Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Morningstar DBRS

DBRS, Inc. (Morningstar DBRS) confirmed the Commonwealth of Australia's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency – Issuer Ratings at AAA. At the same time, Morningstar DBRS confirmed the Commonwealth of Australia's Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency – Issuer Ratings at R-1 (high). The trend on all credit ratings is Stable.

KEY CREDIT RATING CONSIDERATIONS

Australia's AAA credit ratings are underpinned by the country's considerable fundamental strengths, including its diversified and highly productive economy, sound macroeconomic policy frameworks, and highly effective governing institutions. The Stable trend reflects our view that Australia's credit fundamentals are unlikely to be affected by near-term challenges such as above-target inflation, housing shortages, and a highly uncertain global environment.

The Australian economy is gradually rebalancing under the weight of tighter monetary policy. The economy was in a position of excess demand in late 2025, with a tight labor market, housing shortages, and above-trend inflation. Demand-side pressures on inflation were compounded by higher energy prices due to the Iran conflict in early 2026, which has contributed to the delayed return to target. In response, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised the cash rate by 75 bps cumulatively since February to 4.35%. As a result, consumption growth momentum is slowing, the housing market is cooling, and unemployment has ticked up marginally. The IMF forecasts GDP growth of 1.9% and 1.7% in 2026 and 2027, respectively. Morningstar DBRS expects the rebalancing process to continue through the end of this year.

Public finances remain sound, supporting Australia's capacity to absorb future fiscal pressures. After two consecutive years of surplus, the underlying cash balance returned to a modest deficit in FY2024-25. The deficit is expected to stabilize and gradually narrow over the medium term. The IMF projects a similar trajectory at the general government level, with the fiscal deficit steadily declining and general government gross debt stabilizing at 51% of GDP from 2026 to 2028.

CREDIT RATING DRIVERS

Morningstar DBRS could downgrade the credit ratings if one or a combination of the following factors occurs: (1) a material deterioration in medium-term growth prospects, or (2) a sustained weakening in fiscal policy discipline.

CREDIT RATING RATIONALE

Modest Fiscal Deficits Expected Over the Medium Term

After two years of fiscal surplus, Australia returned to a modest deficit position last year. The government recorded an underlying cash deficit of $10.0 billion, or 0.4% of GDP in FY2024-25. The deficit is projected to widen to 1.0% of GDP in FY2025-26 and FY2026-27. The deficit is expected to remain around 1% of GDP over the next few years, before narrowing to 0.7% in FY2029-30. The fiscal results benefit from saved revenues from bracket creep and elevated commodity prices. Over the medium term, Morningstar DBRS anticipates the deficit to remain stable due to modest revenue-raising tax reforms and expenditure restraint, including cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Morningstar DBRS expects fiscal policy to shift from broadly neutral in FY2026-27, to modestly contractionary as the consolidation advances; thus, supporting tighter monetary policy to reduce domestic demand and inflationary pressures.

The government's prudent fiscal management should stabilize debt dynamics. The general government gross debt ratio (which includes the Commonwealth, as well as state, territory, and local governments) peaked at 57% in 2020 following pandemic-related stimulus. Since then, a strong economic recovery and fiscal repair reduced the debt ratio to 49%, before it stabilized at 51%. The IMF forecasts the ratio to be 51% from 2026 to 2028. The debt ratio is moderate relative to advanced economy peers. Interest costs to GDP have increased marginally since 2024 but overall remain at comparatively modest levels. Additionally, the government's balance sheet benefits from the low level of unfunded pension liabilities, which puts the public sector in a comparatively strong position to manage future pension costs.

The RBA is Tightening to Contain Inflation; Housing Market Outlook Softens

The RBA started hiking interest rates this year in response to building price pressures. Annual headline inflation was 4.0% in May, down from 4.6% in March but above the RBA's 2-3% target band. Inflation has been partly driven by higher fuel prices, but broader price pressures reflect an economy operating above capacity. Underlying inflation (trimmed mean) rose to 3.6% in May and has remained above the RBA's 2-3% target band since September 2025. Inflation is likely to return to the RBA's target range only gradually as the impact from higher rates flows through the economy. At 4.35%, the monetary policy stance is slightly restrictive. Morningstar DBRS expects the RBA to maintain its data-dependent approach while assessing the impact of this year's policy rate increases on domestic demand.

