Australia politics live: Bridget McKenzie accuses PM of ‘bullying’ Senate chamber as extended question time threatens to erupt

3.55am GMT Changing tack again, Nationals MP Pat Conaghan asks the government how many times it’s ignored warnings from treasury and ASIC to regulate the superannuation industry, following the recent collapse of the Shield and First Guardian funds. Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino says the collapses have been “distressing for many people lost considerable amount of funds.” I have met with victims of these collapses and I’ve heard first hand harrowing stories and I understand how difficult this has been. Can I stress that the focus of ASIC over recent months has been to protect investor funds and it has undertaken a range of actions to do so. Conaghan makes a point of order, to get Mulino to answer the question of how many times it “ignored warnings” from the department and ASIC. Mulino says he received briefings from Treasury, APRA and ASIC. I haven’t ignored any warnings. When I was notified of this matter earlier this year I very quickly sought briefing from my department in relation to the matter. I wrote to APRA and received briefings in relation to what further actions might be needed in relation to platforms. I have been working constructively on that matter. 3.49am GMT Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie gets the next crossbench question (she got one yesterday too) and presses the aged care minister again on the cost of home care packages. She says in her electorate, “one provider is charging non-grandfathered self-funded retirees and part pensioners a co-payment of up to $132 per hour for meal preparation and up to $101 per hour co-payment for showering on a Saturday. Most older Australians can’t afford this.” Aged care minister, Sam Rae, says from 1 November, when the new aged care act takes effect, administration prices under the home care program will be capped. From Saturday, we will ensure that administration prices under the home care program are capped. They have previously been exorbitantly charged by some providers, not all providers, but by some providers and caps will come into place at 10% around most administration fees. We want the money that is afforded to older people for their care to be used for their care, not for administrative purposes. We also have the independent pricing authority having issued pricing guidance to both consumers and providers. Rae announced earlier today that the 20,000 home care packages that the government was forced to release before 1 November (under pressure from the crossbench and Coalition) have been delivered. 3.44am GMT We have our first booting of QT – during a question from Tim Wilson about the CFMEU, Labor MP Mike Freelander gets evicted under 94a (Milton Dick doesn’t mess around when an MP heckles during a question). Wilson presses the government on a meeting between current Victorian CFMEU head and member of Labor’s national executive, Zach Smith and former Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka. Employment minister Amanda Rishworth says Labor is cracking down on corruption in the construction industry, as opposed to – she says – the former government’s Australian Building and Construction Commission. Wilson tries to raise a point of order, but Dick’s not having it and says he had a long preamble and Rishworth is being relevant because she’s talking about corruption and construction. Our government is absolutely been committed to tackle crime and corruption in the construction industry. It was ignored for years and years by those opposite. 3.39am GMT Fireworks threaten to erupt in the Senate The government remains livid about losing control of the chamber yesterday and the non-government senators teaming up to extend question time, in a debate about transparency. As reported earlier, a revolt led by independent senator David Pocock - who is seeking the long-awaited release of a government report - will see the Senate question time run much longer than usual for the foreseeable future. The government is considering retaliation by stripping Coalition senators of their committee roles. Related: Senate showdown looms after Watt labels Pocock revolt against government secrecy a ‘dummy spit’ The Senate question time has begun, with more yelling and arguing back-and-forth across the chamber than usual. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie accused prime minister Anthony Albanese - who is in South Korea - of “bullying this chamber”. Minister Don Farrell is leading the Senate in Penny Wong’s absence overseas, fielding most questions. He told the Coalition: “Maybe one of these days, you’ll be back into government and you’ll understand how important it is for the opposition to act in a responsible way”. Farrell referred to the parliamentary drama as “cheap tricks”. As another Coalition senator raised questions about whether they’d be stripped of their parliamentary positions, Labor minister Murray Watt called back across the chamber: “so it’s all about your pay?” Senate QT is likely to run until about 3.30pm today, much past its normal 3pm finish. The final sections will be interesting. Updated at 3.45am GMT 3.34am GMT Coalition brings up Labor’s $275 energy price cut promise Remember the government’s promise to cut energy prices by $275 by 2025 – well, Labor couldn’t forget it even if they tried, because the Coalition has brought it up again in this QT. The Nationals MP Michael McCormack asks why Labor broke that promise (the government did concede a while ago that the cut wouldn’t happen). Energy minister Chris Bowen offers this zinger. “I am aware it’s 2025. Not sure the National party is.” He then defends the government’s energy policies and says there has been progress. I’m aware the AEMO quarterly energy dynamics report released today, which is a welcome progress report, which shows wholesale down, and 27% year on year and 38% quarter on quarter. I see this as good progress with much more to do. Updated at 3.49am GMT 3.29am GMT Shadow treasurer asked to withdraw ‘Jimflation effect’ comment After yesterday’s inflation numbers, shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien takes a stab at the treasurer, saying “not unlike the stagflation from the 70s which people nowadays refer to as the “Jimflation effect”. Naturally, the Speaker, Milton Dick, does not like the use of “Jimflation”, and tells the chamber to have some respect. Jim Chalmers, who loves a bit of name calling himself, says O’Brien cuts a “comical almost cartoonish figure”, and attacks the Coalition’s economic record. When inflation was absolutely galloping in our economy, in 2022, 6.1% and rising fast, they were pouring more and more fuel on the flames. We know that now. That is an economic fact and that is their legacy. This is why they have no economic credibility, especially with inflation, especially with employment and also when it comes to real wages. Updated at 3.35am GMT 3.22am GMT When will the government release the ‘jobs for mates’ review? The drama in the Senate has made an appearance in the House, with independent MP Sophie Scamps asking the government when it will release a report by former public service commissioner Lynelle Briggs into appointments to government board positions. The report was handed down two years ago and the government had, at the time, promised that it would be released. It’s the latest in a series of criticisms the