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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Daisy Dumas and Tory Shepherd (earlier)

Morrison and Abbott praise Trump – as it happened

Donald Trump Bridget McKenzie Scott Morrison Qantas Tony Abbott Police Virgin Nationals United States Crime Stoppers
Scott Morrison and Donald Trump at the White House in September 2019.
Scott Morrison and Donald Trump at the White House in September 2019. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

What we learned; Wednesday 6 November

What a day it’s been! We’re putting the live news blog to bed shortly but before we do, here’s what’s been keeping us busy – besides the monumental news coming from the US:

Thank you, as ever, for joining us today. We’ll be back with the latest news bright and early tomorrow.

Updated

Police officer seriously injured after being hit by allegedly stolen car in Melbourne

Police used “stop sticks” after a stolen vehicle was seen on Aviation Drive in Diggers Rest at about 1.30pm.

Police said the driver and his male passenger sped off in the car and hit a male senior constable, who was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said the vehicle was dumped at a shopping centre – understood to be Watergardens – in Taylors Lakes. The two men were arrested inside the shopping centre.

The incident is being investigated. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Updated

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has congratulated Donald Trump on his now-extremely likely presidential win.

Abbott said via X that self “belief is what the West needs right now”:

Morrison says Trump ‘very positive’ about Aukus pact

Circling back to Scott Morrison’s views on a second Donald Trump presidency.

Speaking with the ABC a short while ago, the former prime minister said he was “very positive” about Aukus.

I’ve never understood why people would doubt that [Trump] wouldn’t support it. It’s a good deal. He was very committed to the alliance.

It’s very clear that the US interests are heavily aligned with resisting the PRC, taking over China, taking over Taiwan … All the other conflicts we’re seeing at the moment are just horrendous and awful, but in terms of their global implications, nothing compares with the fall of Taiwan to the PRC.

I mean, the point of Aukus is to resist that aggression coming out of China, amongst many other things, and if you have that strong deterrent, then you don’t have to use it and but you have to be determined and clear about your willingness to put this in place. And weakness is not something that I’ve ever associated with Donald Trump.

Speaking about former PMs as ambassadors to the US, Morrison said he had “no interest in taking on such a role”.

Updated

Employment agencies paid irrespective of role in finding job seeker work

Secretary of the department of employment and workplace relations Natalie James has said providers receive public funds “irrespective” of how much they’ve helped the jobseeker find work:

We distinguish, and a participant would definitely distinguish, between when they feel like they’ve been helped to get the job and when they haven’t. Our outcomes payment system doesn’t.

Our outcomes payment system makes the payment to the providers irrespective of the contributing factors to the job being secured. It’s always operated that way.

Payment flows irrespective of the degree of assistance provided.

Updated

Bridget McKenzie apologises for ‘deficiencies in disclosing’ flight upgrades

Nationals senator has now apologised for failing to disclose 16 flight upgrades she received over the last nine years, including two that came just weeks before she recently claimed to have never received a single upgrade.

After her earlier belated disclosure of 16 flight upgrades between 2015 and this August, the Nationals senator has now shared a personal statement to the media.

“I have never sought free upgrades, which has been affirmed by the airlines to the extent of their records,” she said.

Deficiencies in disclosing these matters do not meet the expectations of the Australian people and the parliament and were an oversight on my part, and for this I apologise.

Her statement says three flights upgraded to business class over the last two years - including in July and August this year – came “due to my frequent flyer status while travelling on parliamentary business, upgrades which I did not seek.”

“Qantas has advised of upgrades on five personal flights to or from New Zealand between 2016 and 2018 which were not previously declared. There was also a Qantas domestic upgrade in January 2015,” she said.

Virgin Australia has advised that, as a member of The Club since 2013, seven domestic flights were upgraded between 2015 and 2019.

No upgrades were issued by Rex Group to the extent of their records going back to 2013.

McKenzie said she “will continue to prosecute the Albanese Labor government’s failure to ensure greater competition in the aviation sector on behalf of all Australian travellers”.

Updated

Scott Morrison on US election: ‘No doubt it’s a Trump victory’

Speaking with the ABC, the former prime minister Scott Morrison said Donald Trump would be a positive force for global security:

This was a very difficult climb for the Democrats and vice-president Harris. Then you have Donald Trump, who is like unlike any other politician you will ever come across, and I can say that with some experience having dealt with both President Trump and President Biden.

I think what he brings now is an assertiveness and a strength to the role, which I think will have a very positive impact on global security issues … That means getting in a position of strength and then getting the right outcome, the idea of just fighting to fight tomorrow with no real intent or resource to fight to win – that isn’t a good outcome for global peace and a good resolution in Ukraine, either. I think that is a recipe for calamity. I think President Trump will bring a fresh take on that. And frankly, we need a few fresh takes on some of these challenges, whether it’s there, or in the Middle East.

Updated

Bridget McKenzie discloses 16 flight upgrades

The Nationals senator has just disclosed 16 flight upgrades on Qantas and Virgin flights going back to 2015, which she had failed to declare over the last four parliamentary terms.

As we brought you earlier, the opposition transport spokesperson had found more than a dozen instances where she had not disclosed flight upgrades as required by parliamentary rules on her register of interests. Her office had been expected to update the register after she had run a self-audit of her own travel schedule – and that update has now come, showing 16 flight upgrades, including five personal trips to or from New Zealand.

We are awaiting a statement from her office, but we understand McKenzie will stress that none of the upgrades were specifically requested by her, and that several of them came due to her membership of Virgin’s elite airline lounge club, or her Qantas frequent flyer status.

However we understand also that five trips between Australia and New Zealand – one in 2016, four in 2018 – were personal trips.

McKenzie’s update to the register, which has just arrived on the parliament’s website, shows two Qantas flight upgrades in July and August 2024 which she said was due to her frequent flyer status. Just last week, McKenzie told Sky News: “I’ve never sought one [a flight upgrade] … I haven’t been offered one.”

The update also shows seven Virgin flight upgrades between 2015 and 2019, which she said were “provided within membership of Virgin ‘the club’ allocation’”.

Updated

NSW Police investigate body found in car in Sydney’s south

New South Wales Police said emergency services were called to Durham Street, Hurstville, at about 5:15 on Tuesday after reports of a concern for welfare.

Officers found a dead woman in the passenger seat of a vehicle, the police said in a statement a short time ago.

The woman, who is yet to be formally identified, is believed to be aged in her 40s.

Police established an investigation into the incident and a 46-year-old man was arrested at a home at short time later.

He was charged with contravening an AVO, taking and driving conveyance without consent of owner, Drive whilst Disqualified second offence and breach of bail. No charges have been laid over the woman’s death.

He was refused bail and appeared in local court today, where he was refused bail to reappear on 19 November.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Updated

Police seek information on alleged fraudsters posing as psychics

Police are re-appealing for information as investigations continue into alleged fraudsters who posed as psychics.

New South Wales Police said Strike Force Recycling was established in July 2024 to investigate after a number of people reported they had paid money to people claiming to be psychics.

Police said a woman, 48, and a man, 50, were arrested on 8 August. Both remain before the courts.

Police appealed to identify a third woman they believe may be able to assist with inquiries. They said she had a Mediterranean appearance, was believed to be aged in her 40s, about 150cm tall, had a large build and spoke with a Romanian accent.

At about 9:30am today, police executed a search warrant at a storage unit in Victoria Ave, Chatswood.

Police said that during the search, officers seized antique statues, an antique sword, crystal ball and second world war collectors’ memorabilia, including a suitcase and a firearm magazine.

Anyone with information about the woman is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Updated

US Democrats in Australia ‘know the drop is coming’

Nervous hope is mixing with anticipatory dread among Americans watching the US election results come in at the Kent St Hotel in Sydney.

Emily, who is visiting Sydney, says the energy has shifted at US election watch party, hosted by Democrats Abroad.

At midday, “it was buzzing,” she says. “Like before a really fun concert starts, something anticipatory.”

But I think the reality is starting to set in.

It is a little bit like dread, holding your breath. It’s like when you are on a rollercoaster, you know the drop is coming.

Updated

Job providers accused of harassing jobseekers over payslips

The government is investigating four job providers for regularly harassing jobseekers for payslip information.

Earlier this year a Guardian Australia investigation found providers regularly harass jobseekers to get payslip information.

Under questions from Senator Penny Allman-Payne, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said the department has started investigating providers, which it would complete by mid-November. It could not name the four providers until it was finished.