Australia's housing market is softening as higher borrowing costs, affordability pressures, and lower sentiment weigh on demand. Housing price growth is easing following strong gains in 2025. Recent federal housing tax changes related to negative gearing and capital gains add uncertainty to the outlook and may dampen investor appetite in the near term. While subdued demand may help moderate house prices, Australia's persistent housing supply shortage limits the magnitude of any decline. Increasing supply has been a challenge due to high construction costs, labor shortages, and strict planning and zoning rules. In the first quarter of this year, about 40% of construction firms regarded labor as a significant constraint to output. Additionally, the rental market remains tight, with the vacancy rate near record lows amid limited supply.

Financial stability risks appear contained. High household debt and predominately variable-rate mortgages make Australian consumers sensitive to renewed interest rate increases. However, most household balance sheets have strengthened since mid-2024, supported by lower inflation, tax cuts, and declining interest rates. The majority of Australian mortgagors also have large prepayment buffers through offset accounts or redraw facilities. Thus, most borrowers are well-positioned to handle the renewed borrowing cost pressures, with only a small portion facing greater challenges. Mortgage arrears remain at low levels, supported by a resilient labor market and previous housing price gains. Even if economic conditions significantly deteriorate, the Australian banking system is well-positioned to absorb potential loan losses and maintain lending. The large Australian banks are well-capitalized with a high level of liquid assets. Their leading domestic franchises consistently generate robust profitability.

Australia's Medium-Term Growth Prospects Remain Comparatively Strong, but China Is a Key External Risk

The Australian economy has outpaced most peer economies in terms of growth for several decades. The drivers of growth have been multifold. Structural reforms in the 1980s and 1990s helped lay the foundation for a prolonged period of expansion. From the 2000s, Australia benefited from rapid growth in China, which greatly increased demand for Australian goods and services and fostered a decade-long investment boom. Robust population growth has also supported the Australian economy for two decades, but accelerated sharply in recent years, as net migration surged post-pandemic. Net overseas migration (NOM) peaked in the third quarter of 2023, with a record net inflow of over 555,000 migrants, accounting for the vast majority of the country's population growth. Net inflows have since moderated to about 300,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025 (on a rolling 4 quarter basis), which is still slightly above pre-pandemic levels. The government expects NOM to normalize further under tighter migration policy settings, but Australia's medium-term growth prospects remain comparatively strong. The IMF estimates Australia's potential GDP growth at 2.3%, which is the highest among the G7 countries.

The key external risk to the medium-term growth outlook is a sharp deceleration in Chinese growth. Persistent weakness in the Chinese real estate sector and the potential for further escalation of trading restrictions by key trading partners pose risks to China's outlook. In the event of a prolonged slowdown in China, Australia would primarily be affected through the terms of trade channel. Metals, coal, and fuel products account for more than half of Australia's exports and are exposed to price fluctuations. As Australia's principal trading partner, China accounts for about one-third of total Australian exports. The deterioration of China's property sector could lead to a reduction in demand for Australian commodities like iron ore and natural gas. Moreover, spillovers from weaker Chinese growth could also weigh on Australia's education and tourism exports, where China remains a leading source of demand. From a trade standpoint, relations between Australia and China have stabilized since the pandemic. However, some tensions remain on the security front, especially as Australia strengthens its defensive partnerships across the Asia-Pacific region. The one-category adjustment to the 'Economic Structure and Performance' building block assessment reflects the risks stemming from Australia's reliance on China as a key trading partner.

Australia's external accounts appear broadly in line with economic fundamentals. Australia has been a perennial net importer of capital for decades, but the current account moved into surplus from 2020 to 2022, supported by higher commodity prices and production, and the recovery of services exports. Since then, the current account returned to a deficit and widened to 2.6% of GDP in 2025. Normalizing commodity prices, stronger imports, and softer export demand account for the shift. Morningstar DBRS expects the current account deficit to narrow slightly and then stabilize over the medium term. The net foreign liability position declined from 60% of GDP in 2016 to 22% in 2025, with the change largely driven by increased holdings of foreign equities and favorable valuation effects. Risks to balance sheets stemming from currency volatility appear relatively limited and a sizable share of foreign liabilities are in the form of equity. Australia's floating exchange rate also provides a buffer against risks related to commodity price volatility and global uncertainties.

Strong Institutional Quality Underpins Australia's AAA Credit Rating

Australia's robust political institutions are a fundamental strength of the sovereign credit profile. Australia is a stable, liberal democracy with effective governing institutions. The political environment is characterized by strong rule of law, a sound regulatory environment, and low levels of corruption. For over seven decades, Australia's political system has been dominated by two main blocs: the Labor Party and the Liberal-National coalition. Recent polling points to the rising popularity of the One Nation party, which may be an early indication that the party system is coming under greater fragmentation.

