Key events
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be spotting you the top overnight stories before my colleague Mostafa Rachwani takes charge.
In an exclusive interview, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, identifies the slowdown in the Chinese economy and a continuing squeeze on the spending power of Australian households as the two key factors explaining why the economy might be in for a spot of turbulence in the next 12 months. He acknowledged that people are “feeling the squeeze” from interest rate rises, but is still hopeful Australia can avoid a recession because “we’ve got a lot going for us”.
The Australian War Memorial has installed a new temporary 84-word plaque next to a display about Ben Roberts-Smith to acknowledge he was found to be “involved and complicit in unlawful killings in Afghanistan”. But critics say the move was “inadequate” and that the plaque should be removed.
Another exclusive story this morning is that authorities in Queensland are notifying the families of 64 alleged victims of an accused paedophile after their identities were mistakenly made available to journalists – including at Guardian Australia. A 45-year-old male childcare worker was in July charged with offences involving 91 children in Australia and overseas, including 64 in Brisbane. Court documents relating to the charges were made available to several media outlets but the names of 64 alleged victims had not been redacted from charge sheets, as would usually occur.
And China has officially responded to the news that Anthony Albanese will travel to China later this year – more on that soon. The prime minister is today in Manila to hold one-on-one talks with the Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, as part of his week-long visit through Asia.
