AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 16 at 0500
Economy (CANBERRA)
Borrowers can be reassured interest rates are likely to remain on hold for now, but with the inflation dragon still rampant, they should not expect the Reserve Bank to come to their rescue any time soon.
During economic slowdowns, the central bank has often been the "knight in shining armour" for households, cutting interest rates when times are tough to give the economy a boost, HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said.
A sluggish GDP print for the March quarter and rising unemployment suggest Australia is already in a downswing.
But while he predicted no more hikes from the Reserve Bank this cycle, mortgage holders were unlikely to receive any rate relief until at least 2027, Mr Bloxham said.
The board should take a lesson from 2025, when it cut interest rates three times as inflation was still coming down, and not turn its back on the inflation dragon until it is sufficiently tamed, he said.
Legal: Porter (ORANGE)
For years after Bridgette Porter was killed, her family felt like the 10-year-old girl had been erased.
Bridgette, also known by the nickname Biddy, was killed by a teenager known to her in rural NSW in 2020.
The NSW Supreme Court found Biddy's killer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was not criminally responsible due to mental illness in 2021.
Much of the case was anonymised due to the ages of Biddy and the perpetrator, while graphic details surrounding the killing are protected by a court order.
Biddy's identity was made public in mid-2024, when her parents and campaigners from Advocacy Australia launched a petition calling for an inquest and a review of the handling of the case.
The inquest is due to open on Tuesday before NSW State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan.
Iran (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
A memorandum of understanding aiming to end the war in the Gulf has already been signed by US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf who heads its negotiating team, a US official says.
Speaking at a briefing with reporters, the US official added that there will also be a signing ceremony on Friday.
"You will see significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time," the US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.
"We probably won't return to normal in two weeks but we will see a significant increase in strait traffic," the official said.
The US and Iran said they had agreed terms to end their war and reopen the strait, news that brought relief to markets, although the pact may hinge on an end to hostilities in Lebanon and defers talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Iran (DUBAI)
US and Iranian officials have reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran's nuclear program to further negotiations.
While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday.
The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.
Social UK (LONDON)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will ban social media sites for the under-16s and impose restrictions on gaming and livestreaming platforms, in some of the most far-reaching online restrictions to date.
Starmer said he would introduce sweeping changes to social media regulation to better protect the wellbeing of children when they are online.
"It is clear to me a full ban is the right choice," he said, adding that while it would not be easy, the government had agency in pushing back against the power of big technology companies.
As well as a ban on sites such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, the prime minister said he would take action against gaming and livestreaming services which allow children to talk to strangers.
Federal (CANBERRA)
Anthony Albanese has shrugged off polling showing more voters want Pauline Hanson to run the country than him.
Thirty-three per cent of respondents to a reputable poll picked the One Nation leader as preferred prime minister, compared to 29 per cent for Mr Albanese.
Liberal leader Angus Taylor was favoured by 16 per cent and another 22 per cent were undecided.
The Resolve Political Monitor survey, conducted for the Nine newspapers, was the first by the polling outfit to give respondents a choice of three options for preferred prime minister.
Mr Albanese acknowledged people were under pressure from the cost of living but suggested the shine might come off One Nation by the next election.
"It's easy to identify grievance," he told reporters in the Canberra suburb of Jacka on Monday.
Legal: Norway Royals (OSLO)
The stepson of Norway's Crown Prince Haakon has been found guilty of two counts of rape and other crimes and is sentenced to four years in prison, an Oslo court ruled.
Marius Borg Hoiby, 29, who joined the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, has pleaded not guilty to the most severe accusations against him, including those of rape, and can appeal the verdict.
He had pleaded not guilty to the most severe accusations against him, including those of rape, while admitting to some lesser ones, and can appeal the verdict.
Prosecutors had asked Hoiby should be sentenced to seven years and seven months of prison.
The seven-week trial gripped the Nordic country, detailing Hoiby's drug addiction, self-made videos of sexual encounters and more than 800 electronic messages entered into evidence.
Legal: AHMAD (MELBOURNE)
An accused "ISIS bride" rejects Islamic extremism and considers her time in Syria to have been 11 years of hell.
Zeinab Ahmad's lawyer made the assertions on her behalf on Monday as her application for bail entered its third day.