Deputy Security Tania Rishniw:

One of the things that we have done now in terms of payslips is we have a specific line in terms of the customer service line that any complaint about payslips automatically gets referred to our complaints team, to be looked at, to be investigated, to make sure that those complaints are taken seriously.

We’ve updated guidelines for providers that make it absolutely clear that there are consequences.

Updated

Australia’s red centre is roasting

A large swathe of inland Australia is sweltering today, with five states forecast to hit 44C.

Thargomindah in Queensland and White Cliffs in New South Wales surpassed that, both reaching 45.1C.

Meanwhile, thunderstorms are on their way for almost all of NSW:

Updated

Greens call for ban on MPs getting free flight upgrades

The Greens say federal parliament should implement “a blanket ban on MPs requesting or accepting free flight upgrades”, which they want to apply to both personal and work travel.

The party’s transport spokesperson, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, claimed the move would restore trust and integrity in how politicians deal with the aviation sector.

“Banning free flight upgrades would help curb any potentially inappropriate behaviour from MPs and prevent airlines from wielding undue influence over political decisions,” she said in a statement.

Watson-Brown said it was “completely understandable for people to be questioning Qantas’ relationship with the very same MPs and Ministers that regulate them.”

In a cost-of-living crisis that’s seeing people across the country struggle to pay for food and rent, MPs on generous salaries don’t need to be getting freebies when they travel.

Updated

Man bitten by dingo on K’gari

Rangers have increased patrols and warned visitors to be vigilant after Sunday’s attack, which marked the 21st dingo incident at K’gari, formerly Fraser Island, in 2024, AAP reports.

The man was walking from his car to a picnic area at Lake McKenzie when a tagged female dingo suddenly ran at him from behind, rangers say.

The dingo bit the man on the right calf, causing a minor puncture wound. The dingo retreated when he turned around and kicked sand at it.

Rangers responded quickly and “observed the dingo continuing to walk around the car park and loiter close to vehicles and people for about an hour before it returned to the bush,” Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior ranger Linda Behrendorff said.

A four-year-old girl was flown to hospital after she was bitten on the chest while a group was fishing on the island, north of Brisbane, in August.

Behrendorff said visitors should only use fenced picnic areas when eating or preparing food and should not take food or drinks to the lake’s shores.

“Visitors and residents are also reminded to remain vigilant of their surroundings at all times, keep children within arm’s length, never walk alone and carry a stick at all times,” Behrendorff said.

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has previously called on the Queensland government to consider restricting families to camp inside fenced areas on K’gari after a rise in incidents.

Updated

A quarter of job providers underperforming

The department of employment and workplace relations is up in senate estimates where the discussion is focusing on the performance results of providers.

Job providers receive millions of dollars in public funding to help jobseekers get into work.

The most recent data has shown 44 providers out of 178 received a low-performance rating. Low means providers are “not meeting the department’s expectations”.

In comparison, just 15 received a high performance.

NSW Libertarian party’s US election function in full swing

In his Uncle Sam outfit and sneakers, Jim Sternhell is one of the more colourful characters among the crowd at the US election watch party in New South Wales parliament.

Increasingly excited attenders at the pro-Trump crowd have sought out Sternhell for selfies as the results roll in.

The state’s Libertarian party, hosting the event, has already called the election for Trump, but Sternhell is not yet as optimistic, fearing election interference by the Democratic party:

There’s a whole array of tricks they can do both before, during and after.

The dentist and One Nation member has only a tangential connection to the US, spending four months in Arizona as a boy and with one of his daughters now living in the US, but he’s concerned about the election because of what it means for climate change – which he says is a hoax.

Sternhell, who is mulling running for office in his local electorate of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, has popped up in his distinctive outfit at past rallies for Trump and the Conservative Political Action Conference. He’s also a regular attender at anti-climate action rallies and protests against what he describes as “anti-radical Islam”.

Updated

Tony Burke addresses high court ruling on ex-immigration detainee monitoring

The minister for home affairs has responded to the high court’s decision to quash the Albanese government’s ankle bracelet and curfew regime for former immigration detainees.

In a statement released a short time ago, Burke indicated he intended fix the problem:

The Australian government is taking immediate steps to protect community safety following the high court’s ruling in the YBFZ case.

Regulations are now being finalised that will allow for an adjusted process for electronic monitoring devices and curfews to be used. I will sign off on these regulations later today.

Tomorrow I will introduce new legislation to support those regulations. The legislation will also strengthen the government’s power to remove people who have had their visas cancelled to third countries.

The government has also boosted personnel and resources for Operation Aegis in order to keep the community safe. The number of officers has been increased by 66%.

The government imposed strict conditions on the NZYQ cohort because community safety is our top priority.

We argued strongly in the high court to keep electronic monitoring and curfews in place.

The court’s decision is not the one the government wanted – but it is one the government has prepared for.

Burke closed by once again assuring the public that the “security and safety of the Australian community will always be the absolute priority for this government.”

Updated

Body found in search for boy swept out to sea in NSW

The body of a boy, believed to be that of the 11-year-old who was swept out to sea on New South Wales’ Central Coast on Sunday, has been found.

A short time ago, NSW Police released a statement:

A body, believed to be that of a boy missing at The Entrance, has been located today.

About 5.15pm on Sunday, emergency services responded to reports a child had been swept into the ocean while attempting to cross The Entrance Channel.

An extensive multi-agency search for the missing boy was subsequently conducted, with ongoing taskings continuing today.

About 2.30pm today, emergency services were called to The Entrance following reports a body had been located in the water.

While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing boy.

The boy had been visiting the Central Coast from Sydney with his father and three siblings.

The police said a report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Updated

Despite no official election outcome as of yet, New South Wales Libertarian MP John Ruddick has declared Donald Trump has won the US election, getting cheers from the 50 or so attenders at his watch party in state parliament:

The NSW Libertarian party is going to make history around the world. We are calling this election for Donald Trump. Donald Trump has won. And I can say this is the greatest comeback in history since the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ruddick told the crowd he hoped to hear from “president-elect Trump” soon and asked:

Do we want to continue to watch Fox [News] or do we want to watch them cry on CNN?

The crowd cheered as the results for the key swing state Georgia, where Trump is now leading 51%, appeared on screen – a CNN presenter said the count in some states would not be completed today and would continue tomorrow, drawing some boos and shouts of: “That’s a steal!”

Updated

Thank you, as ever, Tory Shepherd. Let’s get straight on with the rest of the day’s (non-US election) news…

I’m going to leave you with Daisy Dumas for the rest of the afternoon. I may need a shower, some white noise (read: wine), and some dog time after that QT. See you tomorrow!

Question time wraps up

That’s another question time over, and it had the scrappy feeling of the last day of school. But it’s not! It’s back on tomorrow, then there are two more sitting weeks before the end of the year.

Updated

Labor ‘considering a whole range of possible reforms’ on childcare, Chalmers says

The independent MP Kylea Tink is asking the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, about abolishing the activity test for childcare.

Chalmers says:

We are big believers in the social and economic value of early childhood education and care. We see it as a gamechanger for families, and for the economy more broadly … we are considering a whole range of possible reforms as part of our commitment to try to get the system as close as we can to something which is a bit more universal.

He says early childhood education and care has been “at the very core of our agenda”, that the government has invested in cheaper childcare and lifted subsidies.

“We’re also delivering a 15% pay rise for our early childhood educators,” he says.

Updated

Investors start to price in a second Trump administration

In case you’ve strayed from the Guardian’s live US election blog, it’s worth noting that the money is moving in the direction of a victory for Donald Trump.

The US dollar, for instance, is rising against other currencies, including the Australian dollar.

The US dollar gain against the Mexican peso is 2.5%, presumably because there’s a greater chance of tariffs or some other punishment if Trump takes office. He’s made various threats against the US’s southern neighbour over the years, such as promising to get them to pay for a wall that for the most part never got built.

Part of the appeal of a Trump win is the promise of lower corporate taxes than would happen if vice-president Kamala Harris were to win a promotion to the top job. As things stand, the latter is looking a longer shot as the counting proceeds.

Australian stocks are higher, too, lifting more than 1.1% for the day.

As mentioned earlier, Australia’s Treasury has provided advice to the Albanese government about what a Trump administration might mean.

Higher tariffs, particularly against China, won’t help Australia, and they may prompt higher US interest rates than otherwise would be the case. The latter is one of the reasons why the US dollar is rising.

How to price in the effects of other Trump policies – such as dismantling key government agencies – is anybody’s guess.

