Australians will be heading to the polls for the next federal election sometime in the next three months—but exactly when? Well, that’s still up in the air. There’s been plenty of speculation about a possible early election, especially now that the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates for the first time since 2020. Right now, a mid-April vote is looking like the most likely scenario. So, what do we actually know about when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will call the election? Let’s break it down. When Is the Latest Possible Date for the Election? The Australian Constitution lays out some rules about when elections have to be held. Terms in the House of Representatives last three years, and an election has to be held no later than 68 days  after they expire. This means that, at the absolute latest, an election would need to be held by September 27, 2025 . But there’s a catch: half of the Senate’s terms expire on June 30, 2025 , and elections for those seats have to be held before that . Since House of Representatives and Senate elections are almost always held together, this means the latest possible election date is actually May 17, 2025 . That’s the deadline. But chances are, we’ll be voting much sooner. So, When Will It Actually Happen? The government isn’t giving anything away, but one date that keeps popping up is April 12 . Why? Well, if Albanese wants to wait until after the Western Australian state election on March 8  before calling the federal vote, but also avoid Easter and Anzac Day clashing with the campaign, April 12 is basically the only option . There has to be at least 33 days  between an election being called and the actual voting day, which makes April 12 the sweet spot. In late January, when Albanese was asked about this date, he didn’t give much away. “Well, May 17 is when the election will be, or before... good try there, I’ll give you points for effort,” he said. Another thing to consider is the federal budget , which is scheduled for March 25 . The government has posted two consecutive budget surpluses, but this time, it’s looking like the books will be back in the red. There’s speculation that Albanese might want to call the election before the budget is handed down , avoiding the need to present a deficit. If that happens, April 12 makes sense . But if he decides to hold off and deliver the budget first—possibly offering more cost-of-living relief for voters—the election could be pushed back to early- to mid-May . What Do Interest Rates Have to Do With It? Before the Reserve Bank cut interest rates on February 18 , most political watchers thought the government was waiting for some good economic news before calling the election. Well, now they’ve got it. This was the first rate cut since 2020, and it gives Albanese something positive to campaign on after three years of rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressures. Nine political editor Charles Croucher  summed it up: "Validation… that’s what the government will be saying today. That all the pain Australians have suffered, and all the pain the government has suffered tightening the belt, is now worth something." If the Reserve Bank had signaled that more cuts were coming soon , the government might have been tempted to wait a bit longer for another boost before heading to the polls. But RBA Governor Michele Bullock  made it clear that another cut isn’t likely anytime soon. The next two decisions (April 1 and May 20) are expected to hold rates steady. With that in mind, it makes sense for Albanese to strike while the iron is hot  and call an early- to mid-April election. What About a Double Dissolution Election? A double dissolution election  happens when both houses of Parliament are dissolved, meaning all  Senate seats (instead of just half) go up for election. Albanese fueled speculation about this last September, but at this point, it’s not happening. The deadline to dissolve both houses was January 24 , and it passed without action. Plus, the government managed to get a heap of legislation through the Senate in December, meaning there’s no trigger left for a double dissolution. For context, double dissolutions are pretty rare. The last one was in 2016, and before that, there had only been six  in Australian history. The Bottom Line The next federal election has to be held by May 17, 2025 , but all signs are pointing to an April 12  vote. Of course, the final call is up to Albanese , and he’s playing his cards close to his chest. So, while we don’t have an official date yet, one thing’s for sure—we won’t be waiting much longer to find out.

