News and politics live updates: Albanese Government warned over rising debt, persistent Budget deficits

We’re wrapping up our live blog for the day.

For everything that happened today, read the latest edition of The Nightly here.

When a former policy adviser and chief bureaucrat under two Labor treasurers says Jim Chalmers can’t manage money, pay very close attention.

Martin Parkinson is hardly an anti-Labor figure.

During the early 1990s, he served as a policy adviser to Labor treasurer John Dawkins, working in the ministerial office when Paul Keating was prime minister.

Two decades later, from 2011 to 2013, he was Treasury secretary under another Labor treasurer Wayne Swan.

This was back when Dr Chalmers, who is now treasurer, was Mr Swan’s chief-of-staff as Kevin Rudd undermined Julia Gillard to get his old job back in the years after the global financial crisis.

Incoming Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott saw Dr Parkinson as so tied with Labor’s climate change policies that he replaced him as Treasury chief in 2014.

Which makes Dr Parkinson a critic of this Labor Government worth taking seriously.

Read the full story here.

Anthony Albanese is being urged to log off his Instagram, with the opposition warning that it is not just comedian podcasters but spies who could also be potentially sliding into the Prime Minister’s DMs.

Mr Albanese has been plunged into a diplomatic and sexism row following his now-infamous podcast appearance which he agreed to do after the host approached him in a private message on the social media photo-sharing platform Instagram.

On the Bush Deep podcast, Mr Albanese said that he would shag Kylie Minogue, joked that he scheduled sex with his new wife after Rabbitohs games; then criticised the Japanese Prime Minister’s diplomatic melon gift as “pretty strange” and leaned into a comparison of the fruit and Pamela Anderson’s breasts.

Shadow Defence minister Jame Paterson told The Nightly that the Prime Minister could avoid more embarrassing podcast appearances, as well as be more mindful of the security implications of being publicly available via social media, if he signed out.

“It’s a bit of a worry that you can apparently book a podcast and a scotch at the Lodge direct with the PM by just sliding into his DMs,” he said.

“Our intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned us that social media is a major vector for cyber attacks, foreign interference and espionage. That risk is obviously heightened if the Prime Minister is personally responding to social media messages on his own device.

“There is no higher priority foreign intelligence target than a prime minister. Perhaps it’s time to log off and let the office manage it from now on.”

Nikki Osborne, the host of the Bush Deep podcast, has also expressed her surprise at how easy it was to access the Prime Minister and secure a visit to his official residence, The Lodge in Canberra.

Read more.

The bank said investors may need to receive more rental income from their properties to make up for the loss of tax benefits, potentially putting further pressure on tenants.

NAB said: “The changes to the tax settings for investors in existing dwellings imply that gross rental yields will need to rise in order to compensate for the loss of tax benefits.

“For investment properties in Sydney and Melbourne, a rise in the rental yield of 1ppt (from around ~3.5 per cent) to around 4.5 per cent implies an increase in rents of 25-30 per cent, assuming the current level of house prices is unchanged.

“In the end, the adjustment towards more attractive gross rental yields will likely require a combination of both higher rents and lower dwelling values.

“In any case, the bigger picture is that the equation for housing investors has changed substantially and gross rental yields will need to adjust such that residential housing offers relatively attractive risk-adjusted after-tax returns for investors when compared to comparable investment opportunities in real assets or elsewhere.”

NAB also pointed to a sharp fall in demand from property investors, with investor loan approvals dropping 10.2 per cent in the June quarter.

“The fall in demand for investor credit has been relatively swift – interest rates rose in early 2026, the budget changes for investor lending were significant, borrowing capacity was reduced for investors and house prices have been softening,” it said.

“The adjustment to the investor share of lending will likely be ongoing over coming quarters and the investor share of the housing market will likely decline from its current level of about 30 per cent as lending pivots away from investors and towards owner-occupiers and first home buyers.”

Read the full story.

First-homebuyer applications for mortgages have plunged at the steepest pace in almost four years despite Labor introducing contentious policies designed to get more young people into the housing market, data from Australia’s biggest credit check company has revealed.

In the year to July, applications for home financing from property newcomers plunged 19.2 per cent, which was the worst annual decline since December 2022 during the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last hiking cycle, Equifax figures show.

