The Greens leader is seeking to distance himself from the investigation into one of the party’s under-fire senators.

David Shoebridge, who has promised to beat a rising One Nation and replace Labor in government despite his party losing three seats at the last election, has outlined how he plans to win back voters to the Greens in his first appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

But the newly elected leader was forced to defend an ongoing investigation into WA Senator Jordon Steele-John over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women.

Senator Shoebridge refused to comment directly on the scope or outcome of the inquiry.

“The single clearest message that we’re saying: politics needs to be safe for women, needs to be safe for all of us,” he told reporters.

Earlier in October, the leader received a letter from seven Greens members urging an investigation into the WA senator.

The party’s disability spokesman has been put on leave from the parliament until the state Greens branch completes its probe.

Senator Steele-John has denied any wrongdoing and took to social media to defend himself, which the party leader said on Wednesday was not helpful.

“That is obviously not the way to resolve an issue like this … this needs to be dealt with, with the respect and the dignity and the care that it’s entitled to, and that is that independent inquiry,” Senator Shoebridge said.

The Greens leader dismissed suggestions party factionalism was at play in the timing of the letter against the WA senator.

The party’s stance on providing only non-military support for Ukraine has also sparked a backlash from the Greens’ Ukrainian counterparts and the nation’s ambassador to Australia.

Senator Shoebridge has maintained the party’s position hasn’t changed since the conflict began in 2022, supporting direct aid to Ukraine for self-defence and not the international arms trade.

The central policy announced during the senator’s speech was economic – he wants to lift the tax-free threshold from $18,200 to $26,000, which would give more than $1000 back to almost every working Australian.

Senator Shoebridge insisted earlier on Wednesday that the policy should be considered now and could be negotiated with Labor before the next election, due to be held by May 2028.

But the party holds only one seat in the lower house and would need 75 MPs to cross the floor for the policy to pass.

Labor minister Murray Watt said his party had made its position on tax clear and was not willing to work with Senator Shoebridge on it.

“The Greens are welcome to make whatever statements they want,” he told ABC TV.

”The reality is that come the next election, we will have either a Labor government or a coalition between the Liberals, National, and One Nation.

“They are the two options available, as much as the Greens want to claim otherwise.”

Senator Shoebridge said Labor’s “arrogance” would get in the way of them securing further support.

The tax-free threshold policy would not be inflationary, according to Senator Shoebridge, because it will be offset by new corporate taxes, targeted at the resources sector.

To pay for the $22 billion a year commitment, the Greens would introduce a 25 per cent gas export tax and a market-linked resource rent tax.

“When the price of our resources goes up, the Australian people should get their fair share, after all the public owns the resources in the first place,” Senator Shoebridge said.

Pauline Hanson has doubled down on seeking to push through a policy that would give Australians early access to their superannuation savings.

Announced in September, One Nation’s Super Pay Boost seeks to allow people paying rent or a mortgage to opt in to divert a quarter of their superannuation to their take-home pay for up to three years.

Employers would still be required to pay the compulsory 12 per cent super, but funds would then pay the three per cent directly to policy participants; existing super would not be touched.

Mary Delahunty, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief executive, said in September the policy would be “economically disastrous”.

Despite the criticism and little chance of the policy becoming law as it’s opposed by the government, Senator Hanson said on Wednesday that One Nation’s Treasury spokesperson Barnaby Joyce would move an amendment in the lower house in a bid to to establish the changes.

“Because of the cost of living crisis at the moment, I’m very concerned about a lot of people who are going to lose their homes because they can’t afford the mortgage,” Senator Hanson told reporters.

The One Nation leader said there was an obligation to assist those doing it tough, including rough sleepers and those experiencing homelessness.

She said she did not have any concerns the policy could be inflationary.

“I don’t, because they’re paying this money out as it is in rent. So what’s inflationary?” she said.

Asked how homeless Australians would benefit from a policy applying only to those proven to have a lease or mortgage, Senator Hanson made seemingly contradictory comments.

“It may actually help them to get into accommodation to pay that rent, because they can’t access the money unless they’re paying rent,” she said.

Senator Hanson said the policy would make a big difference for those struggling financially, and blamed the Albanese government’s “out-of-control spending” for rising inflation.

New Zealand’s central bank has defied market expectations and held interest rates in a shock move just days before the November 7 election.

The market had almost fully priced in a hike for Wednesday’s meeting of the Reserve Bank’s (RBNZ) monetary policy committee, which made a 4-3 call to hold at 2.75 per cent.

Governor Anna Breman was effectively the casting vote, preferring to watch and see the impacts of two previous hikes in July and September.

