A special Australian visa for foreign investors who stumped up millions of dollars was scrapped because they paid less tax and added little economic benefit.

Right of entry, including for one investor who intended sinking at least $2.5 million and another who had twice that amount to spend, was discarded because the applicants were “more fiscally costly and contribute less to the economy than other skilled visas”, according to previously classified documents.

Debate about the visa class was renewed before the federal election in May after video surfaced of then-opposition leader Peter Dutton being asked about the initiative at a fundraiser and saying, “I think we’ll bring it back”.

Labor attacked him over plans to reinstate the visa, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke branding it a “cash for visa” scheme.

The Business Innovation and Investment Program provides a pathway for entrepreneurs and investors to get permanent residence in Australia through several subclass visas.

There are four main streams of the subclass 188 visa as part of the program.

These include a significant investor stream for people planning to invest at least $5 million, an investor stream for people who can invest at least $2.5 million and an innovation stream for business owners with an annual turnover of at least $750,000 and $1.25 million in assets.

Home Affairs Department documents obtained under freedom of information laws previously protected under legislative secrecy reveal those on innovation and investment program visas paid less tax than other skilled migrants.

Despite the investment threshold, the average Business Innovation and Investment Program visa holder had a taxable income of just $25,000 compared to skilled migrants’ $64,000, Grattan Institute analysis cited by the department determined.

A government review of the program found in 2019/20, “even after considering investment income, BIIP investors and significant investors still earned less income and paid less tax than other skilled visa holders”.

“This level of income is less than expected given the level of investment required.”

The Home Affairs Department noted Australia didn’t have a problem attracting foreign capital and determined the visas were unlikely to generate significant levels of additional investment.

There was $5.385 billion in investment associated with more than 1000 significant investor grants from primary applications of the visa class between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2022. 

But this was a drop in the ocean of Australia’s total foreign investment pool of more than $20 trillion.

Mr Burke scrapped the program on July 31, 2024 – just days after being sworn in as home affairs and immigration minister.

But 15,000 primary and secondary applications remained in the backlog as of February 9, 2025, despite more than 3000 people having withdrawn their applications after refund provisions were introduced in September 2024.

Only 23 withdrawals were from the significant investor stream and 40 from their dependents, meaning the significant investor and investor subclasses accounted for more than 3700 of the total applications.

Mr Burke issued a directive in February 2025 to intentionally throttle processing of the two investor visas by downgrading their priority in the line, behind the entrepreneur and business innovation streams.

The department said it was considering other options to manage the significant investor, including using laws to delay processing and removing the pathway to permanent residency. 

But Mr Burke was warned sidelining the investor streams risked irking state and territory governments that weren’t happy the visa had been scrapped because it would risk investment in key projects.

The opposition hasn’t ruled out bringing back an investment visa in some form as it reviews its immigration policies after its election defeat.

Few do pomp and ceremony as well as the Chinese.

As he met with leaders in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was given the red carpet treatment.

Rows of immaculately decorated soldiers were wheeled around the hall in perfect synchronicity and a People’s Liberation Army brass band played Chinese covers of Aussie pub rock classics by the likes of Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil.

The lavish display may be par for the course for world leaders ushered into the grand neoclassical sanctum of Chinese power.

But the warm reception to the prime minister’s six-day trip of China and gushing praise heaped upon him was notable in the highly choreographed world of Chinese political theatre, where symbolism and ritual are key.

Protocols matter, says Associate Professor Graeme Smith, an expert on Chinese politics at the Australian National University.

“All foreign policy, but particularly for China, is for a domestic audience,” he tells AAP.

“This is not about us. It’s about citizens, about Chinese Communist Party members. That’s what these are for and we’re just a nice prop for them.”

The constant refrain of co-operating where they can, disagreeing where they must and engaging in the national interest was calibrated to chime with Beijing’s own goals.

Focusing on moving the relationship forward gave them an out for their unilateral decision to torch relations in 2020 while allowing them to save face.

The unusually long duration of the prime minister’s trip and the fact it occurred so soon after being re-elected, was interpreted by both sides as a sign of the importance of the two nations’ relationship.

