TRANSCRIPT
- The Reserve Bank chooses to again keeps interest rates at their current level
- Anthony Albanese re-iterates calls for Australians to get out of Lebanon
- The Matildas to face Brazil
The Reserve Bank has elected to keep interest rates at their current level.
As expected, the key interest rate will remain at 4.35 per cent until at least the 5th of November, when the bank holds its next meeting to discuss the matter.
The rate has been at 4.35 per cent since last November.
But, in the statement explaining is decision, the central bank says it won't rule in or out any measures, as it continues to try and bring inflation down.
The central bank has ben using interest rates as a tool to try and bring inflation down its target zone of between two and three prc et over the economic cycle.
The current underlying inflation rate is 3.9 per cent.
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Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers denies he's dissatisfied with the Reserve Bank's decision to not cut interest rates yet.
Despite its public statements, some analysts say it's just a matter of when and how fast central bank decides to cut rates.
Dr Chalmers has previously made comments that the bank's actions have helped slow the Australian economy.
That slowing economy has caused the government some political pain.
But Dr Chalmers maintains he's not attacking the Reserve Bank.
"I've made a factual statement that the interest rate rises that are already in the system, combined with some of these other factors, are slowing our economy quite dramatically. We saw that in the most recent national accounts. But these decisions are taken independently by the Reserve Bank. My efforts have been about trying to make the bank more independent, not less independent."
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australians need to get out of Lebanon while they still can.
The government says it is alarmed by the escalation of conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group.
The Lebanese Health Ministry says 500 people have been killed, and 1,600 more injured, by the latest Israeli missile attacks.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the government is working on a contingency plan to get people out of Lebanon, but they likely won't be able to help everyone.
Mr Albanese says people shouldn't be replying on whatever the government may be able to do.
"People who are in Lebanon should listen to the warnings that we have been saying for months. They should come home while commercial flights are available. The fact that some people have continued to go from Australia to Lebanon in recent months is not a common sense thing to do. The government issues these warnings for a reason."
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Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says, whatever his nuclear power plan costs, it will still turn out to be cheaper than the government's energy plans.
Mr Dutton hasn't fully revealed the cost of the plan, for which he continues to come under heavy attack.
He says nuclear energy will give consumers cheaper electricity- giving the example of the Canadian province of Ontario, which he claims has power prices that are just one-third of Australia's.
Mr Dutton told Sky News nuclear energy is cheaper government's favoured options, wind and solar energy.
"When the PM is out there saying, oh, the wind's free, and the sun's free... he forgets to tell you that they're proposing 28,000 kilometres of new poles and wires. All of that cost is going to be passed on to consumers. And our argument is that, with nuclear, you've got a zero-emissions technology, you've got a 24/7 power source, and you can amortise the cost over a sixty to eighty year-plus period. The wind turbines need to be replaced three or four times in the lifespan of a nuclear reactor."
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The federal government will spend more than 23 million dollars over the next three years to establish a national early intervention trial to try and stop family, domestic, sexual violence.
Under the program, twelve organisations will be tasked with creating a new early intervention program for young men and boys aged twelve to eighteen who present with adverse experiences that see them deemed particularly at risk of engaging in family, domestic, or sexual violence.
Chief Executive of the Domestic Violence Action Centre, Amy Carrington, says the program is an important step in getting everyone involved in trying to fix the problem.
"If we want to achieve ending gender-based violence in one generation, it's services like this that are going to make a real difference, alongside everything else that we are doing. Ending gender-based violence is going to take a whole society. And so, this is a really important step forward."
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In football, the Matildas will play two matches in Queensland against Brazil.
The first friendly will be in Brisbane on the 28th of November... the second will be on the Gold Coast on the 1st of December.
Midfielder Tameka Yallop says the team is excited to return to Queensland for their first matches in the state since they beat France in their famous World Cup quarter-final in Brisbane last year.
"We are very excited to return to Queensland to play Brazil here at Suncorp Stadium and at Cbus Super Stadium. Brazil, as you know, are a fantastic opponent, and I know it will be a very competitive game for the fans to enjoy."
Brazil are ranked eighth in the world, seven spots above Australia.