Satellite images have captured a rare sight—three tropical cyclones swirling in the Pacific at the same time. While Queensland watches and waits to see if category 3 Tropical Cyclone Alfred will make landfall, two more cyclones—Tropical Cyclone Seru near Vanuatu and Tropical Cyclone Rae southeast of Fiji—have also formed. Thankfully, none of them are expected to hit major landmasses in the coming days, though meteorologists at Weatherzone say they’ll bring rain and storms to some South Pacific islands. Together, the three storms stretch across a massive 5000-kilometre-wide cloud band. As of 10 a.m. AEST (11 a.m. AEDT), Tropical Cyclone Alfred was sitting about 810 kilometres off the coast of Mackay. The Bureau of Meteorology’s senior meteorologist, Jonathan How, said there’s “high confidence” it will stay offshore for at least the next two days. “Beyond this, there are still a range of scenarios that could play out,” he said, explaining that Alfred might drift closer to the Queensland coast or continue its path further out to sea. Regardless of where it ends up, the cyclone is already making an impact. With winds up to 130km/h and gusts reaching 185km/h, Alfred is churning up dangerous surf along the Queensland coast. A strong wind warning has been issued from Townsville to K'gari, with waves of up to three metres and hazardous conditions for beachgoers and rock fishers. Authorities are urging people to stay informed by checking the Bureau of Meteorology’s website for updates.

දිවයින පුරා පවතින වියළි කාලගුණය හේතුවෙන් ප්‍රදේශ කිහිපයක ජල සැපයුමේ සැලකිය යුතු බාධා ඇති වී ඇති බව ජාතික ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය (NWSDB) පවසයි. ඔවුන් පැවසුවේ කොළඹ, කළුතර, රත්නපුර, මාතර සහ මහනුවර යන ප්‍රදේශ කිහිපයක් ආපදාවට ලක් වූ ප්‍රදේශ ලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇති බවයි. මේ අතර පවතින නියඟය හේතුවෙන් ජලාශවල සහ ජල මූලාශ්‍රවල මට්ටම් ශීඝ්‍රයෙන් පහළ යමින් පවතින බව වාරිමාර්ග දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. පරිභෝජනය වැඩි වීම සහ සීමිත සැපයුමක් හේතුවෙන් ජලය අරපිරිමැස්මෙන් භාවිත කරන ලෙසත් වාහන සේදීම සහ ගෙවතු වගාව වැනි අත්‍යවශ්‍ය නොවන කටයුතුවලින් වළකින ලෙසත් ජාතික ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය (NWSDB) ජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටී. දරුණුතම හානියට පත් ප්‍රදේශවල සිටින අයට සහාය වීම සඳහා, ජාතික ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය (NWSDB) දැනට බවුසර් ට්‍රක් රථ හරහා ජලය බෙදා හරිමින් සිටී.

Qantas has just posted a massive $1.4 billion profit for the half-year ending in December, riding the wave of a travel boom and strong demand for budget-friendly flights. The airline’s pre-tax profit jumped 11% to $1.39 billion—up $140 million from the previous six months. Thanks to this strong performance, Qantas is rewarding its shareholders with dividends for the first time since 2019, announcing a total payout of $400 million. One of the biggest drivers of this profit surge? Budget travel. As Aussies continue to feel the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, more people are opting for cheaper flights, sending Jetstar’s earnings up 35%. Both Qantas and Jetstar carried almost 10% more passengers in the past six months, showing just how strong demand for travel remains. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson says the airline’s financial health means they can invest more in their fleet and improve the customer experience. “Qantas and Jetstar made travel possible for more Australians, carrying 28 million customers, with around one-third of Jetstar passengers flying for under $100,” she said. Qantas’ frequent flyer program has also played a big role in boosting profits. Membership hit 17 million by December—an 11% increase—with around 13,000 classic reward seats booked every day. Despite the big earnings, Qantas is keeping its net debt in check, holding steady at $4.1 billion. It’s clear that even with economic pressures, Aussies aren’t giving up on travel anytime soon.

Medibank is giving back more cash to its customers, announcing today that it will return another $160 million this year as part of its ongoing give-back program. If you're a Medibank customer, you could get anywhere from $50 to $255, depending on your policy. For those with eligible extras-only policies, expect around $50, while those with eligible hospital and extras policies will receive about $130 on average. The best part? You don’t need to do anything—Medibank will automatically deposit the cash into eligible customers’ bank accounts. Payments are set to roll out by the end of September. To qualify, you need to be a resident Medibank customer with an active hospital or extras policy as of June 30. The initiative is funded through COVID-19-related claims savings, with Medibank reducing its reserve balance by $160 million. Medibank's Chief Customer Officer, Milosh Milisavljevic, said the company remains committed to not profiting from the pandemic. “Even though COVID restrictions have eased, we're still seeing slightly lower-than-expected claims. That’s why we’re returning more money to our customers,” he said. With the cost of living rising, Milisavljevic hopes this extra cash will help take some pressure off household budgets. This isn’t the first time Medibank has given money back—last year, it returned $305 million, and in 2023 and 2022, the figure was even higher at $408 million and $443 million, respectively. Since the start of the pandemic, Medibank has provided a total of $1.62 billion in financial support. So, if you’re with Medibank, keep an eye on your bank account—you might just get a little extra cash coming your way!

