Barnaby Joyce has snubbed the Nationals, but insists he is still a member of the regional party as his future in politics remains in limbo.

The former deputy prime minister skipped a party room meeting today as he considers leaving the Nationals over its stance on net zero and Pauline Hanson's invitation to join her right-wing party One Nation.

"I'm not going to attend any party room that believes in net zero," he told reporters in Canberra. 

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While he missed the meeting, Joyce said he would still sit with the regional party in parliament when it resumed today.

Joyce has refused to speculate on the "hypotheticals" of his political future, but ruled out running as an independent.

He also confirmed he was still a member of the Nationals for now, and suggested he may remain with the party if it dumps its net-zero target.

"I'll see what they come up with," he said. 

The Nationals are reviewing their position on net zero by 2050, which Joyce has so adamantly opposed that he declared earlier this month his relationship with party leadership had "irreparably broken down" and he would not recontest his seat of New England at the next election.

Joyce's own bill opposing net zero will be going before parliament today.

Nationals leader David Littleproud told Sky News the party would not decide its stance on net zero today, adding that it must come up with an alternative climate plan if it is to drop the target.

"I get that takes time, but I'd rather do it right and be able to look the Australian people in the eye. And we encourage Barnaby to be part of that solution," he said.

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He said that while he wants Joyce to remain in the party, but would not offer up a seat on the frontbench to entice him back.

Instead, he said the party has to "create an environment" where Joyce feels "welcome and wants to come back and contribute". 

"I've made it very clear to him that he's welcome back at any time, and he can make a constructive contribution with the rest of the party room," he said.

"He needs only to walk in and talk to the room."

Joyce confirmed he had spoken to Littleproud.

"I've had a brief and courteous conversation with him. It went for about three minutes," he said.

At the same time, Joyce said he would also be meeting with Hanson, who invited him to join her party upon news of his relationship breakdown with the Nationals.

"I'll meet with Pauline Hanson. I've met with Pauline Hanson before. I mean, this is a free country. You're allowed to actually meet other people. I talk to people from the Greens," he said.

If Joyce defects to One Nation, he could take other dissatisfied colleagues with him, giving Hanson a major win and deepening the rift within the Coalition.

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He’s ‘really proud’ of New Zealand’s work in the region.

The man sought a $2000 refund after claiming the PI’s report was ‘not fit for purpose’.

Batches of a popular brand of pork jerky sold at Costco has been recalled after it was found to contain traces of metal.

Link Foods Australia is calling for customers who have purchased Golden Island Pork Jerky Korean BBQ Recipe to return it to the store of purchase.

The recall impacts bags with a weight of 410g, and the makers warn customers could become sick or injured if they consume the product due to the presence of metal.

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Golden Island Pork Jerky is sold exclusively at Costco, with 15 locations across the country.

The date marking of the recalled product is BBD 24/11/2025, 25/11/2025, 26/11/2025, 05/05/2026.

Customers can return to product to the Costco store they purchased it and will receive a full refund.

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A "rare" tornado likely ripped through Melbourne's western suburbs during a ferocious storm yesterday, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed.

Powerful thunderstorms rolled across Victoria as a severe cell plunged the city into a wet and wild afternoon.

Locals in Wyndham Vale, Werribee and Hoppers Crossing reported seeing a small tornado blowing through their suburbs during the worst of the wild weather.

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Senior Meteorologist David Crock said thunderstorm experts investigated social media videos and radar data and found "pretty strong" evidence that a tornado indeed formed for a brief period.

Social media footage showed a "wind funnel" which resembled a tornado in the sky.

"The geographical line of damage that was recorded through those suburbs is really strong evidence of a tornado," Crock said.

"The radar data shows a weak signal, but a signal nonetheless, that there was likely a tornado briefly in the area."

Crock said it was uncommon to see a tornado form in Victoria, particularly in a populated suburb of Melbourne.

He said it was even more unusual for residents to actually spot a tornado as it developed.

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"But we do see it time to time as we enter the peak of storm season," he added.

Crock said experts were still in the processing of assessing the intensity of the tornado.

The category level of a tornado is usually determined by the amount of damage it leaves in its wake.

"The track of damages through the areas, the way it tracks east and then north-east, that is a distinctive path a thunderstorm with a tornado would take," Crock said.