Overall mortgage demand across all categories fell 16.4 per cent, which was also the steepest annual decline in almost four years as prospective borrowers grapple with prospect of negative equity where they would owe their bank more than their property was worth, particularly in parts of Sydney and Melbourne where house price falls have been more dramatic in 2026.

Data analyst Kevin James, who is Equifax’s chief solution officer, said first-homebuyers were potentially waiting for potential bargains in the near future, after the Reserve Bank’s three rate rises this year along with Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes sparked a housing market downturn.

“I think there will definitely be watch and see with the coverage,” he told The Nightly.

Among those aged 18-25, enquiries about getting a loan for the first time plunged by 22.4 per cent as demand among those aged 26-35 fell by 20.9 per cent.

Read the full story.

Independent MP Sophie Scamps has pressed the Government over its NDIS overhaul, asking how it can guarantee participants will not be removed from the scheme before appropriate foundational supports are available.

The reforms are expected to result in about 300,000 people either leaving or being prevented from accessing the NDIS.

Health Minister Mark Butler said foundational supports would be in place by January 2028, adding he had seen implementation plans from every state except Queensland for the rollout of Thriving Kids, which will support children aged eight and under.

However, Butler acknowledged there was still “a lot of work” to do to establish foundational supports for everyone else.

Manager of Opposition Business Dan Tehan has been booted from the House of Representatives after a cheeky attempt to get around Speaker Milton Dick’s ruling on unparliamentary language spectacularly backfired.

It kicked off when Mr Tehan asked when Energy Minister Chris Bowen would “cut the crap” on the cost of the Capacity Investment Scheme. Mr Dick ruled the language out of order and gave him another shot at the question, so Mr Tehan swapped “crap” for “fecal matter”.

The Speaker was not amused.

“That is a direct defiance of what I’ve just addressed to the house,” Dick said before ordering Mr Tehan from the chamber.

“The language must improve. I respect the traditions and conventions of this house. And I want to uphold them. I’m asking all members to do so. For goodness sake.”

And yes, it all unfolded in front of the Youth Parliament.

Mr Wilson pointed to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, which showed new owner-occupier first home buyer loan commitments fell 2.9 per cent in the latest quarter.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil defended the Government’s record in Question Time, saying:

“There have been more first home buyers each and every year under our government than there have ever been under any other government in Australian history.”

Ms O’Neil then attempted to compare Labor’s record with that of the Coalition, prompting the Opposition to argue she was straying from the tightly worded question.

Speaker Milton Dick ruled O’Neil could make some comparisons, but said they had to remain relevant to the question.

Ms O’Neil continued, opting to focus on the positive experience of first home buyers rather than directly criticising the Coalition.

“We all read the newspapers on the Sunday morning. For the first time in my life, they are peppered with article after article about first home buyers around the country who are going to auctions and winning.”

She then pointed to what she said was a major change for first home buyers entering the property market.

“It’s not rocket science. It’s a very simple reason that they’re winning auctions, Speaker, for the first time in 25 years – first home buyers are standing on a level playing field.”

Sydney chief executive Matthew Pavlich says the club is “shocked and disappointed” after several players were involved in an alleged police incident in Melbourne last night.

It comes after Victoria Police confirmed they are investigating a report of an alleged sexual assault at the Pullman East Melbourne, the hotel where the Swans were staying.

Pavlich fronted the media on Monday morning.

“We can confirm several players were involved in an alleged incident last night in Melbourne,” Pavlich said.

“We’ve identified this to the AFL. We are working with them and also the relevant authorities on this matter.

“We’re still piecing together exactly what transpired here and have our own set of internal enquiries ongoing.

“It’s safe to say we’re extremely shocked and disappointed that this has taken place and that the players have found themselves in this situation.

Read more.

Victorian teachers have accepted a major pay deal from the Ben Carroll government, ending a long-running dispute and calling off a third statewide strike planned for Wednesday.

Australian Education Union members voted 79 per cent in favour of the latest offer, which will deliver teachers, principals and support staff a 28.3 per cent pay rise over four years, alongside a $2000 bonus when the agreement begins.

The deal is expected to cost the government between $5bn and $5.5bn and will make Victorian education staff the best paid in the country.