Likewise, Mr Albanese remarked that the length of the meetings he had with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji was a sign of “respect” – a word he would keep coming back to through the course of his trip.

“I had meetings for around about eight hours yesterday,” he said at the Great Wall on Wednesday.

“It was a very long meeting but it also showed respect to both sides, the fact that President Xi didn’t just have a meeting but we had a lunch where President Xi as well invited Jodie to attend.

“That lunch was a sign of respect to Australia, to our country.”

The fact the military band at the leaders’ meetings learned to play songs specifically chosen to suit the prime minister’s taste showed the effort they were willing to put in.

“Those gestures matter, respect matters between countries,” he said.

“The opportunity to sit down and have a meal and talk about personal issues, talk about things that aren’t necessarily heavily political, is really important part of diplomacy.

“One of the things that my government does is engage in diplomacy. We don’t shout with megaphones.”

The contrast to the way the US conducts diplomacy under Donald Trump couldn’t be more stark.

The US president was a constant elephant in the room during the trip.

From his first day in Shanghai, Mr Albanese’s visit was almost derailed after it emerged Pentagon strategist Elbridge Colby had been pressuring Australian and Japanese diplomats to provide assurances about joining the US in a hypothetical conflict with China over Taiwan.

But Mr Albanese refrained from engaging in the transactional style of diplomacy his American counterpart trades in.

When the opposition criticised him for failing to bring back tangible results and “indulgent” visits to the Great Wall and a panda research centre, the prime minister said they were missing the point.

“The Great Wall of China symbolises the extraordinary history and culture here in China and showing a bit of respect to people never cost anything,” he said

“You know what it does? It gives you a reward.”

Patient, consistent diplomacy is the government’s modus operandi.

Tracing the footsteps of Labor leader Gough Whitlam along the Great Wall was a powerful bit of symbolism, Prof Smith says.

Mr Whitlam visited the wonder in a landmark trip as opposition leader acknowledging communist rule of the People’s Republic of China in 1971, becoming one of the first Western politicians to do so.

It sent a clear message about the enduring strength of the relationship, Prof Smith says.

“This is probably one of the strongest cards we’ve got to play in terms of the relationship, that we were a first mover in recognising China. That gets us a lot of points.”

Premier Li praised Mr Albanese for his personal role in mending Sino-Australian relations in their meeting on Tuesday.

Chinese state media, which poured endless scorn on Australia when relations were at their lowest, was glowing in its coverage of Mr Albanese, casting the previous coalition government as the source of the conflict.

“In recent years, as China-Australia relations have continued to improve, the Australian government’s understanding of its relationship with China has also deepened,” according to an opinion piece in Chinese state-owned tabloid the Global Times.

“(Mr Albanese) has demonstrated a pragmatic and rational approach to China policy.

“Today’s China-Australia relationship is like a plane flying in the ‘stratosphere’ after passing through the storm zone and the most turbulent and bumpy period has passed.”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi says the prime minister’s visit was positive for economic relationships and trade.

But the approach is not without its risks.

“I think here the risks are threefold,” he told ABC News.

“I think there is a risk that we are used for propaganda purposes. There is a risk that … trade becomes an over-dependency and the third risk is that we provide a perception, both to China and to our own public, that short-term economics are outweighing long-term security.”

Anthony Albanese’s balancing act to boost economic ties with China while remaining firm on Australia’s opposition to its aggression has been welcomed at home and abroad.

The prime minister held top-level meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing, telling President Xi Jinping that Australia continued to support no unilateral change to the status quo regarding Taiwan.

Taiwan’s representative in Australia Douglas Hsu embraced Mr Albanese’s statement and urged the international community to take stock of China’s actions.

“China’s actions, from the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea and even the Tasman Sea, show a clear pattern of military adventurism and aggression,” he told AAP.

“The threat is real and Taiwan urges the world not to ignore it.”

Mr Albanese said Mr Xi didn’t raise reports the United States had asked Australia and Japan to commit to supporting it in any conflict with China over Taiwan. 

Mr Hsu said each nation would make its own sovereign decision on whether to join a regional crisis but Taiwan was focused on strengthening its own defences.

