www.theguardian.com
Economy grows by 2.1% in year to June
Patrick Commins
Australia’s economy expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, marking an expected, if less marked, slowdown in annual growth from 2.5% to 2.1% as rising interest rates and the high cost of living take their toll.
National accounts figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the three-monthly growth rate in real GDP ticked up from 0.3% in the March quarter.
Economists had expected the economy to grow by only 1.9% in the year to June, and 0.3% in the quarter, which suggests the economy is not slowing as quickly as the RBA predicted in its latest set of forecasts.
Grace Kim, ABS’s head of national accounts, said:
Economic growth remained subdued in the June quarter as households continued to behave cautiously. While increased spending and business investment occurred in pockets of the economy, imports supported much of the growth, moderating its contribution to overall GDP growth.
Key events
Benita Kolovos
Victoria premier stumps for improved intersection in reelection pitch
The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, was in Epping, in Melbourne’s north, this morning to announce that if re-elected, his government will spend $270m to improve an intersection that locals say isn’t safe.
The announcement follows his press conferences on Sunday and Monday about his pothole blitz.
Carroll was asked about the edict sent out by police management to ignore increasingly overcrowded cells when making bail decisions, first reported by the Herald Sun. He said it was “the right thing” that cells were “more full” than before.
Carroll said:
I want to congratulate the chief commissioner, and I want to congratulate every hard-working Victorian. People being put into custody, whether it’s a police cell or a jail cell, is the right thing. I make no apology for our cells being more full than they ever have before. This shows our laws are working. That we’re focusing on making sure there’s accountability, that there’s consequences.
He said a “very simple way to not go into a cell” was to not “do the wrong thing in the first place”.
Carroll also denied he had plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 despite it being in Labor’s party platform. He said he’s seen many Labor policies “get developed” but “not implemented” during his 30 years in the party.
Tiny wallaby detected for the first time in 50 years
Australia’s second smallest wallaby, the nabarlek, has been detected at two new locations in Western Australia’s vast Kimberley region, described as like “finding a needle in a haystack”.
Images and scats showed the 1.2kg rock-wallaby on Yampi Sound Training Area on Dambeemangaddee Country – one of 20 priority places in the federal government’s Threatened Species Action Plan.
A second population was also confirmed around 170km away in the north-east of Dambeemangaddee Country – the first detections of the species on mainland Dambeemangaddee Country in over 50 years and the first record for Yampi Sound Training Area.
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Australians stay at home and splurge on EVs
Patrick Commins
High fuel prices dragged on household spending in the three months to June, with Australians filling up their car less and putting off overseas travel as airlines pushed up their fares to compensate for more expensive jet fuel.
National accounts figures showed consumption lifted by a weak 0.4% in the quarter – but even that was double the previous quarter’s pace.
The Middle East conflict disrupted overseas travel, slashing the usual pilgrimage north of the equator.
Grace Kim, Australian Bureau of Statistics’ head of national accounts, said “the number of Australians travelling overseas for the northern hemisphere summer fell for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Instead, we splurged on fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, with record sales of EVs and hybrids bolstering spending and the economy.
Vehicle purchases jumped by 10% in the quarter as Australians continued to shift away from gas guzzlers in an attempt to protect themselves from pain in the pump, both today and in the future.
The household saving rate lifted to 6.5%, from 6.4% in March.
Tom McIlroy
One Nation’s popularity slips as Albanese records lowest approval as prime minister
Labor’s national primary vote has dropped five percentage points in a month, falling to 26% in the latest Guardian Essential poll as Anthony Albanese records his lowest approval rating as prime minister.
And despite One Nation’s win in Saturday’s Secret Harbour byelection in Western Australia, the poll showed the national primary vote for Pauline Hanson’s party dropping five percentage points since May. The party recorded a primary vote of 23% in the latest poll, down from a peak of 28%.
Labor and the Coalition both recorded primary votes of 26% in the new results. That position represented a rise for the Coalition, from 22% in July, while Labor was down from 31%.
The poll has a margin of error of about 3%.
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Women leaving management roles due to home demands
Australian women are less likely than men to stay in high-paid roles because of domestic expectations, AAP reports, despite entering those roles at the same rate.
Equality Agency’s chief executive, Christine Castley, said most companies were still struggling to retain females in the best-paid positions, particularly in industries saturated by men, as they were expected to do a far greater share of at-home labour.
Women were far more likely to take on part-time roles than their male counterparts as a result, and most management jobs are full-time positions.
“That means people who are predominantly in the part-time workforce generally tend not to stick with it because they have to make choices about priorities,” Castley said.
