Making news: Migos rapper murdered as Taylor Swift and the RBA break records
All the news that's fit to mint.
All the news that's fit to mint.
What's happening in (The) Oz:
🆙 The RBA has lifted the cash rate for the seventh consecutive time
💸 If you've got a mortgage, you'll be forking out about an extra $100 a month
🤒 Cost of living is higher, and more out of control, than the West Coast Eagles in 2006
🔥 That Old Parliament House protest cost (taxpayers) $5 million
💔 Migos star and rapper Takeoff has been shot dead playing dice
🎤 Taylor Swift breaks hearts, minds and records now
😬 Another curious BTS story about David Letterman has surfaced
Good morning!
It's Wednesday, but it's also the day after Melbourne Cup so join me mentally, physically and spiritually here.
Let's grab our cheese toasties and hangover curing iced chocolates and get this day done shall we?
But first.
We're not getting anymore pocket money
Let's be real instead of "BeReal". A horse race and nice outfits were a slight distraction from the only story that's kicking around on most people's radar just at varying frequencies - for now.
It's the economy stupid.
It was true when Bill Clinton's presidential campaign campaigned on it in 1992 and it's the same now as we, to quote the Treasurer Jim Chalmers, "prepare from some tough economic headwinds".
The economy and weather patterns are almost the same right now. The financial La Nina is imminent. Both can be categorised as gross, uncomfortable and unpredictable.
However on Wednesday the government will make some bold statements concerning our future budgets and bottom lines.
If you were a recipient of Kevin Rudd's $800 "stimulus package" back in 2009 when we grappled with the (last) global financial crisis - sorry but that is not happening again.
We're going to lift not lean (😘 former Treasurer Joe Hockey 👋🏻).
Well, the government is, as it has said that word "reform" out loud. A concept that's been the Beetlejuice of tax policy for years now and it's finally been unleashed.
Anthony Albanese will lay down plans to “reform our way through” the impact on Australia of deteriorating global economic conditions and reject one-off cost-of-living cash handouts as “cheap politics and hugely expensive economics” that would have made the problem worse.
Both Albanese and Chalmers will speak at The Australian-Melbourne Institute Outlook conference on Wednesday where they'll insist the government’s restraint on cost-of-living handouts and spending "ensured the nation dodged higher inflation and steeper interest rates," Albanese will say.
The question on most people's lips will now be: "Are we going tax reform mode then?" which may bring into play the legislated stage three tax cuts, payroll tax and other book keeping levers certain sectors have calling to be changed for a while now.
Their speeches come off the back of the Reserve Bank of Australia lifting interest rates for the seventh consecutive time on Tuesday to 2.85% - the highest it's been in nine years.
About that 'cost of living' thing
So, barely a week since the government handed down its first Budget, it's already out of date.
It's had the expiry date of a mediocre Tinder hook up.
Following the RBA's hike on Tuesday, the central bank has also readjusted the expected peak of inflation from "7.75% in late 2022", as documented in the Budget overview statement, to now come in at about 8% in December.
Chalmers said inflation was "the number one challenge in our economy".
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said the RBA interest rate rise reflected that "Australians know that the cost of living is high and going higher".
Chalmers said rising energy prices as a result of the war in Ukraine and the rising prices of grocery items after the recent floods were key issues that would impact the future rise of inflation.
"This is exactly why inflation is the biggest challenge in our economy. This is exactly why inflation was the primary influence on the budget I handed down last week," Dr Chalmers said."The budget was designed for these inflationary pressures which will get a little bit worse before they get better.
"But they will get better in time."
Everything we did in the Budget was influenced in one way or another by our approach to addressing the inflation challenge in our economy @Business_SYD #auspol #ausecon pic.twitter.com/uQkuXUWcNZ
— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) November 1, 2022
Always good to end on an optimistic note, because wider Australia isn't so hopeful.
