What we learned today, Friday 7 November
We’ll leave our live news coverage there for the week. Thanks for joining Nick Visser, Penry Buckley and Luca Ittimani on the blog today. Here’s what we covered:
Roshena Campbell, the deputy mayor of Melbourne, has warned the Liberal party’s moves to dump net zero will do “generational damage”.
Macquarie Bank shed $6bn in market value after reporting disappointing results.
Weekend thunderstorms have been forecast for much of Australia’s east.
A backbench Liberal MP, Sarah Henderson, said Sussan Ley was losing support as Liberal leader. Ley said she wouldn’t “comment on commentary”.
Nine Entertainment revealed it had asked the government for compensation if gambling ads are banned, gaining the backing of Kate Chaney, the independent MP.
The Victorian Liberal party will head to a trial over its loan to the former leader John Pesutto after mediation failed.
News Corp’s chief executive said AI was “empty, ignorant infrastructure” without intellectual property.
Have a good weekend.
Updated
Credit card outstanding debt hits four-year-high
Credit card debt accruing interest climbed $530m in September to reach its highest level since July 2021.
The rapid monthly growth took the total debt accruing interest on personal credit cards to $18.4bn, according to a Canstar analysis of RBA credit card figures, released today.
Climbing debt suggested more households were relying on credit to get by, the Canstar spokesperson Laine Gordon said.
Over the past year, credit card debt accruing interest has risen in eight out of 12 months, suggesting that some Australians are finding it hard to keep their heads above water as costs continue to rise.
To make matters worse, RBA data shows Australians with credit card debt are being slugged with rates above 18 per cent on average. At those levels, it’s little surprise so many people are struggling to make a dent in what they owe.
Spending on both debit and personal credit cards rose $567m in September, to be $4.2bn higher than it was a year beforehand. Transaction amounts on credit cards alone fell 1% in September after record-high spending the previous month.
Updated
