Australia news live: PM announces $30bn facility for Aukus subs; high-profile Liberal quits party saying there are ‘other ways I can support women’

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There is a question from reporters about the ructions in the Liberal Party and Coalition. The Prime Minister responds with a mix of pity and schadenfreude.

I think people in the Liberal Party will Sussan Ley, elected as leader of the Liberal Party just months ago, wasn’t even given the opportunity to give one budget reply speech. It’s up to the Liberal Party, of course, to defend their own internal processes.

Albanese lays a few blows on the Coalition over its habit of driving out women and total hostility to proper representation within the party.

We continue to make sure that we’re a government that represents all Australians. I think when at the Liberal Party and the Party, they seek about themselves and represent each other. We want to represent all Australians.

Turning to questions, the Prime Minister is asked about when the rest of the money to “flow” after the initial $3.5bn downpayment announced today.

Albanese says “continuously”.

I expect it to flow continuously just like the jobs continuous naval shipbuilding will result in continuous investment here in South Australia.

For context, critics of the Australian government’s approach to submarine manufacture have been calling for the introduction of continuous ship building, as the stop-start nature of Australian defence contracting and procurement has proven costly. As one workforce is trained up, it reaches the end of its manufacturing run and is then laid off.

This announcement counteracts this.

It is also being sold by reference to the October 2016 closure of General Motors Holden, which was a blow to the state and harboured the closure of the Australian car industry, a symptom of the struggle of domestic manufacture.

Here’s Albanese:

The workers who I’ve met here today and one of the things that will happen, just like for previous generations in South Australia, the car industry provided a real focal point and you had inter-generational skills.

There are people here, the young women we met, one of whom was 20. She has a job for life. Just think about about that. In today’s world where technology changes the nature of work, what this provides here is an opportunity for people to say, this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life. I will have a secure job. It will be highly paid. And it will be rewarding as we go forward.

Adelaide shipyard will be first in southern hemisphere capable of building nuclear subs, Conroy says

When complete the facility will be the only facility in the southern hemisphere capable of building nuclear submarines, the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, says.

Importantly, this will modernise Aussie manufacturing as we go through it because it’s not just the 10,000 jobs here. We’ve got 70 companies already going through the qualification process to win work supplying not just Australian submarines but UK and US submarines.

Conroy said the development will generate “high-skill, high-wage” jobs that will make South Australia “truly the defence state”.

Late last year I opened Australia’s first missile factory in 60 years with the premier just one hour down the road at Port Wakefield, and we are building missiles in this state, in this country for the first time in 60 years.

So this is truly a future made in Australia, a defence future made in Australia through the ingenuity and hard work of South Australians and all Australians.

SA premier hails ‘gamechanging’ submarine shipyard project

Today’s announcement is a “gamechanging” decision and a “line-in-the-sand moment” for the future of South Australia, the premier, Peter Malinauskas, says.

Malinauskas, who is facing an election in March, is speaking after the prime minister made the announcement of a new $30bn federal support package to support the construction and maintenance of nuclear submarines as part of the Aukus defence agreement.

Listing statistics – building the new submarine construction yard would take 66m work hours, it will take 710,000 cubic metres of structural concrete, 126,000 tonnes of structural steel – the premier says the scale of the undertaking is “hard to comprehend.”

We are talking about many multiples of the amount of work and amount of materials that will be required to build the world’s most advanced nuclear submarine construction yard.

When it is complete we will have the capacity to be home to 5,500 direct jobs, 10,000 indirect jobs, all highly skilled and highly paid. That means for future generations of South Australians, their economic security, their living standards is assured.

This is a gamechanging project. There were 1,200 people working at Holden when it closed. 4,000 will be required to construct this facility and it will be home to 5,500 every single day after it is open and the submarine construction starts.

Albanese announces $3.9bn 'down payment' for Adelaide Aukus submarine shipyard

A new skills and training centre will open at the Osborne shipyard in Adelaide to train the workforce necessary to support the Aukus arrangement with the US and UK.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is in South Australia to make the announcement which promises $3.9bn “down payment” in federal funding for the centre which he says will underpin the 10,000-strong workforce needed to create, design and build the yard and maintain nuclear submarines.

