News and politics live updates: Telstra CFO Michael Ackland ‘deeply sorry’, reveals scale of Triple-0 outage

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s chief economist, Sarah Hunter, has suggested another rate rise was still needed for inflation to be brought back within target - meaning higher unemployment during an oil crisis.

“All else equal, a persistently higher outlook for inflation suggests that interest rates should be raised,” she told the Australian Conference of Economists in Canberra on Wednesday.

“This trade-off cannot be avoided. A central bank can only decide how to balance the impact on inflation and activity, while ensuring that temporary shocks do not become persistent inflation.”

Dr Hunter argued taming inflation would mean higher unemployment.

“We can have inflation closer to target, or the economy operating closer to capacity (the labour market at full employment), but we can’t have both,” she said.

“In short, supply or relative price shocks can create a trade-off for monetary policymakers if they are likely to have a persistent impact on inflation and the broader economy.

“Ultimately, while supply shocks create difficult trade-offs, they do not lessen the importance of maintaining low and stable inflation.”

The Australian stockmarket is on track for its worst day in five weeks thanks to miners and banks and as hostilities between the US and Iran reignite.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index slumped over 1 per cent to about 8,714.2 around midday, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 94.4 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 8,910.3.

BHP is down more than 3 per cent, Rio Tinto has slumped around 2 per cent and Fortescue is almost 1 per cent lower.

Hundreds of workers at mining giant BHP are set to take strike action at Port Hedland next week, according to ABC.

The unions, which represent almost 400 workers at the Port Hedland operations, said BHP has been given the required five days’ notice to strike, the ABC said.

Interest rates are on the way up in New Zealand for the first time in more than three years, as the nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep downturn.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has raised the official cash rate to 2.5 per cent from 2.25 per cent, where it has been held since November 2025.

Anticipated by most economists and money markets, the unanimous decision on Wednesday is the central bank’s first rate rise since May 2023.

Although the Middle East conflict is expected to hit growth, New Zealand’s gross domestic product has been strengthening in 2026 after contracting 1.1 per cent in the 12 months to June 2025.

​Read the full story here. ​

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has suggested both Communications Minister Annika Wells and Telstra boss Vicki Brady should return from leave.

When asked about Ms Wells, he said the Telstra outage “certainly warrants the government fronting up” and that she should “absolutely” return to work.

“There’s many questions Australians are asking,” Mr Taylor said.

“We we saw a provocative and unwelcome missile launch from the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) yesterday and I can understand why Australians are drawing that connection.

“Now I don’t know whether there’s any connection.”

He added that there was “no doubt about that” when asked if Ms Brady should return.

LATIKA M BOURKE: Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says he personally thanked Mark Rutte for raising China’s missile test in the South Pacific ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit underway in Ankara.

When asked about the missile test by The Nightly, Mr Rutte said that the Indo-Pacific should be reassured that NATO was “on it” and that no one should be naive about China.

Mr Conroy met the NATO Secretary-General overnight, along with the President of South Korea, and the defence ministers of Japan and New Zealand on the sidelines of the summit.

“There was uniformity in there that that was a destabilising move that was not conducive to peace and stability in the region, and you look at the public comments by Mark Rutte, and I thanked him for his public comments, which have been noticed in our region,” Mr Conroy said, in an exclusive interview with The Nightly after the session.

Mr Conroy is separately meeting counterparts from Poland, Latvia, Japan, Germany and Canada.

​Read Latika M Bourke’s exclusive here.​

Anthony Albanese has declined to engage with Barnaby Joyce’s suggestion China may have been behind the nationwide Telstra outage, saying it would be inappropriate to speculate while investigations continue.

Pressed on the comments, the Prime Minister said authorities were still examining what caused the disruption and reiterated Telstra had advised the government there was currently no evidence the outage was the result of a malicious act.

Mr Albanese instead urged patience, saying Australians deserved answers once investigators had established exactly what had happened.

Anthony Albanese was forced to defend Welcome to Country ceremonies, dismissing criticism of the practice and arguing they are simply a sign of respect.

Asked about the ongoing political debate, the Prime Minister likened the ceremony to thanking someone for welcoming you into their home.

He said First Nations people had been welcoming visitors onto Country for thousands of years and there was nothing controversial about recognising that tradition.

“It’s an act of politeness,” Mr Albanese said.

“If I come into your home, I’ll knock on the door and I’ll say, ‘Is it OK if I come in?’”

Anthony Albanese says he hopes Pacific leaders will unite to send a strong message to China as concerns grow over Beijing’s actions in the region.

The Prime Minister revealed a draft statement was being circulated among members of the Pacific Islands Forum and said Australia had already made its position clear publicly. He argued it was appropriate for Pacific nations to speak with one voice, pointing to the Rarotonga Treaty and the region’s long-standing commitment to peace.

“The Pacific, we want to be responsible for our security,” he said, adding Pacific nations should work together as “members of the Pacific family” to protect the region.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the nationwide Telstra outage as “disruptive” and “deeply concerning”, as investigations continue into what caused the widespread network failure.

Speaking from Brisbane, Mr Albanese said authorities were still working to determine the cause of the outage but stressed there was no indication at this stage that it was the result of a malicious act.

The disruption affected customers across the country, with emergency services and transport operators among those issuing warnings during the outage.

Concerns are being raised about Australia’s lack of air defence after this week’s test firing of a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific.

The Albanese government has condemned the “provocative” act after the submarine-launched weapon was fired into waters near Tuvalu and Nauru.

“I’m very concerned about the lack of Australia’s integrated air and missile defence,” Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson has told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“We don’t have sufficient capabilities to intercept missiles like this if they were launched towards Australia,” Senator Paterson warned.

“We are not investing fast enough or moving quick enough to have those capabilities. And so I think this is another reminder, like the war in Ukraine and the war in Iran, that we need to really step up and spend more on defence, including on capabilities to protect us from missiles and drones.”