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PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Key events
Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer again if he’ll “stop his spending spree”, with the Reserve Bank predicting that inflation won’t return back into the target band of 2-3% until 2027.
Jim Chalmers says O’Brien hasn’t “thought through his question”.
If he was talking about the forecasts he would point out that the Reserve Bank has revised down the contribution made by public spending to the economy. Either he doesn’t understand that, which is troubling, or he does understand that and he’s trying to be dishonest about it, equally troubling.
Chalmers adds that while there are inflation pressures in the economy, inflation is expected to moderate in the December quarter.
What governor [Michele] Bullock said last week when she was asked about the fiscal position … [she said] we have relatively low debt compared to other countries, relatively low debt to GDP ratios … and the most recent deficit in fact is quite small as well.
Independent Kate Chaney asks Burke about ‘huge loopholes’ in environment law reforms
Independent Kate Chaney throws another question to the environment minister on the environment protection reforms.
She says the current reforms are at risk of being undermined by “huge loopholes”:
Under the reforms, projects can pay for environmental projects into a central offsets fund, but in New South Wales, Queensland, the Pilbara and overseas, these funds have consistently failed to deliver real environmental outcomes.
Will the government consider amendments to put stronger safeguards around this offsets fund so it actually delivers for nature?
Tony Burke (again, representing the environment minister, Murray Watt) says the new laws shift regulations around offsets from no net loss, to introducing a “net gain”.
That’s a significant shift that happens in terms of what offsets are aiming to be able to deliver for the environment.
Burke says an independent restoration contributions holder will also be established to manage offset funds and ensure that “net gain” is delivered.
A little earlier, just before question time, Michael McCormack brought his binoculars and best commentator’s voice to the house.
You can see his 90-second speech in all its glory here (and I promise it’s worth the watch!)
Bowen says Nationals ‘out of touch’ after deputy’s question on aluminium smelter ignores Rio Tinto’s mention of renewables
The deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan is up next, and asks about the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter. He quotes Rio Tinto’s CEO who said “unfortunately all market proposals received show future energy prices are not commercially viable”.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says Hogan should have read the full quote – “there is not a full stop [there], there’s a comma,” he says. The rest of it, Bowen says, is: “and there is significant uncertainty when the renewable projects will be available at the scale we need”.
What does that mean? Bowen says:
Rio and Tomago were arguing for more renewables not less. They are not blaming renewables, they’re calling us to do more and we agree with them. The opposition are the ones out of touch.
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Chalmers says RBA decision to keep rates on hold ‘widely expected’
As we brought you a moment ago, the Reserve Bank has kept rates on hold.
In a dixer (an easy question from a government backbencher to a minister), Jim Chalmers says that households would have liked to have seen a rate cut today, but the decision was widely expected.
This decision was widely anticipated by markets and widely expected by economists.
Now, it is the case that inflation is much lower than we inherited from those opposite, and that has given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut interest rates three times already this year.
Shadow treasurer says Labor does not take responsibility for rises in inflation
Jumping back into question time, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, asks Jim Chalmers again about the rising cost of living. O’Brien says the government takes the glory when inflation goes down, but doesn’t take responsibility when it goes up.
Chalmers says he “shares” the win when inflation goes down with the Australian public (cue lots of heckling from the opposition).
He says the government takes responsibility for the difficulties in the economy after the Covid pandemic and for getting real wages moving again.
We’re actually doing something about it now, when Australians are under pressure, in this building. This House of Representatives, has two choices to do something about it in the most responsible way that we can, which has been the approach of this Albanese Labor government, or to oppose that cost of living help and to take the most irresponsible course of action, which is what the course that those opposite have adopted.
RBA holds official interest rate at 3.6%
Luca Ittimani
The Reserve Bank has left the official interest rate on hold after a surprise jump in inflation, in a widely expected decision.
The RBA’s monetary policy board on Tuesday left the cash rate at 3.6%, where it has sat since August. Economists and banks overwhelmingly expected no change.
The central bank has cut interest rates three times in 2025, easing pressure on mortgage holders and fuelling rapid house price rises.
Core inflation rose to 3% – the top of the RBA’s preferred range – in September, the first acceleration of the underlying measure since 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Independent Helen Haines questions new environment bill’s commitments to community consultation
Over to the crossbench, and independent MP Helen Haines says poor community consultation under the current the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is eroding social licence. She asks if the minister will commit to “best practice community engagement standards” under the new EPBC bill.
Tony Burke (representing the environment minister, Murray Watt, who sits in the Senate) says he understands Watt has spoken to Haines about community consultation.
Burke adds that standards can’t be established until the bill is passed.
Soon we will be making draft standards available for matters of national environmental significance and for offsets. Also the first Nations engagement standard and data and compliance. None of these standards actually have force until they have legislation to bounce off effectively, to launch from.
PM asked to stay relevant after quoting Liberal MP’s past work on net zero at McKinsey in reply to cost of living question
Next is Liberal MP Simon Kennedy (no question from Sussan Ley as yet), who brings more stats to the PM on the impacts of the cost of living. Kennedy says:
In my home state of NSW, more than 4 in 10 people are concerned about going without food. More than a third have skipped meals to cover the essentials. More than 1 in 3 will need financial assistance in the lead-up to Christmas.
Anthony Albanese says Kennedy has had some “outstanding contributions” including his work at McKinsey where he co-authored a report titled or “Carbon light: How Australia can power ahead in a net zero world”.
To no one’s surprise, that immediately gets a point of order on relevance from the opposition. Milton Dick says the question was pretty broad so the PM has scope to diverge, but he should at least try to be relevant.
Albanese ignores the call to be relevant at first, by continuing to quote that McKinsey report and the “opportunities” it says net zero brings. He then gets back on to the cost of living point – and spruiks the government’s tax cuts, medicare funding and medicine price caps.
Question time begins
A slight change in the ordering of questions today – the Coalition starts with Liberal MP Leon Rebello, who asks the prime minister about the latest rise in unemployment, and increase in the latest inflation rates. “Is this what the prime minister meant when he promised no one will be left behind?” he asks.
Anthony Albanese says 1.1 million jobs have been created under his government.
He would have known, when it comes to fiscal policy, that they sat there, promised a budget surplus in their first year when they were elected in 2013 and every year thereafter, and, in fact, they delivered just zero when it comes to surpluses but this treasurer delivered not one, but two budget surpluses, the first consecutive budget surpluses in 20 years.
Albanese then cycles through the government’s commitments in bulk-billing and super on paid parental leave.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, congratulate the winner of the prime minister’s prize for science, ahead of questions.
Albanese says the prize reminds us that Australia “punches well above its weight in scientific excellence, innovation and discovery”.
The race that stops the Nation(als)
Before question time today, the former Nationals leader Michael McCormack gives us an absolute treat of a 90 second statement.
