What we learned: Tuesday, 8 July
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for this evening. I hope you have a good night. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more news for you. Until then, here were today’s top stories:
A divided Reserve Bank of Australia held rates at 3.85%, in a surprise decision that denies further mortgage relief for millions of households. The split decision came as a shock to financial markets and a large majority of experts.
Following the decision, the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, told journalists the decision was “about timing” and the board wanted to “make sure we’ve nailed” getting inflation down before further rate cuts.
The Northern Territory police force responded to a coroner’s findings into Kumanjayi Walker’s death, which were released yesterday. Constable Zachary Rolfe also responded, saying he “does not accept many of the findings” about the night he shot and killed Walker, and accused the coroner of going “far beyond her remit”.
A Sydney court heard that Alan Jones’s lawyers have “grave concerns” about the legality of a search of the former broadcaster’s phone before he was charged with 35 historical sexual assault offences.
Aldi Australia announced it will partner with delivery service DoorDash to trial grocery deliveries as the discount chain grapples with a consumer shift towards online shopping. The service will open to Canberra residents this week ahead of a potential expansion across the country, the supermarket chain said.
And a Queensland zoo under investigation after a lioness attack reopened its doors, two days after the owner’s sister-in-law lost her arm. The woman, in her 50s, remained in hospital in a stable condition after the attack, which took place on Sunday morning at Darling Downs zoo.
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Lawyer for officer who killed Walker says coroner went ‘far beyond her remit’
Constable Zachary Rolfe “does not accept many of the findings” made by a coroner into the night he shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker and has accused her of going “far beyond her remit”.
On Monday, the coroner, Elisabeth Armitage, found Rolfe was racist and while she could not say with certainty, she also could not exclude the possibility that his attitudes had contributed to the fatal shooting.
A statement, distributed on behalf of Rolfe by his lawyer, Luke Officer, on Tuesday, said he was entitled to the presumption of innocence after a not guilty verdict returned by a jury in 2022 on charges of murder and manslaughter relating to Walker’s death:
In these circumstances he does not accept any findings that are inconsistent with his rightful acquittal.
He does not accept there was any dishonesty at all associated with these events. Insofar as some may hold a view to the contrary, this was never about race.
The statement also suggested there was a “real risk that a coronial inquest will become a roving royal commission which is not the true purpose of a coronial inquest” and said:
The true purpose of a coronial inquest is to establish the cause and circumstance of death, and in this case the coroner went far beyond her remit.
Updated
More from that AAP report: Victoria police rejected claims its officers were told not to confront the protesters at the restaurant and said an independent officer will review the overall response.
Anthony Albanese flagged more action from his government as it works with a special envoy on anti-semitism but pushed back against hosting a national cabinet.
Speaking to the media in Hobart earlier today, the prime minister said:
Let’s be clear. What people want is not a meeting. They want action.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry president, Daniel Aghion, urged Victorian authorities to disallow weekly pro-Palestine protests in their current form and bring in protest zones.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, labelled the rally “odious” but said protesting was part of democracy.
The protest organisers insisted they were opposed to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and said leaders needed to distinguish between the IDF and Australia’s Jewish community.
The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network condemned what it described as a “smear” against peaceful protesters.
Owners of Israeli restaurant in Melbourne address targeting by pro-Palestine protesters
The owners of an Israeli restaurant targeted by protesters have broken their silence, detailing the “profound impact” of the incident, as police charged more people over the incident, AAP reports.
The demonstration outside Miznon in Melbourne’s CBD on Friday was one of several incidents targeting Melbourne’s Jewish community in recent days, with protesters smashing a window, upending tables and throwing chairs.
About 20 protesters converged on the restaurant, some chanting “death to the IDF” in reference to the Israel Defence Force.
The restaurant said the actions of a few had caused much distress to customers, patrons and staff in neighbouring restaurants.
In an Instagram post, the owners said:
The events on Friday evening had a profound impact on our restaurant and staff.
We are a restaurant, a place of hospitality, of warmth and welcome ... we respect everyone’s right to their own nationality and religion. We ask for the same.
The group Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance has taken responsibility for the protest, saying the venue was chosen because the owner was a spokesperson for an Israeli aid organisation that “weaponised aid”.
In a post on Instagram, the group said:
While politicians in so-called Australia clutch their pearls over one meal that was interrupted, we ask people to refocus their attention on Israel’s genocidal reign of terror over the Palestinians.
‘What was tolerated in the past will no longer be acceptable’: NT Police respond to coroner’s findings into Kumanjayi Walker’s death
Circling back to a Northern Territory police press conference earlier today, where they said racism’s existence within the force is a confronting “truth we must face”.
The NT police’s acting commissioner, Martin Dole, addressed the media this afternoon following the coroner’s findings into the death of Kumanjayi Walker:
Every member of the Northern Territory Police Force, we acknowledge the deep hurt that followed the events of the 9 November 2019 and the long inquest that followed. I extend my sincere sympathy to Kumanjayi Walker’s loved ones and thank every witness and community member who contributed to the coroner’s findings.
They said the recommendations directed to the NT Police Force “ deserve to be considered properly, thoroughly, and with the seriousness that they warrant,” saying their response “will take time”.
NT Police continued:
We also acknowledge the coroner’s findings that all forms of racism have existed within the Northern Territory Police Force at various times and that this was borne out in the evidence received during this inquest. That is confronting. But it is a truth we must face. What was tolerated in the past will no longer be acceptable. We are committed to stamping out racism in all its forms and making this a safer, fairer organisation for everybody.
Most importantly - we know we must listen more closely to our remote communities - not just listen, but listen, hear, and act. That includes seriously re-examining how we return to a meaningful version of community policing - one that reflects its needs and expectations of Aboriginal people and builds trust at a local level.