government is facing around transparency (including major concerns over its proposed reforms to the freedom of information bill). Richard Marles says the document is in front of cabinet and will be considered, and says criticism from the Coalition is hypocritical. The hypocrisy in those [opposite] is breathtaking, in that when it comes to the question of appointing people to government positions they industrialised it … The Briggs report, that said, is an important piece of work and we are considering it at cabinet and when we respond we will make it public. Updated at 3.39am GMT 3.13am GMT Housing crisis has been ‘cooking’ for decades, O’Neil says, as Coalition scrutinise policies Staying on housing, the LNP MP Cameron Caldwell asks about concerns that the government’s Help to Buy scheme will increase home prices by 6.6% next year. Housing minister Clare O’Neil says the housing crisis has been “cooking” in this country for decades, and blames the former Coalition government for not doing more. What he [Caldwell] is saying is, in the context of extreme challenges that face young people, we should look them in the eye and say we won’t do anything to help you. We take a fundamentally different view. The Coalition was trying to pass a private senators’ bill in the Senate this morning to put more scrutiny on the government’s housing programs including Help to Buy. Updated at 3.36am GMT 3.05am GMT Question time begins It’s the last question time for the week, and today we’re starting on housing. Opposition leader Sussan Ley asks acting PM Richard Marles about the government’s housing policy – the housing Australia future fund – which will be audited by the auditor general. The actual question is: “Why is it when Labor fails, Australians always pay the price?” – a similar line to what they used yesterday. Marles goes on the defence (pun intended) and lists the number of homes in the HAFF program that are in some of the opposition’s electorates. In the leader of the opposition’s own electorate, there are 54 homes in one area which are currently part of the first tranche of the housing Australia future fund’s project. In the member for Lindsay’s, there are 135 homes in Penrith being pursued. In the member for Moncrieff’s electorate, 213 homes are pursued. He then points out that the former Coalition government built just 313 social and affordable homes in their nine years in power. Updated at 3.08am GMT 2.50am GMT Barnaby Joyce denies allegations of 'verbal tirade' after formal complaint by Nationals staffer A formal complaint has been filed against Barnaby Joyce after media reports alleged he launched a “verbal tirade” against a female Nationals staffer on Wednesday. Joyce, a Nationals MP who could run as an independent or for One Nation at the next federal election, denied the allegations and said he respected the process now in train. Sky News reported on Thursday morning that Joyce had raised his voice at a staffer within Michelle Landry’s office shortly before question time yesterday. Joyce had reportedly visited the office to request leave for this morning to attend a funeral. He was asked to complete a leave form, which prompted Joyce’s alleged outburst. The female staffer filed the formal complaint today with the Parliament Workplace Support Service. The parliamentary HR body can offer support services to affected staff and management training courses to politicians but cannot punish MPs for their behaviour unless the complaint is also filed with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. Updated at 2.53am GMT 2.44am GMT Minister says court decision not a basis for NSW correction officer strike The New South Wales corrections minister has said a decision by the independent judiciary should not be a basis for industrial action after prison officers state-wide walked off the job. Anoulack Chanthivong said: I understand this industrial action has been taken following the sentencing of an inmate in the Local Court of NSW over an assault on correctional officers, amid disappointment at this sentencing decision. Corrective Services NSW has an urgent hearing before the Industrial Relations Commission today to resolve this. The Government values the hard work of correctional officers, often in difficult and hostile circumstances. Correctional officers deserve to be safe on the job. While I understand staff are angry, a decision of the independent judiciary is not a basis for industrial action. Centres remain secure and are being operated by a reduced number of staff. Updated at 2.51am GMT 2.38am GMT ‘I’m not going to spoil the fun’ in Senate QT, says Watt Asked about the prospect of a lengthier question time today in the Senate, and whether the government will “play ball”, Watt indicates that he will. The self-professed lover of question time said: I’m not going to spoil the fun this afternoon! There might be more interesting Senate question time than there usually is. Moderator Tom Connell joked that there’s “probably a low bar” there. Watt didn’t comment on the threats the government has made to sack Coalition MPs from their deputy chair positions on House committees. Updated at 2.47am GMT 2.32am GMT Is WA premier on board with the EPBC reforms? You might remember that a big factor in the EPBC’s demise last term was that WA was not on board with the reforms. What about this time around? Watt says that the state was the very first place he visited after being sworn in as minister, and all of his discussions with the WA premier, Roger Cook, have been “constructive”. Every time I’ve met with the premier it’s been a really constructive meeting. He supports reform. There’s no doubt about that. He can see the damage that’s happening to the environment and the hold up of approvals. We will continue to talk about the detail but he’s broadly supportive of reforms. With the new legislation, the commonwealth will sign a series of bilateral agreements with the states to fix up project approvals. So far, Watt says there’s only been a function bilateral agreement with New South Wales. So rather than someone having to roll up to the NSW government, get an assessment, approval, come to us and get an approval, we can cut through and have one assessment. That’s where we’d like to get to with WA. That’s where we’d like to get to with a lot other states. Updated at 2.38am GMT 2.22am GMT ‘Really high bar’ to approve projects in national interest under nature laws, Watt says My colleague, Dan Jervis-Bardy is at the press club, and asks Watt whether the government will make it explicit in the legislation that projects approved in the national interest – that might not meet environmental standards – won’t include certain projects like fossil fuel projects. Watt says the legislation will give a “flavour” of the type of decisions that could be in the national interest. While he doesn’t indicate that the government itself would put that carve out forward, he says he’d listen if another party called for it. The decision we made was to set out the framework for how one of those national interests decisions could be made. As I say, to give a flavour of the types of decisions that pathway would attract. We haven’t gone about sort of saying what can’t happen. I said we’re at an early stage of the debate and haven’t received amendments from anyone yet and I’m open to listening to all parties that think about what changes are needed. A little earlier Watt said any intervention by a minister to approve a project