Category Archives: Australia news

Australia’s inflation rate hits 7.3%, the highest since 1990, heaping pressure on households

Posted on by

Families and businesses feeling the pinch as soaring CPI ensures more interest rate rises to come

Australia’s inflation rate accelerated in the September quarter as energy prices soared, heaping pressure on households and businesses and ensuring more interest rate rises to come.

The consumer prices index (CPI) has risen 7.3% over the past year and increased by 1.8% in the July to September period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had predicted annual CPI would quicken to 7% from the 6.1% pace reported in the previous quarter.

Continue reading...

Billions in ‘dirty’ money going into NSW pokies should be addressed by cashless gaming card, crime commission says

Posted on by

Review finds measure is needed to break ‘link between organised crime and gaming machines’

New South Wales should introduce a cashless gambling card to address the billions of dollars in “dirty” money being gambled in pubs and clubs in the state every year, the state’s crime commission has found.

On Wednesday a joint law enforcement agency inquiry into money laundering in NSW issued a damning final report that found “large sums” of the proceeds of crime are gambled by criminals in pubs and clubs across the state, “rewarding and perpetuating crime in the community”.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Medibank confirms hacker had access to data of all 3.9 million customers

Posted on by

Data breach, which exposed all Medibank, ahm and international student data, could cost health insurer $35m

Medibank has revealed all of its 3.9 million customers have had their data exposed to a hacker, in a significant escalation of the cyber-attack on the Australian health insurer.

In an update to the Australian Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the company said that since Tuesday’s announcement that all customer data may have been exposed, the investigation into the breach has now established the hacker had access to all Medibank, ahm and international student customers’ personal data, and significant amounts of health claims data.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW Liberal MPs face potential preselection battles amid a frontbench exodus

Posted on by

Possible challengers from within the party are emerging in Holsworthy and Camden ahead of March election

The New South Wales government faces the possibility of losing two sitting Liberal MPs in bitter preselection contests as it deals with an ever-growing list of senior ministers departing at the next election.

Melanie Gibbons and Peter Sidgreaves, the MPs for Holsworthy and Camden, are each facing potential challengers from within the Liberal party ahead of the March poll, and could be set to join the growing list of government MPs heading for the exit doors.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Narrabri evacuated as flood waters enter homes in saturated northern NSW

Posted on by

Hydrologist says flood levels similar to last year but this time the water has nowhere to go, prolonging the disaster

About 1,500 residents in Narrabri, in the north-west slopes of New South Wales, have been told to evacuate as the flooding crisis continues across swathes of eastern Australia.

There were 121 current emergency warnings in place across NSW on Tuesday, including 22 directing people to evacuate or move to higher ground, as swollen rivers threatened homes.

Continue reading...

Government to crack down on NDIS provider fraud amid warning scheme will soon cost $50bn annually

Posted on by

Bill Shorten says $126m earmarked in Labor’s October budget will help protect national disability insurance scheme ‘from crooks’

The federal government is creating a “fraud fusion taskforce” to try to claw back nearly $300m from national disability insurance scheme providers, amid warnings the NDIS could cost more than $50bn annually within four years.

The new body, which will replace the existing NDIS fraud taskforce, will target “fraud and serious non-compliance” with the help of law enforcement, regulatory and intelligence agencies.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers’ first budget comes amid a darkening economic outlook. Here’s what could go wrong

Posted on by

The federal budget forecasts growth of 3.25% this year but hints at a slowing global economy with high inflation and interest rates

The resilience of Australian households to soaring expenses and the nascent recovery of China’s economy will likely determine whether Jim Chalmers’ first budget is a charm or chimera.

This year’s forecast for Australia’s economy to grow 3.25% may be the best this side of the next federal election as the Reserve Bank tries to douse inflation with another 75 basis points of interest rate hikes. The outlook, though, is darkening at home and abroad, adding to looming fiscal strains.

Continue reading...