The total package will be worth $30bn, the PM says, which will support 5,500 direct jobs, with an additional multiplier of indirect jobs and economic activity.

This is a driver of not just of national security and how were going to defend our nation into the future. It’s also a driver of our economic prosperity, as well as making such an enormous difference to some of the apprentices that we’ve met here today.

Man charged after car chase and crash in Sydney’s west

New South Wales police have charged a man and declared a critical incident at the site of a crash in Sydney’s west on Saturday.

Police were called to a service station following reports of a car theft where they were told a 25-year-old man was assaulted by an unknown man who then stole his car.

The red sedan was later spotted by police travelling on King Georges Road, Beverley Hills and when it failed to stop, a pursuit began.

Multiple police forces joined the chase which was terminated in the Bankstown area owing to safety concerns.

Police helicopters continued to track the vehicle until it crashed into an Alfa Romeo sedan on the Old Hume Highway, Camden South, at 11.10am.

Two passengers in the Alfa Romeo were treated by paramedics at the scene but succumb to their injuries. They are yet to be identified.

The driver of the sedan, a 31-year-old man, allegedly ran from the scene and was arrested on Nepean Avenue in Camden.

He was taken to Campbelltown hospital for mandatory testing before being taken to Campbelltown police station where he was charged with 11 offences including two counts of dangerous driving occasion death – drive manner dangerous and drive recklessly.

He was refused bail and will appear before court today.

Angus Taylor faces leadership test in Farrer byelection as independent vows to ‘finish what we started’ and oust Liberals

Some are tucked away in sheds, gathering dust. Others were never taken down, but have been crowded out by undergrowth in the nine months since the federal election.

But across the electorate of Farrer, in south-western NSW, they’re about to return to roost: the orange emu corflutes used to support independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe.

Milthorpe ran second to Sussan Ley in last May’s election, but the Liberals bickering since then has seen Ley turfed, leading to her announcement that she will quit politics – and triggering a byelection.

That byelection, in Ley’s seat of Farrer, will pit Milthorpe against a Liberal candidate in the first test of Angus Taylor’s leadership.

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Nino Bucci:

Barriers to EU free trade deal ‘significantly reduced’ but no deal yet, Farrell says

A free trade deal with the EU has made progress but is “unfortunately” still out of reach, the trade minister, Don Farrell, says.

Farrell spoke to Sky News after getting off an international flight where he said an agreement has not yet been reached, but “10 issues” that stood in the way of a deal have been “significantly reduced”.

If getting a free trade agreement with Europe had been easy, somebody else would have done it.

But I’m determined that we demonstrate to the rest of the world that those countries that believe in free and fair trade can reach agreements.

For more on this story, read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting:

Taylor suggests tapping intelligence agencies to assess potential immigrants

Just returning to Angus Taylor’s appearance on Sky earlier this morning, Taylor hinted at how the Coalition will move forward under his political leadership, pledging to take “green ideology” out of energy policies and flagging changes to immigration.

Taylor said “standards” in the current system were “too low, numbers have been too high and we haven’t explicitly shut the door on people who reject our way of life, who don’t believe in our core values”.

He suggested intelligence agencies could be used to “assess whether or not these people have demonstrated in the past that they reject our way of life or whether they want to bring the hate and violence from another place”.

For more on this, read the Guardian’s previous reporting here:

Outspoken Liberal figure Charlotte Mortlock quits party after Ley’s ousting

Charlotte Mortlock, the high profile former Coalition staffer and leader of grassroots organisation Hilma’s Network, has left the Liberal party, days after Sussan Ley was ousted by Angus Taylor.

Hilma’s Network was formed by Mortlock to bring “Liberal-minded” women together and push the party to preselect more women. Mortlock has been a vocal advocate for modernisation in the Liberal party, including pushing for the party to support net zero targets, and was part of a small team who designed a plan for gender quotas in New South Wales preselections.

Mortlock made the announcement that she was leaving the network and the party in a statement on Sunday morning:

I have decided the time has come for me to step down as executive director of Hilma’s Network and I have also relinquished my Liberal party membership.

