Annual inflation rate falls to lowest since 2021 at 2.7%
Peter Hannam
Australia’s headline consumer price index has fallen to its lowest in three years, helped by government energy rebates, the ABS has just reported.
The 2.7% annual rate for August was in line with economists’ expectations of 2.7% and the 3.5% annual clip in July.
Read more here:
Key events
The Greens are conducting a victory lap over reports Labor will not rule out negative gearing today, with its housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather MP, arguing the party is “cracking under pressure”.
The Greens last week moved to delay a vote on Labor’s housing bill, after repeatedly calling for significant changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) discounts.
Chandler-Mather:
The party of Labor landlords is cracking under pressure from the party of renters.
After pretending it was impossible, all of a sudden under pressure from the Greens, millions of renters finally have some hope, as Labor is actively considering changes to negative gearing and CGT.
Labor went from refusing to negotiate with the Greens on negative gearing and CGT, to actively considering changes.
As it stands, Labor’s Help to Buy scheme will drive up house prices and may help no one. We’re glad to see Labor has finally come to their senses and is getting serious about working with the Greens on a housing policy that will actually tackle the scale of the crisis.
BoM app tests tsunami warning in NSW
Meanwhile, if you’ve seen a “test” tsunami warning for the entire coast of New South Wales on the Bureau of Meteorology app, don’t worry.
They’re just testing the tsunami early warning system and, apparently, it’s working.
The Bureau is testing the tsunami early warning system for Australia.
Please be advised that between 11AM-12PM AEST on Wednesday 25 September 2024, we will issue a **TEST** post. Please disregard this post.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) September 25, 2024
Macquarie ‘takes full responsibility’ after fine for ignoring suspicious trading
Jonathan Barrett
Macquarie has responded to the fine imposed by the corporate regulator after the investment conglomerate allowed clients to conduct suspicious trades in electricity markets.
A Macquarie spokesperson says:
Macquarie takes full responsibility for all aspects, particularly given its important role as gatekeeper and the largest market participant facilitating clients’ activity in electricity futures in Australia and New Zealand.
Macquarie has implemented remediation actions to ensure that issues with monitoring for suspicious orders are escalated and actioned appropriately and is continuing to work on areas for further improvement.
Peter Hannam
As expected, electricity prices were lower, thanks to those government rebates, falling a hefty 17.9% from a year earlier.
Automotive fuel also sank 7.6%.
Renters, though, don’t have much relief, with the annual increase at 6.8%, modestly lower than previous months.
The CPI numbers were much as expected, with the dollar and stocks not budging much.
The underlying inflation rate that the RBA looks at, the trimmed mean, was 3.4%, down from 3.8% in July. That was the lowest since February 2022.
Annual inflation rate falls to lowest since 2021 at 2.7%
Peter Hannam
Australia’s headline consumer price index has fallen to its lowest in three years, helped by government energy rebates, the ABS has just reported.
The 2.7% annual rate for August was in line with economists’ expectations of 2.7% and the 3.5% annual clip in July.
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
Firefighters’ union accuses Ibac of ‘four-year witch hunt’
As we reported earlier today, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) published a report uncovering five separate alleged instances where MFB employees – now working for Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) – accessed or disclosed information without authorisation between April and May 2018.
It said the staffers allegedly involved were motivated to misuse MFB information to further the interests of the UFU and its secretary, Peter Marshall.
But in a statement, the UFU said the report was a “four-year witch hunt”, which ultimately made no finding of corruption against the union or Marshall.
The union accuses Ibac of using “deeply intrusive practices such as extended phone tapping of all phone conversations not limited to those that were work-related, physical surveillance, raids, the seizing of property including personal items and legally privileged documents, and coercive hearings”.
It said Marshall was subjected to two days of examination by Ibac’s former commissioner, Robert Redlich, and “was not once presented with the accusations against him or the union and given no opportunity to answer them”.
Marshall called for an investigation into Ibac itself. He said:
There were regular leaks of confidential information that led to hundreds of news items since 2019. It is ironic that an organisation supposedly investigating the inappropriate use of information, took no steps to investigate the improper use of its confidential material to the media. No other coercive body has had anywhere near the same level of leaks.
Jonathan Barrett
Macquarie fined for ignoring suspicious energy market trades
Macquarie has been fined after ignoring repeated warnings from the corporate regulator that its clients were involved in suspicious trades in electricity markets, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said today.
The trades occurred during a period of volatile energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Asic said that Macquarie breached market integrity rules on 50 occasions during 2022 by permitting three of its clients to place suspicious orders.
The regulator said the orders may have intended to “mark the close”, which is a trading technique designed to manipulate a favourable settlement price by making a large trade shortly before the market closes.
The Asic chair, Joe Longo, said:
The consequences of manipulating energy markets can have a detrimental flow on impact to supplier funding costs, and in turn energy prices. This can lead to higher energy bills for consumers who are already struggling with the cost of living.
The regulator said it contacted Macquarie on six occasions over concerns about volatility in energy markets or suspicious trading by its clients, but the investment bank failed to respond.
It has been fined $5m.
Macquarie was contacted for comment.
‘A week like no other’: AFL grand final fever is cooking in Melbourne
AFL grand final fever is cooking up in Melbourne today with the city’s annual four-day Footy Festival kicking off in Yarra Park.
The tourism, sport and major events minister, Steve Dimopoulos, joined the AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon, today to launch the festival. More than 250,000 fans are expected to flock to Melbourne for this week’s events.
For the first time, the festival will go into the night with live music and dinner served up by signature Melbourne restaurants Easey’s, Hella Good and Pinchy’s.
Dillon says:
Grand final week in Victoria is a week like no other. The build-up, the anticipation, and there are plenty of activities for fans to get involved, highlighted by the free Footy Festival starting in Yarra Park and the Toyota AFL Grand Final Parade on Friday.
Tasmanian school funding deal a long time coming, Wilkie says
The independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie has cautiously welcomed today’s announcement that the state and federal government have reached a deal to fully fund public schools by 2029, while noting it’s been a long time coming.
Since the Gonski reforms set up the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) in 2011, I have consistently advocated with successive federal governments to adopt 100% funding for public schools.
However, this is only a modest investment from the federal government. They are only increasing their funding for Tasmanian public schools by 2.5% to 22.5% and requiring the state government to cover the remaining 77.5%. Moreover under the agreement, schools will still not be funded to 100% of their SRS until 2029.
I’m sure most teachers and parents would hold concerns that this is far too long when our education system is struggling now. The truth is that this should have happened more than a decade ago.
Young woman accused of stabbing her grandmother granted bail
A young woman accused of attempted murder by stabbing her grandmother has been granted bail after her solicitor offered multiple conditions and mental health monitoring upon her release, AAP reports.
The 21-year-old allegedly attacked her 63-year-old grandmother on 17 May 2023 in a home they shared in the town of Beaudesert, south of Brisbane.
Bella-Rose Currie Shields has been in custody for more than 16 months, including five months in a secure mental health ward, and on Tuesday applied for bail in the supreme court in Brisbane.
Justice Thomas Bradley handed down his decision on Wednesday and said the seriousness of the charge against Shields called for a large number of bail conditions.
In my view, the risks associated with the applicant’s release on bail can be ameliorated to an acceptable level … she has demonstrated that her continued detention is not justified.
Shields’ solicitor, Natalie Keys, had previously told Bradley her client’s mental health had improved while in custody.
She’s certainly doing well. She’s obtained employment in the kitchen. It’s a position of trust using knives and that’s not done if there’s still a substantial risk.
