Cracks have formed in the federal opposition over whether to let people tap their superannuation early after months of policy vacillation.

The coalition took a policy of allowing people to use their retirement savings to fund part of a home deposit to the last two elections but is yet to decide whether to continue or drop the plan after its 2025 poll defeat.

But one Liberal MP believes he has been able to convince his colleagues to  ditch the policy and agree to leave superannuation alone.

“We should be offering no changes at all to how it’s invested, taxed or accessed,” Garth Hamilton told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.

“We look at the uncertainty that exists, economists are telling us next year is going to be worse than the past year – I think our focus needs to be on the future and that security.”

A backbencher from rural Queensland, the MP is one of the coalition’s arch attack dogs against One Nation, which has pitched a plan to allow cash-strapped workers to pocket three per cent of their compulsory super contributions for three years.

The minor party unsuccessfully tried to tack its “super pay boost” onto tax legislation Labor was seeking to ram through parliament on Thursday.

Mr Hamilton had previously supported exploring early access to super to give home-buyers a leg up, along with his party’s treasury spokesman Tim Wilson and housing spokesman Andrew Bragg.

Using super to buy a home had the support of 60 per cent of Australian voters, according to a DemosAU poll conducted in September, while just 41 per cent backed a One Nation-style proposal.

The Queensland MP said he had spoken to Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on the issue but had not pressed him on whether super should remain untouched.

Senator Bragg has been one of the Liberals’ loudest advocates for revamping the compulsory superannuation scheme, most recently suggesting the funds should be used as collateral to secure a home loan.

He previously labelled the compulsory superannuation system “one of the biggest public policy failures since federation”, leading to criticism from Labor that the coalition wanted to dismantle the long-standing policy.

The opposition was still mulling its policies and had not made any decision on whether to continue with a superannuation-for-housing plan, Senator Bragg told AAP on Sunday.

“We clearly want to avoid becoming a nation of retired renters which is why we are reviewing housing and retirement settings,” he said.

The Liberals retreating from superannuation policy changes would deny Labor a line of attack after the government slammed the opposition’s proposals as potentially devastating to retirement incomes.

Super Members Council boss Misha Schubert welcomed Mr Hamilton’s about-turn, saying super should not be used as a piggy bank to address other policy problems.

“These comments reflect what Australians instinctively understand: super will be your pay cheque in retirement – and it shouldn’t be undermined or diverted,” she said.

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, says it has covered $US6 billion ($A8.5 billion) of the $US6.3 billion ($A9 billion) ‌stolen from its platform by using company money to buy replacement tokens stolen in a record-breaking hack.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said the the biggest crypto heist in history was carried out by a North Korean state-sponsored ‌unit known as TraderTraitor.

“We had already covered $6B of the impacted amount of the hacked loss,” Binance said on X on Saturday, after saying earlier that it had covered 90 per cent of the stolen funds.

The remaining amount, now less than 10 per cent, consists of assets that are less liquid and may take longer to source in the required amounts, according to Binance.

Earlier on Saturday the FBI said the North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor was responsible for Friday’s attack.

North Korea ‌has for years ‌denied using state-linked cyber units ⁠for espionage, financial theft and revenue. Its mission in Geneva and embassy in China did not respond ​to requests for comment.

Members of the unit were observed by law enforcement converting stolen assets into the cryptocurrency ethereum, the FBI said in a statement, adding that it expects “further laundering” of the assets through the use of related technology.

Analysts had previously blamed North Korea and said it could be the largest financial heist of all time.

Binance has been working with industry partners to freeze some of the affected assets, with about $US3 billion ($A4.25 billion) located as of Friday.

The company has repeatedly said it would ⁠bear the financial impact of the funds stolen in the hack.

The money spent ‌re-buying tokens came ​from using part of its $US1 billion ($A1.4 billion) Secure Asset Fund for Users, a bitcoin reserve it holds to protect customers in the event of security breaches, as well ​as some of ‌its Futures Insurance Fund, and the company’s own corporate treasury, it said on X.

Co-CEO Yi He said on Saturday that 50 per cent of its ​SAFU funds would be used, while the company said it was committing to replenishing the fund to return it to about $US1 billion.

Crypto prices fell on Friday, while Binance sought to reassure customers that their funds were safe after the hack.

Co-CEO Richard Teng had said that the breach ​was ​a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to ​delete evidence of its activity, making it harder to trace and investigate.

After the ‌hack, the exchange stopped allowing customers to withdraw their funds, but it said on Saturday it was still on track to reopen withdrawals on Sunday.