Due to recent events I have decided there are other ways I can support women and Australia.

Mortlock said she was proud of the women Hilma’s Network was able to support through preselections and elections, and hosted events that “challenged the party to evolve”.

Speaking to the Guardian after the 2025 election, Mortlock warned more women would walk away from the party unless it fixed its “woman problem”.

“We’ve already seen voters do that, but I believe that Liberal members that are women will also do that,” she said at the time.

Read more here:

Hume says Liberals want ‘a lower number of people’ coming to Australia

On immigration, and in a hint to the future direction of the Coalition, Hume says that immigration policy is “out of control”, and there is a mismatch between values.

A reset on immigration is profoundly important. We want to see a lower number of people come to our country, but we also want to raise the standards. What that looks like, I won’t get into the details today.

But I think all Australians know if you come here, coming to Australia, living in Australia is one of the greatest gifts that could ever be given to anybody. Which is why we want to make sure the people who do come here share our beliefs, share our respect for the rule of law and for democracy.

And if you don’t, then the door should be shut.

This appears to rhyme with the broader messaging from Angus Taylor on Sky News earlier who emphasised culture war issues by demanding the prime minister condemn use of the phrase “globalise the intifada” when asked about his party’s policy issues.

Hume does suggest that any citizenship test need to ensure new Australians subscribe to “core beliefs, to those freedoms, personal responsibility”.

Hume says Australia should not take ‘ideological approach’ to energy, says nuclear should still be part of energy mix

The conversation returns again to energy policy and the climate crisis.

Asked directly about whether the Coalition needs some sort of policy on climate change, Hume counters by talking about nuclear power:

If people were open-minded to the idea of lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy, which is a bill I brought forward as a backbencher so we can have a zero-emissions technology introduced into our country, as every other developed nation has either done or is in the process of doing, that would add to the energy abundance that would bring prices down.

Hume is asked to clarify whether nuclear was the Coalition’s answer to issues of climate change. She says that’s not what was asked (it was). Speers restates the question: what will the Coalition do on climate change beyond nuclear to bring down emissions?

David, I’m not announcing policy 48 hours after having been elected deputy leader … before our first shadow cabinet meeting. But it is absolutely crazy to take an ideological approach towards energy because it’s energy that drives our economy. We want to see our economy flourish and thrive so that all Australians can see better days ahead.

Hume is then asked whether the Coalition needs a policy on climate change if it hopes of winning back seats now controlled by teal independents.

There is no doubt that caring for our environment, looking after our oceans, looking after our soil, looking after our water is profoundly important. And reducing emissions is a part of that, but it’s not the only thing that’s important to Australians.

What’s important to Australians is an opportunity that they can see to get ahead. That they can see to look after themselves, to look after their families, to restore that optimism to what it is that they do every single day.

Childcare system ‘not working for Australians’, Hume says

On childcare, Hume says the party has yet to meet after the change in leadership, though she says she thinks its “pretty obvious that childcare is not working for Australians” due to the rising costs that is “becoming so out of reach for every Australian”.

We want to make sure we have a system that not only makes sure families that want to return to the workplace and have their children cared for have that opportunity to do so, but they should also have a choice as to how they go about doing that.

Hume however says subsidies are not the answer, adding that she thinks “Australians deserve a choice”.

Because we want all Australians, particularly women, to have that opportunity to participate fully in the economy, participate fully in society. And we also want to make sure we have quality childcare that makes sure our children have the best start in life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a one size fits all approach that’s the way to deal with that.

Hume says Liberals would oppose any increase to capital gains tax

Hume is asked about specifics of the Liberals’' policies going forward, but isn’t offering much detail, saying she “won’t go into the intricacies of policies just after the change”.

However, there is one thing she can say for certain:

All Liberals know that the Liberal party should always be and must always be a party of lower taxes.

On the capital gains discount for property investment, Hume says the party will oppose any increase.

If you tax residential housing, there will be less of it. That would be a disaster. No-one has yet come out change to capital gains tax on residential housing will create more houses or provide more opportunities, rental houses those that are yet to purchase their first home. That would be a disaster.

