As it happened: Voters back key government budget measures; Government to pay $132m to residents over toxic foam

Thanks for joining us today. Here are some of our main headlines:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ruled out changes to negative gearing, after a push from some Labor MPs to cap negative gearing at one investment property.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it would cost about $2.3 billion for his proposal to allow people receiving JobSeeker payments to work up to 10 hours a fortnight.
• One Nation leader Pauline Hanson asked an appeal court to overturn a defamation decision ordering her to pay former senator Brian Burston $250,000 in damages.
• At least six people are dead after a blaze ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital, while authorities here work to confirm if any Australians were hurt.

• Minutes from the Reserve Bank board’s May meeting suggest board members are ready to lift interest rates again as the spiralling rental crisis, sluggish productivity growth and other concerning trends threaten to derail the central bank’s plan to rein in inflation.

• Data from Westpac shows consumer spending slumped to one of its lowest levels on record after the Reserve Bank’s surprise interest rate rise.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he wanted an end to the political games over Labor’s housing policy, following internal criticism of its substance.

There is a move to rewrite Labor’s housing platform at the party’s national conference in Brisbane in August amid fears the party is ceding ground to the Greens among younger voters in capital city seats.

Conference delegate, Julijana Todorovic, a senior member of the Socialist Left and convenor of internal party group Labor for Housing has described the party’s housing policy as “five lines of fluff” and has called for it to be overhauled.

Speaking to journalists today, Chalmers said he disagreed with Todorovic and defended Labor’s housing policy as “broad and comprehensive”.

“We want to see the Housing Australia Future Fund pass the parliament, we want to see an end to the political games over that, so that we can build 30,000 social and affordable homes, including for women and children fleeing violence,” he said.

The Reserve Bank board is ready to lift interest rates again as the spiralling rental crisis, sluggish productivity growth and other concerning trends threaten to derail the central bank’s plan to rein in inflation.

In the minutes from the May meeting, board members agreed it was another close call but ultimately landed on another 25 basis point hike.

There are more interest rate increases to come.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

The decision came as a surprise to markets and several economists, with most expecting the RBA to stay on hold for another month after hitting pause in April.

And there might be more rate hikes to come, with members agreeing “further increases in interest rates may still be required”.

ANZ head of Australian economics Adam Boyton said the minutes were on the “hawkish side”, with the use of the plural “increases” raising the prospect interest rates could lift earlier and higher than expected.

“We look for one final rate hike from the RBA in August,” he said.

AAP

Former NBN co-chairman Ziggy Switkowski has been appointed to lead an independent review of PwC’s troubled Australian operations, with the power to fire people involved in the scandal around the firm’s use of confidential tax policy information.

Ziggy SwitkowskiCredit: Paul Jones

The move follows the news that some of PwC’s top executives flew into the country to take control of a problem that is now affecting some of its biggest global clients.

A root and branch review ordered by PwC requires a degree of mongrel – a trait Switkowski is not known for. Our columnist Liz Knight provides this analysis of this nuclear physicist who is affectionately considered a nerd.

Read Elizabeth Knight’s analysis here

Treasurer Jim Chalmers regrets the departure of Australian Workers Union national secretary Dan Walton, who has resigned his position.

Describing Walton as “a terrific guy”, Chalmers said he was someone with whom he had worked closely. “I’m really sad to see him go,” Chalmers said.

Outgoing Australian Workers Union national secretary Dan Walton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“He understands the national economy and the place of Australian workers in it,” Chalmers said. “I’d rather he didn’t leave frankly.

“I think he’s one of the better leaders in the broader Australian community. It’s a big loss to the AWU and to the labour movement more broadly. He’s someone I’ve got a mountain of respect for, and it’s a shame to see him go.”

Asked if he thought Walton would make a good Labor politician, Chalmers said he would do an ideal job in whatever role he turned his mind to.

“He’s been someone whose advice I’ve relied on really heavily over a long period of time. I talk to him incredibly regularly.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised The Greens for blocking Labor’s $10 billion housing fund while opposing new developments.

Albanese singled out Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather for his attacks on proposed housing developments in Queensland’s capital.