A smaller tornado can have wind speeds in the realm of 90 to 100km/h.

Locals took videos of the tornado as it blew through the streets of Werribee, Wyndham Vale and Hoppe's Crossing.

"Next door's shed got lifted off its slab and lifted the power lines here on Tarneit Road," local man Adam told 9News.

The ferocious winds uprooted trees, tore down fences and damaged power lines as the storms developed quickly and seemingly without warning.

Nearly 30,000 people were left without power yesterday as the strong winds, heavy rain and occasional lightning strike belted the city.

Victoria's SES has received 650 calls for help across the state from midnight yesterday to 11am today.

Up to 150 homes in Wyndham were damaged in the flash storms.

The SES is still working through a backlog of calls as conditions eased today.

"SES Wyndham Unit is our busiest crew, with over 180 requests for assistance and counting," the SES noted in an update on Facebook.

VICSES State Agency Commander David Tucek said crews may need to work into tomorrow to respond to requests.

He said there were more than 200 calls for help in the areas impacted by the tornado.

Most of the calls involved building damage.

Drones are still assessing the damage in Melbourne's west.

A tram was also stuck in Richmond and some cars were left stranded by sudden flash flooding in both South Melbourne and West Melbourne.

Thousands are still without power today across Melbourne.

The heavy rain also made yesterday the wettest day in 18 months.

Around 35mm fell and inundated streets, homes and businesses, the most rainfall since April 2024.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported Melbourne's Olympic Park was lashed with 37.4mm of rain, followed by 36.4mm at Avalon Airport.

However the BoM noted that it wasn't unusual for severe storms to develop across Melbourne during spring.

"Spring is the time for Melbourne and Victoria to get this sort of weather, as we start to see some more dynamic cold fronts moving across," senior meteorologist Simon Timke said.

The high risk of thunderstorms yesterday prompted the state's chief health officer to issue an epidemic thunderstorm asthma forecast warning of "high" for the northern country district.

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Police also issued 204 infringement notices for driving and road-related offences.

Two interest rate cuts are on the horizon, but they won't stop Australians from tightening their belts during another challenging year for the economy.

That's according to a new Oxford Economics report, which is forecasting weak employment growth and lethargic business investment will weigh on the nation's financial health – although the Australian economy is still predicted to perform better than other developed nations.

The research found that, while household spending has enjoyed something of a resurgence this year, much of it was driven by temporary factors like the back-to-back Easter and Anzac Day public holidays and generous shopping discounts, which won't last into 2026.

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"While recent data shows the economy is strengthening, the outlook is patchy," report author Harry Murphy Cruise said. 

"As temporary boosts to household spending fade, unemployment edges higher, and real wage gains moderate, consumers will likely tighten their belts again…

"That spending momentum will fade with those temporary boosts in the rearview mirror.

"Meanwhile, households' appetite to spend will be Ozempic-ed as unemployment edges higher, real wage gains moderate and global uncertainty clouds the outlook."

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Household aren't expected to regain their full confidence until the end of next year or early 2027, according to the report.

Murphy Cruise added that challenging conditions for businesses will keep unemployment at around its current level of 4.5 per cent for much of the next 12 months.

"Businesses have been burnt by escalating costs and tariff uncertainty, so firms are sitting on their hands," he said. 

"Investment intentions are being rapidly scaled back, and employment has barely budged over the last four months. The unemployment rate hasn't reflected the full extent of this weakness – but it will soon.

"Young people are the first to feel the impacts of a slowing labour market; so, with youth unemployment jumping sharply in recent months, we can expect to see that pain spread to other cohorts soon."

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But in a glimmer of good news for Australians still struggling with the cost of living after years of high inflation, Oxford is forecasting that the Reserve Bank will pull the trigger on what would be the fourth interest rate cut of the year next week, with another to come in early 2026.

"We are still confident that inflation will trend lower through the remainder of the year," Murphy Cruise said. 

"We expect trimmed mean inflation – the measure of most importance to the RBA – to end the year at 2.5 per cent. That should allow for two more rate cuts this cycle."

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Israel's intelligence agency Mossad has identified the man responsible for planning a spate of antisemitic attacks around the world, including in Australia.

Sardar Amar, a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is alleged to be the leader of a network of 11,000 operatives around the world that have been responsible for attacks in "Greece, Germany and Australia", according to an official statement from Netanyahu.