Shadow attorney general reaffirms opposition’s support for government’s child safety reforms
The shadow attorney-general, Julian Leeser, has reaffirmed the opposition’s support for child safety reforms and says he will discuss the issue when he meets with his government counterpart, Michelle Rowland.
The Albanese government has said it will fast-track legislation in the next sitting week to cut funding to childcare centres that fail to meet safety standards, following shocking allegations that two men in Melbourne sexually abused children who were in their care.
Meanwhile, the Victorian government has appointed the former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior bureaucrat Pamela White to lead an urgent review of childcare safety.
Speaking on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing a short time ago, Leeser said the alleged abuse in Victoria was a “tragedy” and that:
You expect your children, that are the most precious thing in life to a parent, to be safe and if we can’t guarantee the safety of children in child care centres than something very badly has gone wrong.
We have been clear that we are not playing politics with this issue and we want to offer the government every support.
We want to provide legislative backing to policies to improve the safety of children and if that also includes a nationally consistent response … that’s a good thing.
Leeser said the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, had “reached out” to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on the issue and that:
I’m due to see the Attorney-General - I think next week – and we will certainly talk about the issues, because this is not a political issue, this is an issue about child safety.
Shadow treasurer blames Labor for RBA’s decision to keep interest rates on hold
The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, has blamed Labor for the Reserve Bank’s decision to keep interest rates on hold today.
The RBA surprised experts by keeping rates on hold at 3.85%, defying widespread expectations of a reduction, and meaning a potential cut in August will now rely on whether quarterly consumer price data shows inflation is under control.
In a statement, O’Brien said the cost of living remains too high for many Australians.
He said:
Today’s decision means average mortgage holders will continue paying an additional $1,900 in interest payments each month than they were before Labor came to office.
This is a direct consequence of Labor’s homegrown inflation and its failure to boost productivity.
The treasurer was ready to take credit for a drop in the cash rate today but instead he’s pointing the finger overseas to camouflage his own economic failures.
Updated
Bullock says the RBA expects the Australian economy to be affected by the Trump administration’s tariff regime, but to fare better than other countries.
She said:
Our judgement … is that there will be an impact on us – and that’s partly what’s driving some of the deflationary impact in our forecasts – but we’re not going to be anywhere near as badly impacted as some countries because we’re not as directly linked to the US.
Our fortunes are much more linked to China. And so that’s why a lot depends on what happens there.
Bullock said the RBA was focusing on the domestic economy and had, in May, forecast three different scenarios: trade peace, trade war, and something in the middle.
She said at the time the country had been “facing a disaster”, referring to widespread fears of an all-out trade war.
While that hasn’t eventuated, the global economic situation is “still much much worse” than it was before April and “world trade is going to be impacted”, Bullock said.
RBA governor says Australia in a ‘great position’
Bullock says alternating between cutting and holding interest rates is “sensible and cautious” rather than “whiplash”, as a journalist at the press conference put to her.
The RBA governor said:
What’s really important is that we get this underlying inflation, which is ultimately where headline inflation will end up … down.
Now, I wouldn’t say cut, hold, cut, hold is whiplash. I would say that’s sensible cautious approach to lowering interest rates in a sensible way.
You will recall maybe if you go back, a lot of people are criticising us for not going higher and not getting inflation down more quickly.
I think Australia has done remarkably well. Who would have said two years ago that we would be sitting here now with inflation at two something and unemployment at 4.1%? Not many people.
We’re in a great position.
Updated
Michele Bullock says RBA’s call to hold cash rate ‘about timing rather than direction’
Bullock has been asked about the split in the RBA board on today’s cash rate decision, which the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, mentioned earlier.
My colleague, Patrick Commins, is at Bullock’s press conference. He asked if she could disclose more about the three people who didn’t vote in the favour of the majority (which voted for rates to remain on hold), whether they were RBA staff and what they voted for.
Bullock responded:
They’re unattributed votes. So, I can’t tell you who voted what way.
What I can say is that what it demonstrates, I hope, is that there was really good active debate in the boardroom about the pros and cons of holding and easing, and I would characterise it as saying that the difference between the two camps really was down to a slightly softer reading.
Bullock said those who wanted to cut rates had a “slightly softer reading” of the available inflation data and were more concerned about the downside risks to the economy, particularly from international volatility.
She said she wanted to emphasise that decision was “about timing”.
Bullock returned to this point in a later question from another journalist, when asked what she would say to mortgage holders disappointed about today’s decision.
She said:
I’m very conscious of that. I’m also really conscious that we don’t want to end up having to fight inflation again. We want to make sure we’ve nailed it.
And as I said, the biggest thing here is that it wasn’t really directionally - where we think we’re heading in terms of easing. It was more about timing.
Updated
RBA governor says bank needs more time to assess whether inflation is on track for 2.5% target
The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, has been addressing the media after the bank’s surprise decision to keep the cash rate on hold.
Explaining why the bank did not follow through with market expectations of a 0.25% cut, Bullock said economic conditions “remain uncertain” and its board was waiting to confirm whether inflation was still on track to reach 2.5%.
Bullock said:
The two monthly CPI (consumer price index) indicators have been broadly consistent with our forecast for headline inflation and show that we’re moving in the right direction.
However, some components suggest that underlying inflation in the June quarter could be a little higher than our forecast.
So the board decided to wait a few weeks to confirm that we’re still on track to meet our inflation and employment objectives, as well as a very thorough consideration of Australian economic conditions.
Chalmers welcomes RBA’s publication of division of board’s votes
This is the first time in the bank’s history that the votes on the cash rate decision have been made public, which has revealed – also for the first time – that the board was split.
Three members of the bank’s nine-person monetary policy board voted to cut rates today.
Chalmers, who introduced the reforms in a bid to make the bank more transparent, said:
This is quite a substantial change in the way that the Reserve Bank reports its decisions. I welcome the transparency that comes from the publication of those votes.
