What we covered today
Thanks for tuning in to our national news blog on Monday, November 2, 2026. This is where we will end our coverage.
Here are some of the top headlines from across the day.
- Nationals leader Matt Canavan says he’s willing to risk his political future by seeking a lower house seat at the next election. One Nation federal director James Ashby says he will not nominate to compete with Canavan for the central Queensland seat of Capricornia but will be encouraging “a number of very worthy contenders”.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Antigua and Barbuda for the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where the King and Queen were caught in an unexpected downpour.
- A new report revealed Scotland enjoyed a $426 million economic boost from hosting the recent Commonwealth Games, which were relocated from regional Victoria following the state’s controversial withdrawal.
- Nationwide property values have slumped further amid fears a downturn could worsen if the Reserve Bank pushes ahead with another interest rate hike this week.
- Trust in Australia’s politicians has plunged, fewer than half of voters believe they have a meaningful say in government, and almost three-quarters think the country has become more divided over the past year in the latest McKinnon Index charting a profound realignment in Australian politics.
- Qantas is working to establish if any customer data was exposed during a breach targeting global travel technology provider Amadeus.
Join us tomorrow for more rolling news coverage from around Australia and the world.
Politicians criticise use of ‘AI slop’ in campaign materials
An AI-generated political advertisement released in the lead-up to the Victorian election has been criticised by politicians on both sides of the divide.
The video, which was posted on the Victorian Labor Party’s official social media channels two days ago, features Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Victorian One Nation leader Warren Pickering in a Halloween-themed video.
Federal Deputy Opposition Leader Andrew Hastie said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the use of “AI slop” in political campaigns by any party needed to be better regulated and more transparent.
“I think the sooner we come up with some sort of solution for that, I think we’ll all be better off. Because in the end, people want to sort truth from lies, and there’s a lot of lies out there online,” Hastie said.
Temporary check-in delays hit Melbourne Airport
A global border security outage briefly impacted Melbourne Airport earlier today, causing some delays but no issues with departing flights.
A worldwide outage of SITA’s Advance Passenger Processing system – a border security tool that lets governments and airlines verify a passenger’s travel eligibility – occurred this morning. It ended shortly after midday.
A Melbourne Airport spokesperson confirmed there had been some minor delays for passengers travelling internationally at check-in.
“A worldwide outage of SITA’s Advance Passenger Processing system caused some delays at international check-in today,” the spokesperson said.
“The issue is now resolved and operations have returned to normal. We thank passengers for their patience.”
No plans to change superannuation policy, says Hastie
Deputy Opposition Leader Andrew Hastie has dismissed criticisms from a Liberal Party colleague, saying the Coalition has no plans to change its policy on accessing superannuation.
Backbench Liberal MP Garth Hamilton told reporters at the weekend he wanted to see an end to his party’s long-standing superannuation policy, which allows first home buyers to access up to $50,000 to help cover a deposit.
“As it stands, our policy is to have no changes to the superannuation guarantee. That is our policy, and if we were to change it, we’d go through a process,” Hastie said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Monday.
“Members of parliament, particularly on our side, are free to express their mind, and I think that’s what Garth Hamilton did over the weekend.”
Hanson as PM remains an ‘abstract’ while she’s a senator: Hastie
Deputy Opposition Leader Andrew Hastie has said One Nation leader Pauline Hanson needs to declare she will run for a lower house seat at the next election, if she intends on acting as the country’s prime minister.
“At some point, Pauline Hanson is going to have to declare which seat she’s going to run in for the lower house if she wants to become the oldest prime minister ever elected in this country,” Hastie said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
The Liberal MP added that while it was possible to be prime minister while serving as a senator, it would be “unusual” and “difficult”, particularly because the upper house did not hold a regular question time.
“If [Hanson] wants to be prime minister of this country, she’s got to declare when she’s running for the lower house and where. We don’t know that yet, so this is an abstract, academic conversation, as far as I’m concerned,” Hastie said.
