Here is a look at what is making news around the country today.
Today’s national news includes Australia’s economy being on ‘knife-edge’ due to unnecessary RBA hikes, Australians looking to fly to Europe are facing fares almost 50 per cent higher, Melbourne has overtaken Sydney to become Australia’s largest city by population, and Australia to host joint-military Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Nation
Melbourne is now Australia’s largest city
Melbourne has overtaken Sydney to become Australia’s largest city by population, News Hub has reported. The borders of the city, which is the capital of the state of Victoria, have been redrawn to include the district of Melton, allowing Melbourne to leapfrog Sydney. The newly recast Melbourne has a total of about 5.8 million residents, almost 19,000 more people than Sydney. Melbourne’s growth is largely due to international migration over the past decade, as well as internal migration from within Australia and a natural increase in births. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2023/04/melbourne-is-now-officially-australia-s-biggest-city.html
Economy
Australia’s economy on ‘knife-edge’ due to RBA hikes
Australians were warned that their economic future is on a “knife edge” after a series of “unnecessary” Reserve Bank rate hikes. Deloitte Access Economics said the RBA’s “tempting fate” could see Australia facing the “weakest” rate of economic growth since the 1990s outside of the pandemic. Because of 10 consecutive cash rate hikes – which has increased from 0.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent in less than a year – households are expected to feel the brunt of the country’s economic downturn. Deloitte has downgraded its economic growth expectations to 1.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Sky News reported.
Defence
Australia to host Exercise Talisman Sabre
Defence has announced that Australia will host the largest ever Exercise Talisman Sabre this year across northern Australia, with approximately 30,000 military personnel to participate, almost double the number involved in 2021, the Australian Defence Magazine reported. The biennial exercise is an opportunity to exercise high-end, multi-domain warfare capabilities, build and affirm military-to-military ties and interoperability, and strengthen strategic partnerships across the region. Participating nations include Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
https://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/australia-to-host-largest-ever-exercise-talisman-sabre
Travel
Australians face a 50 per cent increase in airfares to Europe
Australians looking to fly to Europe are facing fares almost 50 per cent higher than in the same period last year as airlines keep prices high despite the supply of available seats and fuel prices improving in recent months, The Guardian has reported. The average price for a return economy airfare from Australian cities to European destinations such as London, Paris and Milan for travel between the beginning of June and the end of September has grown to $2,571. The figures mark a 46% increase in average airfares for the European summer in 2022 and are 63 per cent above comparable pre-pandemic fares.
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