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Newspoll an ‘existential crisis’ for Liberals and 'we are now at irrelevance', Hume says
Jane Hume has not minced her words this morning, and after telling Sky News this morning the Coalition needed a “reset”, she spoke to reporters in the press gallery and called this morning’s Newspoll an “existential crisis”.
The Liberal senator and former frontbencher said there wouldn’t be a single Liberal elected to the House of Representatives if the poll results continued.
Hume dances around the question of whether the reset means a leadership change in both parties, saying that’s a decision for both party rooms, “not just me”.
We’re talking about a leadership contest between Sussan Ley and Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. None of them will have seats after the next election, if these polls continue, so something’s got to give.
I’m not casting aspersions on any one particular leader or leadership aspirant, but at some stage we need to do something very, very different, because this is so much worse than it was just in May last year, when we had our worst election defeat in history …
We are now at irrelevance.
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Catie McLeod
The Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, has laid a wreath at the Bondi memorial site after arriving in Sydney earlier today.
Herzog is at the Bondi pavilion with the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, who followed the president in laying wreaths to commemorate the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in December.
The chairman of the World Zionist Organisation, Yaakov Hagoel, and the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Doron Almog, are among the other participants of the ceremony, which is being broadcast live on the ABC.
Herzog, who has begun his four-day Australian tour with the wreath laying ceremony on this drizzly, grey morning in Sydney, is about to make a statement.
Tom McIlroy
The Senate president and the department that manages Parliament House say they are unaware of a lobbying firm with high-profile defence industry clients sponsoring an event linked to the Aukus nuclear agreement.
Guardian Australia revealed in December that federal MPs were invited to attend the launch of the newly formed Parliamentary Friends of Aukus event, featuring the defence minister, Richard Marles, as the “special guest”. It took place last week.
Canberra-based firm Precision Public Affairs sponsored the event. The partner of Marles’ chief of staff, Lucien Wells, is one of the firm’s registered lobbyists. Marles said on Sunday that Wells has disclosed and managed his relationship with lobbyist Sacha Fenton appropriately.
ACT independent senator David Pocock raised the story on Monday, the first day of Senate estimates hearings. Sue Lines, the Senate president, said she had signed off on the establishment of the new parliamentary friends group, but was unaware of the event, and reports that invitees were charged $100 each to attend the function.
Lines and the Department of Parliamentary Services agreed to take on notice questions from Pocock about whether charging for admissions to an event in the Mural Hall at Parliament House would represent a breach of rules banning fundraising inside the building.
“I’d need to have a look at what’s actually happened in this situation and consider that in line with the events policy and with what was provided with the form to hire the venue,” DPS secretary Jaala Hinchcliffe said.
On Sunday, Marles said the event wasn’t unusual:
You will see government affairs bodies such as Precision supporting events of this kind throughout the Parliament. So, I mean there’s nothing unusual about that. But you know, this is a really important group.
Minns defends protest restrictions: ‘Sydney’s on the international stage here’
Penry Buckley
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has repeated calls for calm ahead of planned protests against the visit by Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who has arrived in Sydney today.
Speaking at a press conference earlier, Minns defended restrictions on public assemblies, including special “major event” powers invoked for the visit, which are the subject of a supreme court challenge by the Palestine Action Group this morning. He said:
We’ve got a responsibility to keep everybody in Sydney safe over the next 48 hours, whether that’s a visiting dignitary, whether that’s mourners who want to gather, weeks after Australia’s worst terrorism event in its history, or whether it’s protesters themselves, so I’m calling on everybody involved in the protest to show some respect, and calmness as they demonstrate their freedom of speech.
It’s hugely important, Sydney’s on the international stage here, and we want this 48 hour period to go off without incident, that’s hugely important for our reputation but also in terms of unity and civility in the weeks and months and years ahead, long after the president has left our shores.
Condoms for sale in women’s changing rooms at parliament gym but not men’s, Senate told
Over at estimates this morning, Jane Hume, who was on a tirade against Sussan Ley and David Littleproud this morning, has been asking public servants why condoms are currently for sale in women’s bathrooms at the Parliament House gym but not the men’s.
The things we learn in estimates!
Jason Lucas from the Department of Parliamentary Services says he was “not aware” of the condoms available in the women’s changing rooms, and similarly “not aware” that they were not for sale in the men’s.
