Australian news and politics live: Tony Abbott backs Coalition One Nation preference move as Taylor hits out

Good news on American jobs has caused the Australian share market to plunge, with investors worried that high inflation will stop the US Federal Reserve from being able to cut interest rates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 1 per cent weaker during the first hour of trade on the Australian Securities Exchange, wiping about $16 billion off shares, as it fell to 8550 points shortly after 11am AEST.

The surprise edition of 172,000 jobs in May in the American non-farm payrolls strengthened the US dollar, with the good news from the US Department of Labour hurting mining and software stocks in Australia.

With American inflation at a three-year high of 3.8 per cent, financial markets are worried the US Federal Reserve won’t be able to cut interest rates, Moomoo chief executive Michael McCarthy said.

“Central banks and governments will act to stop inflation, even at the risk of putting the economy into recession because inflation spirals are so damaging,” he told The Nightly.

The Opposition Leader has suggested Labor’s broken Budget promises are to blame for the Coalition’s worsening polling results and One Nation’s continuing popularity surge.

This week’s Newspoll recorded Pauline Hanson’s party ahead of Labor on first-preference votes, while the Coalition fell to the same level when Sussan Ley was removed as Opposition leader in February.

Visiting the marginal seat of Lindsay in Sydney’s West, Angus Taylor has told reporters that voters are angry at the budget’s broken promises.

“They’ve had a gut full, you know, they’re swinging the bat, and I don’t blame them. They are angry, and they should be angry, and I’m angry because this is a government that is letting Australians down.”

Newly elected Liberal Party president and former prime minister Tony Abbott has backed the Coalition swapping preferences with One Nation, comparing the move to similar deals between Labor and the Greens.

Inside Liberal ranks, there is growing pessimism about losing further seats at the next election to Pauline Hanson’s populist right-wing party.

“As a general rule, it makes sense for parties of the right to preference each other just as parties of the left have always done,” Mr Abbott told The Australian Financial Review.

Last week, Mr Abbott confirmed former Nationals Federal director Lincoln Folo would take up the same role with the Liberals as the party works to turn around last year’s devastating election loss.

Labor says Australians have had enough of the Middle East war and the impacts it is having on daily life.

Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite told ABC News Breakfast that Australia has joined calls for all parties to get to the negotiating table and fast.

“Australians are becoming increasingly frustrated with the stop-start nature of this conflict and its ongoing effects on our economy and the international economy,” he said on Tuesday.

“They’re paying for it at the petrol bowser, it’s starting to hit household items, particularly food and groceries, and we think that enough is enough.

“That’s why Australia has joined our international partners in calling for the parties to get back to the negotiating table.”

The assistant minister said the Government’s stance was that it was still unsafe to travel to the Middle East.

“We’ve seen, unfortunately, in the past couple of days, another flare-up in those tensions with missiles being fired towards the Middle East,” he added.

“At the moment, the safety of Australians is our first consideration and we believe that it is unsafe to travel.”

Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Donald Trump, reminding him that Israel appreciates him, as tensions between the Israeli Prime Minister and the US President appear to grow.

Justifying the latest strikes on Iran after Mr Trump told Mr Netanyahu not to retaliate, the Israeli PM said Israel had the right to self-defence.

“After Iran attacked Israel, I instructed the IDF to attack military and economic targets throughout Iran. We did that, too,” Mr Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

“At the moment, we are holding our fire, because after we struck the terror regime in Tehran, it ceased attacking us. In the event that the terror regime in Iran makes the mistake of resuming attacks on us – we will respond with overwhelming force.

“Israel has a full right to self-defense, and we are exercising it to the extent necessary.

“I say this to you, just as I say this, with appreciation and respect, in my good conversations with my friend President Trump.

“With unity, determination and wisdom – we will protect the State of Israel. Together, with God’s help, we will restore security to the north.”

Iran and Israel say they have halted attacks on each other following an appeal from US President Donald Trump that they immediately “stop shooting”.

The wave of attacks over the past 24 hours marked the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since an April ceasefire, threatening to wreck US efforts to reach an agreement with Iran to end their more than three-month war.

Oil prices pared gains when Iran’s military said its first wave of strikes on Israel was over.

The US dollar retreated from its highest level in nearly two months.

A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that Israel had also decided to halt its attacks on Iran.

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As tensions in the Middle East continue to boil over, US President Donald Trump has clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatening to walk away from the war.

The threat was made over a phone call after fresh strikes yesterday between Israel and Iran.

“I told Bibi, you’d better be careful what you do, because you could be left alone against Iran very soon,” Mr Trump told Channel 12.

That comment was reportedly made before Israel retaliated against Iran’s strikes.

“This morning, the Iranians approached us and said they would no longer carry out an attack on Israel. They asked us to tell Israel to stop attacking. I called Bibi and made him stop,” Mr Trump added.