The unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7% in January, the highest it has been since the Reserve Bank started its nine-month run of interest rate hikes last May. The BetaShares economist David Bassanese says the labour figures, weak retail sales and slumping consumer confidence suggest the economy “may be beginning to finally buckle under the weight of interest rate increases”.
Jim Chalmers was more forthright in his assessment, warning of a “really difficult year” ahead for Australians and the economy. “When the economy slows, when the unemployment rate picks up even if it still remains at or near historic lows, there are human consequences,” the treasurer said.
NAB took the baton from the Commonwealth Bank in announcing a bumper profit boost, taking in $2.15bn across the December quarter and noting rising interest rates had “benefited our revenue”. It came as Domain said there had been an “unprecedented” collapse in the number of new property listings, eclipsing pullbacks during the pandemic and the banking royal commission.
Top news
Internal fury over Liberal MP’s explicit photo sharing | Women inside the New South Wales Liberal party are furious that Peter Poulos has not faced formal sanctions after admitting he circulated explicit photos of a female rival (he has since apologised). Vivian Hodgson, the secretary of the party’s Strathfield women’s branch, wrote in an email seen by Guardian Australia that she was concerned that this “turn of events, if not dealt with in a timely manner, will lose us the [NSW] election”.
Wieambilla shooting ‘a religiously motivated terrorist attack’ | Queensland police have declared last year’s fatal shooting of two officers and a neighbour on a remote property an act of terrorism. They said the Train family members subscribed to “premillennialism”, a broad fundamentalist belief system that comes from Christian theology, and likened the attack to the 1993 Waco massacre in Texas.
ClubsNSW drops contempt charges against Friendlyjordies | ClubsNSW has dropped criminal contempt charges against YouTuber Jordan Shanks over an interview with pokies whistleblower Troy Stolz. In the interview, titled “The Legal way to take a life”, Stoltz detailed his battle with cancer and the impact of his bitter federal court dispute with his former employer.
Miners’ ute found as search continues | Two miners trapped about 125 metres underground near Cloncurry in Queensland have not been seen or heard from since they went missing on Wednesday. The operator of the Dugald River zinc mine says it is still hopeful for a “positive” outcome in the search after it found the pair’s utility vehicle. Work has been suspended at the mine while the rescue mission continues.
Victoria ‘won’t hesitate’ to raise criminal age | Daniel Andrews has made his strongest indication yet that Victoria will abandon a national process to raise the age of criminal responsibility and go it alone. Guardian Australia has learned the Victorian government recently canvassed two options for raising the age: increasing it from 10 to 12, or increasing it to 14, but with an exception for serious offences.
A ‘fundamentally astonishing’ cosmic explosion | Astronomers have been blown away by what they’re dubbing the “perfect explosion” caused by the collision of two neutron stars. The event, about 140-150m light years from Earth, created a rapidly expanding fireball of luminous matter before collapsing to form a black hole.
Trump’s World Bank pick makes early exit | The World Bank president, David Malpass, is quitting just months after a fumbled answer on whether he accepted the scientific consensus on global warming, earning the ire of the White House. Malpass, appointed by Donald Trump, will vacate the helm with less than a year remaining in a five-year term.
Full Story
Is this Australia’s turning point for concussions in sport?
A Senate inquiry is examining the link between repeated concussions and other head injuries from contact sports including AFL, rugby league and rugby union, as well as a neurodegenerative disease called CTE. Listen to this 23-minute episode.
What they said …
***
“We won the bid when it came to [marriage] equality and everyone thinks the job’s done, but it isn’t done yet. It’s conversion therapy, it’s birth certificate reform, it’s surrogacy.” – Albert Kruger, Mardi Gras chief executive
Pressure is building on the NSW government to ban gay conversion practices as the 17-day WorldPride festival prepares to take over Sydney. The state premier, Dominic Perrottet, earlier this week repeatedly refused to make his position clear to voters.
In numbers
The chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, told Senate estimates the rate of Covid deaths had dropped dramatically from the “dark days” early in the pandemic. He also predicted “at least another couple” of Covid waves this year.
Before bed read
Contemplating another coffee? Here’s some food for thought: while peak caffeine concentration in your blood takes about 45 minutes, it has a half-life of about six hours. Joel Snape has all the intel on how many cups is enough, and how best to avoid tossing-and-turning when it’s time to call it a night.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.
Contact us
If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email.
If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email customer.help@guardian.co.uk
