Sure it’s a Friday, but that doesn’t mean that your weekend can’t start right now. Just call your boss, say that your family has been kidnapped by the Russian mafia, don’t think about the ethics of this interaction, and then go enjoy your day in the park. But if you can’t stomach such a baller move, here are today’s biggest headlines instead:
Homeowners Stress: RBA Rates Will Probably Rise
If you’re a homeowner that’s been holding out for some good news, then you may have to wait a lot longer. Because according to a survey by Finder, 35 experts and economists believe that the cash rate will increase on September 12. As Brodie Haupt from WLTH explained, “The Reserve Bank will continue to increase the cash rate until the inflation begins to abate.”
Moreover, most of the experts Finder chatted with believed that the rates will jump up another 50 points. This would be a punch to the gut for a lot of low-level income earners.
“A 50 basis point rate increase will see the average Aussie homeowner forking out an additional $801 per month compared to what they were paying just five months ago,” stated Finder’s Richard Whitten. Therefore, it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.
There Was an Earthquake in the Northern Territory
If you live in the NT and felt a rumble at 1:54 AM, it wasn’t your stomach craving some french fries. According to the NT News, a magnitude 5.1 tremor was felt across Darwin and Palmerston suburbs at that time. Fortunately though, it wasn’t a tsunami and the police said that no major incidents were reported.
The AMA Wants the Government’s Health Advice to Go Public
At the moment, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) doesn’t seem 100 percent stoked with the Government’s decision to lower the national COVID isolation period from seven days down to five.
“The AMA, like a lot of medical groups and doctors around the country, were puzzled by the decision yesterday, the political decision to reduce isolation for people with COVID from seven to five days to help deal with the workforce, certainly in non-vulnerable workplaces,” stated their president,” Professor Stephen Robson. “We’re puzzled why they won’t release the health advice underpinning that.”
Robson also expressed, “At the moment, we’re calling for that to be released so the politicians can justify to the public why they’re making this decision if it is different to the advice that they’re receiving from their health teams around the country.”
Related: Latest Variant BA.5 Doesn’t Play By the Rules Or Care About Your Immunity
Related: Got That Spicy Cough? Here’s How to Claim the $750 COVID-19 Pandemic Leave Payment
The QLD Government is Bowing Out of Doomadgee
For the past 15 years, the Federal Government and the Queensland Government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to improve the Aboriginal community of Doomadgee. This has had little effect. “At the moment, we find a lot of service delivery is very fragmented and duplicated because the government has been at the helm for a long time and one thing they don’t do well is talk to each other,” Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council’s Chief Executive, Troy Fraser, told the ABC. He additionally said, “There is a lot of wastage around resources, around funding.”
However, this hopefully is about to change. Because Doomadgee’s first Aboriginal community-controlled organisation, Goonawoona Jungai Ltd, is taking power from the governments. “With us at the forefront of those decision-making processes, we will have the say about whether programs are endorsed or not in our community. This way our people are engaged with improving the community as well,” stated Fraser.
Moreover, Gangalidda traditional owner and the director of Goonawoona Jungai, Barry Walden, declared, “Under this model, the voice of the First Nations people of the Doomadgee community, consistent with traditional cultural practices, will play the lead role in the design and delivery of services such as health, housing, disability, education, and youth justice.”
It’s a very good day for Doomadgee, folks.
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