Australia news LIVE: Home prices set to hit fresh highs in 2026; Liberals want ‘Australian values’ screening for new migrants; Super funds accused of profiting from Russian ‘blood oil’

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, November 20. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage throughout the morning. Here’s what is making headlines today.

• House and unit prices in every Australian capital city are on track to hit fresh highs by the end of 2026, new forecasts reveal. The cost to buy the typical house across the country’s combined capitals is forecast to rise by 6 per cent next year, hitting a record price of $1,339,267, according to Domain’s Forecast Report 2026 released on Thursday. Unit prices are also tipped to rise, jumping 5 per cent to a new median of $759,112.

• The Coalition is exploring how it can toughen screening to make sure new migrants agree with Australian values, as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s frontbench works on an immigration policy that will unite fractured MPs while taking a fight to Labor. Enhancing the Australian values statement that prospective migrants must sign when they apply for certain visas is one option available to Ley’s home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam and immigration spokesman Paul Scarr, who have been asked to design a policy in the next few weeks.

• Esafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has been called to testify before the US Congress over Australia’s Online Safety Act, with a Republican lawmaker labelling her a “noted zealot for global take-downs” and an enemy of American free speech. Inman Grant has been given less than two weeks’ notice to testify before the committee over accusations that the commissioner had “colluded with pro-censorship entities” while developing the under-16s social media ban set to come into effect on December 1.

• Some of Australia’s biggest superannuation funds have been accused of profiting from shipments of Russian oil passing through South-East Asia, raising fears that Australians’ retirement savings are helping fund Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. An estimated 1 million tonnes of Russian oil have been offloaded over the past two years at a shipping terminal in Malaysia co-owned by a company in the portfolio of an investment vehicle controlled by a consortium of Australian industry super funds.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you rolling news updates throughout the day.

The Coalition is exploring how it can toughen screening to make sure new migrants agree with Australian values, as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s frontbench works on an immigration policy that will unite fractured MPs while taking a fight to Labor.

Enhancing the Australian values statement that prospective migrants must sign when they apply for certain visas is one option available to Ley’s home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam and immigration spokesman Paul Scarr, who have been asked to design a policy in the next few weeks.

Ley has asked home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam (left) to work with Senator Paul Scarr on the Coalition’s immigration policy by the end of the year.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Ley last week signalled her next fight with the government would be over migration, as she seeks to temper freelancing from backbenchers, such as leadership rival Andrew Hastie and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, after the Right faction won the numbers in a showdown on climate policy.

But as Indian-Australians report increased racism – and the Liberals mop up the fallout from comments made by Price earlier this year – Ley, Duniam and Scarr have been at pains to emphasise they do not want a debate about race or religion.

Immigration has been a political weak spot for Labor, as arrivals soared after the pandemic and the government repeatedly failed to meet its forecasts. It also comes with risks for Ley, who is trying to appeal to migrant communities while stemming a bleed of Coalition voters to One Nation.

House and unit prices in every Australian capital city are on track to hit fresh highs by the end of 2026, new forecasts reveal.

The cost to buy the typical house across the country’s combined capitals is forecast to rise by 6 per cent next year, hitting a record price of $1,339,267, according to Domain’s Forecast Report 2026 released on Thursday. Unit prices are also tipped to rise, jumping 5 per cent to a new median of $759,112.

The expanded Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, lower interest rates and improving household incomes are expected to fuel demand and help to drive faster price gains in the first half of 2026, said the report.

Sydney house prices are expected to rise 7 per cent to a median $1,924,430 in 2026. Melbourne is projected to grow by 6 per cent to a median $1,170,168 over next year, the report said.