Cash rate expected to hold for third time in a row
Interest rates have been on pause at 4.35% for the past two Reserve Bank meetings and are likely to stay unchanged for a third when the board meets this week.
Due to meet over two days, the central bank’s board members will assess the state of the Australian economy and where it is headed before coming to a decision on the cash rate on Tuesday afternoon.
For the second time under the new monetary policy setting regime of fewer meetings and longer deliberations, RBA governor Michele Bullock will take questions from the press to explain the thinking behind the call.
The central bank started lifting interest rates from record low levels of 0.1% in May 2022 in response to fast-rising inflation.
Thirteen rate hikes later, the economy is slowing and inflation is moderating as a result, but consumer prices are still growing faster than the two-three per cent target range.
With the latest data showing sluggish economic growth and the labour market softening, most forecasters believe the next move in interest rates will be down.
– AAP
Key events
Western Australia Police are investigating the death of a 22-year-old woman in the northern Perth suburbs.
Police and emergency services responded to a serious assault on Walderton Avenue in Balga at 7.55pm on Saturday night where they found the woman with serious stab wounds.
Paramedics provided treatment and transferred the women to Royal Perth Hospital where she later died.
A 30-year-old man believed to have been involved with the incident has been taken into custody.
It is believed the man was known to a second woman who was in the company of the 22-year-old woman at the time of the incident.
The investigation remains ongoing.
NSW police appeal for help to identify man’s death on Sydney road
New South Wales police are appealing for help from the public as they investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Sunday morning.
The man was found critically injured on a road in Tamarama this morning.
Emergency services were called to Fletcher Street shortly after 4am on Sunday but police and paramedics were unable to revive the man and he died at the scene.
Officers attached to eastern suburbs police area command have established a crime scene and requested specialist assistance from the crash investigation unit.
Police believe the man is a 28-year-old.
They are appealing for information from the public to establish how he was injured.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/.
Steven Miles promises to ‘do better for Queenslanders’ after poor byelection results
Queensland premier Steven Miles has acknowledged the results from two byelections overnight as “clearly very bad”, saying that his government will “heed this message” from voters.
Clearly they wanted to send us a message that we need to work harder, particularly on cost of living and on community safety. And that’s what we will do. Every member of my team. Will heed this message, and we will now be even more focused on those concerns of Queenslanders, their hip pocket, concerns about the cost of living, as well as their concerns about community safety. We are a government that is determined to help them, a government that is determined to listen and deliver, and that is what we will do after these byelection results.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Miles said the result was worse than his expectations.
It was always going to take more than three months for us to turn around on those big picture issues like cost of living and community safety. That’s not surprising to me. I always knew it was going to take more time to deliver on those issues. But you’re right in these two byelections, we’ve seen very substantial swings, and I’m determined to take that as a message to do more, to do better for Queenslanders.
Dozens arrested at Saturday’s Extinction Rebellion protest in Melbourne
Dozens of people have been arrested after Melbourne’s CBD ground to a halt as climate protesters staged a blockade.
Hundreds of people joined an Extinction Rebellion march from Treasury Gardens to Flinders Street Station in the city on Saturday afternoon.
A smaller group of protesters then staged a sit-in, blocking traffic as they refused to move off the road at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets.
In a statement released on Saturday night, Victoria police said:
A number of protesters remained at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets after being told to move on.
Police arrested 32 people who remained on the roadway, with 27 of them to be charged on summons with obstruction of a road.
Five of the protesters needed to be carried from the road by police.
They will be charged with intentional obstruction of an emergency worker and hindering police.
– AAP
Auction clearance rate rises to 74%
Auction activity has risen sharply this weekend with 2,723 auctions held.
This is a sharp rise on the 1,745 held last week but a modest gain on the 2,226 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 74% across the country, which is higher than the 72.8% preliminary rate recorded last week and above the 58.8% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
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Sydney: 864 auctions held with a preliminary clearance rate of 74.8%
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Melbourne: 1,387 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 72.4%
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Brisbane: 181 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 72.3%
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Adelaide: 159 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 92.6%
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Canberra: 110 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 69.9%
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Tasmania: Three auctions to be held.
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Perth: Eight of 19 auctions held.
Cash rate expected to hold for third time in a row
Interest rates have been on pause at 4.35% for the past two Reserve Bank meetings and are likely to stay unchanged for a third when the board meets this week.
Due to meet over two days, the central bank’s board members will assess the state of the Australian economy and where it is headed before coming to a decision on the cash rate on Tuesday afternoon.
For the second time under the new monetary policy setting regime of fewer meetings and longer deliberations, RBA governor Michele Bullock will take questions from the press to explain the thinking behind the call.
The central bank started lifting interest rates from record low levels of 0.1% in May 2022 in response to fast-rising inflation.
Thirteen rate hikes later, the economy is slowing and inflation is moderating as a result, but consumer prices are still growing faster than the two-three per cent target range.
With the latest data showing sluggish economic growth and the labour market softening, most forecasters believe the next move in interest rates will be down.
