Blow the Truth

Senator Mathew Canavan (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate): I must give it to the newly elected Labor government: they are already smashing records. Yesterday they broke a major election promise in just their first day at work here in parliament. That must be some kind of record! At the election, the Labor Party promised—I'm quoting from their own policy—to 'cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025 compared to today.' Yesterday, in the Governor-General's address, there was not a mention of the $275 saving at all; instead, there was just a vague commitment to 'help save families hundreds of dollars on their electricity bills'. Where has the $275 gone now? Australians are asking the newly elected Labor government: 'Where is our $275 that you promised?' This is a massive broken promise that will hurt Australian families already struggling with crushing increases in the cost of living. Since the elect

  The Georgia Guidestones Explosion to  The Georgia Guidestones was a  granite  monument that stood in  Elbert County, Georgia , United States from 1980 to 2022. It was 19 feet 3 inches (5.87 m) tall and made from six granite slabs weighing a total of 237,746 pounds (107,840 kg).The structure was sometimes referred to as an "American  Stonehenge ".The creators of the monument believed that there was going to be an upcoming social, nuclear, or economic calamity and wanted the monument to serve as a guide for humanity afterward. Though initially gaining little controversy, they became subject to conspiracy theories alleging a connection to  satanism .On the morning of July 6, 2022, the guidestones were heavily damaged in a  bombing . and were dismantled later the same day. The Georgia Guidestones inscription read: Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity. Unite humanity with a living new la

Vladimir Putin gave a video address to greet the participants of a plenary session of the 10 th  St Petersburg International Legal Forum. This year’s plenary session was themed  Law in a Multipolar World . The video address was recorded during the President’s recent visit to St Petersburg.

  Reserve Bank of Australia :   At its meeting today, the  Board decided to increase the cash rate target by 50 basis points to 1.35 per cent. It also increased the interest rate on Exchang e Settlement balances by 50 basis points to 1.25 per cent. Global inflation is high. It is being boosted by COVID-related disruptions to supply chains, the war in Ukraine and strong demand which is putting pressure on productive capacity. Monetary policy globally is responding to this higher inflation, although it will be some time yet before inflation returns to target in most countries. Inflation in Australia is also high, but not as high as it is in many other countries. Global factors account for much of the increase in inflation in Australia, but domestic factors are also playing a role. Strong demand, a tight labour market and capacity constraints in some sectors are contributing to the upward pressure on prices. The floods are also affecting some prices. Inflation is forecast to peak later th

Premier Danial Andrews As part of Victoria’s continued response to the coronavirus pandemic and as we continue to manage the challenges winter presents, I have extended the pandemic declaration to apply to the State of Victoria from 11.59pm Tuesday 12 July for three months. The pandemic declaration gives the Minister for Health the authority to make pandemic orders she considers reasonably necessary to protect public health after considering the Chief Health Officer’s advice and other relevant factors, including social and economic factors. Recently, a number of modest and sensible changes to pandemic orders were made to allow Victorians to live safely with COVID-19 while reducing transmission and hospitalisations. This extended declaration will enable those key settings to remain in place over winter, protecting Victorians and our health system. The declaration was made under section 165AE of the  Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008  after consultation with, and consideration of advi

  Reserve Bank:  At its meeting today, the Board decided to increase the cash rate target by 50 basis points to 85 basis points. It also increased the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances by 50 basis points to 75 basis points. Statement by Philip Lowe, Governor: Monetary Policy Decision Date 7 June 2022 At its meeting today, the Board decided to increase the cash rate target by 50 basis points to 85 basis points. It also increased the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances by 50 basis points to 75 basis points. Inflation in Australia has increased significantly. While inflation is lower than in most other advanced economies, it is higher than earlier expected. Global factors, including COVID-related disruptions to supply chains and the war in Ukraine, account for much of this increase in inflation. But domestic factors are playing a role too, with capacity constraints in some sectors and the tight labour market contributing to the upward pressure on prices. The floods

PM Anthony Albanese Press Conference PM ALBO:  Thanks very much. This will be a short press conference for reasons that are obvious for those of you who are travelling with us to Tokyo. I am incredibly honoured and humbled to have been sworn in as Australia's 31st Prime Minister. Australians have voted for change. And my Government intends to implement that change in an orderly way. This morning, we had sworn in the interim Ministry that you see before you here in order to enable myself and Senator Wong to visit Tokyo for the Quad leaders meeting. In Tokyo, we will also have important bilateral meetings with President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Modi. I received a phone call last night and had a very fruitful and positive conversation, renewing my acquaintance with President Biden. The relationship with the United States is our most important, along with our relationships in the region and our multilateral commitments as well. The meetings that we will have, no

Queensland Floods Disaster assistance has been extended to the three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Charters Towers, Flinders and Richmond following the intense rainfall and flooding throughout Northern and Central-Western Queensland over the past month. The assistance is made possible through the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and will help these councils to cover counter-disaster operations, such as clean-up and sandbagging, and the cost to repair essential public infrastructure damaged during the event between 21 April and 12 May 2022. Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Bridget McKenzie, said the Australian Government would always stand with Queenslanders after a natural disaster. “The DRFA extension to Charters Towers, Flinders and Richmond LGAs will assist the communities to recover from the effects of the recent deluge. We will continue to work with the Queensland Government to ensure that people affec

Man at Work ( Welder ) Image by  Mike Flynn  from  Pixabay   (ABS) The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April 2022 was 3.9 per cent, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).  Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “In April, we saw employment rise by 4,000 people and unemployment fall by 11,000 people. As a result, the unemployment rate decreased slightly in April, though remained level, in rounded terms, with the revised March rate of 3.9 per cent. “3.9 per cent is the lowest the unemployment rate has been in the monthly survey. The last time the unemployment rate was lower than this was in August 1974, when the survey was quarterly.” The unemployment rate for males fell by 0.2 percentage points to 4.0 per cent, its lowest level since October 2008. For females, it remained at 3.7 per cent for a second month, which is the lowest it has been since May 1974. The participation rate also decreased in April, down by 0.1 perc

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State Berlin, Germany SECRETARY BLINKEN:   Good afternoon.  It’s a great pleasure to be back in Europe to continue intensive coordination with allies and partners on some of the most urgent issues facing our countries, and that begins with today’s NATO meetings.  And I want to especially thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for his leadership, the deputy secretary general of NATO, and especially Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of Germany – not only for hosting us, but for taking initiative to bring the foreign ministers together in an informal but very productive series of discussions. The 30 NATO Allies remain fully engaged, aligned, committed to supporting a democratic, independent, and sovereign Ukraine.  The world has seen the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people these past three months.  It’s seen the unity at the heart of NATO.  President Putin launched this brutal and unprovoked war thinking he could eliminate Ukraine as an independen