It depends how you see it. Higher interest rates are nice for savers and painful for borrowers, so how you view the Reserve Bank of Australia's sixth rise depends on which category you're in.
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The RBA put the cash rate up by 25 basis points to 2.6 per cent in a bid to curb inflation.
Many economists were expecting a 50 basis point rise so the lower rise may mean that rate rises are now slowing.
Meanwhile, the data breaches of telecom companies don't stop. Telstra has become the latest company to receive a successful hack attack, just as millions of Australians rush to protect sensitive details stolen in the previous Optus one.
A Telstra spokesman confirmed that up to 30,000 former and current workers had their names and email addresses uploaded to a forum on the dark web.
And tennis star Nick Kyrgios will ask a Canberra court to dismiss an assault charge on mental health grounds.
His lawyer asked the court to list the matter for an application under section 334 of the territory's Crimes Act, which allows the court to dismiss a charge if it is satisfied a defendant is mentally impaired.
Talking of the law, the police are worried about the level of anger at airports from unhappy passengers.
Guns, knives and knuckledusters have been seized from Australian airports as "air-rage" incidents fuel police concerns.
School holidays are peak time for incidents, with passengers fired up due to missed flights, travel delays and baggage issues.
Outside terminals, there's also been violent behaviour and disputes over taxis and rideshare vehicles.
Police have seized 746 prohibited items including guns, knives, knuckledusters, ammunition and ninja stars, from airports in Australia's capital cities during the past seven months.
Maybe the problem will be damped down. Severe weather posing a risk of flash and riverine flooding is forecast for much of western NSW as emergency responders prepare for more rescues in the final days of school holidays.
"We're looking at around a month or more worth of rain, particularly across inland areas in NSW," Gabrielle Woodhouse from the Bureau of Meteorology said.
THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- RBA hikes rates for sixth straight month, but it's starting to slow down
- Telstra staff have details hacked
- Nick Kyrgios to seek dismissal of assault charge on mental health grounds
- Optus data hack: Why Australia's data privacy laws could get beefed up
- Petrol prices already tracking upwards
- Air rage: Frustration boils over as guns, knives seized at airports
- Month's worth of rain headed for NSW
- New cattle group sparks beef among farmers
- ACM launches search for next gen journalists
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
