Key events
Finance minister says market predicts today’s RBA decision will be a rate cut
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, is speaking live on ABC News Breakfast ahead of the Reserve Bank’s interest rates decision to come later today. She says the market is predicting a rate cut:
I know there will be loads of homeowners and those with mortgages that are watching this decision very closely.
As I said, the market is predicting a rate cut. We know inflation has come back into band … in all measures, and that is … welcome progress that has been made over the last two years and we know that has been hard for households.
The Reserve Bank will look at all the data, they will look at all the employment data, they will look at what is happening on the inflation front and they will make their decision.
Man dies after shooting in Sydney’s south-west
A crime scene has been established after a man was shot in Condell Park, Sydney, overnight.
About 10.30pm Monday, emergency services were called to a home on Dalton Street after reports a man had been shot, NSW police said.
Officers found a man in his 20s with a gunshot wound. He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, but could not be revived and died at the scene.
Specialist forensic police will examine the crime scene. Police are appealing to anyone with information, dashcam or CCTV from the surrounding areas to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
‘Udderly devastated’: fibreglass cow stolen from Victorian business
A lifesize fibreglass cow called Betsy has been stolen from a business in Truganina.
Victorian police are appealing for witnesses after the theft at 1:20am Saturday 27 April this year.
They have been told three unknown offenders attended the business premises on Peterpaul Way in the trailer of a Holden VE Commodore station wagon. Two of them exited the Holden in balaclavas and dark clothing, and the third and a driver stayed in the vehicle.
The pair lifted Betsy into the back of the trailer before leaving the scene east along Schembri Drive, police said
“Betsy’s owners are udderly devastated.”
Betsy is red and white, life-sized, and estimated to be worth $3,500. Police have released an image and CCTV footage of Betsy in the hope someone knows of the statue’s whereabouts.
Rafqa Touma
Thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking off the live blog this morning. I’ll be keeping you posted from here – let’s go.
Flood warnings from the NSW SES this morning include:
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Advice to evacuate Gloucester Caravan Park by 6am due to rising flood waters,
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Advice to evacuate Ferndale Caravan Park due to flood waters,
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Advice to evacuate parts of Bulahdelah by 6am due to rising flood waters,
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Advice to evacuate parts of Dungog due to major flooding, and
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Advice to evacuate parts of Paterson due to major flooding.
There are more details on the Hazardwatch site.
NSW issues severe weather warning for mid-north coast
The NSW SES issued a severe weather warning early this morning for the mid-north coast, advising people to stay indoors due to heavy rainfall, intense rainfall and damaging winds.
The warning covers:
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Port Macquarie
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Taree
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Kempsey
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Barrington Tops
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Wingham
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Yarrowitch
The SES said 166mm of rain was recorded at Taree airport in the 6 hours to 3:30am, 130mm at Port Macquarie, 97mm at Mount Barrington and 90.4mm at Careys Peak (Barrington Tops).
There were 70km/h sustained winds at Norah Head at around 9:30 pm.
The Bureau of Meteorology says a coastal trough – currently positioned offshore from the southern mid north coast – is forecast to slowly track northwards into Tuesday, with heavy, locally intense rainfall and possible damaging winds expected over coastal and inland areas on the southern side of the trough. Damaging winds are likely to ease during Tuesday, while heavy, locally intense rainfall may continue into Wednesday.
The rain may lead to dangerous flash flooding and the damaging winds are expected to ease by the afternoon.
Residents are advised to move or stay indoors clear of windows, bringing children and pets with them. The SES said to reconsider unneccessary travel and to have an emergency kit and grab-and-go bag handy in case of loss of power.
Japanese firms ‘profiting from on-selling Australian LNG’, report claims
Japanese energy firms could be making upwards of $1 bn on-selling Australian liquefied natural gas to other countries at a time when domestic shortfalls loom, Australian Associated Press reports.
Australia is the top supplier to Japan’s third-party trade business, a new analysis suggests, making up roughly 40% of cargos with an estimated 600-800 petajoules on-sold via the intermediary.
The findings from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis follow repeat warnings of domestic gas shortages as well as several interventions into Australian energy policy debate by Japanese figures.
IEEFA Australia’s chief executive, Amandine Denis-Ryan, said it was “quite extraordinary” for Australia to be running out of gas for domestic use – and considering importing it – while Japan resells “enormous volumes of our gas overseas for a profit”.
The energy analysts drew on shiptracking and contracts data to understand how much Australian LNG was being resold via Japan.
The upwards of 600PJ estimated annually surpasses the 511PJ used by eastern Australian markets last year.
Resales from both eastern and western Australia also eclipsed projected annual gas shortfalls in those regions. In addition, emerging nations were not the top customers of repackaged Australian LNG – two-thirds of on-sold Australian product was going to Taiwan and South Korea.
Good morning from overnight
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it’ll be Rafqa Touma to take charge.
It’s a big day for anyone with a mortgage with an overwhelming majority of economists expecting the Reserve Bank to cut the cash rate by a quarter point at its monthly monetary policy meeting. But the experts don’t all agree this is the most likely outcome. We’ll have it as soon as it happens at 2.30pm.
Victoria’s health system will receive an $11.1bn cash injection when the state budget is handed down this morning, with hospitals to receive more funding and pharmacists given greater powers to prescribe medications without the need for a GP visit. We’ll have all the details as soon as it happens.
Penny Wong, the foreign minister, will visit three Pacific island nations this week in her first standalone trip after Labor’s election win. Anthony Albanese, who is near the end of his first trip overseas trip since the election, will be in Singapore.
Also in politics: we’ll bring you all the latest from the counts in the few seats left uncalled – plus the tricky Coalition negotiations.
And there’s some wild weather north of Sydney, with strong winds in the Hunter and evacuation warnings for towns there and on the mid-north coast. We’ll have more details of that for you very soon
