Australia news as it happened: Inflation jumps to 3.8 per cent; Fresh Optus outage affecting Triple Zero calls in Melbourne; Richard Branson announces wife’s death

Thanks for joining us today and following the national news live blog. Here’s a summary of some of the biggest news items we covered on Wednesday, November 26.

• New monthly inflation figures from the ABS show inflation rose to 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to October, up from 3.6 per cent in the year to September. They are the bureau’s first numbers this year measuring price changes for the full range of goods and services month to month.
• An Optus outage has left more than 14,000 customers in Melbourne’s south-east unable to make calls or use mobile data, with calls to emergency services also impacted. Optus says the ongoing issue is due to an “aerial fibre break” – thought to be linked to thieves searching for copper wire.
• Nauruan President David Adeang was suspected of money laundering and corruption by Australian authorities three years before he signed a fresh $2.5 billion deal with the Albanese government in exchange for taking in non-citizens whom Australia cannot detain. The warning to government departments from 2022 has been made public for the first time, after it was read into Hansard on Tuesday night by Greens senator David Shoebridge.
• Accused Easey Street killer Perry Kouroumblis will stand trial for the murders of two female housemates in Collingwood, Melbourne, almost 50 years ago.
• The latest round of CSIRO job cuts will be examined by a Senate inquiry. Non-Labor senators, led by independent MP David Pocock and the Greens, secured an inquiry in a vote in the Senate this afternoon, where the government does not hold the balance of power.

• A total fire ban remains in place for Sydney, the Hunter and Illawarra with temperatures expected to reach the mid-30s, as residents in western NSW face the first catastrophic fire warning issued in the state for more than two years. But a severe thunderstorm is heading for Sydney Wollongong, Katoomba, Richmond, Camden, Campbelltown, Penrith and Picton, all the way to Mona Vale on the northern beaches.

We’ll be back tomorrow with continuing live coverage of news in Australia and around the world.

Accused Easey Street killer Perry Kouroumblis will stand trial for the murders of two female house mates in the inner-north Melbourne suburb of Collingwood almost 50 years ago.

Kouroumblis, 66, dressed in a grey suit and tie, replied, “not guilty” twice when asked how he pleaded to each count of murder in the Magistratesʼ Court of Victoria on Wednesday.

Police allege that between January 10 and January 13, 1977, Kouroumblis entered the Easey Street home and killed Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28.

Read more here.

The latest round of CSIRO job cuts will be probed by a Senate inquiry that will examine how the national science agency ended up in such a dire state.

Non-Labor senators, led by independent MP David Pocock and the Greens, secured an inquiry in a vote in the Senate this afternoon, where the government does not hold the balance of power.

Greens spokesman for science Peter Whish-Wilson said scientists deserved answers over the cuts.

“It is critical the Senate examines how the CSIRO ended up in this position, who knew about the dire state of the agency and for how long, and why senior executives took bonuses while funding cliffs were obviously approaching,” Whish-Wilson said in a statement.

He said the cuts were short-sighted and science was one of the best defences against Australia’s future challenges, including climate change and food security.

“It is reprehensible that the Albanese government has failed to address concerns that the job cuts disproportionately impact public good science – with the Environment Research Unit set to bear the brunt of proposed cuts.”

Robert Irwin has won Dancing with the Stars.

Battling through a heated, three-round, three-hour live season finale in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening (Wednesday AEDT), Irwin ultimately overcame a rib injury to beat fellow celebrity contestants Jordan Chiles, Alix Earle, Dylan Efron and Elaine Hendrix in the months-long quest to secure the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy.

His victory, now confirmed after being written in the stars, comes exactly 10 years after Bindi, then aged 17, won Season 21 in 2015, securing a record-breaking eight perfect scores with professional partner Derek Hough.

Click to read more.

Nauruan President David Adeang was suspected of money laundering and corruption by Australian authorities three years before he signed a fresh $2.5 billion deal with the Albanese government in exchange for taking in non-citizens Australia cannot detain.

Adeang and Nauru’s former president, Lionel Aingimea, were implicated in more than $3 million worth of suspicious transactions in nine months, according to warnings from financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.

Many were linked to a company traced to Aingimea’s wife that was subcontracted by an Australian firm running the offshore detention regime.

The secret warning to government departments from 2022 has been made public for the first time, after it was read into Hansard on Tuesday night by Greens Senator David Shoebridge.

Read more here.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has skirted yesterday’s ruling that she shouldn’t call Chris Bowen a “part-time energy minister” and continued her attack over his new role as COP president of negotiations.

“In his capacity as full-time COP president, and an energy minister working part-time, he has signed Australia up to a statement which would phase out the import, export and usage of gas. Is this government policy, or is this just the first of many examples where what the minister says, when he works part-time on Australia’s energy grid, is in direct contradiction with what he decides as full-time COP president?” she asked.

“The leader of the opposition is either deliberately or not deliberately misleading the House. Because it is not true and has never been true [that the role of COP negotiator is a full-time role],” Bowen said.

The exchange escalated, and ended in Bowen shouting across the chamber: “How unpatriotic can you be? Why don’t you want your country to have a bigger role in the world?” while Coalition MPs shouted back.