What we learned, 18 May 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Murray Watt has told Sky News that Australia needs “an EPA with teeth” in an early morning interview after his appointment as environment minister
Watt also responded to Russia’s jailing of Australian Oscar Jenkins after he was captured while fighting with Ukrainians, saying he had endured a “sham trial”
Austria has won the 2025 Eurovision song contest
The Liberals’ new deputy leader Ted O’Brien says his party’s position on nuclear power will be decided by Coalition party leaders
South Australian senator Anne Ruston says nuclear power and commitment to the Paris climate agreement are divisive issues within the Coalition
An alarming rate of abuse in Queensland’s child safety system has prompted an inquiry
Urgent action is needed to tackle the NSW waste and recycling crisis, the state government has said
South Australian One Nation MLC Sarah Game has resigned from the party, saying its brand has become toxic
There are hopes for a EU trade deal revival as Anthony Albanese meets European counterparts
Large crowds have joined Nakba Day rallies in Melbourne and Sydney
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
More auctions across Australian capitals but less activity than last year
Auction activity has climbed this weekend with 1,835 auctions to be held.
This is a slight increase on the 1,735 held last week but a fall from the 2,146 auctions that took place at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 68.8% across the country, which is lower than the 70.2% preliminary rate recorded last week, but above the 65% actual rate on final numbers and the 65.4% at the same time last year.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 427 of 558 auctions held; with a preliminary clearance rate of 65.3%
Melbourne: 726 of 935 auctions; 73.8%
Brisbane: 104 0f 134 auctions; 59.6%
Adelaide: 78 of 132 auctions; 64.1%
Canberra: 53 of 68 auctions; 56.6%
Hobart: One of two auctions
Perth: Four of six auctions
Updated
Interest rate cut tipped despite Trump tariff backdown
The Reserve Bank is widely expected to deliver a second interest rate cut as global trade uncertainty threatens to rain on Australia’s economy.
A clear majority of economists believe the RBA will cut interest rates at its next meeting, but developments abroad mean it’s no longer a sure thing.
The US president, Donald Trump, recently slashed tariffs on China to 35% from a whopping 145%, prompting Beijing to lower its own tariff wall and triggering a rebound in values for riskier assets such as shares.
Following strong labour market data released on Thursday, the market now predicts three rate cuts by year’s end, down from four priced in at the start of the week.
But traders are still nearly fully priced in for a 25 basis point cut to the cash rate, which sits at 4.15%, on Tuesday, almost nine in 10 economists agreed in a survey by comparison website Finder.
Economists at all four big banks also expect a cut, with NAB still holding on to its prediction of a turbocharged 50 basis point cut.
The central bank will also update its quarterly economic predictions on Tuesday in an otherwise quiet week on the data front.
The Victorian government will unveil its budget on the same day, with rating agency S&P Global warning the country’s most indebted state to rein in spending or risk its AA credit rating being downgraded further.
– AAP
Updated
Tongan man allegedly stabs Australian Border Force contractor while being deported
A man accused of stabbing and assaulting two Australian Border Force contractors who were escorting him to be deported has been denied bail after appearing in court on Sunday.
A 28-year-old Tongan man is alleged to have attacked the two contractors, who were transporting him from the Villawood detention centre to Sydney airport on Thursday, before attempting to flee.
A 54-year-old man was stabbed in the neck during the attack.
The Tongan man was being voluntarily deported after his visa expired. The first attempt at deportation was aborted due to a medical incident.
Police arrested the man a short time later.
He has been charged with causing wounding or grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder and wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man did not apply for bail during his court appearance on Sunday and is due back in July.
A 24-year-old woman was also arrested and has been charged with knowingly harbouring, maintaining or employing an escaped inmate.
For more on this story, read The Guardian’s previous reporting here:
Updated
Man charged with hate crimes after allegedly spray-painting offensive messages in Sydney
A man has been charged with dozens of hate crimes carried out across Sydney’s inner west.
A police foot patrol in Petersham noticed the man spray-painting messages on decals associated with the target community just after midnight on Sunday.
The 21-year-old was arrested and taken to the Newtown police station, where further investigations allege the man was shown to have been involved in spraying offensive messages on buildings and political posters starting at the end of April.
