Michael Heath

At around 6:47 p.m., as the sun began to fade on a warm Sunday afternoon at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, the first gunshots rang out.

Australia’s home-price growth decelerated in December and the two biggest markets edged lower, as the risk of renewed interest-rate hikes weighed on both sentiment and the outlook for property in the year ahead.

Australia’s central bank said local households and firms are broadly well placed to cope with recent interest-rate increases and surging fuel prices from the escalating Middle East conflict, while highlighting the potential for an unexpected shock as a result of elevated international risk.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make his second visit to Southeast Asia in less than a week as he tries to shore up fuel supplies against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

Australia’s center-left government is consulting with small businesses, particularly start-ups, over the implications of a planned clampdown on tax breaks unveiled in this month’s budget, Cabinet Secretary Andrew Charlton said.

US and Israeli jets struck a number of Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after President Donald Trump had suggested negotiations with Tehran over an interim deal were progressing.

Australia’s industrial relations umpire raised national minimum wage rates by 4.75%, just shy of the Reserve Bank’s inflation forecast, citing uncertainty over the economy’s trajectory.

More than half of Australians now see their nation’s relationship with China as more important than its ties to the US, a new poll showed, while confidence in President Donald Trump slumped to a record low.

Australia’s consumer and business confidence improved as concerns about higher fuel prices moderated in response to the US-Iran interim deal, though a resumption in fighting may see this recovery prove short-lived.

Australia’s central bank said results from a new survey showed inflation was the top economic concern for respondents, adding “fundamental gaps” remain in the public’s understanding of how monetary policy works.