Peter Dutton blames Labor for the delay in the release of the Coalition's nuclear costings — as it happened

Thanks for hanging out with me for some or all of your day. Here is what we learned.

• The Commonwealth Bank was branded "greedy" and "out-of-touch" by politicians as they lined up to criticise a plan to slap some customers with a $3 withdrawal fee. 
• The bank later paused the rollout of the changes.
• Australia changed its position on a UN resolution on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. 
• It led to Peter Dutton accusing the PM of selling out the Jewish community to win over Greens voters. 
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers later slammed the opposition leader for playing 'divisive politics'.
• Meanwhile, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher hit back at Greens leader Adam Bandt for suggesting the two parties should formalise a power-sharing agreement if Labor fell short of a majority at the next election.
• The Coalition all but confirmed it would release the costings of its power plan next week. 

I'll be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. See you then.

Reporting by national disability affairs reporter Nas Campanella.

Diviney also spoke about the social media ban.

She said social media was "one of the only" things that helped her with loneliness growing up.

"[It was] communities that I found on social media, fans of people and pop culture I loved, who kept me afloat. While I know that there's a real and terrifying link between teenagers, social media and mental health issues … I also know that for so many young people who exist in marginalised spaces, the internet offers them support, resources, a place to be heard and a roadmap that they might not be getting in the physical world.

"All anyone wants, no matter what they look like, who they love, how they identify, what their bodies can or can't do, is to feel connected. Not allowing teenagers who are fighting to stay upright in a world that can be hostile to their existence, will only ever be dangerous and disastrous."

Reporting by national disability affairs reporter Nas Campanella.

The young writer, disability advocate and actress was today's speaker.

She called for greater representation of people with disability across all aspects of life, including on screen, in literature and in the halls of parliament.

She told the room people with disability were all-too-often used as a political football by those with no knowledge of disability, and that politicians shouldn't just see the NDIS as a source of funding, but something that was changing lives.

"There are people, possibly not in this room, but definitely in the building up the road, guilty of using my community like a political football — scoring points against each other in conversations entirely devoid of humanity," Diviney said.

"To them, I say this — and listen carefully: You don't get to make my life or its possibilities smaller to balance a budget. I'm a person, not a surplus tool. I have dreams, ambitions, and places to be. So get out of my way, because you don't get to take those away. They're mine to own."

Contentious changes to the NDIS kicked in earlier this year, many of which were aimed at bringing down the growth of the $42 billion scheme.

Victoria's minister for gambling regulation has heavily criticised her federal Labor colleagues over their decision to shelve plans to phase out gambling advertising, saying her late friend Peta Murphy would have been "so disappointed".

It's been more than a year since Murphy, who was the federal Labor MP for Dunkley, delivered a parliamentary report recommending a gradual approach to ending gambling advertising, with the unanimous support of Labor, Coalition and Greens committee members.

The 50-year-old, remembered as an MP brimming with "intellect, integrity and empathy", died months later following a returned breast cancer diagnosis.

In this year's final sitting week of parliament, the government delayed introducing a bill to ban gambling advertising, with two ministers cited two different reasons why it was shelved. 

In an Instagram post today, Victorian Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne said her friend of more than two decades was driven in public life by "a desire to change the impact that gambling was having on people's lives".

"Peta and I spoke often of what we could do to change this," Horne said.

"That's why I was proud to introduce legislation last week that would make people playing the pokies sign up to a card where they had to determine how much they were prepared to lose and use that card in a poker machine — so they couldn't keep chasing their loses.

"But whilst the government I serve in wants to see this reform, the government Peta served in is still yet to respond to the report she oversaw that recommended banning online and broadcast gambling ads.

"She would have been so disappointed."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously defended his government's approach, which he said was focused on "getting it right" with the reforms.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has slammed the opposition leader for "playing divisive politics with a very sensitive issue" after Australia switched its vote at the United Nations.

Australia changed its position on a key vote at the UN, supporting a resolution demanding Israel end its presence in Occupied Palestinian Territories like Gaza and the West Bank as soon as possible.