Updated

Bulk billing was ‘in freefall’ under Liberals, health minister says

The Liberal MP Paul Fletcher has asked about bulk billing rates, saying it was 88% under the Coalition and 74% under Labor.

The health minister, Mark Butler, says bulk billing was “in freefall” when the Liberal party was coming to the end of its time in government.

He says the figures Fletcher was using included Covid vaccinations and consults for Covid vaccinations, which “artificially boosted” the bulk billing rates under the former government:

The former government did not include transparent data on bulk billing. They artificially inflated it with Covid vaccinations and the rest. The second thing is the trajectory was clear.

And he calls Fletcher the “worst health minister in the history of Medicare” and Sussan Ley the “second worst” for freezing Medicare.

Updated

Promotion still sinking in for Australia’s new defence force chief

The new chief of the defence force, David Johnston, is appearing at his first Senate estimates committee hearing since taking up the position in July, but it seems the promotion hasn’t quite sunk in.

Ahead of making an opening statement, Johnston identified himself.

“Good afternoon senators, thank you for the welcome. Vice-admiral – er – Admiral David Johnston, chief of the defence force,” he said, to chuckles from the committee.

“Slight upgrade there, mate,” the committee chair, Raff Ciccone, quipped.

“It takes some changing,” the admiral replied, before going on to talk about the difficulties in recruitment and retention of defence personnel.

Updated

Free Tafe is doing its job, minister says

The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is asking about fee-free Tafe.

“How many have resulted in no qualification being delivered?” she asks.

(If you remember yesterday she asked the same question and it became a barney about how long Tafe courses went for, with Labor saying most take up to three years, so can’t have finished because the program hasn’t been going that long.)

The skills and training minister, Andrew Giles, says it takes four years to get the data.

“What the data says is that free Tafe is doing its job,” he says.

Updated

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is up talking about the “reckless arrogance of the opposition leader, and the comical cluelessness … of his offsider”.

His major focus, he says, is “the fight against inflation”. And he says the RBA’s Michele Bullock made three major points, that inflation is the highest priority, and that when it comes to inflation “public demand is not the main game”. And third, that “inflation has fallen substantially from its peak in 2022 and its coming back to target in a reasonable way”.

He’s really been having a crack at Taylor all week – he’s just accused him of “chirping away” in an “incoherent way”.

Updated

Opposition repeats ‘weak and incompetent’ line

Here’s the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, using the “weakest and most incompetent” line again.

But Speaker Milton Dick’s been doing his homework, referring to previous rulings by speakers. After looking at those precedents, he again asks Taylor to remove that part of his question (without ruling it out of order).

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, in the name of seeking “clarification”, says something something “weak” something something “incompetent”. It’s almost like they think the more often they say the words the more they’ll stick (something that does, in fact, happen).

Dutton wants a ruling on “weak” and “incompetent”. “It’s not a personal reflection on the prime minister,” he says. “It is a description of the government.”

Also (I’m paraphrasing): “They said it first.”

And Taylor. Again.

Updated

Teal MP links US election to question about real-time donation disclosure

The independent MP Kate Chaney is up now, saying Australia “is not immune to the mistrust we see in the US”.

There is increasing suspicion that politicians are acting in the interests of airlines, fossil fuels or gambling companies, unions or a political party instead of all Australians.

Voters deserve to know who is funding all political candidates before they vote. Will the government legislate real-time donation disclosure in time to make our next federal election transparent?

There was jeering and heckles from the floor, and Speaker Milton Dick intervened again.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says democracy is something “that must be cherished and must be nurtured and cannot be taken for granted”:

I can confirm that I’ve been working as the leader of the government to increase transparency, including on funding issues, and indeed, I [had] just this morning, another constructive discussion with the minister for the special minister of state, Senator Farrell, about these issues.

We believe in lower donation thresholds, and have done that and took that to an election.

He says he’s “not picking” on Clive Palmer but that his company’s donations distorted the political system and says something must be done. He says some of the crossbench have “very strong views” about the timing of changes. He also mentions “some of the backers” of the crossbench having opinions.

Updated

Tense moment between Labor minister and Fatima Payman in Senate estimates

There was a tense moment between the Labor minister Murray Watt and former Labor senator Fatima Payman in the employment hearing of Senate estimates just before the lunch break.

Payman, who quit Labor earlier this year to sit as an independent, asked Watt – the employment and workplace minister – about salaries of administrators appointed to the CFMEU.

Reading from a “leaked document” purporting to show the payments made to those administrators (Watt said he wasn’t aware of their individual salaries), Payman asked:

Do you know how many fee-paying members it takes to cover the salaries of these three officials?

Watt responded:

No, but I dare say it’s pretty similar to the members’ contributions that were needed to pay the salaries of two former officials who are facing corruption charges in NSW right now.

Payman:

I’m talking about these three officials, and on my calculations it would be almost 2,000 members’ hard-earned fees that they’re paying their dues, just to employ your hand-picked bureaucrats. How can the government justify this program of jobs for mates at the expense of workers?

Watt responded:

I’m not sure who’s supplying these questions to you Senator Payman.

Payman interjected:

Don’t insult my intelligence and being able to put questions to the government, minister. That’s really not fair.

After a brief interlude from the Labor committee chair, Tony Sheldon, the hearing got back on track. Watt referred back to his previous public statements about protecting the interests of union members.

Updated

LNP’s decision to pause truth-telling ‘continues 165 years of government failing to listen’: Josh Creamer

Josh Creamer, the chair of Queensland’s truth-telling and healing inquiry, has spoken about the decision to put the process on “hold”.

Despite repeated requests, Creamer has yet to receive a call from the minister, Fiona Simpson, or premier, David Crisafulli. The inquiry received a brief letter from Simpson at 6.49pm on Monday, he said.

“I request further truth-telling sessions, notices, hearings and other work of the inquiry be placed on hold, until such time as the government repeals the act,” Simpson wrote.

Creamer will meet Simpson tomorrow, he said:

People have said to me, this is like the chief protector days, a single person deciding what’s best for every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island person in the state.

The government has previously signalled its intention to repeal the Pathway to Treaty Act in one of the two sitting weeks of parliament this year, making it one of the government’s first acts. Crisafulli, who voted for the original bill, called the inquiry “divisive”. Creamer said:

Ceasing the inquiry’s work in this way continues 165 years of government failing to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Creamer said pausing the inquiry left it unable to provide “support to our participants who are no doubt hurting through this process”, in violation of its trauma-informed process mandated in its terms of reference.

Updated

Liberal MP echoes ‘incompetence’ line in interest rates question

The Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie echoes Taylor’s line on weakness and incompetence despite Dick’s quite heartfelt plea about the language used in the house.

After more discussion over the words used, McKenzie repeats the rest of Taylor’s earlier question about interest rates (without repeating the weakness and incompetence line).

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, refers to comments from the RBA’s Michele Bullock, saying “we still have inflation coming back to target in a reasonable way”:

She also went on to say … the fact that inflation, now for the last year, has only been 2.8% is actually real for people.

They are seeing lower petrol prices. They are seeing lower electricity prices. So this is good for people. Real incomes are rising again. As inflation is declining and wage growth is a bit higher than that, and you’ve got the tax cuts, real incomes are rising again. That is what governor Bullock had to say yesterday.

Updated

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, echoes Albanese’s words (except for a bit about Albanese being invited into Biden’s home). “Our relationship with the United States will endure, it will strengthen,” he says. “We want to see a safe environment in which people can vote and we want to see the best outcome for the US.”

Updated

Albanese pays tribute to outgoing president Joe Biden

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is paying tribute to the outgoing US president, Joe Biden, saying he met him within 48 hours of being sworn is as PM. “I’ll never forget the genuine warmth of Joe’s welcome,” he says, and talks up the future of the alliance.

Updated

Turnbull’s little gaffe in Trump’s favour

Another little nugget from the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s earlier appearance on ABC television – while he was typically, eloquently scathing of Donald Trump, he did make a little gaffe in Trump’s favour.

Turnbull was saying the president of the day would need to certify that the US does not need the Virginia-class submarines in order for Australia to receive them, adding that the US is “producing half as many as their navy needs to sustain them”.

“He’s got to say –” Turnbull started.

“Or she?” David Speers interjected.

“He or she has got to say it would not detract from the underwater capabilities of the US Navy …,” Turnbull went on.

Updated

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, responding to Taylor, is giving what is by now his well-rehearsed speech that Labor “turned two big Liberal deficits into two substantial Labor surpluses, and that’s helping in the fight against inflation”.

