A massive floating platform has arrived off the West Australian coast as Woodside Energy’s controversial Scarborough gas project nears production.

The 70,000-tonne floating production unit was slowly towed by five large ocean towing vessels more than 7400km from China to its position 375km off Karratha.

The journey began in November, with Woodside comparing it to the equivalent of towing an apartment block at jogging pace from Perth to Sydney and back again.

One of the largest semi-submersible facilities ever built, the floating production unit features six deck levels, 75 beds, a gym and open-plan communal living areas. 

It measures 165m from keel to top, which is taller than a 50-storey building.

The unit will be used to separate, dry and compress natural gas from the initial eight wells in the Scarborough gas field once the project enters production in the second half of 2026.

The treated gas will then travel via a 430km pipeline to Woodside’s Pluto LNG plant on the Burrup Peninsula for liquefaction and export to Asia.

Having the floating production unit safely in the field was a momentous way to begin 2026, Woodside acting CEO Liz Westcott said.

“Its successful arrival is a further demonstration of the Woodside, McDermott and subcontractor teams’ collaboration and commitment to safe delivery of the project,” she said.

The Scarborough project is 91 per cent complete, Woodside says, and will provide up to eight million tonnes of LNG for export a year, as well as up to 225 terajoules of gas per day for domestic consumption.

The $18.6 billion project will boost Australia’s economy by $174 billion, support more than 3,000 jobs per year and generate $55.5 billion in direct and indirect tax payments, Woodside said.

Environmentalists have fiercely condemned the project as a potential huge contributor to climate change, saying it would generate an estimated 1.37 billion tonnes of emissions by 2055.

Woodside shares were down 1.4 per cent to $23.38 after midday on Tuesday.

The Trump administration’s decision to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has drawn condemnation from former Fed chiefs and a chorus of criticism from key members of the Republican ‍Party.

The investigation was revealed late on Sunday, US time, when Powell said the Fed had received subpoenas from the Justice Department.

It was approved and started by Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney ​in Washington and an ally of President Donald Trump, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Neither Attorney General Pam Bondi nor Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was briefed about the decision to subpoena the Fed last week, one of the sources added.

The threat of indictment, ostensibly focused on comments Powell made ⁠to Congress about a building renovation project, sent rates on longer-term US Treasury bonds up, as investors parsed what a less independent Fed could mean for inflation and monetary policy.

If amplified, such a market reaction could constrain Trump’s efforts to reshape the Fed, considered the most influential central bank in the world and a cornerstone of the world financial system. 

A rise in long-term borrowing costs could also backfire against Trump’s efforts to address broad concerns about “affordability”.

On Monday, former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan joined with former government economic policy leaders from both political parties in raising the alarm. 

“This is how monetary policy is ‌made in emerging markets with weak ​institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” they wrote. 

Global central bankers including the chiefs of the French and Canadian central banks publicly offered solidarity.

US Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member ‍of the Senate Banking Committee that vets presidential nominees for the Fed, called the move a “huge mistake” on Sunday and said he would oppose any Trump nominees to the Fed, including whoever is named to succeed Powell as central bank chief, “until this legal matter is fully resolved”.

He was joined on Monday in condemning the development by fellow Banking Committee member Kevin Cramer and Senator Lisa Murkowski, who wrote on X that “the stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer”.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of Powell’s more strident critics usually, on Monday said the Justice Department’s use of a criminal statute looked like a “heavy lift” and that she did not see any criminal intent.

“We need this like we need a hole in the head,” quipped Senator John Kennedy, also on the banking committee.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Trump ​on Sunday the investigation “made a mess” and could be bad for financial markets, Axios reported on Monday, citing two sources.

The rise in longer-term rates notwithstanding, ‌market reaction was relatively muted. Gold hit a record high and the dollar fell. 

Major US stock indexes notched record closing highs after gains from artificial intelligence stocks and Walmart.

Powell – who was nominated by Trump to lead the Fed and confirmed in 2018 – will complete his term as Fed chief ‍in May, but is not obligated to leave its board until 2028. 

The subpoenas from the US Justice Department last week pertained to remarks Powell made to Congress over cost overruns for a $US2.5 billion (A$3.74 billion) building renovation at the Fed’s headquarters, and threatened a criminal indictment.

Powell said his testimony and the renovations were pretexts.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” he said.

Trump told NBC News on Sunday he had no knowledge of the Justice Department’s actions. 

“I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump said of Powell.

Lynas Rare Earths, a crucial player in Australia’s bid to challenge Chinese dominance in the supply chain for future technology, will lose its influential chief executive after 12 years in the role.

Amanda Lacaze announced her intention to retire from the ASX darling on Tuesday.

Easily the most prominent female CEO of a publicly-listed Australian mining company, Ms Lacaze has overseen the transformation of Lynas from little-known start-up to the only significant producer of separated rare earth materials outside of China.