Earlier, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton seized on the vote, accusing the PM of selling out the Jewish community to win Greens votes.

Chalmers says the position reflected Labor's view that "the best peaceful outcome here is a two-state solution".

"The statement of explanation that has been published by Australia in relation to this sets out our reasons for the positions that we have taken," he says.

He declined to go into it much further as his focus, as treasurer, has been on the GDP figures and putting the finishing touches on the mid-year budget update.

It's the shadow treasurer's turn to discuss the national accounts, and his take is more pessimistic: "These numbers are a nightmare ... a scorecard for the Albanese government and they get a fail."

As expected, he goes after the contribution made by government spending and by migration, without which the economy would have gone backwards.

He calls this a "big government, big Australia approach" and says it is worsening inflation.

As the treasurer noted earlier, most of the government spending figure comes from states, and most of the federal government's contribution comes from defence.

Hey Andrew,

Thanks for reaching out. The brilliant Kate Ainsworth has you covered.

Peter Dutton also said the quiet bit out loud this morning, confirming the Coalition delayed the release of its nuclear costings so attention wouldn't dip from "the government's latest disaster".

But the opposition leader denied the release, so close to Christmas, was designed to avoid scrutiny.

"I just think that this has been the most scrutinized policy in recent history," he said.

The Coalition revealed its plans to build seven nuclear power plants across five sites back in June, promising the first could be operational between 2035 and 2037.

He says there will be plenty of time to dig through the entrails of the policy in the lead up to the election (due sometime before May).

"Part of the reason that there's been a delay is we've gone to announce it a few times, to be honest, and the government's latest disaster has happened on that day where we've decided that we'll let people concentrate on how bad the Albanese government is," he says.

Because everybody knows the holiday season is famously a time when people are itching to dig into the nitty gritty of a public policy proposal!

He doesn't mince his words about CBA's plans to charge a $3 withdrawal fee at bank branches, which is now on pause.

"People are doing it tough as it is, they didn't need this at Christmas or at any time," he says.

He adds he spoke to the bank's CEO, Matt Comyn, this morning to convey the government's view the changes "were not acceptable or appropriate".

"We are talking about in some instances some of the most vulnerable people in the banking sector ... I welcome the fact that they're having another look at this."

The treasurer is up now, talking about the economic figures which he says show once again the direction of the economy is "positive but weak".

He is pleased that disposable incomes increased, saying this "reflects the progress that we're making".

But he is also quick to note that the growth figure is "below what most economists expected".

He has a crack at the Coalition for suggesting government spending is pushing up inflation, noting that most of the contribution from the public sector was state governments hiring frontline workers, and that most of the Commonwealth contribution has come from defence spending.

"If our political opponents are planning big cuts to defence spending, they should say so."

Some breaking news from Kate Ainsworth: 

The Commonwealth Bank has paused its plans to charge customers a $3 fee to withdraw their own money at bank branches around the country.

The bank — which is Australia's biggest — announced on Tuesday that it would charge customers who had a "Complete Access" account a $3 fee to withdraw cash at bank branches and post offices.

The bank had been under pressure to scrap the fee altogether from both sides of politics, with the federal government describing it as a "terrible decision" that was a "kick in the guts" to customers.

In a snap media conference this afternoon, the bank said it will take six months to speak to those customers who would be affected by the fee.

While we hold space for Jim Chalmers' press conference, my friends over at the ABC's biz blog are providing live updates from the CommBank press conference.

The opposition leader was holding his press conference at the same time the GDP figures dropped.

As Tom Crowley walked us through earlier, the Australian economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the three months to September. It was slightly below expectations.

Dutton said the figures reflect a "bad government getting worse".

"The government's presided now for most of its term over a household recession, and people are feeling it," he said.

He placed the blame on Labor for driving up inflation with its "reckless spending" .

We're currently standing by for Treasurer Jim Chalmer's response to the figures.

Tom Crowley will be your man on the blog to walk us through his remarks.

Australia abstained from a similar vote back at the September meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

This morning, Australia shifted its position on two of the three votes.

• Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine: shifted from an abstention to a yes.
• Division for Palestinian representation at the UN: Australia shifted from a no to an abstention.
• A motion condemning Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights: Australia remained a no.

The Australian economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the three months to September, new figures tell us, slightly below expectations.

In per person terms, it went backwards, continuing a trend of nearly two years. But overall, we still have not entered negative territory.

Some numbers will give Labor comfort, especially the fact that disposable incomes grew by 0.2 per cent. The Coalition has talked a lot about falling disposable incomes.

But the Coalition will be invigorated by its argument that government spending is pushing along inflation: without the public sector (mostly states employing frontline workers), the economy would have gone backwards this quarter.

That would have been bad news in many senses, but it might also have given the Reserve Bank cause to cut rates. As it is, it remains worried the economy isn't weak enough. This won't change that view.

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong has released a statement after Australia changed its position to support vote demanding Israel "bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible".

Australia shifted its position on two out of the three votes passed by the UN General Assembly (more on that in a second).

The spokesperson says Australia approaches UN resolutions "to try to achieve the best outcomes we can".

"We don't always get everything we want. But if, on balance, we believe the resolution will contribute to peace and a two-state solution, we will vote for it," they said.

"On our own, Australia has few ways to move the dial in the Middle East.

"Our only hope is working within the international community to push for an end to the cycle of violence and work toward a two-state solution."

We're still waiting for a statement from the foreign minister, who is currently in Malaysia.

Peter Dutton turns his focus to Australia changing its position to support a UN resolution demanding "Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible".

As Tom Lowrey flagged earlier, the Coalition is furious about how Australia voted.

The opposition leader tells reporters the PM "sold out the Jewish community for Greens votes".

He says Australia's vote is "at odds" with the commitment the government made before the election.

"I think we should be standing with allies like the United States instead," he says.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is holding a press conference alongside the Liberals' candidate for Mackellar James Brown. 

The retired army officer will be trying to claw back the seat from independent Sophie Scamps, who defeated Liberal Jason Falinksi at the last election.

She now holds the seat with a 2.5 per cent margin.

Dutton has come armed with a prop: a print out of a newspaper clipping about Labor's promise to cut power bills by $275 by 2025.

The Coalition has used question time over the past three years to quiz the government about the promise. But as the 2025 deadline nears, Dutton has sharpened his attack.

"If we don't get the energy mix right, then we end up with businesses closing," he says.

The Coalition has been fiercely critical of Australia's votes at the UN this morning, accusing the Albanese government of "abandoning" Israel.

Australia voted to support a resolution demanding "Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible".

Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, James Larsen, said it's a return to a position Australia has held before, back in 2001.

But the opposition is furious.

"Once again, the Albanese Labor Government has put Australia at odds with our closest ally, the United States, and abandoned a key democratic ally in Israel," said Shadow Foreign minister Simon Birmingham.

"Overnight, Labor has changed longstanding Australians positions at the United Nations in votes that will not protect a single civilian in the Middle East, prevent further terrorist attacks or release a single hostage still held by Hamas.

"These changed positions will only please terrorists and autocratic states who initiated the barbaric attacks of 7 October 2023. They send completely the wrong signals."

We're waiting on some formal comments from Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is in Malaysia.

The federal government has stepped in to urge supermarket giant Woolworths and the United Workers Union (UWU) to end a dispute which has led to empty shelves at supermarkets across Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.

UWU members have taken industrial action and picketed Woolworths distribution centres, preventing stock from being delivered to stores.

The union has concerns about the productivity "framework" Woolworths is proposing for warehouse staff as part of pay negotiations.

In a statement to the ABC, a government spokesperson said Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt was speaking to Woolworths and the union to encourage them to resolve their dispute.

"The government … has made clear our expectation that both parties negotiate in good faith to find a speedy resolution to this dispute," they said.

"Now that the dispute is before the Fair Work Commission, we urge the parties to make full use of the assistance the commission can provide to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution."

Watt is expected to hold a press conference later today.