As it happened: Jim Chalmers plays down PM suggestion; Deepest hit to living standards on record

Thanks for reading our national news blog. This will be our final post today.

Here’s a wrap up of some of today’s major stories:

• Bitcoin surged to its highest price in history, passing $US100,000 ($155,400). The cryptocurrency’s price had soared in value by more than 40 per cent in four weeks off the back of US President-elect Donald Trump’s support. He had promised to bring in pro-crypto regulations and “end [President] Joe Biden’s war on crypto”.
• Voters are expected to be offered billions of dollars in energy relief before next year’s federal election. Earlier today Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government had previously found space in the budget to ease cost-of-living pressures and could do it again.
• A leading Palestinian advocate in Australia said the prospect of a two-state solution is dead. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni insisted Israel itself did not want it. But the Executive Council of Australian Jewry rejected the idea of a single state, insisting a two-state solution was the only way to fulfil the rights of Jews and Palestinians.
• Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has cancelled the Melbourne leg of his Australian tour. The flamboyant former leader of the Conservative Party had been due to appear at an event in Melbourne on Saturday to promote his new book Unleashed.
• A recent study indicated mosquitoes love the colours red and black but avoided white and green. The research from the University of Washington comes after recent rain in Victoria and NSW raised the prospect of increased mosquito numbers this summer.
• In the US, the chief executive of one of the country’s biggest health insurers was gunned down in Manhattan. The targeted shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson prompted a manhunt for the masked gunman.

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Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has cancelled the Melbourne leg of his Australian tour. The flamboyant former leader of the Conservative Party had been due to appear at an event in Melbourne on Saturday to promote his new book Unleashed.

The cancellation comes after Johnson said in a social media post several weeks ago that he was “hugely excited” to be travelling to Australia.

Boris Johnson’s memoir Unleashed in a London bookshop in October.Credit: Getty Images

An email to ticket holders said the event had been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The Sydney event, however, will proceed on Friday.

The email said Melbourne ticket holders would be offered a 50 per cent discount if they wanted to attend the Sydney event.

Ticket prices ranged from $99 for single general admission to $9950 for a “platinum table” with room for 10 guests.

Cryptocurrency bitcoin has hit $US100,000 ($155,400), surging to the highest price in its history following President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory and expected pro-crypto regulation in the US.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has soared in value by more than 40 per cent in just four weeks, after Trump promised to “end [President] Joe Biden’s war on crypto”.

The crypto sector outspent oil companies, banks and billionaire Elon Musk in the US election.

Bitcoin has been turbocharged since Donald Trump’s re-election.Credit: Bloomberg

“The sky is the limit for bitcoin now,” Jason Titman, chief executive of Australian crypto brokerage Swyftx, told this masthead.

“We started the year with BlackRock and other large investment funds entering the crypto market. We’ve ended it on the verge of sensible regulation in the US. You could not have sat down and scripted a better scenario.

“There is a sense of euphoria among local investors right now. This is a momentum rally. Pure and simple.

“Local spot volumes are running at mid-pandemic levels and [Trump’s] nomination of [cryptocurrency advocate] Paul Atkins as SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] chair has just added to the sense of a carnival atmosphere.”

Read more here.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused Energy Minister Chris Bowen of “steamrolling” a coastal community with the decision to designate a large offshore zone as a feasible space for a wind farm.

A 1854-square-kilometre section of ocean 20 kilometres or further offshore between the Central Coast and Port Stephens has been designated feasible for offshore wind. The process is under way to license Oceanex Energy to operate the farm.

During a press conference in Port Stephens this morning, Dutton announced he opposed the designation, later telling 2GB’s Ray Hadley that the issue had “weighed heavily” on the minds of local fishing and tourist operators.

“They thought there was respect and engagement, but Chris Bowen basically has just steamrolled through the community with this decision,” Dutton claimed.

“There’s been no real regard for the environmental impact of these offshore wind turbines, the fact that they all end up in landfill. They only last 19 years.”

He claimed “the greenies” are quiet on the issue because they think “destruction of the environment is worth it because of reduced emissions”.

“I just think people are smarter than that, and the local community realise, the prime minister and indeed Tanya Plibersek, are happy to sell these communities out, because what they’re really interested in is Greens voters in the city – Sydney and Melbourne – and the rural communities in their minds don’t add up to anything.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says Australia has “abandoned Israel” by voting for a UN resolution in support of an “irreversible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.

The US and Israel were among the eight nations that voted against the motion, while Australia was joined by allies such as Canada and Britain in voting to pass the resolution.

Dutton has been highly critical of the shift in stance on Palestine, suggesting an “extreme left element” was running the Labor Party.

“It’s not just about the Jewish community, not just about Israel. It’s about civilisation itself, and it’s about the values that we have as Westerners and as a culture that’s worth protecting and defending,” Dutton told 2GB’s Ray Hadley.

“Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and they have been a very strong supporter of Australia in war settings. They provided intelligence to us, which helped save Australian lives and lives of Australian Diggers and we’re abandoning them at a time when they need support.”

The opposition leader also criticised the move for breaking with the US “when we should be trying to strengthen that relationship”.

“[Labor is], most egregiously, ostracising a part of the Australian community and the Jewish community that just don’t deserve to have that sort of treatment,” Dutton said.

ABC chairman Kim Williams’ arch-nemesis Joe Rogan was behind Australia’s favourite podcast in 2024, according to audio giant Spotify, which released its annual “Wrapped” data on Thursday.

The Joe Rogan Experience, which has featured guests such as President-elect Donald Trump, his VP pick J.D. Vance and Elon Musk, finished the year ranked ahead of British podcast The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, while “wellness bro” and health podcaster Andrew Huberman’s Huberman Lab was third.

