The Reserve Bank has stunned financial markets and economists by holding official interest rates steady at 3.85 per cent following its two-day meeting.
In the face of ongoing uncertainty around the global economy caused largely by President Donald Trump’s latest move on tariffs, the bank’s monetary policy board decided to wait to see if local inflation pressures will continue to ease.
Thanks for joining us for our live updates of news in Brisbane and beyond this Tuesday. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more live coverage.
If you’re just catching up, here are some of the stories that have been making news today:
The Reserve Bank has stunned financial markets and economists by holding official interest rates steady at 3.85 per cent following its two-day meeting.
Darling Downs Zoo co-owner Steve Robinson has confirmed the victim of the lioness attack on Sunday morning was his sister-in-law, who had 20 years’ experience with the lions, with the ordeal “still very, very raw” for the zoo community.
Queensland nurses and midwives say they are ready to walk off the job for the first time in more than 20 years, as they step up their fight with the state government for better wages and conditions.
A former Gold Coast politician accused of murdering his stepfather by putting him in a chokehold had searches on his phone the day before the death relating to escaping domestic violence, a court has heard.
A Broncos public relations worker who guided the club through a player’s drug-driving crisis has herself admitted to crashing into parked cars while more than three times the legal alcohol limit.
And the first public servant sacked under the Crisafulli government has landed a plum new job in Canberra, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tapping Mike Kaiser to head his Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
The Reserve Bank has stunned financial markets and economists by holding official interest rates steady at 3.85 per cent following its two-day meeting.
In the face of ongoing uncertainty around the global economy caused largely by President Donald Trump’s latest move on tariffs, the bank’s monetary policy board decided to wait to see if local inflation pressures will continue to ease.
The local share market has been gyrating between positive and negative territory amid tariff uncertainty and as traders wait for the latest Reserve Bank decision on interest rates.
The ASX200 began trading on Tuesday with a 17-point fall, then climbed 20.7 points into the green in the second hour of trading before sinking back slightly into the red.
At noon the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 7.3 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 8,582.2, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 4.5 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 8,821.9.
Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said markets had received a “quick punch in the guts” as this week’s US trade deal deadline approached.
Closer to home, it is widely expected that the Reserve Bank will announce later this afternoon that it is cutting the cash rate from 3.85 per cent.
Seven of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower at midday, with consumer discretionary, financials, telecommunications and telecommunications higher.
Consumer staples was the biggest mover, dropping 1.1 per cent as Coles subtracted 1.0 per cent and A2 Milk retreated 3.3 per cent.
In financials, three of the four big banks were higher. CBA had added 0.3 per cent, NAB was up 0.5 per cent and ANZ had advanced 0.4 per cent, while Westpac was down 0.4 per cent.
In currency, the Australian dollar was trading for 65.15 US cents, from 65.24 US cents on Monday.
A former Gold Coast politician accused of murdering his stepfather by putting him in a chokehold had searches on his phone the day before the death relating to escaping domestic violence, a court has heard.
Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden, 32, was committed to stand trial over the alleged murder of Robert Lumsden, 58, at the family’s Arundel home in 2023.
Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden (right) walks next to his legal team outside Southport Courthouse.Credit: Brisbane Times / Cloe Read
At the time of his arrest, Bayldon-Lumsden had been the councillor for Division 7 on the Gold Coast, representing the city’s inner northern suburbs.
The former politician has been on bail since he was released in 2023. His barrister told the court Bayldon-Lumsden had been subject to an ongoing abusive and controlling relationship with his stepfather, and that an argument between the two had escalated.
Mike Kaiser, who served as director-general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet under former Labor premier Steven Miles, has been given a job in the federal Labor government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Kaiser would become secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, starting next Monday, with a five-year appointment, subject to Governor-General approval.
“Mr Kaiser’s experience includes delivering on large-scale projects, administering complex regulatory regimes and leading the Queensland government’s policies on planning and infrastructure,” Albanese said.
On LinkedIn, Kaiser described the new posting as a “consequential agenda” with passionate stakeholders.
“High expectations. A lot to deliver,” he said, including the hashtag #publicserviceisaverb.
