One in three Australians has expressed negative views towards Muslims and the hatred is ongoing.

Findings from a report by special envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik were released by the prime minister on Friday.

“Australians should be able to feel safe and at home in any community,” Anthony Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

“The targeting of Australians based on their religious beliefs is not only an attack on them, but it’s an attack on our core values.

“We must stamp out the hate, fear and prejudice that drives Islamophobia and division in our society.”

The government has been holding off from acting on recommendations by Anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal, as Labor wanted to consider the two reports together.

Islamophobic incidences had “skyrocketed”, with the Islamophobia register recording a 150 per cent increase by November 2024, Mr Malik said.

One in three Australians had expressed negative views about Muslims, with the community rated the most negatively viewed group, research found.

“The reality is that Islamophobia in Australia has been persistent, at times ignored and other times denied, but never fully addressed,” Mr Malik said.

“This report demonstrates that Islamophobia remains a deeply ingrained societal challenge, and as such will require to be confronted with equal urgency to other discriminatory practices.”

To combat hatred against Jewish people, Ms Segal recommended Australia adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which some groups argue conflates criticism of Israel.

Her report urges the government cut funding to universities, programs or academics that enable or fail to act against anti-Semitism.

It also argues public funding agreements with festivals or cultural institutions should include terms to allow for the termination of the agreement when they promote or facilitate hatred against Jewish people.

Ms Segal was appointed in July 2024, in response to rising anti-Semitism in Australia following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

Mr Malik’s three-year appointment was made several months after the announcement of Ms Segal.

Asian share markets followed Wall Street higher as the growing prospect of several more US rate cuts promised to lower borrowing costs globally, a relief to stressed bond markets and a drag on the dollar.

Indexes in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all scaled record peaks, urged on by extravagant expectations for AI-related earnings growth.

The US consumer price report had been the last major hurdle to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next week, and it proved unthreatening, if a little firm.

Indeed, costs in the CPI that feed into the Fed’s preferred measure of core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) were on the soft side, leading analysts at Citi to predict a steady reading of 2.9 per cent for August.

“It’s an encouraging reading for Fed officials preparing to engage in a series of rate cuts,” said Veronica Clark, an economist at Citi.

“We continue to expect 125 bp of rate cuts over the next five FOMC meetings, with growing risk that the Fed will continue cutting rates below 3 per cent.”

Markets continue to imply a 100 per cent chance of a quarter-point cut to 4.00 per cent-4.25 per cent next week, and ramped up the probability of two further easings this year to around 90 per cent.

The Treasury market has already eased in anticipating with 10-year yields down 20 basis points in the past two weeks, effectively a rate cut given mortgage rates are tied to yields in the United States.

That drop helped soothe concerns in some other major bond markets, particularly in Europe, pressured by political uncertainty and expanding fiscal burdens.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.6 per cent to another all-time high, bringing gains this week to 3.7 per cent. South Korea added 1.1 per cent, taking its weekly rise to more than 5 per cent.

Chinese blue chips edged up 0.2 per cent to the highest since early 2022. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 1.2 per cent.

The joy spread to European shares with the EUROSTOXX 50 futures, FTSE futures and DAX futures all up 0.3 per cent. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were flat having hit new peaks overnight.

In currency markets, the dollar was back at 147.23 yen , having briefly been as high as 148.20 the previous session. Japanese and US finance ministers on Friday released a statement reaffirming that neither country would target currency levels in their policies.

The euro held at $1.1730, having got a modest fillip on Thursday when the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged and signalled it was in a “good place” on policy.

“This suggests the Governing Council is not inclined to ease in the absence of a large growth shock,” said Greg Fuzesi, an economist at JPMorgan. “We have thus moved back our call for a final rate cut from October to December.”

“We recognise the ECB might be done with cuts, but still think downside growth risks and the inflation outlook justify an easing bias.”

After the meeting, ECB sources told Reuters the December meeting would be the most realistic time frame to debate whether another cut was needed to buffer the economy.