Obviously, it will be a source of some interest that the Reserve Bank board was not unanimous on this occasion that there were different views expressed around the boardroom table, and we know that because of the publication of these unattributed votes.
However, Chalmers said he didn’t think the way individual board members voted should be revealed.
He went on:
I think this is an appropriate level of transparency.
[This] is a very big step in the right direction, we want to make sure that people can participate in these reserve bank meetings openly [and] that the public knows whether the decision was taken unanimously, or otherwise.
And I think this strikes the right balance.
Updated
Treasurer says he doesn’t ‘second guess’ Reserve Bank’s decisions after interest rates left on hold
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been speaking after the RBA’s decision to leave interest rates on hold at 3.85%.
At a press conference in Canberra, he said:
I don’t second guess decisions taken independently by the bank or its board. I don’t make predictions or pre-empt future movements in interest rates.
Chalmers would not be drawn on whether he believed the central bank’s board had made the correct decision or not.
Asked by a reporter if he could “just be frank” on whether it was his “personal opinion that the board got this call wrong”, Chalmers said:
I don’t express those sorts of opinions when it comes to decision taken independently by the Reserve Bank.
And there’s a good reason for that. And the reason is I’ve got my own job to focus on. The Reserve Bank - its board and its governor – has its own job to focus on.
Updated
Hi, I hope you’ve had a good day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of this afternoon’s news.
Thank you for joining us on the blog today. Handing over to Catie McLeod who will keep you posted this afternoon.
Treasurer says RBA decision not what was hoped for by millions of Australians
Jim Chalmers says the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave interest rates on hold at 3.85% is “not the result millions of Australians were hoping for or what the market was expecting”.
Two interest rate cuts in five months this years comes with “substantial and sustained progress on inflation,” he said in a statement responding to the decision.
We’ve seen elsewhere that when central banks cut rates, they don’t always cut at every meeting.
The RBA has indicated the direction of travel on inflation and interest rates has been established.
Updated
RBA board waiting on ‘more information’ on inflation
The monetary policy board said in a statement that it could “wait for a little more information to confirm that inflation remains on track”.
“[The board] noted that monetary policy is well placed to respond decisively to international developments if they were to have material implications for activity and inflation in Australia.”
Updated
Australian dollar up as RBA keep the official cash rate at 3.85%
The Australian dollar shot up immediately after the decision was announced to US65.5c, up from US65.15c minutes ago.
More on the RBA keeping the official cash rate at 3.85%
The decision has shocked markets, given traders had already priced in a rate reduction. Economists at all of the big four banks had expected the RBA to cut today.
The RBA board was split on the decision, with six voting in favour of keeping rates on hold, and three against.
Updated
RBA keeps the official cash rate on hold at 3.85%
The Reserve Bank has surprised experts by keeping rates on hold, defying widespread expectations of a reduction.
A potential cut in August will now rely on whether quarterly consumer price data due out at the end of the month shows inflation is under control.
Updated
ANU stands behind plans to cut $100m in salaries
A spokesperson for ANU said after years of operating deficits, the vice-chancellor had “been clear” that the institution needed to achieve a break-even result in 2026.
This involves a significant reduction in our cost base of $250m, including $100m of salary costs … we are over halfway towards our salary savings target. But there’s still work to do.
The latest round of cuts comes after 41 positions were put on the chopping block in IT, information security and planning and service performance, representing up to 14% of the headcount for each area.
Since the Renew ANU process began last year, 210 people have left the university through earlier change plans and the Voluntary Separation Scheme.
The vice-chancellor of ANU, Prof Genevieve Bell, said ongoing consultations would run until the end of July.
We’ll take on and re-shape the final plans based on this feedback. We recognise this is an incredibly challenging time for our whole community.
Updated
Planned student protests at ANU
Students at the Australian National University (ANU) have pledged to disrupt classes in protest against the university’s planned job cuts.
The latest round of cuts proposes to remove 59 positions in research and innovation, the college of sciences and medicine and the college of arts and social sciences as part of the Renew ANU restructure of the university.
The changes include a merger of the School of Music, School of Art and Design and Centre for Museum and Heritage Studies, and the merger of major degrees including political science, international relations, and public policies.
Lucy Chapman-Kelly, a co-convener of student group ‘No Cuts at ANU’ said students were angry and intended to cause “chaos and disruption” during the upcoming semester of classes:
Students have less choice in their degrees, while classes are only getting bigger and the quality of our education getting worse. The ANU is becoming a dumpster fire, there needs to be a massive change in who runs this university.
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Victorian government grants $5m to education providers
The Victorian government will inject $5m into education providers under its new ‘Yes to International Students Fund’ in a renewed push for the federal Labor government to axe international student caps.
The funding will have to go towards transnational education projects, where a university or TAFE may set up a campus offshore or runs courses with an international institution.
The minister for economic growth and jobs, Danny Pearson, visited William Angliss Institute today to announce the 16 education providers that would share in the funding.
Among them is La Trobe university, who will use their grant to offer study tours for south-east Asian students, connect Chinese students with Victorian startups and pilot a business and IT training program in Thailand.
Pearson said as Australia’s “education state”, Victoria stood “against student caps and with our universities and TAFEs”.
We are backing international students because they drive jobs and the economy and boost Victoria’s global reputation.
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PM confirms official visit to China next week
Anthony Albanese has confirmed he is headed to China at the weekend, ahead of his second meeting with the country’s president, Xi Jinping.
During a campaign swing through Tasmania on Tuesday, the prime minister said he would visit three cities from Saturday, hoping to build business ties and talk up the digital economy and green energy. He is expected to be away for about a week.
“I look forward to going to Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, which I will visit from Saturday,” Albanese said.
China’s an important trading partner for Australia: 25% of our exports go to China. What that means is jobs, and one of the things that my government prioritises is jobs.
It will be his second visit to China as prime minister and comes after difficulty in locking in a meeting with US President, Donald Trump.