Withdrawals were not open on Sunday.

Binance said it has set aside around $US6.34 billion ($A9.02 billion) of company funds internally to cover the losses.

Users holding the ​10 listed tokens – BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC – would be able to verify that their assets were backed at ​a minimum ratio of 1:1 once ⁠the full proof was available, it said.

The safest money on Melbourne Cup day is on a rate rise.

Bond markets and most economists have swung in behind a Reserve Bank of Australia rate hike on Tuesday after hot inflation figures and hawkish commentary from governor Michele Bullock the previous week.

The Middle East oil shock and surging artificial intelligence investment have further exposed Australia’s already supply-constrained economy.

The central bank’s preferred measure of inflation – the quarterly trimmed mean – came in at one per cent in September, above the bank’s forecast of 0.8 per cent.

In annualised terms, the trimmed mean was 3.7 per cent. That’s the 20th consecutive quarter underlying inflation has been above the midpoint of the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent target band.

Recent remarks from Reserve Bank officials show the bank is increasingly worried about how persistent inflation has been, HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said. 

“Although the jobs market is showing clearer signs of weakening, and falling housing prices are starting to feed through to stalling growth, we see the RBA prioritising the high inflation challenge and hiking in November,” he said in a client note.

“There is unlikely to be a ‘narrow pathway’ this time.”

Mr Bloxham estimated a recession was a fifty-fifty chance and predicted the unemployment rate to tick up to 5.1 per cent.

Unlike the post-COVID-19 pandemic price breakout, the Reserve Bank is in no mood to shield households from the worst impacts of its inflation fight. 

A fifth rate rise this year would bring the cash rate to 4.85 per cent – the highest level since 2008.

It would also mean a household with a $600,000 mortgage would pay an extra $456 on monthly interest repayments compared to the start of the year, according to financial comparison site Canstar.

The decline in borrowing capacity, stretched affordability and Labor’s curbs on property investor tax breaks have hit house prices. 

The housing downturn is on track to be the deepest on record and property data firm Cotality will provide another snapshot on Monday. 

Home values fell 1.1 per cent in September. 

With rate expectations having firmed since, the decline is unlikely to decelerate. 

While consumer confidence has cratered, helped by rising rates and falling house prices, household spending has held up relatively well. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported spending was up 6.8 per cent in the 12 months to August. 

NAB expects another strong monthly rise of 0.8 per cent when September figures are released on Monday.

Disappointing quarterly results ‌from Intel and Amazon have meanwhile amplified Wall Street investor concerns about massive spending by AI-related companies.

US indices tumbled on Friday, with the Nasdaq suffering its largest one-day percentage drop since June 5.

It lost 747.73 points, or 2.86 per cent, to close at 25,437.00. The Dow ⁠Jones shed 1.09 per cent to finish at 51,770.31 and the S&P 500 lost ‌1.82 per cent ​to 7,580.07.

Australian share futures were steady, slipping 4.0 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 17,455.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 1.28 per cent for the week after rising 16.3 points on Friday, or 0.18 per cent, to 8908.1. 

Nowhere will be off limits for the razor gang while Labor searches for savings as it faces heat for still-rising inflation.

Persistently fast-rising prices have fuelled criticism of high public spending after inflation came in hotter than expected in the year to September.

Accelerating inflation has driven expectations the Reserve Bank will on Tuesday hike the cash rate up to its highest rate in 18 years, pouring more pain on borrowers.

While the Middle East oil shock and ballooning artificial intelligence investment are delivering price pressures largely outside Canberra’s control, Labor has also been implored to tighten its belt in December’s mid-year budget update.

“I would not say that any area is exempt,” Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“I’m not saying it’s too difficult, but I am saying that there should be some acknowledgement of the world in which we are living and the pressures on the commonwealth budget.

“They are real, they are increasing and we have to deal with them … there’s a lot of work going into the saving side.”

Federal government spending as a percentage of GDP hit 26.9 per cent in the 2025/26 financial year, the highest proportion in four decades outside the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RBA’s preferred inflation measure – quarterly trimmed mean – beat the central bank’s 0.8 per cent forecast to land at one per cent in September.

Headline annual inflation came in at 4.3 per cent, slightly above the consensus estimate.

The result dramatically increased the odds of another interest rate hike on Melbourne Cup day as inflation tracks well outside the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target ban.

Senator Gallagher described as “overblown” reports of tension between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers over plans the latter had put forward to find budget savings.

