Police are solving a higher proportion of crimes than ever before, but victim advocates say it’s nothing to celebrate.

Legal actions for reported car thefts, burglaries and robberies have doubled in NSW since 2009, a Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report found.

Improvements were also seen for assaults, including those related to domestic violence, though closure rates for sexual assault cases have declined.

The report, released on Wednesday, follows concerns about crime rates in several states including anti-Semitic attacks, gangland wars and violent youth crime.

Growing anger about crime prompted Opposition Leader Peter Dutton this week to pledge a $750 million crime package, targeting knife and tobacco offences.

But police closing more cases was nothing to celebrate, according to victims’ advocate Howard Brown.

Improvements could be attributed to more access to technology such as CCTV since 2009, he said.

“You talk to the 450 families of unsolved homicides and you talk to the thousand families of missing persons where there’s been no resolution,” he told AAP.

“Then a report comes and says we’re doing a much better job.

“Tell that to the people who are still waiting and who have been waiting 20 years for results in the death of their loved one.

“This type of thing is insulting.”

Fellow homicide victims advocate Peter Rolfe congratulated the police on the historic high rates, but questioned why murder didn’t see an increase.

The report found the rate of solving murder cases was stable at about 65 per cent.

“I’m sick and tired of waking up and seeing so many people shot – drugs are the cause of these actions,” Mr Rolfe told AAP.

“I’ve got friends whose son disappeared 20 years ago and police haven’t solved what happened to him.”

The bureau’s executive director said the reason for the stable rate was likely not in police control.

“I suspect the characteristics of individual cases are most influential in whether a murder is solved, rather than factors that are at the discretion of police,” Jackie Fitzgerald told AAP.

She said it should be of comfort to victims and the community that the risk of arrest for criminals was “undoubtedly higher than ever before”.

“The increased risk of being caught may also have contributed to the large decline in property crime over the past 15 years by deterring offending,” Dr Fitzgerald said.

Of the 11 offences examined, nine showed a significantly higher legal action rate in 2023 compared with 2009, the report found.

About one in eight motor vehicle thefts are solved, up from one in 20.

Rates for solving domestic violence-related assault have risen from 60 per cent to 67 per cent.

Sexual assault was the only offence with a significant decline in the legal action rate, dropping from 10 per cent in 2009 to seven per cent in 2023.

It follows a surge in people reporting sexual assaults over the past 15 years, including through an online reporting tool launched by police in 2016.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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Australia’s growth outlook has taken a severe cut in a dire assessment of the global economy by the International Monetary Fund.

The United Nations financial agency said uncertainty has surged to unprecedented levels as a result of US President Donald Trump’s upheaval of global trade linkages, in its World Economic Outlook for April.

Australia’s economic growth projection for 2025 was downgraded to 1.6 per cent from 2.1 per cent in January.

But the 0.5 percentage point trim is not as bad as the hit to the projection for global growth, which was cut from 3.2 per cent to 2.4 per cent.

“Major policy shifts are resetting the global trade system and giving rise to uncertainty that is once again testing the resilience of the global economy,” the IMF said in the document, released on Tuesday, US time.

Despite an equity markets suffering a correction since Mr Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2, US stocks potentially had further to fall, given price-to-earnings ratios remain at historical highs, the IMF said.

Tariffs will dominate meetings between global financial leaders gathering at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington this week.

Finance ministers from around the globe will be eagerly seeking meetings with Mr Trump’s lead tariffs negotiator, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to strike a tariff exemption deal.

But a notable absentee will be Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is tied up campaigning for the federal election.

Dr Chalmers said Australians would be worse off and more vulnerable to global economic uncertainty if Opposition Leader Peter Dutton won the election on May 3.

“At a time of extreme global uncertainty our responsible approach to economic management has never been more important,” Dr Chalmers said.

“We’re not immune from the turmoil in the global economy but the progress we’ve made together puts us in good stead.”