Joe Rogan finishes the year on top despite ABC chair Kim Williams’ lack of appreciation. Credit: Digitally altered image. Artwork: Marija Ercegovac.

Williams said his inbox was flooded with hate messages last week after he criticised Rogan at the National Press Club, likening him to other right-wing commentators in modern media.

“They prey on fear, they prey on anxiety, they prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society ... They entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative,” Williams said.

Rogan’s two-“word” response on social media, “LOL WUT” took Williams’ comments global, revitalising a conversation about the influence figures such as Rogan and the newly coined “manosphere” have on culture and politics.

Casefile: True Crime was the only Australian podcast to feature in the top five, with sex advice and comedy podcast Call Her Daddy rounding out the Spotify list.

Call Her Daddy, hosted by Alex Cooper, is seen as the antithesis of Rogan’s show and was the most popular with female audiences. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the podcast ahead of her election defeat.

Read more about the Rogan-Williams spat here.

A former reality TV contestant accused of murdering a baby girl in rural NSW has had charges against him dropped.

Mitchell David Callaway, who appeared on The X Factor in 2011, was charged last year with murdering the nine-month-old girl in 2018, when emergency services found her with fatal head injuries in a Binnaway home in the state’s Central West. The girl later died in Coonabarabran Hospital, where staff called in NSW Police detectives.

Police arrested Mitchell Callaway at Bowraville in June last year. Charges have now been dropped.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

A single murder charge against Callaway, 39, was withdrawn by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and dismissed in Dubbo Local Court on Thursday.

Callaway was arrested near Bowraville, in the north of NSW, where he now lives with his parents, in June last year and formally charged with the girl’s murder, almost five years after her death.

Callaway is not facing any other charges related to the girl’s death.

Former Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham will join ANZ as its head of Asia-Pacific engagement.

Birmingham announced his shock resignation from parliament last week, saying he was planning to shift to the private sector.

ANZ today announced Birmingham’s new role, which involves “working with customers, governments and investors across the Asia-Pacific”. He also takes on the role of South Australia chairman, where he will drive the bank’s growth agenda in his home state.

Simon Birmingham delivered his valedictory speech to the Senate last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“As Australia’s leading international bank, our business is focused on supporting the trade and capital flows of our customers across the Asia-Pacific and beyond,” ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said.

“With Mr Birmingham’s appointment, we look forward to helping our customers to access new markets, or expand and deepen their existing relationships, across the 29 economies in which we operate.”

Birmingham said he was looking forward to working with ANZ leadership at home and in the Asia-Pacific region.

“South Australia’s economy increasingly demonstrates confidence and momentum. I welcome the opportunity to work with my future ANZ colleagues to further support the growth opportunities with local SA businesses and the South Australian government,” he said.

The opposition’s former foreign affairs spokesman will report to Mark Whelan, the head of the institutional division.

Former NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham is resisting moves to force him to pay the legal costs incurred by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich in suing him for defamation over an offensive tweet.

In a decision in September, Federal Court Justice David O’Callaghan found Latham, now an independent NSW upper house MP, defamed Greenwich in the post on Twitter, now X, on March 30 last year. He awarded Greenwich $140,000 in damages.

As a general rule, the unsuccessful party in litigation will be ordered to pay the successful party’s legal costs.

Sydney MP Alex Greenwich sued for defamation over a tweet by independent MP Mark Latham.Credit: SMH

Greenwich is seeking an order that Latham pay his costs on a higher-than-usual indemnity basis, which would cover about 90 per cent of his legal bill.

The Federal Court in Sydney heard on Thursday that Latham is now seeking a raft of documents from Greenwich shedding light on any funding arrangement the independent MP might have had in place to cover his legal bills.

Barrister Gabriella Rubagotti, acting for Latham, said that “we want to know what donations have been made” and the source of the money, and whether the money went to Greenwich’s lawyers directly or indirectly via Greenwich.

“Who’s donated, how much has come in, what were the legal costs, have they been fully met or not and is there a surplus,” Rubagotti said.

She said that if Greenwich had received donations that covered his legal costs and the court made a costs order against Latham, then Greenwich would have “obtained really a bonus from” Latham. In the parliamentary register of disclosures to June 30 last year, Greenwich said he “received $85,000 in support for legal action from Climate 200. Funds to be returned to them and LGBTIQA+ organisations should costs be awarded”.

The parties were at loggerheads on Thursday about the breadth of the categories of documents sought by Latham.

Senior National Judicial Registrar Paul Farrell said that his preliminary view was that most of the categories “really do need to be narrowed somewhat” and urged them to reach an agreement.

The hearing was adjourned as the parties moved to strike an agreement narrowing the range of the documents sought.

A costs hearing is scheduled for December 18.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it’s the “best case” scenario for every budget to reprioritise spending, as he continues to hint at a move away from public spending in the upcoming mid-year financial update and next year’s federal budget.

Asked at a Queensland press conference if he was planning to rein in government spending amid criticisms that it is artificially propping up the economy, Chalmers said he and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher were “always on the lookout for areas where we can reprioritise spending”.

He touted the $83 billion in savings found across his three budgets.

“I think in the best case every budget contains some reprioritising of spending, trying to make the most of that spending, trying to make sure that it’s directed to the most productive purposes,” Chalmers said.

Chalmers repeated his new favourite slogan; that the economy would be in recession if the Coalition were in government.

“We get a lot of free advice from our political opponents and from their sycophants and suck-ups, that we should have some kind of slash-and-burn budget with radical austerity,” he said.

“That is a recipe for recession and if Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor had the keys to the economy over the last little while, we would be in recession.”