source : the age
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of national news this Wednesday, September 30. Here’s what is making headlines today.
- Yesterday the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates to 4.6 per cent, marking a 15-year-high, despite rising unemployment, falling house prices and sluggish economic growth. RBA governor Michele Bullock said Australia was being impacted by “domestic capacity pressures” as well as extraordinary shocks, including the ongoing Iran war, spending on AI, and a lack of productivity. Bullock warned there could be more hikes on the way.
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government took responsibility for its role in managing inflation, but continued to blame continuous interest rate hikes on the war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called for Chalmers to resign following yesterday’s rate decision, and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it was a “dark day” for mortgage holders.
- A parliamentary leadership battle is brewing in the Greens party this week after outgoing leader Larissa Waters stepped down amid ongoing illness. On one side is a joint ticket of Mehreen Faruqi and Nick McKim, on the other is Sarah Hanson-Young. David Shoebridge has not ruled out contesting.
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And Anthropic has warned investors that its technology could pose “existential risks to humanity” as it prepares to list on the sharemarket. The AI company warned in the prospectus for its planned initial public offering (IPO) filing that its models could exhibit unpredictable behaviours including attempts to “resist shutdown”, to “conceal or manipulate information” and behaviour “resembling blackmail”.
Senator David Shoebridge has announced his candidacy for the Greens leadership, running on a ticket with Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May as his deputy.
The announcement sets up a rare three-way contest in a usually collegiate Greens party room that typically seeks a consensus candidate before leadership votes.
Shoebridge and Hodgins-May will face off against Mehreen Faruqi and possible deputy Nick McKim, as well as veteran senator Sarah Hanson-Young who is currently expected to run on a leader-only ticket.
Greens MPs will meet in Sydney over the next two days for a “retreat” where they will vote for the leader after the unexpected resignation of current leader Larissa Waters. Waters cited worsening chronic kidney disease for her shock retirement.
Home Affairs has ordered all government departments and agencies undertake an urgent review to identify and fix weaknesses in cyber defences following the OpenAI Medicare breach.
Government bodies will do a rapid stocktake of their systems, aim to reduce technology supported by a risk management plan, and report back to the Department of Home Affairs. The review will prioritise the most critical systems and aims to fortify against AI-enabled threats.
Acting Home Affairs Minister Richard Marles said government systems needed to keep up with rapidly developing AI technology.
“We have a range of security IT system across government, and the level of security is relative to the information being protected. It is critical that we constantly review those security settings and the systems we have in place,” Marles said.
“We can’t wait for an old system to fail before replacing it. We need to identify vulnerabilities and deal with them before they can be exploited.”
Pressed on where the Coalition would cut spending if it were in government, the opposition leader said he would start by cutting investment in Australia’s “climate bureaucracy”, but could not provide further clarification on his colleague Tim Wilson’s claims yesterday that the Coalition would target the NDIS, aged care packages and childcare if elected.
Yesterday, the shadow treasurer said government spending on the schemes was out of control, and that they acted as “honey pots to raid”.
“There’s issues with fraud that we do see in programs,” Taylor told ABC TV this morning. “If there is fraud, we should make sure the taxpayers’ money is being used properly.”
Wilson could not say how much money would be saved by cutting these programs.
“Well, there is fraud going on. We know that, and we’ve seen that in the NDIS, and we’ve seen egregious examples. And we’ll continue to work on how much we think that is in the lead up to the election, of course.”
The Coalition would certainly seek to cut spending on climate programs and renewable energy, Taylor said.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has accused the government of failing to do its job properly after the Reserve Bank lifted interest rates to a 15-year-high yesterday.
“The point here is that the government hasn’t been doing its job in containing spending and making it easier to build and make things in this country,” he told ABC’s News Breakfast.
Yesterday, RBA governor Michele Bullock acknowledged it was a combination of domestic and international factors that had contributed to high inflation, but Taylor insisted high government spending was to blame.
“This has been homegrown inflation,” Taylor said. “Jim Chalmers will look for an excuse for everything. He wakes up each morning looking for who to blame.”
“There is very significant waste we’re seeing [in government spending] … at a time when we’re seeing real belt tightening from households and businesses. So we need to see that kind of belt tightening from the government.”
The RBA confirmed its fourth interest rate rise of 2026, increasing the cash rate target to 4.60 per cent.
The increase of 25 basis points from the previous mark of 4.35 per cent takes interest rates to their highest level in 15 years.
Use our mortgage calculator below to see the likely impact of the rate rise on your loan repayments. On a 25-year loan of $600,000 at 6.50 per cent, your mortgage would cost an extra $93 each month.
You can change all the inputs to match your loan amount, term length and agreed interest rate below.
The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, has confirmed that no explosives were found in three vans searched near a US-operated air force base during an investigation into a suspected bomb plot.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he was surprised that the five young British men who were arrested on Sunday on explosives and terrorism charges near the RAF Fairford base were allowed to be released on bail a day later.
Taylor stressed that the suspects – all British nationals in their 20s – face stringent conditions and “absolutely remain under investigation”.
“Now I understand why this development was surprising to some, but I would like to reiterate that this is an investigative decision, and one which is grounded in experience and strategy,” he said.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of national news this Wednesday, September 30. Here’s what is making headlines today.
- Yesterday the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates to 4.6 per cent, marking a 15-year-high, despite rising unemployment, falling house prices and sluggish economic growth. RBA governor Michele Bullock said Australia was being impacted by “domestic capacity pressures” as well as extraordinary shocks, including the ongoing Iran war, spending on AI, and a lack of productivity. Bullock warned there could be more hikes on the way.
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government took responsibility for its role in managing inflation, but continued to blame continuous interest rate hikes on the war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called for Chalmers to resign following yesterday’s rate decision, and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it was a “dark day” for mortgage holders.
- A parliamentary leadership battle is brewing in the Greens party this week after outgoing leader Larissa Waters stepped down amid ongoing illness. On one side is a joint ticket of Mehreen Faruqi and Nick McKim, on the other is Sarah Hanson-Young. David Shoebridge has not ruled out contesting.
-
And Anthropic has warned investors that its technology could pose “existential risks to humanity” as it prepares to list on the sharemarket. The AI company warned in the prospectus for its planned initial public offering (IPO) filing that its models could exhibit unpredictable behaviours including attempts to “resist shutdown”, to “conceal or manipulate information” and behaviour “resembling blackmail”.
