As it coincided with a federal parliamentary sitting day, the RBA\u2019s decision was the source of much of debate in question time. The opposition sought to blame Labor, saying overspending was behind the rate hike, while the government said the rise was expected due to higher-than-expected inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in politics, Sussan Ley extended an offer to the Nationals to reunite the Coalition \u2013 with conditions. Ley\u2019s proposal would force the three National senators who defied the shadow cabinet to oppose Labor\u2019s hate speech laws<\/a> to sit on the backbench for six months.<\/p>\n The Palestine Action Group announced it planned to march against the Israeli president Isaac Herzog\u2019s visit to Sydney next week, despite the New South Wales<\/a> police commissioner extending a restriction on protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n In other Sydney news, the city\u2019s Mardi Gras party, which attracts thousands of revellers after the city\u2019s famous annual parade<\/a>, was cancelled due to cost pressures.<\/p>\n The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says it has charged a Melbourne airport worker who allegedly performed a Nazi salute directed towards a group of Jewish school-aged children in one of the terminals yesterday.<\/p>\n And the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, announced a plan to allow GPs to diagnose and prescribe medication<\/a> for ADHD.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.08 EST<\/p>\n Melbourne passengers warned of delays with some services through new Metro Tunnel affected<\/p>\n Some services running through the new Melbourne Metro Tunnel have been rerouted, on only the tunnel\u2019s second day of operating at full capacity, due to a power fault further up the line.<\/p>\n The Victorian transport department issued a statement just after 6pm, saying buses are replacing trains on the Cranbourne\/Pakenham and Sunbury lines between West Footscray and Caulfield stations due to a problem with overhead wires near Armadale.<\/p>\n This suspension is impacting some services running through the Metro Tunnel, the statement said.<\/p>\n Cranbourne\/Pakenham passengers are advised to change at State Library or Town Hall to the City Loop and use Frankston Line services to Caulfield.<\/p>\n Those on Sunbury services are advised to switch to a Werribee or Williamstown line service at West Footscray station.<\/p>\n While trains will continue to run between Caulfield and Cranbourne\/Pakenham, and Sunbury and West Footscray, delays are likely.<\/p>\n V\/Line services on Traralgon and Bairnsdale services are also affected.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.42 EST<\/p>\n Melbourne man charged over allegedly giving Nazi salute to Jewish schoolchildren at Melbourne Airport, AFP says.<\/p>\n The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says it has charged a Melbourne Airport worker who allegedly performed a Nazi directed towards a group of Jewish school-aged children in one of the terminals yesterday.<\/p>\n In a statement this afternoon, the AFP said the 23-year-old man, from Greenvale in Melbourne\u2019s north, had been summonsed to appear before court on 3 March.<\/p>\n The AFP said it would allege the man left the terminal shortly after the incident and the matter was reported to the federal police.<\/p>\n The AFP said its members reviewed CCTV footage and interviewed witnesses to identify the alleged offender, and attended a Greenvale home yesterday where they arrested the man.<\/p>\n The alleged offender was identified as an airport employee who held an Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC), the AFP said.<\/p>\n The man is due to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates\u2019 Court charged with one count of public display of prohibited Nazi symbols or giving Nazi salute, in breach of commonwealth criminal laws.<\/p>\n The AFP has said the offence carries a maximum penalty of five years\u2019 imprisonment and is subject to mandatory minimum sentencing provisions.<\/p>\n The man was charged by the AFP\u2019s National Security Investigations (NSI) team, which it said was set up in September last year to \u201ctarget groups and individuals causing high levels of harm to Australia\u2019s social cohesion, including the targeting of the Jewish community\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sydney pro-Palestine rally organisers vow to proceed despite extension of ban<\/p>\n Sticking with New South Wales news, the Palestine Action Group (PAG) has vowed to rally on Friday evening against the Israeli president\u2019s contentious visit to Australia.<\/p>\n Isaac Herzog is due to begin his four-day Australian tour shortly, after an invitation from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to visit Jewish communities after the Bondi massacre.<\/p>\n Herzog\u2019s arrival was expected to be met with planned protests nationwide from pro-Palestinian groups demonstrating against the civilian death toll from Israel\u2019s war on Gaza.<\/p>\n Earlier today, the NSW police commissioner extended a restriction on protests for a fourth time, saying Herzog\u2019s visit was a \u201cfactor\u201d in that decision.