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Australia politics live: Barnaby Joyce says One Nation will ‘go for government’ as Ted O’Brien rejects adding them to Coalition | Australia news
Barnaby Joyce says no to One Nation joining the Coalition
Barnaby Joyce says One Nation is on the up and up, and will “go for government” after bagging its first federal lower house win.
But the former deputy prime minister, who defected to the minor rightwing party late last year, says he’s not open to his new party joining his old one, ruling out a larger Coalition.
He tells Channel Nine this morning, One Nation is prepared to offer “supply and confidence” but no more than that.
We’ll offer supply and confidence on policy outcomes … and that is not a Coalition. We don’t want your ministries, keep your ministries and your salaries.
You’ve got all the prizes, but you will deliver policy outcomes because we are not going to be constricted by cabinet solidarity that has done over the Australian people and the conservative side of balance of power so badly.
Ah cabinet solidarity, that old chestnut. It basically means that Joyce wants to be able to say what he wants to say on policy and not have to toe the Coalition party line.
Key events
Haines welcomes Labor’s funding for housing infrastructure, following her advocacy
Independent MP Helen Haines has welcomed the government’s budget funding for housing infrastructure this morning, saying that Labor took a little peak at her homework to build the policy.
The regional Victorian MP says she has been calling on the government to invest in critical infrastructure such as water, sewerage and power for years to get more homes built – particularly in regional Australia.
She says:
I’ve been building the case for targeted investment in this infrastructure, because without it, we simply cannot build the homes our communities need.
This is exactly the kind of practical, targeted policy regional communities have been crying out for – and it’s encouraging to see the government has listened and adopting this approach.
Australia Post fuel surcharge skyrockets
Rising fuel prices have hit Australia Post, with the service setting a 19.5% surcharge for the month of June.
Australia Post changes the surcharge every month, or sometimes not apply it at all depending on the cost. It says the surcharge is “based on an estimation of Australia Post’s direct costs and indirect fuel costs that relies on existing fuel prices to predict fuel costs on a forward-looking basis”.
The first three weeks of April saw a fuel surcharge of just 4.8%, while the final week of April and month of May saw the surcharge rise to 12%.
Next month it’ll hit 19.5%.
‘Deceit and betrayal’ from Labor on taxes, says shadow treasurer
Tim Wilson is trying to pin the government down on breaking its promises not to touch negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts, accusing Anthony Albanese of “deceit and betrayal” of voters.
He says the budget is in “disarray” from the broken promises, and the series of leaks that have come out ahead of tomorrow.
Speaking to the press at Parliament House, Wilson says the changes would be “new taxes on the self-starters of this nation”.
The prime minister was red hot with rage before the last election saying 50 times over in his own words that he wasn’t going to touch negative gearing, capital gains tax or family trusts, but he seems set to breach all those promises tomorrow night.
Wilson also tries to drive a wedge between the PM and his treasurer, Jim Chalmers – who has been eager to see the government drive major reforms.
For [Albanese] to have to continue to have to eat so many humble pies while he is in the process of not even delivering his budget yet, shows the budget is in disarray.
Nick Visser
NSW preparing for arrival of passengers aboard MV Hondius
NSW Health is working with the federal government and other states to receive, transport and provide care to passengers from the MV Hondius when they return from the Canary Islands later this week.
Four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and a New Zealand citizen will be aboard a charter flight from Tenerife scheduled to leave around 5pm local time on Monday, en route to Perth. They will then travel to their home states or country: in Australia, the five residents live in New South Wales and Queensland.
NSW Health said on arrival the passengers will immediately be transported by ambulance to the NSW biocontainment centre at Westmead hospital in Sydney, where they will undergo clinical assessment. Health officials will then assess “suitable quarantine arrangements”, a spokesperson said this morning.
The spokesperson added:
These passengers will be closely monitored, and should any develop symptoms they will be assessed by an infectious diseases physician and be provided appropriate care.
The risk to the public is low. Hantavirus is only rarely transmitted from person to person, and transmission requires close contact. People with hantavirus infection are not infectious before their symptoms begin. The time from exposure to hantavirus to the onset of symptoms (incubation period) can be up to six weeks.
The Guardian has reached out to Queensland Health for comment.
Ben Doherty
Antisemitism royal commission resumes public hearings
The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion resumes public hearings this morning: the second week of a fortnight block of hearings focused on defining antisemitism, its historical and contemporary manifestations and its current impact on Jewish Australians.
Nine witnesses are scheduled to appear before commissioner Virginia Bell, including Tahli Blicblau, chief executive of The Dor Foundation, and Julie Nathan, research director at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Rabbi Menachem Dadon, whose daughter was shot in the Bondi terror attack, but survived, will give evidence, as will Rabbi Daniel Rabin from Caulfield Shule and musician Deborah Conway. Other witnesses will be pseudonymised.
