Australian news and politics live: O’Brien accuses Chalmers of sparking ‘Jimflation’ as CPI soars 3.8 per cent

Michael McCormack has urged Barnaby Joyce to pause considerations on his speculated move to One Nation over the Christmas break after a “heart to heart”.

The fellow former Nationals leader said still had hope as an “eternal optimist” after a “good-long chat” with his long-time colleague that he’d stay in the party.

“Let’s hope that he comes back. I hope he goes away, has Christmas. Has a good long thing.

“I hope he doesn’t make any hasty decisions now,” Mr McCormack said.

“His place should be with the Nationals. They are the ones who gave him the rare opportunity not to be Deputy Prime Minister once, but three times in fact.

“Let him go and have Christmas. Have a think about it, then come back in February.”

Investigations are underway into the cause of an IT outage at Parliament House affecting the building’s website and online databases.

In a message to building occupants, the Department of Parliamentary Services says “support teams are continuing to investigate the issue affecting ICT services within the APH website and ParlWork”.

The problems come after DPS warned MPs and staff to put their mobile phones and iPads into “lockdown” mode during a visit by a senior Chinese Communist Party official.

Zhao Leji, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House on Tuesday, before flying out of Australia.

Inflation has risen to the highest level in 16 months as electricity prices surged by more than a third over the year, making another interest rate cut unlikely.

The consumer price index soared to 3.8 per cent in the year to October 31, the steepest annual increase since June 2024, and marked a steep increase from September’s annual pace of 3.2 per cent.

Headline inflation is now even further above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2 to 3 per cent target, making a rate cut in 2026 a very remote prospect.

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Barnaby Joyce’s hokey pokey dance routine with One Nation continues as Nationals leader David Littleproud says his sometime colleague should make a decision about what he’s doing.

“He has a contract with the people of New England as the Nationals’ member to see it through to the 2028 (election),” Mr Littleproud said on Wednesday, after several days of speculation about when My Joyce will jump ship.

There was a bigger question than Mr Joyce’s party membership, though: “With the dinner between Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson, do you think it’s a bit of a crime to cook a wagyu steak on a sandwich press?”

Mr Littleproud said he doesn’t “get caught up on the dining habits of parliamentarians” and isn’t interested in “dress-ups and cook ups”.

“But, you know, good on Pauline Hanson. She’s one of the few Australians that can probably afford wagyu steak,” he said.

“What the National Party and I am worried about are the millions of Australians that last night struggled to put a sausage on the plate. Not a wagyu.”

Sussan Ley has repeatedly refused to say whether the Coalition would support extending energy subsidies for households, arguing “that decision is not one for the Opposition - that decision is one for the Government”.

The Opposition Leader has criticised Labor’s current energy relief, saying the Government’s policy of “spending more money, borrowing more money, appearing to be generous with borrowed money is not answering the real challenges in the energy grid”.

Asked repeatedly during an interview on Sky News whether the Coalition would oppose an extension of the subsidies, Ms Ley refused to say.

“Any proposal that comes to us, we will consider with due diligence, as we should. It is, with respect, a hypothetical question, but it does go to something that is incredibly important right now, and that is the energy cost price increases that households are experiencing”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has staged a children only press conference ahead of the under-16 social media ban.

It comes a fortnight before the controversial ban is due to come into effect on December 10.

The PM gave a short address alongside Communications Minister Anika Wells before taking questions from 15 students in Years 6 to 9 from three schools in Canberra.

The first student asked about it how the ban would be upheld and what measures would be in place to prevent people from bypassing the security system.

Other questions referenced the issues of bullying only and if the government had a youth advisory council to inform their decision making. The students came up with the questions themselves.

The episode will go to air on the ABC’s Behind The News program on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again broken an election promise, as his Labor Government eyes $5.6 billion in savings,

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher’s target could see 22,500 public servants become jobless.

“Labor promised this city (Canberra) that there wouldn’t be any cuts,” Ms Ley told ABC on Wednesday.

“They made that promise before the last election. So, are they backing away from the promise? Or have things got so bad since the election that they actually have to address savings as a matter of urgency?” she questioned.

“We want an efficient public service that delivers for all Australians and recognises the responsible role of the public service. I’ve been a public servant in this city and outside it, and I support our public service.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has refused to rule out mass job cuts that could see 22,500 public service jobs cut.

“In every budget, there’s reprioritisation,” Dr Chalmers told Sky News on Wednesday.

“Whether it’s people, whether it’s public investment services and programs that governments provide.

“Overwhelmingly, we’ve been investing in the public service to provide those services.

“We’ve asked every department for suggestions on their lowest priority spending to see whether we should redirect that to higher priority areas… It’s not especially unusual or controversial.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told departments to save 5 per cent, to free up $5.6 billion for the Albanese Labor Government.

Anthony Albanese has told his Labor colleagues to get out in their communities and work hard talking about cost of living help, road safety, natural disasters, the social media ban and better funding for schools during the summer break.

The Prime Minister made pointed remarks about the Coalition making a mistake in the lead up to this year’s election by choosing to “stop working in January,” as he thanked colleagues and “the entire labour movement” for helping to win a massive majority in May.

“If people are having a holiday, they’re still on their phones, there’s still a level of engagement, and it’s still important to be making the case (for the Government),” he said.

He also thanked his caucus “for giving me this incredible privilege as a Labor prime minister of this country.”

Mr Albanese might be battling a head cold this week but he’s finishing the year on a high and probably a honeymoon.

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The Coalition has lost its 40-year streak of being preferred over Labor when it comes to managing the economy.

The Australian Election Study, led by Australian National University and Griffith University, shows voters now trust Labor’s approach to economic issues, with the coalition losing its long-held advantage.

The Liberals suffered their lowest rating in the 2025 study, dropping to an average score of 4.2 on a zero to 10 scale of how much people like the party.

Voters signalled a clear preference for Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister, with former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s lack of popularity at May’s Federal Election breaking several records in the study.

“Dutton was the least popular major party leader the study has ever polled,” co-author Ian McAllister said.

“According to voters, the leadership qualities he most lacked were ‘inspiration’, closely followed by ‘compassion’.”

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