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Reacting to today’s national account figures, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the government was “sugarcoating” the economy by propping it up with public spending.

The figures found that the Australian economy is still barely growing, with government spending keeping the country afloat over the past quarter. The economy grew by a less-than-expected 0.3 per cent in the September quarter, taking annual growth down to just 0.8 per cent.

Dutton told a Sydney press conference that the government spending “propping up the economy” was “not sustainable”.

“And the difficulty for families is that the unsustainable funding that is being splashed into the economy by the Albanese government is actually what is driving and keeping the inflation rate high,” Dutton said.

“This is a tough time for Australian families, and the government can sugarcoat all they want, but the fact is, as the Reserve Bank governor keeps pointing out, it’s the government’s reckless spending that drives up inflation and therefore keeps up interest rates.”

Read more about the national accounts figures here.

The Coalition has continued its heavy-handed attacks on the teals, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton claims the independent MPs are “really Greens at heart”.

Earlier this week, Coalition frontbencher Paul Fletcher, who narrowly won his seat over a teal challenger, labelled the independent movement a “giant green con job” that has managed to dupe traditional Liberal voters.

Dutton was in Dee Why today to introduce two Northern Beaches candidates for the seats of Warringah and Mackellar, currently held by teal MPs Zali Steggall and Sophie Scamps respectively.

Speaking of the candidates, Jaimee Rogers in Warringah and James Brown for Mackellar, Dutton said: “They’re genuine, they’re real, and they’re not presenting to be someone”.

“The problem with the teals is that they’re really Greens at heart, which is why they vote for the Greens eight out of 10 times, and they haven’t delivered anything for their local area.”

Dutton said voting for the teals would deliver another term for the Albanese government.

“A vote for a teal candidate is a vote for Anthony Albanese and a continuation of the devastation that families and small businesses are feeling at the moment.”

The Australian economy remains stuck in first gear with new figures showing it barely growing over the past three months with public spending keeping the country afloat.

The economy grew by a less-than-expected 0.3 per cent in the September quarter, taking annual growth down to just 0.8 per cent.

It marked the end of three consecutive quarters of growth of just 0.2 per cent but was well short of market expectations.

In per capita terms, the economy went backwards by another 0.3 per cent, marking a record seventh consecutive quarter of falling GDP per person.

Household spending, the single largest part of the economy, was flat during the month even though many people enjoyed pay rises and stage 3 tax cuts.

Spending on essentials fell by 0.1 per cent, largely due to drops in expenditure on electricity, gas and other fuels. This was caused by the federal government’s energy subsidies which kicked-in from July 1 and a warmer-than-normal winter.

“The fall is from reduced underlying demand for heating from milder winter conditions, combined with expansion of energy bill relief schemes which reduced household electricity bills,” the bureau noted.

Spending on discretionary goods inched up by 0.1 per cent, led by extra spending on clothing and footwear.

The biggest contribution to the economy came from federal and state governments which lifted overall growth by 0.6 percentage points.

Energy subsidies and state government-level public transport assistance, such as the former Queensland government’s 50 cent fares, helped lift overall spending. There was also a 6.3 per cent jump in public investment after three-quarters of falls.

This was largely due to a large lift in defence spending plus expenditure on hospitals and road projects.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the prime minister of abandoning the Jewish community to secure Greens votes in Western Sydney, after Australia shifted its UN stance to support an “irreversible pathway” to a Palestinian state.

Speaking at a press conference in Dee Why on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Dutton said he didn’t support the move, accusing the government’s position of being “at odds with the commitments that [the government] gave to the Jewish community before the election”.

“[Prime Minister Anthony Albanese] looked people of Jewish faith in the eye before the election and gave them a guarantee that there would be no difference between the two parties, that there would be bipartisan positions in relation to votes at the UN,” Dutton said.

“He sold the Jewish community out in this country for green votes in Western Sydney and in places like Marrickville, that’s what the prime minister has done.”

Dutton said the government should have stood with the United States in opposing the UN motion.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton held a press conference from Sydney’s Dee Why.

Watch him address the media below:

Sites required for the coalition’s plan to build nuclear reactors will take decades of rehabilitation before they can be used, an inquiry has been told.

“We’re talking significant periods of time … two or three decades,” Victoria’s Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority chief executive Jen Brereton told a federal nuclear inquiry hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Brereton was referring to the proposed site at AGL’s Loy Yang A power station in the Latrobe Valley, which is due to close in 2035.

Nor would there be shortcuts available on legal obligations to make the sites safe and stable if a Coalition government compulsorily acquired the freehold land to meet its nuclear generation timeline.

If elected in 2025, the federal opposition says it will build reactors at seven former coal power plant sites across Australia to support “cheap, clean and consistent energy”.

Small modular reactors will start producing electricity by 2035 or by 2037 if larger plants are the best option, under the coalition plan.

The independent Climate Council said it was concerned the coalition was relying on one private sector “base case” for nuclear costings compared to renewables rather than experts at the Australian Energy Market Operator.

The Clean Energy Council said it would confuse policymakers and confound the public’s understanding of the cost of replacing ageing energy infrastructure.

AAP

Family violence incidents jumped significantly in Victoria in the last year, up six per cent to 98,816 events recorded by police statewide.

The Crime Statistics Agency of Victoria reports the volume of family violence incidents hit a new high in 2023-24, saying the increase was driven by more former partners and new perpetrators – previously unknown to police.

There was more family violence perpetrated on child victims and people aged 65 or older.
The proportion of incidents with risk factors of stalking or harassment, sexual assault, threats or harm to a family pet and controlling or jealous behaviour or financial family behaviours all jumped 30 per cent or more in the last five years.

Chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said the jump in those risk factors was notable and may suggest an increase in coercive control in the state.

“It may also be the result of increased reporting by those impacted by family violence and increased recording of these risk factors by Victoria Police,” she said.

An ABC analysis of the data, released on Wednesday morning, found people living in rural areas are almost twice as likely to experience family violence as those in metro areas.

Mapping shows the worst rates of family violence were in the eastern-most regions and on the north-west tip of the state, while the metropolitan local government areas (LGAs) were almost entirely at the lower end of the scale.

Australia has officially changed its diplomatic position on the Middle East, voting to back a United Nations resolution calling for a peaceful settlement of Palestine.

Australia was among 157 countries that supported the resolution, while eight voted against it, including the US and Israel.

The resolution called for the end of Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible”.

Australia’s ambassador to the UN James Larsen told the General Assembly the position reflected growing international momentum.

“A two-state solution remains the only hope of breaking the endless cycle of violence, the only hope to see a secure and prosperous future for both peoples,” he said.

AAP