News and politics live updates: Cash and O’Neil in fiery clash over Japan leak probe as melon saga explodes

Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson says Anthony Albanese’s ongoing melon saga could have been avoided if he didn’t “stubbonrly refuse” to apologise to the Japanese PM.

“We’re still talking about this a month later because the prime minister has stubbornly refused to admit that he got it wrong, and now he’s trying to cover his tracks,” Mr Paterson said.

Mr Paterson backed his decision to refer leaked correspondence from Tokyo to the AFP, saying he is hopeful an investiagtion will be taken seriously.

“I’m sure they’ll take it seriously because under division 122 of the Criminal Code, it’s an offense to disclose confidential information if you are a public servant,” he said.

“That includes, for example, members of the prime minister’s office, including his media team.”

Jim Chalmers has urged Australians to avoid reading too much into recent weakness in house prices, saying it is too early to assess the impact of the government’s housing and tax measures.

His comments come after the RBA left interest rates unchanged on Tuesday while flagging greater-than-expected votalitity in the housing market.

Dr Chalmers rejected the suggestion that several months of softer property prices should be used to judge the assumptions underpinning the Federal Budget.

“The Treasury assumptions in the Budget around house prices are assumptions for the next couple of years, not the first few months after the budget,” Dr Chalmers told the ABC on Wednesday.

The Treasurer also pointed to a range of forecasts affecting the property market, arguing movements in prices could not be attributed to a single government policy.

“I’ve said on a number of occasion the private sector market economists have said as well, what we’re seeing in the housing market is a consequence of a whole range of factors, economic conditions, interest rates, policy changes, not any one factor on their own.”

Jim Chalmers has declined to weigh in on Anthony Albanese’s controversial comments about the Japanese Prime Minister’s “melons”.

The Treasurer said the issue “wasn’t front of mind” and he had already answered “a number of questions about that”.

“As have my colleagues. I don’t think think there’s anything I could usefully add to that,” he told the ABC.

When asked if the Prime Minister’s appearance on the podcast was a lapse in judement, Mr Chalmers responded: “I wouldn’t have thought so. I take him at his word when he says the way that it’s interpreted is not the way he intended.”

Tony Abbott has called on Anthony Albanese to apologise for remarks made during a podcast about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Mr Albanese has faced growing criticism over his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast, where he made a joke about Japanese melons gifted to him by Ms Takaichi during her visit to Australia.

The Prime Minister has so far declined to apologise for the comments.

Now former Prime Minister Mr Abbott has told News24 the comments were inappropriate and said Mr Albanese should show the same willingness to apologise that he demonstrated in respone to controversial comments he made about Kylie Minogue in the same podcast appearance.

“Labor has dreadful double standards. But the Prime Minister’s comments were unbelievably crass,” Mr Abbott said.

“Now, he apologised for the observations about Kylie Minogue. He should be man enough to likewise apologise for the observations about the Japanese Prime Minister.

“Look, all of us make mistakes. All of us occasionally have lapses of judgment and character. But if you don’t apologise, it doesn’t just look like a lapse. It looks like a very serious character flaw and very serious lack of judgment.”

Australian taxpayers will foot a staggering $20 million bill for a major United Nations climate event in Fiji, sparking a fiery political clash over whether the pricey summit represents leadership or a luxury expense Australians can ill afford.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has agreed to cover the costs of this year’s UN climate pre-summit, with more than $17 million reportedly earmarked for event management, about $2 million for broadcasting services and another $2 million for resort accommodation.

Mr Bowen has invited world leaders from the United States, China, France, Japan and the United Kingdom to attend, although it has been reported that none had so far confirmed they would be there.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil was forced to defend the expenditure on Wednesday, arguing Australia had an enormous stake in international efforts to tackle climate change.

“This conference is about Australia playing a leadership role in determining the world’s climate future, literally shaping the question of the kind of Australia that my children are going to grow up in,” she told Sunrise.

Asked directly whether the $20 million represented value for money for taxpayers, Ms O’Neil acknowledged the hefty price tag but insisted the discussions were critical to Australia’s future.

“I understand people look at these dollars and it feels like a lot of money. And I, I really respect and appreciate that. But these are critically important conversations. And we do need Australia to be at the front of the discussion and leading the world onto a better path here.”

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Labor has come under fire after Housing Minister Clare O’Neil dismissed calls for the Australian Federal Police to investigate reports of a leak of sensitive correspondence between Australia and Japan.

The Opposition has called for the AFP to examine how correspondence relating to Tokyo’sresponse to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s comments about Sanae Takaichi’s “melons” on the Bush Deep podcast.

But Ms O’Neill rejected the push, accusing the Coalition of “losing the plot”, arguing police should focus on other priorities.

“The Liberals have absolutely lost the plot here ... My personal view is that the Australian Federal Police should be allowed to focus on their job, which is keeping Australians safe and fighting crime for Australians,” she told Sunrise.

Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash pushed back against the criticism, arguing the leak was serious given the sensitivity of the diplomatic material.

“This has now gone from embarrassing to extraordinary. A sensitive diplomatic cable from one of our closest allies has ended up in the media, and the AFP should investigate that,” Ms Cash said.

Senator Cash also accused Ms O’Neil of hypocrisy in defending the Prime Minister, as the pair clashed over whether the alleged leak warranted a police investigation.

“Get real, Michaelia, the country’s got real problems, and your job is to come here and debate about those,” Ms O’Neill responded.

Donald Trump has revealed more about his approach to dealing with Iran as Washington continues efforts to reach a peace agreement with Tehran.

In remarks shared by the White House on Tuesday, the US President accused Iranian officials of being “devious negotiators” and “very dishonest people”, claiming they had previously agreed to terms before publicly denying them.

“They’re very devious negotiators because they’ll agree to something, then they’ll tell the press that they never agreed to it. They’re very dishonest people, Mr Trump said.”

Mr Trump said his administration could continue applying economic pressure while allowing Iran’s deteriorating financial position to worsen.

“We can keep it...nice and easy and relaxed... look how bad they’re doing, their currency has no value, so just keep that going,” he said.

“Hit them really, really hard.

“Or the third is just economically but we’re already doing that anyway. We control their money. I am their banker.”

The comments come as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain uncertain, with former US secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning that Iran’s position suggests a long-term agreement remains out of reach.

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The Coalition will vow to cut red tape and curb migration to get more Australians into a home.

Opposition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg will use a major speech at the National Press Club to call for a cut to net overseas migration levels by nearly half to meet the rate of new housing supply being built.

Treasury modelling published in the May Budget expects net overseas migration to fall from 301,000 to 225,000 by the end of the decade.

But the Opposition frontbencher will advocate for an average annual net overseas migration rate of 180,000 to make up for a shortfall of housing.

“A (net overseas migration) reduction on this scale is manageable and in line with reductions we have managed in recent history,” Senator Bragg will say.

“Lifting migration standards, and analysing them carefully each year, is crucial to ensure integrity and public trust in our migration settings.”

Building codes will also come under fire during the speech.

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