Ciggie boss gives secret evidence + Inside Melbourne’s firebombing spree
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What are the latest headlines affecting Australia?
A listener production.
Hey, Chris Brew with you. Welcome to The Briefing. They're the places we go to socialise and unwind, but a growing number of restaurants and bars in Melbourne are instead becoming crime scenes. The situation has become so dire with attacks, including drive-by shootings and Molotov cocktails, that a police task force has been set up.
These are people who are sending text messages to landlords and hotel owners saying that they're going to destroy their souls, which is a methodology, a threat level that we haven't seen before. And so they've certainly escalated their threats and the ability to carry them out.
That chat is coming up in the second half of this episode. First, though, let's get into the headlines with Sasha Barber-Gatt. It's Wednesday the 6th of May.
How are Melbourne's restaurants and bars being impacted by crime?
Hey Chris, Australia's big four banks have wasted no time in passing on the latest cash rate hike to customers. The RBA yesterday afternoon announced a third consecutive increase of 25 basis points to 4.35%, effectively wiping out the cuts made during a brief cycle of decreasing the official rate last year. So the Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ in the hours after the announcement confirmed that they'd be increasing interest rates on their loan products. But of the four, only Westpac has announced a rise in interest rates for savings products.
Yeah, good note there. And look, in her announcement, the Reserve Bank's Governor Michelle Bullock issued a warning to the federal government about handouts in the upcoming budget, saying things like cutting the fuel excise and tax offsets increase inflationary pressures, which the bank is trying to dampen with interest rate rises.
If we are increasing interest rates, what we are trying to do is slow growth in demand. The extent to which government make up the shortfalls for households, By giving them more money, it makes it harder to dampen demand.
Now, there have been reports of a potential new tax sweetener in Tuesday's budget for households, a one-off perk of between $200 to $300, but the Treasurer has defended the government's record on spending.
The Reserve Bank statement it's important to recognise does not point to public spending as a factor in their decision to increase interest rates today and I think that's really important. To those people who are pretending that the government's budget is the sole driver of prices in our economy or interest rate decisions, they weren't saying that last year when interest rates were cut three times.
As to what's next for interest rates, well, economists are split. Some are predicting a holding pattern until around August. Others think we're in for another hike come June.
So, stand by. We will see what happens there. Just while we're on the topic of government spending, there has been a major project axed because of a cost blowout. So, we got word of this overnight. The major freight rail project, which was being called the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail Project, which
What is the significance of the recent firebombing spree in Melbourne?
was supposed to connect the two cities and also allow a connecting point out to Perth through the town of Parks. That has been pitched since about 2013 by both Labor and Coalition governments, but the project in its entirety has been shelved by Labor. because it was going to blow out in cost to $45 billion. Now it's going to stop at the New South Wales town of Parks instead. So there will still be the connection to Perth, but this has been sold as like a major infrastructure project for the country, the biggest rail project in a century. But they've shelved it because of just how expensive it was going to be.
The World Health Organization says it suspects there may have been rare human-to-human transmission of Hunter virus on a cruise ship docked in the Atlantic where three passengers have died. The virus is usually spread from rodents, but the WHO says it could have spread among really close contacts aboard the Hondias.
Our assumption is that has happened. And that's why we are operating and working with the ship to make sure that anyone who is symptomatic, you know, anyone caring for patients is wearing full personal protective equipment.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the latest headlines affecting Australia?
0:02–0:52
2
How are Melbourne's restaurants and bars being impacted by crime?
0:52–3:05
3
What is the significance of the recent firebombing spree in Melbourne?
3:05–5:16
4
Who is behind the firebombings targeting Melbourne's hospitality industry?
5:16–6:45
5
How does the illicit tobacco trade relate to Melbourne's crime wave?
6:45–9:10
6
What measures are being taken to combat organized crime in Melbourne?
9:10–10:43
7
How is the illegal cigarette trade threatening the Australian market?
10:43–11:34
8
What were the highlights from the recent Met Gala event?
11:34–21:53
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from The Briefing
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