Markets imply only a one-in-five chance of a December easing, and around a 60 per cent probability the ECB is done for this cycle.

In commodity markets, gold was flat at $3,633 an ounce , just off the record top of 3,673.95 hit early in the week.

Oil prices were under pressure after the International Energy Agency predicted an even larger record oil surplus next year as OPEC continues to pump more product.

Brent dropped 0.4 per cent to $66.09 a barrel, while US crude eased 0.5 per cent to $62.07 per barrel.

US President Donald Trump has praised Anthony Albanese as a “good man” after the two leaders racked up their fourth one-on-one phone call.

The prime minister described his latest conversation with Mr Trump more than a week ago as “really warm”.

The US president was leaving the White House overnight on Friday, Australian time, when he made the comments about Mr Albanese.

“He’s a good man,” he told a Nine correspondent.

Mr Albanese is yet to have a face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump after their previously planned sit-down, on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada in June, was cancelled due to escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

The federal government is yet to confirm any new face-to-face between the pair when the prime minister visits New York later in September for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Mr Trump has publicly remained positive about Mr Albanese, although tensions remain over tariffs imposed on Australian exports and a multibillion-dollar submarine deal under the AUKUS security pact.

Under the tariffs regime, Australian goods sent to the US attract a baseline levy of 10 per cent while importers of Australian steel and aluminium pay 50 per cent.

Responding to the US president’s comments, Mr Albanese said he’s had “respectful relations” with Mr Trump.

“We have had four discussions that have been really warm, the last one was just over a week ago,” he told reporters in Cairns on Friday.

“I look forward to continuing to engage with the United States. 

“We’ve engaged as well with his administration.

“The relationship with the United States is an important one for Australia.”

Australia will continue to make its case on the tariffs and advocate for the AUKUS pact, the prime minister said.

The White House has not yet provided an official readout on the call.

Australia has diverged from the US on the Middle East, following Labor’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN gathering.

The decision has drawn expressions of “disappointment and disgust” from those within the Trump administration.

Disagreements also remain over Australia’s defence spending after the government rebuffed US calls to pour in billions of extra dollars.

Defence Minister Richard Marles was told by his US counterpart Pete Hegseth to massively boost the defence budget to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

Australia currently spends about two per cent of its GDP on defence, and is on track to increase that to 2.33 per cent by 2033/34.

The government also awaits the findings of a Pentagon review into the nuclear submarine deal, under which Australia has been promised Virginia-class boats.

Defence analysts doubt the Trump administration will tear up the $368 billion submarine program, but might demand a larger financial contribution from Australia for US shipbuilding.

The federal Liberal party believes it has “cauterised the wound” caused by the furore around Indian migrants, after leader Sussan Ley dumped a popular conservative senator from shadow cabinet.

But the opposition leader has been criticised for the way she managed Jacinta Nampijinpa Price after the Northern Territory senator suggested last week that the government favoured Indian migrants because they vote Labor.

It culminated in the senator being sacked from the frontbench on Wednesday after she did not, when repeatedly asked, declare her confidence in Ms Ley’s leadership.

She had already rejected earlier calls from her colleagues to apologise for her comments, which infuriated the Indian community.

The senator has maintained she was trying to make a point on “mass migration” under Labor rather than single out a specific community.

Liberal Senator Jane Hume said there had been “mishandling on all sides”.

“The good news is we have cauterised the wound,” she told Seven’s Sunrise on Friday.

“We are going to move on now and talk about what’s important to ordinary Australians.”

Asked if she backed Ms Ley as the right person to lead the Liberal Party, Senator Hume said: “absolutely”. 

Liberal sources don’t expect a challenge in the short term to Ms Ley, who won the leadership after the party’s disastrous federal election result in May under Peter Dutton. 

Many in the party considered the senator’s comments about Indian migrants as having crossed a line, but say Ms Ley should have confronted her sooner and not allowed the issue to drag on.

Ms Ley apologised for Senator Nampijinpa Price’s comments on behalf of the Liberal party on Thursday.