තායිලන්තය සහ ජපානයේ සිට වාහන රැගත් නෞකා මේ සතියේ හම්බන්තොට වරායට පැමිණීමට නියමිත බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාහන ආනයනකරුවන්ගේ සංගමය (VIASL) පවසයි. මාධ්‍ය අමතමින් VIASL සභාපති ප්‍රසාද් මානගේ පැවසුවේ ද්විත්ව කැබ් රථ රැගත් තායිලන්තයේ නෞකාවක් අද (පෙබ 26) පැමිණෙන බවයි. ජපානයේ සිට විවිධ තායිලන්තයේ සහ ජපානයේ සිට වාහන රැගත් නෞකා මේ සතියේ හම්බන්තොට වරායට පැමිණීමට නියමිත බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාහන ආනයනකරුවන්ගේ සංගමය (VIASL) පවසයි. ජපානයේ සිට විවිධ වාහන රැගත් තවත් නෞකාවක් හෙට (පෙබ 27) පැමිණෙන බව ඔහු වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය. වාහන මිල පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නවලට පිළිතුරු දෙමින් ඔහු පැවසුවේ ඩබල් කැබ් රථ සඳහා රු. මිලියන 24 සිට රු. මිලියන 25.5 කි. ජපානයෙන් වැගන් ආර් වැනි වාහන රු. මිලියන 6 ක් හෝ රු. මිලියන 6.5 කි. 2018 සහ 2019 වසරවල පාවිච්චි කරන ලද වාහනවලට සාපේක්ෂව මිලෙහි සැලකිය යුතු අඩුවීමක් සිදුවී ඇති බව පෙන්වා දුන් ඔහු, ජනතාවට අඩු මිලට අලුත්ම වාහන මිලදී ගැනීමට හැකිවන බව පැවසීය. ලබන සතියේ සිට මෝටර් රථ අලෙවි නියෝජිතයින් වෙත නව වාහන දැක බලා ගැනීමට පාරිභෝගිකයින්ට හැකිවනු ඇතැයි VIASL සභාපතිවරයා විශ්වාසය පළ කළේය.