That choice is usually falling on women, particularly when it comes to family responsibilities.
Promotion of paid parental leave for both genders and flexible working hours were key to creating better retention in management roles, she said.
Economy grows by 2.1% in year to June
Patrick Commins
Australia’s economy expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, marking an expected, if less marked, slowdown in annual growth from 2.5% to 2.1% as rising interest rates and the high cost of living take their toll.
National accounts figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the three-monthly growth rate in real GDP ticked up from 0.3% in the March quarter.
Economists had expected the economy to grow by only 1.9% in the year to June, and 0.3% in the quarter, which suggests the economy is not slowing as quickly as the RBA predicted in its latest set of forecasts.
Grace Kim, ABS’s head of national accounts, said:
Economic growth remained subdued in the June quarter as households continued to behave cautiously. While increased spending and business investment occurred in pockets of the economy, imports supported much of the growth, moderating its contribution to overall GDP growth.
Telstra outage driven by lack of oversight and expertise, investigation finds
Telstra did not prioritise systems that caused a major nationwide network failure and lacked the technical expertise to properly maintain them, AAP reports.
An independent investigation into the telco’s 8 July network failure, which left thousands of Australians unable to make calls or access data, was released on Tuesday.
A lack of ownership and oversight of the functions that led to the outage were identified as key contributing factors by Technology Audit Partners in the report. The investigation also found a further eight triple-zero calls did not go through to emergency services during the outage.
The outage was triggered by a software update not being done on a GPS card, which resulted in incorrect date information.
A separate ongoing Australian Communications and Media Authority investigation into the outage could result in fines of up to $30m per breach.
Hiker missing overnight on South Australia’s Mount Remarkable found ‘safe and well’
Some good news from South Australia this morning: a missing hiker has been found “safe and well” after failing to return from a hike yesterday at Mount Remarkable.
Officials were first notified she had not returned around 9pm last night, but said the woman was found about 10am this morning.
She was uninjured and did not require any medical treatment.
Police investigating reported theft of 5,500 sheep in western Queensland
Andrew Messenger
Police are investigating the reported theft of 5,500 Dorper sheep from a western Queensland farm.
The sheep were allegedly stolen from a property on Blackall-Isisford Road outside Blackall, about 962km west of Brisbane, between February and May this year.
The stolen animals were worth more than an estimated $1.7m. They are fitted with white National Livestock Identification System tags and are Dorper sheep, a breed with white wool but a black face.
Detective senior sergeant Paul Elliot from the Rural and Stock Crime squad encouraged anyone with information about the theft or who had seen Dorper sheep matching the description in the area to come forward.
Investigators are particularly interested in speaking with anyone who observed suspicious stock movements, livestock transport activity, or other unusual behaviour in the area. Elliot said:
Livestock theft investigations can be complex, often spanning large geographical areas, which is why we work closely with producers, saleyards, transport operators and industry stakeholders to identify offenders and disrupt criminal activity.
Patrick Commins
Australian government bond yields hit 15-year high
Australia’s 10-year interest rates have climbed to 5.23% and the highest in more than 15 years as global bond markets are roiled by fears of stubbornly high inflation, the war on Iran, and ballooning government debts and deficits, especially in the United States.
Higher borrowing costs threaten to put further pressure on federal and state budgets, where interest costs are already among the fastest rising expenses.
Oil prices are pushing higher again after Iran reportedly attacked tankers attempting to pass through the gulf of Hormuz, triggering a fresh wave of American strikes that shattered weeks of relative calm.
The international Brent crude benchmark passed $US95 a barrel on its way to its highest price since 24 July, threatening to once again drive petrol prices higher over coming days and weeks.
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, in a statement marking the end of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in the US, said the world economy had navigated this year’s disruptions relatively well.
But she rattled off a laundry list of worries:
First, the energy shock is not over. Second, public debt – at almost 100 per cent of GDP worldwide – now exceeds its post-World War II highs and is set to climb further.
Third, the disinflation process has stalled in many countries. Mounting fiscal pressures are pushing core bond yields upward and the interplay between fiscal and monetary policy worries markets.
Last, but not least, the future impact of AI on productivity and financial stability is dogged by unknowns.
Albanese meets with Palau president as flights between two nations to increase
Anthony Albanese has met with Palau’s president Surangel Whipps Jr at the Pacific Islands Forum this morning.
On Wednesday, the government and Qantas confirmed more flights would travel between Brisbane and Koror, as part of the Palau Paradise Express direct air service.
Qantas will also increase flights to twice weekly during Palau’s peak season, starting this December.
