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Tractors made before 1982 should not be used commercially after a Tasmanian man was struck and killed by his tractor, a coroner has recommended.

Ian John Barwick, 67, was removing hay bales at his Chudleigh farm, west of Launceston, when the tractor ran over him on June 9, 2020.

It was likely Mr Barwick noticed the tractor moving and tried to jump back on but he slipped or tripped and was caught under the wheel, Coroner Olivia McTaggart found.

He died from traumatic mechanical asphyxia.

Mr Barwick's tractor had a non-operational handbrake and the 67-year-old either applied the handbrake and it failed or he didn't apply it, not knowing it was ineffective, Ms McTaggart said in her findings.

Some 131 Australians have died in tractor accidents in the past decade, with about 15 per cent the result of unexpected tractor movement.

Mr Barwick's death was the fifth tractor fatality in Tasmania since 2017, with four of the tragedies involving old tractors.

The coroner heard new safety standards were introduced in 1982, with rollover structures made mandatory for any tractor used in Australian workplaces.

Any tractors made prior were not required to follow the higher safety standards.

Ms McTaggart recommended tractors made before 1982 be banned from use in commercial farming operations.

If that recommendation was not followed, then all tractors manufactured before the 1980s should be retrofitted with the rollover structures.

© AAP 2023

Four Australian Defence Force members who perished in a catastrophic helicopter crash in Queensland died "making a difference".

A recovery operation continues for the bodies of Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.

The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed near Hamilton Island on Friday night.

The chopper had been conducting joint military training as a part of Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue operation was now a recovery mission and family members had been informed.

He said evidence showed there had been a "catastrophic incident" and any hope of finding the men, who were members of the 6th Aviation Regiment, alive was lost.

"We are all left wondering, naturally, what happened (and) foremost in our minds at this moment must be the families of these four men and their teammates," Mr Marles said.

"There will be a full investigation and we will come to understand exactly what happened and learn the lessons from it."

Mr Marles said the loss of the four men was "significant and meaningful".

"They died on Friday night making a difference," he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the ADF members, saying the event was a difficult weekend for the nation.

"They dedicated their lives to keeping us safe. They were soldiers, sons, husbands, brothers, fathers and friends," he told parliament.

"We offer our sympathies and condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who Australia has lost. We mourn them, we will remember them."

Governor-General David Hurley, a former defence force chief, extended sympathies to the four men.

"As they stepped forward to serve us, so must we too honour their memory, remember their sacrifice and support their families," he said.

"It is a tragedy, and (wife) Linda and my thoughts are with the families, friends and other defence force personnel at this difficult time. I hope that the knowledge of our nation's gratitude is of some comfort in this moment of intense grief."

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell asked all Australians to pause and think about "the service offered and the loss suffered" and to support and care for the families.

General Campbell said because of the depth of currents, sonar equipment had been used to identify pieces of the wreckage.

"This effort will continue. We will be bringing our mates home to their families and to their regiments," he said.

A full investigation into the crash will take place.

Forty-seven MRH-90 helicopters have been grounded until further notice.

Mr Marles said the helicopters were certified to fly.

Specialist navy divers joined Queensland police and crews from HMAS Brisbane, HMAS Adelaide and USS Miguel Keith in their search for the missing Taipan.

An exclusion zone was put in place south of Hamilton Island, from the southern tip of Long Island east to Perseverance Island, south to Cole Island and west to the mainland at Round Head.

It is the second time an Australian MRH-90 has been involved in an emergency this year, after a Taipan crashed into the sea off the NSW south coast in March.

Talisman Sabre has more than 30,000 defence force personnel participating from in excess of a dozen partner nations including the US.

The joint exercises, mainly being held in regional Queensland, resumed late on Saturday in the Northern Territory and Western Australia after a pause.

© AAP 2023

Inflation has passed its peak but signs it may linger could add complexity to the impending cash rate decision.

A future-looking measure of the inflation picture shows consumer prices growing at a faster clip in July compared to the previous month.

The Melbourne Institute's inflation gauge, which uses the same techniques to measure price change movements as the official Australian Bureau of Statistics dataset, grew by 0.8 per cent in July, up from 0.1 per cent in June.

On an annual basis, the gauge continued moderating, growing by 5.4 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent in June.

The July change was driven by a sharp 13.96 per cent jump in utilities, with this increase counterbalanced by price falls in childcare and other items.

IFM Investors economist Alex Joiner said the monthly rebound in the Melbourne Institute gauge suggested the pace of inflation was not in freefall, but gradually moderating.

"One for those looking for the RBA to hike tomorrow - uncertainty around the inflation outlook persists a little more in Australia than elsewhere," he said.

The Reserve Bank board is due to meet for its August decision on Tuesday.

Official data has prices growing slower and consumer activity weakening, but a persistently strong jobs market has helped keep another hike in play.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics inflation numbers will be the pivotal piece of information leading into the meeting, with the official index sinking to six per cent in the June quarter from seven per cent through to March.

The trimmed mean, the RBA's preferred measure of core inflation, also moderated to 5.9 per cent annually in the June quarter from 6.6 per cent in March.

Both numbers came in below the RBA's predictions.

The latest flow of economic data has split economists at the major banks, with Commonwealth Bank and Westpac still foreseeing another 25 basis point hike in August.

Economists from NAB and ANZ expect the RBA to stay on hold, with interest rate markets predicting a 10 per cent chance of a hike on Tuesday.

The RBA shadow board, made up of macroeconomists from the Australian National University, is narrowly leaning towards a pause.

Higher interest rates and cost of living pressures are starting to weigh on savers, with monthly household deposit statistics from the financial safety regulator showing the first fall since May 2021.

Household deposits as tracked by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority sunk 0.56 per cent, or $7.76 billion, in June, suggesting Australians are starting to chew into their savings.

Surveying by comparison site Canstar revealed a two-speed savings environment, however, with households actually more committed than last year to squirreling money away for a major purchase.

Canstar's financial services group executive Steve Mickenbecker said mortgage holders, who have been enduring a sharp uptick in their monthly repayments as interest rates track higher, fell into two camps.

One was clearly in survival mode and funnelling any extra money into their emergency fund, while a second was taking the tighter financial conditions in stride and saving for a holiday or other major purchase.

"For some borrowers, interest rate increases have been water off a duck's back, while others are in severe stress," Mr Mickenbecker said

Australian private sector credit also grew weakly in June, lifting 0.2 per cent over the month.

© AAP 2023