National News LIVE: Shock rate decision reaction; Medicinal cannabis crackdown; Bungle that caused mushroom murder havoc
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7.03am
Shock reserve bank decision hits ASX
By Emily Kowal and Shane Wright
The Australian sharemarket is set to slide on opening following the Reserve Bank's surprise decision to hold interest rates steady, a move that caught many traders and economists off guard.
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank shocked experts (and many homeowners) when it announced it would not cut rates.
It was the first time in the bank's history that a vote on a rate decision was made public, revealing a split between those who wanted to stick at 3.85 per cent and those who believe more relief is needed due to easing inflation pressures and the threat posed by the Trump tariff agenda.
Governor Michele Bullock said while the bank did not cut rates on Tuesday, further rate relief was likely, with the outcome of the June quarter inflation report – released at the end of the month – the key factor.
'The decision today … was about timing rather than direction,' she said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said people would be disappointed that the bank had not cut rates.
'There will be millions of Australians around the country who were desperately hoping for more rate relief today, in addition to the two rate cuts that we've already seen over the last five months,' he said.
6.55am
Why a major Sydney university has stripped students of their degrees
By Christopher Harris
To some news in Sydney.
Students at the state's biggest university have been caught submitting fraudulent admissions documents, using fake medical certificates to get assignment extensions and increasingly misusing artificial intelligence, with more than 3000 breaches of its academic integrity policy recorded last year.
There were more than 1000 cases where University of Sydney students were issued a fail grade for an entire subject after being caught cheating, while 13 graduates were stripped of their degree after the university discovered they had committed fraud, its annual report on misconduct said.
'The university has seen an increase of fraud, in particular, students submitting fraudulent medical certificates in support of their special considerations application, but also the increase of contract cheating in combination with the misuse of artificial intelligence,' it said.
Read the full story by Christopher Harris here.
6.50am
Over a million Australians have been prescribed medical cannabis. Now, regulators are cracking down
By Angus Thomson
Patients in emergency departments with cannabis-induced psychosis, consults lasting less than a minute and doctors who have issued more than 10,000 scripts in six months are among the cases that have prompted Australia's alarmed healthcare watchdog to announce clearer guidelines for the booming medicinal cannabis industry.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) on Wednesday released guidance for doctors prescribing medicinal cannabis products amid what it described as poor prescribing practice and surging patient demand.
6.44am
What's making news today
By Emily Kowal
Good morning and welcome to the national news blog. My name is Emily Kowal, and I will be helming our live coverage this morning.
It's Wednesday, July 9.
Let's jump into it.
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Sky News AU
29 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
New details revealed on how mosquito-‘ravaged' German backpacker was found alive in outback after major search
Fresh details on the "remarkable" discovery of a German backpacker who was missing after spending 12 days in the Australian outback, have been revealed. Carolina Wilga, 26, disappeared on June 29, and it is believed she became lost in a vast rural area of Western Australia after her van was discovered without her in it. On Friday night, Western Australia Police confirmed Ms Wilga had been located alive 'safe and well' in Karroun Hill Reserve area of the state's Wheatbelt region. It followed a major nationwide search that later became centered on the van - which police believed had "suffered mechanical issues". Inspector Martin Glynn had initially said Ms Wilga was found by a member of the public, who came across her walking on a bush track 'As you can imagine, from the trauma she suffered for the last few days, she's been obviously through a great deal,' Inspector Glynn said on Friday. "She does have some injuries. She's been ravaged by mosquitoes. She's obviously been through an amazing journey." WA Police Detective Acting Inspector Jessica Securo has now provided more details about Ms Wilga's discovery, revealing the 26-year-old had flagged down a motorist in an area 20km away from the closest walking track while limping along the roadside. 'She was very distressed, obviously exhausted, dehydrated, needed some food … but overall just relieved that she had come across someone and was able to get that help,' Inspector Securo told Weekend Today on Saturday. "She actually flagged down a passing motorist, which was extremely lucky. '... we're extremely grateful to that member of the community who helped us." Inspector Glynn had said the German national was taken to Beacon before being flown to Perth to be provided medical attention. Her family had been notified of her discovery. The West Australian has reported five friends of the German backpacker were waiting out Royal Perth Hospital on Friday night, with one friend Miranda saying she was 'excited' to see Ms Wilga again. Ms Wilga's parents, who Miranda had been in contact with, 'couldn't believe' the news their daughter had been located alive. 'We just heard from the news that she was found and alive, which had everyone excited,' Miranda said, according to the publication. 'I was actually in contact with her family every day almost and they're very happy. 