“I’ve loved every day of my 12 years at Lynas,” she said in a statement released to the stock market.

“It has been a great privilege to lead the company from a troubled startup to an ASX50 company. I am extremely proud of our achievements over this time.”

Lynas’ Mt Weld mine in Western Australia is one of the world’s most valuable deposits of rare earths elements, which are used to make permanent magnets essential to high-tech manufacturing supply chains, from fighter jets to MRI machines.

The federal government on Monday revealed rare earths, as well as antimony and gallium, would be the first critical minerals included in a taxpayer-backed strategic reserve to counter China’s stranglehold.

Ms Lacaze has been outspoken about China’s dominance and manipulation of the rare earths market, as well as the need to encourage more women into the mining industry.

“I am leaving the company in good hands with a fabulous team with unique skills and know-how, and a balance sheet to support future growth plans,” she said.

“Having successfully concluded the Lynas 2025 capital investment program and launched the Towards 2030 growth strategy, it is the right time to make this transition.”

Chair John Humphrey said Ms Lacaze had made an outstanding contribution to the rare earths industry in her time at Lynas.

“This company was in a very difficult position when Amanda took on the role of CEO. It is thanks to Amanda’s hard work, drive and tenacity that Lynas is today a leading rare earths producer and critical supplier to global manufacturing supply chains,” he said.

Lynas’ market value has increased under Ms Lacaze’s stewardship from around $400 million in 2014 to close to $15 billion.

After an initial slide, Lynas share recovered to be up more than 2.4 per cent in early trading.

The company said it will consider both internal and external candidates as it searches for a new CEO.

Ms Lacaze will remain in the role until the end of the financial year.

Shares in the company that owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS have hit a two-month low on news Endeavour Group is discounting to grow sales at the expense of its profit margin.

The two liquor store chains had $5.4 billion in sales in the 27 weeks to January 4, up 0.7 per cent from a similar period a year ago, Endeavour said on Tuesday.

But the group’s overall profit for the first half is expected to be between $400 million to $411 million, down from $437 million in the first half of 2024/25.

Jayne Hrdlicka, who began as the group’s new CEO on January 1 after leaving Virgin Australia, said the company made a deliberate decision to invest in lower prices to boost sales and customer engagement.

Endeavour was very pleased with the speed with which customers responded to lower prices and targeted promotional activity, she said.

Dan Murphy’s had record sales in December, with Christmas Eve setting a new daily sales record.

“The pricing and promotional decisions we have made in our retail business have generated positive sales results, delivering on our aim to better align the customer propositions for each of our brands to re-ignite top-line growth,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“In a competitive market landscape, we have focused on reinforcing customer confidence in the value we offer across all channels, particularly in Dan Murphy’s unbeatable price and customer experience.”

Endeavour also owns more than 350 pubs across Australia, where sales were up 4.4 per cent to $1.2 billion, including a best-ever sales run in December.

“The holiday spirit across our hotels business was exceptional, enabling strong results,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

But RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Toner said the sales update was a negative for Endeavour shares.

“In the face of structural top-line challenges and aggressive price competition in the retail liquor space, Dan’s has pulled the price lever to reinforce its value proposition,” he said.

This led to the company missing consensus earnings margin expectations by about half a percentage point.

In early trading, Endeavour Group shares were down 6.4 per cent to $3.565.

Apple will use Google’s Gemini models for its revamped Siri coming later in 2026 under a multi-year deal that deepens the ​tech giants’ alliance in the artificial intelligence era and bolsters Alphabet’s position in the race against OpenAI.

The deal announced on Monday, US time, marks a major vote of ⁠confidence for Google. 

Its technology already drives much of Samsung’s Galaxy AI, but the Siri deal unlocks a large market with Apple’s installed base of more than two billion active devices.

“After careful evaluation, Apple determined Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models,” Google said, adding that its models will also power other future Apple Intelligence features.

Alphabet has been jostling with OpenAI for the Apple deal, the financial details ‌of which were ​not disclosed.

The iPhone maker had in late 2024 rolled out ChatGPT into its devices, allowing the company’s Siri voice ‍assistant to tap into the chatbot’s expertise to answer complicated questions.

Apple said there were no major changes to the ChatGPT integration at the time, while OpenAI did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

“This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that (they) also have Android and Chrome,” Tesla chief Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X.

Musk founded his own AI firm xAI that has been trying ​to compete with other major players in the industry by building foundational models and spending ‌billions on massive infrastructure.

Monday’s tie-up will likely raise questions on OpenAI’s partnership with Apple. In response to Gemini 3, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman late in 2025 reportedly issued a “code ​red” to push teams to accelerate development.

“Apple’s decision to use Google’s Gemini models for Siri shifts OpenAI into a more supporting role, with ‍ChatGPT remaining positioned for complex, opt-in queries rather than the default intelligence layer,” said Parth Talsania, chief executive of Equisights Research.