Australian budget forecasts heavy hit to economy due to floods and disasters

Posted on by

Estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of flooding

The increasing frequency of weather disasters will take its toll on the economy in the near term and force the government to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to build resilience for more to come.

As Australia endures its third La Niña event in as many years, the budget estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of the flooding across the country’s south-east.

Continue reading...

Labor pledges extra $200m in Australian aid for Ukraine and $500m for veterans in budget

Posted on by

Albanese government unveils big boost to Pacific aid partly offset by axing Coalition’s agriculture visa while sparing defence from major cuts

The Albanese government has earmarked more than $200m for additional help for Ukraine and $500m to support Australian veterans and their families, while largely sparing defence from major funding cuts.

But a massive boost in aid to the Pacific and the expansion of Pacific worker schemes announced in Tuesday’s budget will be partly offset by a $213m cut to the previous Morrison government’s programs in the foreign affairs portfolio.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor hints at more controls on energy sector – as it happened

Posted on by

We will be breaking into the political coverage today to keep you updated on the floods as well:

Overnight, residents of the north west NSW town of Narrabri have been ordered to evacuate due to flooding, with the SES issuing the warnings for the town’s industrial and residential areas.

The rivers are very, very full and, of course, our dams are mostly at full capacity at present. So, even the smallest rainfall can cause an elevated risk of flash flooding and riverine flooding. We will see rivers decline, but the risk is real.

We are bracing for another wet weather system into the state on the weekend.

He is a friend of Australia as the UK is a friend of Australia. We congratulate him on his elevation to the Prime Ministership. The UK, like Australia, has no shortage of challenges and no shortage of economic challenges.

So, we wish Rishi Sunak well. Some of us had the opportunity to work with him briefly when we first came to government. I was able to exchange messages with him when he was unsuccessful in the last leadership ballot. I think it says something about his commitment and his persistence, the way that he conducted himself in the interim. I don’t think it’s insignificant that a country like the United Kingdom has its first Prime Minister of colour.

Continue reading...

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard to retire from politics at state election

Posted on by

71-year-old member for Wakehurst on Sydney’s northern beaches says it’s time for a ‘new beginning’

Long-serving New South Wales Liberal MP and Covid-era health minister Brad Hazzard has announced he will retire from politics at the state election, saying it is time for a “new beginning”.

The 71-year-old is best known for his role in trying to manage the Covid-19 crisis, fronting the media frequently to inform about the virus and urge adherence to recommended health measures.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

2,500 naked bodies needed: Spencer Tunick announces his return to Sydney

Posted on by

The US artist’s next mass nude installation will take place in November at a Sydney beach. ‘We’re hoping for a rainbow of people,’ he says

The US artist who has made an international name for himself by urging volunteers to strip naked en masse in public is returning to Australia.

Spencer Tunick’s next “nude installation”, commissioned by the charity Skin Check Champions to raise awareness of skin cancer and coinciding with National Skin Cancer Action Week, will take place on 26 November at a Sydney beach.

Continue reading...

Almost half of Australians support sending military to help defend Taiwan, poll suggests

Posted on by

YouGov survey finds people in Australia more likely to favour sending troops than people in Japan and US

Almost half of Australians believe the country should send troops to help defend Taiwan against China if required, a much higher percentage of the population than in the US or Japan, a new survey suggests.

About a third of the public in the US and Japan agreed with sending military forces to respond to such a crisis, according to polling commissioned by the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Mark Dreyfus refuses to say when Labor added high bar for public hearings to anti-corruption bill

Posted on by

Attorney general accused of using public interest immunity ‘improperly’ and adding exceptional circumstances test as ‘political decision’

Mark Dreyfus has refused to reveal when federal Labor added the high bar for public hearings to its anti-corruption bill, saying to do so “would be detrimental to the public interest”.