They’re “cleaning up the mess” of the previous government, he says, and has a crack at Taylor over the figures he’s using:

If he was honest … he would say that what he’s doing once again … he’s literally trying to confuse people and trying to confuse the underlying measure and the headline measure.

The Reserve Bank targets the headline measure, and they say in their new forecast that they’ll hit the new the midpoint of the target band on the headline measure in June of 2025.

Updated

“We’re going to get through this, don’t worry,” the speaker, Milton Dick, says, adding that he will allow the question but wants the house to be careful with the language it’s using.

For everyone’s benefit, if we could reframe language to be more factual and to be on point, I think question time would be a better thing.

A point Taylor ignores, repeats his original point, and asks about Labor’s “reckless spending” driving up interest rates.

Updated

Question time begins

And it’s question time! The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, is first up, calling the government “the weakest and most incompetent since the Whitlam government”. Speaker Milton Dick (again) calls on him to lose the “descriptors”.

Dick says it’s a “slippery path and a race to the bottom” and puts him in a difficult position to argue for such language. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, wants to know what standing order Dick’s using, but he’s grandstanding:

If you can’t describe a government in terms it should be described in, I don’t understand how it is we can have a breach of the standing orders.

Dick says he was calling for dignity, rather than ruling the question out of order.

What an illuminating start.

Updated

Trump supporters watch US election at Parliament House

At the US election watch party in NSW Parliament House, Liberal party rank-and-file members Jamie and his wife, who preferred not to be named, are hopeful Donald Trump will win the presidency but are worried there will be electoral “cheating”. Jamie said:

While Kamala’s ahead in certain states, they’ll just keep counting.

The couple were “devastated” by the results in 2020’s presidential election and are happy to be watching the results with fellow Trump supporters, a few of whom are wearing Maga hats. The pair live in Sydney’s inner west, in Anthony Albanese’s electorate of Grayndler, where they say they feel unsafe to proclaim their support for Trump. Jamie’s wife said:

It’s great we’re seeing people walking around with Trump hats on. They’re taking their life into their own hands in the city … We would probably be killed or our lives would be made a misery if people saw us in Maga hats.

The pair have been long engaged in Australian and American politics and are frustrated by Australia’s political disengagement, citing immigration rates, the development of offshore windfarms and the nation’s acquiescence to vaccine mandates during the pandemic. Jamie’s wife said:

It frustrates the hell out of me … Australians sitting around, watching sport, drinking beer, talking about climate change, all this sort of rubbish. They’re just not seeing what’s really going on here, are they?

The pair heard about the watch party through an organisation called the British Australia Community, which they first encountered at an event with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier in the year.

Updated

Turnbull says Trump ‘doesn’t pay a lot of attention’ to advisers

More from former PM Malcolm Turnbull – he warned that Donald Trump’s behaviour with foreign leaders is different to what one might expect from a president.

Speaking with the ABC’s David Speers just now, he said:

You know, a regular president or prime minister will have staff and advisers and a whole official system that you can interact with. Now, with Trump, he will have those people, but he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to them. So the advocacy really is down to the prime minister or the counterpart.

When asked about ambassadors’ roles under Trump, Turnbull again suggested things will not be in keeping with usual diplomatic modus operandi:

Joe Hockey worked really hard, was a good ambassador. [He] tried to engage … but he had nothing to do with the critical negotiations with Trump. And that’s no reflection on him. I don’t think that any ambassador will.

Updated

Katherine Deves says ‘angry’ Americans will vote Trump in

At a pro-Trump watch party in New South Wales’ Parliament House, dozens of Australians have taken their seats alongside some state politicians to watch Fox News as the US election results roll in.

A few attendees are wearing red Maga hats and one woman wears a T-shirt showing Trump’s shooting with the words “God bless President Trump” – a proud Redbubble purchase.

The Libertarian party has booked out parliament’s theatrette, with about 200 expected to drop by over the afternoon. Libertarian MP John Ruddick, sitting in the front row, says:

I’m hoping that we can save western civilisation and that Trump can prevail … Trump’s not a libertarian but Kamala is very much a supporter of very big government [and] the puppet of the military industrial complex.

From NSW, Liberal frontbencher Damien Tudehope, One Nation MP Tania Mihailuk and Libertarian party president Ross Cameron have showed up, while former federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly and Katherine Deves, who ran for the Liberal party in 2022, have also dropped by.

Deves predicts an “angry” American people will vote Trump in:

You’ve got tens of millions of migrants coming in, who are unchecked, unvetted, crime is through the roof, and you’re seeing the whole woke agenda with respect to transgenderism and critical race theory.

Updated

Nacc received 3,189 referrals of suspected corrupt conduct in 2023-24

The National Anti-Corruption Commission decided not to investigate 221 instances of potential corrupt conduct in its first year of operating, while moving forward with 26 probes, acknowledging its decisions may sometimes be “unpopular”.

The federal integrity body’s annual report for 2023-24 provides a snapshot of its first full year. It shows the Nacc received a total of 3,189 referrals of suspected corrupt conduct.

In 221 cases, the referral passed the triage stage but didn’t proceed to investigation because there were “insufficient prospects of finding corrupt conduct, or the matter was already being adequately investigated by another agency, or a corruption investigation would not add value in the public interest”.

The report’s release comes a week after the Nacc’s decision not to start a corruption investigation into robodebt royal commission referrals was “affected by apprehended bias”.

The report, which was written before the watchdog’s watchdog made the finding, acknowledged the decision would be unpopular.

The Nacc commissioner, Paul Brereton, wrote in its foreword:

Since commencement, we have been committed to carrying out our work in good faith, with integrity and in the public interest. That does not mean that our decisions will always be popular; often they will not. Making decisions that we believe to be right, though they may be unpopular, is what integrity requires of us.

The Nacc also reported the average time for assessing referrals was 125 days. As no corruption investigations were completed within the reporting period, it could not measure the average time to finalise an investigation.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull says Australian leaders will need to ‘stand your ground’ when dealing with Trump

Malcolm Turnbull is giving his two-cents’ worth on the unfolding US election results.

Speaking with the ABC in Washington DC, the former PM says the night is so far “pretty much as advertised, a neck and neck race. And it’s too early to tell.”

Turnbull says that Australian leaders will need to approach Donald Trump – should he become president – with strength and “stand your ground”.

My advice is that you should not do what everyone will tell you to do, which is to suck up to him. The newspaper columns are full of people – not all of them are grifters, but a lot of them are – who say that you have to suck up to him and flatter him and, of course, people typically do that to guys like Trump because they’re big, bullying … narcissistic. So if all you want is a photo-op … you can do that.

If you want good outcomes, in my case for Australia, you have to stand your ground and make a case. And I did so on a number of issues and incurred his displeasure, famously, over the refugee deal. But I got the outcome Australia needed.

Updated

Severe weather warning from BoM

Heat, storms and fire: the Bureau of Meteorology has provided its latest severe weather update. High temperatures across much of the country’s east over the next day or two are forecast to give way to milder conditions in the south-east towards the weekend.

Updated

Greg Jericho has cast a steely eye over Labor’s student debt policy and says:

Governments should subsidise things that are good and which benefit society – and tax things that are bad and make society, the economy and the planet worse.

Ben, an American student currently at the University of Sydney, says he hopes no violence follows the US presidential election.

He is watching the results roll in at a Democrats Abroad watch party at Kent Street Hotel, Sydney. He says:

I thought it would just be fun to come meet other people and watch the election together in a more vibrant atmosphere.

People are a little tense. People are worried about it but, you know, its lively and people seem to be excited … [I] hope things go really well but I’m still nervous.

I just, I hope it goes smoothly. I hope there’s not violence or anything, because I’ve heard a lot about that.

It would be really cool to see the first woman president. I’m really excited for that. So hopefully that’s the outcome. That’s what I’m hoping for.

Updated

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson was “fired for banging on about his book” during a guest appearance on Channel 4’s coverage of the US election, apparently. Yes, this is the Australian politics blog – but there’s a connection …

Other Channel 4 panellists include Stormy Daniels, Rufus Wainwright, Brian Cox, Sean Spicer and one Malcolm Turnbull, former Australian prime minister.

Now that’s a lineup.

Updated

American expats ‘nervous’ about US election result

Alex Webb and Jialin Wu are watching the US presidential election results roll in at the Kent Street Hotel, Sydney, wearing Harris 2024 merchandise and American flags.

Webb, an American living in Australia, says the pub feels nervously optimistic.