"Under Amar's command, a significant mechanism was established to promote attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets both in Israel and abroad," Netanyahu claimed.

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"The first-time exposure of Sardar Amar's attack mechanism as being behind the attempted attacks in Greece, Germany, and Australia proves the failed management of the mechanism in its efforts and undermines the Iranian attempts to operate covertly, beneath the radar."

Iran was allegedly behind two firebombings in Australia last year, one at Lewis' Continental Kitchen in Sydney on October 20, and another at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6.

The revelation was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in late August, saying spy agency ASIO had made the findings.

As a result, the IRGC was declared a terrorist organisation and Iran's ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi was expelled from the country, with the Iranian Embassy in Canberra also closing.

"These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil," Albanese said at the time.

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ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the agency's investigations found the IRGC attempted to conceal its involvement by using connections in the criminal world to carry out the attacks.

"It's a series of chains," Burgess said.

"There's an organised crime element offshore in this, but that's not to suggest organised crime are doing it.

Netanyahu alluded to Australia's actions against Iran and the IRGC in his statement: "Law enforcement authorities in Australia and Germany have taken severe diplomatic measures against senior Iranian officials.

"Among the actions taken against those involved: The expulsion of the Iranian Ambassador from Australia and his declaration as persona non grata."

A dozen people were charged in relation to the firebombing in Sydney, whilst three men were charged in relation to the attack on the Melbourne synagogue.

There were no injuries in either incident, but millions of dollars in damage were caused to both buildings.

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Australian Unions are backing a bid to end junior rates of pay for younger workers.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) has applied to the Fair Work Commission to scrap junior pay rates for workers aged 18 and over in retail, fast food and pharmacies so they can be paid adult wages.

Young workers under 21 employed under the key retail, fast food and pharmacy awards are not currently entitled to adult wages.

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They are paid lower wages on a sliding scale which unions say is out of touch with the cost-of-living pressures confronting young workers.

Workers under 20 are paid 90 per cent of the adult award rate, while 19-year-olds are paid 80 per cent of the award rate.

Employees who are 18 get just 70 per cent of the full award rates in retail, fast food and pharmacies.

ACTU President Michele O'Neil said employer groups have got it wrong when they claim a change will cost young workers their jobs.

"If you're 18, you're legally an adult. You can vote. You can drive. You can work the late shift. But in retail and fast food, you're still paid like a kid," O'Neil said.

"That pay gap isn't small. An 18-year-old needs 50 plus hours a week to earn what an adult makes in 38.

"The bills don't get reduced because you're younger. The rent doesn't care about your birthday.

"The SDA – the union for retail and fast-food workers – has asked the Fair Work Commission to fix this.

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"Once you're legally an adult, you should be paid the adult wage. It's straightforward and fair."

A case starts in the Fair Work Commission today.

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Up to 300,000 women in Australia are set to benefit from several contraceptives being made part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from November 1.

Speaking on Today, Health Minister Mark Butler announced three different contraceptive pills would be added to the scheme, alongside a device called the NuvaRing.

The NuvaRing releases a combination of estrogen and progestrogen, preventing ovulation and allowing women to use it on a monthly cycle rather than daily like some oral contraceptives.

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The device used to cost $270 a year, but Butler claims the cost will now plummet to $31.60 per script, with concession holders being able to access the contraceptive device for as little as $7.70 per script.

For most Aussie women, this will make it two-thirds cheaper, with some being able to save up to 88 per cent.

Three other pills will also be added to the scheme, as part of a wide-ranging plan to make birth control more affordable.

"Literally 300,000 women every year will save hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Butler told Today.

"With three new pills that hundreds of thousands of women were using because they're really highly effective and don't have side effects that some of the older medicines have."

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Butler also announced on January 1 next year, contraceptives would cost no more than $25 per script.

"Australia's women will have access to all of their contraceptive choices for no more than $100 a year," he said.

"And that's as it should be, this is essential care for hundreds of thousands of Australians."

To support these measures, a new 40 per cent bulk billing incentive has been announced, which the government believes will incentivise doctors to provide long-acting contraception services to women.

"This is about making sure women have genuine choice when it comes to their reproductive health, choice that isn't limited by cost or access," Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said.

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