The furore placed Ms Ley in an uncomfortable situation and was “symptomatic” of the issues within the Liberal Party, Monash University head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said.

Ms Ley’s leadership would be under pressure throughout the term, he said.

“Sussan Ley has taken a pre-emptive approach to assert her authority on the party, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult because the party is so far behind in terms of where it was even at the last parliamentary term,” Dr Ghazarian said 

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, who has confirmed his own leadership ambitions, said the “knives are not being sharpened” against Ms Ley.

On Thursday the leader did not answer questions on whether Senator Nampijinpa Price would be reappointed to the front bench at some stage, or respond to criticism of her handling of the saga.

“I addressed that situation, or the situation more broadly about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and the circumstances that led to the decision that I made, and I’m certainly not going to reflect on colleagues this morning,” she told reporters.

Ms Ley’s immediate task is to fill the spot on the front bench.  Senator Nampijinpa Price was the coalition’s spokeswoman on defence industry and personnel.

The front-runners include the Queensland LNP’s Phil Thompson and Tasmanian Liberal Senator Claire Chandler.

When social media influencer Natasha Etschmann learned almost half of Australian investors were turning to artificial intelligence tools for financial advice, she wasn’t surprised. 

The FORBES 30under30 recipient started giving financial advice on social media because people didn’t know a lot about money. 

“There’s a real big lack of information in Australia. What do I do? How do I do it? What do I invest in? Where do I invest? How do you invest? Is it safe? What’s a scam?” the influencer with almost 180,000 Instagram followers told AAP. 

A survey showing 48 per cent of people use AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Co-Pilot to make investment decisions made sense, Ms Etschmann said. 

The unaffordability of financial advice was a reason why people turned to AI, she said. 

“Our financial advice system is really broken,” Ms Etschmann said. 

“There’s a big gap in our system where there is literally nowhere for some people to go, and it’s just going to get more and more expensive as advisors leave the industry.”

Financial Advice Association Australia chair David Sharpe said he was not surprised people were using AI for advice as Australians were becoming accustomed to using technology such as Google to make decisions. 

But he cautioned against taking advice from chatbots. 

“I saw a great meme online not long ago, which was ChatGPT is great for things I don’t know about, but the things I do know about, it’s only about half right,” Mr Sharpe told AAP.

“AI and autopilot could fly me from Perth to Sydney. I’m not sure I’ll still get on that plane if there wasn’t a trained pilot at the front as well.”

He recommended people speak to a qualified financial advisor when they want to invest. 

“When it comes to what a financial planner does, it brings it back to the human element, which is, what are you actually trying to achieve?” Mr Sharpe said.

“How do you control emotions?”

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand surveyed 1000 Australian retail investors with more than $10,000 invested in the stock market and other areas.

The results showed AI was changing the landscape for mum-and-dad investors, CEO Ainslie van Onselen said.

“More than two-thirds (81 per cent) are at least somewhat satisfied with the information AI provided,” he said.

“But trust is still a major issue – 43 per cent said they don’t use AI as they lacked confidence in the information produced and 46 per cent prefer to stay with tried and tested sources of information.”

Chartered Accountants chief economist Richard Holden said investors were turning to AI because of a strong domestic economy.

“This has been largely driven by the belief that the Australian economy will improve and that Australia will navigate the current global political landscape successfully,” Professor Holden said.

“The increasing use of AI tools in investment decision-making highlights the importance of having high-quality and reliable financial data for training these models, which support investors in making informed decisions.”

Divisions in the Liberal Party threaten to haunt Sussan Ley’s fledging leadership as colleagues raise questions about her handling of the demotion of a firebrand senator.

Party insiders say she could have handled the frontbench demotion of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price better, after the Northern Territorian’s controversial comments on Indian migrants.

Liberal sources don’t expect a challenge in the short term to Ms Ley, who won the leadership after the party’s disastrous federal election result in May under Peter Dutton. 

Ms Ley dumped Senator Nampijinpa Price, who is popular among conservatives, from her front bench after she failed to declare confidence in her three times during a press conference. 