As he did last year, he gives us a play-by-play of the race that stops the nation – by that I mean parliament, and by “the race” I mean the race to lead the Coalition.
Here’s a little taste:
Word is New England may soon be changing stables. Farrer surrounding herself with stablemates. Farrer trying hard, so too Fairfax. Leadership aspirants looming thick and fast … Lawler, Casey and Capricornia cracking the whip. Come on, cheer them home, Grayndler has a huge lead, Greenway laying down the law now, Corio steady but on the wrong course, he thought it was a golf course.
There are heaps of references in there – Farrer of course being to Sussan Ley, the member for Farrer, while Fairfax refers to the member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien etc.
Josh Butler
Coalition confirms it will oppose Labor’s restrictive changes to FoI
The Coalition says it will oppose Labor’s controversial bill to dramatically curtail freedom of information laws, voicing alarm at new fees to lodge requests and the government’s push to expand cabinet confidentiality rules.
As Krishani Dhanji brought you earlier, there was a stoush in the house earlier when the government pushed to refer the bill’s debate to the federation chamber – a much smaller chamber of the parliament, and usually reserved for non-controversial debates.
Despite a Coalition and crossbench resistance, the government won that debate with their superior numbers. But the shadow attorney-general, Andrew Wallace, confirmed the Coalition would push strongly against the bill – joining much of the crossbench in opposing the push.
It means the bill, at this stage, is destined for failure with no other non-Labor support.
In a statement, Wallace confirmed the Coalition will oppose the bill and would “work with crossbenchers to remove the most restrictive measures, including bans on anonymity, new fees and expanded Cabinet exemptions”.
Freedom of information is not a privilege, it’s a right. A government that hides information forgets who it serves. The Coalition stands for open government, free media and the people’s right to know.
He accused the government of “institutionalising secrecy”.
Bowen spruiks ‘solar sharer’ program giving households three hours of free energy
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is spruiking his announcement to give Australian households at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels.
Bowens doing a quick doorstop in parliament before heading up to question time.
He says there are now 4.2m households with solar panels, and there’s plenty of electricity in the middle of the day to go around.
Think about a person working from home who is in the position where they can control their energy use and do more in the middle of the day, or a retired couple living at home who can put their washing machine on or the dishwasher on knowing the power will be free.
The “solar sharer” program would be implemented through a change to the default market offer that sets the maximum price retailers can charge customers for electricity in parts of the country.
Bowen says it will be regulated by the Australian energy regulator and will put “consumers first”.
He also adds that there’s “no catch” and it will be up to households to take the offer up.
ACTU celebrates passage of payday super bill, saying workers will retire with ‘tens of thousands of dollars more’
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has celebrated the passage of the government’s bill to incentivise employers to pay superannuation to their employees at the same time they pay the wages – to address issues around unpaid super.
The ACTU said super theft “strips $5.7bn from 3.3 million workers”. In a statement, the ACTU assistant secretary, Joseph Mitchell said:
Payday super means millions of workers will retire with tens of thousands of dollars more in superannuation, not just by reducing super theft, but by earning faster and more compound interest from their super.
But the Greens have criticised Labor’s rejection of their amendment which would guarantee super payments for under 18s.
At the moment, workers under 18 need to work at least 30 hours a week for the same employer to be eligible for super. The Greens senator Barbara Pocock is not too happy at Labor.
Labor had a chance to back young workers so that all of them are paid super contributions from their employers regardless of their hours. Instead they voted against it.
For too long, workers under 18 have been missing out on super – setting them back financially and costing them thousands early in their careers.
Josh Butler
Anika Wells unlikely to face Senate inquiry over Optus triple zero outage
The Coalition and Greens want the communications minister, Anika Wells, to front the Senate inquiry into Optus’ triple zero outage, but we hear it’s unlikely that she will take up the invitation.
Greens sources said they would seek to invite Wells to appear before the committee, and Coalition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh indicated the same on Sky News just now.
The non-government parties say they have questions over how Wells’ office and department was kept in the loop – or not – as Optus realised the scale of the tech outage that affected some emergency calls.
But there’s a parliamentary convention that ministers in the house don’t appear before inquiries held by the Senate. We understand Wells’ office has not yet received a formal invitation to appear before the hearing, but the minister would be unlikely to buck convention and agree to appear before the committee.
The Greens will also seek to invite executives from Optus’ parent company, Singtel, to appear. There’s also discussion about asking other telco providers to appear as well, to ensure that similar outages couldn’t occur to other networks.
Coalition unable to stop FoI bill debate being sent to ‘legislation clearing house’
Back to the House, the Coalition’s motion to suspend standing orders to stop the freedom of information bill going to the federation chamber for debate has failed.
Even with support from the crossbench to keep this debate in the House, nothing can beat the massive majority the government has, unless they don’t show up or some MPs cross the floor.
Chief opposition whip, Aaron Violi, then tried to table a list of Coalition MPs who wanted to speak on the bill in the House. (That request was denied.)
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, spoke on the bill.
When Australians ask their government for information they are not being difficult, they are exercising their right of citizenship …
This bill does not modernise the freedom of information act, it weakens it. In fact, it tramples it.
The problem is not too many FoI requests, it is too few answers.
Debate was then wrapped, and the rest of the debate will now go to the federation chamber.
Hanson says she attended Trump’s Halloween party and will address CPAC in US
While Labor will try to force all senators to stay put in the Senate for question time today, one senator is halfway across the world, spending time with US conservatives and Donald Trump.
Speaking to Sky News’ Andrew Bolt last night, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson confirmed she has been visiting the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and attended Donald Trump’s Halloween party on Friday.
She also confirmed she would be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US on Tuesday. Hanson also spoke at the Australian CPAC conference earlier this year. She told Bolt:
It was lovely to actually be at that function on Friday night for Halloween, it was a great night.
My colleague Sarah Basford-Canales reported yesterday that Hanson was in the US, but her office refused to confirm that she was at Trump’s Gatsby-themed event – which Gina Rinehart also attended.
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PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Key events
Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer again if he’ll “stop his spending spree”, with the Reserve Bank predicting that inflation won’t return back into the target band of 2-3% until 2027.
Jim Chalmers says O’Brien hasn’t “thought through his question”.
If he was talking about the forecasts he would point out that the Reserve Bank has revised down the contribution made by public spending to the economy. Either he doesn’t understand that, which is troubling, or he does understand that and he’s trying to be dishonest about it, equally troubling.
Chalmers adds that while there are inflation pressures in the economy, inflation is expected to moderate in the December quarter.
What governor [Michele] Bullock said last week when she was asked about the fiscal position … [she said] we have relatively low debt compared to other countries, relatively low debt to GDP ratios … and the most recent deficit in fact is quite small as well.