The deputy secretary of DPS, Nicola Hinder, says: “I believe its absolutely wonderful that women are taking care of their sexual health.”
Hume retorts: “I just wonder why men aren’t taking responsibility as well.”
Senate president Sue Lines says she’ll bring it up further with the department.
Barnaby Joyce unleashes on immigration as One Nation gains popularity
Barnaby Joyce says Australians are reaching a “snapping point” on immigration, as One Nation and its anti-immigration stance surges in the polls.
The right-wing minor party recorded a 27% primary vote in today’s Newspoll.
Joyce, who defected to One Nation in December, told the Karl Stefanovic podcast that migrants who want to “cause trouble” should “stay where they are”.
He said the government needs to consider “how many houses have you got free, how many hospitals have you got working well” before deciding how many migrants should be allowed in Australia.
The high profile politician and former deputy prime minister is no stranger to controversy, and said:
What sort of people do you need, do you need unemployed people having babies or do you need builders?
We’ve got to look for the skill sets of the people we need, and we’re gonna say here’s the contract, you want to live in Australia there’s two things you cannot be – in the crime pages or on social security.
I don’t care if you’re coming from the Vatican, central America, central Africa or the middle of Europe. If you’re gonna turn up and yak on, cause problems then you stay where you are. If you pine for where you came from and say ‘I really want Australia to be just like the shithole I came from’ then go back there.
What’s happening in parliament today?
Senators are grilling public servants and the government today in Senate estimates – we’ll bring anything juicy we hear right to you!
And over in the House, it’s our first Monday sitting of the year, which means it’s time for private members’ bills.
This morning, the s MP Pat Conaghan is putting forward a private member’s bill to ban burning or desecrating the Australian flag. Sound a bit familiar? There’s a bit of lore to this one.
It’s an issue that One Nation has been pushing, and that the Liberal MP Phil Thompson subsequently tried to introduce when the government was debating the antisemitism bill.
Since that failed (because Labor has a majority in the House), Conaghan is trying again to debate it in the House. He says:
We can and must, without apology, say that those who burn our flag are wrong their actions are divisive, disrespectful and damaging to out social cohesion.
ABC defends Four Corners episode after Asio criticism
Tom McIlroy
Further to the last post, an ABC spokesperson has defended the episode.
“The Four Corners program is a comprehensive investigation examining the events that led to the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil,” they told Guardian Australia.
Four Corners spoke to numerous people and provides a number of sources of information for a detailed picture of the Akrams’ actions and associations in the years leading up to the Bondi attack.
Detailed questions were put to ASIO and its response is reflected in the story. The public will be able to watch the full investigation tonight.
Asio raises concerns over Four Corners episode on Bondi terror attack
Tom McIlroy
The intelligence agency Asio says it has serious concerns about an episode of Four Corners on the Bondi beach terror attack, due to air tonight.
In a lengthy statement, which Asio said was issued in response to questions from the ABC, Asio warned the ABC it could take further action if the broadcast includes claims the broadcaster cannot substantiate.
The full statement is here.
The episode focuses on the Bondi gunmen, father and son Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, examining their “histories and their associations with an Islamic State terrorist network in Australia”.
The statement says Asio investigated Naveed Akram in 2019, finding he did not intend to engage in violent extremism at that time, and that they stand by that finding in respect of that time.
Four Corners’ questions about the investigation appear to be based on the uncorroborated claims of a single, unreliable and disgruntled source.
Asio claims Naveed Akram has been misidentified by a source, even alleging that person has a “track record of making statements that are untrue.”
Asio also rejected ABC claims about resourcing of the organisation. The statement says:
ASIO is constrained in our ability to respond to specific questions because there is an ongoing investigation, the matter is before the courts and we now have the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
It would not be responsible to risk prejudicing the Royal Commission, any criminal proceedings, and the ongoing investigations.
Independents decry ‘placement poverty’ for health students as data shows 42% going hungry
Independents Helen Haines, David Pocock, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan and Fatima Payman are pushing the government to end “placement poverty” for health students doing their university degree placements.
New survey data from the Health Students Alliance found 42% of health students are going hungry during placements.
The Parliamentary Budget Office, commissioned by Haines and Pocock, costed the expansion and found that it would cost the budget $290m to include medical and allied health students within the existing commonwealth prac payment scheme.
