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Australia news live: triumphant Hanson blasts ‘arrogant’ major parties; Ley says ‘voters never get it wrong’ | Australia news
Hanson says major parties disregarded and disrespected voters
Dan Jervis-Bardy
A triumphant Pauline Hanson has accused the major parties of “disregarding and disrespecting voters” for too long after One Nation’s win in the Farrer byelection.
Speaking on Sky News, Hanson said:
It’s not just a win for One Nation or Pauline Hanson – that’s not the big picture here. What I’m looking at is the win for Australia. We are now taking on the major political parties. (They) have been so arrogant for too long, disregarding, disrespecting, taking the voters out there for granted and knowing that they run this country into the ground. I want my country back. I want to bring back prosperity.
Hanson conducted the interview on the airport tarmac before boarding her new, Gina Rinehart-gifted, plane back to Queensland.
The One Nation leader praised the mining magnate as a proud and patriotic Australian while hitting out at her “bitter” critics.
These bitter people … tall poppy syndrome. Well, get over it people. I don’t ask for anything, but gee, when I got that backing from other people, I really appreciate it. So thank you very much, Mrs Rinehart.
Key events
Wilson says decision to form minority government with One Nation ‘up to the Australian people’
Speers asks, for the record, if Wilson is open to forming a minority government with One Nation MPs.
Wilson:
It all comes down to what Australians put up. I want to stop the Albanese government from continuing to wreck Australia.
My objective is to make sure the Liberal party is in a position to govern as strongly as possible. We traditionally form a coalition with the National party, but it’s up to the Australian people to decide who they want to vote for.
But I can tell you quite clearly my objective is to make sure Liberals beat One Nation candidates.
Wilson says Liberals’ Farrer preference deal ‘delivered’ result for One Nation
David Speers asks Tim Wilson directly: was the preference deal the right call, or the wrong call?
Wilson responds:
Well it was a call that was made, and it’s obviously one that has, you know, delivered a result.
Wilson concedes Liberal preferences helped legitimise One Nation
Wilson is asked about his 2019 comments that One Nation and its “despicable acolytes” should be put last on Liberal how-to-votes.
He says there are plenty of people fighting for that “last position” on the ballot paper these days.
It’s not just One Nation any more. I wish it were that simple, but it’s not.
We’ll make these decisions on what puts us in the best position to defeat the government, to be in a position to win seats. Politics is zero-sum. Somebody wins, somebody loses, and I want to make sure Liberal candidates are elected.
But we do that by being our best and not by providing pathways to anyone else, including the teals, including Labor, including the Greens, and of course that includes One Nation too.
Asked whether the decision by the Liberals to direct preferences to One Nation in Farrer “adds to their credibility” and legitimacy. Wilson says there’s “no point pretending otherwise”.
When you win seats it obviously gives them an opportunity and platform. That comes also with risks. So they’re there now and the performance of One Nation will be hinged on David Farley and, of course, the defector Barnaby Joyce. How they perform now will obviously inform how Australians see them.
Wilson promises Coalition will be ‘very clear’ on migration
Wilson is asked about comments made by the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, after the byelection that hinted at a rightward shift toward “ending mass migration” and stopping net zero policies.
Wilson says we have to “outline what we’re opposed to, but most importantly, we have to define what we’re for”.
Insiders host David Speers asks if that is clear.
I can assure you in the coming weeks we’re going to make it very clear what we’re for. Australians need to know that we’re in favour of families, community, small business and self-starters.
My focus on migration is how we make sure we get new Australians integrated successfully.
One of the reasons Australians have become very nervous about migration is they feel that people are coming to Australia and getting the benefits without making the contribution. And I want the best, boldest, most confident new Australians we can have.
Tim Wilson says Labor MPs will be ‘nervous’ after Farrer result
Wilson says there are “a lot of messages” out of the byelection, including for Labor.
There would be some nervous Labor MPs because what people want to see is change.
One of the most consistent messages is that people want someone who is going to fight for them and their future.
People are going to be very antagonistic towards the government breaking their promises on tax issues ahead of the budget and if they keep behaving like this I expect it’s going to come for them too.
Shadow treasurer: Libs need to be ‘bigger, better, bolder’
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, is speaking on the ABC’s Insiders program.
He says the halving of the Liberal vote is “a serious situation”.
He says the party needs to be “bigger, better, bolder, confident liberals defining the future of our country”.
It shows there’s a lot of work we’ve got to do and Angus (Taylor) has been very upfront about that. The work needs to keep going on.
We need to outline very clearly a bold and confident idea for the country and where we want to take it.
The idea that the political pendulum just swings between the Coalition and Labor is no longer right.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Chalmers calls housing tax system ‘broken’
Speaking earlier on Sky News, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the housing tax system is “broken”, “unfair”, and “unacceptable” in his strongest defence yet of the case for breaking a promise not to touch negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
Changes to the property investor tax concessions are expected to be the centrepiece of the budget that Chalmers hands down on Tuesday night.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and senior ministers repeatedly ruled out future changes to negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax discount during the 2025 election campaign, which Labor won with a huge majority.
Chalmers said:
The budget on Tuesday night will signal, I think, a year of more ambitious reform which recognises that the status quo in housing and tax is broken, it is unfair, it is unacceptable.
A lot of the work and all of the comments that we have made in the past has reflected that overwhelming focus on [housing] supply, as the prime minister said. But there are additional steps that need to be taken to make the housing market fairer.
Farrer result a ‘bloodbath’: Chalmers
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the Farrer byelection result was a “bloodbath” for the Coalition that casts doubt on Angus Taylor’s future as Liberal leader.