On a Nine podcast appearance during the week, the treasurer said he took responsibility for “difficult things in my portfolio” and he would leave it for other ministers to take responsibility for spending on their patches.

Senator Gallagher said Dr Chalmers was simply “putting up his hand for the role that he plays in the decisions around the budget”, which was the result of collective cabinet efforts.

While there were “robust discussions” about budget measures, the Labor frontbencher added the treasurer and prime minister had “a very professional and respectful relationship”.

“We’ve all got slightly different jobs and come at things from slightly different perspectives,” she said.

The finance minister defended spending on tax breaks for electric vehicles and generous subsidies for home batteries despite the costs of both schemes blowing out amid higher-than-expected demand.

Their uptake by high income-earners has led to suggestions they amount to middle-class welfare, inviting calls for means-testing.

But Senator Gallagher said the same schemes supported other government priorities, such as the renewable energy transition and electrification of the economy.

“Some of the data is showing that this is helping people on the outskirts of cities and in regional areas with some of those cost-of-living pressures and bringing their energy bills down,” she said.

Labor has capped the value of EVs eligible for tax breaks and tightened the battery rebate program, but the cost of that scheme has still blown out to $7.2 billion over four years – more than three times its originally forecast cost.

Straddled by two towers and stretching half a kilometre across the Yarra, the Bolte Bridge connects three freeways and honours a big-spending premier. 

Victoria’s longest-serving leader, Sir Henry Bolte borrowed heavily during his time in the top job to fund an infrastructure blitz of an unprecedented scale. 

Beyond Melbourne’s freeway network, the late Liberal leader’s legacy boasts the West Gate Bridge, the City Loop and Melbourne Airport.

Five decades on, and just weeks out from the November election, an incumbent Labor premier is intent on reviving that legacy. 

“In Bolte’s time, Victoria went through a population boom, then a building cycle, then a growth phase,” Ben Carroll told a Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry event on Tuesday.  

“The end of the building cycle and the start of the growth phase is where we are right now.”

Mr Carroll took office in July, inheriting a 12-year-old Labor government under which net debt has ballooned from about $22 billion to $165 billion.

That figure is forecast to nudge $200 billion by the turn of the decade, when interest repayments will cost 23 cents per dollar raised by state taxes.

How large the issue looms for voters depends on who you ask. 

Redbridge director Tony Barry says debt is still a lower-order priority for voters but one they are increasingly linking to issues closer to home. 

“Less nurses, less doctors, less elective surgery, less road maintenance and more potholes,” the former Liberal staffer-turned pollster tells AAP. 

“That’s when voters start to join the dots and realise what the consequences of this issue are.”

Also relevant is whether voters believe they’ve seen a return on their investment, most notably through the $208 billion Big Build infrastructure program. 

On that point, Mr Barry says allegations of union rorts and waste have fuelled concerns around the value of key projects. 

Mr Carroll has responded by announcing a royal commission into the integrity of major projects and pledging to trim the Suburban Rail Loop.

“(Mr Carroll is) talking about change but voters aren’t seeing change,” Mr Barry says.

The Bolte Bridge opened in 1999 under another former premier whose legacy Mr Carroll hopes will hang over the ballot.

Jeff Kennett’s coalition government slashed Victoria’s debt from a reported $32 billion to about $5 billion during his seven years as premier. 

It did so through privatisation, public sector job cuts and the closure of frontline services including schools and hospital beds.

Mr Carroll stresses the means, not the ends, when he warns Victorians to expect the same under another coalition government. 

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has pledged to return the budget to a cash surplus by 2032, aided by a hiring freeze on back-office public servants. 

She also plans to cut land tax, payroll tax on private schools and stamp duty for first home buyers. 

Doing both, the premier told 3AW Melbourne, would require unannounced cuts and “the most austere measures Victoria’s seen since Jeff Kennett was elected”. 

But Ms Wilson is defiant, saying her unreleased costings have benefited from independent budget office advice. 

“Only one party has a detailed plan to pay down Labor’s debt and get our economy moving again,” she told the same industry event on Tuesday.

For his part, Mr Carroll has pledged to reduce debt but has not set a cash surplus target.

He hopes to save $2 billion from a trimmed Suburban Rail Loop and $798 million by delaying level crossing removals. 

Labor has also made more than $2 billion in election commitments while promising to cut land tax.

David Hayward, a public policy expert at RMIT, says both plans lack long-term economic vision but reserves his sharpest criticism for the coalition’s maths. 