Independent Kate Chaney asks Burke about ‘huge loopholes’ in environment law reforms
Independent Kate Chaney throws another question to the environment minister on the environment protection reforms.
She says the current reforms are at risk of being undermined by “huge loopholes”:
Under the reforms, projects can pay for environmental projects into a central offsets fund, but in New South Wales, Queensland, the Pilbara and overseas, these funds have consistently failed to deliver real environmental outcomes.
Will the government consider amendments to put stronger safeguards around this offsets fund so it actually delivers for nature?
Tony Burke (again, representing the environment minister, Murray Watt) says the new laws shift regulations around offsets from no net loss, to introducing a “net gain”.
That’s a significant shift that happens in terms of what offsets are aiming to be able to deliver for the environment.
Burke says an independent restoration contributions holder will also be established to manage offset funds and ensure that “net gain” is delivered.
A little earlier, just before question time, Michael McCormack brought his binoculars and best commentator’s voice to the house.
You can see his 90-second speech in all its glory here (and I promise it’s worth the watch!)
Bowen says Nationals ‘out of touch’ after deputy’s question on aluminium smelter ignores Rio Tinto’s mention of renewables
The deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan is up next, and asks about the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter. He quotes Rio Tinto’s CEO who said “unfortunately all market proposals received show future energy prices are not commercially viable”.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says Hogan should have read the full quote – “there is not a full stop [there], there’s a comma,” he says. The rest of it, Bowen says, is: “and there is significant uncertainty when the renewable projects will be available at the scale we need”.
What does that mean? Bowen says:
Rio and Tomago were arguing for more renewables not less. They are not blaming renewables, they’re calling us to do more and we agree with them. The opposition are the ones out of touch.
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Chalmers says RBA decision to keep rates on hold ‘widely expected’
As we brought you a moment ago, the Reserve Bank has kept rates on hold.
In a dixer (an easy question from a government backbencher to a minister), Jim Chalmers says that households would have liked to have seen a rate cut today, but the decision was widely expected.
This decision was widely anticipated by markets and widely expected by economists.
Now, it is the case that inflation is much lower than we inherited from those opposite, and that has given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut interest rates three times already this year.
Shadow treasurer says Labor does not take responsibility for rises in inflation
Jumping back into question time, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, asks Jim Chalmers again about the rising cost of living. O’Brien says the government takes the glory when inflation goes down, but doesn’t take responsibility when it goes up.
Chalmers says he “shares” the win when inflation goes down with the Australian public (cue lots of heckling from the opposition).
He says the government takes responsibility for the difficulties in the economy after the Covid pandemic and for getting real wages moving again.
We’re actually doing something about it now, when Australians are under pressure, in this building. This House of Representatives, has two choices to do something about it in the most responsible way that we can, which has been the approach of this Albanese Labor government, or to oppose that cost of living help and to take the most irresponsible course of action, which is what the course that those opposite have adopted.
RBA holds official interest rate at 3.6%
Luca Ittimani
The Reserve Bank has left the official interest rate on hold after a surprise jump in inflation, in a widely expected decision.
The RBA’s monetary policy board on Tuesday left the cash rate at 3.6%, where it has sat since August. Economists and banks overwhelmingly expected no change.
The central bank has cut interest rates three times in 2025, easing pressure on mortgage holders and fuelling rapid house price rises.
Core inflation rose to 3% – the top of the RBA’s preferred range – in September, the first acceleration of the underlying measure since 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Independent Helen Haines questions new environment bill’s commitments to community consultation
Over to the crossbench, and independent MP Helen Haines says poor community consultation under the current the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is eroding social licence. She asks if the minister will commit to “best practice community engagement standards” under the new EPBC bill.
Tony Burke (representing the environment minister, Murray Watt, who sits in the Senate) says he understands Watt has spoken to Haines about community consultation.
Burke adds that standards can’t be established until the bill is passed.
Soon we will be making draft standards available for matters of national environmental significance and for offsets. Also the first Nations engagement standard and data and compliance. None of these standards actually have force until they have legislation to bounce off effectively, to launch from.
PM asked to stay relevant after quoting Liberal MP’s past work on net zero at McKinsey in reply to cost of living question
Next is Liberal MP Simon Kennedy (no question from Sussan Ley as yet), who brings more stats to the PM on the impacts of the cost of living. Kennedy says:
In my home state of NSW, more than 4 in 10 people are concerned about going without food. More than a third have skipped meals to cover the essentials. More than 1 in 3 will need financial assistance in the lead-up to Christmas.
Anthony Albanese says Kennedy has had some “outstanding contributions” including his work at McKinsey where he co-authored a report titled or “Carbon light: How Australia can power ahead in a net zero world”.
To no one’s surprise, that immediately gets a point of order on relevance from the opposition. Milton Dick says the question was pretty broad so the PM has scope to diverge, but he should at least try to be relevant.
Albanese ignores the call to be relevant at first, by continuing to quote that McKinsey report and the “opportunities” it says net zero brings. He then gets back on to the cost of living point – and spruiks the government’s tax cuts, medicare funding and medicine price caps.
Question time begins
A slight change in the ordering of questions today – the Coalition starts with Liberal MP Leon Rebello, who asks the prime minister about the latest rise in unemployment, and increase in the latest inflation rates. “Is this what the prime minister meant when he promised no one will be left behind?” he asks.
Anthony Albanese says 1.1 million jobs have been created under his government.
He would have known, when it comes to fiscal policy, that they sat there, promised a budget surplus in their first year when they were elected in 2013 and every year thereafter, and, in fact, they delivered just zero when it comes to surpluses but this treasurer delivered not one, but two budget surpluses, the first consecutive budget surpluses in 20 years.
Albanese then cycles through the government’s commitments in bulk-billing and super on paid parental leave.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, congratulate the winner of the prime minister’s prize for science, ahead of questions.
Albanese says the prize reminds us that Australia “punches well above its weight in scientific excellence, innovation and discovery”.
The race that stops the Nation(als)
Before question time today, the former Nationals leader Michael McCormack gives us an absolute treat of a 90 second statement.
As he did last year, he gives us a play-by-play of the race that stops the nation – by that I mean parliament, and by “the race” I mean the race to lead the Coalition.
Here’s a little taste:
Word is New England may soon be changing stables. Farrer surrounding herself with stablemates. Farrer trying hard, so too Fairfax. Leadership aspirants looming thick and fast … Lawler, Casey and Capricornia cracking the whip. Come on, cheer them home, Grayndler has a huge lead, Greenway laying down the law now, Corio steady but on the wrong course, he thought it was a golf course.
There are heaps of references in there – Farrer of course being to Sussan Ley, the member for Farrer, while Fairfax refers to the member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien etc.