in the national interest would have to have “a really high bar”. Updated at 2.30am GMT 2.12am GMT Watt confident in federal environmental reforms despite initial pushback Jumping back to press club, Watt seems to be pretty positive about how the negotiations with the Coalition and the Greens will progress, saying he expected them both to pushback initially. But he says everyone will have to make concessions to get something worthwhile over the line. You would hardly expect them to be rolling over day one and saying we’re going to back in the bill. They would be poor negotiators if they did that. Inevitably they’ll be seeking concessions, changes. I’ve said I will talk with them about that. I’ve said from day one and Graeme Samuel said this, no one will get 100% of what they’ve want. If everyone wants 100% of what they want, we will get nothing and stuck with a bill that’s failing everyone. If we get 80% of what people want, then we’ll have a pretty good set of laws that deliver for both the environment and for business. Watt also tells us that the bill won’t suddenly mean nature regenerates immediately, or as he puts it, “we won’t have beautiful birds and bees on every street overnight”. Graeme talked a lot about the current situation managing decline and that’s why we’ve embedded these really important principles like net gain, the national environmental standards, to not just [stop] that ongoing decline but to start seeing nature recover. Updated at 2.54am GMT 2.05am GMT NSW prison guards walk off the job after four prison officers assaulted Prisons across New South Wales will soon have barebones staff after corrective service officers declared a state-wide strike over the assault of four guards earlier this year. Officers have so far walked off the job at Cessnock prison, and at Bathurst prison, and officers at the remaining 36 prisons will soon follow suit. The Public Service Association has said the strike will also leave local, district and supreme courts “unable to function”. Stewart Little, the general secretary of the union, told Guardian Australia that the walk-off was over an inmate at Cessnock assaulting four prison officers earlier this year, leaving them all with serious facial injuries. The inmate went before a magistrate over the assault. He was found guilty but did not get any additional time added to his sentence. Little said: My phone has gone into meltdown, I’ve had prison officers ringing me all day absolutely incandescent with rage at the signal this magistrate has sent to the community. Little said the man has a history of violence and is now in an isolated cell. Asked how long he expects the strike to last, Little said: “I can’t see them going back to work today”. Little was also asked if he thinks the issue is symptomatic of any broader issues inside the state’s prisons. He told Guardian Australia that a number of the ballooning inmates inside for domestic violence offences were not getting “the wraparound services they need to deal with their violent behaviour”. He said this was specific to offenders that spend most of their time on remand or only serve a short sentence which can limit their access to rehabilitation programs. Updated at 2.14am GMT 2.01am GMT ‘No extinctions’ under new nature laws, Watt says On to questions, Watt is asked about unacceptable impacts of a project, and what happens if a project could result in a species going extinct. Watt, at first, gives us the couple of extreme examples he’s so far used, like no mining under Uluru and no drilling of the Barrier Reef. But when pressed on whether there would ever be a project in the national interest that would result in an extinction, Watt says: Our government has a policy of zero new extinctions to begin with. My view is the way these laws would apply is that if a project is going to drive a species extinct, it will get a no. I reckon I’d be confident I’d be 99% support in the community for that. Updated at 2.17am GMT 1.53am GMT Murray Watt speaking at press club Murray Watt is pitching his environment reforms at the National Press Club today – after the legislation was introduced to the house this morning, five years after Graeme Samuel first handed the reforms to the former government. The environment minister still has an uphill battle trying to get the legislation through the Senate (which just slighted the government by forcing the bill through a lengthy committee process). He says the reforms will create national environmental standards, and will be a positive for the environment. He also pushes back against “false choice” that some have characterised. Many commentators and politicians want to frame this legislation as a tug of war between the environment and the economy. Assert a false choice you can have one but not the other. You don’t have to choose between the environment and jobs and business. We can protect and improve our environment, while removing duplication and speeding up approvals. That was the secret sauce of professor Samuel’s report. Updated at 1.57am GMT 1.36am GMT Surprise amendment to give police power to cancel welfare payments Regular readers of the blog will know yesterday parliament was discussing amendments to the income apportionment bill, which the government is trying to pass this week. A quick recap on that: the bill will give about 3 million people affected by the unlawful debt calculation method up to $600 in compensation. But the government, at the very last minute, have slipped in an amendment that would give the federal police minister the power to recommend the suspension or cancellation of a person’s Centrelink benefits before they are convicted. This would apply to a “serious violent or sexual offence” and only if an arrest warrant has been issued. Where has this come from? Well, the amendment stipulates “it is not appropriate that a person wanted for a serious offence, including a person who is evading arrest by the police, should be able to benefit from Government payments.” So, of course, there is a lot of speculation involving Dezi Freeman, and reports that he was on the disability support pension. Updated at 1.46am GMT 1.27am GMT Greens, crossbench and Coalition team up again in the Senate The government has faced another defeat in the upper house – with the opposition, Greens and crossbench teaming up to force the environment bill into an inquiry which will only hand down its report in March 2026. The inquiry doesn’t change when the legislation can pass – as long as Murray Watt is still able to secure a deal with the Coalition or Greens, which he’s said he wants to do before the end of the year. Updated at 1.35am GMT 1.12am GMT Albanese confident of Trump’s word on Aukus Asked whether Albanese is concerned about commentary that the US won’t be able to deliver submarines to Australia under the Aukus partnership, the PM refers us to Trump’s comments last week. I think President Trump’s comments cannot have been clearer and they were very clear last week in the White House. They have been clear ever since President Trump has made very explicit his – not just support for AUKUS – but indeed the bringing forward of the timetable if that is possible. Updated at 1.22am GMT 1.02am GMT Albanese tight lipped on Cop30 attendance It’s not called summit season for nothing, because rolling around in just over a week is the Cop30 event in Brazil. Asked whether he’ll be attending – while Australia continues to bid to host next years’ climate summit – Albanese remains coy. I am sometimes amused about the contradictory messages from Australian media saying I should do more international travel but when I do say I should do less. So, look, we will work out our itinerary. Australia will be represented there. Parliament is sitting next week, this is the first full week of parliament I have missed in 30 years – almost – of representation. He reassured reporters the government does take COP “seriously”. When pushed on whether that answer was actually a “no”, he said “No, I clearly did not say that. We will work through those issues. We will make announcements at the appropriate time.” Updated at 2.01am GMT 12.59am GMT Albanese says Xi and Trump meeting “positive development” Speaking from South Korea at the Apec leaders’ summit, Anthony Albanese says in an era of global strategic tensions, the meeting of Donald Trump with Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit is “welcome”. It comes just a couple of weeks after Albanese had a one-on-one with Trump at the White House, and met with Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Malaysia. More broadly, Albanese told reporters Australia wants to see “less tension in trade” and a “reduction in tension around the world”, which he said the US and China have an important role in. We welcome the meeting of the world’s two largest most powerful countries and economies. We are optimistic about a positive outcome. I have had the opportunity now to have a discussion with President Trump, as well as with Premier Lee of China in just the last few days, and it has been an opportunity for me to engage with them. We obviously also want to see a reduction in tension around the world, and the United States and China have an important role as the two major economies and the two major powers that exist in our region and right around the globe. We live in an era of strategic competition but what we are seeing is really positive developments. It is a good thing that President Trump and President Xi are meeting today. Updated at 2.03am GMT 12.47am GMT DV-related suicide to be probed in urgent inquiry The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, has announced a parliamentary inquiry into suicide stemming from domestic violence, following a report which called for a united approach to end the scourge. Plibersek said the inquiry was vital to understanding the full picture of domestic violence. She told parliament: Experts have told us that suicide risk for victims can be amplified through feelings of entrapment, fear of the perpetrator, and the cumulative effects of violence – both during and after a relationship. The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission report had 31 recommendations. It recommended developing a national response to the rise of online misogyny and radicalisation, while also speeding up the establishment of standards for the National Men’s Behaviour Change Program. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org. Updated at 1.21am GMT 12.25am GMT Optus awarded best network availability and reliability in network experience report Ahead of an expected grilling by senators over last month’s triple zero outage, Optus will be buoyed up by news it has won the most awards for its mobile network coverage in the latest Opensignal mobile network experience report, including a shared win for network availability and reliability. The telco’s executives will appear before a Senate inquiry into the outage on Monday morning, but can take heart in Opensignal awarding Optus joint winner for network availability and reliability with Vodafone, as well as overall winner in six categories covering experience of video streaming and gaming on the mobile network on both 4G and 5G. The reliability experience measures the ability of users to connect to and complete basic tasks on the operators’ networks. Availability is not a measure of the geographic extent of a network – which Telstra would have won – but what proportion of time people have a network connection in the places they most commonly frequent. Vodafone picked up four categories on its own, including 4G and 5G upload speeds, 5G availability and consistent quality. Telstra won best coverage experience, and best 5G coverage experience. Updated at 12.30am GMT 12.14am GMT Conservationist groups speak out against ‘half-arsed’ federal nature laws Conservationist groups fear the federal government’s nature laws contain too many loopholes to properly protect the environment, with one warning there is “no point doing this half-arsed”. The heads of Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) held a press conference in parliament house before laws to re-write the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act were introduced on Thursday morning. The green groups are concerned the legislation does not address exemptions for native forest logging and agriculture and won’t create new requirements for the minister to consider climate change when assessing projects. The acting chair of the ACF, Paul Sinclair, said: These laws need to be strengthened to end deforestation. As they stand, these laws have too many loopholes. They risk more bush being put under the bulldozer. This is the biggest test the Albanese government has faced. We call on the Prime Minister to pass that test, to work with the parliament to strengthen these laws and end deforestation.” The chief executive of Greenpeace, David Ritter, said: There is no point doing this half-arsed. The protection of our national environment requires that the loopholes that enable the bulldozers and the chainsaws to destroy our forests are closed, and requires climate considerations to be embedded.” Updated at 1.32am GMT 11.57pm GMT Labor accused of ‘playing games’ in Senate The government is being accused of “playing games” in the Senate this morning, as the opposition tried to debate a private senator’s bill to increase oversight over the government’s housing programs. While speaking, Liberal senator Jane Hume was interrupted three times by government calls for quorum (ensuring that a minimum number of senators are present in the chamber). Hume claimed Labor senators were leaving the chamber to force that quorum call. It all feeds into issues of transparency and accountability, said Hume, linking the interruptions to yesterday’s move by David Pocock, the crossbench and Coalition to put pressure on the government to release a report handed to Labor on “jobs for mates” appointments to government boards (which Labor are still refusing to do). Hume said: Not only are they hiding, they are playing games in the chamber … Unfortunately I keep getting disrupted, and the reason I keep getting disrupted, can I be very clear, because Labor are refusing to produce a document that we’ve requested to see for two years, they’re refusing to produce a document which ironically is a review into jobs for mates. Updated at 12.05am GMT 11.45pm GMT Environmental group paints ‘Tax Me’ on coal ship in Newcastle named Climate Justice The environmental group Rising Tide painted a large message on the side of a coal ship in Newcastle, NSW this morning: “TAX ME”. Rising Tide said the chalk-based missive is meant to be a call on the federal government to introduce a 78% fossil fuel export profits tax, with the funds generated used to back the community and industrial transition away from fuels such as coal. The coal ship targeted by the group is named Climate Justice. Alexa