Australia news LIVE: Treasurer’s push for savings obstructed by PM’s razor gang; final words before Spanish train disaster revealed

Updated October 30, 2026 — 11:14am,first published October 30, 2026 — 6:45am

Welcome to the national news live blog for today, Friday, October 30. Here’s a look at today’s biggest stories:

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ push for tighter fiscal discipline was obstructed by the prime minister’s razor gang ahead of the last budget, intensifying scrutiny on Anthony Albanese’s economic credentials.
• Leaked recordings reveal the messages between the rail control centre in Madrid and two train drivers operating the same line moments before one train smashed into the rear of the other, killing at least 69 people.
• The final section of Sydney’s $30 billion M1 metro line has opened after a two-year wait. The first passenger service ran through the south-west suburbs at 4.31am, bringing a festive cheer. Follow our live coverage here.

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Atlanta: A set of shock polls suggests Democrats are well-placed to take control of the US Senate, with the party ahead in Michigan, Texas, Maine and even deep red Kansas.

The surveys of likely voters in key states, by CNN and polling outfit SSRS, were taken over the past week to 10 days, as the midterm election campaign entered its final stretch.

They found Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton 49 per cent to 43 per cent in Texas, a state that last sent a Democrat to the US Senate in 1988.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat who has attracted national attention, was ahead of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan by 49 per cent to 42 per cent, the poll found.

A suspected hack impacting billions of dollars of funds on the Binance crypto exchange spurred emergency asset freezes and sent the price of digital assets tumbling. Executives of the world’s biggest trading venue for the currencies said they were investigating, and that customer funds were safe.

“We are aware of reports of a potential security issue and we are actively investigating,” said a Binance spokesperson.

“At this stage we have not confirmed any impact to user funds. Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information.”

Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder of Binance, said the world’s largest crypto exchange may have been hacked but that user funds were safe. Zhao, who goes by CZ, no longer runs the company but remains its largest shareholder. The price of Bitcoin fell by more than 3 per cent on the back of the report.

Bloomberg

Hong Kong leader John Lee apologised and said his housing secretary had resigned after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight.

The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others. The towers were undergoing building maintenance work at the time.

Many former residents of Wang Fuk Court have spent nearly a year waiting to see how the government will address accountability for the disaster.

At a news conference, Lee and seven other top officials bowed in apology. Lee said the death toll deeply saddened him.

“As the chief executive, I apologise to the disaster victims and the public, and commit to fulfilling my responsibilities to lead the government with full force in resolving problems,” he said. “Comprehensive reforms will also be carried out. Similar incidents will never be allowed to happen again.”

Lee said housing secretary Winnie Ho “should bear political responsibility”, although no personal wrongdoing was found. He said Ho had resigned.

An independent committee found several government agencies had deficiencies in their supervision work, Lee said. An investigation will now determine whether government employees were derelict in their duties.

AP

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, have both fallen short of securing a parliamentary majority, Israel’s final election results show, leaving a path to forming a government unclear.

Results released on Friday showed the pro-Netanyahu bloc winning 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, and 48 seats for Eisenkot’s bloc.

Two Arab-led parties won the remaining 19 seats.

At least 61 seats are required to form a majority in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

AP

Sao Paulo: A close ally of Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro said AI chatbot ChatGPT was responsible for language in a letter briefly posted on social media by the right-wing lawmaker describing himself as Brazil’s rightful “president-elect”, while insisting the mistake did not alter Bolsonaro’s view that the election was illegitimate.

Bolsonaro stunned Brazil’s political establishment on Wednesday by making the claim and alleging without evidence that Sunday’s run-off election, which he lost to the leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by more than 4 million votes, had been marred by fraud.

Roughly an hour after sharing the document the senator deleted it from his accounts and published a revised version, replacing the term “president-elect” with “leader of Brazil”.

As Brazilian media and political observers speculated about the abrupt change, one of Bolsonaro’s closest allies suggested that the explanation for the mistake was not political but technological: the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

An inquiry into the future of Australia Post will be launched in Canberra today.

Communications Minister Anika Wells has asked a parliamentary committee to examine Australia Post’s commercial sustainability, saying the beloved and critical institution was facing significant challenges because of changing consumer behaviour and commercial conditions.

Australia Post reported an underlying loss of $107.6 million last financial year as Australians write fewer letters, visit post offices less frequently, and increasingly turn to e-commerce giants such as Amazon.

The committee will consult customers, businesses and stakeholders on how to diversify services, and will deliver its report late next year.

One Nation senator Sean Bell has said “dirty games are afoot” when asked about Anthony Albanese’s offer to provide an extra staffer to David Farley, an offer Pauline Hanson claimed was made to exert undue influence on the parliament.

“The prime minister thinks it gives him more power and leverage, to cut staff, remove staff,” Bell told News24. The offer was rejected shortly after being issued on Monday.

“The plan is to distract and divide, and David’s done the right thing.”

Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth earlier denied suggestions Albanese was attempting to sway Farley in Labor’s favour, using the opportunity to attack Hanson’s leadership.

“Quite frankly, Pauline is jumping at shadows – if she’s already having trouble keeping her party together, well, that says something about her,” she told Seven’s Sunrise moments ago.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said the government needed to carefully consider the antisemitism envoys’ report released today, which singled out progressives, proposed banning face coverings at protests and amping up visa reviews.

“I think that we should take these recommendations very seriously and consider their implications,” Hume told Radio National.

“This is an ongoing issue. I was stopped on the train on the way home just the other day by somebody from the Jewish community who was telling me just how badly he feels, how unsafe he still feels, even in his own community, and that’s not the Australia I know.

“That’s not the Australia we want. More needs to be done.”

Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said the Coalition was generally supportive of free trade agreements but not the European Union deal Labor has negotiated.

Last night Trade Minister Don Farrell told the National Farmers’ Federation, which has objected to the agreement, that it would not be renegotiated and was bigger than one industry.

“This EU free trade agreement isn’t fair. Not in its current form. It doesn’t provide really meaningful increased trade access and it exposes some of our most important industries to some unfair competition,” Hume told Radio National.

“If you negotiate an agreement poorly, which this one has been negotiated poorly, you actually reduce our ability to negotiate free trade agreements in the future. It undermines our future negotiating positions because you’ve lowered the standard of bilateral trade agreements.”

Liberals including former frontbencher Alex Hawke and senator Andrew McLachlan have objected to their party’s opposition to the deal, driven by the Nationals.

Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth has accused Pauline Hanson of “jumping at shadows” after One Nation rejected Anthony Albanese’s offer for an extra staffer, claiming the offer was made to exert undue influence on the parliament.

The prime minister issued the offer to One Nation MP David Farley on Monday, but it was swiftly discarded as Hanson accused Albanese of “seeking to use taxpayer funds to exert undue political influence over politicians”.

Rishworth denied suggestions Albanese was attempting to sway Farley in Labor’s favour, using the opportunity to attack Hanson’s leadership.

“Quite frankly, Pauline is jumping at shadows – if she’s already having trouble keeping her party together, well that says something about her,” she told Seven’s Sunrise moments ago.

“The main game is not how many resources politicians get, but [being] actually focused on issues that matter to Australians, whether that’s cost of living, whether that’s getting through turbulent economic times, that’s what our government is focused on.”

Rishworth was joined on the program by Liberal deputy leader Jane Hume, who called on Albanese to explain decisions to “cut resources to those who would impose scrutiny on the government”.