Australia news live: Albanese ‘very comfortable’ for King to speak on climate crisis, which ‘shouldn’t be a partisan political issue’ | Australia news

The company has also announced it intends to exit upstream exploration.

As my colleague, Adam Morton, Guardian Australia’s environment editor, put it – it’s a big deal.

More to come shortly.

Rankine provided details about the SES flood rescues that have occurred over the weekend in the state’s north-east:

We did quite a large number of flood rescues right across the New England over the weekend, probably in the vicinity of 20 flood rescues – people making that decision to drive around flood water and around closed road signs. That was a bit disappointing from an organisational perspective, people not being responsible behind the wheel. That takes a lot of the effort away from our volunteers to help community members when we’re fishing people out of their cars.

He said agricultural areas between Gunnedah and Narrabri have been affected, which has meant farmers have had to move livestock and equipment to higher ground.

There’s a lot of water in the river. Obviously the catchment is really saturated. There wouldn’t be an empty dam anywhere in that vicinity for our farmers but what that means is a lot of farmers have been moving livestock to higher ground. We did have a couple of horse rescues over the weekend as well where people’s livestock got surrounded in and around the New England communities. We have asked a lot of those farmers to lift their pumps and those sort of infrastructure that exist on those rivers and move their livestock to higher ground to ensure they’re safe. And to make sure that there’s no stock and equipment losses for those farmers.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was interviewed by the BBC’s James Naughtie after his meeting with King Charles III.

Asked to describe what the conversation was like and how it went, Albanese said “it was very warm and friendly”.

As for the possibility King Charles visiting Australia early in his reign, Albanese said “he would be very welcome”.

“There will be a standing invitation for him, as there is for other members of the royal family.”

Naughtie also asked Albanese about the King’s position in relation to climate change:

Now, the King is now out of the political arena in the sense that he has to tread carefully on political issues that are matter for government. But everyone knows his commitment on these questions. No doubt you would hope that that is a conversation despite his accession to the throne that can go on.

Albanese:

I think that is a matter, of course, for King Charles, what he comments on. And it’s important that the sovereign stay distant from party political issues.

But from my perspective, what I’ve said, is that I’d be very comfortable with the King expressing views about the importance of climate change, and it is about the very survival of our way of life.

We know that in Australia the impacts of bushfires, floods, natural disasters, are doing exactly what the science told us would happen – which is that there have always been natural disasters in Australia, but they’re more frequent and they’re more intense, and that’s why this issue shouldn’t be a partisan political issue. It should be an issue which the world needs to confront.

The Victorian government is bringing back its dining and entertainment program today, which allows customers to claim 25% cash back at businesses within the state.

The program will cover purchases of over $40 at restaurants and cafes, live music venues, museums and cinemas.

The first round was launched in March this year and saw $32m claimed within three months. Dumpling Alley was amongst the most popular dining venues, while Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was one of the most popular entertainment choices in the previous round, according to the government.

The $25m program runs until 16 December 2022 or when funds are exhausted.

The minister for sport, tourism and major events, Steve Dimopoulos, said:

With a blockbuster summer of major events upon us, we’re providing Victorians even more reasons to get out and enjoy everything the state has to offer – while saving money and supporting local businesses.

Peter Hannam

Where supply of housing is less flexible, mortgage debt is higher: RBA

The RBA’s Kearns, though, says that the higher interest rates will have varying effects on property prices (even if the precise impacts are uncertain).

He notes research by the RBA found that, all else being equal, interest rates can have larger effects on housing prices “in locations where the supply of housing is less flexible, mortgage debt is higher, there are more investors and incomes are higher”.

Back in April, we looked some of the areas where mortgage stress might be highest, and researchers pointed to outer suburban areas in particular:

When it comes to property prices themselves, the greater sensitivity is likely to be in the “most expensive areas”. Data showed prices in pricier suburbs are “more cyclical” than the average, Kearns said.

Kearns added that evidence also exists to show houses are more sensitive to changes in interest rates than apartments. The limited supply of available zoned land partly explains this result, he said.

“Overall this indicates that an increase in interest rates narrows the distribution of housing wealth since more expensive properties experience a larger fall in prices,” he said, but adds the distributional effects are temporary and disappear over time.

Commercial property tends to be less affected than residential property to higher rates, Kearns said, although the unrelated working-from-home impacts might provide other headwinds for that sector.

Peter Hannam

Borrowing costs just one of the factors affecting property prices

A couple of other takeaways from the speech by RBA’s Jonathan Kearns about the links between higher interest rates and property prices.

The uncertainty of those links can be seen in this chart from Kearns that underscores how volatile real estate prices are, not least because borrowing costs are just one of the factors affecting property (but arguably the biggest one):

As Kearns notes, interest rates affect all asset prices, including housing prices, because those assets are valued for what they provide us in the future.

“An increase in interest rates means that a given amount of income (or benefit) at a future date is worth less today, and so an asset with a fixed future stream of payments will be worth less today,” Kearns said, noting that future cash flows may also change with interest rates, amplifying or moderating the impact on prices.

As rates rise, the ability of people to borrow (and that’s what most of us do when buying property unless you have suitcases of cash under the bed), falls quite rapidly, as this chart shows:

A motorcycle rider has died after hitting a cow on the New South Wales mid-north coast yesterday.

Emergency services were called to an area about 30km south-west of Macksville after reports a motorcyclist had collided with a herd of cows on the side of the road.

NSW police said in a statement:

Witnesses rendered first aid to the rider – a 64-year-old man – before the arrival of NSW Ambulance paramedics; however, he died while being taken to Macksville Hospital.

Officers from Mid North Coast Police District established a crime scene and commenced inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.