He puts its tax cuts at $7.5 billion, which Ms Wilson argues is closer to $5 billion, on top of roughly $4.5 billion in new spending.

Savings from the hiring freeze would taper over time, he says, while scrapping the rail loop – if it decides to do so after a planned review – could cost billions.

Labor is not spared. 

Dr Hayward says trimming the rail loop risks making it less useful, while federal migration cuts could undermine the growth used to justify Labor’s building boom.

But he is not convinced debt is the spectre some make it, arguing the debate favours one side of the ledger. 

Assets worth $450 billion sit against $268 billion in liabilities, he says, while a debt-to-gross state product ratio of about 24 per cent is substantial but not alarming. 

Dr Hayward says Victoria was due an outlay after the lean years under Mr Kennett and Labor premiers Steve Bracks and John Brumby.

“There’s all sorts of reasons why there needs to be a change of government but the financial one isn’t there,” he tells AAP.

But where Dr Hayward sees a balance sheet in reasonable shape, advocacy group Amplify Australia warns the state’s finances are at a “tipping point”.

The non-partisan group is pressing all parties to release credible debt plans before polling day. 

It organised an open letter to champion the cause, signed by 100 prominent Victorians from property mogul Tim Gurner to swimming great Grant Hackett. 

Executive director Martin Codina tells AAP the campaign focuses on political leaders rather than voters, given the latter are acutely aware of Victoria’s debt problem.

He and Dr Hayward agree on one point – that a business-as-usual campaign of matched spending promises is a risk to be avoided.

Mr Codina has no single favoured measure of Victoria’s debt but several stand out. 

Interest repayments are already almost double what is spent on policing and will rival spending on schools by the decade’s end.

However, the sum he returns to is $24,000 – the amount a Victorian born today would owe if the debt were split evenly. 

“Before they’ve even had a chance, they already start from behind,” he says.

owe

After years of delays and a cost blowout of $717 million, two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries are aiming for smoother seas on their maiden voyages. 

The two larger ferries, which can carry 400 extra passengers and 60 per cent more vehicles than their predecessors, cross Bass Strait on Saturday night in what is being hailed as a new era. 

“(It) marks the beginning of a new chapter for Tasmania,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

“These vessels will help welcome more visitors, support local businesses and freight operators.” 

Keen travellers arrived at the Geelong terminal early Saturday morning, including motorhome enthusiasts Ricky Glass and Trudi Lane who hail from Tamworth in NSW.

Mr Glass said getting a spot on the inaugural trip had been in the works for 18 months. 

“I’ve been to Tassie three times before and I really wanted to be on the first ride over. Just to be a part of history really, to be one of the first on it,” he said. 

“We can always have this memory that we’ll be on the first trip of Spirit of Tasmania V.” 

Peter and Lynette Tegen got to the terminal some 10 hours before departure, with their voyage on the new vessel a little more lucky. 

“It’s not something we planned,” Mr Tegen said. 

“It’s our first trip to Tasmania but we’ve been looking forward to Tasmania for a long time.” 

Spirit Tasmania IV and V contain upgraded cabins, a gaming zone, a movie theatre and a distinctly island flavour aimed at giving travellers a taste of what is to come. 

“For many travellers, the journey to Tasmania begins the moment they board the Spirit,” Tourism Tasmania CEO Sarah Clark said. 

“These new vessels create an experience that reflects the quality, character and hospitality visitors can expect.”

The delivery of the replacement ferries, which are taking over from decades-old Spirit of Tasmania I and II, was initially meant to occur in 2021. 

The contract was signed for $714 million but COVID-19, global conflict and a state government decision to try to pursue a local builder pushed back the timeline. 

The project made global headlines in 2024 when it came to light the new required berth at Devonport in Tasmania wouldn’t be ready before the ships. 

It forced the government to berth one of the vessels in Scotland after a failed bid to lease it out. 

The whole project was $717 million over budget with ferry operator, state-government-owned company TT-Line, in 2026 getting a $506 million taxpayer bailout.

TT-Line is also paying to berth the two older ships, with advanced negotiations underway with a buyer.

TT-Line is forecast to remain in debt until at least 2052 with a peak at $1.1 billion this financial year, figures Mr Rockliff said he was comfortable with to provide the “generational infrastructure”. 

AAP covered the maiden sailing with assistance from Spirit of Tasmania.

China’s factory activity has contracted on the back of softening export orders.

The world’s second-biggest economy has been facing pressure from trading partners to rebalance trade as its surplus with many countries balloons.

Data released on Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.3 in October, compared with 50.1 in September and 49.8 in August.

