Australian news and politics live: O’Brien accuses Chalmers of sparking ‘Jimflation’ as CPI soars 3.8 per cent
: Scroll down for the latest news and updates.
Key events
26 Nov 2025 - 01:54 PM
New Senate inquiry to be launched into CSIRO job cuts
26 Nov 2025 - 12:42 PM
Anika Wells says she ‘won’t be intimidated’ by legal challenges to social media ban
26 Nov 2025 - 12:35 PM
Digital Freedom Project launch high court challenge against social media ban
26 Nov 2025 - 11:40 AM
Parliament blackout: Opposition blame Bowen
26 Nov 2025 - 10:51 AM
McIntosh says she’s concerned platforms aren’t communicating about social media ban
26 Nov 2025 - 10:21 AM
Chalmers insists there’s been an ‘absolute flurry of activity’ from roundtable
26 Nov 2025 - 09:05 AM
McCormack tells Barnaby to pause One Nation considerations after ‘heart to heart’
26 Nov 2025 - 09:04 AM
Parliament House IT suffers outage following Chinese official visit
26 Nov 2025 - 09:01 AM
Inflation soars to 3.8 per cent
26 Nov 2025 - 08:31 AM
Littleproud worried about people who can’t afford wagyu, not Hanson
26 Nov 2025 - 07:11 AM
Coalition won’t say if it will support extension of household energy subsidies
26 Nov 2025 - 06:57 AM
PM holds kids-only press conference for social media ban
26 Nov 2025 - 06:24 AM
Ley suggests Albanese has broken another election promise
26 Nov 2025 - 05:23 AM
‘Not controversial’: Chalmers on possible mass job cuts
26 Nov 2025 - 04:35 AM
Albo warns Labor: Work hard over summer break
26 Nov 2025 - 04:33 AM
End of an era: Labor overtakes Coalition on economy
26 Nov 2025 - 04:22 AM
‘Practical’: Labor defends mass job cuts move
‘Practical’: Labor defends mass job cuts move
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has told Government departments to slash costs by 5 per cent to hand the Albanese Government $5.6 billion in savings.
That financial savings target could see 22,500 Australian public servants jobless.
Defending the move, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said it was “practical”.
“This is a really important and practical part of government,” she told Sunrise.
“Taxpayer dollars are really precious. This is not our money and for everyone whose watching at home, they work hard for their salaries and contribute to the tax system in good faith that their dollars will be looked after and invested on critical things like supporting our aging population, supporting child care, supporting our Medicare system, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and other services that many Australian families rely on is absolutely appropriate.”
Host Nat Barr asked directly, how many jobs would be cut.
“That’s going to be a part of the budget conversation,” Ms O’Neil said, dodging the question, adding: “The Finance Minister has said to the departments you need to make sure you’re taking this seriously, and those conversations will continue as we lead up to budget”.
