What we learned, 7 December 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Anika Wells has defended her travel expenses that incurred up to $100k in flights to New York for an appearance at the UN, saying she “had to be in two places at once”;
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has backed in Wells over reports of taxpayer-funded travel expenses, saying the claims followed the rules;
“Strong and erratic” winds posed a challenge to New South Wales firefighters on Sunday morning but a late change brought calm conditions;
The Koolewong fire was downgraded on Sunday afternoon but authorities warned the situation was not under control with more than 75 fires burning across NSW;
The Dolphin Sands fire in Tasmania has been contained but the affected area is not safe for residents to re-enter;
The government has said more social media platforms could be added to its social media ban and it will continue to monitor its implementation;
State and federal governments have declared an emergency and opened the way for disaster assistance to be provided to fire-hit residents of the New South Wales Central Coast.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
Auction activity has fallen slightly this weekend with 3,328 auctions to be held. This is a slight drop on the 3,427 held last week but a massive surge on the 2,617 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 63.5% across the country, which is lower than the 68.2% preliminary rate recorded last week but above the 60.9% actual rate on final numbers and the 57.6% at the same time last year.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 845 of 1,100 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 61.5%
Melbourne: 1,215 of 1,656 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 65.5%
Brisbane: 139 0f 188 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 54.7%
Adelaide: 103 of 163 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 70.9%
Canberra: 79 of 110 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 55.7%
Perth: 14 of 29 auctions held with a preliminary clearance rate of 54.5%.
Tasmania: Two auctions held.
