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A $1.6 billion Boxing Day

Australians are expected to splash $1.6 billion on Boxing Day sales alone, as budget-conscious shoppers gravitate towards a bargain despite growing cost-of-living pressures.

Sales are tipped to rise by 4.3 per cent, delivering strong end-of-year momentum for retailers according to data from the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan.

The spending surge is expected to continue into the coming week, with shoppers projected to spend $3.8 billion through to the new year.

Solid pre-Christmas spending

Early Christmas purchasing and a solid build-up through December have created a strong platform for Boxing Day trading, the association’s chief executive Chris Rodwell said.

“Retailers are finishing the year on solid footing,” he said.

“The growth we’re seeing highlights both the resilience of the sector and the enduring appeal of Boxing Day as a premier discount event.”

The products expected to drive the numbers

Household goods are expected to be the most popular items on Boxing Day, with $476 million in sales forecast, followed by clothing, footwear and accessories at $226 million.

Hospitality spending is tipped to increase by 6.8 per cent from last year to $141 million.

Supporting local business

Bargain shoppers are being urged to support local retailers during the festive spending period, with Mr Rodwell noting every purchase helps fund local jobs, training, wages and community investment.

“Ultra low-cost offshore platforms like Temu and Shein cannot match that contribution and are not held accountable to the same standards,” he said.

• Completion of Consumer Charter pledge to transform 1,000 worst homes ahead of schedule
• Hundreds more military properties to be upgraded by the spring.
• The major upgrades show early delivery of the Defence Housing Strategy – a generational renewal of military homes.

Military families across the UK will celebrate Christmas in homes fit for heroes as improvements to fix 1,000 of the worst forces houses have completed ahead of schedule.

The ambitious programme of works to urgently fix 1,000 military homes has also now been extended, with a further 250 military properties to receive priority upgrades over the coming months – a 25% increase on the target set out by Defence Secretary John Healey when launching the Consumer Charter only eight months ago.

The programme of housing improvements, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has seen significant works take place at service family homes across the UK, with upgrades made to almost 700 properties in England, over 150 properties in Northern Ireland, over 100 in Wales and over 50 in Scotland.

Works in England include improvements to more than 200 military homes in Wiltshire and Windsor, as well as homes in Bassingbourn, Swanton Morely, Woodbridge and Uxbridge.

Homes across the country have received a complete makeover including new flooring and other improvements such as replacing unreliable boilers and heating systems, repairing hundreds of leaky roofs and installing new bathrooms, kitchens, windows and doors.

These are the first steps of delivery under the MOD’s mission to transform military family housing, with £9 billion of investment allocated for a generational renewal of defence housing over the next ten years. The Defence Housing Strategy will see the modernisation, refurbishing or rebuilding of more than 40,000 service family homes and has been enabled by the landmark deal made just 12 months ago to bring 36,000 military homes back into public ownership.

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

Our Armed Forces and their families sacrifice so much for our country, the least they deserve are safe and decent homes. The work we’ve done to upgrade the 1,000 worst homes means that more families can now enjoy Christmas together in homes that are fit for heroes.

This is just the start of our ambitious work to upgrade tens of thousands of homes across the country, made possible by our landmark deal to bring 36,000 homes back into public ownership and backed by £9 billion investment. We are ending the decades of neglect and giving our dedicated Armed Forces families the homes they deserve.

Cpl Jack Crean, his partner Nina and their one-year-old son Charlie have just moved into one of the newly refurbished homes at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire.

Cpl Crean said:

We are really pleased to be in our new home for Christmas. Everyone is a lot happier here, especially Charlie. It’s nice to live in an up-to-date house, it works so much better for the whole family and if I was to go away, I know that my family is in a clean, modern house.

David Brewer, Chief Operating Officer for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation said:

I am very proud of the improvements our teams have made to a 1,000 of our worst homes. This is just the start of a generational renewal which will see 9 out of 10 homes improved. We are already seeing the results of the changes we are making through our charter commitments and are determined to do even more to improve the homes and deliver the experience our armed forces deserve.

The refurbishment of the 1,000 worst homes was just one the Consumer Charter commitments made by the Secretary of State to improve the experience of service families. All the Charter Commitments made in April 2025 are on course to be achieved by the end of this year, including the implementation of robust standards, ensuring service families can be confident they are moving into clean and functional homes, modernised policies making it easier to personalise homes, and the introduction of a named Housing Officer for every family to provide greater support.

These improvements are already being reflected in the results of monthly surveys of Service personnel, which show a clear upward trajectory in overall levels of satisfaction.

Australia is set to grow enough canola this year to “fill just over six MCGs”, according to CommBank Agriculture and Sustainability Economist Dennis Voznesenski. Yet very little of that crop stays at home.

“Most of our canola is sent to Asia, the Middle East and Europe,” Voznesenski said.

Once offshore, the oilseed has two main uses. One is familiar – cooking oil. The other surprises many people.

“It’s either eaten as cooking oil or, believe it or not, turned into fuel,” he said.

Why canola is part of the fuel conversation

The idea of crops powering vehicles isn’t new, but it has gained momentum as governments and industries look for ways to cut emissions.

“A while ago scientists found that biofuels, when burnt in a car, truck or plane, produce fewer emissions than conventional fossil fuel,” Voznesenski said.

Biofuels are particularly relevant for sectors where cutting emissions is difficult. Aviation is one of them.

“You can make cars electric but not planes, at least not yet,” he said. “In the case of plane transportation, it helps reduce emissions in a hard to abate sector.”

That makes sustainable aviation fuel a growing focus globally – and a potential opportunity for Australian agriculture.

The missing piece: local production

Despite Australia’s large canola harvests, the country currently has limited ability to turn crops into fuel.

“As of today, there’s very limited capacity to create biofuel in Australia for road-based vehicles, and none for planes,” Voznesenski said.

The main barrier is cost.

“The cost of biofuel far outstrips conventional diesel,” he said.

That price gap has slowed investment locally, even as overseas markets scale up production and demand.

More than an emissions story

While emissions reduction is often the headline, Voznesenski said local biofuel production could deliver broader economic and strategic benefits.

One is supply security.

“Last year Australia imported over 95 per cent of its fuel,” he said. “That’s a scary stat for any industry.”

Producing more fuel domestically could reduce Australia’s exposure to global supply disruptions and geopolitical shocks.

Another benefit is for farmers.

“Creating local demand for crops reduces the risk of economic coercion being used against the farming sector,” Voznesenski said, pointing to recent tariff disputes that have affected agricultural exports over the past five years.

A domestic biofuels industry could provide growers with another major buyer for their crops, helping to diversify income streams and reduce reliance on a small number of export markets.

What it could mean for canola growers

If Australia were to establish a sustainable aviation fuel industry, the scale of demand would be significant.

“If a sector for sustainable aviation fuel production is created in Australia, our numbers show that roughly a million tonnes of canola would be needed,” Voznesenski said.

That level of demand would represent a substantial share of current production and could reshape how and where canola is sold.

It would also keep more value onshore, linking regional farming communities more closely to domestic energy and transport supply chains.

The key takeaway

Canola may look like just another crop, but it sits at the intersection of agriculture, energy security and emissions reduction.

You can explore the economics and implications of canola in more detail in the report Refuelling Australian Aviation.