Australia Politics

Pat Conroy to tell National Press Club that Labor is the true party of defence and national security. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.We’ll wrap up some of the overnight news before Krishani’s on deck, and also bring you a preview of today’s press club speech from the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy. Continue reading...

Federal government releases options paper to improve regulation of accounting, auditing and consulting firms. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIndependent Nicolette Boele backs childcare reformsThe independent member for Bradfield, Nicolette Boele, has backed calls for a national early childhood education and care commission to manage supply and improve safety regulation in the sector.If you’re in that position, hearing that the government is waiting for Deloitte to finish a report before they can increase the childcare subsidy, doesn’t hold up. Families can’t budget around a maybe. I’ve written to the minister, and I want the government to commit to a national commission with a firm timeline – not keep it on the “considering” pile. Continue reading...

The prime minister tells 7.30 the housing market was ‘broken’. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog, as the last week of parliament before the winter break rolls on. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.Anthony Albanese has defended the government’s housing reforms, telling 7.30 last night that he didn’t want to live in a country defined by intergenerational inequity. More coming up. Continue reading...

Jotham Napat’s visit renews expectations that the two countries can sign the Nakamal pact after long negotiations. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHanson’s press club speech a ‘reality check’ for Australians, says WattEnvironment minister Murray Watt, says One Nation’s popularity dipping from 31% to 29% is due to Pauline Hanson’s controversial press club address, but concedes the “polls will bounce around a bit.”We have seen a bit of a change in the public mood towards One Nation since Pauline Hanson’s Press Club speech.I think that speech was a bit of a reality check for a lot of Australians who were thinking about voting for One Nation, because they got to see that as much as people are under pressure at the moment, things could get worse under One Nation with all the cuts they were talking about imposing.Yes, of course, any improvement is welcome. But we know that we to provide real answers and real change to the pressure that people are feeling.I’m a half glass full sort of guy, Nat [Barr] and the the electorate’s very restless. People are understandably restless because they’ve seen their incomes decline back to 2011 levels under government … So it’s very volatile.The first thing you’ve got to do is get the herd moving and the herd is moving. It’s just not going through the the right gate for us at the moment. Continue reading...

Aemo modelling shows electricity use will nearly double by 2050. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.There will be plenty of politics to come but we start with good news: thanks to the recent boom in batteries connected to the national power grid, we’re going to save money on new transmission lines. That’s despite our power use being expected to nearly double in the next decade or so. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese presided over ceremony in Canberra last night. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA major new gallery at the Australian War Memorial will keep the “flame of memory” burning for future generations, the prime minister told the opening ceremony in Canberra last night, Australian Associated Press reports.Anthony Albanese was among those on hand last night for the opening of the memorial’s atrium and Anzac Hall, a gallery that focuses mainly on Australia’s commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations.That most unadorned of sentences that dwells within us like a heartbeat – we vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow reaches future generations.Today we adjourned the parliament so that everyone who wished to could come mark the opening of this Atrium and Anzac Hall, an addition to the Australian War Memorial that makes that flame burns so much brighter.Look at the faces and get lost amid the smiles, the hope and camaraderie – the counterpoint to war’s relentless, inhuman arithmetic. They are its true cost.Yet, amid this loss and sacrifice, what pulses so powerfully is life, and an abiding sense of what is worth fighting for. Continue reading...

Weekly toll cap in NSW to fall from $60 to $50 for one year. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government will lower the weekly road toll cap from $60 to $50 for one year as part of cost of living measures handed down today in the 2026-27 state budget.In advance of today’s budget, the Minns government has announced that the threshold for the cap, under which drivers can claim back from the government after they spend $60 per vehicle, will be lowered to $50 for the 12 months from July 6, a saving of $10 a week for motorists who already claim toll relief. Tolls on multiple roads managed by private operator Transurban will rise on July 1, leaving them on average more than 4% higher since July 2025. Continue reading...

MPs return to Canberra for two weeks of haggling over tax and NDIS reforms before the winter break. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSearch begins for new Nacc commissioners The attorney-general, Michelle Rowland, has opened applications for the new leaders of the National Anti-corruption commission, following the resignation of Paul Brereton.The government is committed to strengthening the Nacc, including by continuing to make appointments through an open, competitive and merit-based selection process.This is an opportunity for the Nacc to refresh and reset, and I look forward to working across the Parliament to appoint the best possible candidates for these roles. Continue reading...

The Tasmanian Liberal senator has announced he will leave parliament before the end of the year. Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe body of a seven-year-old girl has been recovered from Sydney’s Parramatta River after her father was also found dead earlier on Saturday, with an investigation into their deaths to continue. Emergency services were called to Bayview Park in Concord just before 11:45am on Saturday after a passerby on another vessel spotted a man’s body in the water near a small, drifting boat. Officers from the Burwood Police Area Command boarded another boat to reach the scene, where they pulled the man from the water and commenced CPR. He could not be revived. Police believe the deceased man is a father in his 40s from the Westmead area who had hired the vessel earlier in the day. Upon investigating the boat, police discovered that his seven-year-old daughter was missing from the vessel. Specialist police divers recovered her body hours later. Superintendent Christine McDonald, Commander of the Burwood Police Area Command, described the situation as an “absolute tragedy”. McDonald said a friend of the family had called authorities at 12:30pm to request a welfare check on the father and daughter, unaware that police had already located the man’s body about 45 minutes earlier. The child’s distraught mother was assisting investigators with their inquiries. A crime scene has been established and forensic officers were examining the hired vessel. The man and girl have yet to be formally identified but police said the family was from Westmead, in Sydney’s west. McDonald said police would “leave no stone unturned” as they investigate on behalf of the coroner whether the incident was a tragic accident or intentional:There are several lines of inquiry currently under way. But can I say from the outset, this is an absolute tragedy for the family and the community on every level. We will leave no stone unturned. Continue reading...

Commonwealth Bank economists expect 5% drag on home prices from tax changes, compared with Treasury forecast of 2%. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has been sent back to jail after a judge found him to have had complete disregard for his release conditions. The man, known only as SLD, stabbed to death his three-year-old neighbour Courtney Morley-Clarke on the Central Coast in 2001. More coming up. Continue reading...