As it happened: Dutton responds to Turnbull’s ‘thug’ attack; PM visits Queensland

Two Australians have been found dead in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs says.

The circumstances of their deaths remain unclear, and their identities cannot be made public by the government due to privacy obligations.

The department said it was providing consular assistance to the families of the two Australians.

“We send our condolences to the families at this difficult time,” a spokesperson said.

Circling back to Anthony Albanese’s press conference earlier, the prime minister was also asked whether US President Joe Biden should lead America and the Democratic Party at the upcoming presidential election.

A catastrophic debate performance against Donald Trump has jeopardised Biden’s entire re-election campaign, highlighting the 81-year-old’s age and raising questions about his ability to complete a second four-year term.

Biden has fiercely rejected calls to step aside, and few high-ranking Democrats have explicitly called on him to resign in public so far, keen to avoid a similarly disastrous open fight that irrevocably damages party unity in this crucial election cycle.

But overnight, former US house speaker and Democratic stalwart Nancy Pelosi refused to explicitly endorse Biden. Actor George Clooney, an influential Democratic donor, went further, writing in The New York Times that Biden shouldn’t run. Early this morning (Australian time), Vermont Senator Peter Welch became the first Democratic senator to call on the incumbent president to withdraw.

Amid this sea of uncertainty and anxiety among progressive Americans, Albanese was asked what he thought about Biden’s position. In response, he said:

Well, look, it’s a matter for the people of the United States. And it’s important that there not be interference from outside in those processes.

Can I say this ... my interaction with Joe Biden has been extremely productive. I have a great deal of respect for the president, frankly, in navigating what is a very difficult economic time. And the work that we’ve done together on AUKUS, and on co-operation on international issues through the Quad, and others, has been extremely productive.

But with regard to election speculation, just like in the UK, I will leave that, as I did in the UK [election].”

Renters might be struggling, but that doesn’t mean the Reserve Bank is finished lifting interest rates.

Commonwealth Bank’s household spending insights show that people are continuing to pull back on spending thanks to ongoing cost-of-living pressures.

Spending grew by 3.9 per cent over the year to June, compared with 4 per cent in the year to May, and Commonwealth Bank chief economist Stephen Halmarick said the largest spending increases over the year came from essentials including insurance (up 8.8 per cent), utilities (up 6.8 per cent) and health (up 5.9 per cent).

“Definitely this pattern of having to spend more money on these essential services and leaving a lot less money for some of the discretionary [purchases] is the overall theme,” he said.

Halmarick pointed out this spending is after people have paid their rent or their mortgage, and rents have continued to rise.

It’s not surprising then that the spending gap between renters and those with mortgages or outright homeowners has widened. Renters reduced their spending by 0.9 per cent in the year to June, whereas people with mortgages increased spending by 1.5 per cent and outright owners lifted spending by 2.1 per cent over the same period.

“The burden of adjustment to get inflation back down is certainly being unevenly felt across the economy,” Halmarick said.

Inflation is currently at 4 per cent, and some of the stronger drivers of inflation such as rents and insurance are not as easily influenced by interest rate rises. But that, coupled with the fact that some households are struggling more, does not mean the Reserve Bank is necessarily done with lifting interest rates.

Halmarick said governor Michele Bullock recently indicated that in fact the bank may have to then go harder on interest rates to get that overall inflation number back down.

It means the next lot of inflation data, due out at the end of this month, will be critical to the RBA board’s next interest rate decision in early August.

In breaking news, the bodies of a mother and daughter have been found in a home in Sydney’s north-west.

Police were called to the home on Menzies Road, Marsfield, near Ryde, just after 10.20am on Thursday, responding to reports of a concern for welfare at the property. A friend of the family said the daughter had been ill in recent weeks.

“Officers attached to Ryde Police Area Command arrived to find the bodies of two females inside,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The woman, in her 50s, and the girl, in her teens, are yet to be formally identified.

Follow this developing story here.

Labor luminary Bob Carr has been appointed to lead the Albanese government’s top advisory body on heritage matters, replacing former head, Victorian premier Ted Baillieu, in the top job.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced on Thursday that Carr, the former NSW premier and federal foreign minister, would lead the Australian Heritage Council, which advises the government of listing places for greater protection under heritage laws.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of the honorable Bob Carr who brings a wealth of experience from his service in parliament to the conservation of our heritage places and the environment, including from his former role as NSW minister for heritage,” Plibersek said.

Carr, a life member of the Wilderness Society, is joined by two heritage experts appointed to the council – Kristal Buckley and Professor Richard Mackay. Indigenous heritage experts Leah Cameron and Jamie Lowe will return for a second term on the council.

The Commonwealth Heritage List includes environmental and culturally significant places such as the Australian Alps, convict sites, Lord Howe Island, Melbourne Cricket Ground and the National War Memorial.

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave an unexpected door stop interview from the top of Brisbane’s Mount Coot-Tha Lookout alongside Rebecca Hack, the Labor candidate for Ryan.

Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown sensationally won the seat on Brisbane’s western edge at the last election from Liberal-National Party MP Julian Simmonds. Labor finished third in the primary vote.

Today, Albanese declared Labor had big plans to gain territory in the Sunshine State at the next election.

I’m about us winning seats here in Queensland, including here,” he said. “I’ll be at Forde after this, and I’ll be in Dickson, a little electorate not far from here, which has a very slim margin, tomorrow.”

He then attacked the Greens for delaying the government’s agenda in the Senate.

“If you’re a progressive person,” Albanese said, “then you’d be pretty disappointed that the Greens have essentially used the power that they have, not to promote positive policies, but to undermine the progressive agenda of the Labor government.”

He said the party had stymied its policies to tackle housing affordability, plan renewable energy and address climate change.

“The people of this electorate know the very real impact of climate change from the increased disasters, including the floods that occurred here.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he isn’t concerned some Young Labor members had planned to meet the party’s former senator Fatima Payman, saying he instead was focused on addressing cost-of-living pressures.

At a press conference this afternoon, Albanese was asked about a Facebook post from NSW’s Young Labor Left group that advertised an upcoming event with Payman, who sensationally quit the party last week.

The post for the event with NSW Labor upper house MP Anthony D’Adam and Maritime Union of Australia delegate Erima Dall has since been amended to remove Payman. But, several posts on the page still express support for the ex-Labor senator.

Here’s what Albanese said about that in the last hour:

We’re a very broad party and if a couple of people, in a couple of places, meet … you know, that’s really a matter for them.

We’re just getting on with the job of prioritizing what Australians are most concerned about, which is cost-of-living pressures. Our position on the Middle East is clear. We want a ceasefire. We want a two state solution and we want peace and security in the region.

If it worried me when someone met around the country with our tens of thousands of members, then I wouldn’t be able to do the job that I do.