Australia news LIVE: ASX enters correction with $80b wiped off sharemarket; Blackouts possible in NSW and Queensland; Socceroos off to the World Cup

That's all for today, thanks for reading. Here are some of the main headlines.

• The Australian sharemarket is in a correction after plunging as much as 5.3 per cent this morning on the back of Wall Street’s benchmark index entering a bear market. Senior business columnist Stephen Bartholomeusz says there will now be a nervous couple of days as investors wait to see what the Fed does later this week.
• Power generators are exploiting the chaotic energy market by withdrawing power supply from the electricity grid and waiting until strict rules to prevent blackouts kick in, forcing the energy market operator to direct them to fire their plants back up and triggering profitable compensation payments. Australia’s energy market regulator warned of power supply reserve shortfalls in Queensland and NSW between 5pm and 9pm today, but politicians were optimistic supply would remain on.
• The Socceroos have qualified for this year’s World Cup after coach Graham Arnold sent substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne onto the field for the penalty shootout with Peru. The move paid off when he saved the last penalty to send the Socceroos to Qatar 2022.
• The combined value of Australian homes has exceeded $10 trillion for the first time, with prices rising by nearly a third in some capital cities and regional areas.
• And former Wallabies captain David Pocock has secured a place in federal parliament after election officials confirmed the results of the ACT Senate race. Liberal candidate Andrew Constance has requested a recount in the NSW seat of Gilmore after he fell a few hundred votes short.

We'll be back early in the morning. Have a good evening!

More than 2.6 million Australians on award and minimum wages will find out how their pay packets could change when the industrial umpire makes its annual decision tomorrow.

The Fair Work Commission will broadcast online the result of its review at 10am AEST.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has argued for a healthy rise in the minimum wage.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Albanese government has argued for a rise which ensures wages do not go backwards when compared to inflation, which sits at 5.1 per cent.

Unions have pushed for a 5.5 per cent increase which they say will prevent a further real wage cut for a quarter of all workers.

Last year the national minimum wage increased by 2.5 per cent to $772.60 a week, or $20.33 an hour.

The Australian Industry Group urged the commission to limit its increase to 2.5 per cent, arguing the union bid would "add substantially to the risks of entrenching inflation and greater increases in interest rates".

AAP

The West Australian government will close the state’s coal-fired power stations by 2029 in a major move towards cleaner power.

Premier Mark McGowan said the uptake of solar and wind-generated power coming on stream meant demand for coal was decreasing.

Muja power station in Collie.Credit: Synergy

McGowan said about $3.8 billion would be invested in new renewable generation and storage – mostly wind and batteries – to ensure WA had affordable and reliable power into the future.

Muja power station will close after 63 years of operation and the more modern Collie power station that started generating in 1999 will close in 2027.

Read more here.

Here's a quick recap of how the sharemarket fared today.

The ASX 200 plunged as much as 5.3 per cent, before closing 3.5 per cent lower at 6686 ensuring the sharemarket officially entered correction territory.

Wall Street futures rescued the local sharemarket from a worse outcome with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicating a jump of more than 1 per cent.

All sectors still managed to finish the session lower with the energy sector down more than 5 per cent. Materials and tech dropped more than 4 per cent.

All the big banks and miners took a drubbing with BHP and Fortescue closing down 4.2 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively.

Read more here.

Power generators are exploiting the chaotic energy market by withdrawing power supply from the electricity grid and waiting until strict rules to prevent blackouts kick in, forcing the energy market operator to direct them to fire their plants back up and triggering profitable compensation payments.

There’s no law stopping power companies from withdrawing their electricity generation from the market, and in the past two days they have reduced the volume available by 2 gigawatts in Victoria, 3 gigawatts in NSW and 1.5 gigawatts in Queensland.

A large amount of power generation has been withdrawn from the electricity grid, triggering compensation payments from the regualtor to get it back on line.Credit: Louise Kennerley

These withdrawals represent more than 10 per cent of the east coast energy grid’s total generation capacity of 55 gigawatts and come on top of an energy crunch created by a series of breakdowns and maintenance outages that have forced about one-quarter of the east coast’s coal-fired power stations out of action.

The withdrawals were prompted by the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) decision to put a cap on spiralling prices that electricity generators are charging for wholesale power, which crimped the profit margin of some generators, which are battling coal prices that are soaring because of sanctions on Russian exports.

Read more here.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hopes to get energy market issues on the agenda at Friday’s national cabinet meeting.

The comments, made alongside her Energy Minister Mick de Brenni – who remains confident the state would avoid widespread blackouts tonight – come amid a volatile period in the national energy market and a cold start to winter.