<\/p>\n The restriction effectively bans protesters being able to march in designated areas without the risk of being arrested because they could be charged with offences such as blocking traffic.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the organisers of the Sydney have said they will proceed without the protection that taking part in an authorised protest would give participants.<\/p>\n In a statement this afternoon, the PAG said:<\/p>\n In Sydney we will be rallying at Sydney town hall from 5.30pm on Monday 9 February.<\/p>\n It is completely legal to attend this mass, peaceful gathering in opposition to an ongoing genocide.<\/p>\n We call on police to facilitate this peaceful protest and our planned march to NSW Parliament.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.43 EST<\/p>\n NSW opposition questions \u2018reactionary\u2019 post-Bondi protest laws it supported<\/p>\n The NSW opposition has questioned if controversial laws restricting protests rushed through parliament with Liberal support following the Bondi massacre responded to to the root causes of the attack.<\/p>\n The opposition has today proposed its own reforms, including a crackdown on online grooming by extremists and legislating the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, following the Minns government\u2019s post-Bondi crackdown on guns, protests and hate speech in December. The Nationals voted against the bill because of changes to gun control but said they supported changes to protest laws.<\/p>\n At a press conference this afternoon, the shadow attorney general, Damien Tudehope, said the government\u2019s changes had failed to address \u201cwhat was it that motivated someone on a Sunday morning to get up and decide to go to Bondi and start shooting people at a Jewish celebration\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked if that means he thinks pro-Palestine protests weren\u2019t a root cause of the antisemitism and radicalisation that led to the attack, Tudehope says the alleged gunmen \u201cweren\u2019t motivated by protests\u201d:<\/p>\n I certainly think that addressing protests is a reactionary approach to what has occurred. But the manner in which protests have built and the manner in which people have developed ideas over a long period of time need addressing.<\/p>\n Asked if she shares Tudehope\u2019s view about the motivations of the alleged Bondi gunmen, the opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, said:<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what motivated them. Honestly, I couldn\u2019t get into their heads.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Sydney\u2019s Mardi Gras party cancelled due to cost pressures, new CEO says Sydney\u2019s Mardi Gras party, which attracts thousands of revellers after the city\u2019s famous annual parade, has been cancelled.<\/p>\n The event was due to take place on the evening of the 28 February and was billed as one of the festival\u2019s highlights, historically drawing crowds of about 10,000 people.<\/p>\n In an update posted on the festival\u2019s website a short time ago, the Mardi Gras chief executive, Jesse Matheson, said the event had been \u201cpaused\u201d because of growing costs and the loss of this year\u2019s headline act.<\/p>\n Last year, I was appointed CEO and tasked with renewing and reimagining the festival following two years of significant financial loss. A major contributor to that loss has been the Mardi Gras PARTY, which has run at a deficit every year since 2020.<\/p>\n He described the party as the festival\u2019s \u201cbiggest challenge\u201d and said the Mardi Gras PARTY was an approximately $2m event that had become more expensive to deliver.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n After reviewing the Mardi Gras PARTY\u2019s financial performance, capacity constraints, community feedback, and changing demographics of attendees, it became clear that the event in its traditional format was no longer fit for purpose or aligned with our future vision to be a celebration event for our entire LGBTIQA+ community.<\/p>\n The move had been compounded by the loss of its headline act over the Christmas break, he said, adding:<\/p>\n Instead, we will focus on supporting the incredible community-led events taking place across the city on Parade night.<\/p>\n This has been heartbreaking \u2013 but I believe it is the right decision for our community and for the future of Mardi Gras \u2026 For those disappointed, from the bottom of my heart, please accept my heartfelt apology.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.02 EST<\/p>\n Liberal frontbencher says party needs to focus on winning back city voters<\/p>\n Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has acknowledged there is \u201cfragmentation\u201d on the \u201cright\u201d of politics, after weeks of infighting between his party and the Nationals.<\/p>\n Bragg has been interviewed on the ABC\u2019s Afternoon Briefing, after opposition leader Sussan Ley said the three National senators who defied the shadow cabinet to oppose Labor\u2019s hate speech laws<\/a> would be forced to sit on the backbench for six months under her offer to reunite the Coalition.