The prime minister was on radio this morning, arguing social cohesion remained a major concern in Australia, after a mother in Sydney was charged by police for allegedly abusing a Jewish children’s netball team using antisemitic slurs. Anthony Albanese told RN Breakfast:
I understand there are charges here so I won’t go into the specifics, but the idea that anyone would go to a children’s sporting event and say anything that is hateful, let alone anything which is hateful on the basis of race or faith, is just beyond belief, frankly.
We as a society need to come to terms with that. We need to be better.
‘You split ours, we didn’t split yours,’ says Joyce
The media-loving Barnaby Joyce is still doing his rounds across the press gallery this morning, talking about the dominance of One Nation over the weekend in Farrer.
It’s the first federal lower house seat the party has ever won, and will give Joyce a colleague on the crossbench.
But Joyce, speaking to Sky News, says he isn’t getting ahead of himself when talking about being a party of government (they would have to take 74 seats from Labor and the Coalition to be able to claim a majority).
He says the narrative needs to change that One Nation is “splitting” the vote from the Coalition – and it’s actually the opposite.
It’s so conceited, ‘One Nation is splitting our vote’, mate, you got 12% you split it. You split ours, we didn’t split yours. You don’t own votes, you earn votes.
Albanese wasn’t ‘that surprised’ by Farrer result
Anthony Albanese is continuing to stick the knife into the Liberal party after it lost its seat of Farrer to One Nation, saying he wasn’t that surprised the minor party won.
Former Liberal leader Sussan Ley resigned from parliament earlier this year after she was ousted by Angus Taylor, sparking the byelection.
Speaking to 4CA radio Cairns, Albanese says the Liberals and Nationals “don’t really stand for anything any more”.
But Albanese doesn’t believe that One Nation’s win will spread any further across the country – despite Barnaby Joyce saying this morning that his party was coming for western Sydney.
I wasn’t really that surprised … If the Liberal party just tried to be One Nation lite, then they shouldn’t be surprised that people will vote for the real thing, rather than the lighter version of it.
I’m not sure that One Nation’s appeal will go beyond the sort of seat that we’ve seen and where they traditionally have done OK. I think the problem for them is that they really focus on grievance rather than solutions. They’re not really a party of government.
‘No plans’ for a Coalition with One Nation, says O’Brien
Ted O’Brien, the shadow foreign minister and former deputy leader under Sussan Ley, says the Liberal party will learn the lessons of Saturday’s byelection loss – but that won’t involve looking towards a Coalition with One Nation.
Speaking to RN Breakfast earlier this morning, he said the loss wasn’t all about the leadership changes within the Liberal and National parties. He adds that One Nation is a “broad movement” and that it’s “doing a good job of amplifying the problems”.
We have no plans for going into a coalition with One Nation. Again, if we focus on the Australian people, if we focus on developing substantive policy. If we focus on removing this very poor Albanese government, that puts us in good stead. So, you know, I’m personally not looking around at any major structural change, trying to engage with One Nation under some formal coalition.
One Nation has already claimed credit for several Coalition policies, and for Angus Taylor on taking a hardline stance on immigration – something we know Pauline Hanson has campaigned on from day one.
Australians on board hantavirus ship in a ‘terrible situation’, says Watt
As my colleague, Josh Butler, brought you earlier, the government is repatriating six people – four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and one New Zealand resident – from Tenerife today, who were on board the MV Hondius.
That flight is expected to land in Perth tomorrow.
Cabinet minister Murray Watt spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier and the government is ensuring the group “receive the care that they need”:
It’s obviously a terrible situation that these people are in, going on a cruise, expecting to have a nice holiday, and finding themselves in this situation. We have agreed to repatriate a small number of Australians … Arrangements are being made with the states and territories around the quarantining of those people, but all of that work is now under way.
‘Revolving door of leaders does not lead to stability’: Albanese backs Starmer
Jumping back to the prime minister’s interview on RN, Anthony Albanese staunchly defended his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, after UK Labour faced a heavy loss in last weekend’s local elections.
Already, leadership challengers are beginning to circle, with more than 40 MPs calling on Starmer to quit:
But Albanese says he hopes Starmer will stay on.
I hope that Keir Starmer continues to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He was elected a relatively short period of time. I’ve dealt with four prime ministers of Great Britain since I was elected as prime minister and the revolving door of leaders does not lead to stability.
Joyce says One Nation ‘not an open door’ to disgruntled Coalition MPs
With One Nation’s byelection win has come rumours of more defections from the Coalition to join Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce’s ranks.
In fact, my colleague Sarah Martin spoke to Queensland Nationals MP Colin Boyce, who said “I consider a lot of things” in response to whether he was considering a shift to the minor rightwing party.
But Joyce isn’t welcoming all potential defectors with open arms:
It’s not just because you jump doesn’t mean we catch you. What does that mean? Well, it’s not an open door that anybody who wishes, just walks into One Nation …
I mean, obviously, the Liberal party really do have to do some soul-searching after the weekend because that was catastrophic. That is almost a signal that things might be over.
