Here is a look at what is making news around the country today.
Today’s national news includes Australia scaling back RIMPAC participants, PM Albanese downplaying rate hike fears, Australia risking gas shortage by 2027, Australia to be setting up secret data centres, and a worker dying after being trapped in a silo on S.A. property.
Politics
Australia has scaled back exercise RIMPAC as a way of snubbing the U.S.
Security expert Lincoln Parker says Australia has “snubbed” the U.S. with its scaled-back participation in Exercise RIMPAC, Sky News has reported. “Australia used to do that, and we’d provide most of our military to go and do that with the United States and all of the allies,” he said. The ADF has sent 320 personnel, a warship, and one aircraft for this year’s war games, which is 80 per cent smaller than Australia’s contribution in 2022.
Economy
New rate hike fears downplayed by PM Albanese
Anthony Albanese is downplaying fears of another interest rate rise—believing the cost-of-living crisis could improve, Sky News reported. The Prime Minister claims he has deliberately designed cost-of-living relief measures that won’t place further pressure on inflation. He added that ‘cash splashes’ by the previous Coalition government made inflation worse. This week, labor launched its raft of measures, including $300 energy bill relief payments and increased superannuation.
Australia Runs Risk of Gas Shortfall by 2027
Bloomberg reported that Australia is facing a gas shortage within a little more than two years, according to an independent inquiry, which urged a boost to production to meet the challenge of rising demand. Shortfalls could emerge for the populous east coast from 2027, a year earlier than expected, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in an interim report. That could require supplies that are generally allocated to the spot market to be redirected to local consumers, it warned. Currently, LNG produced from offshore gas fields in northern Australia and onshore coal seam gas fields in Queensland is mainly shipped to Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Technology
Australia mulls building secret data centres with Amazon
Australia has entered a $1.35 billion deal with U.S. technology giant Amazon to build three secure data centres for top-secret information to increase its military’s war-fighting capacity, Voice of America has reported. The data centers will be built in secret locations in Australia and run by an Australian subsidiary of the U.S. technology company Amazon Web Service. Australian officials said the project would create a “state-of-the-art collaborative space” for intelligence and defense agencies to store and gain access to sensitive information in a centralized network.
https://www.voanews.com/a/australia-plans-to-build-secret-data-centers-with-amazon/7686550.html
Regions
Worker dies after being trapped in silo on S.A. property
A man has died following a shocking workplace accident on a property in a small South Australian town, Sky News reported. Emergency services rushed to the property on the Princes Highway about 4.15 pm on Friday following reports a man was trapped in a silo. Paramedics, Police, and Country Fire Service crews responded to the scene in Salt Creek, about 200km southeast of Adelaide. South Australia Police tragically revealed a 63-year-old man from Salt Creek died at the scene. SafeWork SA arrived at the site, where they began conducting an investigation. The Police are preparing a report for the Coroner.
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