– AAP
More than half of Victorians back decriminalising cannabis
The “war on drugs” should not go on against cannabis, according to a Victorian poll.
More than half (54%) of 1511 Victorians over 18 who took part in an online survey late last year were in favour of decriminalising cannabis and creating a regulated market for personal adult use.
Almost one in three (28.5%) of respondents opposed the idea and 17.5% were unsure.
The survey, conducted by polling outfit RedBridge on behalf of public health research and drug policy body Penington Institute, shows the highest level of support for regulation over criminalisation in an Australian independent third-party poll so far.
Penington Institute CEO John Ryan, who chaired an independent panel review into the North Richmond supervised injecting room, said the community wanted change and the state must listen.
The ACT decriminalised personal use of cannabis in 2020 and Ryan said evidence showed there had since been little uptick in consumption rates, no change in cannabis-related hospitalisations and significantly fewer cannabis-related arrests.
Less arrests means fewer resources wasted, and less harm to otherwise law-abiding community members.
Cannabis law enforcement costs the Australian community well in excess of $1.7bn per year.
Currently, medicinal cannabis or marijuana can be used with a doctor’s prescription in Victoria but recreational use by adults is a crime.
– AAP
Tasmanian Liberals propose law to oust quitters
Quitters would be prevented from “stealing” majority government from Tasmanians and “causing chaos” under a proposal to force MPs out of parliament when they quit their party.
The proposal was revealed by premier Jeremy Rockliff, whose Liberal government has spent 10 months in minority after two MPs headed for the cross benches.
Then-premier Peter Gutwein was also relegated to minority government in 2021 after Sue Hickey quit the Liberals when not re-endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming election.
Under Tasmania’s political system, resignations from parliament force a seat recount that is usually won by another candidate of the same party.
The Premier said on Sunday that, by sticking around on the cross benches, MPs who quit ignore the facts of how they made it to parliament, “turn their backs on their party and its volunteers, and cause chaos”.
This situation is clearly untenable, unfair and lacking integrity on the part of these ‘renegade’ MPs.
Tasmanians deserve to have the government they voted for.
The so-called stability clause has emerged six days out from the state election.
The poll was triggered a year ahead of schedule after Rockliff failed to resolve a standoff with two cross-bench independents who quit the Liberals over Tasmania’s deal for an AFL team and stadium.
– AAP
Caitlin Cassidy
Tropical Cyclone Megan forecast to strengthen into severe category
Circling back to Tropical Cyclone Megan, which is now moving south towards the Northern Territory and Queensland border as a category two system. The cyclone is expected to continue strengthening today and to reach a category three system later today or this evening.
Category three is considered a severe cyclone, which can bring peak wind gusts of up to 200km/h, causing a significant threat to homes and untethered objects, as well as power failures.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury told Guardian Australia there were still different possibilities about how exactly the cyclone would intensify, but a “fairly consistent story” was being projected.
It will be a category two or three when it crosses the coast, the timing likely to be Monday or early Tuesday, with destructive winds of up to 200km/h close to the core of the system. Cyclones are known to slow down or speed up when they approach the coast but [wind gusts] of 100km/h already bring down trees and power lines.
We’re seeing quite a lot of damage and disruption from these wind gusts that are 100 km/h slower.
Areas outside the direct route of the cyclone are also under flood watch, with heavy rainfall expected to continue.
Aged care sector at risk due to lack of funds, says minister
Aged care minister Anika Wells also fielded questions on the government-commissioned review into funding the aged care system.
The very sustainability of this sector stands at risk because there isn’t enough money going into a sector that needs more money when you look at the demographic trends before us.
It’s not yet clear if there will be reforms and funding arrangements in place in time for the May budget though Wells confirmed there would be no new levy on Australian taxpayers, nor changes to the treatment of the family home.
A key recommendation of the taskforce was for those with more savings to pay more for their later life care to take pressure off the federal budget.
– AAP
Aged care minister dismisses worker pay inflation fears
The sizeable pay bump for hundreds of thousands of aged care workers has been defended from inflation fears by the aged care minister.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Anika Wells dismissed the possibility of a wage-price spiral and says pay increases for the nation’s lowest-paid workers isn’t a major inflation driver.
We don’t have inflationary problems in this country because our lowest-paid workers are earning too much.
We have inflationary problems in this country because there is a war in Ukraine, there’s uncertainty across the globe, we are in an inflationary cycle.
Roughly 400,000 workers will receive a wage boost of up to 28% after the Fair Work Commission delivered a landmark decision for the sector on Friday.
Personal carers will get an increase between 18.2% and 28.5%, home-care staff will get a rise between 15% and 26% and there will be a 6.8% boost for those involved in support services.
Wells said neither the Reserve Bank governor nor the treasury secretary believed Australia was experiencing a wage-price spiral, which is where inflation expectations cause workers to ask for higher wages and businesses lift prices to cover those costs, in a loop.
– AAP
Man dies on Sydney road
New South Wales police are investigating after a man was found critically injured on a road in Tamarama in Sydney’s east, this morning.
