Chance of rate hike doubles + The laws to unmask trolls & creepy bosses

**Chris Spyrou** (0:08)
Hey, it's Chris Spyrou with you. Welcome to The Briefing. Bosses using AI to spy on workers, anonymous trolls hiding behind fake names and parents looking to sue tech giants for harm. One state premier reckons she's got the answers to all of it.

**Jacinta Allan** (0:22)
I don't care how important Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg think they are. If they're creating an environment where kids are being hurt, we're going to go after them.

**Chris Spyrou** (0:32)
My chat with Victorian premier Jacinta Allan about the new laws she's looking to get over the line before her state heads to the polls is coming up in the second half of this episode. First though, let's get into the headlines with Sacha Barbour Gatt on Wednesday, the 22nd of July.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:49)
Hey Chris, the end of the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has sparked predictions that we're now twice as likely to see an interest rate hike next month. The Reserve Bank will hand down its decision on August 11, with markets forecasting a 30% chance of an increase to the official cash rate. That's up from 16%.
The chance of a hike by November, though, is at 80%, according to ANZ economists.

**Chris Spyrou** (1:13)
So why have those chances increased? Well, the war between Iran and the US has escalated in recent weeks, with Donald Trump declaring the ceasefire over and both sides trading strikes once again. Now, that's sent the global oil price skyrocketing again, due to uncertainty around supply as ships are slowed through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting fears of another hit to inflation in Australia.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (1:36)
Yeah, and at the same time, Yemen's Houthi rebels this week announced a blockade of Saudi oil passing through the Red Sea, which is further putting pressure on not only the world's oil supply, but also the world's energy supply. It's worth noting, though, that at least one economist is holding out hope that there won't be any more rate rises this year. So people with a mortgage will be happy to hear that. However, in terms of Australia's overall economic growth, that picture is looking pretty bleak as well.
That's expected to slow to 1.5% by the end of the year. So a lot of those pressures are continuing, and it doesn't look like they're going to ease up enough to kind of improve that economic outlook any time soon.

**Chris Spyrou** (2:16)
To politics now, and Pauline Hanson is continuing to defend suggestions that she's advocating for the White Australia policy. During a Q&A at a Business Leaders Breakfast hosted by the West Australian newspaper in Perth, the One Nation leader spoke about terrorism carried out by Muslims, saying she's calling out the elephant in the room and doesn't want people coming to Australia from radical Islamic countries.

**Jacinta Allan** (2:37)
I want to protect the Australian people. I want them to feel safe in the streets. I don't want to see this anti-Semitism that's going on.

**Tommy Robinson** (2:44)
I don't want to see the hatred that's happening.

**Jacinta Allan** (2:47)
That's why I'm very strong on certain countries.

**Tommy Robinson** (2:50)
You've got to say no.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (2:52)
And I've got to...

**Pauline Hanson** (2:55)
In a way, though, that is a version of a White Australia policy, isn't it?

**Jacinta Allan** (3:00)
No, it's not.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (3:01)
No, it's not.

**Jacinta Allan** (3:05)
No, it's got nothing to do with that. That's not to do with the White Australia policy at all.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (3:11)
So don't go there with me, I'll tell you what, because I won't stand for it.

**Chris Spyrou** (3:16)
She went on to say she wants tougher screening before migrants arrive, the Burka Band, and that she has never advocated for the White Australia policy. And she then chucked in there that One Nation has candidates from all different cultural backgrounds.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (3:29)
Yeah, and the question has come after Hanson returned from the UK on what she had been calling a fact-finding mission. Part of that was sitting down with far-right anti-Islam influencer Tommy Robinson.

**Tommy Robinson** (3:40)
What is the immigration policy of Australia? How have you ended up with Pakistanis, Somalis, all of these African problems with violent Africans? I've seen some crazy videos coming out of Australia. How has that happened when you have such a strong immigration policy?

**Jacinta Allan** (3:55)
Well, it started in 1973 with Gough Whitlam. They opened up and got rid of the White Australia policy. Then they started bringing in the different migrants.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (4:03)
It was in that same interview that she claimed people come to Australia purely for welfare or the NDIS, drawing condemnation from both sides of politics. It is worth noting as well in terms of immigration to Australia and the NDIS, if someone is applying for residency status, if they are found to have a disability or needs for a high level of welfare, the Australian government will actually say no. So that line that she's drawn is pretty incorrect in the basis of how we deal with immigrants and immigration law in this country. Look, back in Perth, Hanson defended the meeting with Tommy Robinson saying she sits down with people she disagrees with and that Australians are sick of politicians who only talk to people who already agree with them. She was also asked who paid for the Europe trip. That question is persisting, Chris. She was of course pictured at a luxury resort in Sicily with Gina Reinhardt, that same one that was in White Lotus season two.