Google has been firing on all cylinders to counter OpenAI’s early lead in the industry by doubling down on frontier models, and image and video ​generation.

Apple ​has faced a series of setbacks on the AI ​front after being late to the race, with Siri’s upgrade getting ​delayed, top-level executive changes and the initial rollout of its generative AI tools being met with lukewarm reception.

The latest agreement builds on a years-long partnership that makes Google the default search engine on Apple devices – a lucrative arrangement that drives traffic for Google while generating tens of billions in annual revenue for Apple.

News of the deal helped power Alphabet’s market valuation above $US4 trillion ($A6 trillion) on Monday. The stock jumped 65 per cent in 2025 on growing investor optimism about its AI efforts.

“Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards,” Google said on Monday, in ‍a move to ease privacy concerns. 

Kevin Rudd will end his tenure as Australia’s ambassador to the US a year early following a tumultuous period under the Trump administration.

The former Labor prime minister was appointed as ambassador in 2023 but faced controversy for his previous criticisms of President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump reclaimed the top job in 2024, complicating the government’s relationship with the ambassador.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Dr Rudd would conclude his posting on March 31 to take up the role of global president of the international relations think tank, the Asia Society.

He will also head the society’s Centre for China Analysis.

“As prime minister, I have visited the United States on no less than seven occasions, that is because of the productive work that Kevin Rudd has done across the board,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Dr Rudd had been an excellent ambassador, including by helping Australia secure a critical minerals deal with the US and advancing the AUKUS security pact through which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the US.

“Kevin has been an excellent ambassador, we thank him for his tireless contribution to Australia’s national interests over the last three years,” she said alongside the prime minister.

“He has done what our best ambassadors, developing deep, enduring relationships across the political divide, across successive administrations, and always with a view to advancing Australia’s interests.”

Mr Albanese denied fractured relationships between the ambassador and the Trump administration, including a terse exchange between Mr Trump and Dr Rudd during a bilateral meeting with the prime minister when his past criticisms were brought up with the president.

“The thing about President Trump is that he looks forward on these issues,” Mr Albanese said.

A replacement will be announced at a later date.

Members of Australia’s Iranian community are feeling “numb” and helpless as the death toll from violent, anti-regime protests increases.

At least 490 protesters have been killed in two weeks of unrest across the nation as the government steps up its severe effort to stop the uprising, according to US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Dozens of security personnel have also died and more than 10,600 people have been arrested, the group said.

The protests began in response to soaring inflation but quickly turned political, with protesters demanding clerical rulers step down.

Iran has warned it will retaliate if the US attacks after President Donald Trump said he could intervene in the deadly demonstrations.

Siamak Ghahreman, president of the Australian-Iranian Community Organisation, said many have struggled to contact family back home due to an internet blackout, cutting the nation off from the rest of the world.

“This is really sad and the whole community is numb, plus there isn’t much people can really do from here,” he told AAP.

“We’ve done demonstrations and sent letters to the government, but that’s as far as we can take it. It’s been like that for 47 years.”

There are fears the death toll will escalate, with protesters and the government both not backing down.

“There is no common sense in the Iranian government and for it to survive, they are prepared to kill as many as it takes just to be in power,” Mr Ghahreman said.

“The way that it’s going is that the people are not going to stop until they overturn the government. They are totally fed up this time.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday condemned the regime for oppressing and killing its people.

“We stand with the people of Iran who are standing up for their human rights, standing up for their dignity, standing up for a change that is required,” he told reporters in Canberra.

He said the Islamic Republic regime played a “bad role internationally”, which was why he expelled Iran’s ambassador in 2025 for the involvement of its agencies in attacks on Australian soil.

Kambiz Razmara, vice president of the Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria, said feelings among the community were mixed.

“On one hand, people are suffering and are being brutalised under the same oppressive regime as the last 50 years,” he said.

“On the other hand, if there is any silver lining, the end of the oppression is near and people are fighting hard to get there.”

Australian households are ramping up spending despite diminishing hopes of rate cuts, setting a challenge for the Reserve Bank to bring inflation under control. 

Consumer sentiment figures, released by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute on Tuesday, will provide an insight into how long the recent rally in household spending is likely to last.

Spending through the year to November surged to 6.3 per cent – the highest annual pace in more than two years – the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday. 

The strong spending result increased the likelihood of inflation bouncing back up from its recent fall to 3.4 per cent, VanEck Head of Investments and Capital Markets Russel Chesler said.

“Inflation remains elevated, and between government energy rebates rolling off, higher tariffs flowing through to consumer prices, and geopolitical conflicts impacting major supply chains – not to mention the stickiness of services and housing inflation – keeping it on a tight leash this year will not be straightforward,” he said.