Emergency services were called to Fletcher Street shortly after 4am on Sunday but police and NSW Ambulance paramedics were unable to revive the man and he died at the scene.
Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command have established a crime scene and requested specialist assistance from the crash investigation unit.
Motorists are advised to avoid Fletcher Street between Glen and Silver streets.
The man has not yet been identified.
There has been heavy rain in the area overnight.
Hydrogen car sales down
Just six hydrogen-powered cars were sold in 2023 in a sign the transport technology is failing to find a place with the Australian public.
These sales are down on the 15 hydrogen cars sold the year before, amounting to lower sales than cars from luxury brands such as Maserati and McLaren.
Australia currently has 12 hydrogen refuelling stations under construction, according to the CSIRO, but electric cars, trucks and buses are already growing in popularity.
Electric vehicle sales in Australia jumped 120% in 2023, with more than 180,000 EVs on Australian roads and 98,436 bought the year before.
For more on this story, read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting:
– with AAP
Penny Wong marries long-term partner Sophie Allouache
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong and Sophie Allouache have tied the knot after nearly two decades together.
The couple were married in Adelaide on Saturday in a ceremony attended by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and senior ministers.
The couple’s two daughters – Alexandra, 11, and Hannah, 8 – were reportedly flower girls at the wedding.
In a post to Instagram on Sunday, Wong said:
We are delighted that so many of our family and friends could share this special day with us.
– AAP
Sunday’s Pro-Palestine rallies
Weekly pro-Palestine rallies are being held across Australian capitals. Here are the details of the planned protests for Sunday:
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Sydney: 1.30pm at Hyde Park
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Melbourne: 12pm at the State Library of Victoria
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Perth: A rally was held at 4.30pm in Forrest Place on Saturday
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Brisbane: A rally was held at 5pm in Queens Gardens on Saturday
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Adelaide: n/a
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Hobart: n/a
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Darwin: n/a
‘Government should apologise’: visas should never have been issued to Palestinians, says Paterson
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson was asked about the decision by the Australian government to pull the visa of Palestinians seeking to escape the violence as they arrived in the country.
He says the visas should never have been issued.
They were granting visas to people that their own security advice says they shouldn’t and no wonder, they were rushing them through quickly. Some of the visas were approved in 24 hours. The ABC reported there was a visa granted in a single hour. It is not possible to do adequate identity, let alone security checks, of people coming from a war zone run by a terrorist organisation in that short time.
It’s hardly surprising we have had to cancel visas issued while the people were in the air. Frankly, the government should apologise. They assured us all the necessary checks were done, they were thorough and there was nothing to be concerned about. Clearly that was not true.
Unwra not the only agency capable of providing aid to Gaza, says Paterson
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says there are other options aside from relying on Unwra to distribute aid to Gaza, including airdrops and delivery by sea.
Let me come to that. That means we explore every alternative, the airdrops, the delivery by sea, the first delivery by sea happening overnight, by a United Arab Emirates delivery working with the World Central Kitchen. We heard there is no one other than Unwra capable of delivering aid. That is clearly not true. The US is exploring sea delivery and options, other charities are operating there. We should do everything in the safest way to make sure the listed terrorist organisations of Hamas does not end up with Australian taxpayer funds.
The Israeli government has remained steadfast in its refusal to allow aid into Gaza and has expanded a list of items that it believes have dual civilian-military uses, directly hampering efforts to address the situation.
Attempts by the US to airdrop aid to Gaza killed five and injured 10 after the parachutes failed to open and the package fell on a the roof of a house.
Because so much infrastructure has been damaged during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the US government is considering building a floating port off the coast. Ensuring the success of this approach would, however, rely on infrastructure and equipment that does not exist.
Paterson repeats Israeli allegations about Unrwa
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson is asked about the claims against Unrwa, the UN agency responsible for distribution of public services and aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and repeats a series of allegations made by the Israeli government regarding the agency.
My view is we shouldn’t tolerate a single Australian dollar going to a to potential terrorist. This is not the only accusation against them. There is a Hamas datacentre underneath their headquarters in Gaza, [getting] mains power from Unrwa, who admitted in the past their textbooks in Unrwa schools in Gaza had antisemitic [material] that promotes hatred against the Jewish people. Israel have been warning us for years about the behaviour of Unrwa and the warnings were ignored. And the employees participated then on the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Unrwa has 13,000 staff; there were 12 people alleged by the Israeli government to have been involved in the 7 October attacks. Unrwa has admitted it fired those accused without investigating the claims as a pre-emptive measure in an example of “reverse due process”.
Israel has also claimed one in 10 Unrwa employees are Hamas supporters and called for the organisation to be dismantled.
The Israeli government has been repeatedly asked to supply evidence to support its claims but has so far failed or refused to do so.
Government should not make ‘concessions of fact’ in immigration cases, says Paterson
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says that the Australian government should not make “concessions of fact” in immigration cases, noting that in previous cases, an acknowledgment that an individual had “no reasonable prospect” of being deported was “highly significant”.
I hope they don’t make mistakes like that again.