Coalition MP ejected from question time after swearing at PM – as it happened

That’s where we’ll leave our political live coverage for today. Before we go, let’s recap the day’s top headlines: Australia’s headline inflation rate has accelerated to 4.3%, which the treasurer has blamed on the war in the Middle East. The RBA’s chief economist has ruled out any suggestion that the country is heading into a recession. The independent senator Fatima Payman says she has offered a personal apology to Helen Haines and her office following comments about the MP’s alleged attack. The Australian federal police responded to a bomb threat at parliament shortly before lunch today, but are continuing inquiries into who may have called it in. The ABC has doubled down on its call in Senate estimates for depictions of Bluey to be removed from a One Nation cartoon in which the beloved character repeatedly runs over politicians with an SUV. The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra, where he promised to help Australians struggling with cost-of-living. A Climate Council report has found Australia has paid more than twice as much as any other nation in additional diesel import costs during the global fuel crisis. The outgoing Australia Post CEO, Paul Graham, was paid a $1.2m bonus on top of his $1.64m base salary in the last financial year. For those who missed it, here’s a tl;dr on what happened in question time. Thanks for sticking around, see you tomorrow! ‘Good’: Andrew Wilkie reacts to Star’s $260m fine The independent MP Andrew Wilkie has reacted to Australia’s biggest listed casino company being slapped with a $260m fine after being found to have been in breach of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. The Star Entertainment Group was penalised in the federal court on Wednesday. In a post to social media, the MP shared his one-worded reaction. Grocery price controls need to be considered, Husic says Ed Husic, the former industry minister, says supermarkets are profiteering on sales of household essentials and the government should consider implementing price controls. He says prices for fruit, eggs, milk and bread should be considered, amid strong inflation and sustained cost-of-living pressures. Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, he said: Having price interventions or price caps on those basic groceries are some of the things I seriously think need to be entertained, because we cannot have Australians … having to make a choice between how do we pay the rent, how do we pay groceries, do I feed myself or do I feed my child going to school. We just can’t have this profiteering in the system and not have any sort of action. So if we need to take action like price caps or price controls in terms of those basic groceries, then we should. Husic conceded the idea was radical and said he expected to be widely criticised for the comments. Prison officers union condemns NSW opposition plan to close jail for housing The Public Service Association (PSA), the union which represents prison officers in NSW, has condemned an election promise by the Coalition to close the century-old Long Bay jail to build 12,000 homes as “irresponsible, if not reckless”. This morning, the NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, announced that if elected in March 2027 she would establish the Long Bay Delivery Authority to oversee the plan. The Coalition has proposed moving facilities for about 1,200 prisoners to existing regional and metropolitan centres, including Goulburn jail, parts of which closed this year. In a statement, the PSA assistant secretary, Troy Wright, said it was “irresponsible, if not reckless, to propose closing a major metropolitan jail without an identified alternative”. Prison officers are dealing with the consequences of an increasingly crowded system every day. The Liberals need to explain exactly where these inmates will go and who will safely supervise them. Pointing to Goulburn and other correctional centres is no substitute for a funded plan that spells out the additional capacity, staffing and facilities required. The Minns government does not support the Coalition’s proposal. The government, which is behind on its target to build 377,000 homes by 2029 under the National Housing Accord, has committed to rezoning to deliver up to 9,400 homes alongside a new heavy rail station in Woollahra, which is in Sloane’s electorate. The Long Bay site in Sydney’s eastern suburbs comprises multiple correctional facilities, including the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre (MSPC), where a 19-year-old man died earlier this year after a watchdog warning MSPC “simply cannot provide a safe environment”. There have been record numbers of prisoners in remand in NSW this year – about 6,400 as of September – driven in part by changes to domestic bail laws. Richard Marles meets with US counterpart Pete Hegseth The defence minister, Richard Marles, has met with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus. The two discussed investment at Australian air force bases, ways to better coordinate on US and Australian approaches to regional deterrence and advancing the Aukus security partnership. The Australian federal police responded to a bomb threat at parliament shortly before lunch today, but are continuing inquiries into who may have called it in. After midday, a team of federal police officers, parliament security officers and sniffer dogs inspected the Senate wing to locate anything out of the ordinary. Nothing was found. Despite the heightened focus on safety amid rising political violence around the country, Capital Hill quickly returned to business as usual with most of the press gallery appearing unfazed and question time carrying on as usual. An AFP spokesperson told Guardian Australia a “comprehensive search was conducted and no issues were identified”. APH has since returned to usual business. Inquiries into the source of the threat are underway. Good afternoon, thanks for sticking around! I’ll guide you through the arvo’s news updates. Thanks for following along today! My colleague Achol Arok will take the reins from here. Imprisoned democracy campaigner Tran Hiep told Australian officials during a consular visit that he was abducted from Cambodia and taken to Vietnam against his will, a parliamentary hearing has heard. Vietnamese authorities claim the 51-year-old dual citizen was arrested while crossing the border from Cambodia with two other activists. He is being held at a notorious detention centre in Ho Chi Minh City after disappearing on 18 September. Elizabeth McGregor, from Dfat’s crisis management division, told Senate estimates on Wednesday that Australian officials visited Hiep on 15 October. She told the hearing Australia remains “deeply concerned” by the campaigner’s report that he was abducted in Cambodia, and officials had sought clarification from both governments about the circumstances of his entry into Vietnam. We’re seeking an expeditious resolution … and his return to Australia to be reunited with family. We’re continuing to raise his case at senior levels with Vietnamese authorities, we’re pressing for regular consular access under the terms of our bilateral consular agreement with Vietnam, humane treatment, access to legal representation, and a quick process. The independent senator Fatima Payman says she has offered a personal apology to Helen Haines and her office following comments about the MP’s alleged attack. The initial statements were made during a late-night committee hearing, where Payman accused Anthony Albanese of being “petty” by not granting her additional staff members after she defected from Labor in 2024. She questioned whether the prime minister was “waiting for something like what happened to Dr Helen Haines to occur to my office, to me, for him to take our request seriously?” In a statement, Payman said her comments were made in “frustration” and she wishes Haines a “full and speedy recovery”. In Senate estimates, I was frustrated and exhausted after almost two years of asking for the staffing my office needs. While my intention was not to diminish the attack on Helen, I understand that it could be seen that way, and I apologise if this has caused any distress to Helen or her family. Payman said her office had seen an uptick of abusive messages from the public over