The ruling Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, holds 94 out of 150 seats in the House of Representatives. Nonetheless, the Labor Party holds a minority position in the Senate. As a result, the Labor Party needs to negotiate with the crossbench, such as the Greens or independent senators, to pass legislation in the upper house. Key policies of the Labor government include expanding housing supply and infrastructure, advancing the net-zero transition, strengthening public services, and pursuing fiscal consolidation. The next federal election is due by May 2028.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS

There were no Environmental, Social, or Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (July 20, 2026) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/485522.

For more information on the Rating Committee decision, please see the Scorecard Indicators and Building Block Assessments. https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/485679.

Notes:
All figures are in Australian dollars unless otherwise noted. Public finance statistics reported on a general government basis unless specified.

For more information, visit dbrs.morningstar.com

Source: deVere Group

July 20 2026 – The UK's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has passed over both frontrunners for Chancellor, appointing John Healey instead of Shabana Mahmood, in a move the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory organisations says removes the one appointment markets were counting on for restraint.

Nigel Green of deVere Group's comments come as Burnham chose Healey, a former Defence Secretary with Treasury experience dating back two decades, over Mahmood and Ed Miliband, with government sources describing the pick as someone who will deliver Burnham's agenda rather than shape one of his own.

He says: “Markets rallied recently on the assumption that a fiscally cautious figure would sit between Burnham and his own instincts on tax. This theory no longer holds.

“Investors should reprice UK assets with that in mind.”

The deVere CEO points to Healey's record as the clearest signal of where pressure is now headed.

“Healey resigned from Cabinet last month demanding more money for defence and has pushed for spending to reach 3% of GDP by 2030. He now runs a Treasury under a Prime Minister who has ruled out raising income tax, VAT and National Insurance. That spending has to be funded somewhere, and wealth, capital gains and property are the obvious remaining options.”

The timing adds to the pressure on Britain's standing with mobile capital. The UK lost an estimated 16,500 millionaires in 2025, one of the largest outflows recorded anywhere in the world, and forecasts already pointed to a further rise in 2026 before today's appointment.

He continues: “A week of calm markets was built on the expectation of restraint at the Treasury. What arrived instead is a Chancellor with a spending record and a mandate, by Downing Street's own description, to execute rather than temper the Prime Minister's plans. That is a materially different risk picture than the one priced in on Friday.”

Nigel Green says the probability of tougher wealth measures has shifted with today's decision.

He says: “A wealth tax, an exit charge on departing assets, and a further rise in capital gains tax all look more likely with Healey at the Treasury than they did with Mahmood.

“Burnham has removed the appointment that gave markets a reason for confidence.”

Wealthy individuals and business owners should treat today as a prompt to act rather than wait. Reviewing residency options, diversifying where assets sit and building flexibility across jurisdictions is worth doing now, ahead of the Autumn Budget, rather than after it confirms the direction today's appointment points toward.”

Nigel Green concludes: “Last week's market rally was built on an appointment that never happened.

“Healey's record on spending, paired with Burnham's manifesto constraints, points toward higher taxes on wealth, not lower.

“This is the takeaway investors and wealth creators need to get from today, whatever the initial market reaction looks like.”

deVere Group is one of the world's largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients.  It has a network of offices around the world, more than 80,000 clients, and $14bn under advisement.

Source: Global PR

Smart Manufacturing and Sustainability Driving the Future of Plastics and Rubber Industry

Taipei, Taiwan –  Organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), the Taipei International Plastics & Rubber Industry Show (TaipeiPLAS) will take place from September 15 to 19, 2026, at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1. Booth applications and online visitor pre-registration are now officially open, welcoming exhibitors and industry professionals worldwide to join one of Asia’s leading plastics and rubber industry events.

Under the slogan “Form to Future,” TaipeiPLAS 2026 will focus on three key pillars: Smart Manufacturing, Innovative Materials, and Sustainability & Circular Economy. The exhibition will showcase the latest technological advancements and market trends, highlighting how the industry is evolving through digital transformation, material innovation, and sustainable production practices.

TaipeiPLAS has long served as a premier platform connecting global buyers, suppliers, and industry leaders. The 2024 edition attracted more than 12,000 visitors, reaffirming Taiwan’s strategic position within the global plastics and rubber supply chain. The exhibition continues to provide opportunities for product launches, technology exchange, business development, and international collaboration.

The global plastics and rubber industry is undergoing significant transformation driven by circular economy initiatives, advanced manufacturing technologies, and evolving supply chain demands. Leading brands across the automotive, electronics, and consumer goods sectors are increasingly adopting recycled materials and innovative material solutions, prompting suppliers worldwide to accelerate their sustainability efforts. At the same time, manufacturers are integrating automation, digitalization, machine connectivity, and data-driven monitoring systems to improve operational efficiency, product quality, and energy management.