The PMI is based on a monthly survey of companies and measured from 0 to 100. Readings below 50 indicate contraction while readings above 50 reflect expansion.

Several key subindexes were also in contraction territory in October, including new export orders, which fell to 48.7 from 50.0 in September. The subindex on production dropped to 49.8, from 51.7.

Chinese companies have been shipping more goods abroad to find buyers at a time of weakened domestic demand, which is being dragged down by China’s property sector downturn.

But an increasing number of the country’s trading partners are complaining about growing trade deficits with China, arguing that an influx of cheaper Chinese goods has hurt the competitiveness of their domestic industries.

The 27-nation European Union has been highlighting what it says is an unsustainable trade deficit with China that hit $US1.1 billion a day in 2025.

The EU has taken measures to rebalance trade including striking a deal with Beijing to cap the imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles.

China has been exporting more to trading partners in Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America since the US imposed higher tariffs last year.

Some economists have forecast that China’s exports are likely to remain robust for the rest of the year and that its overall trade surplus in 2026 could surpass last year’s record $US1.2 trillion.

Trade is also likely to be on the agenda during US President Donald Trump’s expected meeting with President Xi Jinping in mid-November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen.

President Donald Trump has rallied with Republican supporters in Florida and former president Bill Clinton has spoken to Democrats just two states over in Mississippi, both beseeching voters to head to the polls for the midterm elections.

“These are the most important midterm elections ever,” Trump told his crowd in Daytona. Just an hour earlier, Clinton, on a stage in Tupelo, gave a similar argument.

Millions of people across America have already heeded that call in an election that will determine whether Trump’s final two years in the White House are smooth sailing with a Republican Congress, or bogged down by Democratic opposition.

Nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before election day than at the same point in 2022, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data. 

The increases have been particularly pronounced in states with competitive Senate races — including Iowa and Kansas, where early voting is up roughly 30 per cent. 

Democrats and Republicans each hope that rise in early voting favours them as they fight for control of Congress in an election that has turned largely on affordability issues and the president’s unpopularity. 

Trump has also signalled that his administration plans to aggressively pursue an investigation into an alleged scheme to confuse voters in Alaska, another state with a competitive Senate race.

US Attorney Michael Heyman in Alaska confirmed on Friday a probe — underway for months — into a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent. 

Heyman said law enforcement assets were surged to the state this week after The New York Times reported that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run in the race alongside her Republican opponent, Senator  Dan Sullivan. 

Peltola denied on Thursday that she knew anything about the work to add another candidate with her opponent’s name to the ballot.

The Justice Department said it wants to isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to test the level of “confusion” among voters.

Trump has also rescheduled rallies in Kansas and Iowa on Sunday after previously saying he didn’t feel the need to go. 

“I thought this was going to be my last one, Byron,” Trump said to Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds at his Daytona rally. 

“I thought this was it. I thought I could relax. Twenty-eight days in a row of this crap is a lot,” he said.

In Michigan, where Democrats had hoped to put a bruising Senate primary behind them after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated representative Haley Stevens in August, fighting between the rivals again dominated headlines.

Stevens re-emerged in the final week before the general election, appearing on CNN to reaffirm that she would vote for El-Sayed while calling on him to repair relations with Jewish and Black voters. 

Then on Friday she released a lengthy statement on social media criticising her former rival and demanding he condemn an advertisement linking US support for Israel to rising grocery prices.

“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens wrote. “He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”

In Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor’s races, more than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago.

Advance voting has also increased more than 30 per cent from the same point four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, states with competitive Senate races. 

In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, early voting was up 83 per cent.

Historic amounts of money have flowed into this year’s midterm elections. Republicans have expressed concerns about their voters not turning out in the midst of voter dissatisfaction with Trump and high costs, issues Democrats have focused on in their campaigns.

With AP, Reuters

Reaffirming ties with fellow leaders on the world stage could be a circuit breaker for Anthony Albanese amid domestic and economic woes.

But a likely interest rate hike triggered by higher-than-expected inflation while the prime minister is overseas will make his and his treasurer’s job even harder.

Mr Albanese is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda from Saturday.

He will hold talks with King Charles III and allies including UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the biennial meeting.

The discussions will constitute a well-needed reset after controversies over grant funding and pressures on inflation, according to Monash University associate professor of politics Zareh Ghazarian.

“It is a strategically important time for him,” Dr Ghazarian told AAP.

“He’s got a lot of spot fires burning domestically but this is going to be an opportunity for him to present himself to be much more on the front foot.

