Australian news and politics live: Treasurer Jim Chalmers target of security scare during speech in Queensland

Australian consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest point in five months, as households react to global uncertainty and the aftermath of ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index fell 3.1 points to 83.8—the first survey taken after the cyclone and the weakest result since October 2024. Confidence declined across all mainland states, with Queensland hardest hit.

ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the cyclone’s impact, combined with mounting global trade tensions, was weighing on sentiment nationally.

The weekly survey is often volatile, but this week’s drop was marked by a sharp rise in pessimism. Only 22 per cent of Australians say they are better off financially than a year ago, while 47 per cent say they are worse off.

Looking ahead, 31 per cent expect to be better off next year, but 33 per cent predict they’ll be worse off—the most negative result for that measure so far this year.

Confidence in the broader economy remains weak. Fewer than one in ten Australians (8 per cent) expect ‘good times’ over the next year, while 32 per cent expect ‘bad times’.

Buying intentions also softened. Just 24 per cent of households believe now is a good time to buy major household items, compared to 43 per cent who say it’s a bad time.

While weekly data can be noisy, the result highlights lingering caution among households despite recent rate cuts, as cost-of-living pressures and global instability continue to weigh on confidence.

Read the full story on confidence and the RBA’s view on interest rates here.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been quizzed over the allocation of funds for the proposed $1.2 billion recovery fund in the wake of Cyclone Alfred.

“We’ve made the best estimate that we can,” Mr Chalmers said during the Q & A at the Queensland Media Club.

“The opposition thinks this is wasteful spending but we take another view. The damage to our farmers is significant and we think we have got it right.”

Protestors have gatecrashed Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ speech at a Queensland event on Tuesday.

The Labor Minister was the target of a significant security scare while delivering an address at the Queensland Media Club when two climate protestors took to the stage to interrupt.

Security guards quickly took a man and a woman off stage. Both were carrying signs calling for the government to stop supporting coal and gas.

A taxation surge that allowed the Labor Government to promise billions in infrastructure, social welfare and economic subsidies is ending, according to Jim Chalmers.

The Treasurer warned voters not to expect more big offerings in next week’s Budget — a Budget the government had not planned to deliver.

In a speech in Brisbane setting out the government’s re-election pitch, Dr Chalmers argued inflation has been beaten without a jump in unemployment or recession.

“After three difficult years, the Australian economy has turned a corner,” he told the Queensland Media Club.

Thanks to the Government’s policies, which increased spending rather than following economists’ advice to cut spending, “a soft landing is looking more and more likely,” Dr Chalmers said.

Read Aaron Patrick’s full coverage of the speech here.

An outspoken Hong Kong exile living in Australia has been targeted by anonymous leaflets allegedly posted to mosques in Adelaide and accusing him of “siding with Israel” against “Islamic terrorism”.

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that she has and will again raise the case with the Chinese authorities.

Ted Hui, a lawyer and former Hong Kong legislator, who took refuge in Australia after Beijing crushed the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, told The Nightly he had been warned about the leaflets by the authorities late last year.

He was told the flyers, which used photoshopped images of his face and place of work, had been posted anonymously from Macau, the special administrative region of China that neighbours Hong Kong.

The Nightly was unable to independently verify the leaflets were posted to Adelaide mosques from Macau but contacted the Australian Federal Police and ASIO for comment.

The one-page documents are designed using the logo of Mr Hui’s current law firm alongside his face and sections about his “professional knowledge” and a “who am I” section.

They state that he “provides assistance to local Jews” and that “I am a pro-Jewish man and siding with Israel to wage war against those [sic] Islamic terrorism.”

Read Nicola Smith’s The Nightly exclusive here.

Aussie airline passengers could soon be reimbursed if their flight is delayed.

Qantas and Virgin Airline executives have faced Senate hearings over their handling of cancelled flights, with the aim of creating more rights for passengers.

The Airline Passenger Protections Bill or “Pay on Delay” legislation will see airlines bound by a mandatory code of conduct with a minimum standard of treatment for customers, including compensation for significant delays and lost luggage.

Similar legislation has operated in the European Union since 2005.

Read the full story here.

An Australian super fund has been hit with a $10.5 million penalty for greenwashing.

The Federal Court found Active Super, formerly known as Local Government Superannuation Scheme, misled members and potential members by saying it had eradicated investments in gambling, coal mining and oil tar sands.

The fund also claimed to have eliminated Russian investments following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Justice David O’Callaghan found that between February 2021 and June 2023, Active Super actually held investments in these types of assets, including coal miners Whitehaven Coal and Coronado Global Resources.

He rejected Active Super’s argument that consumers would differentiate between direct investments and those held in pooled funds.

Read the full story here.

The murder of a much-loved water polo coach in a school bathroom did not involve a “momentary loss of control” but was carefully planned and rehearsed by her ex-boyfriend, a coroner has heard.

Lilie James was beaten to death inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s city centre just before midnight on October 25, 2023.

The 21-year-old had days earlier ended a brief relationship with her killer, colleague Paul Thijssen, who is suspected of killing himself hours after she died.

An inquest into their deaths on Tuesday revealed the Dutch-born man’s history of stalking Ms James and a prior partner, as well as a web of lies he spun about his time in Australia.

Those lies duped friends, housemates, his employer and, with numerous forged documents, Australian visa authorities.

Read the full story here.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is keeping a close eye on developments out of the US as uncertainty in the global economy complicates its decision over whether to cut the cash rate again.

AAP is reporting that RBA chief economist Sarah Hunter said the bank would remain forward-looking, with its decisions dependent on its forecasts and new data as it unfolds.

But the board must exercise its own judgment beyond the economic modelling provided to it because of risks in the economic outlook, exacerbated by global uncertainty, she told the AFR Banking Summit in Sydney.

Her comments followed a warning from global economic institution the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that Australia faces much slower growth than previously anticipated following US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

The OECD downgraded Australia’s growth outlook for 2026 to 1.8 per cent, from 2.5 per cent.

That’s below the Reserve Bank’s prediction from its February Statement on Monetary Policy that the economy would grow at 2.3 per cent in 2026.

Read the full story here.

Asked about Peter Dutton’s plan to send Australians to a referendum to give ministers the ability to deport dual citizens who’ve committed serious crimes, the PM has blasted it as “another thought bubble that has not made it to lunchtime”.

He’s referring to the fact the Opposition Leader called for the referendum on breakfast TV this morning, as shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash walked it back.

“Peter Dutton wants to talk about anything but cost-of-living... One week before the Budget, Peter Dutton has no plans, just thought bubbles... aimed at dividing people,” Mr Albanese said.

“This is the second referendum he has called for, at the same time as he criticises referendums he has voted for.

“If you want a referendum, Parliament is sitting (next) week, he can float it (then).”

Read Ellen Ransley’s story here.