Taiwan’s plastics and rubber machinery sector continues to demonstrate resilience and growth. In 2025, exports reached USD 825 million, representing a 4.6% increase compared to 2024. Key export markets include China, Vietnam, the United States, Thailand, and Indonesia, while Taiwanese manufacturers are also expanding into emerging markets such as Poland, Latin America, and Africa.

Reflecting these industry developments, TaipeiPLAS 2026 will introduce a Sustainability & Circular Zone and place greater emphasis on advanced and composite materials, showcasing innovative material technologies, green manufacturing processes, recycling solutions, and circular economy applications. Visitors will gain insights into the latest industry innovations while exploring opportunities for future business growth.

The exhibition is expected to feature 330 exhibitors across 1,500 booths, presenting comprehensive solutions spanning the entire plastics and rubber value chain. Leading Taiwanese exhibitors include Victor Taichung, FCS, Huarong, CLF, Everlight Chemical, and GRECO, alongside internationally renowned companies such as ARBURG, WITTMANN, ENGEL, and igus.

In addition to the exhibition, TaipeiPLAS 2026 will host a series of concurrent events designed to facilitate knowledge exchange and business networking, including Procurement Meetings, Industry Forums, Guided Tour, and the TaipeiPLAS Award Ceremony & Gala. These activities will provide valuable opportunities for industry professionals to connect with global partners, gain market intelligence, and explore emerging trends.

As the industry advances toward a smarter and more sustainable future, TaipeiPLAS 2026 serves as a key platform for innovation, collaboration, and international business development. Booth applications and visitor pre-registration are available through the official TaipeiPLAS website.

More information is available at www.taipeiplas.com.tw.

Source: ONEKEY

Four Steps to the Next Generation of Product Cybersecurity

Düsseldorf, July 16, 2026 – After unveiling its “Decision Intelligence” concept, the Düsseldorf-based product cybersecurity company ONEKEY has outlined the next steps in developing its platform. The four-stage AI roadmap illustrates how artificial intelligence will evolve from an intelligent information system to a comprehensive product security assistant without replacing human decision-making responsibility.

“Many companies today are asking how AI can be meaningfully and responsibly integrated into existing security processes,” explained Jan Wendenburg, ONEKEY's CEO. “Our answer is: step by step. Each phase of development increases the benefits for our customers while maintaining transparency, traceability, and control.”

Phase 1: ONEKEY's AI Agent Makes Security Intelligence Accessible in Natural Language

The first milestone is the context-aware chat agent, ONEKEY AI. Users will soon be able to ask questions in natural language about vulnerabilities, firmware, software components, software bills of materials (SBOMs), products, and OQL queries (ONEKEY Query Language). Answers will be based directly on analysis results and security data from the ONEKEY platform, providing reliable, evidence-based information.

“Security information should not be hidden in complex menus or databases,” said Jan Wendenburg. “Experts must be able to quickly access reliable knowledge, whether they are addressing a detailed technical question or preparing a management decision.”

Phase 2: ONEKEY's AI Agent Provides Security Information for Enterprise AI Systems

In the second step, ONEKEY provides controlled access to security data for organization's AI agents, applications, and automated workflows. This allows companies to integrate evidence-based analysis results into their existing business processes, such as development environments, ticket systems, compliance platforms, and internal AI assistants.

Permissions, role models, and data sovereignty are always maintained. Companies decide which information their applications can use.

“AI is changing the way teams work with security information. Our goal is to make ONEKEY's insights available where decisions are made—within our users' existing tools and workflows,” said Jan Wendenburg. This lays the foundation for faster, more informed decisions without compromising control, permissions, or robust, evidence-based context,” said Jan Wendenburg.

Phase 3: ONEKEY's AI Agent Supports Security Decisions

With this third milestone, ONEKEY transforms an information system into an intelligent security assistant with integrated AI. ONEKEY helps users better understand the technical context of vulnerabilities, trace their impact on software components, set priorities, and determine possible courses of action. However, the final assessment is deliberately left to humans.

“AI is not meant to replace security professionals, but rather to help them understand complex relationships more quickly,” Jan Wendenburg emphasized. “In regulated industries especially, decisions must be traceable, documented, and subject to professional accountability at all times.”

Phase 4: ONEKEY's AI agent Supports Entire Security Workflows

The ONEKEY AI Agent, which is integrated into the platform, will support numerous operational tasks related to product safety. These include preparing technical reports, assisting with configuration tasks, managing histories, creating analysis profiles and rule sets, and conducting cross-firmware comparative analyses.

