Australia news LIVE: Former senator Cory Bernardi recruited by One Nation as future of Coalition remains unclear; RBA to make rate decision today

Chalmers has dodged questions on whether government spending has contributed to the uptick in inflation as he braces for the RBA’s rate decision later this afternoon.

Speaking on the Today show just now, he said, “Inflation was north of 6 per cent when we came to office … It now has a three in front of it, which is still too high. We’ve been very upfront about that. It’s not that much higher than we expected, but it is much higher than we would like.”

He said the most recent uptick in inflation had more to do with holiday spending, the withdrawal of energy rebates and “persistent housing issues”.

“All of these are serious issues, but some of them are temporary, and they’re not fundamentally about government spending,” Chalmers said.

With the Reserve Bank set to announce a rate decision this afternoon, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he will not make a prediction on the RBA’s decision but that he takes responsibility “for all parts of his job”.

“I take responsibility for all parts of my job, including playing a helpful role in the fight against inflation,” he told ABC’s News Breakfast this morning.

Chalmers said the government was focused on rolling out cost-of-living pressures, including two tax cuts this year, increasing bulk billing GP clinics, making medicines cheaper and providing debt relief to students.

The government is under scrutiny as experts forecast that a rate rise is a likely outcome of the RBA’s meeting today.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth has labelled the Coalition split “more dramatic than a soap opera”.

Speaking to Nine’s Today show this morning, Rishworth said, “I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s more dramatic than a soap opera. They’re together, they’re not together.

“It seems very ego-driven, and I think Australians will mark them down for that.”

Appearing alongside Rishworth was Senator Jacqui Lambie, who agreed with the parallel drawn yesterday by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese likening Ley and Littleproud’s tumultuous relationship to dramatic reality television.

“I have to be brutally honest with you, it is like MAFS or Love Island gone wrong,” Lambie said.

“You’re in opposition, and quite frankly, it is not helpful taking on the government of the day when you are going through this, it’s such a distraction, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The future of the federal Coalition remains unclear after a crisis meeting between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud yesterday failed to reach a resolution.

The two met in the evening to try to resolve their differences following the most recent split, when Littleproud announced the Nationals would split from the Liberal Party after division over the government’s new hate speech laws tabled in parliament last month.

Last week, Ley gave Littleproud an ultimatum to re-form the Coalition in one week or risk a permanent split.

After the meeting, spokespeople from both parties said the two had made progress, and had agreed to keep talking.

Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has become the latest political figure to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation as it surges ahead of the fractured Coalition in the polls.

Hanson announced Bernardi would run as the party’s lead upper house candidate in the South Australian election in March.

“Cory has strong, sound conservative values that are an excellent fit with One Nation and he’s a prominent South Australian keen to make the positive differences in his home state the Liberals just can’t bring themselves to make,” she said.

Bernardi served as a senator until 2020. His own party, Australian Conservatives, failed to gain any traction in 2019 after he quit the Liberals.

There is unconfirmed speculation that serving Liberal senator Alex Antic will join Bernardi. Both sit well to the right of the Liberal Party in the hard-right and Christian right.

Good morning and welcome to our national live news blog for Tuesday, February 3. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage throughout the morning. Here’s what is making news today.

• Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has become the latest political figure to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation as it surges ahead of the fractured Coalition in the polls. Hanson announced Bernardi would run as the party’s lead upper house candidate in the South Australian election in March.
• Rogue Nationals MP Colin Boyce’s challenge to leader David Littleproud yesterday failed, with Littleproud retaining his position, after Boyce moved a spill motion yesterday afternoon in the party room. The move was widely expected to fail as no other MPs said they would support the push for a spill.
• The future of the federal Coalition remains unclear after a crisis meeting between Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud yesterday failed to reach a resolution.

• The Australian sharemarket is set to bounce higher, with futures pointing to a gain of 95 points, or 1.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX lost 1 per cent yesterday. The Reserve Bank meets today and is set to announce its interest rate decision at 2.30pm, with markets predicting a rise of a quarter percentage point, the first hike in more than two years.

• US President Donald Trump said he had agreed on a trade deal with India that slashes US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent in exchange for India lowering trade barriers.

• Trump is also threatening to sue Trevor Noah over a joke at yesterday’s Grammy Awards, writing in a post on Truth Social that the comedian’s crack claiming he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island was “false and defamatory”. It comes as more high-profile figures, including Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, become embroiled in the ongoing Epstein scandal after the US Department of Justice released a new tranche of files over the weekend.

Follow along today as we bring you the latest rolling news updates from Australia and the world.