Albanese’s 2023 visit was a major step in normalisation of relations between Canberra and Beijing, after a years-long diplomatic freeze and trade sanctions worth more than $20bn.
Along with the foreign minister, Penny Wong, and trade minister, Don Farrell, Albanese has described the stabilisation of ties as a good thing for both countries and good news for Australian exporters trading in the region.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, was asked about Albanese’s trip on Tuesday. “It is an important visit, and it should underline the respectful relationship that we need to have with China,” she said. .
It should underscore the important people to people links that have built our country with Chinese Australians very much there, and I met many yesterday, and it should also underline that that respect is a two way street, and we expect respect to come both ways.
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Australian shares seesaw ahead of Reserve Bank decision
The local share market has been gyrating between positive and negative territory amid tariff uncertainty and as traders wait for the latest Reserve Bank decision on interest rates.
The ASX200 began trading on Tuesday with a 17-point fall, then climbed 20.7 points into the green in the second hour of trading before sinking back slightly into the red.
At noon the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 7.3 points, or 0.08%, to 8,582.2, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 4.5 points, or 0.05%, to 8,821.9.
Kyle Rodda, an analyst for Capital.com, said markets had received a “quick punch in the guts” as Wednesday’s US trade deal deadline approached.
Market participants were expecting a flurry of trade deals with trading partners, but so far only letters about tariffs on the likes of Japan, South Korea and South Africa had been announced.
But Rodda said there was merit to the idea this was all a negotiating tactic by the Trump administration designed to create urgency.
Closer to home, it is widely expected that the Reserve Bank will announce later on Tuesday afternoon that it is cutting the cash rate from 3.85%.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Safety tips for beachgoers
Following on from the last post, here are some safety tips from Surf Life Saving NSW for beachgoers:
Always swim between the red and yellow patrol flags.
Read the safety signs for information about the beach and ask a lifesaver or lifeguard for safety information.
Swim with someone else so you can look out for each other and always supervise children around the water.
Never swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
If you need help in the water, stay calm and attract attention by raising one arm.
In an emergency, dial Triple Zero (000) - Police.
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Lifesavers urge caution after two deaths in NSW by drowning
Surf Life Saving NSW are urging beachgoers to take safety precautions during the patrol off-season, after two separate drownings on the far north coast and south coast of NSW on Sunday.
A man in his 60s was found unresponsive and face down in the water at Casuarina in the Tweed around 8:50am, SLSNSW said in a statement. The state operations centre was notified at the time. A member of the public pulled the man from the water and performed CPR, however the man was later declared deceased, SLSNSW said.
The centre was notified of another incident at Termeil at 1pm. Another man, believed to be in his 40s, was pulled from the water by members of the public. CPR attempts were unsuccessful, SLSNSW said.
“This weekend was a horrible start to July and our reporting season,” SLSNSW’s CEO, Steve Pearce, said.
When flags are down during the off-season and there are limited locations being patrolled by ALS and council lifeguards, it’s so important to be cautious when making a trip to the coastline.
If you do intend to head to the beach, make sure you check BeachSafe before doing so.
There were 53 coastal drownings in NSW between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.
Updated
Lawyers for Alan Jones have 'grave concerns' over legality of police search of client's phone
Alan Jones’s lawyers have “grave concerns” about the legality of a search of the former broadcaster’s phone before he was charged with 35 historical sexual assault offences, a Sydney court has heard.
Jones is on bail and was excused from Tuesday’s hearing at Sydney central court but his lawyer, Bryan Wrench, complained about the police download of the contents of Jones’ phone on 18 November.
As a result of a legal complaint about the search conducted by the New South Wales police, the force had engaged lawyers, he said.
In a brief hearing, Wrench said he also had an issue with an apparent delay in providing the defence with the entire brief of evidence. Since the last hearing in May, the defence has received more witness statements which the prosecution has had since November and December, Wrench said.
This is not “a selective prosecution” and “they have to give us everything”, he said. Wrench accused the prosecution of not meeting its duties of disclosure.
The 84-year-old has been charged with 35 historical sexual assault offences allegedly committed in various places in New South Wales, including Newtown, Sydney city, Fitzroy Falls, Alexandria and Tamworth. Jones is a former 2GB and Sky News Australia broadcaster.
Jones has denied all wrongdoing and said he was planning legal action against Nine newspapers for the “demonstrably false” allegations.
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Valerie the formerly missing dachshund now raising awareness for lost pets
An update on the world-famous formerly missing sausage dog (found after 529 days on the run) Valerie, who is now raising awareness for National Lost Pet Prevention Month.
Her owners, Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock, are working with dog behaviourist and TV presenter Lara Shannon to share advice on how to prevent pet escapes.
Shannon says to secure your home and yard, checking fences, gates and screen doors regularly. When doing so, keep an eye out for digging spots or gaps – “Even small gaps can be an escape route for a determined dog.”
She encourages practicing recall training in different environments, as well as crate training to provide a secure and happy place: “Valerie’s separation anxiety played a big role in why she went missing. Especially for new or anxious pets, a crate can prevent bolting and provide much-needed comfort.”
When travelling take extra precautions – always secure your pet, and avoid opening car doors until they’re restrained.
Shannon also recommends microchips, collars with ID tags and up-to-date contact info.
Georgia said Valerie’s microchip records helped “confirm it was her” when she was found. The microchip also revealed that “she hadn’t been in contact with the vet throughout the 529 days”.
As part of the awareness campaign, Valerie will have a public meet and greet at the Pound Paws Dog Day at The Sheaf in Double Bay, Sydney, on 31 August.
Our own resident canine cartoonist, First Dog on the Moon, had this reaction when the escape artist was found.
Updated
Government confident Trump’s economic threats will not affect Australia above current 10% tariffs
Despite President Donald Trump sending a flurry of tariff letters to world leaders today, Australia is not on the list of recipients, with the federal government confident at this stage they will not get slapped with a higher trade barrier than the current 10% general tariffs.
