Australia news as it happened: Officials knew about Commonwealth Games cost blowout months ago; FIFA Women’s World Cup begins in Australia, NZ

The Reserve Bank will soon upend three decades of managing the economy a certain way, becoming more precise in fighting inflation just as it goes through the biggest internal upheaval in its 63-year history.

As the hunt begins for the right people to fill three more senior roles at the bank, concerns remain about how it will address a recommendation to target an inflation rate of 2.5 per cent and what that means for the broader economy.

Rachel Clun and Shane Wright report here on how incoming governor Michele Bullock faces change to the inflation target – and the entire bank.

It was a windy afternoon to launch the bilateral military exercise, Talisman Sabre, on Sydney Harbour today.

Photographer Janie Barrett captured these great photos of the launch with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and the US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

Gold Coast’s bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games has been torpedoed, as pressure mounts on Victoria to explain how long it kept quiet on cost concerns.

The Queensland city’s mayor, Tom Tate, launched a late bid, contingent on federal funding, for the Games after Victoria pulled out of hosting the event because the cost had risen to up to $7 billion.

Tate said if the Albanese government offered in-principle support, he would take four weeks to put together a presentation in a bid to woo the Queensland government into stumping up more cash.

“The reputation that Australia has ... is we make a deal and we deliver,” Tate said today.

“What [Victorian Premier] Daniel Andrews has done has put that in jeopardy.”

But federal cabinet minister Jason Clare poured cold water on the move, saying the government was already splashing cash on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“I just think that this is unlikely,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.

Infrastructure remains in place from the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast, which cost $1.2 billion to host.

AAP

Defence Minister Richard Marles has just given a press conference in Sydney, where he was accompanied by United States Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.

They launched the opening of the Talisman Sabre military exercises, which will run for two weeks across Australia and involve 30,000 personnel from 13 countries.

The US, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the UK, Canada and Germany are participating alongside Australian troops. The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will observe.

Del Toro was asked what message China should take from the exercises. He said the message for the Asian power was: “We are extremely tied by the core values that exist amongst our many nations together, and we are prepared to actually operate together in defence of our national security interests.

“I think that’s the most important message that China or any other country actually can take from this exercise, and any other exercise that we do with partners and allies. I often talk about the greatest strength that we have as a nation. It is the strength of our friends [and] of our allies and partners working together.”

However, he said the exercises were not just about relations with China. “[It’s] about the mutual relationship between all the allies and partners working together,” he said.

Del Toro said the nations wanted to work more closely together, build advanced military capabilities and improve communications, so that they could be “far more responsive as one task force”.

Marles said the same. “It’s actually about ensuring that we are becoming much more familiar with each other, and able to operate at a much higher level in a much more coordinated way,” he said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles is addressing the media from HMAS Canberra in Sydney alongside US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro for the opening of the Talisman Sabre military exercises.

Watch live below:

Good afternoon, Anthony Segaert with you for the rest of the day.

We’ve got Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles due to speak at 3pm from Sydney. He’s with Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the US Navy, onboard the HMAS Canberra. We’ll bring you the latest from that media conference.

Thanks for reading our live coverage of the latest news updates today, it’s been wonderful having your company.

My colleague Anthony Segaert will be taking over for the rest of the day.

But if you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

• Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says negotiations are continuing with Commonwealth Games authorities to decide on a compensation cost for cancelling the event earlier this week.
• The discussion around compensation for the Games comes after this masthead reported that Victorian Treasury officials knew in April the estimated cost of running the event had blown out to double the $2.6 billion figure quoted a year earlier by the government’s own bid team.
• NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, who has been a major supporter of the Yes campaign, has suggested the referendum should be delayed to ensure it is not defeated.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers launched Australia’s first wellbeing budget this morning, which tracks 50 indicators covering health, security, the environment, the economy and society.
• Chalmers also discussed the unemployment figures released yesterday – which sit at 3.5 per cent – saying the high employment rates were the “good kind of surprise” and stronger than many expected.
• Humanities students will be stuck paying higher fees for the foreseeable future despite Education Minister Jason Clare conceding the current university payment structure – which charges arts students three times more for their course than other students – has failed.

Australian economists say the prospects of the Reserve Bank lifting rates again on August 1 are an even bet.

The jobless rate held steady in June at 3.5 per cent, which is close to its lowest level in almost five decades.

Incoming Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has indicated unemployment needed to sit at 4.5 per cent to get inflation back under control.

St George economists said markets were pricing a 47 per cent chance of a rate hike, following the strong jobs report.

“This is up from around a 30 per cent chance at the start of the week,” they said today.

“There will likely be more conviction on the call after next week’s June quarter inflation data.”

CommSec economists expect the annual growth rate of headline CPI, to be released on Wednesday, will ease from 7 per cent to 6.2 per cent in the June quarter.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Reserve Bank would weigh up many factors beside unemployment numbers before making its next rates decision.

“They’ll have the opportunity to consider the jobs market but also in the context of all of these other indicators that show that our economy is slowing,” he said.

Deloitte Access Economics forecasts suggest the central bank has already lifted rates too far in the fight against sources of inflation over which it has minimal influence.

AAP