Australian GDP growth is expected to pick up to 2.1 per cent in 2026, from 2.2 per cent projected in January.

Inflation is projected to come in 0.8 percentage points lower this year than previously forecast, at 2.5 per cent, before accelerating strongly to 3.5 per cent in 2026.

In its Global Financial Stability Report, also released on Tuesday, the IMF warned stretched asset valuations and highly leveraged financial markets could amplify shocks and exacerbate economic downturns.

Financial authorities should be ready to intervene to address severe liquidity or market function stress, the IMF cautioned.

Australia will sink billions of dollars more into defence under a future coalition government, as Peter Dutton looks to bolster the country’s armed forces.

Fresh off the third leaders’ debate, the opposition leader pledged to spend $21 billion over the next five years on defence, which would take its share of Australia’s gross domestic product to 2.5 per cent.

The level of defence spending as a percentage of Australia’s economy would then rise further to three per cent within the decade.

While the coalition said it would use the money to reinstate a fourth joint strike fighter squadron, it did not say where else the funding would go.

Mr Dutton said the extra spending on defence was needed in uncertain times globally.

“The prime minister and the deputy prime minister regularly tell Australians that we live in the most precarious period since the end of the Second World War. Yet, over the last three years, Labor has done nothing about it,” he said.

“The coalition will strengthen the Australian Defence Force and support our servicemen and women to keep us safe today and into generations ahead morale.”

The announcement comes after Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese clashed at the third leaders’ debate in Sydney, with the opposition leader narrowly declared the winner.

As both leaders slung accusations of lying to each other during the hour-long debate, Mr Albanese emphasised a need for stability following uncertainty from US President Donald Trump.

“Peter puts forward this complete nonsense that the whole of the world, including every US ally, has not been able to get an exemption, but he’s going to be able to achieve it,” he said during the debate.

“Complacency and the uncertain world that we inherit … it’s the last time where you’d want to take a risk.”

Mr Dutton also warned of worsening economic conditions should Labor be re-elected, while also not committing to where spending cuts would be made.

“We will look at the budget, we’ll see where the government’s wasting money,” he said.

“(Interest rates are) not looking like they’re coming back any time soon unless they unless they throw us into a recession. So we will look at government expenditure”

It comes as Labor unveiled $78 million will be set aside to fast track training for 6000 tradies to build homes.

The funding will set up an advanced entry trades training program to help those training for work get qualifications they need faster.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the scheme would make sure more homes are built across the country.

“We are tackling the housing shortage from every responsible angle to build more homes, more quickly and in all parts of Australia,” Dr Chalmers said.

Mr Albanese will begin Wednesday campaigning in Sydney, while Mr Dutton will be in Perth.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have turned the election personal, taking verbal jabs at each other as they tried to prove their chops.

The prime minister faced the coalition leader at Nine’s Sydney studios for a third campaign trail showdown, moderated by A Current Affair host Ally Langdon, on Tuesday night.

Things got off to a subdued start as both leaders extended condolences to Catholic Australians following a day-long break in campaign activities in response to the death of Pope Francis.

But as Ms Langdon encouraged the two men to move away from talking points and “speak from the heart”, the debate took a pugilistic turn.

“Prime minister, you couldn’t lie straight in bed. Honestly, this is unbelievable,” Mr Dutton said as he accused his opponent of dishonesty.

Mr Albanese hit back by saying the opposition leader had reverted to “abuse”.

“It’s just abuse – that’s a sign of desperation, Peter,” the prime minister said.

The clash was generally light on policy as the more unusual questions homed in on the two leaders’ character.

Throughout the campaign, Mr Dutton has used his history as a Queensland police officer to position himself as a “strong” leader, while painting the prime minister as “weak”.

“In my time as a police officer, where you see some truly horrible things … I do think you become hardened,” he said.

“We all are shaped by our own life experiences, but I hope what is says to people is that I’m absolutely determined and passionate about getting our country in the best possible position.”

