Australia news LIVE: Treasurer under renewed pressure after inflation rise; dozens killed in high-speed rail crash in Spain

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro declared himself Brazil’s rightful leader on Wednesday (US time) after arriving in the United States, alleging he was the victim of an electoral coup by the country’s Supreme Court and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won the vote by over 4 million votes.

Bolsonaro arrived in Miami after leaving Brazil, where he refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. He thanked Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him make the journey and US President Donald Trump, who granted him and his family entry visas, for welcoming him.

In an initial open letter posted on X, Bolsonaro declared himself “the elected president.” He then deleted that version and updated it with another letter in which he said he was the rightful “leader” of Brazil.

“I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the leader and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organisation that has established a tyranny,” he said in the updated version.

Ten days after becoming the scene of the alleged crime that shocked Australia, Helen Haines’ electorate office is reopening.

Haines’ team will be in the Wangaratta office three days a week for the rest of the year, as their boss, the MP for Indi, continues to recover in a Melbourne hospital after being hit by a car on October 19.

Haines lost both her legs in the incident, and remains serious but stable in the Alfred this morning.

“We know there continues to be great concern for Helen. We won’t be providing updates on her health or circumstances, and we ask that the privacy of Helen and her family continues to be respected,” said the office in a statement.

Meanwhile, this masthead has learned the driver, Brendan Nugent, claims he never meant to hit Haines, and that his behaviour at the scene was caused by panic.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said his party wanted to get the balance right on both the domestic gas reservation scheme and AI data centre investment in Australia.

“We’ve got to have a reservation scheme that will encourage gas investment, but also will ensure that we have affordable gas and electricity in this country for households and manufacturers,” Taylor told reporters in Canberra.

“We’re happy to work with the government on that, but we can’t support an agreement that doesn’t get that balance right.”

Asked about his MPs who have deviated from the party line on AI after facing backlash over data centres being built in their communities, Taylor said that was also about balance.

“The balance is put them in the right locations where there’s community support, and there will be locations with community support,” he said.

“Critically, make sure you’ve got the energy you need, so these data centres are not going to drive up the cost of energy for Australians.”

Angus Taylor has doubled down on criticism of the EU free trade agreement after the prime minister launched an attack on the Coalition’s opposition to the deal.

“I want our farmers and miners and everyone else to get access to markets, but when it becomes a legally binding climate agreement, seriously,” the opposition leader told reporters in Canberra.

“The reality is it’s a dud deal. And [Trade Minister] Don Farrell, who said the same deal was a dud deal three years ago, and last night could not name a single thing that had changed since then needs to come clean with the Australian people about why we should be doing the deal now.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his ministers were working together to find savings in the December budget update.

Asked whether he would concede that spending was too high, and if he had directed ministers to find savings, Albanese said demand consisted of both public and private factors.

“What we’ve seen as well, and the Reserve Bank governor has confirmed this, is the increase in private demand has been much greater than what was anticipated,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“My ministers are all not told. They understand and work together collectively. We understand pressures that are there on the budget, which is why we’ve produced responsible budgets with considerable savings in not just our budgets, but in each of the economic statements that we’ve made.”

The prime minister is defending the government’s record on inflation, after yesterday’s monthly figures showed another uptick.

“We understand very much, and we’re very much focused on the issue of inflation,” Anthony Albanese said at the Canberra press conference.

“We’ve produced lower deficits … We have lowered debt substantially by over $200 billion,” he said. “The second thing we’ve done is to ensure that any cost of living measures are ones that not just address providing help for people today, but building a stronger tomorrow.”

On spending, he said Labor would not “rip tens of billions of dollars out of health and education”, and attacked his political opponents for rejecting Labor’s attempts to make budget savings, such as winding back the private health insurance for over 65s.

“The Coalition can’t continue to say they support savings and come into the parliament and vote against all of them because that is what they have been doing. And for the Greens political party that say they are opposed to any subsidies for private health insurance … how can you have as part of your platform – no subsidies at all – and then vote against this sensible savings measure?”

Anthony Albanese has attacked the Coalition for its opposition to the EU free trade agreement.

“For people who say they belong to a political party that supports markets and supports free and fair trade, that will be completely undermined and shredded unless they support this legislation,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

He said it was a fair deal for Australian producers, with sheep and beef exports to increase four to eight times, and a good deal for consumers because it would put downwards pressure on prices.

“Trade is a good thing. I thought this was resolved in the 1980s under the Hawke and Keating governments, and that since then, there was support across this parliament and across the mainstream political parties,” he said.

Greens leader David Shoebridge is engaging in good faith negotiations with the government on its proposed gas reservation scheme, saying the implementation of a 25 per cent minimum tax on gas exports was the minor party’s key sticking point on the proposal.

“We have a policy position that wants to see gas consumption go down, that’s critical for the climate,” Shoebridge told News24 moments ago. “We’re having frank and good faith discussions in this regard.”

Shoebridge was joined on News24 by Nationals MP Kevin Hogan, who signalled his party’s principled support for the gas reservation scheme, as it also negotiates with Labor on details of the proposal.

The prime minister is urging the Senate to get behind Labor’s digital duty of care, which passed the lower house yesterday.

“It is vital that this get the support of the Senate,” Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra, where he also touted Labor’s budget tax reforms and gas reservation scheme, also working their way through parliament.

He said the digital duty of care would make big tech accountable for the content on their platforms, and empower Australians to have control over what they see on their phones.

Albanese said the EU free trade agreement was also on the agenda this week, which he argued would increase supply and put downward pressure in prices.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has defended the ATO after the commissioner conceded the tax office failed to adequately consult small business before announcing its credit card ban.

Labor was forced to intervene and delay the ban after the tax office caught businesses off guard by saying they would not be able to pay their tax bills with credit cards, after the Reserve Bank banned passing on surcharges to customers.

Taxation Commissioner Rob Heferen told Senate estimates last night that it should have consulted small business more before the announcement.

“The commissioner gave very thoughtful and forthright evidence last night. I think the situation was a complex one,” Mulino told Radio National.