National news LIVE: Bullock defends RBA as big four banks all pass on rate rise; Historic Australian defence properties to be sold off

The US military has shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said.

The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the US, and President Donald Trump warned that with American warships heading toward Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, the US military said on Tuesday (Washington time).

“An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military’s Central Command.

No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he said. Iran’s UN mission declined to comment.

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock has defended the RBA’s decision to raise rates for the first time in two years, following a meeting of the bank yesterday.

Following its first meeting of the year, the bank lifted the cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.85 per cent, adding $100 a month to the repayments on a $600,000 mortgage.

It comes after a surprisingly high inflation read of 3.8 per cent for the 12 months to December and unemployment falling to 4.1 per cent.

This masthead’s economics correspondent, Shane Wright, asked Bullock why the RBA keeps getting it so wrong, as inflation has only been within the mandated band in eight out of 40 quarters in a decade.

Bullock responded: “I have no particular response other than to say we are determined, and the board is determined, to bring it back down into the band.”

Commonwealth Bank was the first major bank to pass on the rate hike, followed by Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, February 4. I’m Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.

• Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock has defended the RBA’s decision to raise rates for the first time in two years, following a meeting of the bank yesterday.
• The government did not waste any opportunity during question time yesterday to dig in to the Liberal-National Coalition for tearing itself apart, delivering jibe after jibe to the opposition, which was uniquely comprised solely of the Liberals, with the Nationals sitting on the crossbench.
• Some of the nation’s most historic defence properties – including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – are poised to be sold and opened up to the public, with staff shifted to expensive and recently renovated nearby offices that regularly sit half empty.
• Investigators believe the 84-year-old mother of US journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie was abducted, a local sheriff in Arizona said, after she vanished from her home near Tucson and was reported missing over the weekend. Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home on Saturday night, when she was visited by her children, and was reported missing on Sunday afternoon, Arizona time.

• The US military has shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said. The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the US, and President Donald Trump warned that with American warships heading toward Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

Follow along as we bring you the latest rolling news updates from Australia and beyond throughout the day.