Australia news LIVE: Sydney, Melbourne property prices fall sharply; Trump sends tougher peace deal terms to Iran; Ebola cases in the DRC climb to 260

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said last night she believed she could lead the country.

Speaking to Sky News Sunday Agenda, she said she had the “ability” to be prime minister.

“I won’t knock the job … I’m not going to underestimate myself or say ‘No, I can’t do it’, because you know, have a look at what we’ve got now … And that’s why we’re in a mess,” Hanson said.

“But I’m not making a decision now, and I’m not going to tell anyone what I’m doing at this moment, because I haven’t clearly made up my mind.”

Price growth across the national property market has ground to a halt, with steep falls in Melbourne and Sydney as higher interest rates, stretched affordability and the federal government’s overhaul of tax incentives combine to suppress values.

Figures from property data firm Cotality published today show that through May, during which the Reserve Bank pushed official interest rates to 4.35 per cent and Treasurer Jim Chalmers outlined changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, capital city property values were static.

But in Sydney, overall values fell by 0.9 per cent to be down by 2.1 per cent over the past three months. The drop was driven by houses, with values falling 1.1 per cent to be down 2.5 per cent since the start of the year. The median value of a Sydney house went through the $1.6 million mark in February. It has now subsided to $1.58 million.

In Melbourne, total dwelling values slipped another 0.8 per cent to be down by 2.3 per cent for the quarter. Again, the value of houses dipped further, down 1 per cent to a median of $958,000 compared with a 0.4 per cent drop in the value of units.

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Hello and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, June 1. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage for the first part of the day. Here’s what is making news today.

• Price growth across the national property market has ground to a halt, new research shows, with steep falls in Melbourne and Sydney as higher interest rates, stretched affordability and the federal government’s overhaul of tax incentives combine to suppress values.
• Significant amounts of Russian timber are entering Australia after being laundered through China and other countries, evading tariffs imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sparking demands for government action. The phenomenon – similar to the flow of Russian “blood oil” into Australia after being processed overseas – means that thousands of Australian home builders could be inadvertently aiding Putin’s war effort.
• The Australian sharemarket is set to slip today, with futures on Saturday pointing to a loss of 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was trading at US71.71¢ at 5.18am AEST.
• The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has climbed to 260 as officials updated their estimates of the outbreak’s size and international health organisations warned of the risk of further spread. Aid groups have said that without urgent intervention, this could be the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak ever.
• And US President Donald Trump has toughened the conditions of a proposed peace deal to end the war with Iran, and sent his updated conditions to the country for consideration, three officials told The New York Times.