Alan Kohler

Well, the main two benchmarks, the West Texas crude and Brent, are both down about $6 a barrel this morning, quite sharply overnight as a result of the posts on Truth Social by Donald Trump.

So we're seeing that downward pressure.

I think people think this could be the real deal.

Well, they're starting to.

I mean, let's face it, the prices of oil are not back to where they were before the war began.

I mean...

It's still 40% above where it was then, but still it's down.

Yeah, that's right.

I read that after the Six Day War when Suez Canal was closed, it stayed closed for 15 years.

And ships all got caught in there and they ended up getting rusty.

So anyway.

I think it all depends on what happens to the Strait of Hormuz.

I mean, as you pointed out, the price of oil is down this morning because of the news about a possible deal.

It's fallen $6.

And that simply means that the benchmarks, both the West Texas and Brent, are only 40% above where they were before the war began instead of 60%.

So, yeah, it's still high.

I would say, of course, if the Stradivarius is still closed on June the 30th, they'll have to continue the excise, the fuel excise cut, I imagine.

Alan Collar here with That's Business and it's been a big couple of weeks for housing policy.

So this week we've got Susan Lloyd Hurwitz, the Chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, created as part of the National Housing Accord in 2022.

Susan Lloyd Hurwitz was chief executive of Mirvac, the property development company, for 10 years.