Here is a look at what is making news around the country today.
Today’s national news includes Prime Minister Albanese not attending the NATO summit, the cost of student visa fees for international students doubling, economists saying there will be no rate cuts until 2025, and Australia’s life expectancy declining for the first time in decades.
Politics
PM not attending upcoming NATO summit
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not attending the upcoming NATO summit as it would be in Australia’s “national interest,” Sky News reported. “There’s war in Europe, there’s war in the Middle East, there’s a great prospect of war spreading further into Europe,” Mr Dutton said. “Now is the time to engage with world leaders like-minded and to send an obvious message to Putin to send a very clear message to North Korea, to Iran, to Hezbollah and others that we stand with countries who share our values, and we always will.”
Nation
The cost of student visa fees for international students doubles
The Jaisalmer News reported that Australia has more than doubled the cost of student visa fees for international students from $710 to $1,600. The move will impact lakhs of Indian students planning to study in the country. The decision has triggered outrage among the student community. Another significant change is that onshore visa applications will no longer be permitted. This means applicants must now submit visa applications from abroad, not from Australia. Australia’s visa application fee is the highest compared to Canada, New Zealand, the US, and the UK.
Economy
No rate cuts until 2025: economists
The Switzer Report founder Peter Switzer says the US Federal Reserve’s chances of a rate cut will “underpin” the Australian market, Sky News has reported. It is a new financial year, but there’s already been a negative start in the markets. “Maybe the Cup Day or December might be the time we will see a potential rate cut,” Mr Switzer said. “But at the moment, economists think that we won’t see a cut until 2025.”
Health
Life expectancy declines for the first time in decades
A new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) revealed that life expectancy has decreased for the first time since the mid-1990s, the Herald Sun reported. Life expectancy in Australia decreased by 0.1 years for males and females from 2019–2021 to 2020–2022. This is likely due to the increase in deaths seen in 2022, of which close to half were due to Covid-19. For the first time in 50 years, infectious disease was in the top five causes of death in Australia, with COVID-19 the third leading cause of death in 2022, behind coronary heart disease and dementia. Despite the slight decrease in 2020-2022, life expectancy was still higher than in 2017–2019 by 0.3 years for males and females.
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