Kaiser was stood down by LNP Premier David Crisafulli after the October election.
He is also a former Queensland politician, but resigned after a branch stacking scandal in 2001.
Almost one in five Queensland electorates have too many, or too few, people living in them, with the maps for the state’s 93 districts set to be withdrawn.
The Queensland Redistribution Commission is asking for anyone who has suggestions on boundaries or electorate names to make a submission to its review.
The redistribution is designed to ensure enrolment numbers are distributed fairly.
Last month, 15 of the 93 electorates were more than 10 per cent above or below the average number of enrolled electors.
The last time a redistribution was done, in 2017, four new seats were added, taking the Parliament from 89 to 93 electorates, while some got new names, such as Brisbane Central, which is now called McConnel.
As child sex charges laid against two Melbourne men last week shone a spotlight on Queensland’s child safety crackdown, Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek says proper reform will take time, even as the state government vows to act as soon as it can.
Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has vowed to strengthen the state’s child protection laws.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Speaking to ABC Radio this morning, Langbroek says Queensland needs to avoid knee-jerk responses, such as “banning a particular sex”.
“We need a calm and methodical manner,” he said.
“It’s quite a complex sector and so that’s why it takes time for us to come up with what it is that we want to do … because if we try to bring things in that don’t work, then there’ll be potential dangers for children.”
Langbroek added that the state would “bring things forward” if it was called to do so through its multiple reviews and overhauls – including a blue card review, inquiry into children in residential care, and establishing a public child sex offender registry.
Darling Downs Zoo owner Steve Robinson has confirmed the victim of the lion attack on Sunday morning was his sister-in-law, saying the ordeal was “still very, very raw”.
Speaking to media outside the zoo on Tuesday morning, after the doors reopened, Robinson thanked the community for its support but admitted “nothing like this has ever happened before” in its 20-year history.
Darling Downs Zoo co-owner Steve Robinson speaking outside the zoo on Tuesday.Credit: Nine News
“We’re still processing in our minds and coming to grips with not just what happened but what happens next,” he said.
Robinson said they believed the lion was “just playing”, not acting with aggression, and said it was not an attack.
“We’ve raised these lions ourselves, their temperaments are excellent, we can still interact with them through the mesh of the cage,” he said.
“Nobody goes into the cage with them … but there’s no aggression, there’s no nastiness.
“The best we can come up with at this stage is that the lion was just playing.”
He said Workplace Health and Safety Queensland had not ordered the zoo to close and had carried out a thorough investigation following the matter.
He explained they closed the zoo due to emotions from the staff and out of respect to the victim.
Robinson said the woman remained in a stable condition in hospital.
The operators of the Darling Downs Zoo where a woman was attacked by a lion are speaking to the media.
Watch live.
A campaign to change the rules that ban dogs from indoor areas of cafes and pubs is heating up again.
Last year there was an outcry about the eviction of a border collie named Archer from the Brisbane brewery that bears his name.
Several venues have fallen foul of Australia-wide food safety rules which ban dogs from indoor areas, although ministerial intervention from the former Labor state government allowed an 18-year-old cat to live out her days at a country pub.
Businesses can choose to allow dogs in outdoor dining areas, such as footpaths or open beer gardens with street access, but the Australian Food Standards Code, and state legislation enforced by councils, say dogs are not permitted in indoor dining areas or kitchens.
Archer the dog, from Archer Brewing, before the complaint was investigated by Brisbane City Council.
After a single complaint to Brisbane City Council in October 2023, border collie Archer was banned from the formerly dog-friendly pub, Archer Brewing at Wilston in Brisbane’s inner-north, along with customers’ pooches.
Queensland’s former Labor health minister Shannon Fentiman had planned to raise the issue for discussion on a national level in November last year, but that did not go ahead, and the LNP is now in government.
Archer Brewing owner Lucy Martin has now launched a new petition calling on the Queensland government to commit to a 12-month trial of dogs in pubs by amending state-based laws, but only for businesses who choose to allow them.
“We’re sick of being stuck in political limbo,” she said.
“We want the new Queensland government to lead the change for the rest of Australia.”