What we learned today, Saturday 21 January
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Here are the main stories of the day:
The high-profile rugby union player Kurtley Beale has been granted bail by a Sydney court after being charged over an alleged sexual assault, which he denies.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has met with the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, at Kirribilli House to discuss climate change, energy and health issues.
Chris Hipkins will be the next prime minister of New Zealand, replacing Jacinda Ardern who resigned this week.
A dolphin has been attacked by a shark on Sydney’s northern beaches, forcing lifeguards to clear swimmers from the water.
Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke and his partner, Jade Yarbrough, have been fined by Queensland police for their public spat in Noosa.
We will see you here for more news tomorrow!
Updated
Mosquito-borne diseases detected in northern Victoria
Two mosquito-borne diseases have been detected in multiple locations in northern Victoria, with particularly high numbers in Mildura in the state’s north-west, AAP is reporting.
The prevalence of the Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus and West Nile/Kunjin virus in mosquito populations means the risk of human cases in coming weeks is high, authorities say.
“These results mean that the MVE virus is increasing in the mosquito population and indicate a significant risk to people in these areas, particularly Mildura,” the acting chief health officer, Clare Looker, said.
MVE is a rare but potentially serious disease that can cause permanent neurological disease or death, but is generally mild or not severe enough to cause symptoms. Symptoms for the mild form of the disease include headaches, nausea and vomiting.
Mosquitoes spread the virus to humans from infected animals such as waterbirds including herons and egrets.
“Residents and people visiting Mildura are strongly advised to take measures to reduce their risk of mosquito bites,” Looker said.
The acting chief health officer said residents and visitors should cover up, use repellent and limit time spent outdoors.
Victoria’s health department said it would provide updated health advice next week.
Updated
Alex de Minaur through to round of 16 in Australian Open
Australian Alex de Minaur will advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open after defeating Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets.
De Minaur will reach the final 16 for the second consecutive year after beating Bonzi 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena.
The Australian will now face either nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic or world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov.
It makes de Minaur the first Australian to reach back-to-back Australian Open men’s singles fourth rounds since Bernard Tomic in 2016.
Australia’s 22nd seed broke Bonzi seven times throughout the two-hour and eight-minute match.
He hammered 33 winners, fashioned a total of 22 break points and closed out his final service game to love with his seventh and eighth aces in a clinical display.
“I’m very happy, I can’t lie,” de Minaur told the centre-court crowd. “Look, honestly, as a kid this is what you train for, to be playing on this court in front of you guys on one of the biggest stages of the world. Every time I get out here I have to pinch myself.”
Updated
Opposition Indigenous affairs spokesman says support for voice referendum is waning
The federal opposition’s Indigenous affairs spokesman says his support for the voice referendum is waning as he seeks more details on the proposal.
It comes as campaigners say younger Australians who “own up” to the dispossession of Indigenous people will be crucial for the referendum to succeed, AAP reports.
The country will vote later this year on enshrining an Indigenous voice in the constitution to advise the government on policies affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The opposition Indigenous Australians spokesman, Julian Leeser, a long-term supporter of the voice and constitutional recognition for Indigenous people, used a speech to Young Liberals on Saturday to call for more detail on how the voice will work.
Read more here:
Updated
NSW Labor would consult with Aboriginal communities on a treaty
NSW Labor says it will consult on a treaty with the state’s Aboriginal communities if it wins the state election in March, AAP reports.
The party would spend $5m on a year-long consultation process as part of a move towards a more formal treaty process.
The opposition leader, Chris Minns, says it would not be for his government to decide what the treaty would look like:
For too long government has passed edicts down from the top to the bottom, and we know that hasn’t worked.
If we want to realise improved justice, education, health and cultural outcomes for First Nations people, we must place First Nations communities at the centre of decision-making.
Updated
Boy injured in Gold Coast helicopter crash may need to have foot amputated
A boy who was seriously injured in a Gold Coast helicopter crash might need to have one of his feet amputated as he recovers from the deadly collision, AAP report.
Nicholas Tadros, 10, was on board one of two helicopters involved in the crash at Sea World on 2 January.