Stuart, a spokesperson for Rising Tide, said in a statement: It is laughable that a coal ship is called “Climate Justice” … Real climate justice is about heeding the dire scientific warnings, and committing to an urgent and just transition for coal workers and communities. We’re demanding a 78% tax on coal export profits to do exactly that. Despite major profits, coal companies regularly pay low rates of tax. Crossbench MPs also recently revived calls for a mining rent tax amid the country’s potential critical minerals boom. Independent MP David Pocock recently said Australia’s natural resources belong “to all of us, and if they’re going to be exploited, then we need to get a fair cut of that”. Related: Mining giants must pay rent tax so Australians don’t miss out on critical minerals cash boom, MPs say Updated at 11.50pm GMT 11.35pm GMT Tony Burke introduces Labor’s nature bill Tony Burke is introducing Labor’s bill for the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) in the House now. The leader of the house starts by saying, “Labor is the party of the environment.” Why isn’t the environment minister, Murray Watt, introducing the bill? He’s a senator – and the bill is being introduced in the House – but Watt is sitting in the House while it’s introduced. Burke is a former environment minister himself. Our environment laws are broken. They’re not working for the environment, for business, for the economy or for the community. That was a clear assessment delivered by Prof Graeme Samuel when he handed down his independent review [EPBC] Act, a review that was delivered five years ago today. This package of bills remains faithful to our commitment to follow the spirit of the Samuel review. In reforming this legislation, in crafting these reforms, we’ve looked into three pillars, firstly, stronger environmental protection and restoration … Secondly, more efficient and robust project assessments and approvals … and finally, greater accountability and transparency in decision making. Labor still hasn’t secured itself a path to pass this through the Senate. Updated at 12.22am GMT 11.17pm GMT Shadow finance minister warns Australia could face ‘stagflation’ Looping back to James Paterson on Sky News a little earlier, the shadow finance minister warned that if current inflation trends persist, and unemployment keeps ticking up, Australia could face “stagflation”. We’re not there yet, he said, but he’s “not convince” the government can turn it around. Yesterday’s figures showed inflation jumped to 3.2% in the year to September, from 2.1% in June – just over the Reserve Bank’s target inflation range of 2-3%. The treasurer said yesterday that underlying inflation is still within that range, but Paterson was sceptical. “Still within the target range” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. It’s at the top of the target range. It is at 3%. The RBA wants it to be at 2.5% … And if these trends continue, then the annual rate of inflation will be closer to 4% than 3%. And we’ll have a really disastrous situation on our books … we also have increasing unemployment in this country. Unemployment is ticking up, and inflation is ticking up. Now, the last time that happened in a sustained way was in the 1970s. It created a phenomenon called stagflation, and that was utter economic misery for Australians. Now we’re not there yet, and I hope we don’t get there, but I’m not convinced that this government has a plan to turn that around. Updated at 11.30pm GMT 10.46pm GMT Australia and China at start of ‘exciting new education chapter’, Universities Australia chair says Universities Australia chair, Prof. Carolyn Evans, says China and Australia are at the start of an “exciting new education chapter” as she concludes a trip to the Asian superpower. Delivering a keynote speech at the 2025 China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education, Evans pressed that Australia and China must expand their partnership on research and student flows: Our countries, China and Australia, have much to gain by expanding cross-sector partnerships in areas from food security to global health to the transition to net zero. We must encourage the flow of students between our countries, including short-term exchanges and internships … We must expand joint research … And we must share innovation ecosystems when appropriate, bringing together universities, start-ups and industry across both nations to create shared hubs of creativity and entrepreneurship. A delegation of vice chancellors, senior university leaders and Universities Australia representatives have been in China this week to strengthen ties amid improved diplomatic relations as part of the inaugural Australia-China University Leaders Dialogue. Also on Wednesday, Universities Australia and the China Education Association for International Exchange renewed a longstanding memorandum of understanding for shared policy objectives and increased engagement. 10.29pm GMT James Paterson condemns Labor’s ‘authoritarian’ threats to remove Coalition MPs from committee positions The shadow finance minister, James Paterson, did not mince his words this morning, calling the government’s threats to remove Coalition MPs from deputy House committee positions “petty” and “extraordinary”. Speaking to Sky News a little earlier, Paterson accused the government of being “authoritarian”. The government’s response has been utterly extraordinary, completely petty, and much more consistent with the behaviour of an authoritarian government than a democratic one. In return for having to answer extra questions in the parliament, they’re proposing to strip the opposition of deputy chair positions in the House of Representatives. That is an utterly petulant response from the government, and it reflects very badly on them. The environment minister, Murray Watt, accused senator Pocock of a “dummy spit” and “upending decades of tradition”. Updated at 10.33pm GMT 10.22pm GMT ‘Jobs for mates is a real problem in this place’: Pocock Independent senator David Pocock has the government on the back foot, pushing Labor to release a report it commissioned to look at “jobs for mates” appointments by politicians. Yesterday, Pocock – with the Coalition and the Greens – passed a vote to add five non-government questions to Senate question time until minister Katy Gallagher tables the report. And now – as we brought you a moment ago – the government is threatening to pull Coalition MPs from senior positions on House committees. This morning, the independent ACT senator was still extremely unimpressed with the government’s behaviour, telling journos: We’ve seen a flat-out refusal to release a document that they said would be released, that I think is really important and in the public interest. You know, jobs for mates is a real problem in this place, and we’ve even seen that over the last couple of years … we’re ratcheting up the pressure until they release it. Updated at 11.29pm GMT 10.15pm GMT Senate showdown looms after Watt labels Pocock revolt against government secrecy a ‘dummy spit’ A major showdown in the Senate is looming and question time in parliament will be extended by a huge amount, after senator David Pocock led a revolt against government secrecy to punish Labor for sitting on a key report. In response, the government could retaliate by stripping Liberal MPs of their positions on parliamentary committees. The environment minister, Murray Watt, accused Pocock of a “dummy spit” and “upending decades of tradition”. Bear with us a moment to explain. Pocock has been seeking a report into government board appointments, which was submitted to the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, two years ago. Pocock, angry at the delay, sought to change the standing orders (or rules) in the Senate to add extra questions to the daily question time, giving the non-government senators more chance to ask questions. Gallagher said the report would be released “when that work is finished” but opposed Pocock’s actions, claiming senators were “abusing” Senate orders to seek “unreasonable” amounts of government documents. The Coalition and crossbench teamed up with Pocock to pass the motion, which will see the Senate question time extended by about half an hour. The government is livid about this. Guardian Australia understands that the government may seek to retaliate against the Coalition for supporting Pocock’s motion, which could include stripping Coalition members of deputy chair positions on committees. Liberals believe that threat is still live today. This could be a fast-moving situation with negotiations behind the scenes, so we’ll bring you updates as they happen. Watt, a senior minister in the Senate, said he hadn’t been involved in those discussions – having been focused on the environmental law package to be introduced today – but was scathing of Pocock’s move. What David Pocock did yesterday, with the support of the Coalition and the Greens, was upend decades of Senate tradition and procedure in a grab for power … David Pocock was always in here lecturing the rest of us about the importance of Senate tradition and Senate convention, and he’s just gone and chucked the toys out. Updated at 10.21pm GMT 10.03pm GMT Lidia Thorpe calls for justice after August neo-Nazi attack on Camp Sovereignty Lidia Thorpe has tabled a petition with more than 400,000 signatures calling for justice following an attack of the Camp Sovereignty Indigenous site in Melbourne by neo-Nazis in August. Thorpe, speaking to ABC News Breakfast this morning, says the attack needs to be called a “hate crime” and wants the federal police to thoroughly investigate the incident. It’s caused fear in our community. I know that children didn’t want to go to school after that attack because of the effect, the ripple effect that that has through families and communities. We know that racism is real in this country. And the racist neo-Nazi attack was a good example of how bad it can be against our people. We need to send a clear message to the rest of this country that this is a hate crime and neo-Nazi attacks are not tolerated. So, you know, the prime minister needs to come out also and back the federal police to investigate this as a hate crime. To charge these neo-Nazis for hate crimes. Thorpe says she has had one meeting with state and federal police who said it doesn’t meet the threshold for an investigation, “but that I haven’t been given information as to why it doesn’t meet the threshold”. Updated at 10.16pm GMT 9.21pm GMT Victoria forced to rely on One Nation and others to pass voluntary assisted dying bill After two days of debate, changes to Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws passed parliament last night. The amendments, which allow doctors to initiate conversations about voluntary assisted dying and expand the eligibility timeframe for all terminal illnesses to 12 months, passed 67 votes to 13. MPs were granted a conscience vote, with Labor MPs Anthony Carbines, Natalie Suleyman, Iwan Walters, Anthony Cianflone and Kathleen Matthews-Ward all voting against their own government’s bill. Liberal MPs Kim Wells, Brad Rowswell, Richard Riordan, David Hodgett, Michael O’Brien, Nicole Werner, Chris Crewther and Nationals MP Peter Walsh also voted against the bill. The bill will now head to the upper house, where Labor doesn’t have a majority but should be able to pass the bill with the support of a motley crew including One Nation and Liberal MPs. Here’s our story from yesterday: Related: Victorian Labor forced to rely on One Nation and others to pass voluntary assisted dying bill after factional split Updated at 9.48pm GMT 9.12pm GMT Shadow environment minister says no ‘rush’ to pass environment bill While Murray Watt wants the bill passed this year (and says there’s a “strong national interest” in getting the reforms passed ASAP), Angie Bell is now asking “what the rush is”. As we mentioned earlier, it’s five years to the day since Graeme Samuel laid out his reforms to the former Coalition government. On ABC RN Breakfast, Bell says the bill needs to be balanced, and needs to be done right. I don’t really understand what the rush is. Originally, the minister said he would pass this bill in 12 to 18 months, and now it’s been expedited after the treasurer’s roundtable. A quick recap here: the government pledged at the economic roundtable in August that it would introduce the environmental reforms before Christmas. When Bell says the government “failed” in the last parliament to get this done, Sally Sara points out that the Coalition and then-environment minister Sussan Ley also couldn’t get it across the line. Bell says Ley brought two bills forward which were blocked by Labor and the Greens, and accuses Watt of only consulting with a select few stakeholders on the reforms. Our environment is going backwards, and we need to stop that. But we also need to make sure that this bill is balanced … we don’t think it’s balanced at this point in time. We’re open to continuing to talk with the minister on how these bills can be improved to make sure that there is a balance struck and that industry, jobs and investment don’t get a raw deal out of this. Updated at 9.25pm GMT 9.00pm GMT ‘Not our job to make a bad bill better,’ says shadow environment minister The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, is doing the media rounds this morning, and sits in the “hot seat” – as she calls it – on RN Breakfast after Murray Watt. The Coalition says its chief concerns lie in the “wide-ranging powers” of the new environment protection body that will be set up, along with the fact that the head of the EPA will not report directly to the minister. It will be a statutory appointment that will not report directly to the minister. The minister won’t be able to sack that individual. It’ll have to be the governor general that does that. And so, that is a problem in terms of what that outcome might look like in terms of broad-sweeping powers, definitely. Bell said earlier this morning that Australians should be “alarmed” if Labor go to the Greens to pass this bill. So, host Sally Sara asks, how much the Coalition is willing to compromise in their negotiations to ensure Labor keeps talking to them? Bell says: Certainly it’s not our job to make a bad bill better but there are some areas that we have concerns on, and we’ll continue to put those areas forward as a problem. Updated at 9.36pm GMT 8.50pm GMT Following on from last post … Watt is facing a lot of questions about how the new act would define a project that has an “unacceptable” impact on the environment which would trigger an immediate refusal. Along with that comes another power in the draft act which would allow the minister to override some environmental rules if a project is in the national interest. Watt tells RN Breakfast an unacceptable impact would be something like a project wanting to mine under Uluru or clear