18:10:00 10/05/2013
Despite interest rates being at historic lows, economists say the Reserve Bank's latest report card shows they could go lower still. The bank says the economy is facing plenty of risks from both overseas and at home. Economists claim that if economic conditions deteriorate further, the cash rate could drop to as low as 2 per cent. The bank though could be helped by the commercial banks as well, the ANZ Bank today saying it'll drop its standard variable mortgage rate by more than the RBA's cut on Tuesday. More
18:14:15 10/05/2013
The need for a second Sydney airport has long been talked about, but a decision on where it should be located seems as far away as ever. The Government today released yet another report which identified the need for further work to be done on one of the options. The upshot is, no decision will be made until after the election. More
18:18:15 10/05/2013
At least one house and many more are under threat from an autumn bushfire which has burnt through hundreds of hectares in the Adelaide Hills, fuelled by dry conditions, unseasonably warm weather and northerly winds. More
18:21:00 10/05/2013
Relief is being provided for wildlife left without food and shelter after the Tasmanian bushfires. Injured animals are being treated at a wildlife sanctuary in Hobart that is also providing food for locals to put out for animals. Meanwhile, a couple who is yet to rebuild their own home are already putting up nest boxes on their property to provide habitat for wildlife. More
- Annie Guest
- Extra Audio View
- Link Go
18:25:00 10/05/2013
A grieving father has told how his son was saving money to move in with his girlfriend when he became the first of four young people to die working under the Rudd government's home insulation program. Today, at the final hearing of a coronial inquest, several Commonwealth and Queensland bureaucrats were scrutinised about why workers were untrained, unsupervised and using metal staples in electrically live environments. More
18:30:00 10/05/2013
Prosecutors in New York have accused eight men of being part of an elaborate cyber-fraud that robbed two banks of $45 million in a matter of hours. They allege a crime gang spanning 27 countries hacked into the computer systems of credit card processing companies, stealing the information they needed to allow them to make repeated big withdrawals from cash machines. More
18:35:00 10/05/2013
Victoria's Treasurer today faced a fiery parliamentary committee grilling over the state's budget, released on Tuesday. It was Treasurer Michael O'Brien's first budget. Its centrepiece is the east-west road link costing $7 billion. This morning's annual post-budget hearing descended into shouting as Labor and Coalition MPs traded insults on their respective fiscal credentials. More
18:40:00 10/05/2013
As Pakistanis prepare to go to the polls tomorrow, the Taliban has vowed to use election day to drive to a crescendo the violence that has dogged the campaign. Kidnappings, death threats and bombings have continued unabated as the Taliban vowed to do everything to undermine the polls. More
18:45:00 10/05/2013
The NT Police will target problem drinkers under new powers announced by the Territory Government this afternoon. Police will be able to issue alcohol bans of up to 12 months on people who've committed offences while being drunk. Anyone who breaches the bans could face an additional penalty of a fine or time in jail. The Northern Territory Government argues the new measures will reduce the high rate of alcohol-related crime. More
18:50:00 10/05/2013
The NSW Aboriginal Legal Service says lives will be in danger unless one of its major services gets urgent funding. The custody notification line, which provides over-the-phone legal advice to Aboriginal people in jail, was one of the recommendations of the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The legal service says Federal Government funding to the program was cut last year and the NSW Government is refusing to fill the breach. More
- Maisie Cohen
- Extra Audio View
18:55:00 10/05/2013
School students from Hermannsburg, a remote Indigenous community about an hour and a half's drive out of Alice Springs, are learning how to write, record and edit their own personal stories as part of a digital storytelling workshop run by researchers from the University of Western Sydney. The stories will be collected, stored and shared in an online database called Community Stories - an initiative of the Northern Territory Library. More