His mother, Vanessa Tadros, British couple Ron and Diane Hughes, and pilot Ashley Jenkinson died after the two aircraft collided mid-air and one crashed into a sand bar.
Family friend Charlie Bakhos said the grade 5 student had suffered a “significant setback” and might need to have his right foot amputated after a surgical operation could not be completed.
The Bethany Catholic Primary School student remains in a critical but stable condition in Queensland Children’s hospital after waking from a coma last week.
The news came days after hundreds of mourners paid tribute to his mother at a funeral service at Saint John the Beloved at Mount Druitt, in Sydney’s west.
An online fundraiser for the family had raised more than $63,000 as of Saturday afternoon.
The results of a probe into the collision by the Air Transport Safety Bureau are not expected until at least September 2024.
Updated
Power prices should rise by less than forecast
AAP reports:
Wholesale electricity costs should rise by less than half of earlier price spike predictions following government intervention in the market.
Updated treasury forecasts have prices in Queensland coming in at 44% lower than previously expected, while they are predicted to be 38% lower in NSW, 32% lower in South Australia and 29% lower in Victoria.
The government imposed a temporary 12-month price cap on gas at the end of last year to curb runaway prices.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it would take time for the cap to flow through to some parts of the market:
Our intervention will help take some of the sting out of power prices for families and businesses.
This isn’t an overnight fix, it’s going to take some time, but it’s heartening to see the plan is already starting to work.
Updated
Queensland’s summer tourism booms post-Covid
It’s been a boom summer for tourism in Queensland, AAP report.
Summer holidaymakers are on track to pump more than $6bn into Queensland’s tourism economy, which is back on track after two seasons marred by Covid-19 restrictions.
Queensland and interstate tourists had generated 15m visitor nights in the month to January 10, up almost 2.5% on 2021, the state’s tourism minister Stirling Hinchliffe said.
“It’s not the full story yet ... [but] we do see that there is a absolutely bumper outcome for Queensland’s tourism economy,” Hinchliffe told reporters at Shorncliffe, northeast of Brisbane.
“That’s going to be $3bn of output for the Queensland visitor economy.”
Updated
New chair of Murdoch royal commission to be announced after Kevin Rudd steps down
A new chair for the Murdoch royal commission movement is set to be announced, and will be as high profile as the one who’s about to stand down – former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Rudd will step down from Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission because it clashes with his new role as Australia’s ambassador to the US.
A spokesperson for Rudd told Sky News it would be “incompatible” with his new role and that he was “confident that Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission will thrive under a new chair as it continues the campaign against concentration of media ownership”.
The organisation’s national director, Kirsti Gorringe, said the next chair would “bring as much passion and expertise to the role” as Rudd, and was as widely recognised.
“I hope to be able to announce it soon,” she said.
Another former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has been a strong advocate of the proposed royal commission into Rupert Murdoch’s News Corps dominance of and behaviour in the Australian media.
Gorringe said the movement, based on a petition signed by more than 500,000 Australians, had many other passionate champions.
2023 will see it continuing to push for investigations, monitoring government policies, and having national and state conferences.
“This beast requires coming at it from all angles,” Gorringe said.
Updated
Who is “Chippy”? A profile of New Zealand’s incoming prime minister:
Updated
Sydney beaches closed after shark attacks dolphin
A dolphin has been attacked by a shark on Sydney’s northern beaches, forcing lifeguards to clear swimmers from the water.
Swimmers have been cleared from the water at Manly and Shelley Beach after a dolphin was mauled by a shark.
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) January 20, 2023
Hundreds watched on as the injured dolphin struggles to swim.
DETAILS: https://t.co/1pcF81Rzhu#9News | WATCH LIVE 6pm pic.twitter.com/jo1U39HixU
All beaches between Shelley and Queenscliff were closed as a precaution, the Northern Beaches council said, after the attack. A council statement said:
Lifeguards will continue to monitor the situation and will only reopen the beaches when it is safe to do so.
Council urges any beach goers at Manly to adhere to beach safety warnings and stay out of the water at this time.
