Australia information stay: RBA governor to present speech amid rising calls to chop rates of interest

Value-of-living primary problem in each Australian family: finance minister

Q: Are you involved concerning the electoral implications of this for Australians?

Katy Gallagher responded that “Australians want their Government to make the right decisions for the right economic times.”

That’s been our focus. We’re completely understanding of individuals’s pressures, these cost-of-living points are the primary problem proper throughout the financial system and in each family in Australia and that’s why, you already know, making an attempt to get wages shifting and taking a look at what we will do on tax cuts, power invoice aid, is so necessary, however we’ve bought to do it in a means … doesn’t add to the inflation problem as a result of that clearly hurts within the longer-term.

Finance minister responds to yesterday’s GDP figures

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, was on ABC Information Breakfast simply earlier following the discharge of the newest GDP numbers yesterday.

She stated the information exhibits “obviously some clear challenges in the economy” and that public funding is required and “appropriate when we’re going through such difficult times.”

Requested about claims from the opposition that the federal government’s help measures have been ‘a bandaid on a bullet hole’, Gallagher responded: “I don’t take economic advice from the opposition.”

Clearly, they’re there to make a political level. Our focus, Jim [Chalmers] and my focus, is actually on making the precise selections for the precise time. That’s why, you already know, in finances, we made some selections about cost-of-living help…

I believe a few of the opposition insurance policies which is to make $100bn value of cuts at a minimal, in the event that they had been in authorities and doing that, you’ll have seen a really totally different set of outcomes.

Comparability web site says mortgage stress at highest ranges since 2019

The comparability web site Finder says it’s shopper sentiment tracker final month recorded the very best stage of mortgage stress because it started monitoring in early 2019.

Greater than two in 5 (42%) of house owners struggled to pay their residence mortgage in August, and 13% missed a number of mortgage repayments prior to now six months, Finder says.

Proprietor-occupiers are, on common, taking out bigger loans than ever earlier than regardless of the actual fact the money charge is sitting at a 12-year-high, Finder says.

The typical owner-occupier mortgage is now $634,479 – up by 1.3% from the earlier month and up by 9.3% from the earlier yr, based on information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Richard Whitten, residence loans knowledgeable at Finder, says:

Million of mortgage holders have managed charge hikes up to now, however now they’re going through extreme monetary pressure as their financial savings and emergency funds dry up. Housing is more and more turning into a significant supply of stress for Australians, with many struggling to maintain afloat.

Finder’s figures are based mostly on 19,137 mortgage holders between Could 2019 and August 2024, and 333 mortgage holders for August 2024.

Good morning

Emily Wind

Because of Martin for kicking issues off for us this Thursday! I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you thru our rolling protection for many of as we speak.

As all the time, you’ll be able to attain out with any ideas or questions by way of X, @emilywindwrites, or you’ll be able to ship me an e mail: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Let’s get began.

Whereas the insipid 0.2% development posted within the final quarter is unlikely to shock Reserve Financial institution of Australia governor Michele Bullock, weak productiveness and robust public spending could show trigger for concern, AAP reviews.

A slower financial system is an anticipated consequence of upper rates of interest, jacked up and saved elevated to weaken demand and produce down inflation.

With yesterday’s development figures roughly in keeping with the RBA’s expectations, ANZ economists weren’t anticipating a cloth shift in its considering forward of Bullock’s speech to the Anika Basis as we speak.

Family spending did are available in notably weaker than forecasts however ANZ’s Catherine Birch and Adam Boyton stated tax aid and power invoice rebates ought to give disposable incomes a lift. They wrote in a be aware:

Which ought to see a gradual carry in family spending development.

EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy was unimpressed by Wednesday’s information, singling out weak productiveness efficiency and robust authorities spending as causes for the central financial institution to carry off on charge cuts.

That is the worst doable mixture of statistics, because it means Australian companies are gaining little or no from authorities spending, which is targeted on short-term cost-of-living aid for households and band-aid fixes to uncared for issues.

Our reporter Luca Ittimani has been talking to the proprietor of a once-bustling Sydney cafe who has seen his commerce fall off a cliff.

Brett Harris, who runs the Balkan Butler in Surry Hills in Sydney, says:

Folks simply aren’t right here, there’s not as many our bodies. The place are they? What are they doing?

Now the financial system is on its knees, will the RBA begin reducing charges?

Yesterday’s GDP figures had been among the many worst for years with solely inhabitants development and authorities spending maintaining the financial system afloat.

Together with his ordinary razor-sharp chart-based evaluation, Greg Jericho identifies one of many key issues: within the March 2022 quarter, Australians had been paying $479 1 / 4 per individual in curiosity repayments in contrast with $1,112 now.

He argues the Reserve Financial institution should realise its mistake in mountain climbing charges and begin to minimize them earlier than the scenario will get worse.

Good morning and welcome to our rolling information protection. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you a few of the primary in a single day and breaking information tales earlier than Emily Wind begins.

The controversy over the census questions takes a brand new flip as we speak as a number of main well being institutes have known as for a rethink as a result of the excluded information is “critical” for figuring out well being wants. The group, together with the Kirby Institute, the Centre for Social Analysis in Well being and the Australian Human Rights Institute, launched a joint assertion saying the questions had been wanted to fill in gaps in much-needed analysis.

After yesterday’s anaemic development figures, consideration will probably be on the Reserve Financial institution governor, Michele Bullock, when she offers a speech in Sydney at noon. There are rising requires the financial institution to begin reducing rates of interest after a sustained interval of excessive borrowing prices has helped dampen inflation however sucked demand out of the financial system on the identical time. We’ve got evaluation developing of yesterday’s numbers, and we’ll have particulars of Bullock’s speech once we get them.

A workforce of researchers on the College of Sydney have been awarded this yr’s Eureka prize for environmental analysis for his or her work on methods to defend crops and endangered species by utilizing odours to confuse predators. The journey started 20 years in the past when Peter Banks observed mice peeing after they escaped from rodents:

They had been simply placing their scent in every single place. And I went, ‘how about if we use that principle of the smell of prey being everywhere to stop predators from finding their food?’