source : the age
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of news from Australia and around the world this Wednesday, October 28. Here’s what is making headlines today.
- Inflation rose 4.3 per cent in September following a surge in petrol prices and a pick-up in the cost of building homes, raising pressure on the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates. Headline inflation rose from 4 per cent in August, while the closely watched underlying measure of inflation was at 3.6 per cent in September, slightly higher than the previous month. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has made clear a further interest rate rise is on the agenda at the bank’s meeting next week.
- One Nation leader Pauline Hanson squared off at the Parliament House press pack as she denied suggestions her super policy, which would allow renters and mortgage holders access to a quarter of their future superannuation contributions, is inflationary. Hanson also denied her party’s cartoon depicting Bluey breached intellectual property laws, and refused to answer questions about a controversial colouring book handed to children at a country show. The super policy is expected to be introduced to the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
- Benjamin Netanyahu’s future is in the balance after Israeli voters swung decisively from his right-wing government in the first national elections since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza which killed more than 70,000 Palestinians. The poll failed to deliver majority government to either the pro or anti-Netanyahu block, setting the stage for days, and possibly weeks, of negotiations.
Chalmers has said war in the Middle East is “turbocharging” the inflationary challenges faced by Australians, as the flow of oil and other key commodities comes under severe pressure.
“From an economic point of view, the end of the war in the Middle East can’t come soon enough,” he said. “This war in the Middle East is absolutely turbocharging those cost of living pressures.”
The biggest driver of inflation in Australia is oil. Today’s figures show that, of the increase in inflation in September, about 43 per cent was due to higher petrol prices which jumped by 9.4 per cent last month.
Another 54 per cent of the inflation story was holiday travel which is being pushed up by the high cost of airline tickets because of the jump in jet fuel prices.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers accepts the federal government’s role in the fight against inflation, which continued to rise in data released today, and has promised savings as the government works to put downward pressure on prices.
“We take responsibility for government policy when it comes to the fiscal settings and when it comes to managing the budget in a responsible way in the face of this inflation challenge, which is persisting longer than anyone would like,” he said.
“That’s why the next budget update in December will have a savings package in it, just like the first eight budgets and budget updates had as well.”
Inflation rose 4.3 per cent in September following a surge in petrol prices and a pick-up in the cost of building homes, raising pressure on the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates next week.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is responding to the inflation data received today, which showed prices rose to 4.3 per cent in September, up from 4 per cent in August.
“The numbers in today’s data are still too high,” Chalmers told reporters at Parliament House.
“Inflation has increased in every major advanced economy in September, and that’s why the markets are expecting rate rises in all of them. Annual inflation has been increasing more in other countries than here, but we know that this doesn’t make it any easier for Australian families … we already had an inflation challenge in our economy, and the war in the Middle East is making it worse.”
If you thought buying computer games and toys for your children was getting expensive, you’re not wrong.
Today’s inflation data showed prices for games and hobbies have soared by 15.5 per cent over the past year, the fastest rate since the bureau started separately tracking the sector in 1998.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics noted that the sharp lift is being driven by “price increases in memory and storage components being passed on to consumers”.
Those price increases are being experienced around the world as technology companies ramp up demand for computer servers and components for their huge AI data centre build which is estimated at more than $1 trillion this year alone.
While computer games are getting much more expensive, the biggest driver of inflation is oil.
The bureau’s figures show of the increase in inflation in September, about 43 per cent was due to higher petrol prices which jumped by 9.4 per cent last month. Another 54 per cent of the inflation story was holiday travel which is being pushed up by the high cost of airline tickets because of the jump in jet fuel prices.
The Invasive Species Council will launch an independent review into biosecurity failures, using the recent fire ant incursion in Sydney as its first case study.
The review was announced following a meeting of the council and the Inspector-General of Biosecurity and will examine whether biosecurity risks are being effectively managed across Australia.
It will assess whether measures such as pre-border and border controls, through to post-border surveillance, are being used effectively and accurately.
A nest of red imported fire ants was detected at the Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre on September 23.
RBA governor Michele Bullock is responding to questions from Liberal deputy leader Jane Hume about the government’s role in tackling inflation.
“Government spending – federal and state, I have to say here, not just federal – all contributes to aggregate demand in some way, whether it be through infrastructure projects, services they have to provide, and so on,” Bullock said.
“And to the extent that aggregate demand is above aggregate supply, it contributes to that excess demand.
“Now, as I have also said repeatedly, monetary policy is independent, and fiscal policy is a matter for the parliament and the government. It is not for the central bank to tell the government what to do with their spending, and particularly, how to direct their spending.”
Bullock also rejected the unfavourable comparison of Australia’s inflation rates to other countries because its target was higher.
The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor has told Senate estimates the inflation numbers just released were expected, but too high.
“These numbers are broadly in line … with the market expectations and candidly, where we thought it would be as well,” Andrew Hauser told the economics committee.
“But … these are too high. We have said that repeatedly, and I’m sure that we will say that again today.”
Inflation in September jumped to 4.3 per cent, up from 4 per cent in August.
Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has made clear a further interest rate rise is on the agenda at the bank’s meeting next week.
Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing today, Bullock said the nation’s fundamental economic challenge was the inability of the economy to grow without putting upwards pressure on inflation.
“Despite the unemployment rate recently rising a little more than we had expected, the labor market still seems a little tighter than we previously judged,” she said in an opening statement.
She said this was evident in underlying inflationary pressures from domestic demand for goods and services.
“And continued weak productivity growth means the economy cannot grow strongly without putting pressure on inflation. This is a fundamental challenge for the Australian economy and for everyone’s real spending power over the next few years.”
Inflation has pushed up to 4.3 per cent due to a surge in petrol prices and a pick-up in the cost of building homes, putting pressure on the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates at its meeting next week.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that headline inflation jumped to 4.3 per cent in September up from 4 per cent in August.
The closely watched underlying measure of inflation was 3.6 per cent. It was up slightly from the August report which had been revised down to 3.5 per cent.
The bureau noted that petrol prices jumped by 9.4 per cent in September after a 14.8 per cent increase in August.
Annual inflation for housing costs lifted to 5.2 per cent, with the bureau reporting new dwelling costs up by 4.7 per cent as builders passed on higher construction and labour costs. This was an improvement on the 12 months to August when it was running at 5.4 per cent.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has denied suggestions her party’s cartoon depicting Bluey is a breach of intellectual property laws, as she refused to answer questions about a controversial colouring book handed to children at a country show.
It comes after ABC managing director Hugh Marks told Senate Estimates the public broadcast would be pursuing action against One Nation over concerns the party’s depiction of the beloved animated character was a breach of intellectual property laws.
The question of whether One Nation’s use of Bluey breached the laws was put to Hanson, who responded: “No”.
Further, Hanson refused to discuss the distribution of One Nation colouring books to children at the Mount Gambier show, containing illustrations that appear to show Bluey and Robert Irwin being held at knifepoint, along with unflattering depictions of rival politicians.
Hanson said was “not discussing that” at the press conference, called to discuss the party’s super policy, before making an abrupt exit.
