What we learned: Wednesday: 26 October
With that, we will bid adieu to the blog for the evening. If you’re in Sydney, it’s great drying weather – pop your sheets on!
Here were the main developments of the day, largely related to budget reacts.
US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, has been doing the rounds at Parliament House today, with quite a lineup to meet and greet. Even former prime minister Scott Morrison made the trip from the backbench.
In his address to the National Press Club, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, rubbished a claim by the Nationals that Labor left the regions behind in the budget, pointing to around 700 investments in regional communities.
Peter Dutton has questioned the prime minister how a $2,000 hit to family budgets made Australians better off, as he had promised Labor would secure prior to the election. Also in question time, Chalmers suggested Angus Taylor’s fingerprints were “all over energy policy chaos” following budget findings that prices would increase by 20% this year and 30% next year.
A string of bodies have come out in praise of the budget, but GetUp wasn’t one of them. It accused Labor of “folding to the gas industry with a huge new fossil fuel subsidy” following a a $1.9bn funding announcement for the Middle Arm project in the Northern Territory.
Medibank has released a new statement to the ASX, saying the data of all of its customers was accessed in the recent cyber-attack. This includes Medibank, ahm and international student customers.
And Australia’s inflation rate has hit 7.3%, the highest since 1990.
Updated
Man shot by police during arrest in Sydney’s east
A man has been shot by police while they were attempting to arrest him in Sydney’s eastern suburbs this afternoon, police said in a statement.
Just before 4.30pm, officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command were called to Matraville, following reports a man armed with a knife was allegedly assaulting two women.
Following inquiries, the officers attempted to arrest the 26-year-old man inside a nearby car park, when he allegedly produced a knife and confronted them, before police discharged their taser and firearm.
The man was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound to his thigh before he was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
A critical incident team has commenced an investigation.
Updated