Haines said:
Unpaid mandatory placements are pushing thousands of students into financial hardship at a time of acute workforce shortages and a cost-of-living crisis.
These costings show that ending placement poverty is both achievable and affordable. Failing to act is a political choice, not a budget constraint.
Albanese on Coalition chaos: 'I just sit back and watch with some incredulity'
The prime minister has done a couple of commercial radio interviews this morning, and dug in to the Coalition’s electoral woes.
Anthony Albanese tells Nova Sydney that David Littleproud looked “like a hostage” next to Sussan Ley at their joint press conference on Sunday announcing that the two parties would reunite.
Albanese says:
I just sit back and watch with some incredulity, I’ve got to say, at their carry on. They really don’t like each other and I think yesterday, having a look at them, you know, David Littleproud looked like a hostage at that press conference.
Asked whether Australia could see One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as a future prime minister, Albanese says “no”, and tells the Coalition to get their act together to fend the minor right-wing party off.
Pauline Hanson and One Nation are all about grievance and identifying problems, not providing solutions and dividing people. So, I think it’s unfortunate the state of the traditional conservative parties in Australia at the moment. I hope they get their act together because I think that’s good for the country to have a strong government, and a strong Opposition, but I don’t think Pauline Hanson is the answer to anything.
Littleproud defends s, saying his party has been ‘reasonable’
David Littleproud says the party has handled negotiations with the Liberal party with “dignity”, after making a deal on Sunday to reunite the Coalition.
Speaking to Sky News, the s leader says his party left on principle and returned to the Coalition on principle.
We lived by our principles as a party through difficult times, but we’ve done it with dignity, and with respect and integrity all the way.
He adds that the s have been “reasonable all the way through”.
Littleproud initially said his party wouldn’t sit under Sussan Ley’s leadership but since changed his story.
To Sky he said that it would have been “hypocritical” if the Coalition wasn’t reunited after Ley granted the Nats’ request to have the three senators reinstated to the frontbench within six weeks rather than six months.
We’d be hypocritical if we stayed out of the Coalition after Sussan Ley granted all that. So we did the right thing.
Jonathan Barrett
ASX to rebound as sentiment improves
Australian shares are set to reverse some of the steep losses suffered late last week when the market opens this morning amid improved investor sentiment.
Futures pricing indicates the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 will open more than 1% higher this morning to around the 8,780 point mark, following a strong session on Wall Street on Friday.
Today’s anticipated strong gains follow a 2% dive on the ASX on Friday, which represented the worst single trading day since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs were revealed last April.
Global share markets have been hit by bouts of risk aversion, fears of an artificial intelligence bubble, falling commodity prices and signs of inflation reigniting, which has subdued equity returns in Australia.
At the same time, many traders have used sell-downs to top up their holdings, leading to quick rebounds. Australia’s benchmark index is down just over 4% from highs struck in October last year.
Michael McCarthy, market strategist at trading platform Moomoo, says recent volatility and price pressure in gold, silver, cryptocurrencies and technology stocks means investors are on edge.
Company results in Australia and the US could once again drive big single stock reactions, pushing stocks to soar on strong numbers and sink on less than perfect results.
Newspoll an ‘existential crisis’ for Liberals and 'we are now at irrelevance', Hume says
Jane Hume has not minced her words this morning, and after telling Sky News this morning the Coalition needed a “reset”, she spoke to reporters in the press gallery and called this morning’s Newspoll an “existential crisis”.
The Liberal senator and former frontbencher said there wouldn’t be a single Liberal elected to the House of Representatives if the poll results continued.
Hume dances around the question of whether the reset means a leadership change in both parties, saying that’s a decision for both party rooms, “not just me”.
We’re talking about a leadership contest between Sussan Ley and Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. None of them will have seats after the next election, if these polls continue, so something’s got to give.
I’m not casting aspersions on any one particular leader or leadership aspirant, but at some stage we need to do something very, very different, because this is so much worse than it was just in May last year, when we had our worst election defeat in history …
We are now at irrelevance.
‘We didn’t do it out of spite’, Littleproud says of split
After 17 days in the wilderness, the s have returned to the Coalition.
David Littleproud has had to explain his change in tune on his previous comments that his party would not serve under Ley’s leadership.
