What we learned: Sunday 21 April
We that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, here’s what we learned today:
Mourners will gather to pay tribute to those killed in the Bondi Junction attack at a candlelight vigil on Sunday night from 5.30pm at Bondi Beach.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says social media companies see themselves as being ‘above the law’.
The Albanese government appears to have been considering changes to the stage-three tax cuts from the moment it took office, according to documents revealed under freedom of information.
Elon Musk is a ‘narcissistic billionaire’, according to Labor minister Murray Watt
The Coalition has supported a call by the Israeli government to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation.
An artwork commemorating Indigenous Australian history has won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale.
We’ll be back on Monday morning to bring you all the latest.
Updated
South Australia tops economic leaderboard again, but WA closing in
South Australia has managed to defend its title as the best-performing state economy based on its robust jobs market, growth performance and strong building activity.
The state topped CommSec’s April State of the States report, which gauges the economic momentum of each region, after also ranking first in January.
CommSec’s chief economist, Craig James, said South Australia was doing well, but there were signs its economy was losing momentum and it was possible Western Australia, another front-runner, could catch it.
Western Australia has the necessary momentum to pass South Australia to attain top spot in coming quarters.
States are assessed across various indicators such as retail spending and new home building starts to see how they are doing compared to “normal”, or the decade average.
WA topped the charts for population growth – that is, how quickly it is growing compared to 10-year trends – although most states and territories have had fast-expanding populations since borders reopened after Covid-19 lockdowns.
WA was also strongest on business investment, while the ACT led on retail spending.
James said state and territory economies were generally faring well despite clear challenges.
Overall, economies have slowed in response to higher interest rates, but have generally remained resilient, underpinned by firm population growth and low unemployment.
- AAP
Updated
