Australia’s largest steelmaker BlueScope Steel is under new leadership as investors wait for the next shoe to drop in its ongoing takeover saga.

Tania Archibald commenced her role as managing director and chief executive on Monday replacing Mark Vassella, who has retired after eight years leading the Melbourne-based group, which owns the Port Kembla steelworks in NSW and key US assets.

Ms Archibald, who was appointed on November 5, has had a 30-year career at BlueScope, including as chief financial officer and most recently as CEO of its Australian steel business.

In a video posted on social media, the company’s first woman CEO pledged to take BlueScope into a new era “with a relentless focus on our customers, our shareholders, our people and our communities.”

Ms Archibald wants to simplify how BlueScope operates, cut costs, realise the value of BlueScope’s 1200-hectare surplus land portfolio and increase shareholder returns.

It’s already on track to pay a special dividend of $1 per share from February 24, after its interim results are released on February 16.

“Shareholders have been patient,” she said.

“That patience is now being rewarded.”

BlueScope’s board on January 7 unanimously rejected what it called a “highly opportunistic” $13.2 billion takeover proposal from the Stokes family-controlled SGH and US steelmaker Steel Dynamics.

Ms Archibald reiterated that the $30 per share offer materially undervalued the company and was an attempt to acquire BlueScope’s world-class assets in the US, Australia and New Zealand at a price that didn’t reflect their true worth.

“The board is open to engaging with any proposal that genuinely reflects BlueScope’s fundamental value,” she said.

“But we’re not sitting here waiting.

“We’re getting on the front foot to accelerate the delivery of BlueScope’s value.”

Steel Dynamics co-founder, chairman and CEO Mark Millett said during an earnings call on January 26 that the group’s pursuit of the assets was strategic, not opportunistic.

“We pay fair value for good businesses that enhance value for all constituents,” he said, arguing the consortium had made a compelling offer that valued BlueScope above what its share price had realised over 15 years.

Steel Dynamics was, he argued, the logical owner of BlueScope’s coveted North Star operation, known as a “mini-mill” because it uses scrap steel to produce hot-rolled coil at a lower cost base than integrated mills.

Mr Millett didn’t say what the company’s next move would be.

In morning trading on Monday, BlueScope Steel shares were down 0.9 per cent to $29.98 and just under the consortium’s most recent offer.

The SGH-Steel Dynamics offer was made on December 12, but only came to light on January 5 when it was also revealed Steel Dynamics had made three unsuccessful previous approaches to take control of BlueScope.

Major parties and special interest groups splashed out hundreds of millions of dollars on political parties and the federal election.

The biggest third-party spender was Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy, which pumped almost $53 million into May’s election.

The mining outfit spent almost $200 million on all its political campaigning in the 2024/25 financial year, according to Australian Electoral Commission data released on Monday.

Mr Palmer failed to elect any candidates for his Trumpet of Patriots party.

Federal Labor spent more than $71 million in the financial year, including on the election, while the federal Liberal Party spent almost $53 million.

The federal Nationals spent almost $5 million.

The Greens and its Victorian branch each spent more than $9 million across the year, while its NSW and Queensland contingents added more than $7 million in spending each.

Trumpet of Patriots splashed more than $53 million, dwarfing the spending of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation of more than $3.3 million.

Major parties are also propped up by state branches, which spent tens of millions of dollars more throughout the year.

The AEC data doesn’t separate major-party spending for the year and the election as it does for third parties.

Conservative advocacy outfit Advance Australia spent more than $10 million on the election and made $13.5 million in political payments.

The Australian Education Union distributed more than $125 million in the financial year and spent $5.5 million on the election.

Peak union body the Australian Council of Trade Unions spent almost $5.5 million at the election and distributed more than $34 million throughout the year.

Progressive funding vehicle Climate 200, which backs independent candidates, made almost $26 million in payments and almost $5 million in the federal election.

Labor secured a massive majority with 94 lower house seats, while the coalition slipped to 43.

The Greens were all but wiped out in the lower house, losing their leader and three of their four seats, but held onto the balance of power in the Senate.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has surged to new heights of popularity, snatching voters from the opposition after weeks of infighting and leadership speculation.

The poll is likely to intensify pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who is facing a possible challenge to her job as soon as next week.

The RedBridge survey shows the primary vote for the Liberals and Nationals, whose coalition blew up in mid-January, has plunged by seven points to 19 per cent.

