This is The Loop, your quick catch-up for this morning's news as it happened.
Key events
Live updates
That's all for The Loop this morning
By Tom Williams
Thanks for joining us today. If you're catching up, here's a bit of what was covered (click the link to jump straight to the post):
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RBA confirms it has underpaid staff, and has hired PwC to help fix it
- Opposition to back government's JobSeeker increase
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Emergency warnings in South Korea and Japan as North Korea launches satellite
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Nationals leader defends former government's use of consultants, in wake of PwC scandal
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Police search for gunmen after Florida beach shooting
You can keep up-to-date with other news on the ABC's website, by subscribing to our mobile alerts, and by watching News Channel or listening to local radio here.
Origin squads ready for tonight's series opener in Adelaide
By Clayton
New South Wales will again start as favourites when the State of Origin series against Queensland kicks off at the Adelaide Oval tonight.
The teams will complete their preparations with the traditional match day walk this morning.
Blues coach Brad Fittler says he's well aware of the importance of starting the series with a win over the Maroons.
"I think it's 72 per cent you win the first game you win the series so it's not the end of the world but it's pretty convincing so it is important," he says.
"We just want to get out and compete hard … simple as that."
RBA confirms it has underpaid staff, and has hired PwC to help fix it
By Tom Williams
This just in from Senate estimates, via business reporter Stephanie Chalmers:
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has confirmed that the central bank has underpaid staff, and has hired PwC to assist with rectifying the issue.
In response to questions at Senate Estimates, Philip Lowe says PwC was hired late last year, before the current scandal became public.
Lowe says the RBA is “appalled” at PwC’s conduct and will not enter into new contracts with the firm until the issue is resolved, but will continue its current audit contract due to the costs of changing provider.
You can follow the Business team's coverage of RBA representatives speaking at Senate estimates, here:
Manson follower Leslie Van Houten should be paroled, California court rules
By Tom Williams
A California appeals court says Leslie Van Houten, who participated in two killings at the direction of cult leader Charles Manson in 1969, should be let out of prison on parole.
The appellate court's ruling reverses an earlier decision by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who rejected parole for Van Houten in 2020.
She has been recommended for parole five times since 2016. All of those recommendations were rejected by either Newsom or former governor Jerry Brown.
Newsom could still request that California Attorney General Rob Bonta petition the California Supreme Court to stop her release.
Van Houten, now in her 70s, is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and other followers kill Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife Rosemary.
Van Houten was 19 at the time.
Boy charged with murder of 16-year-old stabbed in Melbourne's west
By Tom Williams
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a stabbing incident in Melbourne's west that killed a 16-year-old Melton South boy.
Police have confirmed charges were laid against the youth from Hillside today, more than one week after Pa Sawm Lyhym was fatally stabbed at Sunshine bus station.
The 17-year-old who's been charged is expected to appear in Melbourne Children's Court today, and an investigation is ongoing.
Police previously urged the youth to turn himself in, alleging he was a "significant player" in the incident.
Police allege a fight broke out between two groups of teenagers before the fatal stabbing.
The motivation behind the confrontation remains unknown.
Opposition to back government's JobSeeker increase
By Tom Williams
The Federal Opposition will back an increase to the JobSeeker unemployment benefit of $40 a fortnight.
The policy was announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in his second budget earlier this month, and equates to an extra $2.85 per day.
The Coalition wants to increase the income threshold for people on JobSeeker to earn money before their benefits are cut, from $150 to $300 a fortnight.
The Opposition will attempt to amend the government's legislation to tack that idea on to the plan — but it's unlikely to succeed, and the Coalition will back the broader increase to the rate instead.
SA premier defends anti-protest laws as they pass the Upper House
By Tom Williams
After a debate spanning 15 hours, South Australia's Upper House has just passed laws to significantly increase penalties for people who engage in seriously disruptive protests.
MPs spent all night debating the laws, which would mean anyone charged with obstructing a public place may be slapped with a fine of up to $50,000, or face up to three months in jail.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas tells ABC News Breakfast that people who protest lawfully, are sleeping rough or peacefully picketing won't face such fines.
"The law as it stands today, because the Parliament has not finalised the process, the law has it has always been for many decades, is actually remaing the same," he says.
"What the legislation is simply doing is changing the penalty regime to make sure that it's increased, so that people can't with impunity break the law knowing that the fine is only $750 and they can crowd fund that in a way that means they can recklessly, with wilful abandon, completely disrupt the lives of ordinary South Australians.
"Protest, demonstration, even disruption, the blocking of streets, it all can be done in South Australia in the way it always has been with demonstrations. None of that is changing. The Public Assemblies Act makes it very clear that people who are lawfully demonstrating or disrupting or blocking streets demonstrating can do so free of public prosecution or civil liability.
"None of that is changing. What wer'e changing is the penalty regime for people who recklessly, with impunity, break the law in a way that unreasonably disrupts the receives of so many South Australians.
"As premier, I've got to make sure we maintain good order of our city and we believe this is a modest step in that direction."
Emergency warnings in South Korea and Japan as North Korea launches satellite
By Tom Williams
South Korea's military says North Korea has launched what it had called a space satellite, toward the country's south.
The launch has prompted emergency alerts and evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan.
Air raid sirens have been heard across the South Korean capital of Seoul as the city issued a warning asking citizens to prepare for potential evacuation.
The Japanese government issued an emergency warning over its J-Alert broadcasting system for residents of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, saying a missile has been launched from North Korea.
North Korea had said it would launch its first military reconnaissance satellite between May 31 and June 11 to boost monitoring of US activities.