“Which means that it is likely that the RBA will need to increase the cash rate this year.”

However, there is a strong chance the momentum will run out when December spending figures are reported in February.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment index, which provides a rough forward indicator of spending momentum, slumped nine per cent in December to 94.5 after Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock’s hawkish warnings about rate hikes in 2026.

A further drop into pessimistic territory should ease concerns that runaway spending will over-inflate the economy.

NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine said he remained optimistic about the prospects for Australia’s economy this year.

He said finding ways to boost productivity would be essential to growing the economy.

“Backed by strong employment, the economy continues to do well, and we don’t expect more stimulus or another rate cut right now,” Mr Irvine said.

“The question for the Reserve Bank is going to be: does it need to put a little bit of a handbrake on that growth? 

“The challenge is that we don’t have any excess capacity.”

Mr Irvine said Australia needed to change its aversion to business risk to foster innovation and competitiveness.

“Bankruptcy in Australia is still viewed as failure by many,” he said.

“In the US, failure is almost seen as a rite of passage and many entrepreneurs have failed twice or more.

“In Australia, we don’t have as much venture capital and banks don’t do much growth lending due to our risk settings. 

“More incentives to help businesses to start and grow are also needed.”

The finer details of a hate speech overhaul are set to be revealed as laws drawn up after the Bondi terror attack go under the microscope.

Parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee will scrutinise the laws on Tuesday, hauling in the home affairs and attorney-general’s departments as well as the Australian Federal Police and ASIO.

The laws will be introduced to parliament on Monday, when MPs will also be given time to speak on a condolence motion following the anti-Semitic attack at Bondi Beach that claimed 15 innocent lives.

The package includes creating offences for publicly promoting or inciting racial hatred as the government vows to crack down on hate preachers.

A person faces five years behind bars if they promote or incite hatred against another person or group because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin, according to part of the legislation seen by AAP.

Disseminating ideas of superiority over or hatred of another person or group because of their race, colour or national and ethnic origin is also an offence.

It would be an offence if “the conduct would, in all the circumstances, cause a reasonable person who is the target, or a member of the target group, to be intimidated, to fear harassment or violence, or to fear for their safety,” the draft legislation states.

There are already concerns within the coalition about provisions of the hate speech bill, including a passage that exempts “directly quoting from or otherwise referencing a religious text for the purpose of religious teaching or discussion”.

The apprehension within the coalition is that this may fail to tackle some radical Islamic preachers who would be able to fall back on that defence.

The proposed omnibus legislation could also wedge the coalition as it includes gun reforms.

The full details of the changes will be made public on Tuesday, but Nationals MPs have already expressed reservations about gun control after the coalition was briefed on the legislation on Monday evening.

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said some of the firearm importation provisions being pursued related to particular classes of guns, “and not ones that recreational or agricultural shooters should be worried about”. 

“We will, as a coalition, work through the detail and make sure our position is a united one,” he said.

Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie and a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo. 

Mattel said it developed the autistic doll across more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a non-profit organisation that advocates for the rights and better media representation of people with autism. 

The goal: to create a Barbie that reflected some of the ways autistic people might experience and process the world around them, Mattel said in a statement. 

That was a challenge because autism encompasses a broad range of behaviours and difficulties that vary widely in degree, and many of the traits associated with the disorder are not immediately visible, according to Noor Pervez, who is the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s community engagement manager and worked closely with Mattel on the Barbie prototype. 

Like many disabilities, “autism doesn’t look any one way”, Pervez said. 

“But we can try and show some of the ways that autism expresses itself.”

For example, the eyes of the new Barbie shift slightly to the side to represent how some people with autism sometimes avoid direct eye contact, he said. 

The doll was also given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or express excitement, according to Mattel. 

Each doll comes with a pink finger clip fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones and a pink tablet modelled after the devices some autistic people who struggle to speak use to communicate. 

The addition of the autistic doll to the Barbie Fashionistas line also became an occasion for Mattel to create a doll with facial features inspired by the company’s employees in India and mood boards reflecting a range of women with Indian backgrounds. 

Pervez said it was important to have the doll represent a segment of the autistic community that was generally underrepresented.

Mattel introduced its first doll with Down syndrome in 2023 and brought out a Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes in 2025. 

The Fashionistas include a Barbie and a Ken with a prosthetic leg, and a Barbie with hearing aids, but the line also encompasses tall, petite and curvy body types and numerous hair types and skin colours. 

“Barbie has always strived to reflect the world kids see and the possibilities they imagine, and we’re proud to introduce our first autistic Barbie as part of that ongoing work,” Jamie Cygielman, Mattel’s global head of dolls, said in a statement. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the estimated prevalence of autism among eight-year-old children in the US in 2025 was one in 31. 

The estimate from its Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network said Black, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander children in the US were more likely than white children to have a diagnosis.