Asked if he needed to take on a “hard man” persona, Mr Albanese leaned in to his supposed flaws.

“It’s just rhetoric – kindness isn’t weakness,” he said.

“Kindness is something that I was raised with, we raise our children to be compassionate with each other.”

Both leaders also faced policy questions from 9News political editor Charles Croucher, 2GB’s Deb Knight, and Australian Financial Review political editor Phil Coorey, but generally responded with typical party lines.

The first leaders’ debate, hosted by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph during the second week of the campaign, ended in a narrow victory for Mr Albanese after 44 per cent of the undecided voters in attendance deemed the prime minister the winner, though Mr Dutton netted 35 per cent of the crowd.

A subsequent clash hosted by the ABC at the mid-campaign point allowed the two to explore policy points while pro-Palestine protesters rallied outside the studios in opposition to both major parties’ responses to the conflict in Gaza.

With less than two weeks until voters make their final decision on May 3, and many having already cast their ballots at early-voting centres, Tuesday’s debate was one of the last opportunities for the leaders to win over undecided Australians.

But the tide may have already turned in Labor favour as it has increased its two-party-preferred lead to 55.5  per cent over the coalition’s 45.5 per cent in the latest Roy Morgan poll, which echoes results shown in other surveys.

The growing cost of living has returned to the political fore as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton take to the debate stage after a brief campaign truce.

The prime minister is facing the coalition leader at Nine’s Sydney studios for a third campaign trail showdown, moderated by A Current Affair host Ally Langdon.

Things got off to a subdued start as both leader extended condolences to Catholic Australians over the death of Pope Francis following a day-long suspension of campaign activities.

But Mr Dutton quickly got the ball rolling by bringing the discussion to the election’s biggest issue: the cost of living.

“This election is incredibly important,” he said on Tuesday night.

“We need to make sure that we can get our country back on track, that we can help manage the economy, that we can reduce the costs in the economy.”

The prime minister quickly responded by spruiking his own cost measures.

“We can’t determine what the world throws at us, but we can determine how we respond,” Mr Albanese said.

“We’re in the Australian way by backing our values and trusting our people.”

Both leaders will continue to face questions rolled from 9News political editor Charles Croucher, 2GB’s Deb Knight, and Australian Financial Review political editor Phil Coorey.

With less than two weeks until voters make their final decision on May 3, and many having already cast their ballots at early-voting centres, Tuesday’s debate is one of the last opportunities for the leaders to win over undecided Australians.

But the tide has already turned in Labor favour as it has increased its two-party-preferred lead to 55.5  per cent over the coalition’s  45.5 per cent in the latest Roy Morgan poll, which echoes results shown in other surveys.

European stock markets have edged lower after US President Donald Trump’s attack on the Federal Reserve chair sparked a sell-off of US assets, putting fresh pressure on Treasuries, while gold hit a record high.

Trump stepped up his criticism of Fed chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, calling him a “major loser”, in a social media post on Monday, which raised concerns about the president’s influence over the central bank.

Wall Street indices lost 2.4 per cent on Monday and the dollar hit its lowest in three years.

US Treasury yields rose as traders worried the government could try to replace Powell with someone who would cut rates.

Trump said last week he believed Powell would leave his job if Trump asked him to do so, although Powell himself has said he would not.

It is unclear whether Trump has the authority to fire Powell, though lawsuits over unrelated firings by Trump are being watched as possible proxies.

Investor confidence has already been shaken by Trump’s volatile policymaking and back-and-forth announcements about US tariffs, which traders fear could create severe disruption in world trade.

The sell-off was less severe during Asian trading on Tuesday, and European stock markets showed signs of steadying, though markets were mixed, with the STOXX 600 down 0.4 per cent and Germany’s DAX down 0.2 per cent at 0909 GMT.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2 per cent .

The MSCI World Equity index was down by less than 0.1 per cent on the day.

“The market is very jittery so any sense of negativity, any sense of worry, just gets escalated or exaggerated,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.

