Australia news LIVE: Plea for gambling ad ban; Voters mark down Labor on economy; Women hold more board roles

The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor has pushed back at critics who have accused the institution of sitting on its hands as inflation remains high, warning the degree of uncertainty over the economy made any change in interest rate levels challenging.

Speaking to the Economic Society of Australia’s Queensland branch in Brisbane, Andrew Hauser described those who claimed to be sure of the way forward as “false prophets”.

“When the stakes are so high, claiming supreme confidence or certainty over what is an intrinsically uncertain and ambiguous outlook is a dangerous game,” he said.

“At best, it needlessly weaponises an important but difficult process of discovery. At worst, it risks driving poor analysis and decision-making that could harm the welfare of all Australians.”

The RBA held official interest rates steady at 4.35 per cent last week. Financial markets still expect the bank to cut rates by Christmas, but governor Michele Bullock has warned it was difficult to see such a move for at least six months.

A helicopter that crashed into a waterfront hotel in Cairns, killing the pilot, was on an “unauthorised” flight, according to the company that charters it.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Double Tree Hilton Hotel on the Esplanade in the north Queensland city after the twin-engine helicopter crashed into the roof and burst into flames about 1.50am on Monday.

Police have confirmed the pilot – the helicopter’s sole occupant – died at the scene, AAP reported.

Two hotel guests, an 83-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman, were taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Charter company Nautilus Aviation released a statement saying the use of the helicopter was “unauthorised”.

“Nautilus Aviation are working closely with Queensland Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities as they investigate the unauthorised use of one of our helicopters in the early hours of this morning,” the statement reads.

“As we continue to fully support the ongoing investigation, we will not be making further comments at this time.”

Coverage of the incident is being updated here.

When former prime minister Scott Morrison outlined his vision for an ambitious data-sharing policy known as open banking in 2018, he declared it would be a “revolution coming to customers” and a “monumental step” in giving consumers more power when dealing with banks.

“Open banking will be a game changer,” Morrison said, speaking while he was treasurer.

Six years later, the policy – now known as the consumer data right (CDR) – has not lived up to the hype. Usage has been underwhelming, prompting complaints from banks that they have invested $1.5 billion in a data-sharing system that has produced insufficient public benefits.

A fierce debate has erupted between banks and fintechs about what to do next with a policy that is designed to give people a way to share their financial data safely. Should the regime be expanded to allow more sophisticated types of sharing and activity, or should the government put it on the back burner?

Things came to a head on Friday, when Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones announced a “reset” of the consumer data right, blaming the former Coalition government for the low take-up by consumers.

Read the full story here.

Australian Federal Police officers could walk off the job within days in a move that threatens to “shut down” the nation’s parliament.

Officers would leave their posts at Parliament House and key locations including Canberra Airport for the first time, to go on strike over what the union describes as a “toxic” pay deal.

Politicians and political events will not be guarded by the AFP unless there is a “significant” threat and officers would be temporarily pulled from investigating crimes related to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Tax Office.

Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said that, while there were contingency plans in place, parliament would need to “shut down” if the threat level was unsafe without federal police.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to disrupt parliament, that’s our goal,” he said.

The breakdown in negotiations comes after Commonwealth public servants, including federal police, were offered an 11.2 per cent increase over three years with added work-from-home provisions.

The union argues police officers should not be placed in the same category as desk-job public servants.

There is a glimmer of hope for the government in the latest Resolve Political Monitor after months of steady falls in support for Labor and its leader, chief political correspondent David Crowe reports.

The Labor primary vote has risen a single percentage point over the past month, from 28 to 29 per cent, in a shift that looks negligible because it is within the margin of error for the latest survey.

But this is the first increase for Labor in the Resolve Political Monitor since April last year. No, that is not a misprint. The last time Labor improved its primary vote in this survey was just before last year’s federal budget when its core support rose from 39 to 42 per cent. The Labor primary vote has fallen or flatlined every month since then.

The weakness in the party’s core support has led to real anxiety in the wider labour movement about whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can revive the party’s fortunes in time for the election due by May next year.

Former US president Donald Trump falsely claimed on social media that a crowd at a Michigan rally for Vice President Kamala Harris last week didn’t exist and that photos of the event were fabricated by artificial intelligence.

In the days following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would step aside as the Democratic nominee, conspiracy theorists and far-right influencers have promoted a number of falsehoods targeted at the Harris campaign. But Trump’s repeating of the false claims about the crowd size and photos, with multiple posts on his Truth Social platform, is a notable escalation.

“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.‘d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!” the Republican nominee for president wrote on social media.

Trump continued, “She’s a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake ‘crowds’ at her speeches. This is the way the Democrats win Elections, by CHEATING.”

In fact, thousands of people were gathered when the plane arrived.

The Australian sharemarket opened stronger on Monday at the start of a busy week for the earnings season, after slight gains on Friday carried Wall Street almost exactly back to where it began the week before dramatic losses.

The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 59.10 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 7836.80 in opening trading as of 10.19am AEST, continuing its rebound, with all sectors except materials and energy tracking up.

JB Hi-Fi was up 10.2 per cent, the biggest large cap advancer, after it flagged a fully-franked special dividend of 80¢ per share as it released its earnings. The electronics retailer saw net profits drop 16.4 per cent to $438.8 million for the 12 months to June 30.

Freight operator Aurizon dropped the most (5.4 per cent) of the large caps, despite announcing a buyback of up $150 million of shares after a 25 per cent rise in annual net profit.

Read the market recap here.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced consultation on laws that would restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements for workplace sexual harassment.

The move was first announced in 2022 before the last state election under then-premier Daniel Andrews, following a recommendation from a ministerial taskforce.

Consultation will last four weeks and Allan said she would make it a priority to stop the silencing of victims, mostly women, within this term of parliament.

“They’re being misused,” Allan told reporters on Monday. “They’re being used to ultimately silence the victim-survivors to protect the perpetrators [and] protect the employers’ reputation. And that’s simply wrong.”

She said there may still be a place for NDAs, particularly if they were requested by a victim.

The review could consider whether someone under an NDA can speak to medical professionals or family members about their experiences.

The taskforce that in 2022 recommended the reforms was co-chaired by then parliamentary secretary for workplace safety Bronwyn Halfpenny and workplace injury lawyer Liberty Singer, with representatives from unions, employer groups, legal professionals and vulnerable workers.