Australia’s annual inflation rate remained above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target in September, with the bank’s next rate decision due Tuesday, Nov. 3, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends a Commonwealth summit.
Annual trimmed-mean inflation was 3.6% in the September release, compared with a revised 3.5% for the year to August. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index rose 4.3% in the year to September, after a 4.0% rise in the year to August. The RBA’s inflation target is 2% to 3%.
The RBA’s Monetary Policy Board is scheduled to meet Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 2–3. The cash-rate target stands at 4.60%. National Australia Bank (NAB) forecasts a 25-basis-point increase, which would take the target to 4.85%; the RBA has not announced a decision.
Albanese is due at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, from Sunday, Nov. 1, to Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Royal Family said King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend. AAP reported that Albanese plans talks with Charles, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
At home, Albanese addressed a federal grant for Marrickville Golf Club in Parliament Tuesday, Oct. 27. He said his earlier statement that the funding would cover sewerage work “was not correct.” A departmental project list values the upgrade at A$6.05 million and gives its status as “Awaiting Application.”
The Australian National Audit Office lists a potential 2026–27 audit topic covering awards under the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program, which is worth more than A$560 million. The program’s invitation-only grants are intended to deliver commitments from the 2025 federal election and the 2025–26 Budget and Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook. The audit office says a review could examine whether awards were effective and followed Commonwealth grant rules.
Monash University associate professor of politics Zareh Ghazarian told AAP: “He’s got a lot of spot fires burning domestically.” The RBA’s decision is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