Even at this stage of development, the company explicitly views the AI agent as an assistant. Critical decisions remain with humans, authorization policies are considered, and all work steps are transparent and traceable.

AI Is Becoming an Essential Component of Modern Product Safety

According to ONEKEY, artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way we approach product cybersecurity. While traditional tools offer individual analyses, future platforms are expected to integrate security knowledge, business processes, and human expertise in an intelligent way.

“The future belongs to platforms that generate and turn data into comprehensible, actionable knowledge,” Jan Wendenburg summarized. “Our roadmap shows how decision intelligence is becoming a reality, step by step, as trusted support for the people who make security-critical decisions every day.”

ONEKEY is systematically expanding its platform into an AI-powered decision intelligence solution with the roadmap presented, thereby laying the foundation for the next generation of product cybersecurity.

ONEKEY is the leading European specialist in Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Management and part of the investment portfolio of PricewaterhouseCoopers Germany (PwC). The unique combination of the automated ONEKEY Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Platform (OCP) with expert knowledge and consulting services provides fast and comprehensive analysis, support, and management to improve product cybersecurity and compliance from product purchasing, design, development, production to end-of-life.

Critical vulnerabilities and compliance violations in device firmware are automatically identified in binary code by AI-based technology in minutes – without source code, device, or network access. Proactively audit software supply chains with integrated Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) generation. “Digital Cyber Twins” enable automated 24/7 post-release cybersecurity monitoring throughout the product lifecycle.

The integrated ONEKEY Compliance Wizard already supports compliance with requirements from IEC 62443-4-2, ETSI EN 303 645, UNECE R155, and many other standards and regulations.

As part of the EU-funded CRACoWi (Cyber Resilience Act Compliance Wizard) project, ONEKEY is collaborating with 13 European partners to develop an AI-powered assistant for the automated implementation of the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

The solution will guide companies through the entire compliance process—from the initial CRA scope assessment to the generation of the required Declaration of Conformity.

The Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is effectively supported by the integrated automatic prioritization of vulnerabilities, significantly reducing the time to remediation.

Leading international companies in Asia, Europe and the Americas already benefit from the ONEKEY Product Cybersecurity & Compliance Platform (OCP) and ONEKEY Cybersecurity Experts.

Source: deVere Group

July 16 2026 – The pound's rebound on Mahmood as Chancellor rumours is a warning to Burnham, not a green light, affirms the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory organisations.

Nigel Green of deVere Group's comments come as the Bloomberg British Pound Index jumped as much as 1% on Wednesday to its highest level in a year, after reports that incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hand the Treasury to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rather than his early frontrunner, Ed Miliband.

Sterling climbed 1.1% against the dollar to $1.353 and touched a one-year high against the euro, while the 10-year gilt yield eased to 4.93%, even as no appointment has yet been formally confirmed.

Burnham is expected to unveil his full Cabinet only on Monday, when he takes office as prime minister.

deVere Group's CEO says: “What we're looking at is relief dressed up as confidence, and those are two very different things for a currency to be trading on.

“Investors have spent weeks pricing in the risk of a Miliband Treasury, and the moment that risk looked like it was lifting, the pound rallied hard.

“A natural reaction to bad news not materialising is not the same as investors deciding Britain's fiscal outlook has genuinely improved.”

“A 1% move in a major currency index on a single unconfirmed report is a large swing by any standard,” Nigel Green continues.

“Moves that size, built on sourcing rather than substance, tend to be the most fragile kind. Nothing has actually changed about the UK's fiscal position in the past 24 hours.

“What changed is expectations about who will manage it, and expectations can shift again just as quickly if the reporting turns out to be wrong or if Mahmood's actual policy agenda disappoints once she is in the job.

“Burnham himself gave investors reason for caution on the very day this rally happened,” he adds.

“He described the coming fiscal decisions as difficult and declined to rule out new wealth taxes.

“This is the language of a government that knows painful choices are coming, not one settling into safe, predictable territory, and markets have a habit of underpricing exactly that kind of warning in the excitement of a Cabinet reshuffle.”

Nigel Green points to Mahmood's limited economic track record as a further reason for caution.

“She has never held an economic brief. Her reputation for discipline comes from immigration policy, not fiscal policy, and investors are essentially extending credit to her on reputation rather than record.

“Bets built on reputation rather than record can work out well, but they remain bets, and bets like this have a habit of unwinding the moment reality intrudes on the narrative.

“If Burnham confirms Mahmood and she holds firmly to the existing fiscal rules through the autumn Budget, this rally has a real chance of holding and even extending,” the deVere CEO explains.

