One of those is Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who is serving 15 years in jail for directing the activities of a terrorist organisation.

He has remained in jail for another two and a half years under a continuing detention order and is set to be released at the end of next month. The government is attempting to move legislation to keep him detained.

“Two individuals have been detained under a Continuing Detention Order under Division 105A of the Criminal Code. One order has expired and one is currently detained,” a spokesman from the Attorney-General’s department said.

“The High Risk Terrorist Offenders Scheme contains measures available to the Government to deal with terrorist offenders who have completed their sentences, and continue to pose an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton predicted on Monday that just “two or three or four” detainees would be captured by the new laws which are aimed at getting some of the immigration detainees released by the government after a High Court decision found indefinite detention in immigration centres was unlawful.

Under the laws, the government has to apply to a judge for a criminal who can be deported to continue to be locked up.

“I think we should be very clear here; the regime that the Government’s providing might have application to two or three or four people,” Mr Dutton said. That’s it. So the other 142 that they’ve unnecessarily released into the community, now have the potential to cause harm, and I think the Australian public are rightly very angry about it.”

The Opposition’s argument is that the government did not have to release all of the more than 140 detainees they have set free in the wake of the NZYQ decision where a convicted paedophile won his bid against indefinite detention.

The government says it has legal advice saying they had to.

“As a result of the High Court’s decision, the continued detention of any NZYQ-affected person would be unlawful,” a statement from the Labor Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Tuesday.

“The Department of Home Affairs undertakes expert assessment of whether a person is an ‘NZYQ-affected person’.

“If and when it is clear that a person in immigration detention is an NZYQ-affected person, the Department must immediately take steps to secure the person’s release from detention. There is no legal basis on which the Government can delay releasing the person until, for example, a court orders the person’s release.

Labor Cabinet Minister Murray Watt compared the new preventive detention laws to the terrorism high risk offender laws on Sunday Agenda.

“I don’t have the exact number[detained under those laws], but I know it’s a fairly small number because it is focused on the people who are the greatest risk to the community. And what we want to do with this new regime is do the same thing.”

The 65-year-old was detained by police at Pavlos Motel in the Adelaide suburb of Pooraka on Saturday night when a woman claimed she had been assaulted.

Mr Venditto began the press conference on Tuesday by warning journalists he was bound by the law on what he could and couldn’t say regarding the identity of the sex offender and the whereabouts of the other detainees in the state.

When pressed on the appropriateness of the detainee being settled in a hotel, Mr Venditto paused before making his reply.

“State police are not involved in the housing, in the immediate and the long-term housing of these people,” he responded.

He then told the reporter to follow up with the federal government on why the 65-year-old was permitted to base himself in that location, hinting at his disapproval of the situation.

“That is something that you need to speak to the Commonwealth about,” Mr Venditto said.

“What I think doesn’t matter.”

The assistant commissioner was asked later if he felt the system put in place to protect Australians from the criminals among the newly released detainee cohort was functioning effectively.

Mr Venditto pointed to the mandatory ankle bracelets detainees are required to wear and said the 65-year-old offended in a premises or location that he was entitled to be in.

“The offending occurred in the place that accused person was permitted to be,” Mr Venditto told reporters.

The federal government has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks from the opposition over its apparent failure to prepare for the High Court’s ruling on indefinite detention.

Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan said Labor Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Labor Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil should step down for failing to protect Australians.

“The blame lies with Labor Minister Giles and Labor Minister O’Neil. This is a catastrophic failure by them to do their number one priority which is to keep the Australian community safe. They failed at every step to do that,” he told Sky News Australia host Danica De Giorgio on Tuesday.

“They should do the honourable thing and resign and if they won’t resign, the Labor Prime Minister should do the right thing and he should sack them.”

The technology is seen by some as a more privacy-friendly alternative to uploading personal IDs or credit cards because it does not require personal information to be entered.

Ofcom says that children first see online pornography at an average age of 13 and a quarter see it by the age of 11.

Age estimation systems are already used by social media companies like Instagram to check people’s ages and use artificial intelligence to guess a person’s age based on thousands of pictures that the system has been trained on.

Yoti, one technology provider that is used by Instagram and the adult site OnlyFans, says it deletes images as soon as they are checked.

The company says its technology typically detects the ages of 13 to 19-year-olds with estimates that are typically accurate within 1.52 years. It identifies 13 to 17-year-olds as being under 23 with a high degree of accuracy, correct 99.65pc of the time.

Aylo, a company that operates many of the world’s biggest pornography sites, has used the technology to verify users who upload content.

Ofcom said that websites using the technology would have to use a method similar to the “challenge 25” system used to allow adults to buy alcohol and enter nightclubs.