All relevant authorities have been notified.
The shark was reportedly a three-metre bull shark, and the dolphin had to be euthanised.
Updated
This seal had a ripping time in the Victorian town of Point Lonsdale on Friday afternoon
A giant seal has run amok in Point Lonsdale this afternoon, loitering outside a local service station before drawing a crowd along the foreshore.
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) January 20, 2023
Local authorities managed to wrangle the wayward animal back, with bemused bystanders watching on. #9News pic.twitter.com/AeF5BYgzAz
Australia and Serbia sign new social security agreement
Australia and Serbia have signed a new social security agreement that is set to improve access to retirement benefits for eligible people who have moved between the two countries.
The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, and the minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, released a statement heralding the agreement, which will come into effect in 2024.
The agreement was signed on Friday night in Belgrade by Daniel Emery, the Australian ambassador to Serbia, and Nikola Selakovic, the Serbian minister of labour, employment, veteran and social affairs.
Updated
Victorian man charged over ‘Hey Mum’ SMS scam
Victorian police have charged a man with allegedly committing online scams including a “Hey Mum” SMS racket.
The Templestowe man was charged in relation to alleged fraudulent transactions between 3 December and 7 December in other outer suburbs of Melbourne, police said in a statement. The statement said:
It’s alleged electronic goods were obtained in person using false documents and a substantial amount of money was obtained under the ‘Hi Mum’ scam via SMS.
The 21-year-old man has been charged with five counts of obtain property by deception following an investigation over the past 6 weeks.
He has been bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 18 July.
Updated
Michael Clarke and girlfriend fined after public spat in Noosa
Former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke and his girlfriend, Jade Yarbrough, have been fined after their public spat in Noosa, AAP reports.
Vision emerged on Wednesday of an expletive-laden argument with Clarke, Yarbrough and her brother-in-law, the TV presenter Karl Stefanovic.
Queensland police fined Clarke and Yarbrough with public nuisance.
Clarke will retain his role on Sydney’s Sky Sports Breakfast radio after station owner Tabcorp declared his public stoush a private matter.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Makes me want to start a swim, rather than a bike race, but I get the picture.
As far as race start locations go, this one is banging. #TDU @tourdownunder pic.twitter.com/PnpgxpSA61
— Sophie Smith (@SophieSmith86) January 20, 2023
I’m off for now, thank you for your time! Nino Bucci is going to escort you through the afternoon.
Rugby union player Kurtley Beale granted bail
The high-profile rugby union player Kurtley Beale has been granted bail by a Sydney court after being charged over an alleged sexual assault.
The 34-year-old Wallabies winger was ordered on Saturday to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after appearing in Parramatta local court.
Beale was arrested on Friday and held in custody over an alleged incident in Sydney’s east on 17 December last year.
He faces four charges, including sexual intercourse without consent, inciting another to sexually touch without consent and two counts of sexually touching another person without consent.
In a statement, Rugby Australia said Beale had been suspended from all rugby pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings. He is due back in court in March.
Read more here:
Updated
Slowing weight gain as people age could save millions in knee replacements, study says
AAP is reporting on new research that shows cutting back on as little as two pieces of chocolate a week could save Australia’s health system $373m a year in foregone knee replacements.
According to the Monash University-led study, preventing weight gain from young adulthood to late midlife to prevent obesity could reduce the need for knee surgery by almost 30%.
Research author Prof Flavia Cicuttini stressed the importance of prevention in improving health outcomes, and said weight-loss recommendations for overweight or obese people with osteoarthritis often came too late.
“Focusing on prevention, with small average long-term changes in energy balance, can make a big difference,” she said.
The head of Monash’s musculoskeletal epidemiology unit said Australians tend to gain up to a kilogram a year over their adult lives. She said:
For example, eating the average equivalent of two fewer pieces of chocolate per week, or adding 10 minutes of exercise, can prevent the insidious half to 1kg weight gain we see per person per year in Australia.
This can result in tangible health gains, improving lives and saving money.
The study tracked data from more than 24,000 people across different weight and age groups over more than 12 years.