Many in the party consider the senator’s comments about Indian migrants last week as having crossed the line, but say Ms Ley should have confronted her sooner and not allowed the issue to drag on.

Senator Nampijinpa Price had suggested the government favoured Indian migrants to boost Labor’s vote, infuriating the Indian community.

Ms Ley apologised for the comments on Thursday.

The furore placed Ms Ley in an uncomfortable situation and was “symptomatic” of the issues within the Liberal Party, Monash University head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said.

Ms Ley’s leadership would be under pressure throughout the term, he said.

“Sussan Ley has taken a pre-emptive approach to assert her authority on the party, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult because the party is so far behind in terms of where it was even at the last parliamentary term,” Dr Ghazarian said 

The federal government’s looming 2035 emissions reduction target is expected to split the party room, as the coalition remains deeply divided over the net-zero by 2050 commitment.

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, who has confirmed his own leadership ambitions, said the “knives are not being sharpened” against Ms Ley.

The opposition leader on Thursday refused to answer questions on whether Senator Nampijinpa Price would be reappointed to the front bench at some stage, or criticism directed at her handling of the saga.

“I addressed that situation, or the situation more broadly about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and the circumstances that led to the decision that I made, and I’m certainly not going to reflect on colleagues this morning,” she told reporters.

Dr Ghazarian said there would be “constant work being done” to sound out potential leaders.

“The big problem is the party’s heavy loss (at the federal election). It did lose potential leaders, potential talent, and so it’s got a smaller pool of people to work with compared to previous parliaments,” he said.

World stocks chave onsolidated near record highs while the dollar has crept up as traders ready for the European Central Bank’s latest interest rate decision as well as new US inflation data.

High-flying tech shares lifted Japan, Taiwan and South Korea’s bourses to record peaks on Thursday, and Europe has had a steady morning before what is set to be a second hold in a row in the euro zone’s two per cent rates from the ECB after lunch.

With that and closely watched US consumer price inflation data coming, most traders were keeping their powder dry.

The euro hovered at $US1.1690 after soaring nearly 13 per cent versus the dollar in 2025, while the bond vigilantes have not yet managed to decisively push politically strained France’s borrowing costs above Italy’s.

ABN AMRO strategist Benoit Begoc said with the ECB widely expected to hold rates, the focus is on whether it keeps the door ajar for further cuts and its new set of economic forecasts this meeting.

“I think the question will be why are you not cutting rates more?” Begoc said.

“We know we have some deflationary pressures and there is no big rise in consumer confidence, so what is the rationale behind that?”

Before Thursday’s ECB decision and media conference, the pan-European STOXX 600 edged up 0.3 per cent while Germany’s 10-year bond yield eased to 2.65 per cent having touched 2.80 per cent – its highest since March – just last week.

In the commodity markets, oil prices also dipped after gaining more than one per cent on Wednesday when Poland’s downing of suspected Russian drones triggered fresh talk of sanctions a day after Israel attacked Hamas leadership in Qatar.

Safe-haven gold edged away from its recent record highs and bellwether metal copper took a breather from its more than 20 per cent rally since US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs shook global markets in April.

Wall Street futures pointed to more gains there later after a stunning 36 per cent leap in the shares in data services giant Oracle had fuelled the latest records for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

A benign reading on US producer prices had also helped as the money markets priced in more of a chance of three interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in 2025.

August’s consumer price index data is due later on Thursday.

A Reuters poll expects headline CPI to rise 2.9 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest increase since January, while the core measure likely held at 3.1 per cent.

Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2 per cent to hit a record as tech, energy and utilities firms jumped. South Korean shares rose 0.9 per cent.

In Tokyo, SoftBank rose almost 10 per cent after the roaring gains for its Stargate Project partner Oracle.

That 36 per cent leap had been the biggest one-day gain since 1992 for the 48-year-old tech giant.

In foreign exchange, movement was largely muted, with the US dollar struggling for direction and the main six currency dollar index a touch above a seven-week trough.