the past day in response to the controversy. She said while her comments were “poorly worded, the issue I was trying to raise is real”. Shoebridge says his focus is peace with justice for Gaza David Shoebridge declines to reveal whether he supports a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel, saying his core focus is achieving peace with justice for Gaza. The question is asked because the UK Greens this month voted to adopt a policy that equates Zionism with racism and calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state. Shoebridge avoids the question initially by saying he’s “not focused on abstract philosophical discussions” but “engaged in the reality of politics”. He said: Do you know what I see in front of me when it comes to Israel and Palestine? I see a genocide … I see a state with an incredible amount of military power, de-housing and killing hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and leaving two-and-a-half million people without the basic sustenance for life. I see an ongoing illegal occupation in the West Bank, and I’m not interested in putting a label on that. But I tell you what I am 100% interested in, and I think I share this interest with millions of Australians, is stopping the brutality against the people of Palestine. It’s about ensuring peace with justice, and in my experience, you don’t do that through labels. You do it through hard work, through principle and through policy, and connecting with the millions of Australians who share those goals … Our policy position is clear: the world needs to assist in coming to a solution driven by the people of Palestine, by the Israeli people, that provides all peoples peace and security. If that is a two-state solution and it’s achievable, and that’s what the people of Palestine and Israel want, well, absolutely. But we would not be limiting it. The core issue here is peace with justice. Shoebridge to stay mum while Steele-John inquiry under way Returning to the Greens leader’s press club address, David Shoebridge is staying mum on any questions relating to allegations made against the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, saying the independent inquiry into them should not be impeded by ongoing commentary and social media posts. The Greens leader said politics needed to be safe for women and that is shown through ensuring the inquiry is independent and fair. He continued: And in terms of social media posts or media discussions, that is obviously not the way to resolve an issue like this. It is not the way. This needs to be dealt with with the respect and the dignity and the care that it’s entitled to, and that is that independent inquiry. So I’d say, absolutely, women and all of us deserve a safe space, and I’m doing everything I can to ensure that they have that assurance by this independent inquiry. Steele-John denies the allegations. Asked whether the investigation’s scope should include reference to Steele-John’s claims that the complaints against him were motivated by state factional issues amid the state’s preselection process, Shoebridge said: … Well, I don’t see any connection between the two. I’ll be entirely clear. But more fundamentally, it’s not for me to determine the timeline for an independent inquiry … that would undermine the very independence, but as I understand it, there is a commitment to have it as timely as possible, consistent with those other core issues about procedural fairness and justice. And everybody involved in this is entitled to not be prejudged and to allow that independent inquiry to work its way through. The latest inflation figures, released hours earlier, provided ample fodder for a combative question time, with the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and his shadow counterpart, Tim Wilson, trading barbs over the cost of living. A $6m grant for the Marrickville golf club returned to the spotlight, a day after the prime minister admitted he got it wrong, when he told parliament its purpose was to stop “raw sewage” going into the nearby river. Labor’s social media reforms, which passed the chamber earlier today, got good airtime as the government urged other parties to unite behind it. The typical question time argy-bargy has made a thunderous return, with two ejections and a slew of admonishments from the speaker. Chaney asks why taxpayers are subsiding refineries Independent MP Kate Chaney brings things back to the cost of living. She asks: When fuel prices spiked this year, Australians were told it was because of the war, but Australia’s two refineries are making super profits … Taxpayers subsidise these refineries, why shouldn’t they get a share of the windfall when refineries profit from a crisis? The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, says: “We do think it’s appropriate to ensure that while government will ensure the refineries remain open – that when there are increased profits, the taxpayer can share in that. That is a conversation that we will have with the industry between now and the end of the year.” Speaker reprimands opposition leader: ‘This yelling is completely unacceptable’ As the prime minister attempts to reference Australia’s credit rating, members of the opposition begin shouting across the aisle. The speaker, Milton Dick, tells opposition leader to stop yelling: You’re going to stop yelling at me … this yelling is completely unacceptable. No leader of the opposition behaves like that … the prime minister can assist by lowering the temperature, as well, with the language being used. The speaker reminds his colleagues “it is not business as usual”. Second MP booted from question time The Nationals MP Darren Chester has become the second member booted from the chamber, meaning today’s question time has clocked the most ejections of the week so far. The speaker, Milton Dick, chides the member for Gippsland on the way out: People are passionate about issues – I understand that, but it’s not the way to handle yourself in the house. PM says he takes issue of AI-generated deepfakes ‘very seriously’ Crossbench MP Zali Steggall asks whether the government will make it illegal to create and disseminate AI-generated deepfakes. She said a recent AI-generated deepfake video, targeting senator Jacqui Lambie, spread false statements in her name, resulting in increased threats to her. The prime minister acknowledged the impact on the senator and responded: It’s not just about politicians, of course. It’s people right across the board, seeing these deepfakes, and it’s hard, there’s videos of people standing outside Parliament House, making statements that aren’t them. That distorts fact from fiction and that is a huge issue. I take these issues very seriously, and so does the government. The digital duty of care is in part aimed at addressing these issues. Speaker warns against a ‘war of tabling’ The manager of opposition business in the house, Dan Tehan, has continued hammering on the golf club, attempting to table a long list of government announcements, Hansard references, interview transcripts and more relating to the grant. But the speaker, Milton Dick, steps in: Don’t abuse question time by trying to do these tricks and stunts. I’m over it, and everyone’s over it. I don’t want this war of tabling to continue on … If people want to table documents, they’ve got the right to do that – but just be reasonable and responsible. The $6m grant to the Marrickville golf club continues to follow Labor as the Liberal MP for Monash, Mary Aldred, asks why the infrastructure department had confirmed the funding was not for addressing sewerage flows when the minister had previously said it was. The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, answered: The decision brief for this project, which we’ve released for transparency, shows that funding for this project was assessed by my department against the criteria publicly available and found to be value for money. Unlike those opposite, we are delivering our election commitments in a transparent way. The prime minister on Tuesday admitted he got it wrong after telling parliament the grant was to stop “raw sewage” going into the nearby river. Coalition attacks on PM continue in question time Nationals MP Kevin Hogan returns to cost-of-living pressures in his question to the prime minister as he asks: “Why do Australians always pay the