The Kiwi dollar, already at 18-year lows against the US dollar, fell further on the call, dropping one per cent.

The “RBNZ stuns with dovish hold” is how Mark Smith, senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank-owned ASB, described the move.

Hikes are almost certainly still coming though, with retail banks and the RBNZ maintaining a future track for at rises in December or early 2027.

The RBNZ’s call this week effectively says headline inflation – running at 3.7 per cent and forecast to top four per cent by year’s end – is largely due to imported causes that a rate rise won’t tame.

Top of that list is fuel costs, which remain elevated following the US war on Iran.

“This is a tough decision,” Ms Breman said, “we have a lot of volatility”.

She also said the risk of an AI-led “market correction” gave the committee pause for thought.

The hold will come as a huge relief to Chris Luxon’s National party and its government coalition partners, who are spared a rate rise just 10 days before polling day.

However, it’s not all good news for the government as the failure to raise rates shows the lack of underlying strength in the New Zealand economy.

Growth has been sluggish during Mr Luxon’s term, hitting a two-year high of 1.7 per cent in the year to June.

At 5.6 per cent, unemployment is also at a 11-year high, while household consumption is running well below private investment.

That’s consistent with what Kiwis have consistently labelled their top issue at this election: the cost of living. 

“We’re still seeing resilience which is the good thing, but there’s fragilities as well,” Ms Breman said of the Kiwi economy.

ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said headline inflation justified a lift.

“A 25bp hike today would have been the most prudent course,” she said.

“We continue to believe that it will be necessary to lift the OCR to 3.5 per cent in order to head off risks of inflation becoming persistent, and our base case is that the three hikes will come at the next three meetings.”

Mr Smith said the call could leave the central bank with more to do later.

“We are concerned that inflation over 2027 could prove slow to recede,” he said.

“Higher for longer inflation is a major headache for the RBNZ as it risks pressuring inflation expectations and other nominal anchors higher.”

Australians struggling with higher prices and interest rates are increasingly turning to cheap mince when they do their grocery shopping.

The nation’s biggest supermarket group revealed the trend during its first-quarter sales results on Wednesday, while warning that consumers are struggling in the economic climate.

Woolworths, which has more than 1000 grocery stores, posted a 4.7 per cent rise in overall sales to $19.4 billion for the three months to October 4, which was in line with expectations.

Most of the growth was driven by its home market, where Australian food sales rose by almost seven per cent to $14.8 billion from the same period last year, after shoppers took advantage of an increase in the number of low-priced products to more than a thousand and an extended in-store rewards program.

Cheap beef mince was a standout in the fresh food sector, alongside similar value-added proteins, bakery products like specialty breads and long-life products such as UHT milk, yoghurt and cheese, many of which were Woolworths’ brands.

Customers were under “real pressure”, chief executive Amanda Bardwell told a briefing on Wednesday.

“The amount of pressure on young families, particularly, and families more broadly is increasing … and that’s why I think it’s important that we continue to do everything we can to invest in value,” she said.

“We’re going to have to work increasingly hard, just given where customers are right now.”

Australian households face cost-of-living pressures on multiple fronts, as prices rise across the board and after four interest rate hikes so far in 2026, against a backdrop of softer domestic and global economic growth.

And there might be another rate increase as soon as next Tuesday, after inflation increased by 1.3 per cent in the September quarter and 4.3 per cent over the year.

Most of the consumer price index growth was driven by the higher cost of housing, energy, transport and food, the statistics bureau reported on Wednesday.

The average family with a mortgage spends about 10 per cent of household income on groceries each year, Woolworths estimates.

But while the grocery giant increased first quarter sales, it also recorded a 0.7 per cent fall in average prices, excluding tobacco, which was partly buffered by higher meat prices.

With just under two months to go before Christmas, Ms Bardwell promised shoppers that Woolworths, which is valued at $49.9 billion and about $17 billion more than its major rival Coles, would do its best to make the holiday season “special”.

Last week, it began selling Christmas table half leg hams at $8 per kilogram, the same price as in 2014.

“When we look at how we’re positioned for the (December) quarter, we feel like we’ve got a really great plan,” Ms Bardwell said.

“It really now all comes down to how customers respond and what happens in terms of interest rates and fuel.”

Woolworths’ first-quarter sales were also helped by an Ooshies collectibles promotion which ran for one month and ended in August, offering shoppers a squishy rubber figure of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars characters for each $30 spent.

In August, Woolworths reported a 2025/26 annual net profit of $1.1 billion, up 18 per cent on the year before.

