Good afternoon. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says workers “deserve a voice around the Reserve Bank table” and has announced the government will accept all 51 recommendations from a review to overhaul the central bank. Chalmers also today named two new appointments to the existing nine-member board, including Iain Ross, a former Fair Work Commission head.
The RBA governor, Philip Lowe, welcomed the review, acknowledging that “as times change, we need to change too”. Chalmers hopes to implement the reforms by July 2024, which is looking likely given the opposition’s “very positive” response to the review. However, the Greens argue reforming the Reserve Bank won’t be enough to fix inflation, and economist John Quiggin writes that the review ignores the global failure of inflation management to prevent financial chaos.
In other news, F1 great Michael Schumacher plans to sue a magazine over an “interview” with his AI-generated equivalent.
Top news
Will Lowe stay on as RBA governor? | The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, is not in favour of reappointing Lowe, saying accountability at “a minimum” starts with replacing the governor. However, Lowe said again today he has no intention of stepping down. The decision rests with the government, with Chalmers saying he will “contemplate the governor’s appointment closer to the middle of the year”.
Brittany Higgins alleged death threats | Police have charged a man with making death threats against Higgins and her fiance, David Sharaz, including threatening to kill their pet dog. Higgins and Sharaz have faced widespread abuse on social media platforms in the past 12 months, prompting an unprecedented intervention by the cyber safety commissioner last year.
Shane Tuck’s widow withdraws from inquest | Katherine Tuck told the coroner she held “grave concerns” about the reduced scope of the inquiry into the former AFL player’s death. Shane Tuck, who played for Richmond between 2004 and 2013, killed himself in July 2020 aged 38. He was later found to have suffered from severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma, increasingly linked to long-term exposure to contact sports.
Rescue package for Porter Davis customers | Those who paid deposits but were left without insurance when the home builder collapsed last month will get some of their money back as part of a $15m support package announced by the Victorian government. Porter Davis’s liquidation left some 1,700 homes in Victoria and Queensland unfinished.
Rare hybrid solar eclipse | No matter where you stood on this continent today, you would have seen some variation of the eclipse. But the best viewing spot was in Exmouth, WA, where hundreds descended to see the rare event. There have been only a few hybrid solar eclipses in the last 100 years, so kudos to those who caught a glimpse. For those who didn’t (like me in overcast Melbourne), check out our photo gallery.
EV sales overtake petrol in medium-sized car category | It’s the first time on record electric car sales have surpassed petrol-driven cars in the category. According to the Australian Automobile Association’s EV index, from January to March 2023 7,866 medium-sized battery electric cars were bought in Australia, or 58.3% of sales in the category.
Yemen crowd crush kills at least 85 | The crush occurred at an event in the capital Sana’a to distribute money. The Houthi-run interior ministry’s spokesperson blamed the disaster on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities. Witnesses said armed Houthis shot in the air in an attempt to control the crowd, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode. That sparked panic and people began to run, they said.
K-pop star dies aged 25 | Moonbin, a member of the boy band Astro, was found unresponsive on Wednesday evening in his apartment in the upscale Gangnam neighbourhood of Seoul.
Legal action over AI Schumacher interview | Die Aktuelle, a German weekly magazine, ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”. Except the quotes were generated by AI, and not Schumacher – who has not made a public appearance since suffering a serious brain injury in December 2013.
‘Don’t say gay’ ban expanded in Florida | All school grades in the Republican-led state will now be prohibited from discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity, after Florida’s board of education approved the expansion of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.
Full Story
‘Grey corruption’ in the Andrews government
Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog Ibac has cleared Daniel Andrews and his ministers of corrupt conduct but warns of ‘grey corruption’ in his government. We take a closer look at the Victorian government’s conduct in this 17-minute episode.
What they said …
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“She needs to stop pretending we are her people … Her people are the non-Aboriginal conservatives and the Canberra elite to which she wants to belong.” - Central Land Council on Jacinta Price, who declined to comment.
The powerful Central Land Council represents 24,000 Aboriginal people and more than fifteen language groups across 777,000sq km in central Australia.
In numbers
To explain the chart, “someone on the median income of $65,000 will pay 1.5% more in tax after the stage-three tax cuts have come into effect than they did last year, while someone on $200,000 will pay 4.5% less tax,” Greg Jericho writes.
Before bed read
The independent senator David Pocock has penned a column urging the Albanese government to raise the jobseeker rate.
“We can somehow afford the stage-three tax cuts, hundreds of billions on submarines, generous capital gains tax concessions on investment properties, billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies and we can afford not to tax windfall profits. But we can’t afford to look after Australians who need our support.”
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: FILM. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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