Rate Cut On Horizon Amid Fears Of More Stock Turmoil

The Pope's Australian-like informality and love of the people are being remembered as million of Catholics mourn the pontiff's passing; An open letter from 60 Australian economists has rejected the coalition's nuclear energy plan, promoting instead the subsidising of household clean energy policies; Investors tormented by weeks of tariff turmoil will hope for a quiet return from Easter as mortgage holders eye a rate cut on the horizon; A jury of seven women and five men has been picked for Harvey Weinstein's #MeToo rape retrial.

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Host/Producer: Nicole Madigan

Audio Producer: Lu Hill 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a Mummamea podcast. Mumma Mea acknowledges the
traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is
recorded on. Hi. I'm Nicole Madigan from Mummamea's twice daily
news podcast, The Quickie with your Headlines for Tuesday, April
twenty two. The Pope's Australian like informality and love of

(00:32):
the people are being remembered as millions of Catholics mourned
the Pontiff's passing. The eighty eight year old's death on
Monday after a recent serious health battle was marked by
tolling church bells and preparations for scores of memorial masses
for the Catholic leader. Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, who
met Francis about twenty times, described the Pope as very

(00:54):
easy to talk to and almost like an Australian in
terms of his informality. Many mourners attended early masses at
local cathedrals following the Pope's passing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanzi,
who is Catholic, says the major party leaders had agreed
to dial back election campaigning today as a sign of respect.
National flags on government buildings will fly at half mast

(01:16):
today to honour the laid Pope. An open letter from
sixty Australian economists has rejected the coalition's nuclear energy plan,
promoting instead the subsidizing of household clean energy policies, including
incentives for home battery storage. The economists, from a range
of Australian universities and other tertiary institutions, say the construction

(01:38):
of nuclear power plans would take at least fifteen years
at a cost of at least three hundred and thirty
billion dollars, resulting in higher household energy costs and draining
investment away from renewable energy and energy intensive manufacturing. Instead,
they say they support a nationwide program to upgrade homes
and industry with clean, renewable energy. Those technologies should include

(02:02):
large scale home electrification with smart appliances to deliver bill savings,
also upgrades to energy efficiency and battery storage which can
save surplus solar for nighttime use, and hot water retrofits
for more efficient water heating. The economists say their pathway
would be anti inflationary due to less resilience on volatile

(02:22):
international gas markets, and would benefit Australian manufacturing, which requires
low cost, secure electricity. The coalition's nuclear plan proposes to
build seven nuclear reactors, with the first of these not
operational until twenty thirty five. Investors tormented by weeks of
tariff turmoil will hope for a quiet return from Easter

(02:44):
as mortgage holders ii a rate cut on the horizon.
Stocks in Australia and the US have clawed background in
the past fortnight after US President Donald Trump hit pause
on most elements of his trade war, but continued uncertainty
and the tariff story only half told means it's too
early to say the low in U S, Global and
Australian shares has been passed, says AMP Capital Chief economist

(03:08):
Shane Oliver, who pointed to renewed fears the White House
might start to threaten the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Underlying inflation figures released last week were lower than expected
in Canada, the UK and New Zealand. Eyes will be
on Australia's next set of quarterly numbers on April thirty
Amid expectations, underlying inflation has fallen back inside the Reserve

(03:30):
Bank's target band. The annual rate leapt out of the
two to three percent range in early twenty twenty two,
triggering twelve rate rises in thirteen months. Along with amp
nab is tipping trimmed, mean inflation has eased to two
point eight percent. That will help set the scene for
a rate cut at the Reserve Bank's May twenty meeting.

(03:52):
A jury of seven women and five men has been
picked for Harvey Weinstein's me Too rapeery trial, a more
female panel than the five women and seven men who
convicted him at his first trial five years ago. Drawn
from Manhattan's jury pool, the twelve members of the jury
include a psychie's researcher, a photographer, a dietitian, an investment

(04:13):
bank software engineer, and a retired city social worker. After
nine jurors were picked last week, three others and five
alternates were tapped on Monday during a marathon fourth day
of jury selection. They and other prospective jurors were quizzed
about their backgrounds, life experiences, and various other points that
could relate to their ability to be fair and impartial

(04:36):
about the highly publicized case. Potential jurors had been questioned
privately about their knowledge of the case and opinions about Weinstein.
Some people were excused as a result, Weinstein is being
tried again on rape and sexual assault charges after New
York's highest court last year overturned his twenty twenty conviction

(04:56):
and twenty three year prison sentence. The Court of Appeals
found his trial had been tainted by improper rulings and
prejudicial testimony. The seventy three year old is pleaded not
guilty and denies raping or sexual assaulting anyone. That's your
latest news headlines on tomorrow's episode of The Quickie. When
it comes to pain, research shows women are consistently dismissed

(05:19):
or told they're being dramatic, So we've decided to put
men's pain tolerance to the test. Listen to The Quickie
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