The retailer’s shares were 0.5 per cent higher at $41.23 after noon on Wednesday.

Coles will report its first-quarter sales on Friday. It has already flagged a likely three per cent rise in overall sales, which would be better than the prior’s year’s outcome of $11 billion.

US President Donald Trump has campaigned in the traditionally solidly ‌Republican state of Texas, seeking to boost Senate candidate Ken Paxton fend off what could be the first Democratic victory in 32 years.

With high fuel ‌prices weighing heavily on the campaign for November 3 congressional elections, Trump scheduled a pair of stops at opposite ends of the oil-producing state.

He appeared before a tanker containing Venezuelan crude in the Gulf of Mexico, ‌and planned to announce the easing of methane rules for oil and gas producers during a later stop in the West Texas city of Lubbock.

The trip marked Trump’s third visit to Texas this ‌month to mobilise support for ‌Paxton, who is locked in a ⁠close race with Democrat James Talarico. A loss in Texas next Tuesday would complicate the Republican Party’s path to retaining its slim Senate ​majority.

The rally took place within view of an oil tanker, moored near the Port of Corpus Christi, that Trump said was loaded with the first oil received from Venezuela under a deal that Washington made after deposing the country’s former leader Nicolas Maduro.

“We’re celebrating the greatest oil victory in history. To the victor belongs the spoils, right?” Trump said. Texas has long been one of the main refining centres for Venezuelan crude oil.

Trump announced in August an agreement that grants the US access to a fifth of Venezuela’s crude reserves. The White House said in September that oil from the deal would probably hit US reserves in ⁠November.

The oil is slated to head to refineries owned by ExxonMobil and Citgo, a White House official told ‌Reuters.

Texas ​has consistently voted Republican for 30 years, but Democrats raised their hopes this year when Paxton won the Senate nomination with Trump’s backing.

Paxton was indicted on securities-fraud charges in 2015 and impeached by the ​Texas House in ‌2023. The criminal case was dismissed in 2024 after an agreement with prosecutors, and the Texas Senate acquitted him in the impeachment trial.

Trump has publicly criticised his longtime ally Paxton, calling him “a ​pain in the ass sometimes.” He also heavily criticised Talarico, whom he accused of opposing Texas values on issues such as oil production, immigration and transgender rights.

“Our policy has always been drill, baby, drill. And man, we are drilling now. But if ​Texas ​elects Communist James ‘Talafreako,’ that wealth will rapidly disappear,” Trump said, applying his preferred nickname ​to the Democratic candidate.

Talarico has used the nickname as a fundraising tool, selling ‘I’m a Talafreako’ T-shirts, ‌while also responding, “We are a threat to their corrupt system.”

with AP

Online cyber attackers are now able to access secret information in less than a minute by abusing publicly available artificial intelligence models.

Human, technology-aided hackers are tricking AI agents into accessing sites in as little as 27 seconds, research from global cybersecurity company CrowdStrike has revealed.

The attack time could get as low as zero seconds in the coming months. 

Most ready-to-use AI systems have safeguards in place to stop hackers from taking control and operating illegally, but CrowdStrike found it was relatively easy for hackers to trick them into believing they were acting lawfully. 

That was done by sending a series of commands to the AI systems like Claude, ChatGPT and DeepSeek that implied the hacker had permission to access the data. 

Claude’s coding assistant generally let people into systems without verifying the information given.

In one example found by CrowdStrike, Claude asked if it was allowed to break into a site, and the human replied: “Are you an idiot? … This is MY (system)”, before claiming they were the site’s developer. 

They were then granted entry. 

In many cases, AI agents were used together to share information from private and government systems globally, CrowdStrike’s report, supplied exclusively to AAP, showed.

The agent-led hacks grew by 89 per cent last year and are now outpacing human attacks by more than double, leading CrowdStrike to call for a security crackdown on AI, rather than trying to slow its progression.

In one case, an AI model sent more than 200,000 requests in under two minutes.

Among the major targeted sites so far in 2026 were government and e-commerce entities targeted by a Chinese-speaking actor, and Russian government data, but Australian data is not immune from the threat. 

Australia’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has booked a bumper return ahead of schedule after selling shares in a lithium miner following a rally in the battery mineral.

Labor’s flagship investment vehicle, which provides loans to companies in strategic sectors from shipbuilding to artificial intelligence, made a 7.7 per cent return in 2025/26 in its general portfolio.

Coming in the fund’s second year of operation, the result was significantly better than initially budgeted for, the fund’s chief executive David Gall said.