The Liberal MP also threw his support behind National Party leader Matt Canavan, who today announced he would contest the Rockhampton-based lower house seat of Capricornia at the next federal election.
“Matt Canavan is a great parliamentarian. He’s got a big brain, a big heart. And I think it’ll be an excellent advocate for the people of Capricornia if he is elected as their member,” Hastie said.
Bubble tea chain fine prompts warning from ACCC deputy chief
The consumer and competition watchdog has warned Australian franchisors to keep necessary information and documents up to date to avoid scrutiny and potential penalties after bubble tea chain Sharetea was forced to scrub unfair contract terms from its agreements with roughly 120 franchisees.
Sharetea has been fined $39,600 and hit with two infringement notices by the ACCC for contravening the Franchising Code of Conduct by having clauses that forced franchisees to pay Sharetea’s costs when settling disputes.
The contracts also contained potentially unfair terms that allowed Sharetea to keep money for expenses it didn’t incur during the cooling-off period; that blocked franchisees from joining rival businesses within a geographic area for very long periods; and allowed Sharetea to charge overly high interest rates on late fees.
“The terms in the agreement gave the franchisor a series of rights that, in effect, breached the unfair contract terms law,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh told this masthead.
Scotland received $426m boost from recent Commonwealth Games
Scotland enjoyed a $426 million economic boost by taking the 2026 Commonwealth Games from a debt-riddled Victoria.
The scaled-back Glasgow Games were delivered under budget for $303 million, three-quarters of which Victorian taxpayers paid for after the state was forced to cough up a major settlement fee for leaving the Games without a host in July 2023.
By comparison, Scottish taxpayers spent just 1 per cent of the final bill for site activities and securities, but no public funding was required for sporting competition, according to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games Impact Evaluation report released on Monday.
Victoria’s controversial withdrawal from the July 2026 Games, 15 months after signing host contracts, cost taxpayers more than $589 million, according to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, of which $380 million went to the Games Federation.
‘No radiation threat’: Ukraine says air raid alert app was hacked
Ukraine’s public air raid alert app was hacked on Sunday, its air force said, and for a short time showed that Kyiv and other areas were subject to nuclear and chemical alerts and the threat of street combat.
One of the erroneous messages said Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missile had been deployed.
“The Air Alert app appears to have been subjected to enemy influence,” the air force said on Telegram about 10 minutes after the initial alerts. “There is no radiation threat! Stay calm and follow our updates on our channel!”
The abnormality later disappeared.
Ukraine’s Air Alert app warns residents when there is a threat of air strikes so they can take shelter. You can read more about the hack here.
Reuters, AP
King weathers torrential downpour in Antigua
King Charles was left without an umbrella in torrential rain during an Antiguan military ceremony, getting so wet he joked his trousers were “about to grow watercress”.
The King threw his hands up and asked “where’s the umbrella?” in a sudden heavy downpour at an event to mark Antigua’s 45th anniversary of independence.
As national anthems played, the King and Queen stood on a podium at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium before the heavens opened.
The King appeared to mime holding an umbrella and repeatedly said to members of his entourage: “Where’s the umbrella?” One was eventually found and handed to the King by his equerry Major Ben Rigby.
Small firms warned to boost tools against cyber threats
Australian small businesses face growing cyber threats but often lack the experience and resources to recover from attacks, which can end up costing them more, a federal inquiry has been told.
An inquiry into cybersecurity for small to medium-sized businesses and organisations is evaluating their cyber preparedness, and the adequacy and accessibility of guidance offered by the government.
Part of the inquiry’s focus is on cyber insurance, which gives businesses coverage for liability relating to cyber threats, breaches and attacks.
The fresh warnings to bolster cybersecurity come after recent high-profile breaches, including the global PHP outage and the breach of an OpenAI agent into publicly available Australian government data.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