Appearing on Sky News ahead of Tuesday night’s budget, Chalmers said:
It wasn’t a byelection, it was a bloodbath for the Coalition. Angus Taylor went big on division and lost really badly. It should come as a surprise to nobody after how badly he failed as shadow treasurer that he’s now failing as leader, and it would surprise me if the clock wasn’t already ticking on his leadership.
Chalmers said the result showed the Coalition would need to join forces with One Nation if it wanted to return to government, leaving Labor as the only party left in the “sensible centre of Australian politics”.
Chalmers says budget will include $2bn extra for infrastructure
The upcoming federal budget will include an extra $2bn over four years to fund infrastructure, such as roads, water, power and sewerage, that will help build up to 65,000 new homes, the Albanese government announced on Saturday night.
The new funding, to be formally announced on Tuesday, will help finance the completion of housing projects that would otherwise face expensive hurdles. It will be provided to local governments and state utility providers, and a quarter of those funds, about $500m, will be reserved exclusively for regional Australia.
The Labor government said the extra $2bn brought the total investment in infrastructure to assist housing projects to $6.3bn since the party came into power.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement:
Building more homes is a big focus of this Budget and a big focus of the Albanese Government. …
Right now, it’s too hard for too many Australians to get into their own home and get ahead and that’s why we’re investing in supply. Our housing plan is pro-aspiration and it’s pro-investment.
We’re coming at this housing challenge from every responsible angle, and boosting supply is central to that.
Dfat officials travelling to Canary Islands to assist those aboard ship at centre of hantavirus outbreak
Consular officials with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) are travelling to Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, to provide assistance to four Australian citizens and one permanent resident on board the MV Hondius, the ship at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak.
Dfat said it was not aware of any travellers displaying symptoms of the virus, but would help coordinate response efforts with local authorities and partner countries. A spokesperson said:
We are considering options for the safe repatriation of the four Australians and permanent resident. Our priority is the safety of the community.
The MV Hondius is expected to arrive in Tenerife about midday on Sunday, local time. No passengers are allowed to stay in the country or take commercial flights, but travellers are expected to be repatriated by their respective nations.
The Australian government is working closely with states and territories to prepare for that eventuality, including looking into any necessary quarantine requirements, health monitoring or testing arrangements.
Hantavirus, while serious, has a low transmission rate between humans and officials have maintained that the likelihood of a widespread outbreak comparable to Covid-19 or the flu is very low. The World Health Organization is managing an internationally coordinated response and has assessed the current risk to the global population as low.
Jane Hume says ‘trust has been lost’ by the Coalition
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The deputy Liberal leader, Jane Hume, has conceded the Coalition has lost the trust of voters after Saturday’s thumping Farrer byelection defeat.
The Liberal primary vote collapsed below 13% as One Nation’s David Farley romped home to victory, winning the right-wing populist party’s first-ever lower house seat.
Hume told Sky News:
We always knew it was going to be a tough ask when a retired member, particularly one that has been long serving, more than 20 years, retires, when Labor chooses not to run and there isn’t an anti-establishment push. That’s really what we’ve seen.
We need to reflect on what it is that the people of Farrer and right around Australia are telling us that we need to rebuild trust. Trust has been lost by the Coalition.
Hume pinned the erosion of trust on the two Liberal-National splits and the decision to put all of its policies up for review after the 2025 election.
All of those occurred under Sussan Ley, whose decision to retire from parliament after losing the leadership to Angus Taylor triggered the byelection.
Ley – who held the southern New South Wales seat for 25 years – issued a pointed statement about Saturday night’s result, which appeared to suggest the Coalition’s position was worse now than when she was ousted in February.
Asked about Ley’s statement on Sunday morning, Hume said:
I saw that statement late last night. Sussan, as a long serving member (is) entitled to have their say. It was interesting on the booth, though, no one mentioned Sussan Ley to me, not in pre-poll and not on election day.
Ley: the voters never get it wrong
Here is some more of the statement from Sussan Ley, who resigned as the member for Farrer after she was dumped as opposition leader:
Serving the people of Farrer for 25 years, having been endorsed by locals at nine elections, was the privilege of my professional life. I know David (Farley) will feel that same sense of honour and responsibility.
Until tonight, at every one of 30 elections since 1949, through difficult and challenging circumstances, it has been held without exception by the Liberal and National parties. It would be an error to reduce both the scale and significance of tonight’s defeat to a Coalition split which occurred months ago, or to misattribute it to the date the vote was held.
I urge the Liberal leadership to accept this result with humility because the voters never get it wrong. On the day the leadership spilled in February, the new leaders said the Liberal Party needed to ‘change or die’. Three months later, the result in Farrer demonstrates that statement to be far truer today than it ever was then.
Good morning
Hello and welcome to this Sunday, 10 May.
And welcome, too, to an upturned political order in Australia, after One Nation won its first-ever lower house seat at the Farrer byelection.
Pauline Hanson says her rightwing populist party is coming after Coalition and Labor seats around Australia, declaring her supporters want to “take the country back” after winning an emphatic victory on Saturday.
The result is stunning for a number of reasons: One Nation candidate David Farley finished in a two-party contest with independent Michelle Milthorpe. It was a jarring visual for political watchers used to seeing elections as red-v-blue contests.
The loss will further weaken Angus Taylor’s depleted opposition and is the latest evidence of a move away from the traditional forces in Australian politics.
Sussan Ley – the former opposition leader, whose resignation set the byelection in motion – has urged the Liberals to accept the result with “humility”, saying “voters never get it wrong”.
There is a lot to unpick today, and we’ll be bringing you coverage of reactions and news stories as they come in. The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, is due to be interviewed on the ABC’s Insiders program shortly.
