Murdoch-led mainstream media makes Australians sad

According to Alan Austin’s report, there is a clear reason why Australia has fallen further in global happiness rankings: fake media reporting.

Given their long days of bright sunshine, their freedom from fear of invasion, their wealth and income, their frequent trips abroad and their extraordinary choice of baked beans, Australians must be the happiest people on the planet. People in Finland should rank near last based on the same criteria.

But according to Oxford University’s World Happiness Report According to the 2026 report released last Thursday, Finns rank first among 147 countries, while Australia ranks a dismal 15th. Disturbingly, Australia dropped five places from tenth last year, while Finland recorded its ninth year at the top.

How come? Last year in Helsinki only 56 days clear skies and sunlight; only a third is truly hot; less than twenty. Finns followed the Russians build More artillery brigade garrisons along their 1,300-kilometer border. Finnish economy declined further with deepening budget shortcomings, negative GDP growth in four of the last five quarters and unemployed It reached 10.4%. But they still smile.

The table below compares six countries on 15 indicators of a happy life. Australia ranks first in ten of these and second in the other five. It is far ahead of Finland in all of them.

(Table supplied)

Australian media constantly lies

Last year we suggested that newsrooms could play a role. We are more empathetic now that multiple malicious campaigns of lying, manipulation and bullying have escalated against current Labor administrations. conclusion They have proven to enjoy unprecedented support in South Australia.

Mainstream newsrooms are now almost entirely populated by cowardly liars whose daily coverage fuels ignorance, hostility, division and depression.

Last Wednesday, Channel 9’s Today program tried to fool its viewers. he asked Accountant Jim Chalmers:

“So Australia currently has the highest interest rates in the Western world. How does that suit you?”

This was clearly wrong. of Australia cash rate it currently stands at a modest 4.1 percent. Odds In Hungary it is 6.25%, in Mexico it is 7.0%, in Iceland it is 7.5% and in Colombia it is 10.25%. These are all advanced members OECD and was considered Western. OECD average It is 4.0%.

Misinformation and misery regarding interest rates

There is no clear optimum interest rate. Borrowers naturally want this to be low, while lenders prefer it to be high. Taylor RuleThis proposal, which was widely accepted in the 1990s, ideal range today it is between 4.0% and 5.5%.

Historically in Australia this has been unachievably low. cash rate From 1978 to 1991 it was over 9%, and for almost half of that it was over 12%. In most of the years from 1994 to 1997 and 2006 to 2008, the rate was above 6%. The current 4.1% is sub-optimal from a saver’s perspective, but falls well in the middle of today’s desirable range given global conditions.

But the pseudo-media routinely publishes these horribly destructive narratives:

The critical truth that Australia’s craven media refuses to acknowledge is that hopeful home buyers are borrowing funds provided by other citizens who deposit their savings in banks. The higher the returns to savers, the more funds are invested in mortgage loans. It’s an exchange.

Germany, France, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong and South Korea have lower interest rates than Australia. They also have much lower levels. hosting.

The other truth that the media hides is that home buyers actually benefit greatly from inflation in the long run because it ensures that the capital value of their assets constantly increases. The short-term hardships they endure now will be more than offset in the coming decades.

Outlier in media manipulation

Almost every event Australian newsrooms cover these days, no matter how routine, heralds the end of civilization as we know it, and Albo is guilty:

Even exceptionally good news needs to be distorted:

Most other developed countries require media reports to be accurate and fair.

New Zealand’s interest rates increased to 5.25% in April 2023; this is much higher than Australia’s modest 4.1%. Instead of making wild attacks on the government, quoting Opposition MPs who are frothing at the mouth, New Zealand Herald calmly reported (April 5, 2023), ‘Reserve Bank increased the Official Cash Interest Rate to 5.25 percent’.

Similarly, when Finland’s unemployment rate rose to 10.4% in February, this was headlined as follows: YLE (February 24, 2026): ‘Finland shows slight improvement in record unemployment rate’.

Independent Australia Susanna Mykkänen, a multilingual Finnish translator who works with European institutions, asked Irlès why she thought Finns remained optimistic despite economic difficulties.

“We don’t complain about our government, rising unemployment or declining health care. If the question is ‘Do you trust people/neighbours/authorities/police/newspapers/television?’ If yes, we trust.

“We enjoy nature very close to us, we have a good work-life balance, we have free education, we have an open society and we know where our taxes go.” said the lady Irles.“We don’t have Fox News and we don’t have corruption, so we’re happy with what we have, at least most of the time.”

Murdoch media and no corruption? It sounds great. So, are there campfire-baked, barbecued beans with caramelized onions?

Alan Austin is an Independent Australian columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @alanaustin001 and Bluesky @alanaustin.bsky.social.

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