What we learned, 16 March 2025
With that, we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says Australia is willing to consider forming part of a peacekeeping force to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire;
Deputy Coalition leader Sussan Ley, meanwhile, has ruled out Australia contributing to such a force under a Dutton government, saying it is a matter for Europe;
Greens leader Adam Bandt has made a forceful call for Australia to abandon the Aukus arrangement and the subs deal with the US after Trump’s tariffs;
Bandt also ruled out forming a coalition with the Coalition in the event of a hung party, saying the Greens would prefer to do a deal with Labor;
Rain has slammed the brake on the Supercars spring in Melbourne.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
Auction activity remains strong with sharp increase on last week
Auction activity has remained stable this weekend with 2,550 auctions to be held.
This is well above the 1,572 held last week, but a fall on the 2,834 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 69.1% across the country, which is just short of the 69.6% preliminary rate recorded last week but not far above the 66.7% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 678 of 921 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 71.4%
Melbourne: 873 of 1,227 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 70.3%
Brisbane: 105 0f 171 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 59%
Adelaide: 74 of 126 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 62.2%
Canberra: 61 of 87 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 57.4%
Tasmania: Two auctions held.
Perth: 11 of 16 auctions held with a preliminary clearance rate of 81.8%.
Updated