Woolworths has taken a rare hit to its profits, with a $190 million loss in its half-year results. For the six months leading up to January 5, the supermarket giant reported a 21% drop in its net profit, which came to $739 million. The loss was largely blamed on industrial action that led to a 13-day shutdown of its warehouses, disrupting the supply chain. Other factors included rising store wages and a dip in brand loyalty. CEO Amanda Bardwell acknowledged the challenge, saying, "The team has worked incredibly hard to recover from the disruptions caused by the industrial action in November and December." Despite the setback, Bardwell said they came to an agreement that would help with long-term productivity and competitiveness. In Victoria, sales haven’t fully bounced back yet, but availability and customer satisfaction are gradually returning to pre-disruption levels. However, the cost-of-living crisis continues to weigh on profits, as more customers opt for budget alternatives. Woolworths also pointed out that livestock costs for red meat may add to the strain in the first half of 2025. If it weren’t for the industrial action, grocery sales would have only dropped by 5%. On top of this, the supermarket faced a one-off $95 million hit to profits in the Australian Food segment. Looking ahead, Woolworths plans to focus on offering more value to customers through promotions and clearer pricing to attract more shoppers.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජීවන වියදම වැඩිවීමට ප්‍රධානතම හේතුව වන්නේ වක්‍ර බදු (Indirect Taxes)  වැඩියෙන්ම ආදායම් වියදමක්වීමයි. රජය සෘජු බදු (Direct Taxes)  වැඩි කිරීමෙන් ජනතාවගේ මූල්‍ය බර අඩු කිරීමට උත්සාහ කළත්, එය ප්‍රයෝජනවත් වී නැත. දැනට රජයේ මුළු බදු ආදායමේ 80%ක්  වක්‍ර බදු වලින් ලැබෙන අතර, සෘජු බදු වලින් ලැබෙන්නේ 20%ක් පමණයි. උසස් මධ්‍යම ආදායම් ප්‍රමාණයේ රටවල  (Upper Middle-Income Countries) අනුපාතය 60%ක් වක්‍ර බදු සහ 40%ක් සෘජු බදු  ලෙස පවතින අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවත් එම ඉලක්කය ලඟා කර ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කළද, එය සාර්ථක වී නැත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සෘජු බදු ආදායම GDP වලින් 2%ක් පමණයි , නමුත් අනෙක් සංවර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින රටවල එය අවම වශයෙන් 4%ක්  වේ. මධ්‍යම සාමාන්‍ය මාසික ගෘහ ආදායම රු. 76,414ක්  වන අතර ගෘහ වියදම රු. 63,130ක්  ලෙස ජාතික සංඛ්‍යාන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව  සඳහන් කරයි.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is officially bringing its streaming app, Max , to Australia, with HBO and Max Originals set to hit our screens from March 31 . Max is packed with some of the biggest entertainment brands, including HBO, Warner Bros., DC Universe, Harry Potter, Discovery, Cartoon Network, TLC, ID, and HGTV. That means hit shows like The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, The White Lotus, and Peacemaker  will all be available, along with classics like Friends, The Big Bang Theory,  and Rick and Morty . WBD says Australia is a major market as it expands its streaming service worldwide. "WBD has a long history in Australia, and we know our world-class content from HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, and more is incredibly popular with audiences here,"  said WBD Australia and New Zealand general manager Michael Brooks . "We can't wait for fans across the country to experience Max." Max is already available in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, parts of Europe, and select Asia-Pacific countries . Now, Aussies will be able to subscribe online or via app stores, though WBD hasn’t revealed local pricing yet. For reference, Max’s U.S. plans range from $9.99 USD (about $15.72 AUD) per month for a basic, ad-supported tier to a premium plan at $33.04 AUD per month . Australia already has a crowded streaming market, with Netflix, Stan, Stan Sport, Prime Video, Disney+, ABC iView, SBS On Demand, Foxtel Now, Binge, Kayo, YouTube Premium, Optus Sport, Apple TV+, Hayu, Paramount+, and 9Now  all competing for subscribers. Will Max  shake things up? We’ll find out soon.

2025 ජනවාරි මාසයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අපනයනය ඩොලර් බිලියන 1.3 ඉක්මවා ගොස් ඇති අතර එය වසරට අපේක්ෂිත සහ ශක්තිමත් ආරම්භයක් සනිටුහන් කරයි. මෙම කැපී පෙනෙන වර්ධනය ශ්‍රී ලාංකාවේ කර්මාන්ත සඳහා ඔරොත්තු දීමේ හැකියාව, නවෝත්පාදනය සහ තරඟකාරිත්වය පිළිබිඹු කරන අතර, තිරසාර ආර්ථික සාර්ථකත්වයකට මග පාදා දෙන බව අපනයන මණ්ඩලය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටී. ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද දත්තවලට අනුව 2025 ජනවාරි මාසයේදී වෙළඳ භාණ්ඩ අපනයන කාර්ය සාධනය ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1,004.82 ක් වූ අතර එය 2024 ජනවාරි මාසයට සාපේක්ෂව 3.51% ක වර්ධනයක් වාර්තා කළේය. 2024 ජනවාරි මාසයට සාපේක්ෂව, කෘෂිකාර්මික අපනයන 14.87% ක සැලකිය යුතු වර්ධනයක් පෙන්නුම් කළ අතර, 2025 ජනවාරි මාසයේදී ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 258.93 දක්වා ළඟා විය. මීට අමතරව, කාර්මික අපනයන ජනවාරි මාසය තුළදී 0.08% ක වර්ධනයක් අත්විඳ, ඩොලර් මිලියන 745.89 දක්වා වැඩි විය. 2025 ජනවාරි මාසය සඳහා ඇස්තමේන්තුගත සේවා අපනයන වටිනාකම ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 329.37 ක් වූ අතර එය 2024 ජනවාරි මාසයට සාපේක්ෂව 37.87% කින් වැඩි විය. එහි ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙස, 2025 ජනවාරි සඳහා වෙළඳ භාණ්ඩ සහ සේවා යන දෙකම ඇතුළුව මුළු අපනයනය ඇමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 1,334.19ක් ලෙස සටහන් විය.

