What we learned, 26 October 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
The environment Minister, Murray Watt, is adamant Labor will pass its overhaul of the country’s environmental laws;
Watt also confirmed that the minister will maintain the power of project approval rather than the Environmental Protection Authority under the new reforms;
Australia must ‘step up to prevent catastrophic and preventable loss of life’ caused by Trump cuts, former US Centre for Disease Control boss says;
Nationals senator Matt Canavan will “present work” on net zero review to Coalition this week;
Barnaby Joyce says he remains with Nationals but will not attend party room meetings this sitting fortnight;
The climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has urged parliament to pass environmental reforms to aid energy transition;
Large parts of Australia’s east coast, from Victoria to Queensland, are being hammered by severe thunderstorms expected to continue into the week;
A 19-year-old man located near an alleged machete brawl in Melbourne’s north on Saturday night is in a stable condition in hospital, police say;
-
A Queensland man has been charged with violating a domestic violence order following a car crash that killed a three-year-old.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
Unbridled inflation an each-way bet on Cup Day rate cut
Hopes of an interest rate victory on Melbourne Cup Day may be dashed with expectations that inflation will not be reined in.
A stronger-than-expected inflation reading on Wednesday could postpone any rate relief when the central bank meets the following week.
The data will give the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) a better sense of the pressures on Australia’s economy before the board’s meeting in the first week of November.
Economists predict headline inflation to increase to about 3%, up from the last quarterly reading of 2.1%.
Banks are split on changes to underlying inflation, which is the RBA’s preferred measure as it strips out volatile items like power prices.
Some experts believe that figure will remain steady, while others think it will tick up slightly.
Wall Street investors are meanwhile considering cooler-than-expected inflation data and upbeat corporate earnings, which lifted major US stock indexes to all-time closing highs.
The boost sets the stage for next week’s earnings reports and an expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
- AAP
Updated