One Nation, the anti-immigration party led by Senator Hanson, now sits on 26 per cent after a nine point increase in support.

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan blamed divisions within the now-former coalition for the poor poll showing.

“Everyone knows in politics that disunity is death, and the Australian people will never, ever say that if you are divided, that they think that you’re ready to govern this nation,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Liberal senator Jane Hume said Australians were turning to One Nation because they felt “aggrieved”.

“When Australians are aggrieved they turn to a grievance party like One Nation, and that’s simply not good enough, and certainly not sustainable,” she told Sky News.

“Unless the coalition, and specifically the Liberal Party, can turn around its message and deliver what Australians are looking for, which is a genuine alternative, well then we deserve what we get,” Senator Hume said.

The former minister added that she backed Ms Ley to remain as leader, and urged colleagues to unite behind her so the party can deliver serious policies.

Speculation is running rife that Angus Taylor, a conservative frontbencher from NSW, could soon challenge Ms Ley for the leadership.

His rival, fellow right-wing MP Andrew Hastie, ruled himself out of the race for the top job on Friday after a meeting between the two men and senior powerbrokers the day before.

Mr Taylor is unlikely to challenge Ms Ley this week, but a leadership spill could be called in next week’s party room meeting.

One Nation is also tipped to add to its ranks as its support base grows.

Sydney radio station 2GB reported Cory Bernardi, a former Liberal senator who established the short-lived “Australian Conservatives” party, could be One Nation’s next recruit.

Labor minister Tanya Plibersek said One Nation’s surge was “really disappointing”, and derided the Liberals and Nationals as a “bin fire”.

“They don’t know who their leader is going to be one week to the next,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson says he believes he has ​the Republican votes to end a partial government shutdown within days and that the chamber will debate Immigration and Customs ⁠Enforcement reforms for two weeks after that.

“I’m confident that we’ll do it at least by Tuesday. We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town,” he said on NBC.

Transport problems are persisting following a snowstorm that affected travel in the southeastern United States.

The US entered what is expected to be a brief shutdown on Saturday after Congress ‌failed to approve ​a deal to keep a wide swath of operations funded.

The Senate easily passed a ‍spending package on Friday but the House of Representatives is out of town.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been working to ensure a debate over immigration enforcement does not disrupt other government operations.

That is a contrast from the northern hemisphere autumn when both parties dug into their positions in a dispute over healthcare, prompting a shutdown that lasted a record 43 days and cost ​the US economy an estimated $US11 billion ($A16 billion).

The deal approved by the ‌Senate would separate the Department of Homeland Security from the broader spending package.

This would allow lawmakers to approve funding for agencies such as ​the Pentagon and the Department of Labor while new restrictions are considered on federal immigration agents amid uproar after ‍two US citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis.

Johnson, whose Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, said “our intention” is to fund all agencies except for DHS by Tuesday “and then we will have two weeks ​of ​good faith negotiations to figure it out”.

The bill ​contains a two-week stop-gap measure to fund DHS but legislation ​on full-year DHS funding is in abeyance pending a deal on changes to ICE practices.

Democrats are demanding reforms for ICE such as requiring mandatory body cameras and ending their roving patrols and use of face masks.

“I just don’t see how, in good conscience, Democrats can vote for continuing ICE funding when they’re killing American citizens,” Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, told NBC.

Johnson said he believes US President Donald Trump’s administration will make changes to some DHS practices but said ICE ‍agents wear masks to protect their own identities and their families.

The fallout from the coalition’s latest spectacular split will come to a head with a Nationals backbencher moving to skewer David Littleproud’s leadership.

Queensland MP Colin Boyce will attempt to trigger a spill motion against the Nationals leader on Monday as politicians descend on Canberra for the return of federal parliament.

Several Nationals members expect the motion will fail to trigger a vote on Mr Littleproud’s leadership as it will need the backing of a colleague in the party room.

“David’s a leader of that team and I’m pretty sure he’ll have the confidence of the room,” Senator Matt Canavan said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at Canberra Airport later in the day, Mr Littleproud said it was up to his party room to make the call.

Mr Boyce previously said he would put himself forward for the leadership and urge the coalition to reunite, warning the party faced “going over the political cliff” otherwise.

The Nationals leader will meet with embattled Opposition Leader Sussan Ley after the spill motion to negotiate reforming the coalition after its second divorce in 12 months.