“There’s a lot of investor anxiety, just generally surrounding the trade war, but then you’re seeing that heightened because of the confrontation between Trump and Powell.”

The US dollar index was around 98.369, steadying after having hit its lowest since March 2022 on Monday.

The euro was a touch lower at $US1.1502.

“The independence of the Federal Reserve is a cornerstone of the dollar’s credibility,” noted Quasar Elizundia, a research strategist at broker Pepperstone.

“The dollar’s status as the ultimate safe-haven asset can no longer be taken for granted; it is being actively challenged.”

US Treasury yields – which have risen in recent weeks – showed signs of steadying in early trading on Monday, with the US 10-year yield at 4.4125 per cent .

The weakness in the dollar, along with demand for safe-havens, helped gold hit a new all-time high of $US3,500.05, before easing to about $US3,455.43, still up on the day overall .

Tesla is due later on Tuesday, having already shed almost 6 per cent on Monday amid reports of production delays, and Google-owner Alphabet’s earnings are due on Thursday.

Oil prices rose, due to short-covering, but traders remained worried about US tariffs impacting fuel demand.

While White House talks on various trade deals are underway or about to start, a quick resolution seemed unlikely.

Analysts at JPMorgan noted the average trade deal took 18 months to negotiate and 45 months to implement.

“We reiterate our view that if current policies do not change, then the probability of a US recession in 2025 is 90 per cent,” they said in a note.

China on Monday warned countries against striking trade deals with the US at China’s expense.

Pope Francis is being remembered by the nation’s top Catholics for his love of people and Australian-like informality as millions of believers mourn his passing.

The 88-year-old’s death on Monday after a serious health battle was marked by tolling church bells and preparations for scores of memorial masses for the leader ahead of his funeral on Saturday.

Outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Archbishop Peter Comensoli described Pope Francis as someone who took a personable approach to the role.

Archbishop Comensoli met with the pontiff several times, most notably when he was appointed into his role in Melbourne in 2018.

“He knew me personally … whenever you engaged with Francis it was direct, it was an encounter, one to one,” he said.

“Even when there were a whole lot of other people, he honed in, for a short moment, but he did that.”

Archbishop Comensoli said Pope Francis had the ability to listen and respond to others. 

He jokingly spoke of a time where he penned a letter to the Pope, while passing through Rome. 

Archbishop Comensoli was leading a group of young people who were attending the World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023 and had asked for a meeting on a whim. 

“He said yes, amazingly,” he said. 

“These young people had an hour with him. He said ‘ask me questions’. He was so open to it and so engaged. It was very beautiful.”

Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, who met Francis about 20 times, described the Pope as very easy to talk to and almost like “an Australian in terms of his informality”.

“He shared a real passion for the marginalised, for refugees, for people who felt alienated from society, for people who were poor, financially and emotionally,” he told ABC TV.

Many mourners attended early masses at local cathedrals following the Pope’s passing.

Adam Wojcik, 30, said Pope Francis’ time at the helm made him hopeful about the future of the church while paying his respects at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday.

“I am a gay man as well and this is weird for me to kind of connect with the church like this,” he told AAP. 

“Something has really moved me about Pope Francis.

“I just hope that whoever comes next, carries that same message of hope for humanity, especially in this tumultuous, crazy world.”

Outside Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, Stephen said Francis had continued Pope John Paul II’s legacy as a man of the people.

“That’s what Pope Francis brought to this world: really giving everyone hope and not just making the church something that’s symbolic,” he told AAP.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the major party leaders had agreed to dial back election campaigning on Tuesday as a sign of respect.

He attended mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.

Anglican Archbishop Geoffrey Smith said Pope Francis was a man of “great humility and humanity”.

“Not only did he dedicate his life to serving the poor and standing up for those facing persecution, he was a great advocate for peace during these unsettling times,” he said.

National flags on government buildings flew at half-mast on Tuesday as a mark of respect.

