AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 27 at 0400
Economy (CANBERRA)
Inflation pressures are heating up, despite an expected fall in the consumer price index.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday is likely to show headline inflation cooled in April.
AMP economist My Bui has tipped the annual rate to fall to 4.4 per cent, from 4.6 per cent the month prior.
The slowdown is largely due to the government's decision to temporarily cut the fuel excise in half.
As a result, the Reserve Bank will likely look through the drop in the headline measure and instead focus on trimmed mean inflation, which gives a better sense of the underlying pulse, Ms Bui said.
AMP forecasts the trimmed mean edged up to 3.4 per cent year-on-year.
"We also see a lot more price rises (through) what we would call the secondary round impacts," she told AAP.
Terror Aust (CANBERRA)
A group of women and children linked to the Islamic State terror group has been searched and their devices downloaded by police on arrival at city airports after returning to Australia from years in detention.
The so-called "ISIS brides" travelled from a refugee camp in northern Syria for families of killed or detained Islamic State militants.
The first group of two women and their children touched down in Melbourne shortly after 4.30pm on Tuesday, having flown with Qatar Airways via Doha.
A group of four women and their children arrived at Sydney airport, where they were taken out a back entrance, avoiding waiting media.
Members of the Victoria and NSW Joint Counter Terrorism teams awaited the groups.
"The cohort was subject to a range of operational responses, including the searching of belongings and the downloading of their devices for investigative purposes," NSW and Victoria police said in a statement.
Brereton (CANBERRA)
The first head of Australia's national corruption watchdog rejects suggestions he should have been more transparent about connections with the defence establishment that led to his resignation.
But National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton has conceded the issue had become a distraction.
A day after announcing plans to step down in July after a turbulent three years as commissioner, Mr Brereton said he did not need to give the government more details about his defence ties because it was like asking what church he attends.
During an at times tense appearance before a parliamentary inquiry, Mr Brereton said questions about his ongoing work with the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force - one of the agencies the National Anti-Corruption Commission had the power to investigate - had made it hard for the commission to get clear air.
Antisemitism (SYDNEY)
A major police operation to protect Jewish community events had been wound down by the time of the Bondi terror attack that claimed 15 innocent lives, an inquiry has heard.
A royal commission is probing the intelligence and law enforcement response leading up to last year's December 14 mass shooting at the famous Sydney beach.
Operation Shelter was established by NSW Police to protect high-risk Jewish events following a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents after Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023.
But a NSW Police superintendent told the commission on Tuesday the operation had been "de-escalated" to the point resources were no longer available at the time of the Bondi attack.
"Not disbanded, it had (been) reduced or de-escalated," she told the commission, speaking under a pseudonym.
White (DARWIN)
A year after a disabled Aboriginal man's death in a supermarket, his family has learned the two plain-clothes officers who forcibly restrained him will not be charged.
Kumanjayi White, 24, died in Alice Springs in May 2025 after the officers held him down, sparking national outrage and rallies calling for an independent investigation.
Northern Territory Police confirmed on Tuesday that the Director of Public Prosecutions had provided advice on the investigation into the death.
Police Commissioner Martin Dole said advice from prosecutors was that there was "no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution".
He said the decision would cause "distress, pain and anger" for Mr White's family and the broader community and he urged a peaceful response to the decision.
Energy (CANBERRA)
Power bill relief is coming for households in most eastern states as solar and batteries chew into expensive gas and hydro generation to cover evening peaks.
Annual savings of more than $200 compared to the year prior have been confirmed for some residential customers on standing electricity offers, depending on their region and plan type.
Default market offers are updated each year by the energy regulator to reflect the cost of delivering electricity to businesses and households.
With the exception of South Australian households on flat rates, which are flagged for a 1.4 per cent increase, electricity prices are set to fall in the eastern states.
NSW homes on flat rates can expect falls between 3.4 per cent and 5 per cent, and by 7.2 per cent in southeast Queensland.
IRAN (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days", quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict a day after US forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.
Describing the strikes against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz has to be open "one way or the other".
"The straits have to be open, they're going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open," Rubio told reporters on his plane in India's Jaipur.
Despite a ceasefire in place since early April, US Central Command said in a statement on Monday it had carried out fresh strikes designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces".
Legal: Freeman (MELBOURNE)
The deadly shooting of cop-killer Dezi Freeman has exposed that specialist police continue to work without body-worn cameras, eight years after a state force began to roll out the technology.
None of the officers who gunned down Freeman in March at a remote property in Thologolong near the Victoria-NSW border were wearing body-worn cameras.