Ms Ley earlier announced an interim Liberal-only shadow cabinet, giving the Nationals a week-long deadline to decide whether the split would be made permanent. 

If the parties aren’t reunited by the second sitting week, the Liberals plan to promote six of their MPs to the shadow cabinet and two to the outer shadow ministry.

Speculation has swirled over whether Ms Ley’s job is also under threat, despite West Australian backbencher Andrew Hastie ruling himself out of contention on Friday.

His decision could pave the way for conservative rival Angus Taylor, who has not ruled out vying for the opposition’s top job despite sitting on the front bench.

However, a spill against Ms Ley is unlikely to occur in the first sitting week as the Liberals take the opportunity to target the government over an expected interest rate hike on Tuesday.

“There’s one job to do and that is to save Australians who are now starting 2026 knowing prices are soaring,” shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien said.

“There’s going to be discussions about whether or not we prosecute those issues as a united coalition or we do it separately.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said he expected it would be “a shambles on the other side of the parliament”.

“Angus Taylor is still pretending to be a shadow minister while plotting against his own leader,” he said.

Growth in Australian home values re-accelerated in January, defying predictions 2026 would be a softer year for the property market and fears of an imminent Reserve Bank rate rise.

The median dwelling price hit a fresh national record of $912,465, data firm Cotality revealed in its monthly home value index on Monday.

Home values grew 0.8 per cent in January, faster than the 0.6 per cent growth recorded in December.

The property market showed signs of slowing in the last couple of months of 2025, which turned out to be a bumper year for price growth on the back of three interest rate cuts.

But with the central bank increasingly looking likely to make a swift return to rate hikes, the re-acceleration in real estate is not expected to be long-lived, Cotality research director Tim Lawless said.

“Resilience is probably the keyword here, despite growing headwinds for the housing market,” he told AAP.

Rising expectations for borrowing costs, higher inflation and record-high unaffordability were dampening consumer sentiment, while banking regulator APRA’s efforts to clamp down on risky lending would also constrain credit growth.

“But there’s also just this undersupply that I think is the main reason we’re still seeing housing values rising despite all these other challenges,” Mr Lawless said.

“New building supply is still some way off, at least from any level of materiality.

“It’s good news that we’re seeing approvals picking up and a pick-up in commencements.

“But the missing piece of the puzzle here is completions. And it still looks like the building sector is facing pretty significant feasibility challenges to finish off this desperately needed housing supply.”

Growth was highest in the mid-tier markets, with median prices up two per cent for the month in Perth, 1.6 per cent in Brisbane and 1.2 per cent in Adelaide.

Values rose slightly in Sydney (0.2 per cent) and Melbourne (0.1 per cent) after both cities retreated in December.

Governments are both helping and hindering affordability.

The federal government on Saturday announced the first tranche of funding as part of its promise to build 100,000 new homes for first-home buyers.

Mostly made up of conditional loans for enabling infrastructure and grants for state-run home-building programs, the funding injection will help boost supply but will take time to flow through the pipeline.

However, demand-boosting policies were having a more immediate effect on making homes more expensive.

“The expanded deposit guarantee has added some fuel to the fire for demand at the lower price points,” Mr Lawless said.

While growth between cheaper properties and the higher end of the market was already diverging due to affordability constraints, the expansion of the Albanese government’s first-home buyer scheme in October widened the gulf.

In the December quarter, prices grew 3.6 per cent in houses under the cap – which varies across cities and regions – compared with 2.4 per cent for homes priced above, Cotality analysis shows.

One city where government policies have had more success is Canberra, and renters and home buyers are reaping the rewards.

“Canberra’s apartment sector has seen a pretty significant supply addition over the past decade and it’s still going,” Mr Lawless said.

“That’s really added a lot to the amount of rental stock and housing stock overall and you can see it in the pricing figures as well.”

Canberra is the only capital city where rental vacancy is above the decade average and has also experienced the lowest rental growth in the past year.

As well as encouraging mid-rise density and targeted upzonings around new light rail infrastructure, part of the ACT’s supply success comes down to the fact there is no local government layer in the territory, helping streamline approvals processes, Mr Lawless said.

President Donald Trump says ​the United States will respond ⁠in a significant way if Canada proceeds with the trade agreement it negotiated with ‌China.

