Emily KaineUpdated August 12, 2026 — 9:15am,first published 6:45amMorning headlinesBy Emily KaineGood morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, August 12. Here’s what is making the headlines today.The Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold yesterday, as it weighed up a slowing economy dragged down by a weaker-than-expected housing market, and balanced the risk of inflation being pushed up by AI and continued conflict in the Middle East.During question time yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the claim he made “foul-mouthed, classless comments about women” after renewed criticism of remarks he made about a gift from Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi during a July podcast.Former prime minister John Howard has warned against an alliance between the Coalition and One Nation, as the Liberal Party’s campaign chief urges downbeat MPs to play the long game in countering Pauline Hanson. Howard told this masthead that “the only party that we should ever be in coalition with is the National Party”.Abroad, tensions in the Middle East have flared again after the US military said it fired on a Panamanian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman that tried to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports.And the death toll from a powerful earthquake in Colombia has reached 250 and thousands remain missing as rescue crews continue to dig through the rubble to find survivors.Latest Posts9.15amCoalition to work with One Nation on foreign fighters bill, push for Senate inquiryBy Nick NewlingOpposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson has said One Nation’s bill to keep Australian citizens linked to overseas terrorist groups out of the country should be sent to a parliamentary inquiry to test whether its constitutionality could be tested in the High Court, as he backed the Coalition’s decision to work with the minor party on the bill.“We not only have drafted our own legislation, we introduced it into the parliament earlier this year, and we have led every step of the way on the government’s weakness on allowing, firstly, so-called ISIS friends, really members of ISIS, to return to our country, and now potentially ISIS fighters to come back to our country,” Paterson said.Senator James Paterson.Dominic Lorrimer“We’ve said consistently we’re happy to work with anyone who wants to protect Australia from the serious national security threat posed by these returning radicalised people, and we consistently said we’d support the introduction of bills and the referral bills to committees,” he said.Paterson said the government, including Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, could not be trusted to judge the constitutional heft of laws relating to foreign fighters, and as such, One Nation’s bill should be “tested in a parliamentary inquiry, where experts can come and give evidence, and we can make a judgment on the merits of the bill or other ones”.8.52amMinister deflects question on gambling ads, inducementsBy Emily KaineStaying with Clare this morning, the minister also deflected a question about why Labor would not go further on gambling advertising or consider introducing an opt-in model for betting inducements as negotiations on the government’s gambling reform bill continue this week.“I think we are taking tough action,” Clare told the ABC.“People want to see action, and that’s what we’re doing with the legislation that’s in the parliament now. No government’s taken as much action as we have on gambling advertising.”Labor maintains its legislation is trying to strike the right balance between allowing Australians the right to have a punt while still restricting the more insidious harms of gambling.8.37amFederal government close to Victoria school funding deal, education minister saysBy James CostaEducation Minister Jason Clare says the federal government is close to reaching a deal with new Victorian Premier Ben Carroll for school funding.The government has struck agreements with every state and territory across the country except for Victoria, Clare told ABC News Breakfast.Education Minister Jason Clare.Dominic Lorrimer“I know Ben Carroll gets this and I’m optimistic that we’ll get this across the line,” Clare said.Clare said that mums and dads don’t want to see another strike by teachers, referring to the potential industrial action by the Australian Education Union in Victoria next Wednesday.8.21amChalmers: PM ‘has explained’ melons gaffe By Emily KaineChalmers was also pressed on whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese owed the public an explanation for his widely scrutinised remarks made on comedian Nikki Osborne’s Bush Deep podcast last month.“I think he has explained, and he’s answered a number of questions about that, as have my colleagues. I don’t think there’s anything I could usefully add to that, apart from reminding your listeners just how important that Japanese relationship is and how closely we work with our Japanese counterparts,” the treasurer told Radio National.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arriving for question time at Parliament House in Canberra yesterday. Alex Ellinghausen“I take him at his word when he says that the way that it’s interpreted is not the way that he intended.”During question time yesterday, the PM dismissed the claim he made “foul-mouthed, classless comments about women”.8.04amAustralians should not judge housing market on period of volatility: ChalmersBy Emily KaineTreasurer Jim Chalmers says falling house prices are not a cause for alarm as he urges Australians not to judge the housing market based on a period of “volatility” over a few months and insists the market will stabilise.“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on a few months of data,” he told ABC Radio National this morning.Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers in Canberra on Tuesday.Alex Ellinghausen“What happens with house prices is a consequence of a range of factors, including movements in interest rates. And so, as the Reserve Bank governor said yesterday, I’ve said on a number of occasions, the private sector market economists have said as well, what we’re seeing in the housing market is a consequence of operating conditions, interest rates, policies. Not any one factor on their own.”Yesterday, the RBA announced it would keep interest rates on hold, citing a weaker-than-expected housing market and the risk of inflation due to continued conflict in the Middle East.7.49am‘It would be a riot’: Joyce claims double-standard in PM’s ‘melon’ gaffeBy Nick NewlingOne Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has said that if he made the same comments about the Japanese prime minister that Anthony Albanese did there “would be a riot”, as he called for the Labor leader to front the House of Representatives and apologise for his behaviour.“I think [Albanese] should walk into the chamber and say: ‘Look, I accept that was the wrong thing. I apologise, and I’ve sent the appropriate communication to the Japanese prime minister’ ... Yeah, it’ll be a tough couple of days, and then things will move on,” Joyce told journalists at Parliament House in Canberra.Barnaby Joyce during question time at Parliament House on May 26.Alex EllinghausenJoyce’s comments come as the Coalition demands a police investigation into the apparent leak of a diplomatic note sent by the Japanese government to its counterparts in Canberra, after details of the note were published in media outlets.The diplomatic note, dated July 13 and sent by the government in Tokyo, addressed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with Nikki Osborne on July 3, during which the comedian made a joke to the prime minister about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi smuggling in crown melons under her shirt “like Pamela Anderson” to present as a gift to Albanese.7.34amO’Neil calls referral of alleged leak to the AFP a ‘political stunt’ By Emily KaineThe referral of an alleged leak of confidential correspondence between Japan’s prime ministerial office and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the AFP is a “political stunt”, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has said, as she defended widely criticised remarks Albanese made in July about the Japanese leader.Opposition spokesman for defence James Paterson and opposition spokesman for foreign affairs Ted O’Brien referred the alleged leak to the AFP yesterday after reports emerged of a diplomatic cable sent by the Japanese government in July which noted the “sensationalised reporting in the Australian media” of Albanese’s appearance on Nikki Osborne’s Bush Deep podcast.Speaking to Seven’s Sunrise this morning, O’Neil said the Liberals had “absolutely lost the plot”.“They are referring this podcast matter to the Australian Federal Police. My personal view is that the [AFP] should be allowed to focus on their job, which is keeping Australians safe and fighting crime for Australians. And I just point out to your viewers at home: you know, we’ve got people watching right now who have got big and important problems in their lives,” she said.“They’re worried about how they’re going to pay for the next load of groceries, how they’re going to fill up the car, thinking about Medicare and the kind of education their kids are getting at school … I’d say instead of wasting police time with this silly political stunt that you’re pulling, how about coming to Canberra and actually representing the people who elected you?”7.14amRussia releases former US Marine after years in prisonBy Washington: Russia has released an American military veteran, allowing his return to the US after four years of what his family and US officials allege was wrongful incarceration and abusive treatment that left him near death.Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old Massachusetts teacher and former Marine, was freed overnight after President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about his release, which Trump said was “very much on a humanitarian basis”.“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return – No exchange took place,” Trump said on social media.Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.6.52am‘I learnt a lot’: Former opposition leader opens up on life after politicsBy Emily KaineFormer opposition leader Sussan Ley has spoken about her life after politics and her journey of self-discovery riding a Greyhound bus through middle America.In an interview with the 7.30 Report, Ley reflected on what she had learnt since she was ousted as leader of the opposition in February.“I was there to quieten the noise in my head about politics,” she told the ABC.Sussan Ley starts her post-politics road trip at Minot on the Canadian border.“While I dealt with the effects of burnout, it didn’t bring me undone. It allowed me to move to the next chapter of my life, which is allowed me to draw a line very conclusively under those 25 years in public life, and move to this next chapter where I know that I will have more to say, more to write, and more observations to make.”Ley would not be drawn on questions about the rise of One Nation since her departure from politics, and said she would “leave the political commentary to others”.“The most important journey you ever make is the journey you make inside yourself to understand who you really are.”6.35amColombia quake death toll tops 250 with thousands still missingBy Periera/Cali: Rescue crews have been digging through mountains of shattered concrete in western Colombia, racing to find survivors after a powerful earthquake killed more than 250 people, according to estimates from local authorities.With thousands of people still missing, families have been waiting beside the rubble for signs of life. The 7.4-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful to strike the South American country in decades, tore through Colombia’s coffee-growing heartland on Monday, leaving apartment blocks, homes, schools and health centres cracked, leaning or flattened. About 100 aftershocks have been registered.Rescuers worked through the night with cranes, excavators and, at times, their bare hands, cutting through twisted steel and passing buckets of debris in desperate searches for those still trapped.The country’s new president, Abelardo De La Espriella, said he had decreed a three-month economic relief measure for people in the coffee-growing region of Risaralda.1 of 2