<\/p>\n Bragg suggested the working arrangement between the Liberals and Nationals could look different in the future, as he said his party needed to focus on winning back city voters.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n There is fragmentation in the right, we have to be honest about that.<\/p>\n We need to be prepared to work differently. The fact is that the Liberal party now holds less than 10 of the 90 urban seats.<\/p>\n We are a highly urbanised population in Australia. Most people live in urban seats. If we are extinct in the city, we are extinct. We need to be very clear eyed that that is our mission- to win back the trust of the people who live in largely cities.<\/p>\n Bragg also tried to pin today\u2019s cash rate increase on the Labor government\u2019s fiscal policy, something the opposition has been trying to do all day.<\/p>\n The Reserve Bank attributed its decision to \u201cprivate demand growing more quickly than expected\u201d and did not pinpoint government spending as a factor.<\/p>\n Andrew Bragg at a press conference at Parliament House. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.08 EST<\/p>\n More firearms testing in Victorian high country as Freeman search continues<\/p>\n Police will again test firearms in an area of the Victorian high country where they are searching for fugitive Dezi Freeman.<\/p>\n Freeman allegedly shot dead two police officers and wounded a third in Porepunkah on 26 August.<\/p>\n In a statement, police confirmed detectives would conduct firearms testing within the Mount Buffalo national park search area for about an hour on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n Similar firearms testing conducted in November helped inform police ahead of the major five-day search<\/a> for Freeman that started on Monday.<\/p>\n A single gunshot was reported to police about two hours after Freeman fled into the bush at the rear of his property. Police believe it may have been the sound of Freeman killing himself.<\/p>\n The first two days of the search have been completed with no trace of Freeman being publicly reported by police. Police do not believe that he is alive, if he remains in the area, saying that the search of Mount Buffalo is for his body.<\/p>\n But they are also considering two other scenarios: that Freeman has fled the region and is being harboured elsewhere, or that he has fled the area unassisted. Share<\/a> Hi, I\u2019ll be with you on the blog for the rest of the day. The RBA governor, Michelle Bullock, is still taking questions from journalists in Sydney.<\/p>\n While it won\u2019t be much comfort to mortgage holders, she\u2019s said that while today\u2019s cash rate hike has \u201ccome across quite negatively\u201d, Australia is \u201cactually in a really good position\u201d.<\/p>\n And, as usual, Bullock has been reluctant to offer forward guidance on the potential for future rate hikes.<\/p>\n She\u2019s said she can\u2019t confirm whether the central bank is going to hike the cash rate – which guides interest rates set by banks – again next month.<\/p>\n But she says the central bank\u2019s board is determined to bring inflation into its target range of 2-3%.<\/p>\n The overall measure of inflation recorded by the government – the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – rose 3.8% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from a 3.4% rise in the 12 months to November 2025.<\/p>\n Bullock hasn\u2019t ruled out back-to-back rate hikes and says the board is \u201cdetermined\u201d to bring inflation back into the target band. However, she says:<\/p>\n This is not a science, it\u2019s a bit of an art, really, and there\u2019s so many things that can push you off course.<\/p>\n Could we do a lot of rate rises and bring inflation back down very quickly? Possibly, I don\u2019t know. But it might have big implications for the unemployment rate and the economy.<\/p>\n And the bottom line – the strategy really hasn\u2019t changed here. We are still trying to bring inflation down and keep employment as strong as we can, as close to sustainable full employment as we can.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.14 EST<\/p>\n Thanks for joining me on what has been a very busy day on the blog!<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty more to come, and I\u2019ll leave you with the lovely Catie McLeod for the rest of the afternoon. See you back here bright and early tomorrow.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tl;dr here\u2019s what happened in question time<\/p>\n Well that was a LONG question time, with questions split between the Liberals and the rest of the crossbench, who received more questions (although almost all of the extra questions went to the Nationals anyway).<\/p>\n Despite all the hullabaloo around seating, the opposition benches are still looking very similar to the way they did before the split.<\/p>\n The Liberals and Nationals, were at least on a unity ticket in focusing all their questions to the government on inflation and interest rates<\/a>, and tried to push Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese to apologise for the rate rise.