“If they ​do a deal with ‍China, yeah, we’ll do something very substantial,” the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“We don’t want ​China to ‌take over Canada. And if they make ​the deal that he’s looking ‍to make, China will take over Canada.”

Trump last ​week ​said ​he would impose ​a 100 per cent tariffs on Canada if it follows through on a trade deal with China.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney last month struck a trade deal with Beijing slashing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Canadian canola oil.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Beijing this week to repair ties that have been strained for years, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected there next month.

In a major shift to the world order since Trump took office again, America’s closest partners are exploring opportunities with China following clashes with Trump over tariffs and his demands to take over Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.

Despite the risk of irking Trump, they are resetting relations with a country long seen as a top adversary to many Western allies and the top economic rival to the US.

“We’re engaging broadly, strategically with open eyes,” Carney said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, shortly after he returned from Beijing. “We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be.”

Some leaders, politicians and experts lament a shift that could tip the balance in Beijing’s favour at Washington’s expense, while others say China is as much of a challenge as the US because both exert pressure for their own interests. Either way, how countries are aligning themselves with the world’s two superpowers is changing.

with AP

Average prices of new homes across 100 Chinese cities rose in January, while declines in the secondary ‍market narrowed, following renewed government pledges to ​stabilise the sector.

New home prices rose 0.18 per cent month-on-month, easing from a 0.28 per cent gain ⁠in December, according to the China Index Academy, one of the country’s largest property research firms.

Cities including Chengdu, Shanghai and Hangzhou saw the launch of high-end upgraded housing projects in January, lifting both month-on-month and year-on-year prices ‌in first- ​and second-tier cities, the research firm said on Sunday.

By contrast, third- and fourth-tier ‍cities continued to work through existing inventory, with prices falling on both a monthly and annual basis.

Prices in the resale market fell 0.85 per cent from the previous month, narrowing from a 0.97 per cent decline in December.

China’s property sector has ​struggled since tighter regulations triggered a 2021 ‌liquidity crunch for developers, many of which have since defaulted on debt.

Local media recently reported that ​developers are no longer required to report monthly data under the ‍country’s “three red lines” policy, signalling an apparent end to rules that triggered the ongoing debt crisis.

On January 1, Qiushi, the Communist Party’s ​official journal, ​said the property sector ​was “undergoing a profound adjustment,” calling on policymakers to ​shorten the adjustment period, smooth market volatility, and deliver support in one go rather than piecemeal.

Sales are likely to slow in February due to the Spring Festival holiday, but demand should pick up in March as high-quality land in core cities comes to market and developers step up pre-holiday promotions, the ‍research firm said.

Near Wynyard station in Sydney, there’s an underground walkway where peak hour foot traffic seems to flow entirely in one direction.

On the odd occasion you find yourself walking against the flow, it leaves a curious sense of unease, says Deutsche Bank chief economist for Australia Phil O’Donaghoe.

“I know it is the right way to my meeting but subconsciously, it still feels like I am going the wrong way. A human condition, I guess. Going with the flow can be comforting,” he writes in a research note.

“Deutsche Bank’s base case for the RBA’s February meeting feels a bit like that Wynyard walkway right now.”

Mr O’Donaghoe is one of a handful of economists who expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to hold the cash rate steady at 3.6 per cent when its board wraps up its first meeting of 2026 on Tuesday.

The crux of his heterodox argument is that most analysts have focused on a rise in core inflation in the Australian Bureau of Statistics long-running quarterly consumer price index series, the RBA’s preferred measure. 

But doing this ignores a downward trend in the ABS’s newly-minted monthly data series, which shows inflationary pressures are more temporary than permanent, although the RBA has stated it will pay less heed to the monthly measure while kinks in the data are ironed out.

Also swimming against the tide are Goldman Sachs’ Andrew Boak and Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP.

Dr Oliver acknowledges all key measures of inflation are well above target and the jobs market remains tight.

Yet inflation is expected to slow this year, housing price increases slowed in December, consumer spending is likely to dip if the RBA goes from cuts to hikes so quickly and a stronger dollar will help lower imported inflation.

“Given the cross currents and in particular the downtrend in trimmed mean inflation, the RBA should and probably will leave rates on hold and wait for more information but it’s a close call and not one we have a lot of confidence in,” he said.

“We would put the probability of a hike … around 49 per cent versus 51 per cent for a hold.”

Money markets put the probability of a hike much higher, implying about a 70 per cent chance of a 25-basis point increase.