If an age estimation says somebody could be below that threshold, they would have to use an alternative verification system such as a credit card or photo ID.

Ofcom said age estimation systems were one of five ways porn websites could prevent children accessing the sites. Others were linking a bank account, uploading a photo ID along with a selfie, using data from a mobile network or entering credit card details.

More easily bypassed checks, such as users declaring their age or online payment methods that do not require a person to be 18, will not be regarded as acceptable.

The regulator said it would consult on the rules before beginning to enforce them, which it expects in 2025.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive, said: “Pornography is too readily accessible to children online, and the new online safety laws are clear that must change.

“Our practical guidance sets out a range of methods for highly effective age checks. We’re clear that weaker methods – such as allowing users to self-declare their age – won’t meet this standard.

“Regardless of their approach, we expect all services to offer robust protection to children from stumbling across pornography, and also to take care that privacy rights and freedoms for adults to access legal content are safeguarded.”

A string of American states have introduced age verification laws in recent months, but the rules have been met with legal challenges.

– more than seven in 10 Australians think people in government only look after themselves.

– only a quarter think people in government can be trusted.

– trust in the mainstream media was below 50 per cent

“It’s not, in my view, the Australia which I have come to know and love, and I think we need to ‘course correct’ and be an inclusive culture without prejudice to any religion or nationality.”

Mr Klein said he was speaking as a Jewish business person in Australia and not in his role as executive chairman of ASX-listed gold and copper producer Evolution Mining.

He spoke out as Israel’s National Security Council upgraded its travel warning for Australia to a “potential threat” for Jews.

Mr Klein said Greens MPs and others who wanted to criticise Israel should first acknowledge that Hamas was a terrorist organisation that “committed a genocide against innocent Israeli civilians”.

“I vehemently believe in free speech and don’t have any issue with people criticising Israel,” he said.

“But I do think that they should start off with the statement that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and committed a genocide against innocent Israeli civilians.

“There seems to be an absence of that recognition before launching into criticism of Israel.”

On the prospect of an end to fighting in Gaza, Mr Klein said: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation and until it is prepared to lay down its arms and return all the hostages, who are innocent civilians, I’m not sure if there can be a ceasefire.

“There is a pathway to a ceasefire, and it means lay down your arms and let’s engage in a peace process that doesn’t threaten the extinction of Israel.”

Mr Klein, who founded Evolution in 2011, told the company’s annual general meeting in November that Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Middle East conflict were having significant social, political and economic impacts around the world.

“I think it’s fair to say this is one of the most seminal geopolitical moments in our lifetime,” he said.

An outcome in line with expectations would cause the annual rate of economic growth to step down to 1.9 per cent from 2.1 per cent, which would be the first time GDP expanded by less than 2 per cent on an annual basis since activity ground to a halt at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

Lower coal and LNG volumes underpinned a fall in net exports that will subtract a hefty 0.6 percentage points from quarterly GDP growth, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

A combination of falling commodity prices and export volumes pushed Australia’s current account into a narrow $0.2 billion deficit in September, wiping about $7.9 billion off the trade surplus.

The outcome was just the second quarter in four years the economy recorded a current account deficit, which had been commonplace until 2019.

Despite the weakness in Australia’s external position, the economy is still tipped to have grown in September thanks to a boost in business inventory investment and government spending, which will add 0.9 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points to growth respectively.

Speaking to reporters, Dr Chalmers said the decision will be met with “sighs of relief right around Australia”.

“The last thing that people needed at Christmas time was another rate rise,” Dr Chalmers said.

The question for analysts is whether December-quarter inflation data will force the RBA to deliver a 14th rate rise at its February 2024 meeting, or whether Tuesday’s decision marks the start of a protracted pause that may end with a rate cut at some point next year.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said he did not expect the RBA to raise the cash rate again.

“Our view is that, given the revisions the RBA made to its own forecasts in early November, it will be quite hard for them to be tangibly surprised to the upside relative to their own forecasts for underlying inflation or the jobs market,” Mr Bloxham said.

“However, given that inflation is set to fall only slowly and therefore remain above target for some time yet, we also see cuts as unlikely anytime soon. Having hiked by less than most of the major central banks, the RBA may be one of the last central banks to be able to cut.”

The Paris-based OECD said last week the RBA was done with rate rises, predicting the central bank will start cutting rates in the third quarter of 2024.

Ms Bullock said higher interest rates were working to “establish a more sustainable balance between aggregate supply and demand in the economy”.

“Holding the cash rate steady at this meeting will allow time to assess the impact of the increases in interest rates on demand, inflation and the labour market,” she said.