Josh Butler
Coalition confirms it will oppose Labor’s restrictive changes to FoI
The Coalition says it will oppose Labor’s controversial bill to dramatically curtail freedom of information laws, voicing alarm at new fees to lodge requests and the government’s push to expand cabinet confidentiality rules.
As Krishani Dhanji brought you earlier, there was a stoush in the house earlier when the government pushed to refer the bill’s debate to the federation chamber – a much smaller chamber of the parliament, and usually reserved for non-controversial debates.
Despite a Coalition and crossbench resistance, the government won that debate with their superior numbers. But the shadow attorney-general, Andrew Wallace, confirmed the Coalition would push strongly against the bill – joining much of the crossbench in opposing the push.
It means the bill, at this stage, is destined for failure with no other non-Labor support.
In a statement, Wallace confirmed the Coalition will oppose the bill and would “work with crossbenchers to remove the most restrictive measures, including bans on anonymity, new fees and expanded Cabinet exemptions”.
Freedom of information is not a privilege, it’s a right. A government that hides information forgets who it serves. The Coalition stands for open government, free media and the people’s right to know.
He accused the government of “institutionalising secrecy”.
Bowen spruiks ‘solar sharer’ program giving households three hours of free energy
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is spruiking his announcement to give Australian households at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels.
Bowens doing a quick doorstop in parliament before heading up to question time.
He says there are now 4.2m households with solar panels, and there’s plenty of electricity in the middle of the day to go around.
Think about a person working from home who is in the position where they can control their energy use and do more in the middle of the day, or a retired couple living at home who can put their washing machine on or the dishwasher on knowing the power will be free.
The “solar sharer” program would be implemented through a change to the default market offer that sets the maximum price retailers can charge customers for electricity in parts of the country.
Bowen says it will be regulated by the Australian energy regulator and will put “consumers first”.
He also adds that there’s “no catch” and it will be up to households to take the offer up.
ACTU celebrates passage of payday super bill, saying workers will retire with ‘tens of thousands of dollars more’
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has celebrated the passage of the government’s bill to incentivise employers to pay superannuation to their employees at the same time they pay the wages – to address issues around unpaid super.
The ACTU said super theft “strips $5.7bn from 3.3 million workers”. In a statement, the ACTU assistant secretary, Joseph Mitchell said:
Payday super means millions of workers will retire with tens of thousands of dollars more in superannuation, not just by reducing super theft, but by earning faster and more compound interest from their super.
But the Greens have criticised Labor’s rejection of their amendment which would guarantee super payments for under 18s.
At the moment, workers under 18 need to work at least 30 hours a week for the same employer to be eligible for super. The Greens senator Barbara Pocock is not too happy at Labor.
Labor had a chance to back young workers so that all of them are paid super contributions from their employers regardless of their hours. Instead they voted against it.
For too long, workers under 18 have been missing out on super – setting them back financially and costing them thousands early in their careers.
Josh Butler
Anika Wells unlikely to face Senate inquiry over Optus triple zero outage
The Coalition and Greens want the communications minister, Anika Wells, to front the Senate inquiry into Optus’ triple zero outage, but we hear it’s unlikely that she will take up the invitation.
Greens sources said they would seek to invite Wells to appear before the committee, and Coalition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh indicated the same on Sky News just now.
The non-government parties say they have questions over how Wells’ office and department was kept in the loop – or not – as Optus realised the scale of the tech outage that affected some emergency calls.
But there’s a parliamentary convention that ministers in the house don’t appear before inquiries held by the Senate. We understand Wells’ office has not yet received a formal invitation to appear before the hearing, but the minister would be unlikely to buck convention and agree to appear before the committee.
The Greens will also seek to invite executives from Optus’ parent company, Singtel, to appear. There’s also discussion about asking other telco providers to appear as well, to ensure that similar outages couldn’t occur to other networks.
Coalition unable to stop FoI bill debate being sent to ‘legislation clearing house’
Back to the House, the Coalition’s motion to suspend standing orders to stop the freedom of information bill going to the federation chamber for debate has failed.
Even with support from the crossbench to keep this debate in the House, nothing can beat the massive majority the government has, unless they don’t show up or some MPs cross the floor.
Chief opposition whip, Aaron Violi, then tried to table a list of Coalition MPs who wanted to speak on the bill in the House. (That request was denied.)
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, spoke on the bill.
When Australians ask their government for information they are not being difficult, they are exercising their right of citizenship …
This bill does not modernise the freedom of information act, it weakens it. In fact, it tramples it.
The problem is not too many FoI requests, it is too few answers.
Debate was then wrapped, and the rest of the debate will now go to the federation chamber.
Hanson says she attended Trump’s Halloween party and will address CPAC in US
While Labor will try to force all senators to stay put in the Senate for question time today, one senator is halfway across the world, spending time with US conservatives and Donald Trump.
Speaking to Sky News’ Andrew Bolt last night, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson confirmed she has been visiting the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and attended Donald Trump’s Halloween party on Friday.
She also confirmed she would be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US on Tuesday. Hanson also spoke at the Australian CPAC conference earlier this year. She told Bolt:
It was lovely to actually be at that function on Friday night for Halloween, it was a great night.
My colleague Sarah Basford-Canales reported yesterday that Hanson was in the US, but her office refused to confirm that she was at Trump’s Gatsby-themed event – which Gina Rinehart also attended.
: First, conduct a thorough analysis of the source text to identify its core subject matter.
Determine Keywords:
Primary Keyword: Identify and define the single most important 2-4 word search phrase that represents the main topic.
Related Keywords: Identify and define 3-5 additional terms (people, places, concepts) that provide essential context.
Strategic Integration: You will seamlessly weave these identified keywords into the article’s headlines, subheadings, and body text to maximize search visibility.
2. Content Blueprint & Narrative
H1 Headline: Write a compelling, keyword-rich headline that captures the essence of the story. It must be powerful and intriguing.
Meta Description: Immediately following the H1, write an expert meta description (≤155 characters) that summarizes the article’s value and includes the primary keyword.
Lead Paragraph: Write a 2-3 sentence opening that hooks the reader immediately with the most critical information. Do not label it.
Narrative Flow: Structure the body with a clear narrative arc. Introduce the core events, develop the story with context and data, and build toward a powerful final insight.
Body & Subheadings: Use H2 and H3 subheadings to organize the story into logical, easy-to-digest sections. Keep paragraphs short (2-4 sentences) to maintain reader momentum.
3. Execution Standards & Style
Authoritative Voice: Write with a warm, confident, and authoritative tone befitting a seasoned US news editor. The language must be polished, clear, and accessible.
Original Analysis: Do not merely summarize. Paraphrase all information completely and add your own expert commentary. Focus on the implications and the “so what?” factor behind the facts to provide unique value.
Engagement: Use vivid storytelling and dynamic phrasing. Bold key terms on their first appearance. Employ bullet points or lists for clarity where appropriate.