Ten-year Treasury yields edged up 2 basis points to 4.0531 per cent, having fallen four basis points on Wednesday after the PPI data and as a solid 10-year note auction alleviated some concern about investor appetite for long-term US debt.

An even more telling gauge will be the Treasury’s $US22 billion sale of 30-year bonds on Thursday.

The 30-year yield rose 2 bps to 4.7028 per cent, having come down more than 30 basis points since it briefly topped 5 per cent a week ago.

Business and government leaders need to learn and adopt artificial intelligence or they’ll get left behind, one of Australia’s most successful tech entrepreneurs says.

Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, who stepped down as the collaboration platform’s co-CEO a little over a year ago, says AI is already creating a “massive global shift”.

“It’s changing how we live every single day as consumers”, with many people looking for products and services using tools such as ChatGPT, Mr Farquhar told payments giant Stripe’s annual conference in Sydney on Thursday.

For companies, “I don’t have a specific for every industry, but it feels like one of those technologies that if you’re not adopting it quickly, you’ll be disrupted by someone who is, unfortunately.”

Mr Farquhar said everyone at the most senior levels of business and government should be using AI on a daily basis, even if it seemed less productive than other methods at first.

“It’s a new skill that you need to use in the same way that touch typing probably felt less productive than writing a card the first time you used a typewriter or a keyboard,” he said. 

“It’s a new skill you need to learn.”

And for those who are recent graduates or in the tech industry, “AI has this opportunity to change everything we do, and it’s a really exciting time to be involved in creating this.”

Mr Farquar said he had three goals for his first year outside of Atlassian: spending more time with his family, “aggressively holiday” and getting fit, and he had succeeded at each one.

He trained for an Ironman triathlon in Germany, went to places like Bhutan and Patagonia, and spent one-on-one time with each of his three boys.

He has also joined Tech Council of Australia as its chairman, and has been investing in tech startups through his venture capital fund, Skip Capital. 

In addition, he’s become chairman of Pledge 1%, an organisation he co-founded 10 years ago that encourages companies to set aside one per cent of their equity, profit, product and/or employee time to drive social good.

More than 20,000 companies globally had taken the pledge, giving away over $US3 billion ($A4.5 billion) in equity, said Mr Farquhar, who has an estimated net worth of more than $US10 billion ($A15 billion).

“My encouragement to everyone here is, if you’re in a startup, or you know a founder yourself, or have an influence over a startup, just encourage them to take that pledge,” he said.

“You’ll be joining an incredible cohort of companies in Australia.”

An expected call on the future of a major Australian gas project could cast a shadow over the final days of a climate change-heavy Pacific leader talks.

The final go-ahead for the Woodside North West Shelf gas hub to continue operating until 2070 could be granted by federal Environment Minister Murray Watt as soon as Friday, following years in approvals limbo.

Australia’s fossil fuel exports have long been a source of tension for climate-vulnerable Pacific islands on the front line of rising seas and severe weather, a point reiterated by Vanuatu climate change adaptation minister Ralph Regenvanu in Honiara on Wednesday.

The high-profile climate minister said Australia’s long-held argument that it was only responsible for cutting the greenhouse gases it emitted within its borders “is no longer tenable” following a landmark World Court advisory opinion in July.

“We want Australia to start seriously talking about its fossil fuel production pipeline,” Mr Regenvanu said at a Pacific Island Forum side event on Wednesday.

The non-binding advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, spearheaded by Vanuatu, specifies fossil fuel production could count towards the host country and constitute an “internationally wrongful act”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would “act in Australia’s interests but also in the interests of engaging in action on climate change” when queried on the Pacific reaction to the looming North West Shelf decision.

“We know that gas has an important role to play in the transition,” he told reporters from the leaders-only retreat in the Solomon Islands on Thursday.

“We’ll continue to make decisions based upon our domestic law and the environment minister will be making a decision in the coming period.”

Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who has been fighting industrial activity in the region over fears it is damaging Indigenous rock art at the Western Australian site, said she had received three days’ notice from the environment minister regarding a final decision, suggesting it was likely imminent.

