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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.”
ShareTariff disruption is an opportunity for Australia, says economist
Patrick Commins
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.”
In April, US president Donald Trump revealed a slew of reciprocal tariffs on nations including Australia. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
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:
ShareReserve Bank widely tipped to cut rates todayPatrick Commins
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.
Updated at 16.54 EDT
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.
Updated at 16.49 EDT