AP Style: Adhere strictly to AP Style for all numbers, capitalization, punctuation, and formatting.
What to Avoid: All clichés, robotic phrasing, and rhetorical questions.
4. Journalistic Integrity & Nuance
Trust & Accuracy (E-E-A-T): Your output must be factually impeccable, based only on
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Key events
Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer again if he’ll “stop his spending spree”, with the Reserve Bank predicting that inflation won’t return back into the target band of 2-3% until 2027.
Jim Chalmers says O’Brien hasn’t “thought through his question”.
If he was talking about the forecasts he would point out that the Reserve Bank has revised down the contribution made by public spending to the economy. Either he doesn’t understand that, which is troubling, or he does understand that and he’s trying to be dishonest about it, equally troubling.
Chalmers adds that while there are inflation pressures in the economy, inflation is expected to moderate in the December quarter.
What governor [Michele] Bullock said last week when she was asked about the fiscal position … [she said] we have relatively low debt compared to other countries, relatively low debt to GDP ratios … and the most recent deficit in fact is quite small as well.
Independent Kate Chaney asks Burke about ‘huge loopholes’ in environment law reforms
Independent Kate Chaney throws another question to the environment minister on the environment protection reforms.
She says the current reforms are at risk of being undermined by “huge loopholes”:
Under the reforms, projects can pay for environmental projects into a central offsets fund, but in New South Wales, Queensland, the Pilbara and overseas, these funds have consistently failed to deliver real environmental outcomes.
Will the government consider amendments to put stronger safeguards around this offsets fund so it actually delivers for nature?
Tony Burke (again, representing the environment minister, Murray Watt) says the new laws shift regulations around offsets from no net loss, to introducing a “net gain”.
That’s a significant shift that happens in terms of what offsets are aiming to be able to deliver for the environment.
Burke says an independent restoration contributions holder will also be established to manage offset funds and ensure that “net gain” is delivered.
A little earlier, just before question time, Michael McCormack brought his binoculars and best commentator’s voice to the house.
You can see his 90-second speech in all its glory here (and I promise it’s worth the watch!)
Bowen says Nationals ‘out of touch’ after deputy’s question on aluminium smelter ignores Rio Tinto’s mention of renewables
The deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan is up next, and asks about the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter. He quotes Rio Tinto’s CEO who said “unfortunately all market proposals received show future energy prices are not commercially viable”.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says Hogan should have read the full quote – “there is not a full stop [there], there’s a comma,” he says. The rest of it, Bowen says, is: “and there is significant uncertainty when the renewable projects will be available at the scale we need”.
What does that mean? Bowen says:
Rio and Tomago were arguing for more renewables not less. They are not blaming renewables, they’re calling us to do more and we agree with them. The opposition are the ones out of touch.
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Chalmers says RBA decision to keep rates on hold ‘widely expected’
As we brought you a moment ago, the Reserve Bank has kept rates on hold.
In a dixer (an easy question from a government backbencher to a minister), Jim Chalmers says that households would have liked to have seen a rate cut today, but the decision was widely expected.
This decision was widely anticipated by markets and widely expected by economists.
Now, it is the case that inflation is much lower than we inherited from those opposite, and that has given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut interest rates three times already this year.
Shadow treasurer says Labor does not take responsibility for rises in inflation
Jumping back into question time, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, asks Jim Chalmers again about the rising cost of living. O’Brien says the government takes the glory when inflation goes down, but doesn’t take responsibility when it goes up.
Chalmers says he “shares” the win when inflation goes down with the Australian public (cue lots of heckling from the opposition).
He says the government takes responsibility for the difficulties in the economy after the Covid pandemic and for getting real wages moving again.
We’re actually doing something about it now, when Australians are under pressure, in this building. This House of Representatives, has two choices to do something about it in the most responsible way that we can, which has been the approach of this Albanese Labor government, or to oppose that cost of living help and to take the most irresponsible course of action, which is what the course that those opposite have adopted.
RBA holds official interest rate at 3.6%
Luca Ittimani
The Reserve Bank has left the official interest rate on hold after a surprise jump in inflation, in a widely expected decision.
The RBA’s monetary policy board on Tuesday left the cash rate at 3.6%, where it has sat since August. Economists and banks overwhelmingly expected no change.
The central bank has cut interest rates three times in 2025, easing pressure on mortgage holders and fuelling rapid house price rises.
Core inflation rose to 3% – the top of the RBA’s preferred range – in September, the first acceleration of the underlying measure since 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Independent Helen Haines questions new environment bill’s commitments to community consultation
Over to the crossbench, and independent MP Helen Haines says poor community consultation under the current the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is eroding social licence. She asks if the minister will commit to “best practice community engagement standards” under the new EPBC bill.
Tony Burke (representing the environment minister, Murray Watt, who sits in the Senate) says he understands Watt has spoken to Haines about community consultation.
Burke adds that standards can’t be established until the bill is passed.
Soon we will be making draft standards available for matters of national environmental significance and for offsets. Also the first Nations engagement standard and data and compliance. None of these standards actually have force until they have legislation to bounce off effectively, to launch from.
PM asked to stay relevant after quoting Liberal MP’s past work on net zero at McKinsey in reply to cost of living question
Next is Liberal MP Simon Kennedy (no question from Sussan Ley as yet), who brings more stats to the PM on the impacts of the cost of living. Kennedy says:
In my home state of NSW, more than 4 in 10 people are concerned about going without food. More than a third have skipped meals to cover the essentials. More than 1 in 3 will need financial assistance in the lead-up to Christmas.
Anthony Albanese says Kennedy has had some “outstanding contributions” including his work at McKinsey where he co-authored a report titled or “Carbon light: How Australia can power ahead in a net zero world”.
To no one’s surprise, that immediately gets a point of order on relevance from the opposition. Milton Dick says the question was pretty broad so the PM has scope to diverge, but he should at least try to be relevant.
Albanese ignores the call to be relevant at first, by continuing to quote that McKinsey report and the “opportunities” it says net zero brings. He then gets back on to the cost of living point – and spruiks the government’s tax cuts, medicare funding and medicine price caps.
Question time begins
A slight change in the ordering of questions today – the Coalition starts with Liberal MP Leon Rebello, who asks the prime minister about the latest rise in unemployment, and increase in the latest inflation rates. “Is this what the prime minister meant when he promised no one will be left behind?” he asks.
Anthony Albanese says 1.1 million jobs have been created under his government.
He would have known, when it comes to fiscal policy, that they sat there, promised a budget surplus in their first year when they were elected in 2013 and every year thereafter, and, in fact, they delivered just zero when it comes to surpluses but this treasurer delivered not one, but two budget surpluses, the first consecutive budget surpluses in 20 years.