“After 2016 everybody’s nervous,” Webb says. He is hoping for a “landslide Kamala victory”.

“I’m looking forward to celebrating the first female president.”

Updated

Cost of living increases slowing sharply, ABS says

The ABS has issued some cost of living data this morning, and generally pressures appear to be easing.

Employee households’ living costs rose 0.6% in the September quarter, or about half the 1.3% increase last quarter, the ABS said.

There’s a range of impacts, though, with households with employees facing higher costs of living (mostly because of their exposure to higher mortgage rates). As fixed-rate loans expire and they are repriced at a higher interest, those mortgage payments have been increasing.

Against that, automotive fuel and electricity prices have been easing back – the former because of a slide in global oil prices, and the latter because of government rebates (especially in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania).

“Electricity costs for Employee households fell by 20% compared to households receiving government payments, which fell by around 10%,” said Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics.

The best off, at least in terms of cost of living increases, are age pensioners and self-funded retirees. Their costs rose 0.3% in the quarter, or a quarter of the pace of the previous quarter.

As it happened, we flagged the case for the worst being over in terms of cost of living increases recently here:

Updated

Coalition says legislation needed after high court quashes ankle bracelet and curfew regime

The opposition has responded to the news that the high court has struck down the harsh regime of ankle bracelets and curfews imposed on non-citizens released from indefinite immigration detention.

The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, the shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, and the shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, said in a statement it was an “embarrassing loss for the Albanese government” and that the government should introduce legislation in response today, and explain what they will do to “keep the Australian people safe”.

They said the effect would be that “dangerous non-citizen offenders” would be free in the community:

This loss compounds the failure of the Albanese government to use the preventative detention powers the parliament rushed through almost 12 months ago to re-detain any high-risk offenders.

The government repeatedly assured us that the amendments they drafted were constitutionally sound, and as recently as Monday in Senate estimates promised they had comprehensive contingency plans in place if they were unsuccessful in this case.

Updated

‘The fate of western democracy is on the line’: Sydney pub fills with American expats watching US election

Hope, an American-Australian dual citizen is watching the US presidential election results roll in among others at a watch party at the Kent Street Hotel, Sydney, this morning. She says:

This is a super important election, and I either wanted to celebrate with people who would be as excited as I am, or cry with people who are going to be as devastated as I will be.

The event was organised by Democrats Abroad Australia and Sydney Expat Americans. Hope, who volunteers with Democrats Abroad, says:

I really think the fate of western democracy is on the line with this election. This isn’t just about America, but also I’m enraged on behalf of women and minorities and the republic and the constitution and Australia as a country that always follows America culturally and politically.

Watching Australia shift over further and further to the right over the last 40 years that I’ve been here has just been so sad.

Hope’s friend Amy is visiting from America. “We voted early so that we could watch this together,” she says.

Amy says the energy in the Sydney pub is optimistic:

This could be the end of democracy. I mean, we are all voting, I never thought it would happen in my lifetime, but we are all voting to avoid an autocracy … but we are hopeful.

Updated

Australians and American expats gather in Sydney pub before US election results

American flags are strung up in rows to the ceiling of the Kent Street Hotel in Sydney this morning. As CNN’s live US election coverage plays from screens throughout the pub, dozens of are gathering to watch – some are in shirts with Kamala Harris logos, others wear badges with Democrat slogans.

Hundreds are expected to join the watch party by lunchtime, Jasper Lee, the chair of Democrats Abroad Australia, says. The event is organised by Democrats Abroad and Sydney Expat Americans.

Lee says there is an energy of excitement this morning:

There’s certainly anxiety, but it’s a good kind of anxiety. We’re all hoping for a good result.

I think that Australians, like Americans, understand the stakes of this election, what exactly Donald Trump promises to do to the United States and the world. And I think that they feel very similarly to us.

Updated

Kennedy schtum on advice over education debt cut impacts

The Liberal senator Jane Hume has been pressing the Treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, and fellow Treasury officials in Senate estimates about the impacts of the Albanese government’s plans to cut student debt on $16bn in loans by 20%.

Hume tries to provoke a response by citing economists such as Chris Richardson, who said it was a “fairness fail”, while others cited called the plan “an abominable idea” or that there were many good ways to spend $16bn.

Kennedy declines to take the bait, saying, “I’m not an economic commentator”.

Hume says, “but you’re an economist”, to which Kennedy responds a tad sardonically: “I am, thank you, yes”.

As to the wider effects, a colleague of Kennedy’s (I missed his name) said: “We don’t think the effects are going to be substantial on inflation.”

Updated

Ankle bracelet ruling a ‘victory for fundamental freedoms’, lawyer says

The Refugee Legal executive director, David Manne, who acted for the plaintiff YBFZ in his high court case has commented on the ruling striking down electronic monitoring and ankle bracelets.

Manne told Guardian Australia:

This is an important ruling, it underscores the bedrock principle that the government doesn’t have the power to punish people by stripping them of fundamental rights of freedom and dignity.

The invalidity of the curfew and electronic monitoring is a victory for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. Everyone, whether citizens or non-citizens, should have the same protections of freedom and dignity under the law.

The curfew and ankle bracelets constitute punishments which seriously infringe our client’s liberty, and the government doesn’t have power to do that. Under our constitution only courts, and not the government, can impose punishment.

Manne said the ruling means that everyone in the cohort released from immigration detention because their removal is not practical “will no longer be able to be held in their houses eight hours a day and subject to the invasive humiliation of ankle bracelets”. He called on the government to abide by the ruling immediately and remove the conditions from everyone on bridging visa Rs.

He said:

After they are freed from immigration detention they will not be subject to further punishments, [which make] it impossible to lead ordinary lives let alone to get a job, nor be under constant fear if they’re late home by one minute or don’t recharge the bracelets they’ll be imprisoned for a minimum of one year.

Updated

UBS shifts back its guess on when the RBA will start cutting rates

As mentioned, the big four banks still have February as the time when they think the Reserve Bank of Australia will start cutting its cash rate.

Yesterday’s comments from the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, sounded to this correspondent as more “hawkish” than that (barring some global surprises).

Among the big four, NAB perhaps is the most uncertain about its February guess on a rate cut:

Overall the path to a February rate cut which had already narrowed following recent data, looks even more narrow following today’s presser.

CBA, which lately pushed its forecast of a December rate cut back to February, is also wondering if another shift might be needed:

Our base case sees the RBA on hold until the February 2025 board meeting when we expect the RBA to commence an easing cycle. The risk clearly sits with a later start date for the first interest rate decrease.

ANZ and Westpac also have February as their first RBA cut.

UBS, an investment bank, has had one of the better prediction records. Its chief Australian economist, George Tharenou, was on a streak of about a dozen correct RBA rate calls, when he stumbled.

Anyway, he’s pushed back his call until May:

Thereafter, we still see the RBA easing cycle to be relatively gradual with -25 basis points per quarter, to a terminal low of 3.10% in Q2-26 (was 2.85%).

So, the “higher for longer” mantra for rates might become “not dropping as low as hoped”.

Of course, a lot might happen between now and June 2026, so nobody really knows.

Updated

Encrypted messaging app Session criticises ‘wildly overreaching powers’ of Australian law enforcement

Earlier we brought you comments from the Australian federal police (AFP) about its approaches to the encrypted messaging app Session that resulted in the company shifting operations to Switzerland.

The AFP said the agency was doing its job, and there was child abuse material being shared on the app.

The Session director Alex Linton has responded in a statement today. He said Session understands the AFP work and has attempted to explain the limited capacity for Session to assist in investigations – due to how the app works.

However, given neither the organisation nor employees have been subject to any investigation, it remains unclear how an interaction such as an unannounced visit to the home of an employee was either helpful or appropriate.

Still, the true problem stems from the wildly overreaching powers which Australian law enforcement agencies possess. These powers will intimidate and discourage anyone building or offering privacy technology to Australians, and whether it is the spectre of backdoor legislation or an actual notice forcing a company to compromise its own encryption – the result is these skills are leaving the country and Australians less safe online.

Updated

New Lehrmann barrister wants to remain unnamed to avoid trolling, court hears

The barrister who has agreed to represent Bruce Lehrmann in his appeal against his defamation loss wishes to remain unnamed until the court sets a date, to avoid being trolled or harassed, the federal court has heard.

In April, Justice Michael Lee found Lehrmann was not defamed by Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson and last month the former Liberal staffer was granted the right to appeal against the judgment.

At a case management hearing this morning, Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows said the barrister’s name was confidential until a formal date was set.

