Afternoon Update: interest rates hit 12-year high; pro-Palestine protest at Melbourne Cup; and 18th-century love letters

Michele Bullock, the head of the Reserve Bank. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Good afternoon. Australian households have been slugged with a 13th interest rate rise since May 2022 after the Reserve Bank today hiked the cash rate 25 basis points to 4.35% – a 12-year high.

The rate rise will add roughly $100 to monthly repayments for a standard mortgage of about $600,000. For analysis on the RBA’s approach to battling inflation, read this from economist John Quiggin.