Albanese then cycles through the government’s commitments in bulk-billing and super on paid parental leave.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, congratulate the winner of the prime minister’s prize for science, ahead of questions.
Albanese says the prize reminds us that Australia “punches well above its weight in scientific excellence, innovation and discovery”.
The race that stops the Nation(als)
Before question time today, the former Nationals leader Michael McCormack gives us an absolute treat of a 90 second statement.
As he did last year, he gives us a play-by-play of the race that stops the nation – by that I mean parliament, and by “the race” I mean the race to lead the Coalition.
Here’s a little taste:
Word is New England may soon be changing stables. Farrer surrounding herself with stablemates. Farrer trying hard, so too Fairfax. Leadership aspirants looming thick and fast … Lawler, Casey and Capricornia cracking the whip. Come on, cheer them home, Grayndler has a huge lead, Greenway laying down the law now, Corio steady but on the wrong course, he thought it was a golf course.
There are heaps of references in there – Farrer of course being to Sussan Ley, the member for Farrer, while Fairfax refers to the member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien etc.
Josh Butler
Coalition confirms it will oppose Labor’s restrictive changes to FoI
The Coalition says it will oppose Labor’s controversial bill to dramatically curtail freedom of information laws, voicing alarm at new fees to lodge requests and the government’s push to expand cabinet confidentiality rules.
As Krishani Dhanji brought you earlier, there was a stoush in the house earlier when the government pushed to refer the bill’s debate to the federation chamber – a much smaller chamber of the parliament, and usually reserved for non-controversial debates.
Despite a Coalition and crossbench resistance, the government won that debate with their superior numbers. But the shadow attorney-general, Andrew Wallace, confirmed the Coalition would push strongly against the bill – joining much of the crossbench in opposing the push.
It means the bill, at this stage, is destined for failure with no other non-Labor support.
In a statement, Wallace confirmed the Coalition will oppose the bill and would “work with crossbenchers to remove the most restrictive measures, including bans on anonymity, new fees and expanded Cabinet exemptions”.
Freedom of information is not a privilege, it’s a right. A government that hides information forgets who it serves. The Coalition stands for open government, free media and the people’s right to know.
He accused the government of “institutionalising secrecy”.
Bowen spruiks ‘solar sharer’ program giving households three hours of free energy
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is spruiking his announcement to give Australian households at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels.
Bowens doing a quick doorstop in parliament before heading up to question time.
He says there are now 4.2m households with solar panels, and there’s plenty of electricity in the middle of the day to go around.
Think about a person working from home who is in the position where they can control their energy use and do more in the middle of the day, or a retired couple living at home who can put their washing machine on or the dishwasher on knowing the power will be free.
The “solar sharer” program would be implemented through a change to the default market offer that sets the maximum price retailers can charge customers for electricity in parts of the country.
Bowen says it will be regulated by the Australian energy regulator and will put “consumers first”.
He also adds that there’s “no catch” and it will be up to households to take the offer up.
ACTU celebrates passage of payday super bill, saying workers will retire with ‘tens of thousands of dollars more’
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has celebrated the passage of the government’s bill to incentivise employers to pay superannuation to their employees at the same time they pay the wages – to address issues around unpaid super.
The ACTU said super theft “strips $5.7bn from 3.3 million workers”. In a statement, the ACTU assistant secretary, Joseph Mitchell said:
Payday super means millions of workers will retire with tens of thousands of dollars more in superannuation, not just by reducing super theft, but by earning faster and more compound interest from their super.
But the Greens have criticised Labor’s rejection of their amendment which would guarantee super payments for under 18s.
At the moment, workers under 18 need to work at least 30 hours a week for the same employer to be eligible for super. The Greens senator Barbara Pocock is not too happy at Labor.
Labor had a chance to back young workers so that all of them are paid super contributions from their employers regardless of their hours. Instead they voted against it.
For too long, workers under 18 have been missing out on super – setting them back financially and costing them thousands early in their careers.
Josh Butler
Anika Wells unlikely to face Senate inquiry over Optus triple zero outage
The Coalition and Greens want the communications minister, Anika Wells, to front the Senate inquiry into Optus’ triple zero outage, but we hear it’s unlikely that she will take up the invitation.
Greens sources said they would seek to invite Wells to appear before the committee, and Coalition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh indicated the same on Sky News just now.
The non-government parties say they have questions over how Wells’ office and department was kept in the loop – or not – as Optus realised the scale of the tech outage that affected some emergency calls.
But there’s a parliamentary convention that ministers in the house don’t appear before inquiries held by the Senate. We understand Wells’ office has not yet received a formal invitation to appear before the hearing, but the minister would be unlikely to buck convention and agree to appear before the committee.
The Greens will also seek to invite executives from Optus’ parent company, Singtel, to appear. There’s also discussion about asking other telco providers to appear as well, to ensure that similar outages couldn’t occur to other networks.
Coalition unable to stop FoI bill debate being sent to ‘legislation clearing house’
Back to the House, the Coalition’s motion to suspend standing orders to stop the freedom of information bill going to the federation chamber for debate has failed.
Even with support from the crossbench to keep this debate in the House, nothing can beat the massive majority the government has, unless they don’t show up or some MPs cross the floor.
Chief opposition whip, Aaron Violi, then tried to table a list of Coalition MPs who wanted to speak on the bill in the House. (That request was denied.)
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, spoke on the bill.
When Australians ask their government for information they are not being difficult, they are exercising their right of citizenship …
This bill does not modernise the freedom of information act, it weakens it. In fact, it tramples it.
The problem is not too many FoI requests, it is too few answers.
Debate was then wrapped, and the rest of the debate will now go to the federation chamber.
Hanson says she attended Trump’s Halloween party and will address CPAC in US
While Labor will try to force all senators to stay put in the Senate for question time today, one senator is halfway across the world, spending time with US conservatives and Donald Trump.
Speaking to Sky News’ Andrew Bolt last night, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson confirmed she has been visiting the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and attended Donald Trump’s Halloween party on Friday.
She also confirmed she would be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US on Tuesday. Hanson also spoke at the Australian CPAC conference earlier this year. She told Bolt:
It was lovely to actually be at that function on Friday night for Halloween, it was a great night.
My colleague Sarah Basford-Canales reported yesterday that Hanson was in the US, but her office refused to confirm that she was at Trump’s Gatsby-themed event – which Gina Rinehart also attended.
.
Prime Directive: While you must use only the provided text, if you detect a clear and obvious factual contradiction or a statement that defies logic, omit the questionable statement and report on the remaining confirmed facts.
Handling Quotes: Use quotes from the source verbatim for impact. Since the original speaker must be anonymized, attribute quotes using general but descriptive terms (e.g., “a senior official stated,” “according to a company release,” “one analyst noted”).
