Australian Prime Minister to Host Pacific Leaders at Rugby Match

Leaders from Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea will join the Australian prime minister at the State of Origin rugby decider in Brisbane. The visit occurs on the same day a major outage disrupted the Telstra mobile network across Australia.

The shadow foreign affairs minister said China's recent long-range missile test was completely inappropriate. The same statement noted that Pacific nations had voiced their discontent and urged direct talks with Beijing.

Oil prices rose less than expected after an excise tax cut reduced the impact on households. Growth is expected to remain weak for the rest of the year, raising the likelihood of a per capita recession. Per capita recessions produce smaller unemployment changes than conventional recessions but still reduce living standards.