US President Trump has been posting letters on his Truth Social account to the leaders of numerous nations including Thailand, Cambodia, Serbia, Japan, Indonesia and South Africa, informing them that America would continue with plans to level large tariffs on their exports of between 25% and 40%. It continues Trump’s tirade on tariffs, which he says are being levelled to address “unfair” trade activity.
Australia was only hit with a baseline 10% tariff, the equal-lowest of any country, in Trump’s first round of tariffs (in addition to 25% on steel and aluminium). While Trump said many nations would receive letters today confirming their tariff rates, Guardian Australia understands Australia has not received one, with government sources hinting that it was unlikely any country would receive a cut from the 10% baseline – and therefore they were not expecting to receive a letter, because that 10% number was unlikely to go up or down for Australia.
The government is also continuing negotiations with US counterparts on the steel and aluminium tariffs, hoping to drop that number below 25%.
Trump today also signed an executive order extending a 90-day pause for a slate of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs first introduced in April – in effect pushing back the deadline of trade talks back to 1 August.
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Melting glaciers and ice caps could unleash wave of volcanic eruptions, study says
The melting of glaciers and ice caps by the climate crisis could unleash a barrage of explosive volcanic eruptions, a study suggests.
The loss of ice releases the pressure on underground magma chambers and makes eruptions more likely. This process has been seen in Iceland, an unusual island that sits on a mid-ocean tectonic plate boundary. But the research in Chile is one of the first studies to show a surge in volcanism on a continent in the past, after the last ice age ended.
Global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels is now melting ice caps and glaciers across the world. The biggest risk of a resurgence of volcanic eruptions is in west Antarctica, the researchers said, where at least 100 volcanoes lie under the thick ice. This ice is very likely to be lost in the coming decades and centuries as the world warms.
Volcanic eruptions can cool the planet temporarily by shooting sunlight-reflecting particles into the atmosphere. However, sustained eruptions would pump significant greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide and methane. This would further heat the planet and potentially create a vicious circle, in which rising temperatures melt ice that leads to further eruptions and more global heating.
You can read more here:
Mike Kaiser named as new head of climate change and energy department
Anthony Albanese has named former Queensland Labor MP and senior public servant Mike Kaiser as the new boss of the department of climate change, energy, the environment and water.
Kaiser was the Queensland Labor secretary and later an MP in the state parliament, but resigned in 2001 after admitting to the Shepardson Inquiry into electoral fraud that he had falsely signed an electoral enrolment form in the mid 1980s.
He later worked as an adviser to NSW Labor premier Morris Iemma and then Queensland premier Anna Bligh. His CV includes stints as the director general of Queensland’s Department of Premier and Cabinet and the director general of State Development and the Department of Resources.
The Queensland Liberal-National Party premier, David Crisafulli, sacked Kaiser in October 2024, his first staffing decision after winning the election.
Albanese said Kaiser would take up the five-year term on 14 July.
“Mr Kaiser’s experience includes delivering on large scale projects, administering complex regulatory regimes and leading the Queensland government’s policies on planning and infrastructure,” Albanese said in a statement. He replaces David Fredericks in the role.
Shortly after the appointment was announced, Kaiser posted a statement on social media.
“The career rerouting is over. And the path ahead was worth the wait,” he wrote.
A consequential agenda. Passionate stakeholders. An outstanding team. High expectations. A lot to deliver. Thank you to those who stayed in touch over recent months. I’ve appreciated it. Back to work, now for the people of Australia.
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Bank predictions for rate cuts going forward
While we wait for the central bank’s rate decision slated for 2.30pm, a look forward.
Economists at Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and NAB are predicting the RBA will deliver another cut in August, while Westpac predicts a pause before another cut in November and two more in 2026.
That would send the cash rate to 2.85% and amount to 150 basis points worth of cuts in the space of about 12 months, shaving more than $500 a month in repayments off a typical $600,000 mortgage from before February.
With homebuyers armed with much more purchasing power, demand and prices are set to surge.
Home values rose 1.4% in the June quarter, according to property analytics company Cotality, while auction clearance rates have held above 70% for the past four weeks.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Darling Downs zoo reopens as owner gives update to the media
The owner of Darling Downs zoo, Steve Robinson, has given an update to media. The zoo reopened this morning after a lady in her 50s lost an arm in an attack by a lion on Sunday.
Dozens of vehicles have filled the car park of the small rural facility, south of Toowoomba, in Queensland.
Robinson revealed the victim was his sister-in-law, a teacher visiting on holidays from NSW. He said it was hard to tell what had happened because nobody saw the incident and she is yet to fully recover.
“There were people working very, very close nearby, but it was all over in a split-second,” he said.
It was that quick that we could only surmise at this stage.
The lady in question is currently in surgery right now again and she has been in no condition to be interviewed fully about what happened.
Updated
More on the freight train separated from its wagons in Sydney.
A Sydney freight train’s locomotive became separated from its wagons for eight minutes near Eastwood at 4.33am on Sunday, with a passenger train 15 minutes away. It came to a stop near Meadowbank at 4.41am.
Sydney Trains was notified by the driver of the Qube freight train, Transport for NSW said.
Qube, a logistics provider, is cooperating with investigations into the cause of an equipment failure that led to the decoupling, a spokesperson said. They continued:
A thorough investigation into an incident that occurred very early yesterday morning is underway and Qube is also fully cooperating with investigations by relevant rail and rail safety authorities, who were immediately alerted when the incident took place.
Those investigations will seek to establish the cause of an equipment failure that led to a train’s wagons decoupling from locomotives on the Sydney rail network. Our initial investigations indicate that the decoupling triggered an emergency braking mechanism on the wagon consist, however given the grade and weight of the load it took some distance for wagons to come a complete stop, noting that [the] train was more than one kilometre in length. There was no immediate risk to passenger services.
