15m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:45pm
O’Neil supportive of APRA action to limit high debt-to-income loans
The Australian financial services industry regulator has imposed limits on how many high debt-to-income loans banks can issue.
A high debt-to-income ratio is considered to be where someone is borrowing more than six times their annual household income.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says she’s supportive of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) action because she says there has been an increase in people owning multiple properties at high debt-to-income ratios.
“APRA just wants to put a signal out to say they don’t want to see consistent, ongoing and fast growth in that kind of lending,” O’Neil tells ABC News Breakfast.
Asked if that move by APRA could limit people from accessing the government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme, O’Neil says the concerns about loans are confined to investors.
“These are very much pre-emptive things and there is nothing in the economy now that APRA is deeply concerned about,” she says.
20m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:40pm
Housing minister says environment laws will have immediate effect on housing approvals
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says the passage of overhauled environment laws today will have an almost immediate effect speeding up approvals for housing projects.
The government’s new environment protection legislation, passed in the Senate yesterday with the support of the Greens with some amendments, is expected to pass parliament today.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, O’Neil says the new laws will fast-track housing approvals when they come into effect in 2026 and 2027.
“We’re talking about big housing developments that were taking years to approve down to months and sometimes even weeks,” O’Neil says.
28m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:32pm
‘Help to Buy’ housing scheme to launch on December 5
Up to 10,000 eligible Australians will be able to access a new Commonwealth housing program every year from December 5.
The Help to Buy scheme effectively allows participants to co-purchase a home with the government.
Under the program, the government will offer an “equity contribution” of up to 40 per cent of the cost of a new home, or 30 per cent of existing homes, to help buyers get onto the property ladder.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says the scheme is targeted towards low and middle-income first home buyers.
“We don’t know exactly what demand is going to look like,” she told the ABC.
“This is a new scheme for the Commonwealth government to run and operate, and I think Australians are going to take a bit of time to understand what it might mean for them.
“The important thing is this is 10,000 people each year who would otherwise have no realistic chance of home ownership.”
31m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:29pm
Mark Butler and Jane Hume quizzed on support for extending energy subsidies
Health Minister Mark Butler and Liberal senator Jane Hume have appeared on Channel Seven where they’ve been quizzed about their support for energy rebates.
The federal government’s electricity rebates, designed to relieve cost pressure for households, are due to expire at the end of this year.
Speaking to Channel Seven, Butler says the energy rebates will have to end at some point, and says the government will have more to say on it soon.
“Everyone recognises they can’t go on forever. They were put in place … [when the] invasion of Ukraine spiked energy prices right around the world,” Butler says.
Hume has been pressed on whether the Coalition would support extending the rebates beyond the end of this year.
The Liberal senator says the rebates have artificially held back inflation, but hasn’t said whether the opposition would support the extension.
“Our preference is to see inflation come down sustainably through hard fiscal work and reducing energy prices by getting rid of this mad ideological approach to the renewables rollout,” Hume says.
39m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:20pm
Iran condemns Australia’s listing of IRGC as sponsor of terrorism as ‘offensive and unjustified’
The Iranian government has condemned Australia’s formal listing of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a state sponsor of terrorism as “offensive and unjustified”, accusing the Albanese government of doing Israel’s bidding.
In August, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and ASIO chief Mike Burgess revealed Iran was behind at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia.
Iran’s ambassador was kicked out of the country days later — the first diplomatic expulsion since World War II. Legislation passed the parliament earlier this month allowing the government to designate the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism.
That happened on Thursday, with the IRGC becoming the first organisation to be listed under the new regime.
Read the full story from Middle East Correspondent Matt Doran in the link below.
44m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:16pm
Matt Canavan says he wants Barnaby Joyce back in the Nationals
(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Nationals senator Matt Canavan has tried to downplay Barnaby Joyce’s departure from the Nationals.
The New England MP announced on Thursday he will move to the crossbench and is considering a tilt for the Senate for One Nation.
Speaking to Channel Nine, Canavan says Joyce’s resignation from the National Party is “not the tragedy a lot of us feared”.
The Nationals senator says he’s going to try to convince Joyce to rejoin the Nationals over the summer break.
“I mean, he could be the ultimate prodigal son. He’s still on the transfer market. I mean, nothing really has changed,” Canavan says.
“He hasn’t signed up a contract with a new team. So to my mind, he’s a free agent and I’d still like to have him on our team.”
He says he hopes Nationals leader David Littleproud will reach out to Joyce over summer because the party “can’t afford to keep losing people”.
55m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 8:04pm
Good morning 👋
Hello and welcome to another edition of our federal politics live blog. It’s great having you here!
The fallout from Barnaby Joyce’s resignation from the National party continues this morning, with Nationals MP Matt Canavan saying the departure isn’t as bad as it looks.
We expect the government’s environmental protection legislation will pass parliament today.
Labor landed a deal with the Greens yesterday to pass the legislation through the Senate with some amendments. It has to go back to the lower house for final approval.
Let’s get this show on the road and see what today brings us!