“But if he wavers under pressure from the left of his own party, or if wealth taxes and borrowing plans turn out to be more aggressive than markets currently expect, sterling can give back these gains faster than it made them.

“Currency markets don't reward promises, rather delivery, and delivery is still months away.”

He concludes. “Treat this rally as a reprieve, not a resolution. Watch what happens on Monday when the Cabinet is confirmed, and watch the autumn Budget even more closely, because that is where Burnham's government will show its true colours on tax and spending.

“Until then, sterling's strength is built on hope rather than proof, and hope is a poor foundation for anyone holding UK assets to get comfortable on.”

deVere Group is one of the world's largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients.  It has a network of offices around the world, more than 80,000 clients, and $14bn under advisement.

Source: Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)

States Arming the UAE Risk Complicity in Its Grave Abuses in Sudan

Washington, D.C., July 15, 2026) – The UN General Assembly and individual member states should impose an immediate arms embargo on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of its central role in supporting genocide in Sudan and grave human rights violations across the region, said DAWN today.

Source: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank)

The latest HSI Index shows a slower pace of growth in June despite sales and sporting events.

16 July 2026 – Key points

Seasonally adjusted recreation spending rapidly decelerated in June from 2.3% growth in May to just 0.2% in June.

Compared to 2025, spending on household goods was soft despite the EOFY sales.

The strongest spending categories in June were utilities (1.4%) and education (1.1%) driven by seasonality and the ending of Government rebates, and the timing of university payments.

Household spending rose a modest 0.3 per cent in June, but the CommBank Household Spending Insights (HSI) Index Suggests that inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates are leading to a pull back by consumers, with End of Financial Year (EOFY) sales less impactful than 2025.

The latest data showed gains across 10 of the 12 categories, led by Utilities and Education. Compared to 2025, spending on household goods had a soft month despite the EOFY sales, with retail spending easing to 0.2 per cent in June comparted to 0.6 per cent in May.

Spending on Hospitality rose only marginally by 0.1 per cent in June, compared to 0.9 per cent growth in May, indicating that sporting events hosted through June did little to boost spending growth.

“The softening we are seeing in the CommBank HSI is broadly in line with our expectation that household spending will slow over the remainder of this year,” CommBank’s Head of Australian Economics, Belinda Allen, said.

“Slower household income growth, together with the ‘wealth effect’ from a downturn in the housing market is expected to weigh on spending. However, consumers may dip into their savings buffers which would see spending slow less than we expect.

“The last three months has seen some volatile moves in the HSI due to the up and down of petrol prices, seasonality around payments of bills for education and utilities as well the timing of sales,” Allen said.

“The Iran war, the downturn in the housing market and higher interest rates continue to weigh on consumer spending.

“For the first six months of 2026, the average monthly increase is sitting at 0.3 per cent, slightly lower than the 0.5 per cent average through 2025. With the rate of inflation higher, it does suggest the volume of spending growth has softened.”

Big pullback in recreational spending

June also saw a rapid deceleration in seasonally adjusted recreation spending, from 2.3 per cent growth in May to just 0.2 per cent.

Lower spending on ski resorts, camping stores, museums and galleries and tour operators sapped spending momentum in the category.  The poor weather to start the ski season may have weighed on ski resort spending which experienced a large fall compared to 2025 in the month of June.

Still, solid gains in annual spending on online travel bookings, commercial airlines, fitness clubs and gyms, travel agencies and sporting goods stores, helped keep the category in the green.

Older Australians the top spenders as younger cohorts pull back

Across the different age cohorts, spending growth was strongest among those aged 65+, up 10.1 per cent a year in the 12 months to June 2026. The 55-64 cohort also recorded solid growth of 6.2 per cent a year, while spending among 18–24-year-olds rose 5.4 per cent a year.

Spending growth was softer across the cohorts who are more likely to have a mortgage, with spending up 4.5 per cent per year for 35-44- and 45–54-year-olds, and just 4.2 per cent higher for 25–34-year-olds.

However, compared to June 2025, annual spending growth has moderated across almost all age cohorts. The largest slowdown was among 18–24-year-olds where growth eased from 9.9 per cent per year in 2025 to 5.4 per cent per year in June 2026.

Regional spending outpaces metro areas

Annual regional household spending growth accelerated in the year to June 2026, compared to June 2025, while spending growth in metro areas slowed. Regional Queensland and regional WA were the strongest performers over the year, while metro NSW, the ACT and metro Victoria were the weakest.