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Greens call for full implementation of robodebt royal commission recommendations
The Greens have called on Labor to fully implement the robodebt commission recommendations, after calls from Australia’s peak welfare organisations.
Recommendations from the royal commission that the government have failed to implement include a statute of limitations on the recovery of old debts, establishing a duty of care for the department and automatically protecting people experiencing hardship from receiving compliance notices.
The Green’s spokesperson on social services, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said:
Robodebt lives on today. It’s been two years since the royal commission and still Labor have refused to act on the commission’s recommendations to protect income recipients.
Labor continues to aggressively target income support recipients using questionable and potentially unlawful automated debt collection practices that can see people lose access to income support payments that are already below the poverty line.
We know people are still being flogged with ridiculous debt notices for supposed issues dating back to the 1970s, and the government still has no protections in place to prevent individuals already experiencing severe hardship from being further punished.
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PM: 'People don't want a meeting, they want action' after latest synagogue fire
The PM, Anthony Albanese, was speaking live from Hobart a short while ago.
Asked if he will convene national cabinet following the Melbourne synagogue fire, Albanese said “people don’t want a meeting, they want action”.
A 34-year-old man from New South Wales appeared in court, charged over allegedly entering the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday, pouring a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and setting it on fire.
Asked if he would consider a taskforce, the prime minister said “we have a taskforce”:
What we do is take on security issues. We take advice from security agencies. That’s precisely what we have done.
Pushed on whether he would provide more money for CCTV and guards outside Jewish schools and places of worship, the prime minister said:
I spoke with Jewish community leaders on Saturday. Every time there has been a request, it has been met, expeditiously.
On Saturday, one of the reasons why this gentleman has been caught so quickly is because the CCTV that was in place there was as a direct result of commonwealth government funding. In addition to that, the reinforcement of the door of the synagogue was done with that commonwealth security funding.
We will respond. We will respond to any request constructively. That is what we have done.
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63-year-old dies after paragliding incident
A 63-year-old man has died after a paragliding incident at Mena Creek yesterday.
Emergency services were called to Polich Road just before 5.40pm after reports the Utchee Creek man sustained injuries in a paragliding incident, Queensland police said in a statement.
The man sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to Cairns hospital, but died in transit.
Investigations are under way and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.
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PM will continue to put case to US that tariffs on Australian goods should be zero
Anthony Albanese says Australia is not done negotiating for US tariffs lower than 10%.
Speaking live from Hobart, the prime minister was asked about America putting higher tariffs on Japan and South Korea. He says he is not concerned:
Tariffs are a penalty on the country that is imposing them. Because what they require is for goods to be purchased with a tax on top. And the US has made that decision.
Australia has a tariff rate of 10%, which is at least as low as any country in the world. No country has a better deal than Australia. And we’ll continue to put our case that tariffs are an act of economic self-harm and that we should be entitled to reciprocal tariffs, which is zero. We’ll continue to put that case.
But the US administration has a view that they’re engaged with other countries on as well. It varies, the tariff, from country to country. But no country has secured an exemption from the US administration.
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Severe weather warnings issued across SA, Victoria and NSW
Severe weather warnings are current for damaging winds in elevated and coastal parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, with gusts that of 90-110km/hr.
“These winds could bring down trees, damage property, and cause power outages,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s senior meteorologist, Dean Narramore, said.
A cold front is moving across south-eastern Australia today, bringing strong to damaging winds, showers, patchy rain, isolated thunderstorms, and snow to alpine areas later today, he said.
Cape Willoughby, SA, has seen wind gusts of 102km/h today. Gusts have hit 102km/h at Mt William, and 98km/h at Edithburgh
In NSW, wind gusts of 104km/h have hit Thredbo.
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Liberal senator says PM should be forming ‘personal relationship’ with Trump to get US tariffs on Australian goods to zero
James Paterson says the only fair tariff on Australia is zero.
The Liberal senator spoke on Nine’s Today show earlier this morning, as the world braces to see what Trump will do with tariffs. He said:
The only fair tariff on Australia [would] be 0%. And I hope that’s what we get.
But we haven’t given ourselves the best chance of securing that from the Trump administration, because the prime minister has not even met president Trump. Now, seven months after he was elected.
In stark contrast to other world leaders like the UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who did secure an exemption from steel and aluminium tariffs for the UK because of the personal relationship that he formed with president Trump. I really hope the prime minister doesn’t leave it any longer before he forms that relationship and argues for the best case possible for our country.
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Freight train separated from its wagons for 8 minutes in Sydney
A Sydney freight train’s locomotive became separated from its wagons for eight minutes on Sunday morning, with a passenger train 15 minutes away.
The incident occurred near Eastwood at 4:33am on Sunday, with the train coming to a stop near Meadowbank at 4:41am.
Sydney Trains was notified by the driver of the QUBE freight, Transport for NSW said in a statement:
Emergency protocols were immediately put in place by Sydney Trains, including all signals in the area being put at stop.
At the time, the nearest passenger train was at least 15 minutes away allowing the situation to be managed without further emergency intervention. If necessary, Sydney Trains could have derailed the wagons using their emergency protocols.
No infrastructure was damaged, and investigations are under way by the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator and the Office of Transport Safety Investigations.
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Australia waits on US Aukus review
Labor – and everyone else in Canberra – is waiting on the outcome of Donald Trump’s snap review of the Aukus nuclear submarine agreement.
In early June, the US Department of Defense announced a 30-day review of the Australia-US-UK technology sharing deal with the aim of ensuring the deal signed by the Biden administration “is aligned with the president’s ‘America first’ agenda”. It will also determine if the US defence industrial base is meeting the country’s needs.
Overseen by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy – a known Aukus sceptic – the review could become a critical factor in Trump’s relationship with the Albanese government and significant in the ongoing US-Australia alliance.