'They almost couldn't believe it, but yeah, they were just overwhelmed with happiness.' WA Premier Roger Cook on Friday said he was 'incredibly relieved' to hear the backpacker had been found alive. 'This news is nothing short of remarkable,' Mr Cook said in post on social media. 'To our emergency services and everyone who searched, shared information, and supported the family through this ordeal - thank you.' Prior to her disappearance on June 29, Ms Wilga had been seen at 12.10pm visiting a general store in the small town of Beacon. Five minutes later, the young woman seen wearing ripped blue baggy jeans, a cream long-sleeve jumper and a similar coloured scarf, got back into her van and left. Ms Wilga had been backpacking in Australia for the last two years before her disappearance and had recently been working at mine sites in regional WA.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Fourth person named in suspected Mexico murder of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson as case due to return to court next week
A fourth person charged with aggravated homicide has been named following investigations into the alleged killings of Australian surfer brothers Callum and Jake Robinson in Mexico last year. The ABC has named Irineo Francisco as the fourth person expected to be tried alongside three other people who were arrested in the early stages of the investigation into the murder. Perth brothers Callum, 33, and Jake, 30, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, were killed while on a surfing trip in the Mexican state of Baja California, a remote area known to be plagued by violent cartels. The trio were reported missing on April 27 and their bodies were found on May 3 at the bottom of a 10 to 15 metre unused well. Initial inquiries determined the surfers were killed execution-style in an armed robbery when they tried to fight back against their truck being stolen. Miguel Ángel Gaxiola Rodríguez, the Mexican prosecutor leading the case against the suspected murderers of the trio says there is still no evidence of cartel involvement, and instead maintains the primary motive for the killings was to steal the brothers' tyres. Mr Gaxiola Rodríguez also told the ABC the prosecutors will continue to pursue the robbery-gone-wrong theory with the case expected to return to court next week. "It appears that the perpetrators identified an opportunity for robbery when they encountered the foreigners in a highly isolated location," he said. "These individuals exploited the circumstances to perpetrate the robbery, resulting in the fatal shooting of the three foreigners." Police made their first arrests in relation to the trios' murders on May 1, 2024, when Ari Gisel, 23, was pulled over for a routine traffic stop by police in Ensenada. She allegedly threw a 100 gram bag of meth on the ground and tried to flee the vehicle. However, officers inspected the car and found an iPhone that belonged to Mr Rhoad while the woman was also later charged with possession of narcotics. Two other Mexican nationals were arrested along with Gisel, after she turned her then-partner Jesus Gerardo Garcia Cota and his brother Cristian Alejandro in to authorities. After she was detained, Gisel told a court that Garcia Cota, known by the alias 'El Kekas', confessed to her when he came home that he "f***ed up three gringos". The court then heard she was shown the new tyres on her car which had allegedly been stolen from the white ute the Australian brothers were using. The three men who have been charged are being tried on multiple offences including aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, violent robbery, grand theft auto, and forced disappearance. Ari Gisel faces the same charges, except forced disappearance.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Ashamed of your mushroom murder obsession? Don't be
By the time Louisa Collins was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol in 1889, she had been tried four times for the murders of two husbands. She was alleged to have poisoned them, possibly with Rough on Rats, an arsenic-based rat poison freely available in the colony at the time. Collins maintained her innocence until the end. But there was so much public and political pressure to have her brought to justice (her husbands having both died from short and violent gastro-intestinal illnesses) that the authorities seemed determined to keep trying her until a jury eventually convicted. Collins' hanging was horribly botched, leaving her windpipe exposed, according to the eyewitness report in The Sydney Morning Herald. Her executioner, nicknamed Nosey Bob (he had lost his nose to a kicking horse and was left with nothing but two nasal holes) was famously bad at his job. When Collins swung shortly after 9am on January 8, 1889, wearing 'the usual prison clothes of dark wincey material', as per another Herald report, she became the last woman ever hanged in NSW. Louisa Collins' story is not well-known by contemporary Australians. In an excellent book by Caroline Overington on Collins' short but notorious life (she was 41 when she went to her death), Overington wonders why Australians know well the history of our male villains, but not the female ones. But of course, the names of Collins' victims – Charles Andrews and Michael Collins – are not known at all. The female poisoner who has captured the contemporary imagination – Erin Patterson – will also outlast her victims in the public memory. Patterson was this week convicted of three murders and one attempted murder, having poisoned her family members with a meal containing death-cap mushrooms. There has been some consternation from some, and even a scolding sense of moral condemnation, about the sheer volume of coverage of Patterson. Meanwhile, these critics say, her victims have been callously disregarded, cruelly dismissed as their deaths become fodder for the salacious true-crime appetites of the masses.
