Received

Guy Sebastian's former manager has been jailed for a maximum of four years and ordered to repay more than $624,000 fraudulently taken from the Australian Idol winner over eight years.

On Thursday, Judge Tim Gartelmann sealed Titus Emanuel Day's fate, putting him behind bars for at least two years and six months, when he will be eligible for parole.

The 49-year-old's conviction comes after a NSW District Court jury found him guilty of 34 fraud charges in June.

"All (charges) were committed for financial gain though this is inherent in offences of this kind. The offender used the money other than for Mr Sebastian's benefit," Judge Gartelmann said at Sydney's Downing Centre.

With payments for Sebastian's performances sent to trust accounts held by Day's firm 6 Degrees, the talent manager failed to remit what was owed to the pop star from 2009 until November 2017, when the pair fell out.

Funds owed included royalties, performance and ambassador fees, including for a wedding in Venice, singing at a Taylor Swift tour, an ambassadorship for Dreamworld, and playing at a New Year's Day Big Bash cricket event.

Day spent several minutes after the sentence hugging friends and family members in court before being handcuffed and escorted away by officers.

Judge Gartelmann rejected claims by Day that he used some of the money to repay commissions, legal expenses and other costs owed, saying there was no evidence to back this up.

The offences involved a breach of trust but none involved any serious sort of planning, the judge said.

Depending on the amount of money taken each time, the judge described the conduct as spanning from very low to between medium and high range on a scale of seriousness.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Gartelmann took into account Day's lack of prior criminal history and testimonials from supporters about his good character.

"Numerous testimonials attest to his character. They constantly describe him as generous, honest and trustworthy," the judge said.

The fraud was out of character for the talent manager, his friends and family told the court.

However, Judge Gartelmann noted there was no evidence of remorse, as Day continued to maintain his innocence.

High levels of media publicity had also had an impact on Day and his business, he noted.

"Testimonials described it as sometimes scathing. His reputation has been damaged and will likely never be fully restored."

The extent of this publicity and strict conditions in jail as a result of COVID-19 restrictions would exacerbate Day's time in custody, the judge added.

Day's non-parole period will expire on May 16, 2025. His full prison sentence will expire on November 16, 2026.

In June, the jury found Day not guilty of a further 13 charges.

After trying to recover lost monies, Sebastian filed a civil lawsuit in the Federal Court in July 2018. This case has been put on hold while the criminal proceedings against Day continue.

© AAP 2022

Myanmar's military has released Australian economist Sean Turnell and three other foreigners under an amnesty covering 6000 prisoners to mark the country's National Victory Day.

Government spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told the Voice of Myanmar and Yangon Media Group on Thursday that Professor Turnell, Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota and ex-British diplomat Vicky Bowman, as well as an unidentified American, had been released and deported.

Myanmar's state-run MRTV later confirmed the reports.

Prof Turnell, 58, who holds an honorary position in the Department of Economics at Sydney's Macquarie University, was working in Myanmar as an adviser to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi when arrested in 2021 after the military seized power in a coup.

In September he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating the country's official secrets law and immigration law.

His friend, economist Tim Harcourt, said Prof Turnell dedicated himself to helping improve the lives of people in Myanmar, but got caught up in the coup.

"His heart was in the right place. He was trying to improve the lives of ordinary people in Myanmar," he told Sky News.

"Thank goodness he's been released now.

"The priority for Sean is to get back and be with his wife. Let's hope he can get home and recover."

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia welcomed the reports.

"Professor Turnell continues to be our first priority ... as such, we will not be commenting further at this stage," she wrote on Twitter.

Independent federal MP and former ABC foreign correspondent Zoe Daniel said she had received corroborated information about the release.

"Holding breath with relief and hope for his health and well-being," she tweeted.

Ms Daniel has been a consistent advocate for Prof Turnell's release.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese most recently raised the case with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on Saturday.

"I do want to thank Vietnam for your advocacy for Professor Sean Turnell, who has been detained in Myanmar," he said at the time.

Mr Kubota, a 26-year-old Tokyo-based documentary filmmaker, was arrested on July 30 after taking images and videos of a small flash protest against the military takeover last year.

He was convicted last month by the prison court of incitement for taking part in the protest and other charges, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ms Bowman, 56, a former British ambassador to Myanmar, was arrested with her husband, a Myanmar national, in Yangon in August. She was given a one-year prison term in September for failing to register her residence.

AAP with AP and Reuters

© RAW 2022

The jobless rate has dropped back to 3.4 per cent, defying expectations of an increase and fuelling the case for another interest rate rise before Christmas.

Official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 32,200 jobs were added to the Australian economy, with the participation rate remaining at 66.5 per cent.

Economists broadly expected to see fewer jobs added to the economy - about 15,000 - and the jobless rate edging up to more like 3.6 per cent.

The October employment figures revealed a labour market still close to capacity, with essentially one job vacancy for every person looking for work.

"With employment increasing by around 32,000 people and the number of unemployed decreasing by 21,000 people, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 3.4 per cent," the ABS's Bjorn Jarvis said.

Of those 32,000 people, men were employed at a rate of three to one compared with women.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said this supported the need for measures to boost female participation in the workforce.

For men, the unemployment rate fell to the lowest rate since 1974, dropping to 3.2 per cent. For women, it held steady at 3.6 per cent.

The proportion of people working full-time rather than part-time also continues to grow, with 70 per cent of the workforce now employed full-time.

Dr Rynne said this partly explained the boost in hours worked for the month, which rose by 2.3 per cent.

"Clearly the challenge with hiring new staff qualified for the vacant roles has caused employers to look internally to existing staff to step up and provide additional working capacity within businesses and organisations," he said.

BIS Oxford Economics head of macroeconomic forecasting Sean Langcake said the labour market was still too tight, which was starting to show up in wages growth.

The September quarter wage price index, which is typically slow to respond to the tight labour market and does not necessarily capture bonuses and other pay perks designed to attract and retain staff in a tight jobs market, lifted by 3.1 per cent annually in September.

"The question, now, is the third quarter a bumper quarter because of the Fair Work Commission's minimum wage decision, or are we working into a phase where wages are growing faster," Mr Langcake said.

He said the Reserve Bank was trying to hike rates fast enough to get ahead of wages growth becoming a major contributor to inflation.

"While the labour market appears to be tracking sideways, the RBA will likely want to see more of a tapering in demand to avoid a sharp breakout in wage growth," Mr Langcake said.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said workers should actually be seeing more wages growth given the sustained low unemployment.

"While real wages aren't going to be in front of the extraordinary inflation figures we see at the moment, they should be at a figure higher than 3.1 per cent," he told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Burke said the latest wages and labour-force data supported the need for expanded multi-employer bargaining, which is part of the workplace bill the Albanese government is trying to pass before Christmas.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said the latest figures supported another 25 basis point rate rise in December.

"These figures, along with yesterday's wages numbers for Q3, which surprised a little to the upside too, should be enough to convince the RBA that its optimal path is to continue to lift its cash rate a bit further," Mr Bloxham said.

© AAP 2022