“While we welcome international support from countries like Australia on Taiwan’s peace and stability, Taiwan is committed to defending itself through strengthening its own defensive capabilities and resilience,” he said.

“We are determined to defend our thriving democracy.”

The federal opposition both welcomed the dialogue and trading ties with China but criticised the length of the trip and accused the prime minister of not receiving more ironclad security commitments from Beijing.

Coalition frontbencher James Paterson suggested parts of the prime minister’s itinerary – which included visiting pandas – looked ‘a little bit indulgent’  when there was so much at stake in Australia’s international relationships.

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor also called for Australia to have a joint commitment to Taiwanese security with the US.

But his comments were walked back by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley who said the coalition’s position on Taiwan remained no unilateral change to the status quo, which is in line with a longstanding bipartisan position.

Coalition frontbenchers also continued to heap pressure on the prime minister to deepen ties with Washington, remaining critical of Mr Albanese for not having met President Donald Trump face-to-face.

A scheduled meeting on the sidelines of June’s G7 meeting in Canada was cancelled at the last minute after the president abruptly left the summit to deal with escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.

Australia-China Relations Institute deputy director Wanning Sun said Mr Albanese’s visit was pragmatic as Mr Trump’s schedule was out of his control but travelling to China for annual leader-level talks to stabilise the relationship with Australia’s greatest trading partner wasn’t.

Institute researcher Elena Collinson added the prime minister’s trip underlined Australia’s ability to act in its own interest rather than being tethered to the US despite the trip’s timing before a meeting with Mr Trump being “more circumstantial than calculated”.

Traumatised parents whose children were allegedly sexually abused at a childcare centre are preparing to sue for damages as they no longer trust others to look after their children.

The quality and safety of some larger childcare services has been called into question after Melbourne worker Joshua Dale Brown was charged with dozens of sex offences, including allegedly sexually abusing eight children.

Brown is known to have worked at 24 facilities between 2017 and his arrest, with several centres added to the list initially compiled by police.

Three parents are preparing to launch legal action against G8 Education, which oversaw the centre where the accused worked while he allegedly abused the children.

The first claim is expected to be filed in Victoria’s Supreme Court as early as next week, Arnold Thomas & Becker principal lawyer Jodie Harris said.

“The level of trauma has been quite intense,” she said.

“Some families are unable to return to work because they can no longer entrust their children to childcare. Others are grappling with ongoing uncertainty, fear and guilt.”

Ms Harris said the firm was also acting for three families whose children attended Milestones Early Learning Greensborough, one from Milestones Early Learning in Tarneit and one family linked to Kids Academy Waratah Estate in Mickleham.

All three were among the centres added after the initial revelations.

The National Children’s Commissioner said the fragmentation of oversight for childcare between state and federal governments means there is no clear line of accountability.

“Different levels of government have different responsibilities, but … this is a shared responsibility across the federation and we failed. We failed to keep children safe,” Commissioner Anne Hollonds told AAP.

She said the public’s trust and confidence in the childcare system has taken “a big hit” and there’s outrage and anger even among those who aren’t parents.

The For Parents collective, which formed in the wake of the allegations, said parents across Australia are shaken.

“This news deepens the grief, fear and anger many are feeling, and it raises serious questions about how our current systems protect children and families,” they said.

The parenting group says the system is broken and needs to evolve to meet the needs of modern families, sparking a co-ordinated push for childcare subsidies to be paid directly to families who choose not to send their children to traditional daycare centres.

For Parents co-founder Jen Fleming believes government grants should be widened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces that allow parents to keep children close.

The childcare subsidy helps families manage childcare costs but access and the amount is dependent on specific eligibility criteria, with federal childcare subsidies predicted to exceed $16.2 billion in 2025/26.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the government was not considering widening the subsidy to include care provided by grandparents.

Rachel Wilson, a professor of social impact and education at the University of Technology Sydney, described expanding subsidies for families as potentially opening a “Pandora’s box” due to a lack of provisions. 

She was unaware of any governments currently offering a system like the one proposed. 