“There’s a lot of pressure, so this trip could just be a moment to reset the political debate for people.”

Mr Albanese underlined the conventional value of attending CHOGM before his departure on Saturday morning.

“The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is an important forum,” he said.

“(It provides) an opportunity to work with some of our closest partners on shared challenges, including climate change, the preservation of our oceans, trade and investment and the rise of AI.”

The leaders’ gathering will kick off a busy end to the year overseas for Mr Albanese, with international summits in Turkey, the Philippines, China and the US in coming weeks.

International pressures following the war in Iran and trade issues make those bilateral meetings with world leaders even more important, Dr Ghazarian said.

“The big thing at the moment for the government essentially is this idea of trade, and for Anthony Albanese, this is a critical moment to present himself as a world leader amongst other world leaders,” he said.

“He’s essentially got to put out all the stops to make this trip matter. 

“It’s going to be an important opportunity for him to demonstrate how he’s going to handle this really delicate and very tricky economic situation he has domestically by plugging into the broader international community.”

Mr Albanese will be away when the Reserve Bank hands down its next interest rate decision on Tuesday, with markets tipping a rise to 4.85 per cent.

It would be the fifth interest rate hike in 2026 and a challenging situation for Treasurer Jim Chalmers to handle, Dr Ghazarian said.

“When the prime minister is overseas, greater pressure is placed on those who remain representing the government,” he said.

“For Jim Chalmers … the next few weeks are going to be a real test of his political ability, his ability to communicate with the Australian community.”

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, is working to shore up public confidence after a record $US6.3 billion ($A9 billion) hack of its platform, promising it will cover all losses from company funds and allow clients to trade again within days.

Cryptocurrency prices fell ‌on news of the hack, which analysts blamed on North Korea and said could be the largest financial heist of all time. The publicly traded stocks of crypto-related firms Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood slid.

Binance said customer funds were safe and it was working with industry partners to freeze some of the affected assets, with about $US3 ‌billion located so far.

It did not mention the status of the remaining $US3.3 billion, but Binance co-CEO Yi He said in a post on X that $US3 billion represented only about 2 per cent of the company’s total user assets and public reserves.

The exchange also said on Friday its technical team was targeting a resumption ‌of withdrawal services within approximately 34 hours.

Binance said it was conducting a full security review and plans an initial proof-of-reserves snapshot in 12 hours, with the results expected to be available by Monday.

It said it had set aside around $US6.34 billion of company funds internally to cover the losses.

The company has a $US1 billion Bitcoin reserve fund designed to protect customer assets in the event of security breaches, according to its website.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said on X the company owned SpaceX shares worth more than $US1 billion ($A1.4 billion).

Binance’s other co-CEO, Richard Teng, said in a post on X that the breach was a “complex attack” that was not carried out by one person and included a compromised laptop as well as malicious software designed to delete evidence of its activity as it went along, “making it more difficult for us to trace and investigate”.

The hackers were able to manipulate a system used to approve transactions to move money out of a Binance-controlled, internet-connected so-called “hot” wallet in a ‌way that did not pass through ‌normal approval controls, Teng said.

“Rest assured that we are ⁠working nonstop to resolve this, to make the users whole, and live up to your trust,” Teng wrote.

Crypto prices fell broadly but losses were contained.

Bitcoin hit a six-week low of $US76,368 ($A108,594), and ether fell ​more than 3 per cent to a two-month low of $US2,178 before markets stabilised.

“This incident is almost certainly the single-largest-known theft of any kind,” British blockchain analysts Elliptic said.

The bulk of the Binance heist unfolded in around 20 minutes beginning late on Thursday and bore similarities to previous large attacks blamed on North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis.

TRM said the attackers were able to order Binance wallets to empty into hacker-controlled wallets, mirroring a 2025 heist at crypto exchange Bybit, which the FBI attributed to North Korea.

North Korea has for years used state-linked cyber units for espionage, financial theft and revenue, according to US and South Korean authorities as well as cybersecurity experts.

US President Donald Trump, asked on Friday whether North Korean hackers were ‌behind the theft, said he did not know ​but his administration is looking into it.

“It was a hack. That’s the problem. You know the old-fashioned way when you used to sign a cheque, take it out. These are different. People never see the money anymore. So I’ve always felt it was a little bit dangerous,” Trump said.

“But no, they (Binance) say they have it pretty much under control.”

Binance is working with the FBI and the US Secret Service, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $US162.8 billion in assets under custody as of its 2025 annual report.