The start date of the review is unclear, but this Friday will be 30 days since it was publicly announced. A Pentagon spokesperson told Guardian Australia overnight there is no news on the timeline just yet.
Anthony Albanese is expected to have his first face-to-face talks with Trump later this year, possibly in September after the United Nations general assembly or at the Quad summit in India.
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Indigenous business must be ‘backed’ to Close the Gap
A landmark report from Supply Nation found Indigenous businesses create $42.6 bn of social value each year and allow First Nations people more freedom to live on their own terms.
Successful businesses lead to better mental health outcomes, more pride among communities and a better connection to culture and Country, the report found.
Supply Nation, which provides Australia’s biggest database of Indigenous businesses, said “social value” included things such as agency over life, expanded aspirations, financial security and physical and mental health.
Approximately $16.2bn of the social value created was experienced by Indigenous employees, the report said. Supply Nation’s chief executive, Kate Russell, launched the Sleeping Giant Rises report at a Business Sydney event on Monday coinciding with Naidoc Week. She told AAP:
By lifting up our Indigenous communities ... that is saving government money in terms of welfare payments ... but it’s also lifting a sense of pride, aspiration, happiness and wellbeing in those communities.
Governments must consider giving Indigenous entrepreneurs or indigenous businesses a seat at the table when they’re making broader policies like Closing the Gap. They deserve to be backed.
Nearly 66,000 First Nations people are employed by Indigenous businesses, and 84% of owners said those employees were better able to support families and feel positive about life.
- Australian Associated Press
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Bright spots in agriculture amid market volatility
With droughts on one side of the country, floods on the other, and political volatility overseas, Australia’s agriculture industry has been right in the thick of it.
But there is reason for “cautious optimism” in the $90.7bn sector as uncertain conditions create both threats and opportunities for the nation’s producers, according to Bendigo Bank’s mid-year agriculture outlook.
Cropping, horticulture and cattle were forecast to be on the up in the second half of 2025, while prices for sheep and wool would remain stable, today’s report claims.
Aussie beef will continue to be on the menu in the US, where herd numbers are in decline due to drought and increased costs of agricultural inputs
Weather conditions have both helped and hindered production, as rainfall in NSW and Queensland improved soil moisture, boosted summer crop yields and gave winter sowing a strong start.
However, heavy rainfall and flooding in both states has damaged farm infrastructure and reduced livestock numbers in some regions. At the same time, severe drought in parts of South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria has stifled production, upped the cost of feed and created a poor cropping outlook.
With varying long-term rainfall forecasts across the nation, weather will be key to performance in the final half of the year, the report said.
The season so far underscores the growing unpredictability of Australia’s agricultural climate, demanding resilience and adaptability across the sector from producers and the broader supply chain.
- Australian Associated Press
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Queensland zoo to reopen two days after woman loses arm to lioness
A woman has lost her arm after being attacked on Sunday at a Queensland zoo by a lioness, which the zoo insists “was not hungry” or maltreated.
Queensland’s health minister, Tim Nicholls, confirmed that the woman, who is in her 50s, had “lost her arm” in the attack, which took place at about 8.32am on Sunday at the Darling Downs zoo, south of Toowoomba.
In a Facebook post on Monday afternoon, Darling Downs zoo said the victim was “not an employee, a keeper or a zoo visitor”, but “a much-loved member of the zoo owners’ family”. In a post on Sunday, they said the woman had been “watching keepers working in the carnivore precinct”, something they said she had “done many, many times over the past 20 years”.
“It has still not been possible to interview her to establish what led to this tragic incident,” the zoo wrote in the Monday post, adding that there was no plan for the animal to be put down.
We can confirm that she was attacked by a lioness. She was not in its enclosure.
The zoo emphasised in the post that the animal “was not hungry, skinny, taunted or tortured”.
“A full investigation has been carried out by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland,” they went on.
As a result the Darling Downs zoo will reopen at 9am tomorrow [Tuesday] morning.
Read the full story:
One report, 33 recommendations, but Kumanjayi Walker inquest findings draw on two centuries of pain
The conclusions of coroner Elisabeth Armitage on how similar deaths could be prevented reflect the impact of colonial massacres and domestic abuse.
Armitage sets forth a course over 683 pages, with 33 recommendations, to stop more deaths like Walker’s. He was shot three times by Zachary Rolfe, then a police constable, at house 511 in Yuendumu, a town 300km north-west of Alice Springs, during a bungled arrest in November 2019. The house is barely 400 metres from where Armitage handed down her findings on Monday.
The murder charge that Rolfe faced and was found not guilty of more than four years ago centred on 3.1 seconds between when he shot Walker the first time, and when he shot him twice more.
But Armitage was working in centuries, tracing back the impacts of colonisation on the Warlpiri, expanding on the link between the horrors they had faced from police and governments for generations.
Read the full story here:
Queensland nurses to escalate industrial action
Queensland’s nurses will today escalate industrial action, continuing a battle with the state government over wages and conditions.
Sarah Beaman, the secretary of the Queensland nurses and midwives’ union, said the decision was a “historic step in our push for a deal that recruits, respects and retains this state’s frontline nursing and midwifery workforce”.
“Nurses and midwives are holding our health system together through sheer heart, skill and determination,” she said.
We’re at breaking point – and we’re done being disrespected. We are over the state government’s stalling tactics.
Nurses and midwives are today escalating action to keep Queenslanders safe.
The action is set to begin from 7am at all state government facilities.
There are about 55,000 nurses and midwives employed by Queensland health.
All union members working for the state government can choose to undertake a range of industrial actions, including taking their full break, not emptying bins or undertaking other office tasks, not taking overtime unless with a minimum notice period, not attending some meetings and not entering details meaning the department does not get some Medicare rebates.
We have not taken this decision lightly, but the government has left us no choice.
This protected industrial action is about making sure there are enough nurses and midwives to care for Queenslanders – now and into the future.