Hume is asked about whether it might be a good idea to tax exports to increase revenue in order to provide services:

We are always open want to see taxes decreased. Energy is going to be a real important part of that conversation. Making sure we have energy abundance in increasing supply prices of energy.

Pressed on this, Hume deflects, saying she is not going to be “making policy on the run on Sunday morning, 48 hours after I’ve become deputy leader”.

Lower taxes are better than higher taxes. They’re better for all Australians. But energy abundance is what is going to bring energy prices down.

“Abundance” appears to be the key word here.

'Something has to give' amid Liberals' current polling crisis, Hume says

The Coalition is facing an existential crisis with the Liberal party receiving its worst result since 1944, the Liberal deputy leader, Jane Hume, says.

Something has to give. Australians are rightly aggrieved at the moment and you can see why they’re looking elsewhere because they weren’t finding answers in the messages and the policies and the positions we were taking.

That’s why there has been a change, that’s why Angus Taylor and I will lead team to the next election to make sure that we protect Australians’ standard of living, restore Australians’ standard of living and protect their way of life.

Hume is speaking to David Speers on ABC Insiders this morning, who is attempting to cast the Coalition’s new leadership team as taking the party into the future.

Asked about the mistakes of the past, including opposing work from home arrangements and opposing tax cuts, Hume defended the party’s actions.

Everybody makes mistakes and if you don’t go through a period of reflection about what you would have changed after an election loss, then you’re fooling yourself.

Australians asked us to do that reflection and that was writ large in the result. What’s important now is the future. What do Australians expect from a strong Coalition and a Liberal party that knows what it stands for, a Liberal party that speaks with conviction and not with convenience.

Taylor attacks Albanese for ‘refusing to condemn’ pro-Palestine protesters

Asked about recent protests in Sydney, Taylor did say that he believed “people have the right to pray” but refused to criticise police over their handling of the situation, including the decision to move on a group of Muslim men engaged in prayer.

He attacked Albanese for, he said, refusing to “condemn” use of the phrase “globalise the intifada”. Asked about Grace Tame and her use of the phrase, he suggested the issue begins with the PM.

I think what should happen is the prime minister should condemn it.

Asked about the by-election that has now been triggered after his predecessor, Sussan Ley, quit politics following the leadership spill, Taylor said he didn’t “underestimate the scale of the challenge” but acknowledged Ley as a “popular local member”.

I acknowledge her extraordinary service to the Liberal party.

You can read more about the Farrer byelection here:

The Liberals’ new deputy leader Jane Hume will speak to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.

Angus Taylor holds back on plans for frontbench, Liberals' relationship with One Nation

The newly crowned opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has offered few details about the make-up his shadow cabinet and the direction of the Coalition under his stewardship, but has called on Anthony Albanese to condemn use of the phrase “globalise the intifada”.

Taylor was asked multiple times for details about the future of his party during an appearance on Sky News and about the internal challenges it faces during an appearance on Sunday morning.

In response to questions about the composition of his frontbench, Taylor said he was going to “put great people into place” but that he was not going to make any announcements on the morning show.

I know you’re going to try to drag out of me the frontbench announcements. I’m not going to make them.

He was also asked how the Coalition will navigate its relationship with One Nation going forward and, in particular, whether it would negotiate a preference deal with the rightwing party.

My starting point with people who are thinking about or who have voted One Nation is to show them respect. They have made their decisions for a reason. We have to convince them we are a better alternative.

The party organisation decides on preferencing and that is not something we have thought on at this time.

Good morning

And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.

The new Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, and his deputy, Jane Hume, are on the press circuit this morning but have so far offered few details about the makeup of the opposition frontbench. During his appearance on Sky News, Taylor was repeatedly asked how he planned to reset the party’s direction under his leadership, and what relationship the Liberals would strike with One Nation, but he said those questions had yet to be resolved. We’ll bring you more on the Liberal party’s latest movements shortly.

Sydney’s Mardi Gras will have its first major event on Sunday as Fair Day takes place in Victoria park, marking 48 years since the first parade in 1978.

I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.

With that, let’s get started …