The officers were members of Victoria Police's special operations group, who conducted covert surveillance on the fugitive's location for a week before moving in and attempting to negotiate with him over several hours.
Victoria Police confirmed to AAP on Tuesday body-worn cameras currently in use were not compatible with the officers' specialist operational equipment, although a trial was nearing completion.
"Findings from this evaluation will inform any future decisions regarding broader implementation across the unit," a force spokesperson said.
In finance ...
AI CBA (SYDNEY)
The adoption of artificial intelligence in Australia and the world hasn't quite gone as expected, but it has underlined our need for human connection, according to one of the market leaders.
Founder and chief executive Sam Altman of OpenAI, which has been going for three and a half years, says while there's been strong take-up, the human element has turned out to be more intriguing.
And there have certainly been situations where he's found himself unwilling to use AI.
"I've felt that threshold - most strongly when I briefly tried to let AI do my messaging. You know, write my emails, my text messages, do Slack for me," he told business leaders at a conference in Sydney.
"Yet, I found it, like, surprisingly dehumanising to watch, even when I had it reply to messages.
Water (SYDNEY)
Australia's $50 billion water market is booming, drawing global investors and offering farmers flexibility, but ongoing scarcity and record-high permanent plantings are raising the stakes of the next drought.
Australia has one of the few markets in there world where water rights can be separated from land, capped and traded, something that still causes angst in parts of the farming community, National Farmers Federation water committee chair and Finley dairy farmer Malcolm Holm said.
"But in essence, what it's enabled the whole thing to do is actually give farmers and industries flexibility," Mr Holm told AAP.
Selling water rights can take the pressure off farmers' and farming organisations' balance sheets when upgrading equipment, transitioning crops or undertaking succession planning.
However, with water-trading pushing growers towards higher value permanent plantings and government buybacks significantly reducing the volume of water available, the next drought could leave some producers high and dry.
In entertainment ...
Andrews (LONDON)
Dame Julie Andrews has made a rare public appearance in a video for the World Parkinson's Congress.
The 90-year-old legend, who became a global star in the film world with her roles in the likes of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, appeared in a video message shared on YouTube by the World Parkinson Coalition, as they addressed attendees at the event and commented that she knows "well how devastating" the disease can be.
She said in the clip: "Good evening, everyone, I'm Julie Andrews and I'm pleased to welcome you to the seventh World Parkinson's Congress.
"Your participation is invaluable as we seek to find a cure to this terrible disease. I know well how devastating it can be.
Hathaway (LONDON)
Anne Hathaway was "legally blind" in her left eye for 10 years during a secret health battle.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 star, 43, has confessed she struggled with her sight throughout her 30s and was diagnosed with early-onset cataracts which left her "half blind" for the best part of a decade before she underwent surgery to restore her vision.
During an appearance on The New York Times' Popcast podcast, Hathaway explained: "This is maybe too much information. I was half blind for 10 years.
"It impacted my vision so much that I was basically legally blind out of my left eye and I wound up getting surgery. And I didn't realise how bad it had gotten until I could finally see the full spectrum."
In sport ...
AFL Bombers (MELBOURNE)
James Hird wants to return as Essendon coach, apologising again for his role in their decline and promising he has learned from the debacle that nearly killed him.
Once news of Brad Scott's sacking from the AFL club broke on Tuesday morning, speculation immediately started about whether Hird would return.
President Andrew Welsh said he had not contacted Hird, but added no-one had been ruled in or out to be the senior coach next season.
Hird then confirmed on Tuesday night he was keen to coach the Bombers again.
"The most important thing for me as an Essendon person and what I want to see the football club to do … is for them to go through the most exhaustive process possible for them to find the best person to coach Essendon," he told the Nine Network.
RL Origin (SYDNEY)
Laurie Daley believes Nathan Cleary is unfairly judged for his State of Origin record, claiming NSW's fortunes don't rest solely on the halfback's fortunes.
Cleary will play his 18th Origin game on Wednesday night at Sydney Accor Stadium, with the pressure turning up on the halfback on Tuesday after halves partner Mitchell Moses was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The 29-year-old will be expected to do the majority of the Blues' kicking alongside rookie Origin five-eighth Ethan Strange, who is not known for having a boom boot, giving Queensland an easy focal point to defend.
Cleary, the Blues most-capped No.7 of all time, has been peerless at NRL level in crunch games over the last six years of Penrith's dominance.
Ends Bulletin
Rolling News Desk inquiries : 02 9322 8611
