1per cent. On Wall Street, a bumper earnings season has provided some support ⁠with S&P 500 futures up 0.1 per cent, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.2 per cent.

The entire AI trade faces a huge hurdle ‌next week when Nvidia reports, ​with much riding on its outlook for infrastructure demand and data centre revenue.

Walmart on Thursday showed what happens when high expectations are disappointed, sliding 9 per cent on a sales miss.

Bessent ​also made news ‌by expanding on President Donald Trump’s pledge of economic warfare against Iran, saying the US would impose “the toughest sanctions in history” on the country.

The threats further dimmed hopes for a deal ​that would fully open the vital Strait of Hormuz and pushed Brent to a one-month top of $94.71, before profit-taking set in.

Brent futures were last off 0.7 per cent at $93.12 a barrel, but still up more than 5 per cent for the week, while US crude eased 0.7 per cent to $86.18 a barrel.

In currency markets, the dollar was nursing broad losses for the week amid worries ever-growing ​US ​debt and policy uncertainties will erode the purchasing power of the currency, driving investors ​to scarce assets including gold.

The yellow metal was steady at $4,513 an ounce, having climbed 3.1 per cent for ‌the week so far.

“The dollar has come under renewed pressure, in part due to a resurgent ‘debasement’ narrative,” said Jonas Goltermann, chief markets economist at Capital Economics.

The dollar index was off almost 0.9 per cent for the week at 98.802, having hit a three-month trough overnight. The euro was up 1.0 per cent on the week at $1.1686, after touching a 14-week peak.

The dollar fared better on ​the yen, which has plenty of problems of its own, and held at 159.07.

Data showed Japan’s core consumer inflation accelerated in July as firms passed on rising import costs, adding to ​the case for a September rate hike from the ⁠Bank of Japan.

Markets, however, are already priced for a quarter-point rise to 1.25 per cent and would really like a commitment to faster ​and more aggressive tightening from policy makers.

Members of a Christian sect should be investigated over claims it attempted to disrupt the 2025 federal election, ministers say.

A parliamentary inquiry will probe the Exclusive Brethren on Friday over claims it paid far-right activists to disrupt appearances of the Albanese government on the campaign trail.

The inquiry is also examining wider efforts by the Exclusive Brethren during the election as part of campaigning for the coalition.

Members of the sect normally do not vote.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the allegations were chilling.

“No one should underestimate the significance of a democracy as cherished as ours, shifting to a pathway where physical intimidation gets paid for because of your political views,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“We need to draw a line under this, we need to make sure that if this is what has happened in the 2025 election, that it is an aberration that is rejected by everybody today.

“There is too much at stake.”

Mr Burke said the allegations were more alarming in the context of rising security threats levelled at federal politicians.

“The sharpest escalation I’ve seen in terms of the risk is where that physical intimidation might become something that is a fee for service,” he said.

The brethren’s director Lloyd Grimshaw said the church had been subjected to “extraordinary attacks”.

He said while members of the sect participated in the election, they did not do so of their own volition.

“They did this under their own steam … and under their own name. Not my church’s,” he told the inquiry.

“But some people did get involved and they brought friends.”

Mr Grimshaw disputed claims the church donated to or organised donations for political parties.

“Neither my church nor any of its directors including me, made any reportable donations to anyone,” he said.

“We agree reform is needed to help prevent aggressive conduct, deliberate obstruction, and intimidating behaviour at electoral booths.

“We call on the AEC to issue guidance making it explicitly clear that it is unacceptable for any volunteers to be singled out, insulted, or discriminated against based on their religion.”

Federal minister Mark Butler said the claims of disruption by sect members could set a dangerous precedent.

“Everyone understands this could get quite dangerous if random people are being paid to go in and create trouble,” he told ABC Radio.

“It doesn’t take much imagination to think about this becoming really quite dangerous.”

Coalition frontbencher Michael McCormack also called for the investigation into the claims.