Fair pay. Safe conditions. Respect. That’s all we’re asking.
Aldi trials delivery service for Canberra customers
Aldi Australia is teaming up with delivery service DoorDash to trial grocery deliveries as the discount chain grapples with a consumer shift towards online shopping.
The service will open to Canberra residents this week ahead of a potential expansion across the country, the German supermarket chain said in a statement.
Aldi has long resisted offering delivery services, given it would increase operational costs. This would either make the business less profitable for its German owners, or require Aldi to increase grocery prices, undercutting its advantage over its more expensive rivals Coles and Woolworths.
An Aldi executive told a government inquiry last year that “if you have employees picking the groceries instead of customers doing their own shopping, obviously that is a cost that is incurred”.
The discount grocer previously ran a short-lived Australian trial in which shoppers could buy some of its “special buys” online. In the UK, Aldi offered deliveries through a tie-up with Deliveroo early in the pandemic but the partnership has since ended.
Australia’s dominant supermarkets Coles and Woolworths have heavily invested in their online services to tap into the customer trend towards deliveries, pressuring Aldi to respond.
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Thank you Martin Farrer for kicking off the live blog this morning. I’ll be keeping you updated with the day’s news from here – let’s go.
Jewish group calls for national anti-hate unit
Australia’s Jewish community is pushing the federal government to set up a national task force to curb antisemitism, the Australian Associated Press reports.
A Victorian taskforce will examine police powers after a spate of alleged antisemitic incidents in Melbourne in recent days, including an alleged arson on the East Melbourne synagogue that forced 20 worshippers inside to flee.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for the nation’s Jews, feared further alleged antisemitic attacks and said more than state-based action was needed. It urged the federal government to adopt a 15-point action plan, including the establishment of a national taskforce to clamp down on antisemitism.
“I don’t know where the next attack will be or when or how, all I can say is that it is statistically likely that it will occur,” the council’s president, Daniel Aghion, said. “So far, we have been lucky in that no one has died.”
Tariff disruption is an opportunity for Australia, says economist
As the world braces for more weeks of watching and waiting to see what Trump will do with tariffs, the good news is that “Australia’s in probably the best position to handle” the fallout from the US president’s assault on global trade.
That’s the view of Warwick McKibbin, an ANU economics professor and a recognised world leader on modelling the potential impact from America’s new era of trade protectionism.
As news emerged that the US administration had flagged countries had another three weeks after the 9 July deadline to do a deal and avoid higher “reciprocal” import taxes, McKibbin told the Australian Conference of Economists on Monday that we should be looking at these disruptions as an “opportunity” to expand trade with our partners.
“We should be doing trade negotiations. We should be lowering barriers which make trade harder.”
McKibbin’s conclusion that Australia would be left relatively unscathed by US-led trade disruptions was backed up by separate Productivity Commission analysis which showed our economy could even receive a small boost from America’s higher trade barriers, and concluded that retaliating with our own tariffs would be counterproductive – a bipartisan position in Canberra.
This “small, positive effect” comes about as goods previously sold to the US are diverted to us at a cheaper rate and as we also scoop up some of the investment that flows out of America and heavily tariffed countries, the PC said.
But Alex Robson, the PC’s deputy chair, warned the 0.4% modelled lift in GDP did not account for other, harder to model knock-on effects.
“The proposed tariffs are likely to have a relatively small direct effect on us, but the global uncertainty they’ve brought about could affect living standards in Australia and around the world,” Robson said.
Bondi Junction stabbing copyright case ends
The copyright case brought by the fiance of Bondi Junction stabbing victim Dawn Singleton has ended with a judgment in favour of defendants, Nine, on the eve of the trial.
Nine had been accused by Singleton’s partner, Ashley Wildey, of breaching copyright by republishing the young woman’s social media photos in the wake of her murder by Joel Cauchi before he was shot dead by police last in April 2024.
The copyright case was set down for two days in the supreme court of New South Wales before both sides agreed to a judgment in favour of the defendants on Monday. No order was made as to costs. Nine’s statement reads:
“Nine welcomes the NSW supreme court judgment in favour of Nine confirming that the photos, which were widely published by multiple media outlets throughout Australia and overseas after being placed on social media, were appropriately used by Nine.”
Here’s how we reported the case:
Reserve Bank widely tipped to cut rates today
Borrowers should be in for some welcome good news today, with the Reserve Bank board widely expected to deliver an interest rate cut at 2:30pm, Sydney time.
Financial markets and economists agree that a second straight cut is essentially a done deal – though there’s always a chance that the central bank will surprise us all and hold.
If they do follow up with a 0.25 percentage-point move lower to 3.6%, it will be the third cut in the RBA’s cash rate target after moves in February and May.
Weak household spending and a bigger-than-expected drop in inflation in May both supported the case for lower rates, economists say, not to mention the looming threat of Donald Trump’s trade war.
A rate cut today would trim $76 from the monthly interest bill on a $500,000 mortgage, bringing the total benefit of this year’s cuts to nearly $230 once lenders pass them on to their customers. Of course, what’s good news for existing homeowners is more problematic for would-be homeowners, who are seeing property prices accelerating again as borrowing costs fall.
The RBA’s governor, Michele Bullock, will hold a press conference at 3:30pm where she will no doubt be asked whether we can expect further rate cuts this year.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight stories before Rafqa Touma picks up the news baton.
The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee meets in Sydney today and it is widely expected by economists and analysts to conclude with a decision to cut interest rates by 0.25%. We have more coming up, plus the news when it happens at 2.30pm.
Australia’s leading Jewish group has stepped up its calls for a stronger government response to the alleged arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne by calling for a national unit to combat hate crimes. More coming up.
The copyright case brought against Nine by the fiance of Bondi Junction stabbing victim Dawn Singleton over its use of a photograph in an edition of 60 Minutes ended last night with a judgment in favour of defendants on the eve of the trial. More coming up.
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