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Advertisement National Superquiz July 22, 2025 — 11.59pm By Harry Hollinsworth Try our new Mini Crossword Ten clues. Twenty-five squares. How quickly can you solve this bite-sized puzzle? Track your winning streaks and challenge family and friends by sharing your results. Premium subscribers to The Age can play the Mini Crossword (and all our puzzles, including Target Time) here and premium subscribers to The Sydney Morning Herald can play them here. License this article Superquiz For subscribers Quizzes Most Viewed in National Loading Read More

Best of cartoons, July 23, 2025 We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later. Skip to sections navigationSkip to contentSkip to footer 9 ImagesJuly 22, 2025 — 11.40pm 1/9 Credit:Matt Golding 2/9 Credit:Matt Golding 3/9 Credit:Dionne Gain 4/9 Credit:Simon Letch 5/9 Credit:Simon Letch 6/9 Credit:Simon Letch 7/9 Credit:Michaela Pollock 8/9 Credit:Cathy Wilcox 9/9 Credit:Aresna Villanueva Read More

The Reserve Bank has warned ongoing slow productivity growth will restrict how far it can bring down official interest rates amid claims the country will soon become a “European-style welfare state” if government spending is not reined in. As the International Monetary Fund again urged the government to lift the economy’s speed limit by increasing competition while being cautious in supporting individual industries, minutes of the RBA’s meeting at which it surprisingly held interest rates revealed internal divisions over the inflation threats facing the country. RBA governor Michele Bullock explained the 6-3 split in the bank’s decision.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer In early July, the Reserve’s monetary policy committee split 6-3 to hold the cash rate at 3.85 per cent. Financial markets and economists had expected the bank to cut rates to 3.6 per cent. The minutes show that all members of the bank believe rates are on the way down, with the doubt over when to make the next cut. “The focus at this meeting was on the appropriate timing and extent of further easing, against the backdrop of heightened uncertainty,” the minutes showed. Loading Those backing no change argued that unemployment – up to May – had been steady, with the overall jobs market considered tight. This was related to ongoing weakness in productivity growth, which the minutes show the bank considers to be a structural issue, a drop-off in productivity in the mining sector and the expansion of non-market parts of the economy such as health and aged care. The worry over productivity, the focus of a three-day meeting of experts in Canberra in August, prompted the bank to warn that without a lift in productivity, interest rate settings and the economy’s overall growth rate would have to change. “Members also observed that, if productivity growth proves to have been persistently lower than had been the case historically, the recent subdued outcomes for GDP growth may not have been far below the rate of growth in supply capacity,” it said. Those supporting a rate cut said there was “already sufficient evidence to be confident that inflation was on track” to remain around the RBA’s 2-3 per cent inflation target, “if not lower”. Reserve Bank members supporting a rate cut are concerned about the potential impact of Donald Trump’s trade agenda.Credit: Bloomberg There was also concern about the broad economic impact of Donald Trump’s tariff agenda which was likely to drag on the Australian economy and inflation. “GDP growth in Australia was already subdued, the saving rate had risen, the underlying momentum in wages growth and services price inflation appeared to be lower and some concerns were expressed that the recent data suggested a loss of momentum in activity,” they minutes noted. But research to be released on Wednesday by the right-leaning Centre for Independent Studies suggests productivity and economic growth are being affected by overall government spending. Loading Its research suggests that spending by all levels of government has increased from about 34 to 35 per cent of GDP in the late 1990s to 2008, but is now between 38 and 39 per cent and growing. Centre for Independent Studies senior fellow Robert Carling said spending in areas including defence, the NDIS, aged care and transport infrastructure had all grown sharply, creating a “formidable bloc” of people who were reliant on government expenditure opposed to restraint. “The honeymoon of debt-funded largesse is over. Without a determined reset of expectations, Australia risks sliding into a European-style welfare state — slower growth, higher taxes and a culture where ‘voting for a living’ replaces ‘working for a living’,” he said. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Greens believe the government should use next month’s roundtable to consider tax cuts for young parents and offset the lost revenue by axing the capital gains tax concession and reducing subsidies on fossil fuels. “Right now, the government gives better tax incentives to investors like Clive Palmer or Gina Rinehart than it does to people who actually work for a living,” Greens leader Larissa Waters said. The government is also being pressed to introduce productivity-enhancing policies by the International Monetary Fund. In a global report released overnight, the fund said Australia was one of a number of countries that had to rebalance its exposure to the rest of the world by lifting economic growth. “Australia’s commitment to structural policies that boost competitiveness, including via promoting R&D, reducing barriers to labour mobility, upgrading competition policies and stimulating innovation, would help improve export quality, reduce unit labour costs, foster high-value industries and contribute to medium-term external rebalancing,” it said. Loading The government has adopted a series of specific industry policies since coming to office, including its Made in Australia program. But the fund cautioned this type of direct intervention should be carefully targeted. “Industrial policies should be pursued cautiously and remain narrowly targeted to specific objectives where externalities or market failures prevent effective market solutions and aim to minimise trade and investment distortions,” it said. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter. Most Viewed in Politics Loading Read More

