The war on inflation isn't over yet says Philip Lowe

It’s too early to declare that inflation is under control, the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia said today.

Governor Philip Lowe has been giving evidence at the Senate estimate hearing in Canberra this morning, saying that 11 interest rate rises in just over a year were having a positive impact on inflation.

“We’ve increased interest rates, a lot of monetary policy is restrictive, and it’s working,” he said.

However, he stopped short of saying that the war to drive down inflation to more acceptable levels had been won.

“Whether we need to increase rates further, both depending on what happens with unit labour costs, what happens with the global economy, with inflation expectations, consumer spending, so they’re the variables that we’re looking at,” Mr Lowe said.

The RBA is due to meet next Tuesday for the last time this financial year. Three of the top four banks are predicting that rates have already peaked at 3.85 percent, with ANZ the only major lender to suggest a rise to 4.1 percent is likely before the end of the year.

The RBA has been under pressure to end further rises amid concerns that the steep rise in rates – the greatest monetary tightening program since the 1980s – could push Australia into a recession.

The personal wardrobe of the late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who is credited for introducing punk to fashion and further developing the style, is headed to auction in June.

Christie’s will hold the live sale in London on June 25, while some of the pieces will be available in an online auction from June 14-28, according to a news release from the auction house on Monday.

Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s husband and the creative director for her eponymous fashion company, selected the clothing, jewellery, and accessories for the sale, and the auction will benefit charitable organisations The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International, and Médecins Sans Frontières.

The more than 200 lots span four decades of Westwood’s fashion, dating to Autumn/Winter 1983-84, which was one of Westwood’s earliest collections. Titled “Witches,” the collection was inspired by witchcraft as well as Keith Haring’s “graphic code of magic symbols,” and the earliest piece being offered from it is a two-piece ensemble made of navy blue serge, according to the release.

“Vivienne Westwood’s sense of activism, art and style is embedded in each and every piece that she created,” said Adrian Hume-Sayer, the head of sale and director of Private & Iconic Collections at Christie’s.

A corset gown of taupe silk taffeta from “Dressed to Scale,” Autumn/Winter 1998-99, will also be included in the sale. The collection “referenced the fashions that were documented by the 18th century satirist James Gillray and were intended to attract as well as provoke thought and debate,” according to Christie’s.

Additionally, a dress with a blue and white striped blouse and a printed propaganda modesty panel and apron is a part of the wardrobe collection. The dress was a part of “Propaganda,” Autumn/Winter 2005-06, Westwood’s “most overtly political show” at the time. It referenced both her punk era and Aldous Huxley’s essay “Propaganda in a Democratic Society,” according to Christie’s.

The wardrobe collection will be publicly exhibited at Christie’s London from June 14-24.

“The pre-sale exhibition and auctions at Christie’s will celebrate her extraordinary vision with a selection of looks that mark significant moments not only in her career, but also in her personal life,” Hume-Sayer said. “This will be a unique opportunity for audiences to encounter both the public and the private world of the great Dame Vivienne Westwood and to raise funds for the causes in which she so ardently believed.”

Westwood died in December 2022 in London at the age of 81.

The war on inflation isn’t over yet says Philip Lowe

The Reserve Bank Governor made the comments ahead of next Tuesday’s board meeting to decide on interest rates