“One of the things that I find remarkable is at the same time as the Greens are blocking additional support for social housing, they’re also running petitions of their housing spokesperson to block ... development of more housing supply in Brisbane,” Albanese said on Tuesday. “You can’t have it both ways.”

Prime Minister Anthony AlbaneseCredit: Jessica Hromas

Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund aims to build 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years, including 4000 dwellings for women and children experiencing domestic violence.

The government’s efforts to bring on a vote for its signature election policy were defeated by the Greens and the Coalition in the Senate last week.

AAP

Australian banks are hoping a new fraud reporting digital platform will help them intercept payments to scammers more quickly.

The Australian Banking Association has today launched a new digital platform it says will speed up the reporting of fraudulent payments transferred between banks.

Anna BlighCredit: Natalie Boog

Chief Executive Officer Anna Bligh said the new Fraud Reporting Exchange (FRX) platform will help banks stop and recover money that customers have paid scammers.

“Given every minute can be crucial in disrupting scams, the launch of the FRX is a major development,” she said. “It means more and more scammers are going to hit a brick wall and adds to the arsenal of anti-scam initiatives underway.

“With 17 banks already onboard or in the process of joining the FRX, banks are now better placed to jointly identify funds which have been fraudulently transferred, which should improve their ability to prevent any further losses to a customer.“

The FRX is owned and operated by the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (AFCX), an independent body built and funded by Australian banks.

The federal, South Australian and Northern Territory governments will conduct a joint investigation into claims that Indigenous artworks created at the highly regarded APY Art Centre Collective had been altered by white staffers to make them more “collectable”.

Arts minister Tony BurkeCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

The inquiry will be jointly funded by the federal and South Australian governments but led by the latter, which is the principal funder of the collective. It has yet to set a timeframe or terms of reference, but is expected to address as a matter of urgency questions of authenticity in the lucrative First Nations art market.

Find out more about this issue here.

Thanks for reading our live coverage this morning.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out changes to negative gearing, after a push from some Labor MPs to cap negative gearing at one investment property.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it would cost about $2.3 billion for his proposal to allow people receiving JobSeeker payments to work up to 10 hours a fortnight.
• One Nation leader Pauline Hanson asked an appeal court to overturn a defamation decision ordering her to pay former senator Brian Burston $250,000 in damages.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Melbourne on Tuesday.Credit: Joe Armao

• The Reserve Bank board had a “finely balanced” choice on whether to lifting interest rates or holding them steady earlier this month.
• And according to data from Westpac consumer spending slumped to one of its lowest levels on record after the Reserve Bank’s surprise interest rate rise.
• In overseas news, at least six people are dead after a blaze ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital, while authorities here work to confirm if any Australians were hurt.

I’m heading off, and handing over to Anna Patty who will keep readers updated this afternoon.

The barrister who defended former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann during his rape trial said he was concerned ACT top prosecutor Shane Drumgold aligned himself with his client’s accuser, Brittany Higgins.

Steven Whybrow, SC, told the inquiry into the case that Drumgold, the territory’s Director of Public Prosecutions, took a “pejorative stab” at Lehrmann when Drumgold said he still believed there were reasonable prospects of conviction during his announcement of abandoning a retrial.

Drumgold’s barrister, Mark Tedeschi, KC, suggested to Whybrow that Drumgold had a great degree of sympathy for Higgins, to which Whybrow replied, “I was concerned that he had aligned himself with Ms Higgins”.

Bruce Lehrmann’s trial barrister Steven Whybrow SC was questioned at the inquiry today. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Tedeschi then said, “Each of you had concerns for the party that you were most closely associated with”.When Tedeschi asked Whybrow if he believed some senior investigators were resentful of Drumgold, Whybrow said, “My impression was it was Mr Drumgold who was hostile towards the police”.

Whybrow also said Drumgold had referred to police as “boofheads” in a private exchange with him during the trial and said their evidence wasn’t admissible.

“I thought it was an outburst by the director,” he said.

Tedeschi asked Whybrow whether he would agree he’d been involved in some cases where the credibility issues affecting the complainant had been “much more cogent” than those affecting Higgins.

Whybrow responded: “It’s hard to think of any cases where there were so many things that the complainant had said which were able to be demonstrated to be wrong, or inconsistent, or sometimes said knowing they were wrong but for a reason.”