The only way to restore trust in the system is to implement recommendations from reviews, including the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Ms Hollonds said.

“This is what needs to happen, and you can’t risk the safety of our children, because the federation is complex,” she said.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Staff and students describe a pervasive “culture of fear” at one of Australia’s top universities following a furore over pro-Palestine encampments.

University policies had led to self-censorship, restricting their ability to speak openly about pro-Palestinian movements on campus, they told an inquiry convened by Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, the National Union of Students, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network and others.

Encampments sprung up at university campuses around the world, with students calling on their institutions to cut ties with weapons manufacturers and condemn Israel’s war in Gaza.

The University of Melbourne ordered protesters to leave its Parkville campus in May 2024 after they occupied a building they named ‘Mahmoud Hall’ in honour of Mahmoud Alnaouq, a young Palestinian man killed in the Israel-Gaza war who had been set to begin his studies at the university.

At the time, deputy vice-chancellor Michael Wesley said protesters had crossed a line and police had advised on how to end the indoor demonstration.

Sophie Rudolph, a senior lecturer at the university, told the inquiry there was an “atmosphere of fear” among staff members.

“We had a number of concerns over the actions the university has taken that (have) repressed speech and action around solidarity with Palestine, and with the universities’ links with weapons manufacturers,” she said.

Dr Rudolph cited an example of a staff member who was not allowed to display posters supporting Palestine on their office door or wear symbols that expressed their support.

“These are minor but they are part of the insidiousness of the repression and they contribute to other staff members who may not feel as confident,” she said.

“(They) are self-censoring and they are thinking about when they can and cannot have these conversations.”

Dozens attended the inquiry on Wednesday, while security guards patrolled the building where the gathering took place.

A Melbourne University spokesperson said protesting on campus must be conducted peacefully and respectfully.

The university said it did not support protest activity that “unreasonably disrupts activities or operations of the university” or the safety and wellbeing of staff and students.

“Freedom of speech, and the right to lawful peaceful protest, are respected and supported at the University of Melbourne and are central to our values and identity,” the spokesperson said.

Organiser Jos Downey detailed conditions protesters faced during their encampment at Monash University, claiming intimidation, abuse and threats from campus security and opposing groups.

Jasmine Duff, a leader of the Deakin University encampment, told the inquiry she had been tipped off that gardeners were instructed to disrupt the protesters’ sleep, including one incident where they were woken at 2am.

Ms Duff, the co-convenor of Students for Palestine, testified that universities had been “extraordinarily repressive” towards students who wished to protest.

“Students have been put through serious disciplinary procedures, risking their degrees, for participating in peaceful protests against the genocide in Gaza,” she said.

“Universities should be havens of free speech and debate, but instead those who speak out against the brutal onslaught in Gaza are punished.”

The inquiry comes shortly after the federal government received recommendations from a major anti-Semitism report.

The nation’s special envoy against anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, called for the defunding of universities and cultural institutions that enable or fail to prevent anti-Semitism.

More rises in unemployment levels could be on the cards as the jobless rate comes off historic lows.

Many market economists expected the jobless rate to stay at 4.1 per cent in June, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics said it jumped to 4.3 per cent – the highest level since November 2021.

The increase in unemployment has bolstered predictions the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates when the board meets in August.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the jobless figures might have come as a surprise to analysts, but there were expectations the levels would increase by the end of the year.

He said the government did not expect unemployment to go as high as five per cent.

“We think somewhere around the middle fours in our current forecasts, but obviously there’s a lot of uncertainty in that,” Dr Chalmers told ABC Radio on Friday.

“We don’t want it to tick up, but we have expected it to do so and that’s because the global economy is uncertain, our own economy has been relatively soft, those higher interest rates of the last couple of years have been biting.”

Global uncertainty driven by conflict and the ever-changing threat of US tariffs, alongside a few years of high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures, combined to create the conditions for a higher jobless rate.

Following recent discussions with his counterparts in South Africa, Dr Chalmers said the best way to deal with uncertainty was with increased engagement, collaboration, bolstered supply chains and more ambitious domestic economic policy.