Time-Sensitive Language: Update relative time references (e.g., “yesterday,” “next month”) to absolute, specific dates or context (e.g., “on Thursday,” “in July 2025”) to ensure the article remains accurate and evergreen.
5. Integrated Media & Links
Embeds: If
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Key events
Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer again if he’ll “stop his spending spree”, with the Reserve Bank predicting that inflation won’t return back into the target band of 2-3% until 2027.
Jim Chalmers says O’Brien hasn’t “thought through his question”.
If he was talking about the forecasts he would point out that the Reserve Bank has revised down the contribution made by public spending to the economy. Either he doesn’t understand that, which is troubling, or he does understand that and he’s trying to be dishonest about it, equally troubling.
Chalmers adds that while there are inflation pressures in the economy, inflation is expected to moderate in the December quarter.
What governor [Michele] Bullock said last week when she was asked about the fiscal position … [she said] we have relatively low debt compared to other countries, relatively low debt to GDP ratios … and the most recent deficit in fact is quite small as well.
Independent Kate Chaney asks Burke about ‘huge loopholes’ in environment law reforms
Independent Kate Chaney throws another question to the environment minister on the environment protection reforms.
She says the current reforms are at risk of being undermined by “huge loopholes”:
Under the reforms, projects can pay for environmental projects into a central offsets fund, but in New South Wales, Queensland, the Pilbara and overseas, these funds have consistently failed to deliver real environmental outcomes.
Will the government consider amendments to put stronger safeguards around this offsets fund so it actually delivers for nature?
Tony Burke (again, representing the environment minister, Murray Watt) says the new laws shift regulations around offsets from no net loss, to introducing a “net gain”.
That’s a significant shift that happens in terms of what offsets are aiming to be able to deliver for the environment.
Burke says an independent restoration contributions holder will also be established to manage offset funds and ensure that “net gain” is delivered.
A little earlier, just before question time, Michael McCormack brought his binoculars and best commentator’s voice to the house.
You can see his 90-second speech in all its glory here (and I promise it’s worth the watch!)
Bowen says Nationals ‘out of touch’ after deputy’s question on aluminium smelter ignores Rio Tinto’s mention of renewables
The deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan is up next, and asks about the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter. He quotes Rio Tinto’s CEO who said “unfortunately all market proposals received show future energy prices are not commercially viable”.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says Hogan should have read the full quote – “there is not a full stop [there], there’s a comma,” he says. The rest of it, Bowen says, is: “and there is significant uncertainty when the renewable projects will be available at the scale we need”.
What does that mean? Bowen says:
Rio and Tomago were arguing for more renewables not less. They are not blaming renewables, they’re calling us to do more and we agree with them. The opposition are the ones out of touch.
PM dismisses ‘rhetorical flourishes’ from Ley after she claims Labor’s ‘reckless’ spending drove RBA rates call
Staying on that rate hold, the Coalition leader, Sussan Ley, says Australian households have been “denied a Christmas rate cut” because of “Labor’s reckless spending”.
Anthony Albanese says he’ll skip past “some of the rhetorical flourishes” in the question.
He goes through the support the government has provided on cost of living, and does a political “compare and contrast”.
They [the Coalition] oppose the energy bill relief. They oppose the tax cuts. They oppose the pay rises for low income workers. They opposed fee-free Tafe.
Chalmers says RBA decision to keep rates on hold ‘widely expected’
As we brought you a moment ago, the Reserve Bank has kept rates on hold.
In a dixer (an easy question from a government backbencher to a minister), Jim Chalmers says that households would have liked to have seen a rate cut today, but the decision was widely expected.
This decision was widely anticipated by markets and widely expected by economists.
Now, it is the case that inflation is much lower than we inherited from those opposite, and that has given the Reserve Bank the confidence to cut interest rates three times already this year.
Shadow treasurer says Labor does not take responsibility for rises in inflation
Jumping back into question time, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, asks Jim Chalmers again about the rising cost of living. O’Brien says the government takes the glory when inflation goes down, but doesn’t take responsibility when it goes up.
Chalmers says he “shares” the win when inflation goes down with the Australian public (cue lots of heckling from the opposition).
He says the government takes responsibility for the difficulties in the economy after the Covid pandemic and for getting real wages moving again.
We’re actually doing something about it now, when Australians are under pressure, in this building. This House of Representatives, has two choices to do something about it in the most responsible way that we can, which has been the approach of this Albanese Labor government, or to oppose that cost of living help and to take the most irresponsible course of action, which is what the course that those opposite have adopted.
RBA holds official interest rate at 3.6%
Luca Ittimani
The Reserve Bank has left the official interest rate on hold after a surprise jump in inflation, in a widely expected decision.
The RBA’s monetary policy board on Tuesday left the cash rate at 3.6%, where it has sat since August. Economists and banks overwhelmingly expected no change.
The central bank has cut interest rates three times in 2025, easing pressure on mortgage holders and fuelling rapid house price rises.
Core inflation rose to 3% – the top of the RBA’s preferred range – in September, the first acceleration of the underlying measure since 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Independent Helen Haines questions new environment bill’s commitments to community consultation
Over to the crossbench, and independent MP Helen Haines says poor community consultation under the current the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is eroding social licence. She asks if the minister will commit to “best practice community engagement standards” under the new EPBC bill.
Tony Burke (representing the environment minister, Murray Watt, who sits in the Senate) says he understands Watt has spoken to Haines about community consultation.
Burke adds that standards can’t be established until the bill is passed.
Soon we will be making draft standards available for matters of national environmental significance and for offsets. Also the first Nations engagement standard and data and compliance. None of these standards actually have force until they have legislation to bounce off effectively, to launch from.
PM asked to stay relevant after quoting Liberal MP’s past work on net zero at McKinsey in reply to cost of living question
Next is Liberal MP Simon Kennedy (no question from Sussan Ley as yet), who brings more stats to the PM on the impacts of the cost of living. Kennedy says:
In my home state of NSW, more than 4 in 10 people are concerned about going without food. More than a third have skipped meals to cover the essentials. More than 1 in 3 will need financial assistance in the lead-up to Christmas.
Anthony Albanese says Kennedy has had some “outstanding contributions” including his work at McKinsey where he co-authored a report titled or “Carbon light: How Australia can power ahead in a net zero world”.
To no one’s surprise, that immediately gets a point of order on relevance from the opposition. Milton Dick says the question was pretty broad so the PM has scope to diverge, but he should at least try to be relevant.
Albanese ignores the call to be relevant at first, by continuing to quote that McKinsey report and the “opportunities” it says net zero brings. He then gets back on to the cost of living point – and spruiks the government’s tax cuts, medicare funding and medicine price caps.
Question time begins
A slight change in the ordering of questions today – the Coalition starts with Liberal MP Leon Rebello, who asks the prime minister about the latest rise in unemployment, and increase in the latest inflation rates. “Is this what the prime minister meant when he promised no one will be left behind?” he asks.
