The Reserve Bank has left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%, in a decision announced today. The cash rate has now been held at 4.35% for the past four months. In a statement released today, the RBA board says that inflation has moderated but is still high. It says the “outlook is highly uncertain”.
Scott Morrison, the former Prime Minister (2018-22), has delivered his valedictory speech to the House of Representatives. Morrison will resign as the Liberal member for Cook later this week. First elected to parliament in 2007, Morrison was re-elected five more times. He served nearly six years in opposition before becoming a Cabinet minister upon election of the Abbott coalition government in 2013.
The Defence Minister, Richard Marles, has announced an upgrade and expansion of the Australian Navy to give it an “enhanced lethality surface combatant fleet”. Flanked by the Pat Conroy, the Minister for Defence Industry, Marles announced an additional $11 billion over the next decade. The money will be used to expand the Navy’s fleet of warships to 26 vessels, an increase of 15 craft.
Jeremy Rockliff, the Liberal Premier of Tasmania, has announced that negotiations with two former Liberal MPs have broken down and he will call an early election tomorrow. Rockliff said John Tucker and Lara Alexander had “failed to commit to a new, enduring agreement”, following their resignations from the Liberal Party in May, 2023. The former Liberals had concerns relating to the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project.
The Reserve Bank of Australia today made no change to the cash rate, leaving it at 4.35%. The 4.35% rate has been in force since November 2023. The bank’s decision is its first in a restructured process. As part of the new processes, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock, held a press conference an hour after the bank’s decision was announced.
The coalition will support the Albanese government’s tax cuts, the Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, confirmed today. Flanked by the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, and the Shadow Finance Minister, Senator Jane Hume, Dutton said “the coalition is not going to stand in the way of people who are doing it tough”. With repeated references to “the liar in The Lodge” and the government’s “egregious lie”, Dutton said the coalition would take “a significant tax policy” to the next election.
The Chinese Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been sentenced to death by a court in China.
Greg Combet, a former minister in the Rudd-Gillard governments, has been appointed Chairman of the Future Fund. Greg Combet, new Chairman of the Future Fund The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, made the announcement at a press conference today. Combet replaces Peter Costello, the Future Fund’s founder and current Chairman. Combet was the Labor member for the NSW electorate of Charlton from 2007 until 2013.
This is the video of Governor-General David Hurley’s 2024 Australia Day Address. The Address was shown on ABC television at 6.55pm on Australia Day.
The Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, has responded to the Prime Minister’s Press Club appearance today.