While other countries have been hit harder by economic headwinds, Australia is still expected to have a “soft landing” with joblessness staying relatively low and inflation generally modest.

After its July meeting, the RBA disappointed mortgage-holders and shocked market economists by opting to hold the cash rate at 3.85 per cent in a split decision.

But the latest jobs data has been read by some as an early sign of labour market softening.

Combined with moderating inflation, the unemployment figures meant an interest rate cut was “virtually locked in” when the RBA met in August, CreditorWatch’s chief economist Ivan Colhoun said.

However, other economists believe there is still room to move, with VanEck investments head Russel Chesler pointing to the July 30 release of quarterly inflation figures as a vital data point in the Reserve Bank’s next rate decision.

It comes as the federal government unveiled funding on Friday to help people improve their financial literacy.

More than $38 million will be spent over the next four years to organisations that provide financial counselling.

A further $98 million will be set aside to help at-risk Australians manage debt levels and help make informed financial choices.

The funds, which are included in a $460 million package for food relief and financial assistance groups, will be rolled out from October.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the funds for charities would help provide assistance to people who need financial support.

“Being able to set yourself up financially for the future and tackle big financial drains like problem gambling is also really important for being able to manage their finances in the long‑term,” she told reporters in Sydney.

The man who led PNG’s successful NRL bid has stood down from the expansion team’s board over corruption allegations.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape on Friday said Wapu Sonk had agreed to step down effective immediately as a franchise board director but added it was “not a presumption of guilt”.

The allegations made by the Sydney Morning Herald relate to Mr Sonk’s business dealings as managing director of Kumul Petroleum.

The report claimed documents and corporate records linked Kumul Petroleum to suspect dealings with a huge Chinese government firm and a “plot to funnel contracts” to a company Mr Sonk owned in Australia.

Mr Sonk was chair of the NRL PNG team bid, helping secure a $600 million backing from the Australian government.

He was named on the new franchise’s inaugural board in June.

Mr Marape said while the matters were unrelated to the NRL franchise, they were claims that “cannot be ignored”.

“I have spoken to Mr Sonk and while he is currently overseas I have requested that he step down from his role … he has agreed to do so,” he said in a statement.

“Mr Sonk is entitled to due process and the opportunity to clear his name.

“Stepping down allows him the space to do so without casting a shadow over the franchise process or compromising the confidence of our partners.”

Mr Marape said his government was committed to “full transparency” and co-operation with relevant investigations.

“The integrity of this national franchise is paramount. We will not allow it to be undermined by external controversy … this moment demands clarity, accountability, and the upholding of public confidence,” he said.

“Our national sporting future – and our international reputation – depend on it.”

Comment has been sought from Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy.

The PNG expansion team was officially announced in December 2024, with the team set to join the competition in 2028.

At the time Mr Sonk said “the whole country will be involved” in picking a moniker and designing the jersey for the team in PNG where rugby league is the national sport.

Former Canterbury Bulldogs boss Ray Dib was named PNG club chairman in June, with the Australian Rugby League Commission announcing a seven-member board.

The Australian government will kick in $600 million over 10 years in an agreement that expires at the end of 2034.

Qantas has sought to limit the spread of personal information of almost 6 million customers on the internet and the dark web after a sizeable data hack.

The airline says it has obtained an interim injunction “to prevent the stolen data from being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone, including by any third parties”.

Meanwhile, law firm Maurice Blackburn said on Friday it has lodged a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on behalf of affected Qantas customers.

Legal experts suggest the incident could lead to a class action against the carrier after compensation claims were made against Optus and Medibank following major data breaches in 2022.

Qantas has emphasised that even though the personal details of 5.7 million customers were compromised via a hack in one of its offshore call centres, no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details have been accessed.

“We want to do all we can to protect our customers’ personal information and believe this ( injunction) was an important next course of action,” the airline said on Thursday.

The names, email addresses and frequent flyer details of four million customers were exposed.

The remaining 1.7 million customers had more data taken, including their names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, personal or business addresses, gender and meal preferences.

A statement of claim lodged in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday identified the defendant as “persons unknown”.