Nationals leader defends former government's use of consultants, in wake of PwC scandal
By Tom Williams
Nationals leader David Littleproud has defended the former government's prior use of external consultants, in the wake of the PwC tax leak scandal.
The consultancy firm, which was also employed by the former government, is under fire for the leaking of confidential Australian government information related to tax changes for large multinational corporations, which it shared with some of its clients.
Here's what Littleproud said when asked on News Breakfast if he or members of the former government accepted any responsibility for the ballooning use of consultants, and the capping of public servant numbers:
"I think it's about balance, it's about a place for these consultants. What you can do is move with agility to be able to get a more cost effective way to bring in skills that the department doesn't have on a temporary basis.
"That means that you can get the advice, take the advice, where that couldn't be sort from the departmentmental people that you had.
"With respect, I think it's the actions of PwC subsequent to that. I think this is about where, in balancing budgets, you need to understand you're using Australian taxpayers' money and you have to do that efficiently and if you're able to be able to do that by bringing people in on a temporary basis to get the skill sets you don't have in the department and don't need full-time, that's common sense.
"But it's about making sure it's done in balance and done to the right extent, and then the actions of PwC show there should be actions taken against them for what they've done.
"I think it also demonstrates we should go further and beyond this unholy alliance. It's not just our sides. It's both sides have had, with the big four accounting firms.
"We need to think more laterally. Not all the wisdom of the world sits within the big four. Some of the smaller firms out there also have many people that could bring those skills to the Australian bureaucracy on the temporary basis that brings in greater competition and diversity of ideas that the departments and ministers are looking for."
Microsoft, Google, OpenAI executives issue another warning about artificial intelligence
By Tom Williams
Scientists and tech industry leaders, including high-level executives at Microsoft, Google and ChatGPT creators OpenAI, have issued a new warning about the potential perils of artificial intelligence.
"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," their new statement reads.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; and Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist known as the godfather of artificial intelligence, are among the hundreds of leading figures who signed the statement, which was posted on the Center for AI Safety's website.
Worries about artificial intelligence systems outsmarting humans and running wild have intensified with the rise of a new generation of highly capable AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
More than 1,000 researchers and technologists, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, signed a much longer letter earlier this year calling for a six-month pause on AI development, saying it poses "profound risks to society and humanity".
You can read more about how some people are preparing for increasingly intelligent AI (and AGI), here:
RBA governor to face Senate grilling today
By Tom Williams
Many, many eyes will be trained on the Reserve Bank of Australia governor during a parliamentary hearing from 9am AEST today, ahead of the bank's upcoming June cash rate meeting.
Philip Lowe will take questions at a Senate estimates hearing on a variety of matters, but the pathway for interest rates will likely dominate discussions.
From May 2022, the RBA lifted interest rates 10 times in a row before pausing in April, as it aimed to slow inflation.
The central bank board then opted to lift interest rates by another 25 basis points in May — a move that few were expecting after keeping rates on hold for just one month.
New inflation figures are also out at 11:30am AEST today, from the Bureau of Statistics.
Expectations are for a 6.4 per cent uptick in headline inflation in April, up from 6.3 per cent in March.
While past its 7 per cent peak, inflation remains well above its two-to-three per cent target range.
Our Business team will have all the latest on both in their upcoming live blog here:
Police search for gunmen after Florida beach shooting
By Tom Williams
Police in the US state of Florida have launched a search for three suspects they believe to be the gunmen who opened fire along a crowded Florida beachside promenade yesterday, wounding a one-year-old and eight others while sending people frantically running for cover.
Police and witnesses say the shooting began as a group of people fought in front of a busy stretch of shops on the Hollywood Oceanfront Broadwalk at around 7pm local time.
Authorities say the gunmen ran from the scene during the chaos, as hundreds of people fled for their lives and dived for cover as shots hit bystanders.
Two people involved in the altercation that led to the shooting have been arrested on firearms charges, police say.
Five handguns have also been recovered, with one of them reported stolen in the Miami area and another in Texas.
The shooting upended busy holiday weekend festivities at the popular beach destination where there was already a heavy police presence to oversee the big crowds.
News Australia is searching for: Kosovo
By Tom Williams
An additional 700 NATO troops will be sent to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after clashes with ethnic Serbs there left 30 international soldiers wounded.
"We have decided to deploy 700 more troops from the operational reserve force for Western Balkans," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says.
He says NATO will also "put an additional battalion of reserve forces on high readiness so they can also be deployed if needed. These are prudent steps".
A battalion typically ranges from 300 to around 1,000 troops.
The NATO-led peacekeeping mission, KFOR, currently consists of almost 3,800 troops.
You can keep reading this story here:
One more thing: Hundreds flock to see dead nun's barely decomposed body
By Tom Williams
Here's a strange one for your Wednesday.
Hundreds of people have flocked to a small town in the US state of Missouri to see a nun whose body has barely decomposed since 2019.
Some say it's a sign of holiness in Catholicism, while others say the lack of decomposition may not be as rare as people think.
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster was exhumed in April, according to a statement from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in the town of Gower.
The nuns had been preparing for the addition of a St. Joseph shrine, and that involved "the reinterment of the remains of our beloved foundress, Sister Wilhelmina," the statement says.
When they exhumed Lancaster, they were told to expect only bones, since she had been buried in a simple wooden coffin without any embalming four years ago.
Instead, they discovered an intact body and "a perfectly preserved religious habit," the statement says.
The nuns hadn't meant to publicise the discovery, but someone posted a private email publicly and "the news began to spread like wildfire".
