Alice Dempster

This is a Squiz podcast.

We're your shortcut to being informed.

Good morning, I'm Alice Dempster.

It's Wednesday the 3rd of June.

In your Squiz today, minimum wages get a boost, Russia ramps up attacks on Ukraine, Anthropic prepares to list, and a devilish mystery on the Gold Coast.

This is your Squiz today.

One of the biggest stories around yesterday and still this morning is about the Fair Work Commission signing off on lifting the minimum wage by 6% and award wages by 4.75%.

And the main takeaway, Andrew, is that it means around 2.8 million Australians will get a pay rise next month.

And if you've seen any of the coverage about this, you'll know that there's lots of questions about what it means for interest rates.

The Reserve Bank's target range is between 2% to 3%, and it's something that it's trying to rein in.

So some economists say that putting extra money in people's pockets could add to inflation.

And Treasurer Jim Chalmers agreed with that.

He called it the pay rise millions of Australian workers need and deserve.

And although the Coalition has blamed the need for a pay rise on the government's spending, they say that they'll support it.

Looking ahead, some experts are tipping another interest rate rise from the Reserve Bank in November, but say, don't be surprised if we get one this month.

The board is meeting on the 15th and 16th of June, so we'll find out then.

Over the last day or so, Russia has launched one of its most significant attacks against Ukraine in months, and the strikes have killed at least 22 Ukrainians.

Yeah, so its European allies have instead been buying them from the US and selling them on to Ukraine.

But they've been in short supply recently, especially after the US began its war on Iran in February.

There's been no response from the US to that request just yet.