Anthony Albanese says 1.1 million jobs have been created under his government.
He would have known, when it comes to fiscal policy, that they sat there, promised a budget surplus in their first year when they were elected in 2013 and every year thereafter, and, in fact, they delivered just zero when it comes to surpluses but this treasurer delivered not one, but two budget surpluses, the first consecutive budget surpluses in 20 years.
Albanese then cycles through the government’s commitments in bulk-billing and super on paid parental leave.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, congratulate the winner of the prime minister’s prize for science, ahead of questions.
Albanese says the prize reminds us that Australia “punches well above its weight in scientific excellence, innovation and discovery”.
The race that stops the Nation(als)
Before question time today, the former Nationals leader Michael McCormack gives us an absolute treat of a 90 second statement.
As he did last year, he gives us a play-by-play of the race that stops the nation – by that I mean parliament, and by “the race” I mean the race to lead the Coalition.
Here’s a little taste:
Word is New England may soon be changing stables. Farrer surrounding herself with stablemates. Farrer trying hard, so too Fairfax. Leadership aspirants looming thick and fast … Lawler, Casey and Capricornia cracking the whip. Come on, cheer them home, Grayndler has a huge lead, Greenway laying down the law now, Corio steady but on the wrong course, he thought it was a golf course.
There are heaps of references in there – Farrer of course being to Sussan Ley, the member for Farrer, while Fairfax refers to the member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien etc.
Josh Butler
Coalition confirms it will oppose Labor’s restrictive changes to FoI
The Coalition says it will oppose Labor’s controversial bill to dramatically curtail freedom of information laws, voicing alarm at new fees to lodge requests and the government’s push to expand cabinet confidentiality rules.
As Krishani Dhanji brought you earlier, there was a stoush in the house earlier when the government pushed to refer the bill’s debate to the federation chamber – a much smaller chamber of the parliament, and usually reserved for non-controversial debates.
Despite a Coalition and crossbench resistance, the government won that debate with their superior numbers. But the shadow attorney-general, Andrew Wallace, confirmed the Coalition would push strongly against the bill – joining much of the crossbench in opposing the push.
It means the bill, at this stage, is destined for failure with no other non-Labor support.
In a statement, Wallace confirmed the Coalition will oppose the bill and would “work with crossbenchers to remove the most restrictive measures, including bans on anonymity, new fees and expanded Cabinet exemptions”.
Freedom of information is not a privilege, it’s a right. A government that hides information forgets who it serves. The Coalition stands for open government, free media and the people’s right to know.
He accused the government of “institutionalising secrecy”.
Bowen spruiks ‘solar sharer’ program giving households three hours of free energy
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is spruiking his announcement to give Australian households at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels.
Bowens doing a quick doorstop in parliament before heading up to question time.
He says there are now 4.2m households with solar panels, and there’s plenty of electricity in the middle of the day to go around.
Think about a person working from home who is in the position where they can control their energy use and do more in the middle of the day, or a retired couple living at home who can put their washing machine on or the dishwasher on knowing the power will be free.
The “solar sharer” program would be implemented through a change to the default market offer that sets the maximum price retailers can charge customers for electricity in parts of the country.
Bowen says it will be regulated by the Australian energy regulator and will put “consumers first”.
He also adds that there’s “no catch” and it will be up to households to take the offer up.
ACTU celebrates passage of payday super bill, saying workers will retire with ‘tens of thousands of dollars more’
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has celebrated the passage of the government’s bill to incentivise employers to pay superannuation to their employees at the same time they pay the wages – to address issues around unpaid super.
The ACTU said super theft “strips $5.7bn from 3.3 million workers”. In a statement, the ACTU assistant secretary, Joseph Mitchell said:
Payday super means millions of workers will retire with tens of thousands of dollars more in superannuation, not just by reducing super theft, but by earning faster and more compound interest from their super.
But the Greens have criticised Labor’s rejection of their amendment which would guarantee super payments for under 18s.
At the moment, workers under 18 need to work at least 30 hours a week for the same employer to be eligible for super. The Greens senator Barbara Pocock is not too happy at Labor.
Labor had a chance to back young workers so that all of them are paid super contributions from their employers regardless of their hours. Instead they voted against it.
For too long, workers under 18 have been missing out on super – setting them back financially and costing them thousands early in their careers.
Josh Butler
Anika Wells unlikely to face Senate inquiry over Optus triple zero outage
The Coalition and Greens want the communications minister, Anika Wells, to front the Senate inquiry into Optus’ triple zero outage, but we hear it’s unlikely that she will take up the invitation.
Greens sources said they would seek to invite Wells to appear before the committee, and Coalition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh indicated the same on Sky News just now.
The non-government parties say they have questions over how Wells’ office and department was kept in the loop – or not – as Optus realised the scale of the tech outage that affected some emergency calls.
But there’s a parliamentary convention that ministers in the house don’t appear before inquiries held by the Senate. We understand Wells’ office has not yet received a formal invitation to appear before the hearing, but the minister would be unlikely to buck convention and agree to appear before the committee.
The Greens will also seek to invite executives from Optus’ parent company, Singtel, to appear. There’s also discussion about asking other telco providers to appear as well, to ensure that similar outages couldn’t occur to other networks.
Coalition unable to stop FoI bill debate being sent to ‘legislation clearing house’
Back to the House, the Coalition’s motion to suspend standing orders to stop the freedom of information bill going to the federation chamber for debate has failed.
Even with support from the crossbench to keep this debate in the House, nothing can beat the massive majority the government has, unless they don’t show up or some MPs cross the floor.
Chief opposition whip, Aaron Violi, then tried to table a list of Coalition MPs who wanted to speak on the bill in the House. (That request was denied.)
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, spoke on the bill.
When Australians ask their government for information they are not being difficult, they are exercising their right of citizenship …
This bill does not modernise the freedom of information act, it weakens it. In fact, it tramples it.
The problem is not too many FoI requests, it is too few answers.
Debate was then wrapped, and the rest of the debate will now go to the federation chamber.
Hanson says she attended Trump’s Halloween party and will address CPAC in US
While Labor will try to force all senators to stay put in the Senate for question time today, one senator is halfway across the world, spending time with US conservatives and Donald Trump.
Speaking to Sky News’ Andrew Bolt last night, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson confirmed she has been visiting the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and attended Donald Trump’s Halloween party on Friday.
She also confirmed she would be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the US on Tuesday. Hanson also spoke at the Australian CPAC conference earlier this year. She told Bolt:
It was lovely to actually be at that function on Friday night for Halloween, it was a great night.
My colleague Sarah Basford-Canales reported yesterday that Hanson was in the US, but her office refused to confirm that she was at Trump’s Gatsby-themed event – which Gina Rinehart also attended.
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