Australia news LIVE: Bullock blames domestic spending for rate hike, inflation as government insists global factors to blame; No explosives found inside vans searched in UK terror probe

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Morning headlines

By Emily Kaine

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of national news this Wednesday, September 30. Here’s what is making headlines today.

• Yesterday the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates to 4.6 per cent, marking a 15-year-high, despite rising unemployment, falling house prices and sluggish economic growth. RBA governor Michele Bullock said Australia was being impacted by “domestic capacity pressures” as well as extraordinary shocks, including the ongoing Iran war, spending on AI, and a lack of productivity. Bullock warned there could be more hikes on the way.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government took responsibility for its role in managing inflation, but continued to blame continuous interest rate hikes on the war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called for Chalmers to resign following yesterday’s rate decision, and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it was a “dark day” for mortgage holders.
• A parliamentary leadership battle is brewing in the Greens party this week after outgoing leader Larissa Waters stepped down amid ongoing illness. On one side is a joint ticket of Mehreen Faruqi and Nick McKim, on the other is Sarah Hanson-Young. David Shoebridge has not ruled out contesting.
• And Anthropic has warned investors that its technology could pose “existential risks to humanity” as it prepares to list on the sharemarket. The AI company warned in the prospectus for its planned initial public offering (IPO) filing that its models could exhibit unpredictable behaviours including attempts to “resist shutdown”, to “conceal or manipulate information” and behaviour “resembling blackmail”.