Australia’s economy has recorded its worst fall on record, contracting by seven per cent, officially ending the near three-decade streak of uninterrupted economic growth.
The economy contracted year-to-year by 6.3 per cent. This contraction follows last quarter’s GDP figures, which saw a drop of 0.
3 per cent, largely attributed to the devastating bushfires in the early months of 2020, and not the full impacts of the coronavirus. Australia was last in a recession from 1990 to 1991.
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Coronavirus updates LIVE: Australia in recession as economy suffers biggest contraction since the Great Depression; Victoria records 90 COVID-19 cases as Australian death toll jumps to 663Breaking: Australia is now officially in a recession for the first time in three decades after the economy contracted by 7 per cent in the June quarter
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Treasurer to announce Australia in first recession in three decades | Sky News AustraliaThe Treasurer is today expected to announce Australia has entered its first recession in almost three decades with an expected six per cent contraction in Gross Domestic Product during his national accounts address.\n\nJosh Frydenberg said the coronavirus pandemic swung 'a wrecking ball' through the economy but said Australia was doing better comparatively than other nations.\n\n'The impact... on GDP in the June quarter across the world has been staggering,' Mr Frydenberg said.\n\n'In the United Kingdom, it has been around 20 per cent. In France, it has been around 14 per cent.\n\n'The expectation is the fall here will not be as large as we've seen in other countries around the world indicating the remarkable resilience of the Australian economy.'\n\nThe contraction represented the worst economic downturn since records began in the 1950s - dwarfing a two per cent quarterly drop in 1974.\n\nThe Reserve Bank of Australia unsurprisingly announced yesterday it would again keep the cash rate on hold at the record low 0.25 per cent but Governor Philip Lowe confirmed another cut was unlikely for the 'forseeable future'.\n\nMeanwhile, the parliament has greenlighted the government's plan to cut Jobseeker and Jobkeeper payments beyond September when a two-tiered, revised system comes into effect through to March 2021.\n\nThe Treasurer argued it was time to begin winding back the government's high level of fiscal support, but said no Australian would be 'left in the lurch'.\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
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Once you shutdown an economy, this is what you get: Clennell | Sky News AustraliaSky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell says 'once you shutdown an economy, this is what you get' following news Australia had entered its first recession since 1991.\n\nMr Clennell pointed to a drop in household expenditure as a key factor with a 17 per cent drop in services including travel and social dining.\n\n'The concerning thing I think is, you get through this quarter and a couple of weeks into the next quarter you get the whole state of Victoria is locked down.\n\n'That's going to be a significant number next quarter. I know people are saying it'll be better next quarter because things have opened up but, what about the Melbourne effect?\n\n'Funnily enough, the household savings ratio is up from six per cent to 18 per cent.'\n\nThe Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed Australia's GDP contracted seven per cent in the June quarter, above market expectations, in what was the largest quarterly fall on record.\n\nSky News Business Editor Ticky Fullerton said she believed Australia's economy had seen a 'lower dip' relative to other global economies.\n\n'If you compare us to say the quarters that have happened abroad, I mean, Britain; minus 20.4 per cent. The US fell by nine per cent; Europe by 12 per cent,' Ms Fullerton said.\n\n'Relatively speaking, our low has been a lower dip than elsewhere in the world.'\n\nThe drop ends a near three-decade streak of uninterrupted economic growth.\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
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Australia’s 'overreaction' to COVID-19 'damaged our society and economy' | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Chris Kenny says Australia should have done more to protect the elderly and less to harm society and hurt the young in responding to COVID-19. \n\nMr Kenny said the fact Australia overreacted to the threat of the virus is becoming increasingly apparent as the country learns more about the virus, treatments improve, and fatality rates around the world drop. \n\nAustralian National University’s Professor Peter Collignon said in a tweet on Tuesday the estimated infection fatality rate was close to zero for children and younger adults, but reached 0.4 per cent at 55 years, 1.3 per cent at 65, 4.5 per cent at 75, and 15 per cent at 85.\n\n“We should have been doing less to harm society, and hurt the young, and more to protect and support the elderly,” Mr Kenny said. \n\nMr Kenny said while the virus itself posed a moderate health risk to Australia, it was the country’s management of it which had damaged the nation’s society and economy incalculably. \n\nHe said the virus, as looked likely in February, “might always have been dealt with better by pulling out all stops to protect the vulnerable, to ring fence aged care homes and support the elderly, rather than crush society.”\n\n“The more we know about this disease, how it behaves, how we can combat it, and the mistakes we've made, the more it's clear we need to open up more, like Europe and North America, and learn to live with the disease,” he said. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia
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COVID recession confirmed as Australia's economy posts its biggest fall on recordAustralia is officially in its first recession for almost three decades, with the June quarter GDP numbers showing the economy went backwards by 7 per cent, the worst fall on record and a second straight contraction.
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