Economists at JPMorgan, HSBC, RBC Capital Markets, Challenger, Jarden, EY, Deloitte Access Economics, Rabobank and all four big banks are tipping a hike as well.

If they are right, the RBA would become the first major central bank to U-turn from rate cuts to hikes following the post-COVID inflation spike.

“The economy has improved over the past 12 months and we’re now close, if not above, Australia’s speed limit for economic growth,” Commonwealth Bank head of Australian economics Belinda Allen told AAP.

“That’s continuing to put upward pressure on inflation and the RBA needs to act to bring inflation back down towards target.”

While the decision dominates the week’s agenda, economists will also scrutinise building approvals data on Tuesday and Australia’s balance of trade, due Thursday.

Federal politicians will grill RBA officials on their rate decisions on Friday, when governor Michele Bullock, deputy Andrew Hauser and three assistant governors front a committee hearing in Canberra.

Wall Street investors are meanwhile trying to figure out what Donald Trump’s nomination to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will mean for interest rates.

Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh should favour lower rates but stop short of more aggressive monetary easing linked to other potential nominees.

US stocks closed lower Friday, the S&P 500 losing 30.03 points, or 0.43 per cent, to ‌end at 6,938.98 points.

The Nasdaq dropped 223.59 points to 23,461.53 and the Dow Jones 185.12 points to 48,886.44.

Australian share futures tumbled 63 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 17,958.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 58.4 points on Friday, down 0.65 per cent, to 8,869.1, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 72.1 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 9,164.8.

Senior Liberals have talked down the chance of an imminent move against embattled Opposition Leader Sussan despite one rival remaining in the running for her job.

Key backers of Ms Ley acknowledged there was frustration within the party over the coalition’s second break-up, but they insisted there was no appetite for a destabilising change at the top.

“I don’t expect a challenge to leadership at all,” Liberal senator Anne Ruston told Sky News on Sunday ahead of politicians’ return to parliament.

“I quite frankly believe that Sussan Ley has the support of the party room and that she will remain our leader into the future.”

Ms Ley could face a leadership challenge when parliament resumes on Tuesday, but the possibility has faded after one conservative rival, West Australian MP Andrew Hastie, declared he did not have the numbers to contest for the role.

Her other primary rival, frontbencher Angus Taylor, has not publicly stated whether he plans to trigger a spill.

Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien also poured cold water on the chance of an imminent push to remove Ms Ley, although he left the door open to the possibility of a later challenge.

“I don’t believe we’re walking into a sitting period where there will be (a leadership challenge), but I don’t know the future either,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

Leadership speculation ramped up when Mr Hastie, Mr Taylor and MPs from the Liberals’ conservative ranks were seen meeting in Melbourne on Thursday, before the funeral for late MP Katie Allen.

Mr O’Brien said he did not know what was discussed at the meeting, but the convention within the party was for frontbenchers to step aside if they did not support their leader.

“Angus (Taylor) hasn’t done that, so my running assumption is he continues to support Sussan Ley,” he said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud is facing a spill motion from Queensland MP Colin Boyce on Monday, but the move is considered unlikely to succeed and might not receive the required support to trigger a leadership vote.

Senator Matt Canavan said he believed Mr Boyce was genuine in wanting the coalition to get back together after the spectacular divorce spurred by a row over hate crime legislation, which the Nationals refused to join their Liberal colleagues in supporting.

“I don’t think the spill will get up,” Senator Canavan said, adding he would not throw his name into the Nationals leadership mix.

Mr O’Brien said he hoped the coalition would be able to reunify after the parties’ issues were thrashed out.

Ms Ley on Friday gave the Nationals a week to reconcile before she cemented changes to the front bench by replacing shadow cabinet members from the rural party.

“You can’t just come back together willy-nilly and hope for the best,” Mr O’Brien said.

“It’s an open door from Sussan Ley. If David Littleproud is prepared to walk in … I’m sure together, they’ll come through with the best approach moving forward.”

Despite describing herself as a “coalitionist”, Senator Ruston said history showed the Liberals could still win elections without the Nationals.

The most important thing for the Liberals was to provide certainty to Australians by presenting a credible opposition, she said.

Negotiations on reforming the coalition have been put on hold until the Nationals’ leadership partyroom meeting has been held.

Ms Ley has named an interim shadow cabinet before a permanent front bench is locked in and the coalition split cemented.