A thousand public service jobs are cut, annual inflation falls to 4% and the father of the alleged Sydney terrorist says he saw no extremist signs.
1 A thousand government jobs cut in 'black day' for public service
Plans to cut over a thousand jobs from the Education Ministry and Oranga Tamariki have been announced today — dubbed a "black day" by the union for public servants.
Nearly 2500 jobs have been cut in the past several weeks as the Government looks to drive over a billion dollars in cost savings.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the cuts were needed to end wasteful spending and to restore financial discipline, with a focus on cutting "back-office expenditure".
2 'Not interested in your bulls***' — supermarket hearing gets fiery
Supermarket executives defended their practices, apologised to suppliers and dodged the threat of jail during a fiery Australian parliamentary hearing on prices at the checkout.
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci and Coles boss Leah Weckert fronted up to the Senate inquiry on supermarket prices yesterday — both claiming the sector remained competitive despite the size of their duopoly.
Banducci was threatened with the possibility of six months in jail or a $5000 fine after repeatedly failing to answer a somewhat pointy-headed question about Woolworths' profitability.
3 Too sick for school? Government's new advice for assessing a sniffle
The Government has updated its guidelines for helping parents decide whether their child is well enough to go to school. The advice describes mild symptoms that may not necessarily mean a student is infectious.
1News breaks down what you need to know.
4 Annual inflation falls to 4%, the lowest in years — Stats NZ
The annual rate of inflation has continued to fall with Stats NZ figures showing a 4% rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in 12 months to the March quarter.
The CPI is an annual measure that reflects changes in the price of goods and services.
The 4% increase today follows a 4.7% increase in the 12 months to the December 2023 quarter. Inflation has fallen from a 7.3% peak in June 2022.
5 Father of alleged Sydney terrorist says he saw no extremist signs
The alleged Sydney church attacker’s father says he did not see any signs of extremism from his son prior to the stabbing incident where several suffered serious injuries.
On the evening after the attack, the father reportedly drove around western Sydney with a friend, and was “too afraid” to go home.
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