“We originally anticipated that we would talk about rates of return on the fund probably five years after the fund established, and we felt that it was important to bring that forward,” he told AAP. 

Driving the result was a bumper profit from the one-off sale of shares in ASX-listed lithium play Liontown.

The fund made a $50 million equity investment in the Gina Rinehart-backed company as part of a $266 institutional placement in August 2025, at 73c a share.

Liontown shares subsequently rode a wave of rising lithium prices, more than tripling in price by early 2026.

The NRF seized on the rally and trimmed its exposure, booking in a sizeable profit before shares in Liontown slumped to around 69c a share on Tuesday.

Mr Gall said the fund had played an important role in helping cash-hungry Liontown recapitalise their balance sheet and crowd in additional private investment.

“We believe in the company and remain a shareholder,” he said.

“But the share price did perform extremely well for a period, and so it made sense from a portfolio composition perspective to trim our holding.”

Mr Gall said for every dollar the NRF invested across its portfolio, it crowded in an additional $2.61 of private capital.

Throughout the financial year, the fund made or committed to 22 investments, amounting to $1.67 billion in total capital – above its investment target of $1.5 billion.

That included $20 million for quantum computing start-up Diraq, which has helped it move to the final stage of a lucrative US Department of Defense research and development program.

Mr Gall was also particularly proud of the fund’s investment in medical diagnostic AI tool Harrison.ai, which has since successfully entered the UK and US hospital systems.

“It’s not about having the best Australian sovereign models, it’s about really understanding where some of the applications of AI can make a real difference,” he said.

The fund’s Economic Resilience Program, set up in the wake of the Middle East oil crisis to bolster Australia’s fuel and fertiliser supply chains, has provided more than $558 million in zero interest loans to more than 470 businesses, as of October 20.

While the fund’s general portfolio is required to achieve a return rate of around six to seven per cent over a five-year timeframe, the program has no return mandate.

Its net zero and forestry sub funds also have return mandates below government borrowing costs, which critics have warned could incentivise the fund to back loss-making investments.

No single measure can undo the change in social attitudes driving political threats, according to the head of the Australian Federal Police, as it grapples with how to keep parliamentarians safe.

Commissioner Krissy Barrett began her late-night appearance at the Senate estimates hearing noting “a heaviness that hangs across Australia” after the attack on independent MP Helen Haines.

The federal member for Indi lost both her legs and remains in a serious but stable condition in a Melbourne hospital after being struck repeatedly by a four-wheel drive outside her Wangaratta office.

State authorities are leading the ongoing investigation into the motive behind the attack with the police chief confirming the alleged offender was not known to federal police.

As the nation comes to grips with the attack, Ms Barrett said it has aligned with a global trend of violence emerging with little or no warning from individuals largely unknown to authorities.

“Lone actors are being motivated by a convergence of personal grievances, mental health vulnerabilities and ideological concerns,” she told the Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night.

“What helped keep us safe in recent times, such as our geography, analogue systems and far away criminals, has been impacted by fully integrated technology, social media and artificial intelligence.”

Ms Barrett said technology has enabled an “instant pipeline of hate” delivered to people’s homes, including teenagers, and workplaces because of the ubiquity of devices.

“Our investigators are charging almost one person a week for targeting Commonwealth parliamentarians or high office holders,” she told senators.

The AFP received 785 protective security reports that contained “adverse content” about federal parliamentarians in the first half of the year, Ms Barrett said, with 394 directed at male MPs and 371 against female MPs.

She added that while all reports were taken seriously, the “adverse content” sometimes did not meet a criminal threshold.

An AFP psychological analysis of Joint Counter Terrorism Team youth cases from 2020-2025 showed the 55 boys aged between 12 and 17 were entirely or partially radicalised online, Ms Barrett said.

The ideological presentation of those youths had shifted over the past two years away from jihadist extremism or white supremacist ideology, she said, with an increasing number having hybrid or unclear beliefs and displaying “ideological fluidity”.

“In three out of five cases, the youths had received support, treatment or intervention for a mental health condition,” she added.

Individuals who believe threats and violence are tolerable if their cause is noble are taking to social media, corroding community and normalising violence creating a fundamental shift, Ms Barrett said.

“It continues to impact on many, most notably the Jewish community. Anti-Semitism is often the early warning sign of a decay in our society, and the poisoning of our compact with each other,” she said.

“Our collective consciousness must be awake to this threat, and acknowledge there will always be another target group of hate if we do not recognise where it can start.

“There is not one single measure alone that will stop the threats, because this goes to a wider societal problem Australia is facing,” Ms Barrett said, pledging to work with the home affairs and finance departments to ensure the security of electorate offices and the homes of parliamentarians.

