Thanks for reading The Australian Financial Review blog today. Here are some of the top stories we leave you with as the Reserve Bank of Australia announces its interest rate decision, which you can find at the markets live blog.

• NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has delivered a budget that ploughs a $10.7 billion windfall driven by property taxes back into public service spending. The Treasurer stood by his claim that the budget had been buffeted by changing GST allotments, despite experts saying that was due to poor state forecasting. Overall, Mookhey said, the budget was not transformational but “foundational”.
• Chinese Premier Li Qiang is touring West Australia with stops at a lithium plant and a green hydrogen research facility. Mining and climate transition billionaire Dr Andrew Forrest has played down concerns about China’s dominance of rare earth supply chains such as lithium. Fortescue Metals’ Forrest instead reserved his ire for the Coalition’s decision to walk away from 2030 emissions targets.
• The whole day of carefully crafted diplomacy and announcements has been overshadowed by the fallout of the move by two Chinese officials to try to block the view of journalist Cheng Lei at a press conference yesterday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government had complained to the Chinese embassy but the Coalition demanded that he go further.