<\/p>\n Labor were clearly trying their best to practice some zingers on the Coalition split \u2013 here were a couple of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n Liberal MP Tim Wilson and Nationals MP Alison Penfold were both booted out of the chamber.<\/p>\n Independent MP Zali Steggall asked the government if it would implement a royal commission into femicide and family violence<\/a>. Social services minister Tanya Plibersek said that experts and frontline workers have said another inquiry does not need to be done.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> RBA chief addresses media<\/p>\n The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Michele Bullock, says she empathises with mortgage holders but defended today\u2019s decision to lift the cash rate.<\/p>\n Bullock has been taking questions from journalists in Sydney after the central bank hiked interest rates for the first time in over two years.<\/p>\n The RBA monetary policy board announced on Tuesday at the end of its two-day meeting that the cash rate target would lift to 3.85%, from 3.6%.<\/p>\n The decision means mortgage holders will bear the brunt of dealing with an unexpected jump in inflation that occured in the second half of 2025.<\/p>\n Asked about the effect on mortgage holders facing higher repayments, Bullock said:<\/p>\n I understand they\u2019re disappointed. I do understand that for mortgage holders, this isn\u2019t a great outcome<\/p>\n Having said that, and I have just said this in the past – what\u2019s also not great for them or for anyone else is if inflation remains elevated because every time they go to the shop, every time they go to buy their groceries, every time they go to get personal services, medical, if inflation is high, that\u2019s going to keep going up.<\/p>\n I empathise with them, but I think when we were looking back at what was going on last year … the issues were all about the downside risks, particularly the world economy.<\/p>\n Some of these things have just not come to pass.<\/p>\n Bullock said consumer demand had risen in response to last year\u2019s rate cuts more quickly than the RBA board had anticipated.<\/p>\n Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia Michele Bullock. Photograph: Hollie Adams\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.01 EST<\/p>\n After a final dixer to Anthony Albanese, question time is over for the day.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Bowen says wholesale energy prices are dropping<\/p>\n You might note that question time is going long, well we\u2019re still going …<\/p>\n Nationals MP, Sam Birrell asks when Australians will get their $275 reduction to their energy bills that was promised by Labor back in 2022. The promise is long gone, and Labor has had to admit so (many times before).<\/p>\n Climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, races through his answer and says wholesale energy prices are falling:<\/p>\n Every single Australian saw wholesale prices fall by 44% in the last quarter of last year. We have more work to do to make sure that flows through.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n O\u2019Brien pushes Chalmers to rule out further rate rises<\/p>\n Ted O\u2019Brien takes to the dispatch box next and asks the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, whether he\u2019ll guarantee that there will be no more interest rate rises this year.<\/p>\n Chalmers says O\u2019Brien should know by now that the Reserve Bank makes its own decisions.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also at pains to repeat that the RBA statement does not mention government spending.<\/p>\n They want to pretend the government sets interest rates. Well, that is obviously dishonest, of course, but we do work as hard as we can to get on top of inflation \u2026 because we do understand that people are under pressure<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Independent MP Nicolette Boele has a question<\/p>\n She wants to know when will the government implement the Human Rights Commission\u2019s anti-racism framework<\/p>\n The framework was commissioned by the government and handed to Labor in November 2024.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese doesn\u2019t answer the actual question on whether the government will implement the framework, but says antisemitism requires \u201cconstant vigilance\u201d.<\/p>\n We do need to deal with a comprehensive response not just to antisemitism, but to building social cohesion as well. I think the attack that we saw in Perth [at the Invasion Day rally] is an example of something that the authorities are dealing with.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t answer the question. Boele stands up to make a point of order on relevance, but the PM\u2019s time to answer is up.<\/p>\n![\"Penry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Penry_Buckley.png\")
Penry Buckley<\/p>\n![\"Daisy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Daisy_Dumas.png\")
Daisy Dumas<\/p>\n![\"Nino](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Nino_Bucci.png\")
Nino Bucci<\/p>\n
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.<\/p>\n![\"Catie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Caite_McLeod.png\")
Catie McLeod<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\nCatie McLeod<\/p>\n