Australia news live: banks pass on interest rate hike to customers; Sydney ‘globalise the intifada’ forum held in park

Big four banks lift interest rates Australia’s big four banks have all lifted interest rates after the Reserve Bank handed down a third consecutive rate hike yesterday. The RBA lifted the cash rate from 4.1% to 4.35% , in a widely expected decision on yesterday afternoon. Macquarie Bank was the first Australian bank to announce it would pass on the 0.25% interest rate rise to its variable home loan customers from 22 May. The country’s big four banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB), Westpac and ANZ — followed suit, announcing they would all pass on the 0.25% increase to their customers. Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Chalmers says Australians paying a ‘hefty price’ for Middle East conflict Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he knows Australians are paying a “hefty price” for the war in the Middle East, adding the upcoming federal budget will be “really responsible” to take the inflation challenge seriously. Chalmers spoke to ABC News this morning: double quotation mark Australians didn’t choose this war in the Middle East, we have no control over when it ends, but we’re paying a hefty price for it, at the bowser and beyond. So we know that people are under very serious pressure, we know these price pressures have escalated because of the war in the Middle East, but we had inflationary challenges before that as well. And again, that’s why this budget is a really important budget. Jim Chalmers. …