price because a prime minister can’t ever admit he’s made a mistake?” As Anthony Albanese attempts to point to the conflict in the Middle East, interjections pour in from the Coalition and he issues a reminder: We should turn the temperature down, and maybe people could stop interjecting. Notions of respectful and civil debate appear to have gone out the window in today’s first QT ejection. The prime minister is asked about “getting rid of the climate change department” and as he affirms climate change is real, parliament’s typical argy bargy returns and the MP for Wide Bay, Llew O’Brien, is ejected. As O’Brien leaves to serve a three-hour ban from the chamber the speaker, Milton Dick, says: Swearing in the parliament is completely unacceptable and he [O’Brien] will leave the chamber for three hours. Honestly, we will not allow this parliament to have that language. None of us will accept that. I won’t accept it. Australia won’t accept it. Chalmers says global oil prices are behind inflation After another question on inflation, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, points to the impact of conflict in the Middle East. One of the reasons why the shadow treasurer and the leader of the opposition don’t have any credibility, is because they refuse to acknowledge the impact of higher global oil prices on inflation – not just in Australia, but, indeed, around the world. If you look at the inflation numbers today, the biggest driver was petrol prices … those opposite might want to pretend that that’s not happening, but that’s a factor. PM urges parliament to unite on proposed social media reforms After the government’s digital duty of care bill passed the House of Representatives today, Anthony Albanese answers a dixer on the issue: We know that the algorithms drive people towards more extreme positions and we know this is having an impact on our society. The deliberate design of social media algorithms are designed to push people further and further down these rabbit holes, and to change society for the worst. You see, the impact and harm of social media right across our society Australians are sick of it. As expected, the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has kicked things off with a question on the latest inflation numbers. He asks: Last year, your treasurer boasted … Will the prime minister acknowledge reality, accept his treasurer was wrong and admit Labor’s out-of-control spending is forcing families and small businesses to pay more for everything? The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says economies around the world are facing challenges: Every day, [Australians are] experiencing the impact of the cost of living, we certainly understand that that puts people under pressure. And just like in countries right around the world, the challenges that we face in our economy are serious. The reality is they’re not going to be solved overnight. Freshly dropped and hotter-than-expected, inflation figures are set to fuel the furore in QT today. Let’s get into it. ‘Profit ahead of compliance’: casino company handed giant fine Australia’s biggest listed casino company has been hit with a $260m fine, four years after financial intelligence agency Austrac launched legal action against the company. The Star Entertainment Group was penalised in the federal court on Wednesday. Austrac previously argued a $400m penalty was necessary to punish what it said were “manifest failures” at Star. But the stock market-listed company, which has a market value of $763m, argued any penalty over $100m would send it into liquidation. Justice Cameron Moore determined a $260m penalty was appropriate for the significant harm Star’s conduct has caused. In effect, Star put profit ahead of compliance and did so on a large scale. – Australian Associated Press Watchdog ‘spent millions’ as billionaire Clive Palmer fined $10,000 A marathon legal battle sparked after Clive Palmer’s dinosaur-inspired takeover of a championship golf course and resort has ended with a $10,000 fine. The Queensland district court convicted Palmer Leisure Coolum and fined it $10,000 for breaching takeover laws during an acquisition of a Sunshine Coast resort. The mining magnate bought the five-star 324-room Hyatt Regency Coolum, on 150 hectares and with a 2km beachfront, for a reported $80m in July 2011. The resort lost its hosting of the Australian PGA Golf Championship but Palmer would bring in more than 160 lifesize dinosaurs and an exotic car museum. In 2012, Palmer’s company committed offences while proposing to buy out a group of timeshare investors in the resort called The President’s Club. The resort pleaded guilty in June 2026. – Australian Associated Press The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, says Labor is its main target as it looks to double its vote between now and the next federal election to “replace” the governing party. Following his speech at the National Press Club, Shoebridge was asked what he’s going to do differently given the party’s vote hasn’t risen much further since the last federal election. The NSW senator said: They [Labor] have sold their conscience, and we need to be loud and proud that our job in politics is to do what we said today: to replace the Labor party. Yes, we want to fight One Nation, and we want to fight the racism, and division. But they rose on Labor’s watch, and our way to defeat that hate and division is through the Labor party. Man charged after allegedly threatening politician on social media A man has been charged after allegedly using social media to threaten a federal parliamentarian. The Australian federal police arrested the 39-year-old in Lithgow on Tuesday and charged him with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence. Officers executed a search warrant and allegedly discovered 1 gram of a white crystalline substance and drug paraphernalia, and seized a mobile phone. The man was charged with one count of drug possession and another count of possession of equipment for administration of a prohibited drug. Opposition questions government on aged care tool consultation process The shadow aged care minister, Anne Ruston, is asking department officials about there were any meaningful public consultations about the government’s new “escalation pathway” for the aged care assessment tool. After it was revealed that aged care assessors said the algorithm-driven tool was underquoting on needs of older Australians and assessors had no power to override wrong decisions, the government added a new review pathway. It means decisions can be escalated to a delegate for review. Aged care assessors have told Guardian Australia this creates more administrative load – they want the ability to override wrong decisions themselves. Recommendation 4 of the commonwealth ombudsman’s report into the failures of the assessment tool says any changes to aged care legislation should be preceded by open, public consultation. Ruston asks whether a series of closed-door, targeted workshops met that standard – department officials say consultation was folded into workshops alongside a rapid review with aged care advocacy groups, geriatricians and assessment groups. Departmental officials say that no draft rules for the pathway were provided to those stakeholders, and no public consultation was conducted. Draft versions of the rules were shared with stakeholders through the minister’s office. Advocates accuse government of ‘cherrypicking’ welfare compensation recipients Welfare advocates have accused the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) of “cherrypicking” who might get compensation for having their payment unlawfully cancelled, after it was revealed the department had invited 50,652 to apply, when an estimated 310,000 people were impacted. The Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and member of the DEWR Targeted Compliance Stakeholder Reference Group Kristin O’Connell said: All members of the reference group have repeatedly raised our concerns about this process with DEWR and urged them to ensure everyone subjected to these unlawful decisions receives compensation. It is not up to the department to decide whether or not these 300,000 people were harmed – if they made an unlawful decision, they should repay people as an act of good faith. If people have not been approached but believe they were