a habitat that would “drive a species to extinction”. On the issue around national interest, Watt says the legislation gives a “flavour” of what that might look like – and emphasises it was an explicit recommendation of Graeme Samuel. Governments of the day should, in very rare circumstances, have the ability when something is in the national interest to approve a project proceeding, even if it doesn’t meet the usual environmental standards. What we’ve said in the bill is to try to give a flavour of the types of projects that we’re talking about would be most likely defence or security projects, actions that may be undertaken in responding to a natural disaster. We have made the point that that should be rarely used, that there’s got to be transparency with the minister of the day issuing a statement of reasons justifying why they’ve done that. And just to be clear, that decision to approve a project in the national interest would occur after a full assessment was done. Updated at 8.52pm GMT 8.41pm GMT Third time’s the charm? Watt says so After two failed attempts by parliaments past to legislate the EPBC reforms, Murray Watt, the latest minister to tackle the challenge, says he’s “very confident” the government will pass the reforms. But, he adds, the real question is with whom and how soon – with neither the Coalition nor the Greens willing to pass the legislation without considerable concessions. In somewhat poetic timing, today, Watt says, marks five years to the day since Graeme Samuel handed down his landmark review into the current EPBC Act to then environment minister Sussan Ley. Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast this morning, he says: It really is now or never, if we ever want to pass these reforms we’ve got to get moving with them. We can’t let this go around in circles for five more years because every time we wait and every time we get delayed, we see the environment suffer and we see really important housing, renewables, and other projects get held up in red tape. Updated at 8.46pm GMT 8.36pm GMT Question mark remains over future of Tomago aluminium smelter There’s still a question mark over the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter in NSW, as the commonwealth negotiates with the state and Rio Tinto. Despite lauding the government’s $2bn green aluminium announced early this year – which Rio Tinto called a “critical piece in helping future-proof the industry” – the mining company has said high energy prices are reducing the viability of the plant. The government appears frustrated a deal hasn’t already been made to secure the plant – both Chris Bowen and the industry minister, Tim Ayres, have said they “obviously would prefer that these issues had been resolved with the Tomago smelter”. Ayres, speaking to ABC AM radio this morning, says while Rio Tinto has been investing in underwriting wind and solar projects around other plants, like in Queensland, “that activity has not been happening in the same way around [Tomago]”. He’s also asked about his predecessor Ed Husic’s comments to the ABC yesterday, accusing Rio of “corporate villainy”. Ayres takes a more measured tone. My job here is to work in a careful and calculated way that is about the Australian national interest. We’ve done that work in a series of smelters around the country in a careful way in the public interest, locking in investment in places like Port Pirrie and Hobart … and Mount Isa. Updated at 8.43pm GMT 8.18pm GMT Australians should be ‘alarmed’ if Labor negotiates with Greens on environment bill I told you it would be environment-heavy didn’t I! The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, joined Sky News a moment ago and said the government should negotiate with the Coalition on the EPBC Act, but then said her party is a “long way” from reaching a deal with Labor. Remember, Murray Watt said he would like a deal closed and the legislation passed through parliament by the end of the year (and there are just over two sitting weeks left in the year). Though it won’t be easy either way: the Greens also want to secure some major concessions from the government. Bell says: I think Australians should be alarmed at the thought that Labor would go to the Greens and do a deal on this, because our country would be much worse off. Let’s look at the wealth of our nation and where that wealth has come from. Let’s look at where the money goes from mining into the coffers of state governments, and how they then deliver on hospitals and schools around their nation and infrastructure … We are a long way from doing a deal with Labor on this. Updated at 8.24pm GMT 7.59pm GMT Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started. It’s going to be a heavily environment-focused day – we’ll see minister Murray Watt at the National Press Club and he’ll be introducing the environment protection and biodiversity conservation (EPBC) bill in parliament today. There’s also plenty of reaction around to the PM’s dinner with Apec leaders (including one Donald Trump) in South Korea overnight, as well as the inflation data released yesterday. Stick with us! Updated at 8.19pm GMT 7.52pm GMT Downgrade of Queensland’s credit rating ‘inevitable’, treasurer says Queensland’s treasurer, David Janetzki, has told parliament a downgrade of the state’s credit rating is “inevitable” due to poor budgetary performance. Earlier this month, ratings agency S&P Global affirmed a negative outlook for Queensland’s state government, forecasting the state will owe a debt to revenue ratio of 150% by 2028, up from 100% in 2023, due to a historically large infrastructure investment partly as a result of the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games. Janetzki blamed his predecessor, Cameron Dick, for a $5.38bn deficit, but said the budget had since improved and the state would now run a deficit of just $4.43bn. Those opposite [the Labor opposition] squandered revenue rivers of gold with community safety, health and housing outcomes going backwards on their watch. Mr Speaker, Labor’s fiscal vandalism has made a credit rating downgrade highly likely, even inevitable. Their debt, deficit and deception legacy will take time to fix this term and the next. Related: Queensland state budget 2025: LNP to boost spending and hire more frontline staff as debt projected to top $200bn Updated at 8.18pm GMT 7.43pm GMT Followed on from last post… The NSW investment announcement follows some serious setbacks for major renewables projects in NSW in the last 12 months. Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned conglomerate behind the proposed $10bn Novocastrian windfarm near Newcastle, announced in May it would withdraw from the project and in August formally pulled out leaving the project in doubt. Plans to build a nearly 500 megawatt windfarm at Barneys Reef in central-western New South Wales have been also abandoned, with the project’s developer, RES, claiming that “changing economic and planning requirements” in the state have made it too challenging to proceed. There has also been community revolts over windfarms in the south-west renewable energy zone around Goulburn, prompting the local Liberal member, Wendy Tuckerman, to resign from the opposition frontbench over what she said was a lack of consultation within her own party over renewables legislation. Whether the IDA can reignite any of the failed renewables projects or translate interest into investment remains to be seen. Minns said: Forty-eight proposals worth $136bn shows exactly why we created the Investment Delivery Authority. This level of interest is really promising. It shows the IDA is something investors have been waiting for. Our government is sending a clear message to global investors: if you bring your money to NSW, we’ll help you navigate our system. Updated at 8.17pm GMT 7.42pm GMT NSW premier to trumpet success of investment authority The Minns Labor government is trumpeting its new Investment Delivery Authority as a success story in getting more investment to NSW, announcing it has has received 48 major proposals worth $136bn in the first round of expressions of interest. The scheme, which is modelled on its Housing Delivery Authority, aims to provide a single point of entry for investors, and help navigating approvals, so projects can get started more quickly. In the first round 22 projects relate to renewable energy and energy security – valued at $63bn, while 23 projects relate to data centres and technology – valued at $72bn. To be eligible for the fast-track most projects must be valued at more than $1bn. However, the IDA is also helping with hotel projects over $200m. Three further applications – valued at $860m – were received. The level of interest will be spruiked by the premier Chris Minns at the Sydney Investment Summit at the Opera House this morning. 7.30pm GMT No more big economic reforms this year, says Chalmers Jim Chalmers says any further economic reforms will be delayed until the May budget, after he ruled out any new government policies in December’s mid-year fiscal update. The treasurer told assembled business figures at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s gala dinner in parliament house last night that “this year’s Myefo will not be a mini-budget with lots of new initiatives”. The mid-year update will be precisely that – an opportunity to update forecasts and the fiscal position. The main game will be May. Chalmers is coming off a bruising backdown on key aspects of his $3m super policy, which will, if and when it is legislated, raise taxes on the top 0.5% of savers.' Sitting idle is definitely not part of Chalmers’ modus operandi, however, and he was keen to point out the many small steps in the right direction being taken since August’s economic reform roundtable. The commonwealth has “just signed off on the first set of state and territory reforms” that will be rewarded with incentive money from the government’s $900m productivity fund. They include the Northern Territory government promising “stop unnecessary objections to commercial developments” and the ACT looking at ways to remove barriers to prefabricated materials for use in home-building. “There’s been so much progress already on the directions set by the roundtable, and we’ll bring even more of it together in our fifth budget,” Chalmers said. Updated at 8.15pm GMT 7.29pm GMT The RBA was always looking for an excuse not to cut, writes Greg Jericho It’s fair to say the Albanese government needs some good news on prices – especially energy prices – after yesterday’s inflation figures appeared to put paid to any prospect of a rate cut by the RBA next week. Our economics columnist, Greg Jericho, has been looking at the numbers and agrees with the consensus among forecasters that there’ll be no rate cut. However, he does find some reason for optimism on prices because the headline figure has been strongly affected by the end of household energy bill subsidies, and also because underlying increases in the cost of goods and services are not terrifyingly high. Read his full piece here: Related: So it’s goodbye to lower interest rates – to be honest, the RBA was always looking for an excuse not to cut Updated at 8.13pm GMT 7.28pm GMT Bowen predicts lower electricity prices as wholesale costs fall Chris Bowen has predicted lower electricity prices for consumers after wholesale electricity prices from July to September fell nearly 40% from the previous quarter. Rising renewable energy output slashed costs and sent records tumbling, according to data released today from the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo). Responding to the report, Bowen said: The drop in wholesale price is good news – and should flow through to retail energy prices in the near term. Queensland had the lowest average spot price at $72/MWh after prices fell to zero or lower more than a quarter of the time, which was a state record, Aemo’s quarterly energy dynamics report read. Record high wind power output, along with rising rooftop and grid-scale solar and a dip in coal-fired power output, saw renewables contribute 42.7% of the fuel mix, which was a September quarter record. Renewables made up 77.2% of total energy generation across the national market for half an hour on 22 September, an all-time high, according to Aemo. Underlying energy demand also hit a September quarter record, thanks to heating in the cold winter months, rising data centre consumption and increasing replacement of home appliances and vehicles with electric alternatives. Updated at 8.08pm GMT 7.27pm GMT Albanese dines with Trump in South Korea More now on Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump’s dinner on the Apec sidelines in Gyeongju last night. The US president told reporters that the pair “had a great meeting a week ago”, the ABC reports, referring to their Washington meeting. Trump continued: You’ve done a fantastic job and we’re working together on rare earths, but we’re working on a lot of things together, and it’s all working out very well. The main event of the summit was Trump negotiating a trade deal with South Korea, but it was also a chance for Albanese to continue the diplomatic whirlwind of recent weeks that has seen him travel to the US (twice), UK, UAE, Malaysia and now South Korea. I’m working with leaders from across the globe to get things done for Australia. Here at APEC we have a seat at the table – and we use it to back Australian jobs, Australian businesses and to create new opportunities for our exporters and investors.Because what happens in the… pic.twitter.com/a6mSReiPoE— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 29, 2025 Writing on X, Albanese said: I’m working with leaders from across the globe to get things done for Australia. Here at APEC we have a seat at the table – and we use it to back Australian jobs, Australian businesses and to create new opportunities for our exporters and investors. Because what happens in the world matters to Australia. Thank you for the warm welcome to South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung. Updated at 7.53pm GMT 7.26pm GMT Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action. After waiting what seemed like a long time to meet Donald Trump, Anthony Albanese has done so twice in the space of 10 days as he followed up his trip to Washington last week by sitting next to the US president at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit dinner in Gyeongju, South Korea, last night. Yesterday’s inflation figures came as a blow to the federal government’s efforts to rebalance the economy but today the energy minister, Chris Bowen, is trying to tell a more upbeat story as he promises that households will see lower electricity prices in the “near term”. It follows a steep fall in wholesale electricity prices in the quarter to September, helped by more renewable power coming into the system. More soon. Updated at 8.02pm GMT