“Until I have the hearing date for the appeal, and I have formally briefed him, he wishes to remain unnamed, just on the basis he doesn’t wish to be trolled or harassed, for example, as I’ve experienced,” Burrows said.

Justice Wendy Abraham asked Burrows to write his name on a piece of paper and hand it to her and to Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Lisa Wilkinson.

The date for the appeal is yet to be determined but will be in the second half of 2025.

Updated

Following on from that story I mentioned earlier by Sarah Martin, here’s the video of the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young on what she described as Kyle and Jackie O’s “revolting, sexist, racist, misogynistic, divisive” content:

Updated

Pill testing to go ahead at Schoolies despite LNP promise to drop scheme

AAP reports that pill testing will proceed at the popular end-of-year Schoolies event on the Gold Coast after the Queensland government backflipped on its hardline stance.

The former Labor government committed $80,000 for the free and confidential service to be rolled out for the first time at the annual event attended by thousands of teenagers and young adults.

The Liberal National party vowed to dump the scheme prior to winning power at the state election in October.

The health minister, Tim Nicholls, confirmed on Wednesday that pill testing would go ahead given the event was just a few weeks away. A spokesperson for Nicholls said:

Our position remains that there is no safe way to take drugs and pill testing sends the wrong message.

The contract for pill testing at Schoolies this year was a contract led by the previous government.

After taking advice so close to the event, the only short-term option is for the department of health to honour the contract for this year’s event.

The Australian Medical Association Queensland president, Nick Yim, welcomed the government’s decision to allow pill testing at Schoolies. He told ABC Radio:

This demonstrates the current government is keen to seek advice on issues and pill testing was one of those issues.

He called for pill testing to become permanent at the event to prevent injury or death to curious school leavers.

Queensland, the ACT and Victoria are the only jurisdictions to have legalised pill testing, but it could be revoked in the sunshine state under the LNP government.

The former government had committed $1m over two years to fund pill testing, with fixed sites established in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Its first pill-testing service was rolled out at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival over Easter weekend in 2024, when 250 people had substances assessed.

It followed calls for increased standardised pill-testing programs at festivals after the deaths of Dassarn Tarbutt, 24, and Ebony Greening, 22, at the 2019 edition of Rabbits Eat Lettuce.

Schoolies takes place on the Gold Coast from 16 November to 1 December.

Updated

Aged care and childcare workers underpaid, Treasury boss says

The Treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, says aged care and childcare workers were underpaid.

Senate estimates, so far, hasn’t spent a lot of time on inflation, and the RBA’s likely stance that interest rate cuts are still some way off. (See here from yesterday.)

Markets, for instance, only estimate there’s about a one-in-four chance of an interest rate cut by February. The big four banks have had that month – two RBA meetings away – as when they expect the first cut to land. (I expect they will push that back.)

Anyway, the Liberal senator Jane Hume has been picking up on the weak productivity growth, which is also a worry to the RBA. As the bank said yesterday: “Wage pressures have eased somewhat but labour productivity is still only at 2016 levels, despite the pick-up over the past year.”

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, chimed in with this response:

The lack of productivity growth over a longer time, including for the decade that you’re in government, is something that the government is … also focused on.

The conversation shifts to whether Kennedy thinks there has been underpayment in the care sector, particularly aged and childcare.

“Yes,” is his response:

It’s Fair Work Commission’s view that the relative wage cases show there has been some underpayment there.

My judgment would be that it’s going to be difficult to attract people into those sectors, and, frankly, improve productivity in those sectors.

Therein lines some of the key challenges in the economy, and in bringing inflation down.

Updated

Bridget McKenzie to update register after failing to declare more than a dozen flight upgrades

The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie did not declare more than a dozen flight upgrades she has received over the years, but is expected to update her official register of interests after a self-audit of her own travel schedule.

The Australian Financial Review reported overnight the shadow transport spokesperson had failed to declare more than a dozen free Qantas and Virgin flight upgrades in her time in parliament. It came after McKenzie, who has led the Coalition’s attack on Anthony Albanese over his own dealings with Qantas and reported upgrades, was found to have received upgrades of her own.

Guardian Australia confirmed on Wednesday that McKenzie’s office has now received correspondence from Qantas, Virgin and Rex airlines, after she’d asked them for information about upgrades she may have received. We understand the senator’s office is going through those letters, and cross-checking them against flight upgrades she has previously properly declared in her register, but that there may be more than 12 upgrades which were not properly declared.

McKenzie is likely to update her register with those outstanding upgrades in the very near future. It’s taken this long because the last letter she was waiting for only arrived last night, we understand.

We’ll bring you more on this as it develops through the day.

Other politicians across the parliament are also updating their register of interests to note flight upgrades they’ve recently received. The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, last week disclosed she’d received two Qantas upgrades last month which “were not requested” on Melbourne to Canberra flights, which happened “while I was boarding the plane, as on both occasions economy was overbooked”; the Labor senator Lisa Darmanin similarly disclosed that a domestic ticket “was unexpectedly and unsolicited upgrade to business class”.

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts yesterday declared “a very recent gift” of “membership to Chairman’s Lounge provided by Qantas – early to mid July 2024”.

Updated

High court strikes down regime of ankle bracelets and curfews imposed on released detainees

The harsh regime of ankle bracelets and curfews imposed on non-citizens released from indefinite immigration detention has been struck down by the high court.

On Wednesday the court ruled in favour of a stateless refugee from Eritrea whose challenge argued the visa conditions breached the separation of powers and amounted to punishment.

The decision will result in ankle bracelets and curfews being lifted from more than 100 unlawful non-citizens, in a major headache for the Albanese government.

Electronic monitoring and curfews, which are usually from 10pm to 6am, were imposed on unlawful non-citizens released as a result of the high court’s November 2023 decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.

In Senate estimates on Monday home affairs officials revealed that by mid-October some 215 non-citizens had been released as a result of that decision, 143 of who are subject to electronic monitoring and 126 with the curfew condition.

The court’s ruling is a loss for the Albanese government, which legislated the new visa conditions with Coalition support after caving to opposition demands to toughen the regime with mandatory minimum sentences for breach of visa conditions and for the conditions to be applied as a default.

The case was decided with five justices in the majority, with Justices Simon Steward and Robert Beech-Jones dissenting, and of the opinion that both visa conditions were valid.

The loss is likely to spark fresh recriminations from the Coalition about handling of those released.

On Monday the home affairs department general counsel, Clare Sharp, said the department had engaged in “very extensive planning for all possible outcomes” of the challenge, including possible further legislation.

Updated

AFP defends its approaches to encrypted messaging app Session

The Australian federal police (AFP) has defended its approaches to encrypted messaging app Session – which led to the company moving overseas – as “doing our job” and said the app was being used to share child abuse material.

Guardian Australia reported on Tuesday the Australian-based app had moved to Switzerland after approaches from police, including a visit to an employee’s home, to ask about encryption on the app. The organisation’s director, Alex Linton, said Australia’s regulatory environment was hostile to privacy tools.

The AFP acting commissioner, Ian McCartney, told Senate estimates on Tuesday night:

We don’t obviously allege any criminality on their behalf, but the app was being utilised to distribute serious child abuse material … the focus of our engagement with the company was identified opportunities to provide lawful assistance, including the removal of that really serious child abuse material from the platform.

McCartney said it was a productive conversation with the app company, and he said it was an independent decision they’ve made to move overseas, largely as a policy response, rather than police actions.

The Greens senator and digital rights spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said senators would support the AFP identifying and removing that kind of material, but said the powers to request app developers to build capabilities to bypass encryption and the decision to move overseas did not make Australia safer:

No one’s any safer. No benefit to Australian law enforcement, no benefit to anybody other than we lose an industry, and we lose the capability, and we lose those kinds of skills in Australia, this doesn’t make us safer. This doesn’t help capture these appalling offenders who are sharing this material.

The AFP revealed that, in the last financial year, it had made no requests for assistance or capability requests of app developers, but there had been 66 assistance requests issued by other agencies.

Session was contacted for comment.

Read more:

Updated

Senate estimates hears Treasury thoughts on US election scenarios

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, sought Treasury advice on US election scenarios, estimates has heard.

Treasury is before Senate estimates this morning, and the secretary, Steven Kennedy, has been pressed by the Liberal senator Jane Hume about what the government has asked about US election scenarios.

Now, it would be a surprise if Treasury had not done some assessment of how economic policies might change in the world’s biggest economy. That’s especially so when there’s a chance that Donald Trump might be elected as the 47th president.