He was charged with 53 offences including:
Entering inclosed land not prescribed premises without lawful excuse
Intentionally marking premises without prescribed consent
Knowingly displaying by public act Nazi symbol without excuse
Destroying or damaging property
The man has been refused bail to appear at the Parramatta local court on Sunday.
Updated
Cannabis plants worth $2.5m discovered in Melbourne after public tipoff
A tipoff from a member of the public has led to the discovery of a “sophisticated” cannabis operation in Melbourne worth an estimated $2.5m.
Victoria police searched a rented factory in Mordialloc in Melbourne’s south-east on Friday morning after receiving the information.
Officers uncovered a well-established hydroponic setup of 850 cannabis plants, including seedlings and mature plants ready for harvesting.
Police estimate the plants have a potential street value of $2.5m.
Police footage shows a large pile of cannabis plants stacked high outside the factory.
Sgt Stuart Burnham urged landlords to remain vigilant, warning some renters may be using properties for criminal activity.
No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.
– AAP
Updated
‘Absolutely no evidence’: how NSW police backflipped on unlawful strip-search
Raya Meredith was at one of Australia’s biggest music festivals when a drug detection dog sniffed in her direction.
The dog then walked on, the NSW supreme court recently heard, but police officers stopped her. They took her bag and searched it. The 27-year-old, who was postpartum at the time, was then taken into a makeshift tarpaulin, where a female police officer asked her to take all her clothes off, bend over and bare her bottom, drop her breasts and remove her tampon. At one point, a male officer walked in unannounced.
The search found no drugs and nothing else illegal.
“It was a horrible thing to go through,” Meredith said in emotional testimony on the first day of a class action against the state of NSW about the search.
But so too, Meredith told the court, was the “gaslighting” she endured for years by the police force who denied her version of events, leaving her feeling “violated, yet again”. Shortly before a class action against the NSW police began almost two weeks ago, the force backflipped and admitted in court documents to unlawfully strip-searching her.
It was difficult to have police officers, who were there, who saw it, say I was lying.
For more about the class action against NSW police, read the full story by Guardian Australia’s Jordyn Beazley:
Updated
Large crowds mark Nakba Day in Melbourne
Large crowds have attended a Nakba Day march in Melbourne to mark the 77th anniversary of the dispossession of Palestinian people from their homes, as well as the ongoing treatment of Palestinian people in the occupied territories and Gaza.
Photos and video posted to social media showed a long procession of people taking part in the rally. Similar rallies took place in Sydney.
Victorian police has not yet provided an estimate for the size of the crowd.
The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, is the name given to the mass displacement of Palestinians triggered by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that marked the creation of the state of Israel.
Updated
Hopes of EU trade deal revival as Albanese meets von der Leyen
Anthony Albanese and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration amid fresh hope a free-trade deal with the bloc can be revived.
Albanese is also hoping to hold talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the new Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, after the inaugural mass in Vatican City, due to start at 10am local time (6pm AEST).
Australia walked away from talks on an EU trade deal in 2023 after refusing to accept proposed restrictions on agricultural products, including beef, sugar and dairy, and limits on the use of terms such as feta and prosecco.
But the two parties could be brought back to the negotiating table as Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to reshape global trade.
Speaking to reporters in Rome ahead of the inauguration and meeting with von der Leyen, Albanese reportedly said Australia was “up for a deal but not any deal at any price”.
We’re up for a deal that’s in Australia’s national interest. The last time around, we weren’t able to achieve breakthroughs on agriculture.
Albanese’s potential one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy comes after news of Oscar Jenkins’ 13-years jail sentence in Russia for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
The prime minister described the sentence as an “outrage”.
It is a continuation of the way that they [Russia] have behaved, abrogating their international responsibilities.
Updated
Hundreds of dead fish wash up near Hobart
Hundreds of small dead fish have washed ashore on the River Derwent near Hobart in what appears to be a fish kill.
The ABC reports that the fish are believed to be pilchards or sardines, with nearby residents reporting many were bleeding from their gills and vent.
Local residents reported that the fish were being found on the beach and floating in the river from Saturday.
There is no information about what may have caused the incident, with the Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority yet to make a statement.
Updated
PM to discuss jailed Australian fighter with Zelenskyy
The fate of jailed Australian Oscar Jenkins is set to be discussed in face-to-face talks between the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome.
