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No Movement on Interest Rates in Reserve Bank Decision

As expected, there is no movement on interest rates in today’s Reserve Bank of Australia statement on monetary policy.

The Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%.

The Reserve increased the cash rate by 0.25% at its November meeting. Since then a 4.9% inflation rate has been recorded, easing the pressure on the bank for one more rate increase.

In its statement today, the Reserve Bank said:

The limited information received on the domestic economy since the November meeting has been broadly in line with expectations. The monthly CPI indicator for October suggested that inflation is continuing to moderate, driven by the goods sector; the inflation update did not, however, provide much more information on services inflation. Overall, measures of inflation expectations remain consistent with the inflation target. Wages growth picked up in the September quarter but this was expected given that it captured the earlier Fair Work Commission decision on award wages. Wages growth is not expected to increase much further and remains consistent with the inflation target, provided productivity growth picks up. Conditions in the labour market also continued to ease gradually, although they remain tight.”

  • Interest Rates Since 1990 – this page on AustralianPolitics.com shows a complete list of every interest rate movement for the past 33 years.

Peta Murphy, ALP Member for Dunkley, Dies, 50

The death of Peta Murphy, the ALP member Dunkley, was announced to the Senate by the government leader, Penny Wong, at 2.00pm today.

Murphy died from breast cancer.

Formerly a solicitor advocate (2002-07) and barrister (2008-16), she was the Senior Public Defender at Victorian Legal Aid (2012-14) and Team Leader at the Victorian Law Reform Commission (2015). She was an adviser to former Attorney-General and future Federal Court judge Duncan Kerr (1999-2001). In opposition, she was Chief of Staff to the current Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O’Connor (2017-19).

Watch Senator Penny Wong announce Peta Murphy’s death to the Senate (2m):

Scams Consultation Paper Issued by Treasury

The Treasury has issued a consultation paper as part of the government’s process of developing a policy on tackling internet scams.

In the paper, the Treasury and the Department of Communications say:

“The government has committed to introduce new mandatory industry codes to outline the responsibilities of the private sector in relation to scam activity, with a focus on banks, digital communications platforms and telecommunications providers.

“Treasury and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) are seeking feedback on the proposed features of the Scams Code Framework outlined in the discussion paper, which would introduce obligations for these key sectors to combat scams.”

Scams consultation

Senator Patrick Dodson (ALP-WA) – Valedictory Speech

In delivering his valedictory address, Senator Patrick Dodson announced to the Senate that he would resign on January 26, 2024.

Dodson, a Labor senator from Western Australia, entered the Senate on May 2, 2016, filling the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Joe Bullock. He was elected in his own right at the 2016 and 2022 federal elections.

Known as the “Father of Reconciliation”, a cause he has championed all his life, Dodson was appointed as the Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart on June 1, 2022, following the election of the Albanese government.

AustralianPolitics.com
Malcolm Farnsworth
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