Australia’s inflation rate held steady in January, but a slight uptick in core inflation has put a damper on hopes for another interest rate cut anytime soon. Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this morning showed inflation sitting at 2.5% over the past year—slightly better than the expected rise to 2.6%. However, the trimmed mean, a key measure of core inflation, unexpectedly climbed to 2.8%, higher than the 2.6% economists had forecast. While still within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) target range, this increase could keep policymakers cautious about cutting rates again too soon. The biggest price hikes came from food (up 3.3%), housing (up 2.1%), and alcohol and tobacco (up 6.4%), with fresh fruit costs soaring by 12.3% compared to last year. On the flip side, electricity prices have dropped 11.5%, and fuel prices are down 1.9%. This update comes just a week after the RBA cut interest rates but warned that inflation still needs to be brought under control for the long haul. Market analyst Josh Gilbert from eToro says while today’s numbers don’t necessarily justify further rate cuts, they at least show inflation is trending in the right direction. “The biggest worry right now is that disinflation could stall, which is why the RBA remains cautious despite the recent rate cut,” Gilbert explained. “We’ve seen a similar situation in the U.S., where inflation has been sticky, making the Federal Reserve hesitant to ease rates.” With Australia’s job market still holding strong, another cut in April seems unlikely. Instead, the RBA will be watching Q1 data closely—if inflation keeps falling, May could be the next realistic window for a rate cut. Before today’s figures were released, markets were only pricing in a 19% chance of an April cut. Now, with core inflation creeping up, those odds might drop even further.

The recent return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has introduced significant uncertainty regarding the future of key international alliances, notably the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network and the AUKUS security pact. Five Eyes Alliance The Five Eyes consortium, comprising the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, has long been a cornerstone of global intelligence collaboration. However, President Trump's previous tenure raised concerns about his commitment to such alliances. Dr. Michael Fullilove, executive director of Australia's Lowy Institute, highlighted apprehensions within the intelligence community, stating, "There is trepidation about Mr. Trump in the US intelligence community and throughout the Five Eyes network." Trump's transactional approach to foreign policy and instances of mishandling classified information have fueled doubts about the reliability and future cohesion of the Five Eyes partnership. AUKUS Security Pact The AUKUS agreement, established in 2021 between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, aims to enhance security in the Indo-Pacific region, notably through the provision of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. The pact's future under the Trump administration remains ambiguous. Some analysts suggest that Trump's focus on countering China's influence might bolster his support for AUKUS. The Lowy Institute posits, "AUKUS is not part of NATO. Anything to do with the European collective defence alliance reflexively raises the ire of Trump." This distinction could make AUKUS more palatable to Trump's foreign policy agenda. Conversely, recent statements from UK Defence Secretary John Healey indicate a potential shift in priorities. Healey emphasized that the UK's primary focus would be on NATO and European defense, rather than the Indo-Pacific tilt, which could impact the AUKUS collaboration. Implications for Australia For Australia, these developments necessitate a reassessment of its defense and foreign policies. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull underscored the importance of self-reliance, stating, "We cannot assume we can rely on America." This sentiment reflects a broader need for Australia to strengthen its sovereign defense capabilities amid evolving geopolitical dynamics. In summary, President Trump's return introduces a complex mix of challenges and potential shifts for both the Five Eyes alliance and the AUKUS pact. Member nations, particularly Australia, must navigate this uncertain landscape, balancing traditional alliances with the imperative of national self-sufficiency.