In that time more than 5% of participants required complete knee replacements.
The study found 28.4% of surgeries could have been avoided if participants had moved one weight group lower, meaning an average weight-loss of 8-12kg from early adulthood to late midlife would translate to a $373m saving for the annual health budget.
“We need to focus on preventing or slowing weight gain when people first present with any knee pain, even niggling knee pain,” Cicuttini said.
“This slow, steady accumulation of weight adds up, resulting in the obesity we see.”
Updated
Anthony Albanese meets with Microsoft founder Bill Gates
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, met with the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, at Kirribilli House today to discuss climate change, energy and health issues.
Meeting for the first time, Albanese greeted the billionaire who said he loves coming to Australia. He said:
Can I welcome you here very much. We haven’t met before but I’ve admired your work and your contribution not just financially but in raising debates including the need to deal with health issues.
We have just been through the pandemic but we need to prepare for future health challenges and the work that’s being done on eradicating malaria and other diseases in our region is very important.
Gates is visiting Australia with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and with representatives from his Breakthrough Energy company, which drives innovation in sustainable energy and in technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“My government was elected on a platform of taking climate change seriously – we introduced the first legislative caps of 43% by 2030 and net zero by 2050, we are engaged in setting a whole range of mechanisms that will drive private sector investment through,” Albanese said.
“Here in Australia the business community was well ahead of the government in action and now we are working with all the state and territory governments as well as the private sector in driving that change through.”
Gates thanked Albanese for his “great partnership” on international health issues including the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He said:
A lot to do there as you say, the preparedness for the next pandemic is still a discussion that hasn’t been figured out.
Malaria, in the long run, we want to do the same thing we have done with polio, which is eradicate it regionally then eradicate it all over the world.
Both the foundation and Breakthrough Energy are excited about the things we can do together.
– via pool reporter Jessica McSweeney
Updated
This piece from Tim Byrne sent me down a full Sunday Reed rabbit hole:
Updated
I somehow entirely missed this exchange:
Reporter: Are you the first ginger prime minister?
— Rashida Yosufzai (@Rashidajourno) January 21, 2023
Incoming NZ PM Chris Hipkins: "I think it was about time we had a ginger at the top." @SBSNews https://t.co/4imutEeMve pic.twitter.com/T8HAbLWVLv
Hipkins says that “for the first time in history New Zealand has a gender-balanced parliament”. And that was that.
Updated
Hipkins describes himself as “a hard worker and someone that’s absolutely committed to leaving New Zealand in a better shape than [he] found it”.
He says he’s talked to Ardern and will sit down with her shortly to discuss logistics, and talks about that phone call with prime minister Anthony Albanese:
I had a conversation with Anthony Albanese. It’s great to be able to talk to him. I hope to catch up with him in person fairly soon.
That clearly is a very important relationship for New Zealand.
He’s asked how the phone call came about, and says:
Unfortunately I missed his call, but I called him back and had a chat.
And he’s defending NZ’s handling of the pandemic.
Updated
Hipkins likes the outdoors, cycling, gardening, and doing DIY. “I am who I am,” he says.
And he says there has been an escalation of vitriol in politics. Ardern suffered “absolutely intolerable and unacceptable behaviour”.
Ardern was an “incredible leader”, he says. It was “calm, stable, reassuring leadership”.
Updated
New Zealand’s next PM Chris Hipkins holds press conference
Chris Hipkins, who will replace Jacinda Ardern as New Zealand’s prime minister, is giving his first press conference since the announcement.
He says he’s “incredibly optimistic about NZ’s future”, “energised and refreshed” after his summer break, and is refusing to discuss policy or who’ll get what gigs just yet.
He’s “honoured and humbled” by his colleagues’ support, he says:
There is a reshuffle coming, there’s a reshuffle that’s now a necessity and I’ll talk that through with my colleagues.
A warm discussion this morning with incoming NZ Labour Leader Chris Hipkins. I congratulate him and look forward to working with him as Prime Minister. 🇦🇺🇳🇿
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 20, 2023
Updated
Kurtley Beale reportedly granted bail
The rugby union player Kurtley Beale has been granted bail, the ABC is reporting.
