Australia news LIVE: Treasurer’s push for savings obstructed by PM’s razor gang; final words before Spanish train disaster revealed

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde she would step down early from her position to have the freedom to speak out on matters of importance beyond monetary policy.

She will depart on February 7, giving current European Union leaders time to pick her successor before a French presidential election that polls show far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is favoured to win. Her term was due to expire in October 2027.

Lagarde’s decision ends months of speculation about her future just as Europe enters a period of rising economic volatility and divisive electoral politics, particularly in her native France.

The move was announced just before the ECB left interest rates unchanged but maintained expectations for another hike in December with a warning that high and rising energy costs were fuelling inflation risks.

Asked why she was stepping down after previously saying she could not leave the ECB with inflationary clouds on the horizon, Lagarde said the neutrality demanded by her role meant she could not speak out on issues affecting Europe and elsewhere.

“I don’t think that I can remain neutral,” Lagarde told a press conference after the ECB’s policy decision.

“I don’t think that I can be comfortable in that neutrality at the present time. And I’m interested in the truth, and I see the truth being very often damaged, contradicted by misrepresentation,” she said.

Reuters

London: Leaked recordings from a Spanish train controller have shed new light on the horrific train crash that killed at least 69 people, while raising key questions about the ultimate blame for the disaster.

The recordings reveal the final messages between the rail control centre in Madrid and the two train drivers operating on the same line south of the Spanish capital, moments before one train smashed into the rear of the other.

Spanish media outlets report that a controller in Madrid told the driver of a Renfe AVE high-speed train to “resume normal operations” after being stopped due to a signalling malfunction.

The instruction in Spanish, according to national newspaper El País, was la marcha normal – a message that led the driver to accelerate rapidly without knowing another train was stationary on the line ahead.

Read more from David Crowe. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ push for tighter fiscal discipline was obstructed by the prime minister’s razor gang ahead of the last budget, intensifying scrutiny on Anthony Albanese’s economic credentials as Labor scrambles to find savings to offset new spending.

High-level government sources said that in the run-up to the May budget and years past, Chalmers had often advocated for the lowest-cost option when proposals came to the cabinet’s expenditure review subcommittee. Budget proposals usually come with a range of options on the cost, giving ministers the option to spend more or less.

Chalmers told this masthead’s Inside Politics podcast this week that he had become a “lightning rod” for criticism at a time when inflation is running hotter in Australia than the UK and the US and the G7 average.

But the role of Albanese and his close allies on the secretive budget spending committee has not attracted the same level of scrutiny.

Read more from Paul Sakkal.