They were a patched-together side thrown together in a week, had one of their best players pedantically disqualified by their rivals and were written off as $21 outsiders by bookies. They had a player sin-binned, lost another two to concussions and went 20-80 on 50-50s from the ref. But somehow, despite all the incredible odds, the First Nations and Pasifika Invitational came within a whisker of beating the British and Irish Lions at Marvel Stadium in a 24-19 win for the visitors. Jack Debreczeni of the First Nations & Pasifika in action.Credit: Getty Images In a game most pundits thought would be a cricket score win to the Lions – and an ugly one at that – the inspiring FNP side pushed the might of Britain and Ireland to the edge of a history-making upset. After going down 14-0 while down a man in the bin in the opening 15 minutes, the FNP side rallied to make it 14-all at halftime. The Lions pushed away again with two more tries in the second half, but the hosts refused to quit and scored in the last ten minutes to get within five points. But, despite some late chances to score and win, that’s where the score stayed. The Lions managed to keep their chances of going undefeated alive, but only by the skin of their teeth. It was a mighty, mighty effort by the Kurtley Beale-led, Toutai Kefu-coached side. Motivated by the chance to represent their respective cultures, and fired up after the Lions denied Pete Samu the ability to play because he didn’t play Super Rugby, the FNP side played with edge and physicality that rattled their rivals. Players like Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Taniela Tupou and Brandon Paenga-Amosa showed they should still into Joe Schmidt’s immediate plans, and Charlie Gamble and Triston Reilly should be on his radar too. Both were strong. In front of a 30,420 crowd, the Lions only just crept home in what was their tightest win on tour so far. “Unbelievably proud,” Kefu said post-game. “We talked before the game, all week actually, about a performance that you could be proud of when you walked away and look back. We never actually talked about the result. “It was just a performance that we were proud of. That’s what we talked about and I thought they delivered on that tonight.” Lions coach Andy Farrell said the FNP side had applied enough pressure to push the visitors off their gameplan, and they were relieved to get the win. “I suppose first and foremost it is 100 per cent congratulations for what was a great performance for First Nations & Pasifika side, it showed exactly what it meant to them,” Farrell said. Rob Leota (blonde hair) of the First Nations & Pasifika celebrates after scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images “They obviously talked a lot about how much they were enjoying their time together and they showed they were a really tough nut to crack especially when we went 14 points up. For them to stay in the fight like they did and put it to us for large parts of the game, they deserve a huge pat on the back.” The scores were level at 14-all at halftime after an incredible first half that saw the FNP side rally from 14-0 down in the opening minutes. Winger Triston Reilly was given yellow carded for a seemingly reasonable cover tackle on Darcy Graham, and the Lions took advantage of the extra man. The first try to Jamie Osborne came in the 7th minute when Owen Farrell chipped in behind the line from a scrum, and with no Andy Muirhead up in the line making the numbers. The second try went to Graham three minutes later, when a long ball to the gap on the wing was exploited. But just as it looked like it would be the walkover many expected, the hosts didn’t go away. Reilly came back on and almost instantly made good, intercepting a pass and racing away to score. It lifted the FNP side, who began throwing massive shots and pressuring the Lions. The visitors got more and more rattled, and when Taniela Tupou and the FNP scrum began to get dominance, penalties and field position led to another try, this time to flanker Seru Uru via a short charge at the line. The FNP were up and about, and almost scored a third on the stroke of halftime when Jack Debreczeni took an intercept, but didn’t have the legs to make it to the line. The second half saw the FNP side concede territory with a poor Kalani Thomas pass in attack allowed the Lions to pressure the line, and they eventually scored with a second try to Osborne, after getting outside the FNP rush defence. That made it 19-14. The Lions almost scored again in the 50th minute from a loose ball that was grubbered ahead, but the TMO found a knock-on in the lead up. The FNP side kept fighting but they eventually conceded again in the 63rd minute after a shocking kick by Andy Muirhead cannoned into his own player, and led to the Lions building pressure and eventually finding an extra man in Duhan van de Merwe on the left wing. Rob Leota scored in the 70th minute to bring the FNP side to within a converted try of an upset. But the Lions had just enough to get home. “It’s been a real special week for everyone involved. You know, to be able to represent your family name, your culture, it’s a really special experience,” Beale said. “And to be able to kind of come together in a short amount of time and share stories about where you come from. “We all kind of found that we all kind of come from similar backgrounds and I think that was really a powerful moment and allowed us to connect and I think that kind of showed in the performance tonight. We just

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On Tuesday, the death toll from the crash of a Bangladesh air force training jet into a school in the country’s capital rose to 31, including at least 25 students, a teacher who died from burn injuries sustained while assisting others in getting out of the burning building, and the training aircraft’s pilot. As the

Following the fallout between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump, the administration explored the possibility of cutting contracts awarded to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but concluded that it was not possible as SpaceX was involved in critical work for the Department of Defense and Nasa and there were few to no alternatives, according to a

Delhi NCR news: Noida schools closed tomorrow due to…; check details Why did Jagdeep Dhankhar quit? Not health, THESE may be reasons for his abrupt announcement… This YouTuber to make Bollywood debut opposite Wamiqa Gabbi in Karan Johar film; not Elvish Yadav, Ashish Chanchlani, Gaurav Taneja, Dhruv Rathee Bihar SIR: EC issues BIG statement, says

Delhi NCR news: Noida schools closed tomorrow due to…; check details Why did Jagdeep Dhankhar quit? Not health, THESE may be reasons for his abrupt announcement… This YouTuber to make Bollywood debut opposite Wamiqa Gabbi in Karan Johar film; not Elvish Yadav, Ashish Chanchlani, Gaurav Taneja, Dhruv Rathee Bihar SIR: EC issues BIG statement, says

Delhi NCR news: Noida schools closed tomorrow due to…; check details Why did Jagdeep Dhankhar quit? Not health, THESE may be reasons for his abrupt announcement… This YouTuber to make Bollywood debut opposite Wamiqa Gabbi in Karan Johar film; not Elvish Yadav, Ashish Chanchlani, Gaurav Taneja, Dhruv Rathee Bihar SIR: EC issues BIG statement, says