Kennedy said he had no expertise to judge who might win (not Robinson Crusoe there), and it sounds like the analysis is in line with private economists.

Trump has promised to slap broad-based tariffs on imports, including up to 60% on those from China. (He wouldn’t need congressional support for such a move.)

Anyway, Kennedy said such a move would have “flow-on consequences” for Australia, not least because China accounts for about a third of our exports. Various models would need to be tweaked.

In addition, “the imposition of trade restrictions, such as tariffs, typically lead to lower growth and higher inflation”, Kennedy said, echoing the economic consensus.

The US economy, as it happens, is outperforming most others, and it might be a post-election puzzle to solve to understand why the incumbent Biden/Harris administration hadn’t got more electoral support from it.

Kennedy doesn’t talk about what a “Kamala Harris wins” scenario looks like, but it’s generally assumed not a lot would change.

Updated

No matter who wins, the US has no more trusted ally than Australia, Kennedy says

The US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, has reflected on the history of suffrage for women and African Americans in her country as she reminded guests at a US embassy election day breakfast that “every vote counts”.

Kennedy told the crowd that she felt “most American” on election day because “the right to vote is so fundamental to our democracy”.

She said:

Every voice counts and the right to vote is not something that any of us can take for granted.

In this election, and every other, the battle is ongoing, with efforts to expand and limit voting rights. It’s a constant struggle in our politics and in this age of disinformation that is only becoming more intense. So when I vote in the US election, I think of all the names of heroes who sacrificed to give me this right. And for those of us all who live in a democracy, it’s something to celebrate, something to protect.

She said she returned on the weekend from meetings in the US to be in Australia on election day:

I wanted to make clear to Australians that no matter who wins, the United States has no more trusted and capable ally. And there’s a lot of rhetoric on both sides of this debate, especially on one side, the fundamentals are not in question.

Updated

Legal Aid NSW says new client portal ‘a gamechanger for our clients’

$1.6m is going to a new Legal Aid NSW client portal.

The platform will be optimised for mobile phones, to provide clients with live updates, access to correspondence, document uploads and information on court appearances and other appointments, according to a statement from the office of Jihad Dib, the customer service and digital government minister.

Legal Aid NSW provided half a million client services in 2022-23. More than 50% were provided in regional and rural areas.

The new portal, supported under the Digital Restart Fund, will make information more accessible and “minimise the need for clients to call Legal Aid NSW because they will be directly notified of updates to their case”, the statement said.

The platform is expected to be operational by late 2025.

The CEO of Legal Aid NSW, Monique Hitter, said:

This portal is a gamechanger for our clients.

It enables them to easily view information about their cases, their lawyers, their appointments and court dates.

… Delivering 24/7 access to key information, this portal makes it easier for people to deal with their legal problems.

Updated

Kennedy calls for special Aukus visa to promote Australia-US collaboration

The US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, has been busy! We mentioned her media appearances below. She has also likened the Aukus nuclear submarine pact to the 1961 decision by her father, the late president John F Kennedy, to send humans to the moon within a decade and called for a special Aukus visa to facilitate industry collaboration.

Addressing the biennial Submarine Institute of Australia conference on Tuesday, Kennedy said the Aukus partners needed new measures to make it easier to work together:

We need to increase connectivity between systems, making it easier and faster for work to proceed. We need new ideas to make this possible. An Aukus visa is one way to move this along.

She invoked the audacity of her late father’s vision, acknowledging that some Australians “doubt the complexity and boldness of Aukus”. She said of her father:

He obviously set our nation on the path that has created the information economy, that has benefited our country for all these years. And he did it because it was hard and because he knew it would bring out the best in us. And those kinds of challenges always do. I really feel like Australia is ready for this, is embracing this challenge.

When then President Kennedy made his moon-landing pledge on 25 May 1961, the longest space flight by US personnel had lasted just five minutes.

“And he committed to send a man to the moon in 10 years,” Kennedy said. “So I have absolutely no doubt – and I know I speak for my colleagues in the US government – that this is the same kind of thing.”

Kennedy described Aukus as “a critical element” in the collective effort to sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region:

There were a lot of people who doubted that this could be done. That it was too complicated, too bold, too revolutionary, whether the US would share its most sensitive nuclear technology, whether the three partners could reform their export control regimes to allow us to succeed … I think we can all say that the doubters were wrong.

Kennedy said at least 78 US-trained Australian navy personnel would eventually serve on US submarines and more than 50 civilian Australian Submarine Corporation personnel were currently training at the Pearl Harbor shipyard.

The ambassador urged Australian companies to undertake the US defence industry vendor training process and become component suppliers for the Virginia-class submarines.

She said the money was there to build the industrial place but “more players” were needed.

She called Aukus “a partnership about what we stand for, not who we stand against”.

Updated

Bureaucrats face questions after classified cabinet documents left on plane

That sinking feeling – AAP reports that, minutes after getting off a plane in Doha, an Australian government staffer urgently alerted officials a locked bag containing classified cabinet documents was missing.

The papers were being carried by the ministerial and parliamentary services staffer travelling with Senator Murray Watt, the then agriculture minister, on a flight home from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation conference in July 2023.

The curious case of the missing documents was first made public in early October and has been a point of interest at the latest round of Senate estimates hearings in Canberra.

Agriculture department officials were quizzed about the international incident during a tense exchange on Tuesday morning.

Tim Simpson, the department’s first assistant secretary for people, property and security, confirmed details from an internal investigation, saying the papers were left on a plane in the early hours of 7 July.

The Senator and staffers had flown from Mumbai to Doha on an Indian airline on their way back to Australia from the UN conference in Rome.

The staffer left the secure bag containing the cabinet documents on the aircraft, Simpson told the hearing:

What I can confirm is the documents were carried in an appropriate container … and secured correctly for the classification.

Australian embassy staff in India were contacted about 10 or 15 minutes after the travelling party got off the plane and staffers tried and failed to get the documents back.

“At the time the documents weren’t there when they were able to get back on and look for them,” Simpson said.

The agriculture secretary, Adam Fennessy, said security was taken very seriously and staff were retrained after the incident.

At the end of questioning, the hearing was told the staffer worked for ministerial and parliamentary services.

“I hope the poor devil got over it,” the Labor senator Glenn Sterle said.

Updated

‘A Trump presidency would be a disaster,’ Greens senator says

The Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May has a more emphatic position on the US election. She said in Canberra this morning:

A Trump presidency would be a disaster, a disaster for women, for people of colour, for the LGBTIQA+ community, for the climate.

He threatens our democracy and progress. It’s incredible to think Americans might give such a vile man another chance. If Trump is elected, the prime minister must urgently cancel Aukus and reconsider Australia’s relationship with the United States. We cannot be associated with such a dangerous demagogue like Donald Trump.

Updated

AAP reports that Kennedy was on Sunrise earlier. She described the US election as historic, and said whatever the outcome Australia would be a “winner”:

In terms of our foreign policy, and especially in terms of Australia, which is our most trusted and capable ally, I don’t think it will change the fundamentals … no matter who wins, Australia will be the winner.

Updated

US election ‘shaping up to be very close’, ambassador Caroline Kennedy says

Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, says as an ambassador she’s not supposed to talk about politics … but went on to say (after the ABC Breakfast host Michael Rowland said “assuming you did vote for Kamala Harris …”:

I think the issues that are on the ballot this time are important to women.

She’s made that really clear. Donald Trump is focusing more on immigration.

And she points out that in the US, where voting is not compulsory, it’s “all about turnout, who shows up on election day”, and that they need to get young people to the polls. But she wouldn’t change their system:

I think our system is great. It’s so complicated, gives Australians something to talk about all year long for four years. So I wouldn’t change a thing! But the way you do it is really impressive, and I have learned a lot on that while I have been here.

She says the US has “an incredibly strong and transparent system despite attempts to interfere with it from abroad, as we heard from our national security agencies”.

“And obviously some people who don’t want to accept the result are going to start saying, you know, that there’s a problem if it’s not clear, but I think it’s shaping up to be very close,” she says, on the potential for unrest.

Updated

Angus Taylor bats away questions about Bridget McKenzie flight upgrades

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has been asked about reports that the shadow transport minister, Bridget McKenzie, did not declare more than a dozen flight upgrades. He told ABC Radio:

I don’t know that any of that’s been verified.

The “real issue”, he says, is allegations about Anthony Albanese’s upgrades.

The Australian Financial Review is reporting that McKenzie has not updated her register of interests about the upgrades, and we’ve asked McKenzie’s office for a response.

