As expected, there is no movement on interest rates in today’s Reserve Bank of Australia statement on monetary policy.
The Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%.
The Reserve increased the cash rate by 0.25% at its November meeting. Since then a 4.9% inflation rate has been recorded, easing the pressure on the bank for one more rate increase.
In its statement today, the Reserve Bank said:
The death of Peta Murphy, the ALP member Dunkley, was announced to the Senate by the government leader, Penny Wong, at 2.00pm today.
Murphy died from breast cancer.
The Treasury has issued a consultation paper as part of the government’s process of developing a policy on tackling internet scams.
In the paper, the Treasury and the Department of Communications say:
“The government has committed to introduce new mandatory industry codes to outline the responsibilities of the private sector in relation to scam activity, with a focus on banks, digital communications platforms and telecommunications providers.
A state funeral was held today for Gerry Hand, a former minister in the Hawke and Keating governments.
The former ALP member Melbourne (1983-93), Hand died on November 15, 2023, aged 81.
In delivering his valedictory address, Senator Patrick Dodson announced to the Senate that he would resign on January 26, 2024.
Dodson, a Labor senator from Western Australia, entered the Senate on May 2, 2016, filling the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Joe Bullock. He was elected in his own right at the 2016 and 2022 federal elections.
Australia’s most senior politicians paid tribute to the late Bill Hayden in a condolence debate in the House of Representatives today.
In the presence of Hayden’s widow, Dallas, and other family members, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke of the former Whitlam and Hawke government minister’s legislative achievements, including Medibank and the single mother’s pension, as well as his time as Foreign Minister and as Governor-General.
The High Court of Australia has released the full text of its decision in the NZYQ case which invalidated sections of the Migration Act relating to the ongoing detention of a stateless Rohingya Muslim born in Myanmar.
The decision, announced on November 8, led to the release of 141 detainees. Media reports say another 45 people have also been released.
The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has announced the appointment of the Bank of England’s Andrew Hauser as Deputy Govenor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Hauser is currently the Executive Director of Markets at the Bank of England. He has been with the UK’s central bank for over thirty years.
Hauser will take up his appointment early in 2024.
A media release from the Reserve Bank of Australia is shown below:
The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has made 21 recommendations in its report on the “Conduct of the 2022 federal election and other matters”.
The Committee’s first recommendation is that the government consider asking the Committee to inquire into increasing the size of the House of Representatives.
The second recommendation is for territory Senate representation to be doubled from two to four.