Police declare firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue a likely terrorist incident, Protests outside the Reserve Bank before last interest rate call of the year, Tennis great Pat Rafter says no one should count out Nick Kyrgios ahead of his tennis comeback.
- Police declare firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue a likely terrorist incident...
- Protests outside the Reserve Bank before last interest rate call of the year...
- Tennis great Pat Rafter says no one should count out Nick Kyrgios ahead of his tennis comeback.
Police have declared the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue a likely terrorist incident.
Victoria and Australian Federal police have made the classification today after the Adass Israel Synagogue attack in Melbourne's southeast on Friday.
Two of the synagogue's three buildings were gutted in the fire that erupted in the early hours of Friday morning.
Police say they are looking for three suspects.
The new declaration of a likely terrorist attack means the investigation has transitioned to the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says this will now opens up a raft of extra police powers including the ability to stop, search and seize people without a warrant.
"The evil antisemitic attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in the early hours of Friday morning has now been declared a terrorist attack. What this means is that those additional powers, those additional resources, can now be deployed to this investigation. It's an investigation I know we all want to see resolved as quickly as possible, but we must let our police officers do the good work that they have been doing to bring us to this point."
Australia's spy chief Mike Burgess says his teams will be launching its own investigation into an attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
It follows Mr Burgess, the Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation raising the national terrorism threat level earlier this year to 'probable'.
He says, along with assisting police investigations, ASIO staff will be working to ensure this attack cannot be repeated elsewhere in the country.
"We're also conducting our own inquiries and investigation to check to ensure that there is no ongoing threat or individuals with similar capabilities to the attack we've just seen in Melbourne. At this stage, we have no intelligence to suggest that is the case. The national terrorism threat level remains at probable. When I raised the threat level earlier this year, I noted there was a greater than 50 per cent chance of a terrorist attack in the next 12 months. Sadly, this appalling incident appears to embody the ugly dynamics that ASIO has been warning about."
Union members and struggling Australians have rallied outside the Reserve Bank of Australia before an interest rate decision that could see long-awaited relief for those with a mortgage.
The RBA will make their final rates decision of the year tomorrow in their lengthy effort to manage Australia's inflation.
Pressure has mounted on the central bank which has kept cash rates on hold at 4.35 per cent for eight-straight meetings.
This comes despite inflation now having fallen within the RBA's target range, sitting at 2.8 per cent.
National Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, says the central bank is out of touch with the financial pain felt by working people.
"We're outside the Reserve Bank of Australia today and that's because working people are urging them to cut interest rates. Too much pressure is on Australian working people at the moment, especially those people with mortgages. We believe the RBA is both out of touch and out of step. They're out of touch because they see statistics, we want them to see the faces of ordinary Australians who are being put under pressure because they are keeping interest rates too high for too long."
Woolworths is counting the cost of a 17-day strike by its factory workers, saying it lost about $140 million in lost sales.
Distribution centre employees stopped work citing issues with their pay and safety concerns about an algorithmic performance management system.
They have now clinched a deal with the grocery giant on Friday which the company says includes an 11 per cent pay rise over three years.
Woolworths says the losses in sales were due to empty shelves in their stores as result of the action.
In a statement to the ASX, the supermarket also forecast a $50 million hit to profits due to the dispute.
In sport
Tennis great Pat Rafter says he won't be surprised if Nick Kyrgios can make the Australian Open semi-finals.
The enigmatic former Wimbledon finalist is set to make his tennis comeback later this month at the Brisbane International before launching his grand slam campaign next month.
Rafter, Australia's former Davis Cup captain, says it's impossible to predict how his former protege will fare on his competitive return after more than two years off tour with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries.
Kyrgios needed an injury-protected ranking to secure a direct entry to the Australian Open but Rafter says it would be foolish to dismiss the 29-year-old prospects of a deep run.