Speaking to the Today Show earlier, he said the “only assurance” he wanted was that the three sacked shadow ministers – Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald – wouldn’t remain on the backbench.
Under the negotiated deal, the three will spend six weeks iced out instead of six months and then get their positions back (along with the additional pay and staff allocations).
Littleproud said:
We didn’t do this out of spite. It was out of principle.
The only assurance that the party wanted was that those three ministers that were sacked for voting against it, we were all going to be sacked had we all been given the chance, and process that would never let this happen again, that’s the comfort that we needed and that’s what we were able to achieve.
Liberal party in ‘chaos’, Plibersek says
We haven’t heard a whole lot from the government this morning, while the Coalition drama continues to play out on our screens and airwaves.
Earlier this morning, the Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek says it’s “no wonder” the public say they won’t vote for the Coalition when they’re in chaos.
On a Sunrise panel with Barnaby Joyce, she blames the former s MP in part for kicking the whole saga off.
I don’t really think they’ve given Sussan Ley a fair chance. You know that Angus Taylor was snapping at her heels at the time of their party election at the very beginning. He’s never really let up.
Barnaby started it by leaving, and they’ve kept it going with the sort of chaos and speculation about leadership. And no wonder people say they’re not going to vote Liberal or while they’re all fighting each other instead of focusing on the Australian people. But to cause the chaos and then use the chaos as an excuse to knock off their first woman leader, I mean, I think people will see that for what it is. It’s pretty shallow and pretty cynical.
Joyce says he wondered how Plibersek was going to “stitch me into that” but says the polling is also “diabolical” for Labor who recorded a primary vote of 33%. Labor reached a post election high of 37% primary in late September.
‘Yes it is’: Ley says her job is safe
Sussan Ley is being pressed hard this morning on whether she’ll still be leader by the end of this week - she says she will, and is not expecting a spill.
Speaking to Sky News, Ley again tries to skirt around questions on when Angus Taylor will make a move, and square the focus back onto interest rates and the economy.
But a couple of quick yes/no questions gets some answers.
Pete Stefanovic: “Is your job safe?”
Ley: “Yes, it is.”
Stefanovic: “Are you expecting a spill?”
Ley: “No.”
She also warned her colleagues to stop airing their dirty laundry and venting frustrations publicly.
In any political party there is different views and characterisation about direction and the proper place to have that discussion is inside the party room. In public, we must present a credible alternative to the Australian people.
Petra Stock
More than 660,000 women accessed cheaper contraceptives and other medicines listed on the PBS
More than 660,000 women have accessed cheaper contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis treatments, since they were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Twelve months after the federal government’s $792.9m women’s health package, more than 2 million scripts have been filled, collectively saving women more than $73m, according to government statistics.
From January 2026, Medicare card holders would access further savings with the reduction in maximum out-of-pocket costs for PBS prescription medicines from $31.60 to $25.
Minister for Finance and Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher said:
Women asked the government to take their health seriously, and we’ve delivered. In just the first year, hundreds of thousands of women have saved money on essential medicines, more are getting dedicated menopause care through Medicare, and access to long-acting contraception is easier and more affordable.
This is a practical change that shows up at the pharmacy counter and in the GP clinic. With $25 PBS scripts now in place, costs are coming down even further in 2026.
Herzog’s visit will ‘lift the spirits of a pained community’, peak Jewish body says
Other Jewish peak bodies have welcomed the visit by Isaac Herzog, who arrived in Sydney earlier this morning.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community “warmly welcomes” the arrival.
Herzog is due to address community events and visit survivors of the Bondi terror attack. He will also travel to Canberra and Melbourne.
The co-chief executive of the ECAJ Alex Ryvchin said the visit will mean “a great deal” for victim families and survivors.
His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and we hope will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies.
Members of Jewish community take out full-page newspaper ads condemning Herzog visit
Members of Australia’s Jewish community have signed a letter saying Israeli president Isaac Herzog is not welcome in Australia, taking out full page ads in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.
The ads are organised by the Jewish Council of Australia, which has been a vocal critic of the Israeli government.
The letter states:
Welcoming [Herzog] in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre betrays Jewish communities, multicultural Australia and everyone who stands for Palestinian human rights and international law.
We, the undersigned Australian Jews, say Israeli President Herzog does not speak for us and is NOT WELCOME HERE.
The letter has been signed by more than 600 members of the Jewish community.