Palaszczuk wants to discuss energy at the next national cabinet catch up.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Palaszczuk told reporters Queensland had been “doing the heavy lifting” by releasing gas for domestic supply, something “NSW and Victoria have refused to do”.

“We all need to do the heavy lifting, not just one state, so it’ll be something that I’ll be raising … when we meet with the Prime Minister and other premiers later on this week,” she said.

De Brenni said the “key message” was there would be “adequate supply for tonight”.

“The market is working as it should, and I have full confidence that the [Australian Energy] Market Operator will continue to work with Queensland’s publicly owned generators in the electricity system, and also continue to successfully instruct the private sector generators to supply electricity,” he said.

Breakdowns and maintenance outages have forced about one-quarter of the east coast’s coal-fired power stations out of action, culminating in some generators offering less power into the market after moves by the regulator to enact a price cap and crimp profit margins.

Of the 107 power generating units across the state, five of those which are publicly owned and four which are privately owned were currently out of operation, de Brenni said.

The minister has separately confirmed that none of the state’s many publicly owned generators had withdrawn capacity.

WA Premier Mark McGowan and state Energy Minister Bill Johnston will make a major announcement at 3.15pm AEST. Watch below:

Andrew Constance has called for a recount in the southern NSW electorate of Gilmore, moments before Labor MP Fiona Phillips was due to claim the federal seat.

Phillips is 373 votes ahead of the former NSW Liberal minister.

Sitting ALP member Fiona Phillips and former NSW Liberal minister Andrew Constance are competing for the federal seat of Gilmore.Credit: James Brickwood, Facebook

Constance secured a 2.44 per cent swing towards him, bucking the national trend, but ended up just under 0.2 per cent behind the incumbent Labor MP.

Constance has now called for a recount with the official result due to be called at 2pm on Tuesday.

The Australian Electoral Commission has confirmed the postponing of the official declaration to consider the recount request but didn’t put a timeframe on the consideration.

A recount occurs if the margin of votes between candidates listed first and second ends with less than 100 votes after the distribution of preferences.

As we reported earlier, former Wallabies captain David Pocock has secured a place in federal parliament after election officials confirmed the results of the ACT Senate race.

AAP

Australia's qualification for the World Cup is the ultimate vindication for beleaguered coach Graham Arnold, who was emotional after the penalty shootout victory, after he kept the faith in his players despite mounting criticism of him, his methods and the talent at his disposal.

The World Cup qualification is also a tick for the board of Football Australia, which was under pressure from the media and Australia’s more voluble Twitter critics to sack Arnold after the disastrous losses to Japan and Saudi Arabia in the final qualifying games.

Graham Arnold reacts during the Socceroos’ clash with Peru.Credit: Getty Images

Contrary to the views of many outsiders, the team had full faith in their coach and the hero of the shoot-out, Andrew Redmayne, who hammered home that point in a post-match interview.

“It’s hard to put into words how big a moment this is as a collective,” Redmayne said. “It’s a massive achievement.”

Attention will now turn to who makes the final squad. If lanky defender Harry Souttar recovers from his knee reconstruction and shows he is back in form, he will come back into the reckoning.

Midfielder Connor Metcalfe, who has moved to Germany, is another who will be pushing for a place in the final squad, while a bolter like the exciting but raw striker Alou Kuol could also be a wildcard.

Read more here.

It’s lunchtime! Here’s what’s been making headlines today.

• The Australian sharemarket is in a technical correction after a 5.3 per cent plunge this morning on the back of Wall Street’s benchmark index entering a bear market. Senior business columnist Stephen Bartholomeusz says there will now be a nervous couple of days as investors wait to see what the Feddoes later this week.

• Australia’s energy market regulator has warned of power supply reserve shortfalls in Queensland and NSW between 5pm and 9pm today. The Australian Electricity Market Operator has issued notices to encourage more power generation and direct generators into the market, but if those measures are not sufficient, then blackouts in some areas are possible as a last resort.

The Socceroos celebrate their penalty shootout win over Peru.Credit: Getty

• The Socceroos have qualified for this year’s World Cup after coach Graham Arnold sent substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne into the fray with an eye on a penalty shootout. The move paid off when he dived to his right to send the Socceroos to Qatar 2022 with a win over Peru.

• The combined value of Australian homes has exceeded $10 trillion for the first time, with prices rising by nearly a third in some capital cities and regional areas.

• And former Wallabies captain David Pocock has secured a place in federal parliament after election officials confirmed the results of the ACT Senate race.

And that’s a wrap from me. I’m handing over to Amelia McGuire, who will be with you shortly. Have a great afternoon!