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Making news: Elon and Twitter kiss and make up as Valentino by Voltaren shows at Paris Fashion Week

All the news that's fit to mint.

Jenna ClarkeEditorial Director
8 min read
6:10PMOctober 04, 2022.
Updated 7:29PMOctober 05, 2022
The Oz
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All the news that's fit to mint.

What's happening in The Oz:

💰 Why everyone is gossiping about tax

🇸🇧 The Prime Minister is prepping for a tense dinner date

👠 The Valentino fashion show was more brutal than a footy match

🆙 The cash rate has been lifted (again)

📈 And the interest rates have gone all Deirdre Chambers

🇯🇵 Japan was told to expect a missile from North Korea

🕵🏻‍♀️ Optus launches new independent review into old hack, Telstra says 'hold my beer'

📉 Crypto cost renowned money maker Kim Kardashian close to $2 million

⏰ Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have now released their new portraits

🤰🏼Finland's PM can relax at parties and do good work in parliament

🕊 Elon Musk just wants world peace ok?

⛪️ Essendon Football Club CEO was given a choice, chose God

Hello there!

In case you missed it, the Reserve Bank of Australia has lifted the cash rate by 0.25 of a percentage point to a nine-year high of 2.60%.

All of the four major banks were quick to pass on the rate hike.

The jump was something every economist has predicted - vocally - for the past couple of weeks. You know, since the last time they were hiked a month ago.

It is lower than what of all the big four banks, all except the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, forecast. They were tipping the central bank would have raised the cash rate by half a percentage point for the fifth consecutive month to 2.85%.

But Tuesdays increase still means the average mortgage holder will soon be paying about $700 a month more than they were before hikes started in May, according to RateCity.

“While the RBA governor has indicated the board is looking to slow down the size of the hikes in coming months … October is unlikely to be the meeting it takes its foot off the accelerator,” research director Sally Tindall told The Oz. 

Jim Chalmers said the situation globally was “dangerous and difficult,” warning Australia may not be spared from another GFC.

"The global situation has deteriorated dramatically in many of the major economies that we monitor most closely. The chance of a recession has edged over from possible to probable," Chalmers said on Monday.

His tone was the same after the rate rise announcement on Tuesday.

"The storm clouds are gathering in respect to the global economy and we are taking that into consideration as we put the finishing touches on the Budget," Chalmers said.

Speaking of, the Budget is three weeks away from being delivered. He told us to expect a "solid and considered" set of books.

He didn't rule in, or rule out amendments to the stage 3 tax cuts due to kick in next year.

"We haven't changed our position," he said.

But...

The odds have kind of shorten that things within out tax system will change, soon(ish).

On Wednesday morning, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher all but confirmed the government could reconsider the hotly debated plan for stage three tax cuts as discussions continue over its October budget.

What are the "stage three tax cuts" again?

  • They will abolish the 37% tax bracket.
  • Lower the 32.5% bracket to 30%.
  • Increase the top bracket to start at $200,000 instead of $180,000.
  • They are already legislated.
  • It was a policy of the former Coalition government.
  • They were promised by the Albanese government when it won the election in May.

Gallagher said the government had not yet changed its position but was contemplating the “challenges facing the budget”.

“Let's not pretend that the economic circumstances aren’t changing and haven't changed since May [when rates started rising],” she said.

“We are in this high and rising inflation environment, we've got rising interest rates but falling real wages. It's our responsibility (that budget decisions) are the ones that are responsible, affordable, sustainable, targeted, and the right decisions for the economic circumstances that we currently face.”

A chorus of Labor MPs have now chimed, albeit backbenchers who aren’t close to the decision making in cabinet, calling for the Gallagher and the Treasurer to look at “everything” when it comes to the policy which is being touted as "tax cuts for the rich".

“I certainly think that everything should be looked at, circumstances globally are in flux,” Tassie MP Brian Mitchell said.

While new Labor MP Marion Scrymgour from the NT reckons the government wouldn’t face much political pain by walking away from stage three tax cuts, but urged Chalmers to finalise the position by Budget Night on October 25.

“I know that during the election that there was a commitment that we wouldn’t walk away from it. But sometimes it shows governments are listening when they can say ‘we have heard what the public is saying given the cost-of-living pressures’,” Scrymgour said.

“I don’t think the Australian public will judge the government too harshly in relation to that.

“If it makes sense to walk away from it, why not make the decision?”

Paging all physiotherapists, please report to the Paris runways

 The Valentino was a beautiful display of gorgeous gowns.

Gorgeous celebrities.

And this...

@oyebi.eva

poor girl

♬ original sound - Oyebii🫐

Twice.

@oyebi.eva

iconic anyway #parifashionweek

♬ original sound - Oyebii🫐

Fashion month wraps up in the coming days.

Put the kettle on PM

Anthony Albanese will meet with Solomon Islands’ PM Manasseh Sogavare on Thursday.

The pair are due to have a bilateral meeting in Canberra and have dinner together at The Lodge - all amid ongoing tensions surrounding the Pacific leader’s security pact with China.

Albanese won't be left to fill the silences alone, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles are also due to meet with the Solomon Islands’ leader.

According to reports in The Australian, it is expected Sogavare will say "nah thanks" to an opportunity to face Australian media in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Albanese - something that typically occurs when foreign leaders pop in for official visits.