A Newspoll - research commissioned by The Australian, the Cady Heron to our Aaron Samuels - late last week found the government’s first budget was the most poorly received since 2014, with almost half of those surveyed believing they would be worse off over the next 12 months.
Old Parliament House needs a Block narrative arc
And it's going to cost $5.3 million thanks to that protest last year.
Our OG house of democracy needs to be restored after the front entrance was set on fire by those anti-vaccine "sovereign citizen" protesters lit the front doors of Old Parliament House, also known as the Museum of Australian Democracy, in an anti-vaccine, anti-Covid mandates rally.
“The damage - including smoke, soot and water - was extensive,” outgoing museum director Daryl Karp stated in the annual report released on Tuesday.
The blaze left the museum’s portico destroyed, causing "substantial damage" to its entrance, while smoke and soot contaminated all levels of the three storey building.
The report also recorded that 2800 items from the heritage furniture collection, 2000 Hansard volumes and 5000 props had to be scrubbed clean.
Water damage to the front steps and top landing was incurred when responders put out the fire.
The incident forced the museum to close for four months while repairs were pursued.
“Although covered by insurance, the estimated $5.3 million restoration cost is substantial." Mr Karp said.
Taylor Swift really is the music industry 'eh?
If you have any Swifties in your orbit, you may want to check in on them today.
As There. Is. Lots. Of. News.
Firstly, Swift has become the first artist in history to take up all the top-10 spots on Billboards Hot 100 thanks to Midnights.
The #Hot100 top 10 (chart dated Nov. 5, 2022)
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) October 31, 2022
It's the second big accolade Midnights has pulled in this week alone.
Secondly, she is touring.
Wait.
Just not in Australia.
Yet.
I’m enchanted to announce my next tour: Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, a journey through the musical eras of my career (past & present!) The first leg of the tour will be in stadiums across the US, with international dates to be announced as soon as we can!https://t.co/KFuqvrhSGo pic.twitter.com/eVyTcuW8sK
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 1, 2022
We've been told international dates will be announced "as soon as we can".
Another celebrity death
Takeoff, a member of the rap trio Migos alongside rappers Quavo and Offset, has died.
It was confirmed by Rolling Stone overnight the 28-year-old rapper was shot dead in Houston.
TMZ is reporting he was fatally shot at a bowling alley "where he and Quavo were playing dice around 2.30am. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people on the premises were shot and taken to hospital. Quavo was unharmed."
Takeoff was born in Georgia in 1994.
He began rapping with Quavo and Offset, who were his uncle and cousin, respectively, in 2008.
In 2011, they released Juug Season, their debut mixtape as Migos.
“Growing up, I was trying to make it in music. I was grinding, which is just what I loved doing,” Takeoff told The Fader in 2017. “Just making something and creating for me … I was getting my own pleasure out of it, because it’s what I liked doing. I’d wait for Quavo to get back from football practice and I’d play my songs for him.”
They graced the cover of Rolling Stone in 2018 where Offset said of Takeoff at the time: "He is outspoken with the people he f..k with, he love, but he quiet to everyone else. He analyse a lot, that’s why I think his raps be so strong.
"Takeoff got some strong shit. He’s just powerful."
What's in a name?
A lot according to Maya Rudolph who “did not have a good time” when she appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2009.
“He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated,” the Loot star told the WSJ. magazine.
“I didn’t know how to handle it,” she continued. “I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”
Her 2022 interview has, so far, had mixed reviews.
So #davidletterman mispronounced @MayaRudolph’s name decades ago (and apologized on air at the time, btw) and all this time later she’s dragging him through the mud saying he humiliated her?!!! Really?!?!
— Alex Wright (@EDHWrights) October 31, 2022
Meghan Markle’s favourite face gym is opening in Australia, Greta Thunberg publishes Andrew Tate’s contact details
All the news that's fit to mint.
Emily Ratajkowski joins the competitive world of online dating, Nick Kyrgios quits at the last minute
All the news that's fit to mint.