The move has prompted former independent senator Rex Patrick to accuse the attorney general of “using public interest immunity improperly”.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Russia and China must ‘get on side with conservation’, US tells Antarctic commission meeting in Hobart

Posted on by

US assistant secretary of state says two countries have stopped creation of new protected areas in Antarctica ‘for too long’

The US has urged China and Russia to “get on side with conservation” and stop blocking nearly 4m sq km in new marine protected areas around Antarctica.

Speaking at a major international meeting on Antarctic conservation in Hobart, the US assistant secretary of state, Monica Medina, said the two countries had prevented the creation of three new protected areas in Antarctic waters “for too long” and it was time to “shake up the system”.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Budget deficit to halve this financial year but spending pressures mean boost will be short-lived

Posted on by

Jim Chalmers’ first budget to reveal $42bn improvement to bottom line across forward estimates but conditions will deteriorate after two years

Soaring commodity prices and a strong labour market will deliver a $42bn boost to the budget bottom line over the next four years, with the deficit more than halving this financial year.

However, the improvement – to be revealed in Jim Chalmers’ first budget on Tuesday night – will be short-lived, with worse-than-expected deficits by the end of the forward estimates as a result of growing spending pressures.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Politics live: Nationals accuse Labor of regional ‘vendetta’; Chinese state media denounces closer security ties between Australia and Japan

Posted on by

Albanese government will scrap two Coalition grants programs to set up two new regional programs worth $1bn over next three years. Follow the day’s news live

Gallagher: spending audit is an ‘ongoing piece of work’

And it will continue, Katy Gallagher says:

My view is finance minister is that this is a process that should keep going. We’ve identified obviously, some of that the short term work and that will be reported in the budget.

But this spending audit should should keep going. We should do it in every budget, just to make sure that we’re constantly looking at ways we’re spending money and I think the Australian public would expect us to do that, that it’s not always adding in new spending when there’s … need that arises, and there will be, but we’re looking at existing expenditure as well and how we can reuse that or … realign it with … new investments.

It’s not exclusively infrastructure. We are finding savings across government. We have gone to every single department and ask them to look at their programs to identify programs that don’t need to be done any longer or don’t align with government priorities and where we’ve been able to return some money to the budget we’re doing that.

The other part of it is actually not adding new funding to things but using existing funding to fund some of our our priorities. So it’s been a very useful exercise and I think $22bn is a pretty reasonable figure to have achieved over just, you know, a couple of months in government.

Continue reading...

Australia live flood updates: body found in search for woman swept away in NSW; Echuca locals watch levee as they wait for flood waters to peak

Posted on by

Another low pressure system is moving towards Victoria down the NSW coast, which is likely to bring rain to Gippsland

Daniel Andrews says there will be a flood update at 11.30am

Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is at a school in Seaford in Melbourne’s south-east, announcing $1.6bn to upgrade schools and kindergartens. Before he goes into the details, he’s providing a short flood update.

It’s not expected that they will go higher than the peaks that were recorded during the beginning of this flood event. But it is an anxious time out there.

Continue reading...

Lidia Thorpe to refer herself to privileges committee over relationship with ex-bikie

Posted on by

Greens senator’s move heads off hostile referral by Coalition over possible perceived conflict of interest due to former role on law enforcement committee

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe will refer herself to the Senate privileges committee for possible investigation of her previously undisclosed relationship with former bikie leader Dean Martin.

Thorpe will write to the Senate president on Monday assenting to an inquiry into the possible perceived conflict of interest arising from the relationship due to her former role on the joint law enforcement committee.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Sydney’s property prices dropped 10% this year, with $450 a day lost from average home

Posted on by

Decline comes as RBA documents indicate values may sink as much as 20% nationally from their February peak by end of 2024

Sydney’s property prices have fallen by more than 10% since their mid-February peak, shedding almost $450 a day in value on an average home, and leading other major markets lower, CoreLogic said.

The 10.1% decline for home values in the harbour city so far comes as documents from the Reserve Bank of Australia indicate average property values may sink as much as 20% nationally from their recent highs by the end of 2024. That decline would be the steepest since the 1980s if realised.

Continue reading...