Ms Cooper said she was devastated her Country was being used by Woodside and the Albanese government to destroy other countries.

“We are all asking the same question across Australia and the Pacific – what is this government doing?”

Environmental groups have been campaigning fiercely against the expansion of the Woodside plant, with Australian Conservation Foundation labelling the Burrup Hub plans a “climate bomb”.

Mr Albanese denied he was under pressure to phase out fossil fuel exports during the regional leaders summit and confirmed Australia’s bid to co-host the next United Nations climate talks with Pacific islands had broad support.

Despite time ticking to lock in a location for the major diplomatic event in late 2026, both Turkey and the Australia-Pacific bids are still live, with no clear path to resolution.

Mr Albanese committed $100 million in foundational funding for the new Pacific Resilience Facility, officially signed and ratified by leaders on Thursday.

Ten years in the making, the fund is designed to make it easier for communities to access money for smaller-scale projects to bolster their resilience to coastal erosion and other climate impacts. 

“The decisions now to establish, formally, the Pacific Resilience Facility in order to advance the need to mitigate and deal with the challenge of climate change by building infrastructure and the shift to renewable energy will make an enormous difference,” Mr Albanese said.

The prime minister spent Thursday in Munda, an idyllic tropical location in the Solomon Islands picked for the leaders-only retreat.

The Pacific heads are set to produce a communique outlining their formal commitments and priorities following the Solomons-hosted event.

The Liberals are taking stock after a damaging, week-long saga that stretched the party at the seams.

Firebrand senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been dropped from the shadow ministry for refusing to support Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and failing to apologise for controversial comments about Indian migrants.

Ms Ley called for Senator Nampijinpa Price to step back from her role as defence industry and personnel spokeswoman after she failed to back her leadership three times during a press conference. 

There was also internal ire at Senator Nampijinpa Price failing to apologise for comments about Indian migrations being accepted at a higher rate because they voted for Labor, although she later called the remarks “clumsy”.

Liberals hope they can move on from the saga and take their internal fights out of the news cycle as the cost of living continues to be the dominant focus for Australians. 

“It is time to get on with the job. Let’s focus on the real issues of the day,” Liberal frontbencher Anne Ruston told AAP.

Senator Ruston, who sits in shadow cabinet as the health spokeswoman, said every leader deserved the support of their team.

“Confidence in the leadership is absolutely critical for anyone serving in the shadow ministry,” she said. 

Ms Ley said Senator Nampijinpa Price remained a “valued member” of the coalition.

“I know (she) has contributed much in public policy and debate in this country, and will continue to do so,” she told reporters on Thursday.

Ms Ley refused to answer questions on whether the NT senator would return to the front bench at some stage, but some Liberal colleagues said it was a matter of time before a comeback.

A decision on who replaced the senator in the shadow ministry would be made in due course, the opposition leader said.

She joined other Liberal colleagues in formally apologising to Indian Australians and others hurt or distressed by Senator Nampijinpa Price’s remarks.

“May I reaffirm my strong support for all our migrant communities, for the values that they bring to this country, for the contribution they make and for choosing to come to Australia,” she said.

Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson said the axing was disappointing, but he was confident his Senate colleague would return to a prominent position within the party.

“It was self-evidently not an edifying week for the Liberal Party and we are concerned about the way in which Indian-Australians heard that discussion and felt about that,” he said.

“Political careers are not linear anymore. They have fits and starts, forward steps and back steps, and I’m confident that Jacinta will be back in a prominent role in the front bench.”

Senator Nampijinpa Price said she would continue to speak out on issues such as migration from the back bench.

“My concern – as it is for millions of Australians – is Labor’s mass migration agenda and its ramifications,” she said in a statement.

“My concern is not migration itself – it’s the magnitude of migration.”

Deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien said the senator had the freedom to speak out on issues, but her comments had to be dealt with and the party leader made the right decision.

“Jacinta expressed herself authentically with deep regret for what her words had meant to a lot of Indian Australians,” he said.

“Of course, as time went on, it was very clear that stronger words were called for.”