Key Points
- Treasurer flags significant interest rate cut for May
- "Extraordinary" revelations from parliamentary inquiry into fake terror plot
- Fulham beats Liverpool in English Premier League
TRANSCRIPT
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says markets believe a substantial interest rate cut is likely to arrive in May, with another three cuts expected to come this year.
Last week, the Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates steady at 4.1 per cent after its first rate cut in nearly five years, in February.
Dr Chalmers says market sentiment predicts more significant relief for Australian mortgage-holders to come next month.
"Markets are now expecting about four interest rate cuts in Australia this calendar year. There's even a more-than-50-per-cent expectation in the markets that the next Reserve Bank interest rate cut in May might be as big as 50 basis points, so the Australian dollar is reflecting that. I don't predict or pre-empt those decisions, but the market is now expecting multiple interest rate cuts over the course of the year."
The Treasurer also says he has met with Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, on how to respond to global trade tensions and believes Australia will not enter a recession.
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton says stock market turmoil and the fall of the Australian dollar, should encourage voters to seek the Coalition's economic management.
Almost $100 billion had been wiped off the Australian share market as of lunch time in response to United States tariffs and fear of a global trade war.
After falling as much as six per cent in the first hour of trading, the market's top share indexes recovered slightly more than two per cent by lunch time.
The Australian dollar fell below 60 US cents early but has recouped some losses to trade at 60.14 US cents, still down nearly six per cent since Thursday's tariff announcement.
Mr Dutton argues the Coalition are the only ones who can handle the global economic shocks to come.
"Now when you see the correction on the stock market today, when you see what's happening in the United States with the prospects of a recession or a global recession, you don't want a Labor-Greens government in charge of the economy when we need to meet the challenges that we'll face over the next couple of years. We need a strong Coalition government to get our country back on track, to manage the economy, to get the price of fuel down, to get the price of groceries down."
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An inquiry into a fake terrorist plot involving a caravan filled with explosives, has revealed a senior police officer signed a non-disclosure agreement and withheld information from his colleagues.
The inquiry is investigating when Premier Chris Minns and his cabinet learned the caravan found on the outskirts of Sydney was not related to a legitimate terrorist plot targeting Jewish Australians.
Police were first tipped off about the potential plot in January 19, with the Australian Federal Police suspecting a criminal link early in the investigation.
However, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told Nationals MP Wes Fang, he and his officers were denied information related to these motivations for over a month.
"We were not told. We repeatedly asked what the motivation of the person providing that information was, however, their internal policies prevented them from doing that.
"So, you asked for more than a month and the AFP withheld the motivation for the informant providing that advice.
"The senior investigating officer from NSW was informed at some stage. However, he was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
"That's extraordinary Deputy Commissioner Hudson."
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Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed more than 50 Palestinians in just one day according to local medics, including more than a dozen women and children.
With no end to the bombardment in sight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to the United States, seeking more support from President Donald Trump.
Mohamed Abdel Hady, whose relatives were killed without warning as they slept, believes Mr Netanyahu will get permission from President Trump to continue the violence.
"I expect more massacres and more killing, as long as Arabs and Muslims are asleep. We will continue to see more massacres and killing. There’s no hope in them, no hope they will lift a hand to help this oppressed people. It’s clear, Netanyahu will further get a green light to finish Gaza, just like before, to wipe out what remains in Gaza."
Meanwhile, a tent filled with journalists in Gaza's Khan Younis region has also been bombed by Israel, killing at least two people, and wounding seven others.
The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate say more than 200 journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since early October 2023.
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The rainbow lorikeet has been unveiled as the nation's most spotted bird after a count involving nearly 60,000 Australians.
The noisy miner bird flew into second place and the infamous Australian magpie swooped into third.
Participants in BirdLife Australia's eleventh annual national bird count, released today, tallied up 4.1 million birds during the week-long community event.
No two states or territories shared the same top three most sighted birds, which the not for profit says is a reminder of how birds are integral to the unique character and identity of each place.
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To sport and in football, Liverpool's 26-match unbeaten streak in the English Premier League has come to an end at the hands of Fulham.
Despite the 3-2 defeat, the Reds maintain an 11-point lead on top of the table.
Manager Arne Slot concedes that it was an unusually poor performance from his team.
"The errors we made is something we're not used to. Not only me, the players, the teammates, the fans: it disappoints us all. But one of the reasons that we're in the position we're in as that we don't make a lot of mistakes and if we do, players try to make up for them."
Meanwhile, Tottenham confirmed Southampton's relegation, with a 3-1 win and the Manchester Derby ended goalless.
