Politics live updates: Anika Wells closes office after security incident as threats against MPs escalate

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Taiwan has declared it wants to deepen its relationship with Australia and “broaden its footprint” in the country, confirming publicly for the first time a proposal to open a new trade office in Perth, which is being fiercely resisted by China.

In an exclusive interview with The Nightly, Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi has also praised the Albanese Government’s strong support for his nation following large-scale military drills launched by Beijing towards the democratic island in 2025.

“Last year China conducted a massive military exercise off our east coast, and Australia was among the first to issue a statement against that kind of action operation,” Minister Chen told The Nightly.

“I think Australia has spoken to many (of its allies) to come up together (and) have a very strong working statement against China’s very dangerous manoeuvre in Taiwan”.

“And we are particularly happy that Australia begins to see the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait also is part of Australia’s national interest,” he adds.

Read the full story here.

Angus Taylor has sidestepped questions about whether Coalition also distributes “dirt sheets” on fellow politicians amid criticism of Anthony Albanese for his office circulated one about Independent Victorian MP Helen Haines weeks before her attack.

The Opposition leader insisted on Friday he was “not interested in games” when asked if his side of politics had also collated and sent the documents to journalists and insisted the Prime Minister was the one with questions to answer.

Brendan Nugent, 43, allegedly twice rammed Dr Haines with his four-wheel-drive just metres from her Victorian electoral office on Monday afternoon.

Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital on Friday morning confirmed Dr Haines’ condition remained critical but stable after spending a fourth night in hospital.

The attack shocked the nation and prompted parliamentarians to reconsider their language to each other, with Mr Albanese reiterating calls to “turn the temperature down” .

Read more.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has accused the Opposition of talking down the economy after a major bank predicted a fifth rate hike for 2026 on Melbourne Cup day would cause house prices to plunge.

The ANZ bank is predicting Sydney house prices will plunge by $200,000 by the end of next year as property values fell by close to $100,000 in Brisbane and Melbourne from their peaks earlier this year.

Futures market pricing for a November 3 interest rate rise has tripled to 62 per cent after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor Andrew Hauser this week delivered a hawkish speech warning inflation and unemployment could both rise.

ANZ head of Australian economics Adam Boyton said another hike was likely in 11 days’ time that would take the RBA cash rate to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent.

“We continue to expect that the RBA’s monetary policy board will increase the cash rate by 25 basis points at its November meeting,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Independent member for Indi Dr Helen Haines remains in a critical condition in hospital following an allegedly targeted attack outside her electorate office on Monday.

The 65-year-old federal MP sustained horrific lower body injuries after being repeatedly pinned against her car by a LandCruiser allegedly driven by 43-year-old Brendan Nugent.

Dr Haines’ had both of her legs amputated in an effort to save her life.

​7News​ reported on Friday that health officials have confirmed she is stable but remains in a critical condition, with husband Phil Haines saying his wife has a “long and difficult” road to recovery.

The health update comes on the same day police revealed a new line of inquiry regarding Mr Nugent’s motives for the alleged attack.

​Read more.​

Anika Wells’ electorate office in Brisbane has been closed following a security incident on Wednesday morning.

“On Wednesday there was an incident at my electorate office where police were called,” The Communications Minister said in a statement.

“We made the decision to close the office temporarily while security improvements are made.

“Our staff deserve to feel safe at work and this kind of behaviour is always unacceptable.

“We will reopen as soon as possible and continue to be accessible to the community and contactable while this temporary closure is in place.”

The incident comes two days after member for Indi Helen Haines was allegedly struck by a car driven by Brendan Nugent on Monday, and hours before a man carrying ‘nunchucks’ stormed into WA MP Hannah Beazley’s office and allegedly threatened her staff.

Jim Chalmers is warning of an economic slowdown and rising unemployment, less than two weeks out from a likely fifth rate hike for the year.

“Treasury is in the process of revising all the numbers for the mid-year update,” the Treasurer told the Citi A50 forum in Sydney on Friday.

“Higher interest rates and higher inflation are likely to mean softer growth and slightly higher unemployment.

“We’re not immune from the consequences of two wars, both impacting almost every economy in one way or another, posing risks to global growth, pushing up global inflation, and pushing up borrowing costs.”

The Australian sharemarket puts a 62 per cent chance on rates being hiked on Melbourne Cup day in November.

with NCA Newswire

Labor MPs should be worried. Very worried.

After another national tragedy, the Prime Minister has tangled himself in a blubber of spin, denials and gaslighting, and what’s more, managed to cede the moral high ground to One Nation, who used the shocking attack on Helen Haines to immediately apologise for their grubby cartoon which mocked federal Senator Jacqui Lambie’s vaginal prolapse.

Once again, the nation is traumatised. The unspeakable has happened. Political violence, a toxin that was once thought to belong in basket-case America and polarised Brexit Britain, has entered the Australian bloodstream.

After Bondi, it is a double shock that the nation’s relative innocence is no longer one of its defining characteristics. The poison that pervades social dysfunction and bitter political debate abroad has arrived onshore and could become a permanent feature.

The triple-traumatising factor is the target — grey-haired, bespectacled, softly but firmly spoken 65-year-old Helen Haines, who, as the Member for Indi, built a reputation for representing her community and the broader Teal ideal of integrity in public life.

To think that her non-confrontational way of politics could expose her to the horrific violence that has shattered her way of life forever, losing both her legs, is as unfathomable as it is distressing.

Read more.

Anthony Albanese’s credibility continues to dissolve before our very eyes.

There appears to be no end to his blatant gaslighting of the Australian people.

The latest example is beyond the pale.

He refused to even acknowledge, let alone take responsibility for or condemn a reported dirt sheet circulated by his office about Helen Haines just weeks before the independent MP was horrifically injured this week.

The document had been circulated to journalists after Dr Haines questioned a $6 million grant given to the Marrickville Golf Club, which is in the Prime Minister’s electorate and where he was an honorary member.

The sheet raised questions about her support for local projects and whether she had any links to, or had obtained any benefits from some of those for which she had advocated.

To be clear, there is no suggestion the document disclosed anything untoward about Dr Haines’ actions.

But it sought to raise questions about whether she had acted with propriety and to encourage journalists to look into the topic.

​Read more. ​

The man accused of entering WA minister Hannah Beazley’s electorate office and threatening her staff with makeshift nunchucks has a lengthy history of mental ill-health, a court has been told.

John Lawrence Smart is accused of attending Ms Beazley’s Victoria Park office with “homemade nunchucks” comprising two pieces of wood tied together, and a “second similar implement attached to his belt” just after 1pm on Wednesday.

Mr Smart remained visibly agitated during his appearance in court on Thursday, holding his head in his hands and muttering to himself.

He told the court the “nunchucks” were actually claves, a traditional hand percussion instrument made of short, cylindrical wooden sticks.

“I’ve been playing them for eight years!” he said in the dock.

“They don’t understand what I’ve been going through . . . I’ve got the holy grail.”

A mental health assessment ordered by court duty lawyers revealed Mr Smart suffered from schizophrenia and had 20 admissions to the Bentley Mental Health Service since 2011.

The report said Mr Smart suffered from persecutorial beliefs, and that he was often highly paranoid, hostile and aggressive, and was difficult to manage in the community.

​Read more. ​