The Latest Breaking News from Jim Chalmers

And the US Open semi-finals take shape

The latest national accounts show the Australian economy is struggling. It’s what you would expect after the sharpest series of interest rate rises on record, and is more or less what the Reserve Bank was trying to achieve to bring down inflation.

The economy is stuck in the slow lane and Treasurer Jim Chalmers says that's by design, with higher interest rates necessary to tame inflation.

Follow live

Treasurer Jim Chalmers mightn’t have expected his weekend comment – made ahead of expected low growth figures later this week – that interest rate rises were “smashing” the Australian economy to set off the reaction it has. After all, it’s been something of a Chalmers mantra.

How can we tell if the Reserve Bank of Australia – which sets the interest rates that shape our national and household budgets – is doing a good job?

Government’s bungling has generated the damaging debate it wanted to avoid and shown it can be divisive too

Anna Cody worries the Albanese government’s backflip could ‘strengthen the voices of discrimination’

Government decided not to add questions out of concern for social cohesion, Richard Marles insists, after move prompts upset in LGBTQ+ community