The Wallabies star was charged over an alleged sexual assault at a Bondi pub in December. Read the background here:
Updated
Martin mentioned this story on power prices earlier; I’m just giving it another kick along. Energy minister Chris Bowen will be talking about it a bit later today:
Sophie Black has done a really in-depth job here, it’s fascinating:
Covid hasn’t gone away. Cost-of-living pressures continue to rise. There is a lot of distress within the community. And that’s not going to go away for a while, if ever maybe.
Search for Swedish student washed from rocks resumes
AAP is reporting that the search for a Swedish student reported to have been washed from rocks in Sydney has resumed for a fourth day.
Noa Sage is believed to have fallen about seven metres on to rocks at Blue Fish Point at Manly’s North Head about 5.30pm on Wednesday before ending up in the water.
NSW Police Marine Area Command have sought assistance from lifesavers to continue searching for the 20-year-old.
A police helicopter and water police are engaging in the search with divers expected to join later on Saturday. A Surf Life Saving NSW spokesperson said:
SLS NSW has been requested to assist with the search for a missing male on Saturday.
We have been asked to provide an inflatable rescue boat, and jetskis along with an UAV (drone).
Updated
Elias Visontay on Australians’ emotional connection/reaction to the national carrier:
A ruling on the extradition of the man suspected of murdering Toyah Cordingley on a Queensland beach four years ago has been delayed until Tuesday 24 January.
The decision had been expected at a court in New Delhi yesterday but the latest adjournment in the case of Rajwinder Singh was because the judge who specialises in extradition cases, Nabeela Wali, is on maternity leave.
“She is the one with the expertise to be able to make decisions and move things along,” a lawyer at the court told Australian Associated Press.
Singh, 38, is not contesting his extradition, and the case was expected to move quickly by Indian standards.
But a magistrate is required to submit an “inquiry report” to the ministry of external affairs that says it meets the criteria for extradition and letting India extradite Singh.
Singh, an Australian citizen, was arrested in December by Delhi police after a four-year manhunt that followed his flight from Australia just hours after Cordingley’s body was found half-buried in dunes on Wangetti Beach.
Wonder if Bill Gates has some tips about getting billionaires to give more money to charity (they made a motza during the pandemic, in case you missed this story):
The Prime Minister is in Sydney today and will meet with Bill Gates, 11AM #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) January 20, 2023
NSW Labor to consult on a treaty with Aboriginal communities if it wins election
AAP reports that NSW Labor says it will consult on a treaty with the state’s Aboriginal communities if it wins the state election in March.
The party would spend $5m on a year-long consultation process as part of a move towards a more formal treaty process.
The opposition leader, Chris Minns, says it wouldn’t be for his government to decide what the treaty would look like. He said:
If we want to realise improved justice, education, health and cultural outcomes for First Nations people, we must place First Nations communities at the centre of decision making.
A First Nations treaty would be a binding agreement between the state and its Aboriginal communities, setting obligations for both sides to act on issues and improve outcomes.
Labor’s treaty commission would travel across the state to see what shape the agreement would take.
NSW has been an outlier, with every other state or territory government expressing at least support for a treaty or at most establishing negotiating bodies.
It comes as debate continues to heat up at a federal level over the voice to parliament.
Updated
Fluffy balls at 4am – players don’t love all about the tennis:
Paul Karp on the voice, and opposition leader Peter Dutton swinging in like Miley Cyrus:
The man who boycotted the apology to the stolen generations, later apologising, may once again play the role of the wrecker.
Banksia Hill 'totally inhumane'
The campaign to bring a class action against Western Australia’s government over the treatment of children at Banksia Hill detention centre gathered momentum yesterday with a press conference making more shocking claims.
Stewart Levitt, a lawyer, said many of the children were often victims of intergenerational trauma, who needed support and education so they could become contributing members of society, Australian Associated Press reported.
“It’s not accepted in Australia, we just want to bash and hurt and punish and pretend that we can just consign these children to dungeons effectively, or treat them as vermin or pests,” he said. “That is a totally inhumane approach.”