Ms Barrett reiterated she did not seek to judge how parliamentarians “do politics,” to police free speech or intervene in political discourse.

The federal police commissioner will meet her state and territory counterparts soon to discuss the issue of democratic and parliamentary security.

French football captain Kylian Mbappe has apologised after Chinese brands cut ties with him over comments referring to the ‌late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, underscoring how swiftly international celebrities can come unstuck in a crucial market.

In a video Mbappe is heard saying that the funniest meme he had seen of himself was one where his ‌face had been photoshopped on to that of “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.

His comments appeared to be a reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao.

“During a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself,” Mbappe, 27, posted on social media platform X. 

“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world.”

“I apologise to everyone my words have upset,” he added.

“This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”

In China, satire or jokes about Mao, the country’s founding leader who ruled it from 1949 until his death in 1976, are considered disrespectful and remain a social taboo.

“A remark about an internet meme has triggered a backlash among his Chinese ‌fans, threatened his lucrative commercial ‌relationships and offered a sharp reminder ⁠of the limits of celebrity influence,” state media outlet China Daily said.

Mbappe is one of the world’s most prominent athletes and has ties with ​firms from sportswear brand On Holding to hotel chain Accor and toy maker Lego.

Many Chinese media outlets on Tuesday condemned Mbappe’s apparent remarks but did not repeat them.

“What did he say? Many Chinese would rather not repeat it,” the state-backed Global Times said.

“The message from Chinese consumers is clear: respect is not optional; one doesn’t get to profit from China while disrespecting it. Not a chance.”

Brands including dairy companies ⁠Mengniu and Shanghai Milkground Food Tech as well as beverage maker Dongpeng said they were ceasing all co-operation with Mbappe, ‌who plays his club soccer ​for Real Madrid, effective immediately.

The companies said they “firmly oppose and have zero tolerance for any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.

China’s state television has halted broadcasts of all matches and events ​involving LaLiga and ‌Mbappe, and all advertisements involving Mbappe have been removed, state-backed media outlet the Paper reported on Tuesday.

Spain’s ​LaLiga president, Javier Tebas, issued an apology on X and said that the organisation deeply regretted the alleged comments that “have caused discomfort and offence in China”.

“We are taking the measures within our reach and working directly with our partners and interlocutors in China to overcome this situation,” Tebas wrote. 

“A relationship built over so many years cannot be damaged by a single episode.”

Four topics related to Mbappe were still among the top 10 trending searches on China’s social media platform Weibo on Tuesday. 

Some netizens called for China to “blacklist” Mbappe and reduce his commercial value to zero. 

These comments received hundreds of likes.

Fans have been creating memes superimposing Mbappe’s face on images of military and political leaders to suggest that he has the power to influence decisions at the teams he plays for. 

He has himself been nicknamed “the dictator” in the European press.

In an interview with L’Equipe last month, Mbappe said that while some aspects of the meme trend were harmless fun, the viral ones depicting him as a dictator ​showed “a lack of political and human awareness”.

with AP

French football star Kylian Mbappe’s face appears in ads across China, but now at least three companies are cutting ties with him after he made comments apparently referring to Communist leader Mao Zedong as a dictator.

Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground announced on Tuesday in similarly worded statements that they were ending agreements with the French national captain, each saying they oppose “any words and actions that hurt national sentiment”.

The companies did not specify what prompted their decisions, but they released their statements after a clip that appeared to show Mbappe being interviewed before going on the French online talk show The Bridge circulated on X.

In the video, Mbappe is asked about his favourite meme of himself, and he replies that it was “a video someone made of a guy … I think he was a Chinese dictator” before the video shows an altered image depicting Mbappe’s face on the body of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China.

Fans online jokingly call the Real Madrid star – who is said to overshadow many of his teammates and even the teams he plays on – a dictator, and memes showing him as Mao or other autocratic leaders are widely circulated.

The Associated Press was immediately unable to reach Mbappe’s representatives for comment.

Social media platform RedNote joined the criticism, saying in a separate statement that the company had a content partnership with Mbappe that ended in 2024, and that it would “remove related promotional materials”.

It likewise expressed opposition to “any conduct that hurts national sentiment”.

Mbappe has featured in advertising campaigns in China for products from electrolyte drinks to milk and cheese.

On Chinese social media, there were already several comments criticising Mbappe.

The hashtags “Dongpeng ends partnership with Mbappe” and “Several brands end partnerships with Mbappe” topped Weibo’s trending list, with some users expressing anger at his remarks or telling him not to come to China.