Sogavare's visit comes just weeks after he successfully extended his term as leader in a controversial parliamentary vote, and mocked Australia’s offer of financial support to stage the country’s next election.

DIVE DEEPER: Nobody puts Sogavare in the backyard

Optus pain continues as Telstra says 'hold my beer'

Telstra - seemingly learning nothing from the past two weeks - has been caught up in its own cybersecurity drama.

The names and emails of staff and former employees being more exposed than a Paris Fashion Week model.

Get this, 30,000 of them have been impacted and the details were shared on Saturday (!) to the same forum in which the Optus breach came to light. 

Telstra communications chief Alex Badenoch said the data breach came from a third party related to a rewards program for staff.

"We understand this may cause some anxiety to our people, particularly in the current climate of heightened awareness around cyber security," Badenoch said in a note to staff on Saturday.

"If you wish to find out more about the breach, or to find out if your email address was exposed, please contact our cyber team ... in the meantime, we remind you as always to remain vigilant about any unexpected communications."

On Tuesday, Telstra confirmed staff info from 2017 had been leaked to the dark web, and said it's now "working with authorities".

"To be clear, it was not a breach of any Telstra systems. The data released is very basic in nature - limited to full names and email addresses used to sign up to the platform. No customer account information was included. We believe it’s been made available now in an attempt to profit from the Optus breach," a spokesperson said.

"The relevant authorities have been notified, we've let current employees know, and while the data is of minimal risk to former employees, we will attempt to notify them too."

Japan told to set an alarm for a missile

Imagine hearing this upon waking...

Which is how some people in Japan woke up at about 7.20am on Tuesday when North Korea fired a suspected missile over the country. 

The ballistic missile travelled about 4500km before falling into the Pacific Ocean - far enough to hit the US island of Guam if it took another trajectory.

It is the first North Korean missile launch over Japan since 2017 and experts and politicians say is a "deliberate escalation" to get the attention of Tokyo and Washington.

The launch saw Japan issue a rare alert to some citizens to take cover. Some people were sent text messages that read: "North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Please evacuate into buildings or underground."

While the PM Fumio Kishida described the launch as "violent behaviour" and "outrageous".

The US posted this blunt message:

Kim pays real money for fake money stuff up

Kim Kardashian has forked out close to $2 million to settle allegations by the Security and Exchange Commission in the US that she failed to disclose money she got paid for promoting crypto tokens to potential investors on Instagram.

Kardashian was paid about $382,000 for one Instagram post that included a swipe up option for people to buy direct.

"This case is a reminder that, when celebrities or influencers endorse investment opportunities, including crypto asset securities, it doesn’t mean that those investment products are right for all investors," the SEC Chair Gary Gensler said. "We encourage investors to consider an investment’s potential risks and opportunities in light of their own financial goals."

Or be like Kim and find yourself a 'momager' like Kris Jenner instead.

Like clockwork...

Just days after the new look (working arm) of the British royal family published their new official headshots, surprise, surprise, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Podcasts released some new candids, just 'cause.

Finland is just showing off now

Prime Minister and Minister for Making Shapes, Sanna Marin has helped the country she leads to redefine "parental leave", ushering in a new law for parents that grants 160-days (about 22 weeks) of paid time off to both parents.

Meaning mums and dads now have equal rights to the same length of parental leave.

The new legislation allows each parent a daycare subsidy for 160-days (working out to be about a year). Parents can therefore spend about 14 months at home with their little ones. 

Days can also be transferred from one parent to the other, up to 63 of 'em.

Women are also able to use up 40-days of paid leave before the birth, via a "maternity allowance".

Comparably, in Australia mother's - or primary care givers - get about 18-weeks at minimum wage and two weeks for "Dad and Partner Pay".

The previous government pledged to expand the parental leave criteria and make it more flexible so parents could share the 20-weeks however it was never legislated as they lost the election.

DIVE DEEPER: Finally a budget that doesn’t pander to women.

Elon's next trick is to enter Miss Universe

One of the world's richest blokes, who has all the gear and *checks notes* no idea about international diplomacy has attempted to achieve world peace.

Musk created a Twitter poll suggesting Russia should just keep Crimea.

The Tesla billionaire tweeted his plan for peace in four bullet points, suggesting referendums in the now-annexed regions of Ukraine be redone under UN supervision, and that Crimea become "formally part of Russia as it has been since 1783". 

Bit rich coming from a bloke who is himself at war with the platform he posted his plan on.

World leaders clapped back.

While Ukraine's outgoing ambassador to Germany told the billionaire to "f..k off".

Meanwhile, he and Twitter have kissed and made up. After all the posturing and debate, he will now purchase the blue bird app for $67 billion.

Another day, another AFL face palm

The Essendon Footy Club is now searching for its third CEO in 40-days after the resignation of a guy called Andrew Thorburn just one day after he was appointed to the top job.

The quick quitting came after revelations of homophobic and anti-abortion views made by the Church he leads, as chairperson, and is a member of. 

Thorburn, who has attended the City on Hill church since 2014, was given a choice by the Bombers. He chose Christianity.

He then took to LinkedIn to share his side of the story.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/the-oz/news/making-news-the-finnish-pm-likes-parties-and-families-harry-and-meghan-do-not/news-story/7c04c7cfb85b1ccefc12a64203c06315