The Bottom Line
Updated Monday 9 November 2026
The RBA lifted the cash rate by 0.25 points to 4.85 per cent on 4 November, the fifth rise this year and the fifth in a row since the last cut in August 2025, taking the total tightening in this run to 1.25 points from 3.60 per cent.
ABS figures show the unemployment rate reached 4.72 per cent in September 2026, up from 4.08 per cent in January, a rise that has tracked alongside the tightening cycle.
The Treasurer co-chaired the sixth Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, describing it as the first time the dialogue has been held for three consecutive years and noting that China remains Australia's biggest trading partner. The Treasurer said the Australia-China Investment Working Group met in July for the first time in a decade.
The Prime Minister announced that Defence has transferred 11 of 67 sites slated for divestment to the Department of Finance, with six sites to have their workforces relocated by the end of 2026. The independent audit found, as quoted by the Prime Minister, that urgent interventions are needed to correct an unsustainable trajectory resulting from decades of deferred decisions.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan told ABC's Insiders he supports the Paris Agreement but opposes the Australia-EU free trade agreement, arguing its climate provisions would legally bind Australia beyond existing commitments.
Every figure is checked against official data or attributed to the body that announced it. Past editions