Former president of the WA children’s court Denis Reynolds detailed the case of a boy who appeared in the court in November.
He said the 15-year-old suffered fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and multiple severe learning disorders.
A pediatrician recommended he be given a support program while incarcerated but he was instead locked in a cell for over 20 hours per day for 42 days straight due to alleged staff shortages, Mr Reynolds said.
The teen was also allegedly unlawfully transferred to the adult facility, Casuarina Prison, for 51 days and kept in solitary confinement.
“He attempted to commit suicide,” Reynolds said. “The premier and the minister are saying these are bad children behaving badly ignoring, deliberately, any reference to the unlawful treatment.”
Reynolds alleged premier Mark McGowan was misleading the public and the issue the government needed to tackle was the unlawful and inhumane treatment of children.
A former Australian of the Year, Fiona Stanley, said the WA government was ignoring evidence about the children that showed the current punitive approach at Banksia Hill would not work.
“They should understand that children are being born with brain damage [and they] should not be locked up in these circumstances,” she said.
Updated
As many people will know only too well, good news for tenants is hard to come by these days.
Our reporter Cait Kelly has been looking at the problem of rising rental costs and finds that they have been driven higher by landlords passing on higher borrowing costs and also by the pandemic era “race for space”.
And although there are signs rents have started to ebb slightly in line with slightly higher vacancy rates and tenants hitting their limits, most pundits predict rents to stay high for a while.
Updated
Really interesting how the Port Arthur massacre continues to shape Australia’s gun policies. Christopher Knaus takes a look a firearms then and now. And there’s a Vietnam-era flamethrower:
Don’t freak out, but Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams (are made of this) is 40 years old. The ABC has a sweet read on how the seed of the smash hit was sown in a hotel room in Wagga Wagga.
You can also read the story in Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox’s words here, complete with peeing cow:
Updated
Her popularity may have waned, but I still wouldn’t want to be the one to follow in New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s footsteps:
Good morning, all! It is a cracker day here in South Australia – apologies if that’s not the case wherever you are. There’s quite a bit going on today, as the holiday season slumber gradually lifts.
Before we wade right in, Imogen Dewey has pulled together five of the week’s best stories:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you some stories making news overnight before Tory Shepherd takes over.
The Wallabies star Kurtley Beale has been charged with an alleged sexual assault in Bondi in December and is due to appear in Parramatta bail court today. Beale was suspended from all forms of the game, Rugby Australia said last night, pending the completion of the proceedings. The rugby union star was arrested on Friday afternoon in Sydney and later charged with two counts of sexually touching another person without consent, inciting another to sexually touch them without consent and sexual intercourse without consent. He was refused bail.
Liberal frontbencher Julian Leeser, a longtime advocate of Indigenous recognition and one of its strongest backers inside the Liberal party room, will criticise the Albanese government’s strategy on the voice to parliament, telling the Young Liberal national convention today that Labor is “in danger of losing me” unless it fleshes out more detail around the proposal. Meanwhile, Cobble Cobble woman Allira Davis, co-chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue, has told AAP that supporters are focusing on educating young non-Indigenous Australians about the “yes” campaign as they are a crucial to its success.
Social justice campaigner Gerry Georgatos has made more shocking claims about the mistreatment of children at Banksia Hill detention centre in Western Australia. Detainees are locked in “shocking and horrific” conditions that are further damaging already vulnerable children, a press conference for a class action against the West Australian government over the treatment of up to 500 inmates was told. He said he had witnessed “abominable and abhorrent behaviour” towards inmates and a statement by the state government that there was access to therapeutic services was untrue.
There’s some good news for households this morning with Australians expected to save $230 on their electricity bills in the next financial year due to wholesale price falls recorded after Labor’s market intervention. According to Treasury analysis of ASX data in December, wholesale electricity prices for 2023 fell by 44% in Queensland compared with November, writes our political correspondent Paul Karp. Prices fell by 38% in New South Wales, 32% in South Australia and 29% in Victoria. That’s good news for people struggling with rising inflation and higher interest rates.
Updated