impacted, they can still apply, with more details here. The ABC has doubled down on its call in Senate estimates for depictions of Bluey to be removed from a One Nation cartoon in which the beloved character repeatedly runs over politicians with an SUV. The broadcaster’s managing director, Hugh Marks, said on Tuesday that he became aware of One Nation’s potential breach of intellectual property rights last week and sought legal advice. An ABC spokesperson said on Wednesday. As the managing director stated during Senate estimates, the ABC does not own the intellectual property for Bluey. The ABC is considering available options. In the meantime, the ABC considers the relevant cartoons should be immediately removed from One Nation’s platforms and no further use should occur. Bluey’s international distributor, BBC Studios, and the Brisbane-based creators Ludo have been in discussions with the ABC about the issue. Earlier today, the communications minister, Anika Wells, said the ABC is “well within its rights to be concerned” about One Nation’s use of Bluey, “one of Australia’s biggest, most loved, most well-known exports”. Jim Chalmers blames Middle East conflict for high inflation Jim Chalmers has blamed higher global oil prices for intensifying cost of living pressures at home, after inflation jumped to 4.3% in the year to September. The treasurer in a statement said inflation was “too high”, but that prices were rising faster across a range of countries, not just here. Fuel prices were up more than 9% last month, and were 24% higher than a year earlier, he said. We’ve seen higher oil prices driving higher inflation around the world and today’s figures confirm we are not immune from that. From an economic point of view, the [Middle East] conflict can’t end soon enough. We know this doesn’t make it any easier for families who are under pressure. The treasurer’s comments come after a sometimes heated debate earlier in the day between the Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, and Liberal senator Jane Hume around the extent to which government spending was to blame for high inflation. Sarah Hunter, the RBA’s chief economist, says none of the bank’s real-time economic indicators “are suggesting that the economy is in, or heading into, a recession”. Speaking at Senate estimates, Hunter’s assessment followed comments by her boss, Michele Bullock, that the Reserve Bank expects unemployment to “gradually move up”, but that “we’re not worried about the pace of increase in the unemployment rate at this stage”. The key jobless measure has climbed to 4.7%, its highest in five years. But it’s still below the 5%-plus pre-Covid level, and the RBA officials’ comments confirm the central bank’s primary worry is high inflation rather than weak growth. Woolworths CEO says she expects to see ‘modest inflation’ in grocery prices The Woolworths group chief executive officer, Amanda Bardwell, says she expects “modest inflation” in grocery prices in the near future. Speaking to journalists after the company released its results for the first quarter of the 2026-2027 financial year, Bardwell said: Overall, what we’d expect as we go forward is to see some modest inflation in food, similar to what we will have seen in previous years. There’s no doubt that as fuel continues stay at elevated levels and input costs continue to rise, that will cause some suppliers to need to ask for price increases. Bardwell said there had been a surge in requests from the supermarket’s product suppliers to raise prices earlier in the year, immediately after the war on Iran began, but this reduced “fairly quickly” to a “normalised” number of requests. Inflation in the food and non-alcoholic beverage sector rose again last month according to the latest official data released this morning by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS’s consumer price index showed annual inflation in the sector was 3.2% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 3% in August 2026. Aged care algorithm leading to unfair outcomes for older Australians seeking at-home care, estimates hears More from health estimates: Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne has challenged health and ageing officials at estimates over the aged care algorithm. Referring to expert testimony and report findings, she argued it pushes critical health issues for older Australians such as dementia, frailty and medication management so far down the decision tree that they barely impact a person’s funding package. The commonwealth ombudsman’s report examined the integrated assessment tool and found it is leading to unreasonable and unfair outcomes for older Australians when it assesses what level of home support older Australians need. Allman-Payne questioned why complex cognitive and personal health needs are treated as secondary factors by the algorithm. We’ve heard from functional assessment experts that these are critical domains, and yet, in the way the algorithm is designed … they come in so late in the decision-making tree that at best they move people up one or two levels. Functional assessment experts are saying … they should be at the front of the algorithm, so that the questions people are being asked at the start. Department deputy secretary Sonja Stewart pointed to the government’s recently announced independent review into the classification and prioritisation algorithms. The government will consider and finalise terms of reference for the review that it has announced, in terms of the classification algorithm and the priority algorithm, and the points that you go to are particularly relevant to the classification algorithm and the involvement of experts in that review. Inflation is ‘too high’, says RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser, the RBA’s deputy governor, said this morning’s inflation numbers were “too high”, but also “broadly in line” with what central bank officials and private sector economists were expecting. Reserve Bank officials are appearing at Senate estimates this morning, and Hauser said the “nightmare” was that longer-term inflation expectations pick up, which would make it harder to get inflation out of the system. Hauser said: We don’t think it is necessarily crystallising yet, but it is a particular risk. More on inflation data: The consumer price index shows that costs for everyday goods and services are rising at the same time as unemployment lifts, making life uncomfortable for many households. Transport costs have risen 8.7% over the past 12 months, due in large part to escalating fuel prices stemming from the US and Israel conflict with Iran. Food prices have also jumped another 3.2% in a year, and housing costs are up 5.2%. These are all big components of a typical household budget and are largely unavoidable. The dynamic feeds into the growing political unease in Australia and elsewhere, as voters express their discontent over reigniting cost-of-living pressures. Continuing from the previous post, Rothville was also asked about her husband driving off without paying for petrol last week. What was her reaction? Oh look, it was you know the emoji with the hand on the forehead moment. But look, it happens. She says she was “just upset” she didn’t return her daughter’s friend’s pencil case herself. Ben Carroll’s wife joins him on campaign trail Ben Carroll has a special guest on the campaign bus with him today – his wife, Fiona Rothville. He told reporters he’s lucky she’ll be joining him during the campaign as she’s a “great moral support”. Rothville adds: I’m very happy to be involved in the campaign. Not every day … It’ll be you know a couple of times of the campaign here and there again, just to support Ben and support my family and balance my responsibilities. But her appearance comes amid tension at 1 Treasury Place over her involvement in the running of his office. The Herald Sun at the weekend reported Rothville attended briefings and guided policy. She denied this: We’re a family that discusses the news, and so you know it’s the standard conversations. Reporter: “But is he getting your advice on policy? Rothville: “No. I mean, I’ll have a view on certain things, and we’ll have a chat just like anybody does. “ RBA governor says more pain needed to bring inflation under control Michele Bullock, the Reserve Bank governor, says “a further period of subdued growth” is needed to bring inflation back under control, ahead of next Tuesday’s decision on whether to deliver a fifth interest rate hike for the year. Just minutes before the release of the latest inflation figures, Bullock in her opening statement to Senate estimates pointed to a re-escalating Middle East conflict and its impact on fuel prices. She said the AI investment boom was also playing a part in renewed cost-of-living pressures. She said: Importantly though, it is not just these global pressures that are driving inflation in Australia. While they are certainly compounding the inflation problem, we still see inflation arising from domestic capacity pressures. The labour market might be “a little bit tighter” than thought despite rising unemployment, and weak productivity is a “fundamental challenge” for the Australian economy, she said. Against this backdrop, and despite growth in domestic demand slowing, a further period of subdued growth of aggregate demand is needed to reduce capacity pressures and bring inflation down sustainably. Australia’s headline inflation rate has accelerated to 4.3%, sharpening expectations of another interest rate rise next week. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s preferred gauge of consumer prices that strips out volatile items, called underlying inflation, was also elevated at an annual 3.6% to the end of September. The consumer price index release comes shortly ahead of the central bank’s next monetary policy decision on 3 November, when most economists are tipping another increase to borrowing rates. The cash rate, which informs lending rates including mortgages, already stands at 4.6%, its highest level in 15 years, after four increases this year. Pauline Hanson decries ‘hypocrites’ in push for early access to super The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has held a press conference as part of the party’s push to allow Australians early access to super to pay rent or make mortgage payments She told reporters: People are struggling to keep roofs over their heads. Have we got an obligation for people in this nation to do what we can to assist them now. It is their money. I’ll raise another point what a bunch of hypocrites – [treasurer Jim] Chalmers and his staff – when members of parliament can access 3% of their super. But the Super Members Council has estimated a typical 30-year-old worker on that income would end up $25,000 poorer by retirement if they opted in to the One Nation plan. Poorer retirees would force the government to spend more on the age pension. The SMC estimated the Covid-era withdrawals, where 3 million Australians took out nearly $38bn, would cost taxpayers up to $85bn by the end of the century. Aged care department grilled over decision to ban algorithm override powers Returning to the aged care algorithm, senator David Pocock has asked Department of Health and Ageing officials a key question many have been left asking: When the department discovered at the 11th hour – just days before the 1 November rollout, that the aged care rules 2025 had been drafted so rigidly that they legally prohibited clinical overrides, why did the government choose to enforce a complete ban on overrides and quietly change the user manuals? Rather than owning up to the legal drafting error and amending the legislation to maintain its multiple public and private promises to assessors that they would have override? The department revealed the decision to remove override was actually made in 2024. It just wasn’t communicated consistently between the multiple teams working on the tool, which is used to assess the level of support older Australians are entitled to. Pocock put to the department officials: “It’s a huge error. Where is the accountability for this?” First assistant secretary Greg Pugh responds: “We have accepted the recommendation of the ombudsman to be in a position to undertake a root cause analysis of exactly what occurred.” Western Australians could be first to access plug-in solar Renters and apartment dwellers in Western Australia could be the first in Australia to gain access to plug-in solar, with the state government opening consultation on the technology on Wednesday. Plug-in solar systems, also called balcony solar, are small, standalone systems that can be attached to balconies or used in back yards and plugged into power points, offsetting the energy used by household appliances. Researchers from RMIT University have estimated Australians living in capital cities could save between $226 and $372 each year with a plug-in system. The consumer technology has gained popularity overseas, and is available in the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand. While units can be sold in Australia, they are not yet legal to plug in and use. The WA energy minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, announced consultation on a safety standard, the first step of a move to legalise the technology. She said: For too long, the benefits of cheap solar have been out of reach for anyone who doesn’t own their roof. That isn’t fair, and the Cook Labor Government is doing something about it. Heidi Lee Douglas, chief executive of the advocacy group Solar Citizens, welcomed the announcement: All Australians deserve to save money on power by harnessing the sun. We look forward to renters, apartment dwellers and low income homes being able to plug-in, switch-on and save, save, save. In September, federal, state and territory energy ministers agreed to explore the safe deployment of plug-in solar. Aged care algorithm under scrutiny in estimates Greens senator Penny-Allman Payne is grilling Department of Health and Ageing staff about the aged care algorithm following a scathing ombudsman report, which found a tool used to assess support at-home entitlements for older Australians is unfair, unreasonable and leading to poor outcomes. She asked why aged care assessors were assured for months before the rollout of the algorithm that if the tool made a wrong funding package recommendation they would have the ability to override the algorithm and make sure their client received the right level of support. Despite those multiple assurances to the aged care sector both publicly and privately, the department of health updated user manuals for the tool to say overriding the tool would be illegal and was banned, shortly before the tool was launched in November. The deputy secretary of the department of health, Sonja Stewart, admitted the decision to ban assessor overrides was locked in by government in 2024, but departmental officials spent months giving incorrect guidance to health workers that clinician. First assistant secretary Greg Pugh admitted that different teams within the department were working under entirely different assumptions, some believing human override was banned, while another team built IT features and told the public and assessment agencies that clinicians could change incorrect scores. Ambulance patients who abuse paramedics will have to pay for care, Victoian premier vows Violent and abusive ambulance patients will be forced to pay for their care under a Victorian Labor election pledge to strip them of their membership. The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has taken a ride on Labor’s big red campaign bus to Sunshine, in Melbourne west, to make the commitment. He said: If you assault a paramedic, if you threaten or intimidate a paramedic, it does not give you the right to have free public transport by that paramedic. It is wrong, and we need to call it out and have a zero-tolerance approach. Concession card holders whose ambulance bill is normally covered, even if they don’t have a membership, would lose their fee exemption if demonstrating such behaviour. The government says there will be guardrails for patients with dementia, an acquired brain inquiry and other mitigating circumstances. Treasury boss says government spending not to blame for high inflation Jenny Wilkinson, the Treasury secretary, says government spending is not adding to the country’s inflation challenge, and the surprisingly strong pick-up in the private sector has contributed to the recent upswing in price pressures. Since the middle of 2025 … we have observed public demand growth coming off and private demand growth lifting. So public demand has made less of a contribution to economic growth over this last period than private demand. Jane Hume, senator and deputy opposition leader, pointed to numerous economists who have said high government spending was adding inflationary pressure. But the Treasury boss also said changes in the overall budget position over the last 18 months “have taken some pressure from the government out of the economy”. There is a separate argument about whether there’s additional activity that should be taken out. But … if you’re asking me whether the changes in the net fiscal position have contributed to this increase in inflation that we have observed over the past 18 months, then I think it’s very hard to sustain that argument. Racism affecting patients, GPs and healthcare workers, report reveals One in three GPs reported witnessing racism towards patients in the past 12 months, according to data in the 2026 Health of the Nation report. The report also showed that one in five GPs reported experiencing racism from a patient within their practice. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president, Dr Michael Wright, said the results show that racism continues to affect patients, GPs and healthcare workers across Australia. He called for better monitoring and measurement of racism in the healthcare system. No healthcare professional should face racism at work, and no patient should experience racism when accessing healthcare. Every Australian deserves safe, respectful and culturally responsive healthcare. Racism has no place in our health system. The RACGP has called on all levels of government to adopt the National Anti-Racism Framework and invest in its implementation. The report also found the proportion of general practitioners bulk-billing all of their patients has more than doubled in a year. Continuing on from last post … Greens senator Barbara Pocock has criticised the high salaries at the Future Fund: $2.2 million is an outrageous sum of money for a single public servant to earn. What’s more, we see the number of highly paid people on more than a million bucks in the Future Fund leaping from 11 to 17, and only one woman among them. Australians across the country, who can barely afford groceries, will share my outrage. The government and the Future Fund have justified the remuneration based on the scale of investments being made, the risk involved, and the need to secure the best possible investment managers in a competitive and well-paid finance industry. In the private sector, senior managers at major Australian banks commonly receive annual bonuses of more than $1m. But these salaries remain controversial with shareholders. Million-dollar public servants: Future Fund staff paid more than $1m jumps from 11 to 17 The number of federal public servants being paid more than $1m at one government agency has increased from 11 to 17 in one year. Guardian Australia reported 11 managers at Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, were paid significantly more than the prime minister. One was paid $1.5m, more than double Anthony Albanese’s salary. The Future Fund’s chief corporate affairs officer, Will Hetherton, told a Senate estimates hearing the number of staff receiving more than $1m increased in the last financial year. Hetherton said one public servant at the fund was paid $2.2m, including a deferred short term bonus and a long-term incentive. Greens senator Barbara Pocock said no other Australian government employee earned that much money. She asked Hetherton to justify the remuneration, who said: The approach to remuneration is set by the board and has been in place since the fund was established. There have been some tweaks along the way, but it is largely the same approach. The Future Fund is really quite distinct from other agencies and departments within the public service. Our job is to maximise risk-adjusted returns and we operate in competitive global markets both for investment opportunities and talent. The board’s remuneration strategy reflects that. Short-term incentives and long-term incentives are tied directly to investment performance. A large part of the remuneration that is paid and reported in detail in annual reports is at risk and reflects the strong performance of the fund. Hetherton told the estimates hearing the fund had delivered a return of 14.8% in the last financial year, adding $37.4bn to the portfolio. Former secretary paid almost $900k after being sacked after welfare debacle Former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secretary Natalie James was paid an $828,980 “termination benefit” after being sacked by the Albanese government in February. James’ contract was cut short by 18 months after two commonwealth ombudsman reports found the targeted compliance framework was operating unlawfully and cancelling people’s welfare payments when it should not have been. Despite this controversy, and the huge amount of stress and financial concern for some of the most vulnerable Australians, it was just revealed in Senate estimates that James got paid almost $900,000 on her way out the door. The payment was part of DEWR’s $12.9m redundancy costs for the 2025-26 financial year. Likely compensation for at least 50,000 people for illegal welfare payment cancellation The head of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Simon Duggan, has defended the decision to turn the majority of the targeted compliance framework (TCF), the automated system that issues welfare penalties, back on. The TCF was operating unlawfully, cutting off or reducing the income of an estimated 310,000 people between 2020 and 2024. Payment cancellations related to compulsory activities have now resumed. Opening Senate estimates this morning, Duggan said the government had begun the process of offering compensation but that anyone who believes they are affected should apply: The department will be proactively inviting 50,652 people to apply for compensation, who have been identified through data analysis as most likely to be eligible for compensation under the requirements of the CDA scheme. He said the deponent is monitoring the system as payment cancellations begin to roll out. Duggan also said there were four other elements which have not been turned on yet: The remaining four paused elements of the TCF, all of which relate to ensuring that legally required human discretion is supported in decision-making, will remain paused until further safeguards and assurance arrangements are in place. At this stage, those elements are expected to resume in the first quarter of 2027, subject to completion of comprehensive system decision-making and assurance work. Treasury boss blames higher interest rates for property slump Jenny Wilkinson, the secretary of the Treasury, says the government’s tax reforms to capital gains and negative gearing have had “some effect” on property prices, but said the recent slump had more to do with “higher interest rates, heightened global uncertainty, and weak consumer sentiment”. Wilkinson, speaking at Senate estimates this morning, said it was “important to distinguish between the cyclical and structural drivers of the housing market”. “Interest rates have a particularly strong cyclical effect because Australia’s high share of variable rate mortgages means monetary policy passes relatively quickly to existing and new borrowers,” she said. The budget tax reforms are expected to have a more structural effect through their impact on the relative attractiveness of housing to investors, as outlined in the budget papers, the impacts of the tax measures on house prices and rent are expected to be modest over the medium term, while shifting the ownership of the housing stock towards owner-occupiers.” Home values were down 5.2% from their March peak, but they were still 6% higher than “a couple of years ago”, Wilkinson said. The price declines have been sharper than in the early stages of most other housing slowdowns over the past 20 years, but the run-up in house prices was also more significant. Woolworths claims demand for Ooshies assisting in 6.9% increase in revenue Woolworths, Australia’s largest supermarket, has had a strong start to the financial year, with almost $15bn in grocery sales amid cost-of-living pressures. The company posted its results for the first quarter of the financial year (July to September) to the ASX a short time ago, ahead of