Australia news live: Albanese denies $4.3m home purchase is part of retirement plan; Jobseeker now just 20% of average wage, Acoss says | Australian politics

The PM has been asked about his purchase of a home on New South Wales’ Central Coast with his fiancee, Jodie Haydon.

Well, Jodie and I are getting married, as is known, and I’m pleased about that. And Jodie’s a Coastie. She’s a proud Coastie … There are three generations of Haydens on the coast there. And when your relationship changes, your life changes, and you make decisions.

He said he was yet to buy the Copacabana home and, when asked if he planned to retire there, he said he was “planning to be in [his] current role for a very long time”.

More information on latest jobseeker data

Currently, 60% of households relying on jobseeker live below the poverty line.

Acoss is urging the federal government to increase Jobseeker from $56 a day to at least $82 a day to bring it in line with the pension.

Jobseeker and related income support payments should be indexed to the higher of wage growth or inflation, instead of just inflation, Goldie said:

As prices continue to rise and wages increase, it is vital that unemployment and related payments are adjusted to reflect the reality of living costs. We cannot allow people out of paid work to fall further behind, pushing more people into poverty.

Acoss is also advocating for a strategy to halve poverty by 2030, including setting national targets and definitions of poverty, increasing investment in social housing and First Nations organisations and creating more employment opportunities for those facing barriers to paid work.

Jobseeker now 20% of the average wage: Acoss data

Cait Kelly

Jobseeker is now just 20% of the average wage, data released by Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) for anti-poverty week has revealed.

While the average wage in Australia is $1,923 a week, jobseeker is just $393, the Acoss briefing on solutions to poverty shows. The payment is only 43% of the $916-per-week minimum wage, and has dropped to just 69% of the $572-per-week pension.

Youth Allowance at $319.50 a week is even lower, making up just 17% of the average wage, 35% of the minimum wage and 56% of the pension.

It is also far below the Henderson poverty line, which is $1,224.94 a fortnight for a single person. The Acoss chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, said it was time to raise the rate:

Australia’s totally inadequate income support payments are a primary cause of poverty in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth. Our unemployment payment is among the lowest in the OECD. It is a political choice and driving persistent poverty.

People receiving youth allowance or jobseeker are falling further behind both people in paid work and pensioners. Every day, people doing it tough are forced to go hungry, forgo essential medicine, and worry about finding or keeping a roof over their head. One of the quickest and most effective ways to lift people out of poverty is to raise the rate.

Benita Kolovos

Dandenong MP shaving head to raise money for Cancer Council Victoria

Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams is about to shave her head to raise money for Cancer Council Victoria, after her friend and Mulgrave MP Eden Foster’s cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Dutton weighs in on PM’s $4.3m coastal home purchase

Josh Butler

Peter Dutton says Anthony Albanese’s purchase of a $4.3m luxury coastal home north of Sydney is “a matter for the prime minister”, but said he had concerns about ordinary Australians struggling with their mortgage.

In a press conference in Sydney, Dutton was asked about Albanese’s latest property purchase at Copacabana. Dutton responded: “It’s a matter for the prime minister, but I wish he and Jodie [Haydon, his fiance] well, and they’re obviously planning for the next stage of life, post-politics. And I wish them well.”

Dutton said “the prime minister can answer questions in relation to it” but went on to say:

But the homeowners in Australia that I’m worried about at the moment are people who can’t afford their mortgages. People have had 12 interest rate increases, and interest rates should come back, as they’re doing in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, but because of Mr Albanese’s bad economic management, we’re seeing inflation remain higher here and therefore, interest rates remain higher as well.

Benita Kolovos

Pesutto rubbishes claims from Allan he is untrustworthy

Circling back to Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto, who has rubbished suggestions made by the premier, Jacinta Allan, that he was untrustworthy.

As she arrived at parliament this morning, Allan had said:

For weeks the Liberal party have been slugging it out in court with each other, contesting the question of John Pesutto’s character, and it is being exposed as being entirely untrustworthy … His own colleagues think that and it demonstrates that Victorians can neither trust him or the Victorian Liberal party.

But Pesutto disputed this characterisation and said he would not stoop to “personal attacks”.

My focus is on what the Victorian people need, and I’d like some answers from the premier on a range of issues.

Benita Kolovos

Pesutto says he will continue to ‘work hard’ for Liberal leadership

John Pesutto says he was “brought up to be very resilient” and would continue to “work hard for everything”, including the Liberal leadership.

Benita Kolovos

Asked whether today’s meeting put leadership speculation to bed, or if he believes this uncertainty will continue until the trial is over and the findings released, John Pesutto said:

I’m just going to focus on my job and working with tenacity to give the Victorian people a real choice, both now and in November 2026 and that requires a lot of work from my colleagues and I.

I think what I’d say about my colleagues today is that we’ve come out of our meeting today with a real sense of the purpose we have in the mission we have, which is to replace this government, but to do it for the reasons that we need better leadership of our state.

Benita Kolovos

Pesutto bats off question about Liberal spill after trial wraps up

Asked whether Liberal MPs have indicated a spill will go ahead after the trial wraps up, John Pesutto batted off the question.

He said opposition is “a long journey and we are focused on the work ahead”.

That’s all we can really do … Coming out of today’s meeting, there’s a real sense of purpose and mission that we are having an impact on the debate in the state, and we need change in the state, and we need better leadership in the state.

Benita Kolovos

‘I’m not going to go into party room matters,’ Pesutto says

John Pesutto said he won’t discuss party matters, but admitted he raised the defamation trial with Liberal MPs as part of his “recap of the last month”.

I’m not going to go into party room matters, as you can appreciate. But look, I’m happy to say there was just a general recap on where we’ve been going, with particular focus on the fact that we’re resonating with the Victorian people. It is clear that the Allan Labor government is losing support at a rapid rate – and that’s right across the state, and there’s good reason for that.

Benita Kolovos

Pesutto confirms spill motion against him failed to eventuate

Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, has just emerged from the Liberal party room after a spill against him failed to eventuate.

Several MPs had spent last week planning a spill, citing Pesutto’s ongoing defamation trial brought Moira Deeming as a reason, but it failed to go ahead as they were unable to agree upon a replacement candidate.

Emerging from the party room, Pesutto confirmed there was no spill:

I don’t know what all that was about but everybody’s focused on the job ahead. We’ve got a government that is not leading our state well. We’ve got roads in a state of disrepair that are dangerous for people to use. The health system hasn’t been fixed. The budget is a mess. Debt is continuing to rise in this state, putting enormous pressure on Victorian households and businesses. So there is a lot to prosecute here in the parliament.