Uncertainties about spending, the Chinese economy, and inflation cloud the outlook.

“While there have been encouraging signs on goods inflation abroad, services price inflation has remained persistent and the same could occur in Australia,” Ms Bullock said.

But the concerns were not enough to trigger a 14th rate rise, after the release of weaker-than-expected inflation figures showed price pressures eased last month.

Annual inflation fell to 4.9 per cent in October from 5.6 per cent in September, beating market forecasts for a 5.2 per cent increase in the consumer price index.

Although inflation remains high, Ms Bullock is conscious the 13 interest rises since May last year are yet to have their full effect on the economy. Changes in the cash rate take about 12 to 18 months to flow through to households and businesses, and the surge in fixed-rate lending during the pandemic means transmission may be slower in this cycle.

Supporting the RBA’s inflation-fighting efforts is a higher Australian dollar, which has appreciated 2 per cent on a trade-weighted basis since the start of November because of US dollar weakness.

Expectations the US Federal Reserve is done with rate rises has pushed the Australian dollar up to US65.8¢ from US63.2¢ since the start of November, which will put downward pressure on the cost of imports if sustained.

The rapid increase in interest rates over the past year has been felt most acutely by the 3.2 million households with a mortgage, who in some cases have experienced monthly repayment increases of more than $1000.

With the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, a household with a $500,000 loan is paying $1210 a month more on its mortgage than it was in May last year, representing a 59 per cent increase, according to RateCity.

For a household with a $750,000 loan, that figure is $1815. Borrowers with a $1 million mortgage are paying $2420 a month extra.

Higher interest rates have also caused a sharp decline in how much money households can borrow to buy a home.

A family with two children and a household income of $150,000 have seen their borrowing power fall by 28 per cent to $623,400 since May last year, according to comparison site Compare the Market.

Last month, the Board increased interest rates by 25 basis points, following a period of four months where it had held interest rates steady. This decision reflected the Board’s view that progress in bringing inflation back to the target range of 2 to 3 per cent was looking slower than earlier forecast.

While the economy has been experiencing a period of below-trend growth, it was stronger than expected over the first half of the year. Underlying inflation was higher than expected at the time of the August forecasts, including across a broad range of services.

Conditions in the labour market had eased but remained tight.

Housing prices were continuing to rise across the country as was the number of new mortgages.

Given this, the Board judged that the risk of inflation remaining higher for longer had risen and an increase in interest rates was therefore warranted to be more assured that inflation would return to target in a reasonable timeframe.

The limited information received on the domestic economy since the November meeting has been broadly in line with expectations.

The monthly CPI indicator for October suggested that inflation is continuing to moderate, driven by the goods sector; the inflation update did not, however, provide much more information on services inflation.

Overall, measures of inflation expectations remain consistent with the inflation target. Wages growth picked up in the September quarter but this was expected given that it captured the earlier Fair Work Commission decision on award wages.

Wages growth is not expected to increase much further and remains consistent with the inflation target, provided productivity growth picks up.

Conditions in the labour market also continued to ease gradually, although they remain tight.

Higher interest rates are working to establish a more sustainable balance between aggregate supply and demand in the economy.

The impact of the more recent rate rises, including last month’s, will continue to flow through the economy.

High inflation is weighing on people’s real incomes and household consumption growth is weak, as is dwelling investment.

Holding the cash rate steady at this meeting will allow time to assess the impact of the increases in interest rates on demand, inflation and the labour market.

Returning inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe remains the Board’s priority.

High inflation makes life difficult for everyone and damages the functioning of the economy. It erodes the value of savings, hurts household budgets, makes it harder for businesses to plan and invest, and worsens income inequality.

And if high inflation were to become entrenched in people’s expectations, it would be much more costly to reduce later, involving even higher interest rates and a larger rise in unemployment.

To date, medium-term inflation expectations have been consistent with the inflation target and it is important that this remains the case.

There are still significant uncertainties around the outlook.

While there have been encouraging signs on goods inflation abroad, services price inflation has remained persistent and the same could occur in Australia.

There also remains a high level of uncertainty around the outlook for the Chinese economy and the implications of the conflicts abroad.

Domestically, there are uncertainties regarding the lags in the effect of monetary policy and how firms’ pricing decisions and wages will respond to the slower growth in the economy at a time when the labour market remains tight.

The outlook for household consumption also remains uncertain, with many households experiencing a painful squeeze on their finances, while some are benefiting from rising housing prices, substantial savings buffers and higher interest income.

Whether further tightening of monetary policy is required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe will depend upon the data and the evolving assessment of risks.

In making its decisions, the Board will continue to pay close attention to developments in the global economy, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market.