Jenkins faces 13 years in a Russian prison after a court found him guilty of taking part in an armed conflict as a mercenary, which denies him the protections provided to prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions.
The Australian government insists he was fighting as a member of the Ukrainian defence forces and should be entitled to humane treatment as a prisoner of war.
The pair are expected to meet on Sunday, Vatican time, on the sidelines of the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in the Holy See.
On Saturday, Albanese told journalists he was “outraged” by Jenkins’ incarceration and that Russia was continuing to abrogate its obligations to international law.
– AAP
Updated
South Australian One Nation MLC resigns from party
South Australian One Nation MLC Sarah Game has quit the party to serve as an independent over concerns about “the way the One Nation brand is perceived” and fears her constituency has moved in a different direction.
In a post to social media, Game said the party’s brand was too toxic for her to continue saying that with five years left of her term she needed to “be practical if I am to deliver for the people of South Australia”.
These missed opportunities are the result of the way the One Nation brand is perceived. I have tried to evolve the brand, to the place it needs to be, but I have come to the position that it is not possible and is limiting my ability to advocate for the people of South Australia.
I want to thank the media for the opportunities given to me and the fair way in which I have been represented and to the One Nation party which gave me the opportunity to be a member of parliament.
The statement signalled internal disagreement within the party over “decisions recently which I do not support”.
These decisions have further reduced my confidence that the party will change as it needs to.
Game did not appear in One Nation campaign material prior to her election to parliament and refused to participate in media interviews despite being preferenced as the party’s lead candidate at the 2022 state election.
She is the daughter of One Nation’s South Australian leader, Jennifer Game.
Updated
Victoria’s free public transport for under-18s ‘real cost-of-living help’ – Allan
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says she expects the measure to make the state’s public transport free for under-18s to lead to increased use of the network.
The announcement – revealed earlier this morning – is a key cost-of-living measure in next week’s Victorian budget.
Allan was also asked whether the move – which was likened to Queensland’s 50c fare regime – was just a ploy to win votes.
You have a choice to make.
You back working people and families when they are looking to governments to provide real cost-of-living help right now.
Queensland’s introduction of across-the-board 50c fares led to drastically increased patronage and was credited with saving several Labor seats at last year’s state election.
Reduced fares have a double impact as a budgetary measure – they allow governments to ease pressure on household budgets but at the same time have a deflationary effect, because they bring prices down.
Asked about the impact of the free fares on the state budget, Allan said:
Through responsible decisions we’ve been focused on investments that go where they matter most.
Updated
Burns could push glossy black cockatoos towards extinction in Victoria
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn.
The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk.
Glossy black cockatoos are listed as vulnerable in Victoria, where they are found only in East Gippsland.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of their Victorian habitat was burned in the 2019-20 black summer bushfires, leaving the species almost entirely dependent on 48,000 hectares of unburnt coastal forest between Lake Tyers and Orbost, about 350km east of Melbourne.
A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Australian Field Ornithology estimated that the Victorian population had declined by three-quarters since the fires.
Glossy black cockatoos feed almost exclusively on the cones of black sheoak trees.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Petra Stock:
Updated
Urgent action needed to tackle NSW waste and recycling crisis
The NSW government says urgent action is needed to tackle the state’s “waste and recycling crisis” or red bins will not be able to be collected in Sydney and some parts of regional NSW by 2030.
The Minns government released a waste and circular infrastructure plan this week that it says is needed because greater Sydney is running out of landfill.
The plan considers:
“Streamlining” planning processes to expand or extend the life of some landfills
Strategies to increase recycling rates that have flatlined at an average of 65% of waste generated across the state
How to better plan recycling and waste infrastructure
Further exploration of waste-to-energy options where doing so would reduce reliance on landfill and maintain human health and environmental protections
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said failure to tackle the problem would drive up the cost of kerbside bin collections and could affect critical infrastructure projects such as new housing developments.
The government has taken some early steps, with the parliament earlier this year passing laws to mandate food organics and garden organics recycling.
Sharpe said for too long state governments “have ignored the fact that greater Sydney is running out of landfill”.
Waste collection is an essential service. This draft plan is the first of its kind and is long overdue. We can no longer kick this problem down the road.