“Weaker spending in metro areas of NSW, Victoria and the ACT reflect the jurisdictions that recorded the weakest home price growth over the past 12 months, highlighting how the downturn in the housing market and higher interest rates are beginning to weigh on consumer spending,” Allen said.

Regional outperformance in part reflects stronger population growth and demand, particularly in Qld and WA. However, the conflict in Iran may have also contributed, with regions more exposed to the sharp increases in diesel prices compared to metro areas,” Allen added.

Source: Amnesty International

Responding to the reported arrest of five people in police raids on two independent bookstores in Hong Kong today, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks said:

“This year’s escalating attacks on Hong Kong’s independent bookstores hammer home the chilling reality of what the city has become: a place where you can be criminalized simply for what’s on your bookshelf.

“Booksellers should never face arrest simply for doing their jobs: selling, publishing or distributing books. The use of ‘sedition’ offences to target bookstores once again demonstrates how Hong Kong’s national security framework is being weaponized to silence dissenting voices and eradicate spaces for free thought and debate.

“The growing uncertainty over so-called ‘red lines’ for booksellers leaves publishers and writers guessing which titles could lead to criminal investigation, arrest or closure. Such ambiguity is intentional: fueling fear and self-censorship, with devastating consequences for freedom of expression.

“Hong Kong’s authorities must immediately stop using national security and sedition laws to criminalize the peaceful exercise of human rights, and ensure that everyone in Hong Kong can access, publish and share ideas without fear of arrest.”

Background

According to local media reports, Hong Kong police raided the independent bookstores Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield Bookstore on 15 July and arrested five people on suspicion of sedition-related offences.

The operation took place one day after Have a Nice Stay announced it would close, citing financial difficulties and “unclear red lines” surrounding which books may be legally sold.

Two bookstores have previously been raided by police in 2026, with their owners and staff arrested. Book Punch was raided in March with four people arrested, reportedly for selling books including a biography of jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai. Hunter Bookstore, another shop that reportedly stocked the Jimmy Lai biography, was raided in June with two people arrested.

All official statements surrounding the arrests refer to “seditious” publications or acts under Hong Kong’s Article 23 law (also known as the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance).

OP-ED by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

America never agreed to a world tribunal that can override our own courts and the Constitution.

Most of us would struggle to imagine a world in which U.S. soldiers, police officers, Border Patrol agents and elected leaders could be dragged before an international court, tried by judges from random countries across the globe, found guilty under international laws we neither consent to nor control, and then imprisoned thousands of miles from America.

But that is what the International Criminal Court now claims the power to do.

The ICC was born at the turn of the century. At first, it was marketed as a narrow backstop to prosecute the gravest crimes. Now the ICC and its allies seek a standing world tribunal with near-unlimited reach, empowered to override the courts and constitutions of the U.S. and other sovereign states—and to prosecute and arrest our citizens.

Americans never agreed to any of this. Both of our major political parties opposed the prospect of handing a distant global court the power to prosecute and jail our own citizens. President Clinton refused to submit the Rome Statute (the ICC’s founding charter) to the Senate for ratification due to his “concerns about significant flaws in the Treaty.” Two years later, a bipartisan Senate supermajority passed the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act, authorizing the president “to use all means necessary”—including military force—to prevent the ICC from detaining or arresting Americans.

Americans found themselves in the crosshairs anyway: In 2020 the ICC launched an investigation into what chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of Gambia described as “war crimes by members of the United States armed forces” in Afghanistan, declaring that the U.S. government hadn’t prosecuted enough American soldiers to satisfy the court. In effect, Ms. Bensouda was anointing herself the final judge of U.S. military policy and the entire U.S. justice system.

The Afghanistan investigation was only the opening move in the assault against American self-government. The ICC is backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S.

In the second Trump administration, these calls have continued to grow. Last year, major activist groups urged high-ranking international officials “to take immediate and meaningful action” against the Trump administration’s deportations of violent criminals to El Salvador. Months later, a former ICC chief prosecutor declared that President Trump’s strikes against narcoterrorists amounted to “a crime against humanity” and should be treated as such under international law—a line that was echoed by United Nations leaders, and major leftist nongovernmental organizations, Democratic Party officials and politicians. In March, the Washington-based Democracy for the Arab World Now urged the Iranian regime to request an ICC investigation of “apparent war crimes” committed by American personnel.

U.S. efforts to push back against the ICC’s illegitimate interventions have been framed as a further reason for the ICC to target Americans. When 12 U.S. senators wrote to the ICC prosecutor about their concerns, the prosecutor’s office accused them of crimes. When Mr. Trump imposed sanctions against ICC personnel, a former head of Human Rights Watch said that “all 125 ICC member states would have a legal duty to arrest him were he to show up.”