"My client does not support Islamic State," barrister Grace Morgan told Melbourne Magistrates Court.
"She rejects Islamic State. She has a deep anger towards it and to those men who enforced its ideals upon her."
Ahmad, 31, was charged with slavery offences in May after returning to Australia with other so-called "ISIS brides" and their children.
It's alleged Ahmad moved to Syria with her first husband Dawod in January 2015 and he became a member of Islamic State before he was killed in a drone strike in May 2016.
In finance ...
Tax (CANBERRA)
Warnings that looming tax reforms will worsen Australia's productivity malaise are overblown, financial experts say.
If anything, the reforms may boost productivity, senators heard as day one of a two-day snap inquiry into the tax changes began on Monday.
Under the changes, the 50 per cent discount for capital gains tax will be replaced with a rate tied to inflation and a 30 per cent minimum, while negative gearing will be limited to new houses only from July 2027.
That would remove distortions in the tax system and incentivise people to invest in assets that have higher rates of return, rather than a higher tax advantage, tax expert Peter Varela told the inquiry.
"Tax neutrality will always get you more productivity," said Dr Varela, from the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at ANU.
Accent (SYDNEY)
A British retailer has lobbed a zero-premium takeover offer at Australia's largest shoe store chain after their partnership went south, in hopes of at least gaining more influence over its board.
Frasers Group is offering 65 cents a share for Accent Group in an on-market takeover offer that values the Platypus, Hype DC and The Athlete's Foot owner at $390 million.
Accent Group shares, which closed at 65 cents on Friday, jumped almost 12 per cent to 73 cents by noon on Monday.
Frasers owns the UK-based sporting goods giant Sports Direct, which Accent began launching in Australia in 2025 in partnership with Frasers as part of what was initially going to be a 50-store rollout over six years.
That target was downgraded in May to eight stores by December and 30 stores within three years, with the 50-store goal deferred to an undefined time frame, apparently disappointing Frasers executives.
In entertainment ...
Brazil Helicopter (RIO DE JANEIRO)
US singer and comedian Oliver Tree is believed to be among six people who died when two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro, crashing in the city's western zone.
Rio de Janeiro's Military Fire Department said that one of the helicopters crashed on Sunday into the parking lot of a car dealership, where several electric vehicles were parked, igniting a fire that was extinguished.
Officials said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the collision.
Police said 32-year-old Tree was on the list of passengers handed to aviation authorities but the bodies had yet to be formally identified.
Recognisable by his signature bowl cut, Tree was known for his songs Life Goes On and When I'm Down.
He released his fourth studio album, Love You Madly, Hate You Badly in April.
Dylan (LONDON)
Bob Dylan has broken his customary silence via The New York Times, contributing to an op-ed tied to US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday.
The 85-year-old rock legend offered some words of wisdom with selection of octogenarians on what it means to reach the milestone age.
"The old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says we already did it. Also, nothing surprises you," Dylan wrote in the New York Times.
"It sounds like a luxury but it's not, and also you've run out of illusions.
"The really worst part about being 80 is that you find, at last, you've got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered.
In sport ...
WC26 Evans (GENEVA)
FIFA's discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for an Australian video review official to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
When the official broadcast of Germany's opening game against Curacao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts, A-League referee Shaun Evans made an upside-down "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg.
Though the game was played in Houston, video officials work in Dallas at the World Cup broadcast centre.
In 2019, the gesture - with thumb and forefinger touched in a circle and other fingers outstretched - was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League.
"Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 'OK' hand symbol used as a 'white power' symbol in global far-right circles," the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement.
AFL Suns (MELBOURNE)
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has been put on notice and the Suns face a potentially costly AFL tribunal case in the fallout from their latest loss.
Friday night's away loss to Geelong is the third straight defeat for the slumping Suns.
Hardwick was fuming post-match and took aim at the umpires, claiming they were influenced by the crowd and the "Roman Colosseum" atmosphere at GMHBA Stadium.
That prompted a pointed phone call to Hardwick from AFL football operations boss Greg Swann. While Hardwick avoided a fine or a "please explain", it is understood he accepted Swann's point.
"It was like the Roman Colosseum," Hardwick said post-match when asked about his frustrations.
"I reckon they (the umpires) were waiting for the crowd to do this one (thumb down) then, all of a sudden, free kick.
Ends Bulletin
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