Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on Australia's unemployment rate reaching 4.5 percent

Australia's unemployment rate jumped to 4.5 percent in September - up from 4.3 percent in August, according to new reports.

This is the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate recorded since November 2021.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says this will likely put extra pressure on the Reserve Bank to make another interest rate cut.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International correspondence with ends in Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand business, Murray Old.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Osit correspondence with US.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Now heymaz hi there here they're going to afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Okay, So what's going on with employment?

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Well, it's not a pretty picture. Jobless rate at the
highest level now in four years, jumped up to four
and a half percent in September, a surprising result. All
the economists who were asked about their expectations, they said, well,
it's going to stay around four point three percent, which
is what it was in August. So more than one
thousand people a day lost their jobs in September, a

(00:37):
modest job growth of fifteen thousand, spurred on by a
rise of course in the participation rate, which measures the
number of people out there in the across the country
actively looking for work. So the number ticked up four
and a half percent. This of course puts pressure on
the Reserve Bank to think about cutting interest rates. The
cash rate currently has at three point six percent, and

(00:59):
the next Reserve Bank meeting that's due on Melbourne Cup
Day on Tuesday, the fourth of November.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Now, okay, so this court case about the synagogues and
the pro Palestine activists explain this.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Okay, Back in February this year, there was a huge
spike in anti Semitic incidents across Sydney. It's almost all
confined to Sydney. So you had spray painting on synagogue walls,
you know, hate the Jews, pro Palestine from the rivet
of the sea, all that sort of standard stuff that
has obscene it's just dreadful. So the state government brought

(01:36):
in laws that were cloaked in this kind of anti
hate speech was the phrase that the government was using
at the time. It was one of several changes designed
to crack down on hate speech. But lawyers for the
Palestine Action Group challenge the validity of these laws. They
said it actually pushed police powers beyond legitimate bounds. Police

(01:57):
were empowered to order protests to move on if they
were near a place of worship, being a synagogue, be
the mosque, be at a church, even if there was
no basis to believe worshipers were obstructed or frightened or
fearful or know anything along those lives. It was a
step too far for the government well and the police,
and the Supreme Court today is ruled yes, in fact,

(02:19):
it was an overreach. It's a step too far in
terms of allowing protests against governments or political matters. It's
a been embarrassing for the New South Wales government. It's
been very hot and strong on this, as you might expect.
Governments here, the governments everywhere don't want to see this
sort of stuff in our society, you know, hateful speech,
spray paated on the walls of the places of worship.

(02:39):
It's dreadful. The power to move on has been ruled invalid,
but it will still be a crime to impede people,
to harass people, to intimidate them if they're trying to
go in and out of a synagogue or a mosca,
a church.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
So the police for you, though, why do these activists
have to be anywhey of synagogues?

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, I suppose they think it gets them an extra
headline headline chases, aren't they. I mean, anything we do
here by way of protest doesn't resonate, but doesn't ripple
far beyond Sydney. I mean, to be honest, unless you
get on the harbor bridges they did, unless you get
down on the Opera house. I mean, those images go
around the world, but your point's very valid.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
I mean, I mean it strikes me that we're conflating
a state with its religion and they're not necessarily the same.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Revision.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (03:25):
One hundred percent? I mean, just stay away from dudy churches.
I mean it's a bit sort of I don't know,
a bit the Spanish inquisitions. I mean, there's no need
to go near a synagogue or a mosco or a
church from.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Leave those people alone, all right. So Tidmus is retiring.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
She is, indeed, and look, it's a big loss for
Australian swimming. She's only twenty five years old, but she's
been of the pool since she was about six, so
it's a hell of a career from this young woman.
She's one of the greatest distance swimmers ever, not just
in Australia but for all time. Eight Olympic medals at
the Games in param in Tokyo, four of those gold,

(04:03):
nine World championship titles, including world championship medals, including four
titles at world level, and look, she is a bit
of a loss, has no doubt about that. She was
an absolute weapon. She earned arian titmas. Her nickname was
the Terminator and you know the likes of Katie Ladecki.
She mowed her down and Lidecki is one of the greatest,

(04:24):
one of the goats of swimming and Tipmos had her
measure twice at Olympic level, so a very big loss
to Australian swimming. But look, she's a bright, very attractive
in terms of public personality. She's got a big career
in the media somewhere, I'm sure of it.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Brilliant stuff. Thank you very much, Maus appreciate it. Marie
Old's Australia correspondent. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.