Cardinal Mykola Bychok said he was filled with sadness for the loss of a “Pope of peace” and a man of simple piety.

He was on his way to the Middle East on a pilgrimage but will divert to Rome to take part in the funeral rites before joining other cardinal electors to choose the 267th and next pope.

After years of delays and fervent opposition from environment groups, Santos has cleared the final hurdle for its multibillion-dollar Barossa gas project.

First gas on the $5.8 billion mega-project, about 285km north-northwest off the coast of Darwin, is expected in coming months after offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA gave the project its final regulatory approval on Tuesday.

The Adelaide-based company will now be able to hook up a floating production storage and offloading vessel, allowing gas to be transported from the project’s six wells to processing facilities.

Pipeline work on the controversial project was halted in late 2022 after a court challenge from three Tiwi Island elders.

Santos eventually won the Federal Court battle in January 2024.

The Environmental Defenders Office – which represented the Tiwi Islanders – was slammed by the judge for confecting evidence in the case and ordered to pay Santos more than $9 million in legal costs.

But the delay of about three months meant the project would incur an extra $US200-300 million ($A311-$467 million) in capital expenditure costs, Santos revealed.

The approval was met with condemnation by environmental groups.

With production capacity of 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per year, critics say Barossa contains a higher proportion of CO2 than any other gas field in Australia.

The Australian Conservation Foundation said the project’s environmental plan failed to properly assess greenhouse gas emissions from the “massive climate bomb”.

The Environment Centre NT said the approval was a failure of the Albanese government’s safeguard mechanism, which requires major emitters to reduce greenhouse gases in line with Australia’s climate targets.

Mark Ogge, principal advisor at the Australia Institute, called on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to strengthen the coalition’s gas reservation policy to prevent the need for new projects in the Northern Territory.

“If a small amount of Barossa’s gas was reserved for use in Australia, there would be absolutely no need to frack for gas in the Northern Territory,” he said.

In a market update in February, Santos reassured investors that the project was 91 per cent complete and on track for first gas in the third quarter of 2025.

Santos said that final welds on a pipeline connecting the Barossa field to the Darwin LNG plant were under way and three wells were drilled and completed.

A fourth was partially drilled and suspended for later completion, with work on a fifth well under way.

Santos shares finished 0.7 per cent lower at $5.61 on Tuesday.

Santos was approached for comment.

Leaders have paused politicking and trading barbs as a papal-sized shadow was cast over the election campaign.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton cancelled campaign events and attended church services to pay tribute to the late Pope Francis as early voting opened across the country.

Mr Albanese had planned to campaign in Melbourne while Mr Dutton was scheduled to hit the hustings in Orange.

“His kindness, humility and devotion was admired by people of all faiths and people of none, that’s why his loss is being mourned,” the prime minister said on Tuesday after attending mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

Mr Dutton, who attended a service at Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, added: “I don’t think it’s a day for overt politicking at all, I think the day is best spent reflecting”.

But some politicians still hit the hustings to capture pre-poll voters, with Nationals leader David Littleproud announcing a veterans hub in the seat of Calare while Greens leader Adam Bandt hit booths in the marginal Melbourne seats of Wills and Macnamara.

With the Pope’s death overshadowing a day of campaigning in a week when Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays also fall, the coalition is running out of time to unveil and sell its major policies in the run up to May 3.

It still has its defence spending policy to unveil and has flagged a major announcement on domestic violence.

Parties wouldn’t get maximum impact if they announced policies too late because early voting meant they “can’t reveal it at the last minute the way they used to”, University of Tasmania public policy associate professor Kate Crowley warned.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said key policies about funding Medicare and tax cuts were put in the field early because it took time to cut through to voters as “people aren’t hanging on every word that politicians say on a day-to-day basis”.

The Liberals are preparing a massive advertising blitz in the final week-and-a-half of the campaign while the Nationals are pouring more resources into the seats of Hunter and Bendigo as it sandbags Calare and Cowper on the NSW north coast.