It is only a matter of time before the ICC begins making good on these threats. Border Patrol agents working to remove violent criminals from our country, U.S. Marines risking their lives to restore order in the Western Hemisphere, federal prosecutors working to dismantle terror networks plotting attacks on the American homeland—all would face the constant risk of persecution for the “crime” of defending our country.

The ICC’s interfering with American military and law enforcement operations isn’t only a grave overreach of its purported authorities. It would mean the death of the U.S. as a sovereign and independent nation. Our decision and our people would be at the mercy of the ICC and its collaborators in the “international community.” To accept the ICC is to surrender control of our national destiny.

Perhaps more polite and compliant nations could make their peace with that arrangement. But this is America. Our forefathers fought a revolution against a foreign power “transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.” Independence is our birthright. We don’t intend to trade it for rule by a self-appointed priesthood of “international law.”

The Trump administration will always protect American service members from this threat. The U.S. is launching a diplomatic campaign with a simple message—sovereign states over globalism. Those who benefit from American security must not stand idly by while those who provide that security are targeted. This is only the beginning. Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary.

Marco Rubio was sworn in as the 72nd Secretary of State on January 21, 2025. The Secretary is creating a Department of State that puts America First.

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

13 July 2026 – Today, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) released “No Safe Place to Heal”, a report documenting relentless attacks on healthcare and medical personnel in Ukraine, which appear to constitute a deliberate strategy to destroy the medical system and collectively punish the population – rather than being an incidental product of Russia's invasion.

Between April 2022 and December 2025, MSF documented more than 20 attacks on medical facilities associated with its activities. Four hospitals where MSF worked have been completely destroyed. Seven ambulance bases had to be abandoned. MSF has lost access to over 80 villages it supported across six regions with primary healthcare mobile clinics. The World Health Organization documented 2,811 attacks on healthcare from February 2022 to the end of 2025, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Health reports that Russian forces have damaged or destroyed over 2,500 medical facilities in the same period, including 327 that have been completely destroyed.

“These attacks are too consistent, too frequent, and too precise to be incidental; when hospitals are struck repeatedly, when ambulances are targeted with precision drones, when medical workers are killed en-route to delivering medicines in clearly marked vehicles – this is not coincidence,” said Robin Meldrum, MSF Country Coordinator in Ukraine. “This is a pattern; patterns have intent behind them.”

Strikes on medical infrastructure and the crippling fear of attacks on civilians have created a crisis in access to healthcare for people in need of non-emergency medical treatment or treatment for chronic conditions. An MSF survey of 187 civilians in near-frontline regions found that those who ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ had access to healthcare diminished from 72% before the war’s escalation to just 35% since. Those accessing care ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ rose from 7% to 35%. This translates directly into suffering and even death from manageable conditions – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, epilepsy – conditions that have become life-threatening due to interrupted treatment and delayed access. Healthcare facilities that remain operational are cruelly understaffed: in one MSF-supported hospital in Kherson, the number of doctors has fallen by 66% since 2022.

MSF teams in eastern and southern Ukraine work under the constant threat of First-Person View (FPV) drone attacks — weapons that allow soldiers to identify and strike targets with precision in real time. On 29 September 2025, a nurse and a director from an MSF-supported health centre delivering medicines in a clearly marked vehicle in Lyman, Donetsk, were struck by a Russian FPV drone. The director lost a leg in the attack. Under international humanitarian law, deliberately attacking clearly marked medical personnel or vehicles may amount to a war crime.

MSF medical workers near the front line, and in an early rehabilitation treatment centre in Cherkasy, are witnessing how drone warfare is fast outstripping the medical response. Where injuries were once predominantly caused by artillery, drone strikes now account for a growing share of trauma cases – producing multiple victims with multiple simultaneous wounds, higher infection rates, and rising rates of sepsis.  
 
An MSF surgeon describes a patient who arrived with an amputated right leg, an open fracture of the left leg, an open fracture of the right arm, shrapnel in the left arm, and multiple wounds to the chest, abdomen and head. Five surgeons operated simultaneously for around six hours. The same surgeon noted, “The first battle is against bleeding. If the patient survives that, the second battle is against infection. And many lose that second fight.”

This year marks ten years since the adoption of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2286, which unequivocally reiterates the protection of humanitarian and medical personnel, patients, and healthcare infrastructure in armed conflict. MSF calls on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law; on states with influence over Russia to use it to demand an end to attacks on healthcare; and on the Security Council to properly investigate and make public denunciations about attacks on healthcare as a way of showing commitment to UNSC Resolution 2286.

MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières  working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au