Minns warns another RBA rate rise would cost NSW jobs and shops

NSW Premier Chris Minns has warned that another interest rate rise would cost jobs and force businesses to close. He said the impact on the New South Wales economy would be massive.

Minns said some jobs that are lost would never come back, and some shops that shut would not reopen. He made the comments as the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank, prepared to decide on its cash rate. The cash rate is the benchmark that feeds into many home loans and business loans. It has been 4.6 per cent since 30 September 2026.

Markets are predicting the Reserve Bank will deliver a fifth rate rise in 2026. A move to 4.85 per cent would take interest rates to their highest level in 18 years. The bank's decision is due on Tuesday, 3 November, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be at the Commonwealth leaders' summit in Antigua and Barbuda when it is announced.

Asked whether government spending was adding to inflation pressure, Minns said everyone needed to play their part. Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have confirmed that next month's mid-year budget update will include a savings package.

The rate debate has also drawn a union response. Melissa Donnelly, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, warned at a demonstration outside the Reserve Bank's Sydney headquarters that workers cannot survive another interest rate rise.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank rejected requests from its own staff for a real pay rise and back pay for lost wages. That decision came hours after the bank lifted interest rates.