separate inflation data being released by the government later this morning. Woolworths has attributed its strong results to growth in customer demand for groceries amid the ongoing success of its Ooshies collectable campaign rather than rising shelf prices. Across the Woolworths group, which includes stores in New Zealand, the company sold $19.4bn worth of products, an increase of 4.7% from the same three-month period last year. Most of the revenue came from Australian food sales, which amounted to $14.8bn, a 6.9% increase compared with the corresponding period. Woolworths will hold two calls with journalists and investors this morning, and we’ll bring you more updates after that. Man arrested after making false claims about Bondi terror attack injuries A man who allegedly made false claims about getting injured in the Bondi Beach terror attack has been charged. The 46-year-old is accused of making a false statement about getting injured during the mass shooting and making fraudulent claims for compensation after the event. NSW police have charged the man with publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage and false representation resulting in police investigation after he was arrested on Tuesday morning. He has been granted conditional bail and is set to appear at Parramatta local court today. Continued from the previous post … At a brief appearance late last night, the Australian federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, revealed the force had received 785 protective security reports regarding adverse content against federal parliamentarians in the first six months of this year. Barrett said women politicians were three times more likely to report receiving offensive or threatening contact that was sexualised or gender-based in nature while those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were also more likely to experience “frequent and varied offensive contact”. Death threat emails received during Senate estimates, WA senator reveals The Western Australian senator, Fatima Payman, revealed she had received yet another threatening email in a Senates estimates hearing last night, causing her to cancel a local event this weekend. Federal politicians are continuing to sound the alarm about safety fears after the brutal alleged attack against Helen Haines last week. Payman said her office had received an email yesterday evening, saying “watch your back, c***. You’re going to die very, very soon. You dog c***.” Now, this is something we receive daily, but this weekend we were due to hold a community stall at a local market. We have had to cancel it because my staff told me they don’t feel safe after the AFP advised us, and I quote: “An assessment of all available information has been undertaken, and unfortunately, at this stage, the AFP won’t be in attendance to assist.” Can you please tell me how this assessment was made and with what rationale? The AFP’s deputy commissioner, Scott Lee, responded he could not go into operational details but said: I know our team is certainly looking to talk to your office and your staff as a matter of priority on that assessment. The outgoing chief executive of Australia Post, Paul Graham, was paid a $1.2m bonus on top of his $1.64m base salary in the last financial year, after the $139.4m sale of property owned by Australia Post pushed the organisation into a profit for the year. Graham, who announced this month he will retire after five years at the helm in June next year, confirmed to Senate estimates on Tuesday night he had been paid the bonus based on two performance components, with one component related to the “property strategy we had to execute”. He said the strategy was critical to Australia Post’s transformation: We do have the great fortune of sitting on property that has been in the network for some time, and it was important for us to get an articulated, clear strategy … releasing those non-core properties from our portfolio and ensuring that they provided the cashflow that not only got us back into a profitable position, but enabled us to make the substantial investments we’re making as part of our transformation. Liberal senator Sarah Henderson told Graham it was a “mind-blowing amount of money”. Australia Post reported a profit before tax of $31.8m, but had the property sales been excluded, Australia Post would have reported a loss before tax of $107.6m, as the letter volumes fell a further 14.7% in the 2026 financial year. Greens leader says people are disillusioned with Labor delivering for 1% During his address at the National Press Club today, the leader of the Greens, David Shoebridge, is set to propose a $21-a-week tax cut by increasing taxes on gas exports. Shoebridge told ABC News Breakfast: We keep hearing that there’s nothing that the commonwealth government can do to deal with the urgent cost-of-living crisis that people are feeling. People need to have faith in politics, and people need to believe that if the current lot you’re voting for are not going to help you in your daily life, if the current lot you’re voting for seem to be delivering for the 1% rather than the people they’re meant to be representing – the millions of Australians who are having trouble paying their daily bills – you have a choice here. Ideas have a power, hope has a power, and we bloody well need that right now in politics. One Nation must explain how Bluey cartoon is satire, Wells says The communications minister, Anika Wells, said Bluey is one of Australia’s most loved and well-known exports and the ABC is “well within its rights” to explore legal options over One Nation’s use of the dog in its own cartoon series. Australia’s national broadcaster indicated it would send a cease and desist letter to One Nation for using Bluey in a “shocking and disrespectful” cartoon. Asked whether One Nation’s depiction goes “over the line”, Wells told ABC Radio National: Satire is one thing, scrutiny is important … the people that are making this cartoon should explain why this errs on the side of satire and not something more. Coalition must ‘go back to the drawing board’ on latest social media bill Asked why the Coalition has not put forward amendments on the reforms, the opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, said the government had to “go back to the drawing board”. He told ABC Radio National the opposition was concerned about the amount of power offered to the e-safety commissioner, “ill-defined” definitions and harms, and risks to small businesses. O’Brien said: The government will not budge on this, which is why we have come to the point where we’ve just said, they have to go back to the drawing board. The Coalition will always stand ready to be constructive on these things. But when the governor of the day just refuses to engage, then unfortunately you end up with a bill, which is so untidy – in fact, I think it’s going to be counterproductive to the objects of the bill. Note: this post has been amended after it was mistakenly attributed to Tim Wilson. Opposition accused of ‘refusing to participate’ on digital duty of care The communications minister, Anika Wells, has said she is discussing the government’s latest tranche of social media reforms and has kept her door open to all parliamentarians who want to find ways to improve the bill. But she told ABC Radio National: The oppositions say they care about kids’ safety online and I believe them – but parliament is where you prove it. Where are their amendments? The test is simple here, they should bring an amendment, not a slogan to kill the bill. Online hate is spilling into the real world, AFP warns AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett began her late-night appearance at the Senate estimates hearing noting “a heaviness that hangs across Australia” after the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines. She said it has aligned with a global trend of violence emerging with little or no warning from individuals largely unknown to authorities. Lone actors are being motivated by a convergence of personal grievances, mental health vulnerabilities and ideological concerns … What helped keep us safe in recent times, such as our geography, analogue systems and far away criminals, has been impacted by fully integrated technology, social media and artificial intelligence. Barrett told the Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night technology has enabled an “instant pipeline of hate” delivered to people’s homes, including teenagers, and workplaces because of the ubiquity of devices. – Australian Associated Press Racism going undercounted in Australia, report finds Data on racism is inconsistent across jurisdictions and leading to people’s experience of discrimination being severely misrepresented, a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found. The recommendation to develop a national anti-racism data plan was contained in the commission’s national anti-racism framework released in 2024, but to which the Albanese government is yet to respond. The report also recommends strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs designed to eliminate racism. The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, said: We hear about the devastating impacts of racism from communities every day. But many experiences go unreported or uncounted, and our systems often do not capture the full picture. This is not about collecting more data to prove racism exists. We already know it does. It is about making inequality visible, holding institutions to account and giving communities greater agency over their data to drive real change. PM did not mislead voters over golf club grant, Murray Watt says The environment minister, Murray Watt, has backed the prime minister after he conceded “it was not correct” to say a $6m grant to the Marrickville golf club was for sewerage works. Asked whether Anthony Albanese misled parliament over this grant, Watt told ABC News Breakfast: The prime minister was correct in saying that the original announcement included that sewerage work to remove pollution going into the Cooks River. Obviously, the situation changed with the New South Wales government making a similar commitment Australia has paid more than twice as much as any other nation in additional diesel import costs during the global fuel crisis, with a report putting the toll at $9bn over six months. The added cost equates to $324 for every Australian, exceeding the bills incurred by Brazil, South Africa, France and the UK. The Climate Council released the figures from its energy security scorecard on Wednesday, which also found Australia paid an extra $1.6bn for petrol imports. The findings come days after oil prices reached a six-month high amid escalating threats in the Middle East. - Australian Associated Press No new numbers on social media ban deactivations due to investigations The eSafety commissioner won’t release updated figures on the number of accounts held by under-16s that have been deactivated or suspended in the social media ban. In March, the commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, announced that TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat were under investigation for compliance with the ban, and with new powers to compel the companies to produce documents, that investigation is under way, Inman Grant told Senate estimates last night. Anthony Albanese has said more than 5m accounts have been deactivated across 10 platforms, but no more updated figures will be coming while the investigations are ongoing as it may prejudice the outcome of those investigations, officials told Senate estimates. No decision has been made as to whether to take any of the platforms to court to seek fines of nearly $100m for breaches of the law. The government has resisted providing a public breakdown of the accounts deactivated across the 10 platforms but some companies – such as Meta and Snapchat – have provided their own figures. Liberal senator Sarah Henderson requested the eSafety commissioner release the data publicly as “the numbers don’t add up”, indicating that the committee was provided much more detail privately by eSafety on the figures that had not been made public. The question was taken on notice. Thanks for kicking things off this morning, Martin Farrer. I’ll take us through the blog for another busy sitting day. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said she and her family had been subjected to an onslaught of online abuse and threats in the 10 years she has been in the role. In her final appearance before Senate estimates last night, Inman Grant said it was a “sensitive and pivotal moment” for the parliament in the wake of the alleged attack on Helen Haines, and the environment was “dangerously febrile for women in senior government roles.” When public officials are used for political point scoring, a target goes on our backs and we are subjected to an onslaught of online abuse and threats. As many of you know, this has been the normal state of affairs for me and my family for years, yet somehow this is meant to be accepted as part of public service. Inman Grant did not name any people who have targeted her personally, but her work in the role has seen her labelled as a “censorship commissar” by the world’s richest person, Elon Musk. US Republican congressman Jim Jordan labelled Inman Grant as a “zealot for global takedowns”. Inman Grant said more needs to be done for the next generation of leaders to feel safe in online spaces or public-facing roles. Social media is no longer the once envisioned digital town square – it has become more like a gladiatorial arena. Meanwhile, platforms continue to roll back abuse and violent speech policies that let some of the most egregious offenders out of digital jail. Read our story here: The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, will address the National Press Club in Canberra today, promising to help Australians struggling with cost-of-living and answering questions about allegations against senator Jordon Steele-John. He will propose lifting the tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $26,000, meaning people earning a wage won’t pay tax on their first $26,000. He says that will save the average working Australian more than $1,000. The Greens are also proposing a $1,000 annual boost for people on income support, including pensioners, carers, students, and job seekers. No matter who you are, whether you’re working, studying, looking for work or on a pension, you’ll get more than $1,000. Costings for the Greens from the Parliamentary Budget Office show the plan would cost about $22bn a year, with Shoebridge proposing to pay for it through higher taxes on gas exports and a market-based tax on resources companies. Steele-John is on leave from parliament amid an investigation into allegations about his conduct towards women. He has denied the allegations. Official data released at 11:30am are expected to show inflation accelerated to 4.2% in the year to September, from 4% in the month before, as rising fuel costs amid a worsening Middle East conflict compound cost of living pressures. Look out for the Reserve Bank’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation, which removes the most volatile prices. That measure is predicted to hold at 3.6% in the year to the September quarter, economists say, but anything higher will virtually guarantee a fifth interest rate hike next Tuesday. The RBA may feel the need to hike regardless, as recent comments from top central bank officials suggest they are more worried about high inflation becoming entrenched in the system than the rising rate of unemployment. Financial markets are pricing in about a 65% chance of a Melbourne Cup day rate rise. The latest inflation report also lands in the middle of a parliamentary sitting week, and the opposition will be quick to use the figures to attack Labor for its management of the economy. Rising unemployment and accelerating inflation is not a situation anyone is comfortable with. But a more benign set of numbers today will take the heat off mortgaged households, the Reserve Bank and the Albanese government. Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Kat Wong with the main action. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, told Senate estimates last night that she and her family had been subjected to an onslaught of online abuse and threats in the 10 years she has been in the role. More details in a minute. The latest inflation figures will be released at 11.30am and are expected to show an increase in prices of 4.2% in the year to September. That means the chances of a rate hike on Melbourne Cup day next week will also rise. More coming up.