“Whether it’s the Plymouth Brethren or unions or whoever, they have a duty of care and a level of respect that they should bring to that parliamentary procedure and democratic procedure. That is not happening at the moment,” he told ABC Radio.

“It shouldn’t  happen (from) anybody. It shouldn’t happen from any side of politics. It shouldn’t happen full stop.”

Australia’s largest chicken meat supplier has delivered a slump in annual profit on the back of cost increases and says the operating environment remains challenging.

Inghams Group, which farms, processes, and sells chicken and turkeys, made a net profit of $34.6 million in 2025/26, down 61.5 per cent.

The annual result comes on the back of a 65 per cent fall in first-half earnings to $18.1 million reported in February.

Full year revenue was $3.2 billion, a gain of 2.4 per cent, on underlying earnings – before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation – of $186.4 million.

The underlying result, which fell by more than 21 per cent, was at the lower end of its guidance of between $180 million and $200 million for the year ended June 30.

“Encouragingly, our earnings in the second half were materially above the first half, reflecting the improved underlying operating metrics,” chief executive Ed Alexander said on Friday.

Inghams also racked up cost savings of $82 million after cutting inventory – mainly processed chicken and turkey – and diversifying its customer list, as its key Australian market returned to volume growth.

In total, it processed just over 470 kilotonnes of chickens and turkeys in the year, as the core net selling price increased 1.4 per cent to $6.40 per kilo – still close to its best in at least four years.

Its Australian revenue rose 3.5 per cent to $2.7 billion, on a 2.4 per cent increase in the net country sale price to $6.50 per kilo.

In New Zealand, it achieved a net selling price of $NZ6.81 per kilo.

Inghams sells products to supermarket giant Woolworths, but now at a lower volume after a new supply contract was settled in 2025, although this has been offset by gains for other retailers.

Looking ahead, the poultry group said input cost inflation continues to be a challenge, alongside softer Australian wholesale market conditions.

“While the operating environment remains challenging, we enter financial year 2027 with a more balanced network, a stronger and more diversified customer portfolio,” Mr Alexander said.

Inghams, which trades around $2.20 per share, declared a final dividend of 6.1 cents per share, taking the total for the year to 10.1 cents.

Chinese technology giant Alibaba has reported a 75 per cent drop in profit for the latest quarter as it invested big in artificial intelligence infrastructure, even as revenue coming from its AI-related services gained 45 per cent.

The Hong Kong- and US-listed company, which started out in e-commerce and online retail but is increasingly focused on AI technologies, said that its profit for April-June was at 10.5 billion yuan ($A2.2 billion), down from 43.1 billion yuan the same quarter last year.

Quarterly revenue grew nine per cent to almost 269 billion yuan, with revenue from its AI cloud and compute services up 45 per cent to 48.4 billion yuan.

But capital expenditures, including investments in AI infrastructure to meet customer demand, jumped 75 per cent to 67.7 billion yuan during the quarter, weighing on profits.

Alibaba attributed the significant increase in spending to factors including “fluctuations” in procurement cycles, increase in CPU (central processing unit), compute capacity in anticipation of growing customer adoption of AI “agents” and higher pricing of chip components.

“As we continue to ramp up our supply, our AI and Cloud revenue growth will accelerate further in the coming quarters, alongside continued improvement in profitability,” Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said in prepared remarks during an earnings conference.

Alibaba’s US-traded shares fell more than three per cent on Thursday.

Alibaba, one of China’s biggest companies, said last year it planned to invest at least 380 billion yuan over three years in cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

It has been making advances with its flagship Qwen AI and has launched “agentic” AI services for commercial customers.

In July, it previewed its Qwen3.8-Max AI model which the company said was “second only” to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5.

It has also pledged an ambitious goal of surpassing $US100 billion ($A140 billion) in terms of annual AI and cloud revenue within the next five years.