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Cam Smith says he's perfectly placed at the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Australia after an opening round he described as epic but stressful.

Smith finished three under at the Grange Golf Course on Friday, seven shots adrift of leader Talor Gooch.

The 31-year-old American fired a flawless 10-under 62 as Smith revelled in home crowd support from a raucous 35,000-strong sell-out crowd.

"The energy was really high out there," Smith said.

"It's nice to have a lot of people that are riding with you but it's also pretty stressful - you want to hit a good shot all the time, it's not as free-flowing as what it typically is.

"It was a pretty epic day."

Smith captains an all Australian LIV team, called Ripper GC, featuring Marc Leishman (one under), Matt Jones (even par) and Jed Morgan (four over).

The quartet marvelled at the crowd support at the sandbelt course in Adelaide's west.

"Unbelievable, probably as energetic a crowd I have ever played in front of," Leishman said.

"That rivals being in contention in a major for sure ... it was ridiculous actually."

The 23-year-old Morgan had one word for the experience.

"Sick," he said.

"There's no other word for it ... it was just sick."

Smith's three under included one bogey and a batch of near-misses with the putter.

"I had two or three lip-outs there on the back nine that could have easily been another two or three shots," he said.

"I still feel like I'm really in the tournament ... I got a lot of momentum off the back of today, I just need those putts to roll in."

Gooch holds a four shot buffer from Englishman Richard Bland and South Africa's Dean Burmester.

New Zealander Danny Lee is among five golfers at five under while eight golfers including Sergio Garcia are four under.

Brooks Koepka carded three under, Phil Mickelsen two under and Dustin Johnson one under while Gooch's 10 birdies included a hot streak of five in a row.

"If anyone says they're not surprised at 10 under, they're lying," he said.

"It's the day that you work hard for ... it was one of those rounds where I was hitting it close and making a lot of putts, so it was fun."

Only 10 players in the 48-strong field finished over par.

American Shiwan Kim had a torrid time - he posted a 10 on the par-5 7th and wobbled to a 12-over 84 - while Bryson DeChambeau struggled to two over.

© AAP 2023

Labor has opened a rift with the coalition with the appointment of two new Reserve Bank board members after a landmark review.

The federal government on Thursday released the first external review of Australia's central bank and the operation of monetary policy in four decades.

With the Greens arguing the changes are a "backwards step", Labor will need to work with the coalition to legislate the review's proposals with the aim of getting new settings in place to start on July 1, 2024.

A key recommendation is for the RBA to have two boards instead of one.

A monetary policy board with greater economic expertise would meet eight times a year instead of monthly to allow more time to consider issues and data.

A governance board with an external chair would be appointed to oversee the bank's organisational strategy, finances, staff planning and risk management, with no role in monetary or payments policy or financial stability.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has named former Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross and businesswoman Elana Rubin as new board members, in a bid to diversify the RBA's range of expertise.

Both have past links with the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor said the coalition was disappointed with the appointments, despite agreeing with the need for intellectual diversity on the board.

"The review laid that out plainly and I endorsed the need for that," he told ABC News.

"There is a clear process, a rigorous merit-based process that is laid out ... and the government hasn't followed it with its first two appointments."

Despite his concerns about the new board members, Mr Taylor has signalled his willingness to cooperate as much as possible on the RBA reform.

For the Greens, the government's commitment to remove the treasurer's power to overrule the RBA's decisions on interest rates was cause for concern.

Greens treasury spokesperson Nick McKim said it was "fundamentally anti-democratic" to scrap the override power in section 11 of the RBA Act and his party would oppose it in parliament.

"If the section 11 safeguards are removed the government would have no recourse over an RBA board that goes rogue," he said.

Senator McKim also criticised the review for missing an opportunity to develop a holistic approach to economic policy, including using taxes and price caps to help manage inflation.

The treasurer said a broader consideration of economic policy as suggested by the Greens was outside the scope of the review.

"The review was really all about how do we get the best processes and structures and objectives and people to make these decisions, which have such a massive impact on the lives of ordinary people," Dr Chalmers said on Friday.

Another key recommendation was ensuring the central bank gives equal consideration to the objectives of price stability and full employment.

As well, board members and officials will be encouraged to provide more information to the public following concerns of a lack of transparency.

The review called for the inflation target of two to three per cent to be retained, despite other central banks around the world having lower targets.

The government aims to introduce laws to parliament by the end of the year to remove the government's right to veto its decisions, create the monetary policy and governance boards and clarify the dual objectives of keeping inflation down and full employment.

Dr Chalmers plans to release a new statement on the conduct of monetary policy before the end of 2023, which would reaffirm the bank's independence, support the inflation target and set out commitments on transparency and accountability.

© AAP 2023

Involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie Rust will be dropped, New Mexico prosecutors say.

The decision came after new evidence surfaced on the gun Baldwin was using that fired the live round that killed Hutchins, a person familiar with the investigation said.

The movie's weapons handler, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case and her prosecution will continue, state prosecutors said in a statement.

"New facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis," special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said.

"We will therefore be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr Baldwin.

"This decision does not absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled."

The dramatic turn in the 18-month-old case arrived as Baldwin and other cast members resumed filming the movie in Montana.

Baldwin lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro announced earlier on Thursday charges were being dropped, which prosecutors later confirmed.

On Thursday, Baldwin posted a photo of himself with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, on Instagram, saying: "I owe everything I have to this woman (and to you, Luke)."

Baldwin, 65, and Gutierrez-Reed, 25, were charged in January with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the October 21, 2021, shooting on a film set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was injured when a Colt .45 revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with fired a bullet.

In a statement on Thursday, Gutierrez-Reed's lawyers Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion said: "We fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be exonerated."

Baldwin was initially accused of showing a "reckless" disregard for safety in Hutchins' death.

Prosecutors said video showed him with his finger on the trigger of the revolver minutes before it fired the live round.

Baldwin has said he was told the gun was "cold", an industry term meaning it did not contain ammunition with an explosive charge, and he never pulled the trigger.

Investigators have not been able to determine how live rounds made it on set.

After an evidence viewing in the case last week, new information showed the reproduction long Colt .45 Peacemaker revolver Baldwin was using had parts added to it since its manufacture by Italian gun maker Pietta, the source with knowledge of the case said.

"It definitely was modified, which compromises the whole argument that the gun was in fully functioning operating form and could only have fired if Baldwin pulled the trigger," the person said.

The state's prosecution has been beset by legal errors, with the most serious charge against the defendants dropped in February and two prosecutors forced to step down.

The two sides had been discussing charges ahead of a May 3 hearing, when a New Mexico judge was set to decide whether Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed should stand trial.

The movie's first assistant director, Dave Halls, last month received a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Baldwin settled a lawsuit in October with the cinematographer's husband, Matt Hutchins, in a deal that made Hutchins an executive producer on the movie.

© AP 2023