It defined them as any person or entity that carried out or aided in the cyber hack and that “communicated payment details” to the plaintiff Qantas.

The carrier previously said a possible cybercriminal had contacted it about the data breach but it confirmed in the claim that no ransom has been paid.

The airline demanded the defendant also “take all steps to immediately remove all and any of the impacted dataset … from all accessible internet locations”.

It also included any publication on the “dark web”.

Australian Federal Police investigators are also probing the breach.

Nine has dodged a contempt prosecution despite publicly naming several pro-Israel lobbyists who had their identities suppressed after complaining about an ABC radio host’s views on Palestine.

Antoinette Lattouf was ousted from her casual position on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in December 2023 after a concerted email campaign by the lobbyists demanding she be sacked.

She was awarded $70,000 for her unlawful termination in June.

As her Federal Court hearing against the ABC started in February, Justice Darryl Rangiah suppressed the names of nine individuals who had complained about Lattouf.

He said there were safety fears if they were publicly identified.

Then-ABC chair Ita Buttrose wrote to former managing director David Anderson that she was getting over the complaints two days into Lattouf’s fill-in hosting shift, in an email presented during the trial.

Nine published a series of articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in January 2024 naming four of the complainants, and did not remove the names until March 2025.

The complainants then urged Justice Rangiah to refer the matter to a Federal Court registrar who could prosecute the two Nine-owned publications for contempt.

The contempt case was also brought against journalists Michael Bachelard and Calum Jaspan, editors Bevan Shields and Patrick Elligett and Nine’s in-house lawyers Larina Alick and Sam White.

On Friday, Justice Rangiah declined to refer the matter for prosecution.

The complainants had brought a “reasonably arguable” case that Nine was in contempt, he acknowledged in his judgment.

But Nine had an arguable defence that the court’s suppression order only related to the names of nine complainants found in documents tendered during Lattouf’s trial against the ABC, he wrote.

Nine argued it had sourced the names from other material, more than a year before the trial started.

In declining to send the matter onto a registrar, the judge said the complainants could prosecute the case themselves if they wished.

“I consider the intervening parties are ‘the ones most naturally placed’ to conduct proceedings for contempt of court,” he wrote.

He ordered the lobbyists pay half of Nine’s legal costs, saying the network’s failure to properly respond to repeated correspondence from their lawyers was “discourteous and unhelpful”.

However, he did not order all costs be paid because there was no reasonable basis for contempt proceedings to be brought against Mr White and Ms Alick.

The in-house lawyers had no control over whether the articles were amended and there was no evidence about the legal advice they had given, the judge said.

The local bourse has reached an all-time high after mining giant BHP lifted the stock market following record hauls for iron ore and copper.

Near midday on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 59.4 points to 8,698.4, a gain of 0.69 per cent, while the broader All Ordinaries had gained 58 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 8,948.9.

The S&P/ASX 200 had also surpassed 8700 for the first time, after the index record was already broken twice this week.

Jason Todd, CEO of Australian equities fund Ten Cap, expects equities to continue rising through the second half of 2025.

“From an equity perspective, whether it is international or domestically, we think the market will be meaningfully higher by year end,” he said.

“If you’re not long, you need to get long, and we think you just stay long until (and if) we see these risks amplify.”

Ten Cap co-founder Jun Bei Lui expected mid and small cap companies to have an even better year than some of their large counterparts.

BHP led the way for miners on Friday after 2025 record hauls were set for iron ore and copper, climbing 2.31 per cent.

Rio Tinto also rose 0.97 per cent, along with Fortescue lifting 0.71 per cent.

Shares rose 18.1 per cent for local graphite miner Syrah Rose after the US imposed steep tariffs on Chinese graphite imports

Mesoblast shares climbed more than 30 per cent after the Melbourne biotech company announced it had made $US13.2 million in sales, following the launch of its stem-cell treatment for a complication of bone marrow transplants in children in March.

The CBA was the only big four to hit the red, falling 0.22 per cent. NAB rose 0.31 per cent, while Westpac added 0.5 per cent and ANZ increased 0.16 per cent.

The Australian dollar was trading for 65.07 US cents, from 64.71 US cents.