Several pre-poll voters who spoke to AAP said they would be travelling on election day, leading them to cast early ballots.

They almost unanimously nominated the cost of living as their top election issue, while nuclear power and US president Donald Trump also rated a mention.

“I’m looking for a party less about what they’re going to do here in Australia but how they’re going to situate Australia in the broader scheme, and how they will handle Trump and some other politicians,” IT worker Pete Loy, 44, said at a voting booth Sydney.

Pollster Kos Samaras told the National Press Club the coalition wasn’t adapting to changing demographics as more young people enrolled to vote.

During the coalition’s campaign launch, Mr Dutton notably referred to Menzies’ forgotten people and Howard’s battlers.

“Well, Menzies’s forgotten people are probably all deceased now … and Howard’s battlers are heading into retirement so we’re dealing with a very different Australia,” Mr Samaras said.

“The only solution for the coalition, if they’re to turn the polls around in the next two weeks, is to pivot and find a way to talk to those younger voters that they’re losing.”

Those votes weren’t going to Labor but towards minor parties and independents, he said.

The prime minister and opposition leader are due to go head-to-head in a third leaders’ debate in Sydney on Tuesday night.

Australian shares have edged slightly lower as investors fled from US equities to the safe haven of gold following President Donald Trump’s comments threatening to sack “loser” central bank boss Jerome Powell.

After falling almost one per cent in early trading, goldminers led a recovery in the S&P/ASX200 to be down 8.5 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 7810.6 by noon on Tuesday.

The broader All Ordinaries fell 13.6 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8008.3.

Australian investors initially took their lead from risk-off sentiment on Wall Street overnight.

All three US equity indexes lurched more than two per cent lower, while bonds and the US dollar also tumbled, after Mr Trump ramped up pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Powell to lower interest rates.

The US economy was headed for a slowdown “unless Mr Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates NOW,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post that heightened fears over the central bank’s autonomy.

Gold prices surged as investors on a “buyer’s strike” of US equities sought a safe haven, said Moomoo Australia market strategist Jessica Amir.

“Investor sentiment is sour, evidenced in burgeoning cash balances and hoarding of gold,” she said. 

“That’s a good thing for those investors as gold continues to surge to highs, charging above $US3400 – taking this year’s gains to 30 per cent – with more room to run.”

Australian-listed goldminers soared, helping the materials sector post a 0.08 per cent gain.

Goldminers Northern Star (2.4 per cent), Evolution (3.8 per cent) and St Barbara (11.5 per cent) were among the best performers.

The rest of the big cap miners were mixed, with BHP and Rio Tinto up 0.2 per cent, while Fortescue Metals slipped 0.5 per cent.

Of the remaining 10 industrial sectors on the ASX, consumer staples (0.09 per cent) and financials (0.49 per cent) also gained while the rest turned lower.

Macquarie Group climbed 1.1 per cent to $181.94 after the financial conglomerate announced it would sell off its North American and European public investments business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.

The $2.8 billion deal will see Macquarie’s asset management arm relinquish its international equities, fixed income, and multi-asset investments as it concentrates its focus on the Australian market.

CBA led the big four banks, climbing 1.3 per cent, while Westpac rose 0.6 per cent and NAB firmed 0.1 per cent. ANZ slipped 0.3 per cent.

Energy and IT stocks were the biggest losers.

Uranium miner Deep Yellow slumped 6.6 per cent after announcing it would delay development of its flagship Tumas project in Namibia due to depressed uranium prices.

“We are at an extraordinary stage in the uranium supply sector,” said CEO John Borshoff.

“We have a situation where the long-term uranium market is essentially broken. 

“This is due to more than a decade of sector inactivity, persistently depressed uranium prices, and utility offtake contracting practices which are yet to support the development of greenfields uranium production.”

The Australian dollar climbed to its highest level against the greenback since December following the US sell-off over the weekend.

It was buying 64.15 US cents, up from 63.41 US cents at 5pm on Thursday.