Taylor also says Australia is “absolutely at the back of the pack” getting inflation to where it needs to be”. “We’ve got a long way to go here. Australians are losing hope,” he says, adding:

Everyone is helped by lower inflation and lower interest rates.

Asked whether a possible Coalition government would wind back cost-of-living measures, Taylor says they haven’t supported all of them, and that while they want lower debt for all Australians, they are against the government’s policy to reduce student debt.

He describes Labor as having “magic pudding economics”.

On Dutton’s rebuke on abortion, and that call from the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, for the withdrawal of the anti-abortion bill (mentioned below), Taylor says “it’s a state issue, and we should leave this issue to the states”:

It certainly shouldn’t be politicised in the lead up to an election … I think it’s incredibly insensitive.

Updated

There was some seriously colourful language in Senate estimates yesterday, but in this case the media regulator found radio hosts’ words were a step too far. Sarah Martin reports on what the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young described as “revolting, sexist, racist, misogynistic, divisive stuff”:

Updated

‘Dangerous anti-abortion bill’ should be withdrawn, Labor says

A “dangerous anti-abortion bill” before the Senate should be withdrawn, if the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, wants credibility on women’s healthcare, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says.

Dutton has warned his MPs on speaking out on abortion, after comments by the Indigenous Australians spokesperson, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and with abortion back on the agenda in the lead up to the Queensland election.

Gallagher said:

It is typical of Peter Dutton to view this purely as a matter of winning or losing votes, rather than any genuine commitment to women’s healthcare.

If Peter Dutton wants any credibility on women’s healthcare, he must immediately ensure Senators [Matt] Canavan and [Alex] Antic withdraw their dangerous anti-abortion bill currently before the Senate.

This is a test of Peter Dutton’s leadership, and a test of his commitment to the rights of Australian women.

She is referring to a “born alive” bill that has been described as misleading, and containing misinformation. A committee inquiry found there was “no legal, ethical or medical basis to support the bill”.

Updated

Labor launches pre-emptive strike over CFMEU ahead of Senate estimates

AAP reports that the Albanese government has launched a pre-emptive strike as the opposition holds its feet to the fire over the CFMEU scandal.

The employment and workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, is expected to face a grilling when his portfolios are picked apart in a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

The construction arm of the embattled union was placed into administration in August after allegations emerged of criminal conduct and organised crime links on job sites.

The Coalition has suggested Labor’s response did not go far enough and should have included reinstating the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The construction watchdog was reintroduced in 2016 by the Turnbull government but abolished by Labor in February 2023, with its powers transferred to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The ombudsman has dozens of ongoing investigations into the commercial building and construction industry involving most branches of the CFMEU, its officials and employers.

The Liberal senator Michaelia Cash was employment minister when the commission was revived and said it would prompt “cultural change” across the construction sector.

Watt said bringing back the body would be “complete madness”, pointing out much of the union’s alleged offending occurred under its nose. He said:

The failures of the ABCC to bring about change to the construction sector were plain to see.

It was politicised for the gain of [the former prime minister] Malcolm Turnbull and the minister who was instrumental in removing him from office, Michaelia Cash.

Under the Coalition’s watch we saw the lowest productivity since the 1960s and higher average days lost to industrial action.

He argued the Albanese government was cleaning up the construction sector by taking the “strongest action possible” against the union and developing a building and construction industry blueprint.

Updated

Some more on our political editor Karen Middleton’s piece today, which brings with it some needed nuance:

[Anthony Albanese] doesn’t just need interest rates to start actually falling before he goes to the polls, he needs Australians to believe the depths of the cost-of-living crisis have passed and things are finally on the up.

And he needs them to start believing it now, not wait until they can feel it in the hip pocket.

Updated

Good morning, Australia, and thanks for tearing your eyes away from US politics to join me (Tory Shepherd) here. And muchas gracias to Martin Farrer for doing the sparrow’s fart shift. Let’s get started – estimates will continue apace, question time looms and hopefully some surprises await.

Updated

How would Australians vote in the US election?

It’s fair to say that some events in Canberra and Australia might play second fiddle to an election occurring somewhere else today. As chance would have it we have one or two Australian angles on the US election story, including an Essential poll showing that more Australian men would vote for Donald Trump than vice-president Kamala Harris.

The poll shows that more Australian men would vote for Trump than Harris, and a majority of men and women support key elements of his platform including tariffs and deportation of illegal immigrants. Overall though, Harris would win the vote in Australia by 41% to 33% – according to the poll which you can read about here:

Peter Lewis analyses the poll findings and concludes that it shows progressive Australians shouldn’t be complacent.

He writes:

On the core elements of Trump’s nihilistic populism, Australians are more likely to share his disdain for the system, and even the majority of those who would vote for Harris concur.

Here’s his full article:

Follow our coverage of the US election

If you want to keep up to date with the US election, check out our guide to Australian TV coverage, live results, where to watch and more:

What’s more we will have unrivalled coverage of the events in the US as the day unfolds and you can follow it all here:

Fourteen people investigated for terror symbol displays

Three search warrants have been executed and 14 people are being investigated for allegedly displaying a terrorist symbol at pro-Palestinian protests, Australian Associated Press reports.

Australian federal police officers have trawled through 90 hours of CCTV and body camera footage and seized mobile phones and clothing depicting a terrorist symbol.

“If relevant thresholds are met, the AFP will provide briefs of evidence to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions to determine if charges will be laid,” acting commissioner Ian McCartney said.

The AFP is further investigating whether rhetoric over killed terrorists or events in the Middle East reached the threshold of urging violence or advocating terrorism.

A special taskforce, codenamed ARDVARNA, was set up for the rally specifically due to the volume of evidence and referrals that had to be assessed, the AFP deputy commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said.

Police have spent some 1,100 combined hours investigating.

There were 113 reports relating to the display of prohibited hate symbols between January and October 2024, which resulted in 49 further investigations by the joint counter-terrorism team.

Of these, 28 remain active but no one has been charged since the hate symbols legislation came into effect on 8 January, Barrett confirmed yesterday.

Updated

Senate told of biosecurity breaches by United Airlines

United Airlines has breached Australia’s biosecurity reporting requirements three times in three years by failing to report that a dog was on a commercial flight, a Senate estimates committee heard on Tuesday.

Anna Brezzo, the department of agriculture’s first assistant secretary for compliance and enforcement, said in response to questions from Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie that the airline had breached the pre-arrival reporting requirements on a flight into Sydney in December 2022 and a flight into Brisbane in March 2024, and had breached requirements by invalid disinfection of a plane in August 2023.

“The dogs themselves were assistant dogs and they did have an import permit to arrive into Australia,” Brezzo said. “What we require however under the Biosecurity Act is that the airline lets us know ahead of time what is coming in on their airline.”

Brezzo said the breach was picked up by biosecurity officers at the airports because it’s “a bit hard to miss the dog coming off the commercial airline”.

United Airlines entered into a voluntary undertaking in August 2024 to undertake auditing, update its compliance framework and train its staff. Compliance with that undertaking will be monitored by the department of agriculture over the next 15 months, Brezzo said.

“Should they fail to commit or to abide by the agreement in the undertaking, we will take them to federal court and let the federal court make that decision.”

McKenzie asked why it took three breaches to enforce the voluntary undertaking.

“That looks like permissive parenting that we just let them keep getting away with a slap on the wrist,” she said.

The deputy secretary for biosecurity, operations and compliance group, Justine Saunders, said the response was “absolutely proportionate” and more effective in terms of ensuring long-term compliance.

“Our intent is not to punish but actually to address the breach,” she said.

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live Australian political coverage. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best of the overnight stories and Tory Shepherd will be along to guide you through the day.

Our top story this morning is that ACT’s former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold believes “something went terribly wrong” with the Sofronoff report into Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution, which resulted in Drumgold losing his “dream job”, a court battle over its findings and a subsequent integrity commission investigation. He says media “hysteria” over the case fuelled a mob mentality against him but will return to work at the NSW bar.

The Reserve Bank’s caution about interest rates is becoming one of the biggest obstacles to Anthony Albanese winning a second term next year. Labor needs a cut by March at the latest, our political editor writes today, or his election chances will be much diminished. But RBA governor Michele Bullock is telling politicians that if they want a rate cut then they need to be careful with election promises.

Federal police have executed three search warrants and are investigating 14 people for allegedly displaying a terrorist symbol at pro-Palestinian protests. No one has been charged yet but we have more details coming up.

Updated

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