Australia news LIVE: Biden welcomes PM to White House for state visit; Australian households taking on more financial risk

In state news, NSW Premier Chris Minns has foreshadowed a major report being handed down by SafeWork Australia that will recommend banning silica engineered stone.

Hours after hundreds of tradies walked off the job as part of a CFMEU protest against the deadly material that has been compared to asbestos, Minns flagged a significant decision was looming.

“I haven’t read it personally but as I understand it will have major recommendations for all states and jurisdictions in relation to that product in NSW in Australia,” he said at a press conference today.

With the meeting of the nation’s workplace safety taking place tomorrow, Minns said his government would be prepared to go it alone if the ministers couldn’t agree on a national ban.

It comes after the state treasurer lashed an advertising push by manufacturers to prevent a ban.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised the American spirit, saying it was never “been held back by the unknown”.

“Your stride boldly towards your future, excited by possibility in every field of human endeavour, your nation is energised by a ceaseless curiosity and the confidence to follow it,” he said.

“It is a spirit that Australians identify with, with a small population, but a very big imagination.”

He said Australians “punch above our weight”, and drew inspiration from the US.

“We are firm allies, strengthening defence cooperation through AUKUS and creating more economic opportunities for our peoples, and our region.”

Albanese said the two nations admired each others qualities.

“I think we get each other.”

He also joked about his future date nights with partner Jodie Haydon.

“I must say I only have one regret about tonight, which is I’m not quite sure how I top this for date night with Jodie … it’s all downhill from here my darling,” Albanese said.

US President Joe Biden has paid tribute to Australia and America’s bond, saying it was first forged on the battlefield and has continued to grow stronger.

“That bond first forged in the battlefield has grown to capture the full range of human ingenuity,” Biden said at the state dinner in Washington.

He said Australian and American workers are building a future together and their students were innovating together.

The president told the crowd the future of world would be written in the Indo-Pacific.

“Australia and the United States must, must write that story together,” Biden said.

“We must continue to advance freedom, security and prosperity for all, continue the vital work in both our nations of building strong partnerships, of upholding nation-to-nation commitments and to native peoples, continue to defend the values of great democracies - freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom from fear, and continue to build a future worthy of our highest hopes, even when it’s tough, especially when it’s tough.”

A severe marine heatwave is bearing down on southern Australia, threatening fisheries, tourism and biodiversity along a vast tract of coast that hosts 67 per cent of the nation’s population.

The approaching heatwave is like an “underwater bushfire that can’t be extinguished”, according to a group of experts concerned about the fate of the 8000-kilometre Great Southern Reef.

The marine and climate scientists from the Great Southern Reef research partnership have asked Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen for $40 million over 10 years to help monitor and safeguard the reef.

“The Great Southern Reef borders onto 63 federal electorates, is more economically valuable than the Great Barrier Reef, and yet receives less than 1 per cent of the funding,” the researchers wrote.

Read the full report here.

Shane Wright’s analysis on the inflation blockbuster coming to Australian mortgages is sparking plenty of debate with subscribers.

@robertk says: “On those numbers, the RBA will sit on their hands. Interest rate increases have done their job and put downward pressure on consumer activity. Higher fuel and rent prices are amplifying that effect. A further interest rate increase will put upward pressure on rents and make no difference to fuel prices. Beating inflation is a medium to long-term project and best done without crashing the economy.”

@Macs Dave writes: “If they don’t raise interest rates the $A will plummet (especially against the $US given the recent sell-off in the US bond market) and everything we import will be through the roof. If you have a lot of debt which you accumulated at near zero interest rates, you are going to cop it more than anyone else but that’s due to your own actions. Don’t blame the RBA as they’ve only got one tool, and it’s going to get a lot of work.”

@lucy says: “Why aren’t increased mortgage repayments considered inflation? My repayments will increase by 250% due to the use of the “blunt instrument” the RBA is using! In the context of my life, that is inflation. And it’s caused by the decision of the RBA to increase rates.”

@Lee Gin writes: “Wage rises must stay ahead of inflation or living standards will fall. A below inflation pay rise might be acceptable for one or two years but if inflation continues to stay around 5% into next year then employers are going to have to be prepared for larger than usual pay increases. And please, don’t start with all this wage price spiral nonsense. That was debunked months ago.”

What do you think? Let us know via the link above.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has spoken about the government’s $15 million boost to humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Marles has gone into more detail about the funding, after Anthony Albanese announced the extra assistance during his state visit to the United States.

“This [money] will be working through a number of international agencies - the United Nations, the Red Cross - to provide humanitarian assistance for those who are obviously caught in the terrible circumstance of being in Gaza right now,” Marles told reporters this morning.

He said the Australian government was particularly concerned for those suffering in Gaza.

“Gaza is home to more than two million Palestinians, the vast bulk of whom have nothing to do with Hamas.”

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined Western allies in calling for a pause to hostilities in Gaza so that food, water and supplies can be delivered to Palestinian civilians.

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has left the door open to an interest rate rise on Melbourne Cup Day, but played down fears that new inflation figures showed there had been a step-up in price pressures that would require even more tightening of monetary policy.

Bullock, facing her first Senate estimates hearing as governor, said on Thursday morning the latest inflation report showed price pressures were a “little higher” than had been expected, but were not a surprise.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price index report yesterday showed both underlying and headline inflation up by 1.2 per cent over the September quarter. The annual rate of inflation stepped down from 6 per cent to 5.4 per cent.

Economists at the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, who had been expecting the RBA to hold interest rates steady at its November meeting, now expect the cash rate to be increased a quarter percentage point to 4.35 per cent. Financial markets, which had put the chance of a rate rise at 20 per cent ahead of the inflation figures, now put the chance at 55 per cent.

Learn more here. 

Earlier, we told you that the media watchdog ordered rideshare giant Uber to pay a $412,000 fine for sending two million emails that breached spam laws.

Australian Communications and Media Authority chair Nerida O’Loughlin said Uber had accidentally characterised the emails as non-commercial, leading to the breach in their spam obligations.

The company has responded, with an Uber spokeswoman saying it made a mistake sending the marketing emails.

“We worked collaboratively with ACMA to address and resolve it,” she told AAP.

“We apologise to everyone who was impacted by this oversight.

“We take seriously our obligations under the Spam Act, and we have introduced additional measures to prevent this from happening again.”

The messages in question were contained to one day and were not sent to any users who had excluded themselves from being able to view or order alcoholic items on the Uber app.

AAP