Australian news and politics live: Claire O’Neil, Michaelia Cash clash over housing market tanking

Anthony Albanese says it is “appropriate” charges have been laid after two Ernst & Young graduates were sacked for allegedly accessing the Prime Minister’s personal banking information.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday refused to “go into the detail” because the case is before court but said it was “a serious issue”.

“Accessing anyone’s privacy, any Australian’s privacy is alarming, let alone someone from a contractor who’s not an employee of Commonwealth Bank being able to access that information,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

He said his government would “continue to examine” the conduct of major consulting firms, such as EY.

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Health Minister Mark Butler says he has “no idea” why rumours are circling that he will be the country’s next Prime Minister.

“It’s all a bit befuddling,” he said on ABC News Breakfast.

“We’re only a year into a term where our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, won a really significant victory with a really big agenda that we’re all working together to deliver in incredibly tough times.

“Our job as a team that has the privilege of governing this country is to work together under a leader in Anthony Albanese that I feel privileged to support.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, pushed on whether he wanted to see Aussie home prices tank, said he backed Treasury modelling, and that now younger buyers have more of a chance to get in.

“There will be an increase in the value of homes, but it will be slightly lower,” Mr Albanese told ABC.

“The great news is that this Saturday, like last Saturday, first home buyers would have rocked up to auctions and not be competing with investors who want to negatively gear their property and have taxpayers backing in those investments. So, a level playing field.”

Mr Albanese rejected the suggestion that the real-world impact on property prices would be worse than what Treasury forecast.

Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash has clashed with Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, accusing her and the Albanese Government of leaving Aussies worse off as the property market tanks.

Sydney’s median home price fell 1.2 per cent to $1,265,608 in June, leading a nationwide decline of 0.4 per cent, the largest month-on-month fall in national dwelling values since December 2022, property data firm Cotality said.

Before an ugly argument broke out, Senator Cash accused Ms O’Neil of crashing the property market through Labor’s controversial tax changes.

Ms O’Neil said Labor was acknowledging there was a problem and was making the market fairer to younger Australians.

“The big picture is you’re crashing the market,” Senator Cash said on Sunrise.

“You’ve got to start living in the real world and take responsibility for the real-world impact of your policies.

“You have hurt first home buyers, you have hurt renters, but worse than that, you have stalled confidence in the market. If you can’t deliver new homes, you can’t get new buyers into homes.”

Senator Cash added that the excuses from Ms O’Neil were a “load of crap”.