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The Reserve Bank has shifted gears again and hiked by 25 basis points in May following a pause in the month prior.

The return to hiking follows still-high inflation data that, while easing, was not enough to convince the board to keep the cash rate on hold for the second month in a row.

The increase brings the cash rate to 3.85 per cent, its highest level since April 2012.

"Inflation in Australia has passed its peak, but at seven per cent is still too high and it will be some time yet before it is back in the target range," RBA Governor Philip Lowe said.

"Given the importance of returning inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe, the board judged that a further increase in interest rates was warranted today."

Further tightening has not been ruled out.

"Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe, but that will depend upon how the economy and inflation evolve," the governor said.

The Reserve Bank board opted to leave the cash rate unchanged in April in recognition that the full weight of interest rates were yet to be felt and they needed more time to see how higher rates were playing out.

The board has since ingested the quarterly consumer price index, which fell from 7.8 per cent annual growth in the December quarter to seven per cent in the March quarter.

Despite coming off its peak, inflation remains more than double the top of the RBA's target of two-three per cent, and rent, energy and other inflation sources are showing few signs of easing.

Plus, the labour market is still tight, home prices are picking up and the business sector remains resilient.

© AAP 2023

Hollywood film and television writers are set to strike, throwing Hollywood into turmoil as the entertainment business grapples with seismic changes triggered by the global streaming TV boom.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called its first work stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement for higher pay from studios such as Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc.

"The companies' behaviour has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing," the WGA said in a statement on its website.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney Co, Netflix Inc and others, said late on Monday it had offered "generous increases in compensation" in negotiations with the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

The 11,500 members of the WGA had given union leaders the power to call a strike as early as Tuesday after their current contract expires, as the entertainment industry faces a tough economic backdrop.

Conglomerates are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming services profitable after investing billions of dollars on content to attract subscribers.

The last WGA strike, in 2007 and 2008, lasted 100 days.

The action cost the California economy an estimated $US2.1 billion ($A3.2 billion) as productions shut down and out-of-work writers, actors and producers cut back spending.

Producers had indicated they were prepared to increase their offers of higher pay and residuals from a day earlier, the AMPTP statement said, but were "unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the Guild continues to insist upon".

The primary sticking points, the group said, were proposals that "would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not".

"The AMPTP is willing to engage in discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam," the statement said.

Studios are contending with declining television ad revenue, as traditional TV audiences shrink and advertisers go elsewhere,and the threat of a looming recession.

Writers say they have suffered financially during the streaming TV boom, in part due to shorter seasons and smaller residual payments.

They are seeking pay increases and changes to industry practices they say force them to work more for less money.

Half of TV series writers now work at minimum salary levels, compared with one-third in the 2013-14 season, according to guild statistics.

Median pay for scribes at the higher writer/producer level has fallen four per cent in the past decade.

Artificial intelligence is another issue at the bargaining table, with the guild seeking safeguards to prevent studios from using AI to generate new scripts from writers' previous work.

Writers also want to ensure they are not asked to rewrite draft scripts created by AI.

If a strike is called, late-night shows such as The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live, are expected to immediately stop production.

Soap operas and other daytime shows such as The View will likely be disrupted but news programs would not be interrupted because those writers are members of a different union.

If the work stoppage becomes protracted, the networks will increasingly fill their programming lineups with unscripted reality shows, news magazines and reruns.

Netflix might be insulated from any immediate impact because of its global focus and access to production facilities outside of the US.

© RAW 2023

The federal government will increase the tax on tobacco to bring in an extra $3.3 billion over the next four years as it rolls out measures to crack down on smoking and vaping.

Recreational vaping will be banned as the government seeks to prevent the next generation of nicotine addicts.

Health Minister Mark Butler announced at the National Press Club the tobacco tax would be raised by five per cent a year over the next three years, starting from September.

This follows a $234 million boost in the upcoming budget for tougher regulation of e-cigarettes, including new controls on their importation and packaging.

The government will work with the states and territories to shut down the sale of vapes in retail and convenience stores, while making it easier to get a prescription for therapeutic use.

To tackle the growing black market, the government will increase the product standards for vapes, including by restricting flavours and colours.

It will require pharmaceutical-like packaging, a reduction in the allowed nicotine concentrations and volumes, and a ban on single-use vapes.

Mr Butler revealed the scale of the public health issue, with children under the age of four having been reported to Victoria's poisons hotline after they used a vape.

"This is a product targeted at our kids, sold alongside lollies and chocolate bars," he said.

"Vaping has become the number one behavioural issue in high schools, and it's becoming widespread in primary schools. This must end."

Mr Butler said the hard-won gains in public health relating to the reduction in smoking could be undone by a "new threat".

"Vaping was sold to governments and communities around the world as a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit," he said.

"It was not sold as a recreational product, especially not one for our kids. But that is what it has become - the biggest loophole in Australian history."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition would support measures to reduce vaping rates.

"There is a significant problem in our country, it needs to be addressed," he told reporters in Sydney.

"I don't want to see vaping as a gateway into smoking and I want to see us prioritise the health particularly of young people, so we will support sensible measures, but we haven't seen anything yet from the government by way of detail."

Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson also backed the move.

"We know the new young generation of Australians are being hooked on vapes and this is a great initiative," he said.

"If you are going to vape it needs to be part of a step-down program coming off cigarettes and then ultimately off vapes, so that you are not inhaling anything dangerous at all.

"Lord only knows what they contain."

A $63 million public health campaign will be launched to discourage Australians from taking up vaping and to encourage them to quit.

Support programs helping Australians quit the habit will be bolstered by a $30 million investment, with education in smoking and nicotine cessation among health practitioners to be strengthened.

The government will commit a further $140 million for a program helping Indigenous people stop smoking, which will be expanded to include vaping.

© AAP 2023