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Queensland man arrested and charged on allegations of hate crime offences
A Queensland man has been charged with hate crime offences after a joint investigation by Queensland police and the Australian Federal Police.
Official said they began an investigation into allegations of ideologically motivated threats of violence. On 27 August, they arrested a man, 52, in the Queensland town of Mossman and seized an electronic device.
The man has since been charged with two counts of threats with circumstance of aggravation, including serious vilification or hate crime. Police will allege the offences relate to abusive, threatening and antisemitic content directed towards a religious organisation.
The man is due to appear in court later this month. AFP detective supt Anthony Conway said in a statement:
Harm to social cohesion at a local community level ultimately impacts on Australia’s national security – we will not allow divisive and hateful rhetoric to grow and spread more widely.
Investigations are ongoing.
Sydney’s ferry services hit by protected industrial action today from 9am to 2pm
Members of the Maritime Union of Australia employed by Sydney Ferries are engaging in a five-hour work stoppage, with no ferries operating during that period. Services after the stoppage are expected to be significantly affected, and customers should continue to plan ahead and allow extra travel time.
Members of the union will also undertake a ban on selling, collecting or validating tickets and fares from 1pm today until 2am Thursday.
MUA members are seeking a 5% wage increase and guaranteed annual increases in subsequent years. MUA deputy branch secretary Paul Garrett said:
Our members kept Sydney Ferries running throughout Covid, dealt with a fleet of 13 overseas-built and defect ridden vessels that were not fit for purpose, and have continued to work long and demanding hours to keep the public moving.
They have always demonstrated their commitment to the job and to the travelling public, and they are now asking for a fair wage increase to catch up with the spiralling cost of living in this city.
Patrick Commins
House prices could fall 10%, analysts predict, as fourth interest rate hike looms
The prospect of the steepest property market downturn in history will not stop the Reserve Bank from delivering a fourth interest rate hike as it battles to bring inflation back under control, economists say.
New data from Cotality revealed house prices are now falling in more than 90% of Australian suburbs, amid a perfect storm of higher borrowing costs, a weak economy, and a once-in-a-generation change in the tax treatment of property investors.
Shane Oliver, AMP’s chief economist, said average home values would continue falling for the next six to nine months, by which time property prices nationally would be about 10% down from their recent peak.
“That would be the worst in the postwar period,” Oliver said, although the figure is not hugely out of line with previous property market corrections in the order of 8% – most recently in 2022-23.
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‘No one with a brain’ wants more affordable houses via taxation, Bragg says
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said no one wants to buy houses in Australia at the moment due to a system of high taxation, high regulation and a sinking economy.
Bragg spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, lamenting the state of the economy without saying that falling house prices could make it easier for first home buyers to afford property. He said:
If you want to get more affordability, the way you get there is more supply, not through more taxes, because more taxes actually destroys the ability of younger people to pay a reasonable level of rent.
It reduces the number of houses people can live in, and so no one wants to see affordability pursued through more taxes. No one with a brain would do that. And so what we’re seeing now are the consequences of these terrible tax grabs.
Bragg was asked multiple times if there was an ongoing correction in the housing market. He said values were “being smashed” because the tax burden was too high, including by banning self managed super funds from investing in property.
Until you have a government that is prepared to do the heavy lifting on taxes, on reducing regulation, you’re not going to see that supply-side revolution. That’s what you need to see. The only way to solve the housing crisis is to build out of it.
Could shark drones keep swimmers safe at Australian beaches?
Rescue officials searching for missing hiker at South Australia’s Mount Remarkable
South Australia police say emergency services are hunting for a missing hiker at Mount Remarkable, in the state’s mid north, after the woman did not return last night.
Officials said an alarm was raised around 9pm last night, with PolAir dispatched to the area to begin searching overnight. Emergency services have also been conducting ground searches along trails for the missing woman.
Police patrols, mounted operations and SES volunteers will gather at Mount Remarkable this morning to continue the search.
‘Grave concerns’ for 38 Australians missing after Nepal-Tibet flooding
The federal government holds “grave concerns” for the 38 Australians still missing in the deadly flooding disaster, Anne Aly says.
The minister for multicultural affairs spoke to ABC’s News Breakfast earlier, after the news a total of five Australians that were unaccounted for as of Tuesday morning had made contact.
We hold grave concerns for those 38 Australians still missing. There are real logistic issues, including communications to find out where people are …
For those families that are still waiting, those 38 individuals unaccounted for, we understand that it’s a really concerning time, and we’ll continue to do what we can to try and locate those people.