The first chapter of the plan is out for public consultation until 25 June. Future chapters will be released later this year.
Updated
Surge in refusals for freedom of information undermines trust in Australian government, watchdog warns
The Australian government is refusing freedom of information requests at a rate not seen for a decade, data shows, prompting concerns for transparency and accountability.
Data held by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the watchdog overseeing the FoI system, revealed the proportion of FoI requests being completely refused has shot up to 27% in the December 2024 quarter.
That is the highest level since at least 2014-15, historical records show.
The OAIC said it is aware of the rising refusal rate and is monitoring the situation.
“There are some clear opportunities for improvement for the commonwealth FoI system that we are alive to as the regulator and monitoring,” a spokesperson said. “This includes refusal rates.”
The fast-rising refusal rate has prompted concern among transparency advocates.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Christopher Knaus:
Updated
Alarming rates of abuse in Queensland’s child safety system prompt inquiry
The Queensland government has announced an inquiry into the state’s child safety system, following the release of a report that has found alarming rates of abuse and neglect.
It says the results of a 2024 “census” of about 3,000 children in state care found that more than one in 10 had been sexually abused; and almost half had been physically abused.
Most children said they had suffered emotional abuse (83%), neglect (88%) and been exposed to domestic violence (68%). More than two-thirds had experienced three or more types of abuse.
Tom Allsop, the chief executive of PeakCare – the umbrella group for child and family services – welcomed the inquiry but said the problems and their solutions were already well known.
Allsop said there had been a “crippling over-reliance” on residential care homes, resulting from decades of under-investment in prevention, early intervention, and a lack of contemporary approaches.
We have never known more about what is needed to keep children safe, to prevent harm, and how best to respond when harm does occur.
I’m confident it will quickly become clear that the challenges in Queensland are not a result of the absence of knowing what is needed to create a better care system, it is an enduring and entrenched lack of meaningful action on the things we know will make the biggest difference.
The government has appointed Paul Anastassiou KC to lead the inquiry and says it will have broad terms of reference.
The premier, David Crisafulli, said:
This is the commission of inquiry the state must have if we are serious about the safety of Queensland children and our communities.
Reforming the state’s broken child safety system is critical, and we will take the steps others have been afraid to take because it is the right thing to do.
Updated
Ted O’Brien says Liberals need to reflect ‘modern Australia’ with more women in party
Ted O’Brien says the Liberal party needs to expand to better reflect modern Australia, pledging to recruit more women and young people to help shape policy and stand for parliament.
As the Coalition begins the long road back from the 3 May election defeat under Peter Dutton, the new deputy Liberal party leader and his leader, Sussan Ley, face calls for formal quotas to help women take winnable seats, and for a major policy reset to better align with voters’ concerns.
The Fairfax MP and nuclear power advocate told Guardian Australia he would contribute to policy debate on energy supply, but stopped short of saying whether the Dutton-era plan for construction of seven reactors should remain policy for the next election, due around 2028.
I absolutely believe that we need to see a bigger Liberal party which reflects modern Australia, and represents modern Australia, and that includes more women, not just running as parliamentarians but throughout the party.
I’m saddened by the fact that we had 28 female candidates, that 28 women went to this election as Liberals who weren’t elected.
Asked about Dutton labelling the ABC and Guardian Australia “hate media” in the days before the election, O’Brien promised a different approach.
I don’t believe in prejudging any media outlet.
I think that we need to be speaking to all Australians because the Liberal party represents all Australians, and different media outlets sometimes speak to different parts of Australia.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Tom McIlroy:
Updated
Victoria announces free public transport for under-18s
Every Victorian child will get free public transport from 1 January next year, the state government has pledged.
A new youth Myki, valid across the state, will save families up to $755 a year (the cost of a yearly student pass) under the scheme. Anyone under 18 in non-Myki areas will also be eligible to travel for free.
The benefit will apply to all forms of public transport, including trams, trains, buses and coach services.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, said it meant “free public transport for every child, every day, everywhere”.
“Families are doing it tough and I’m on their side,” she said.
The government says more than 1 million children and their families will benefit. The program will cost $318m over four years.
For more on this story, read the full report from Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd:
Updated
PM to meet world leaders in Rome for Pope Leo’s inauguration
Anthony Albanese will represent Australia at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass, which will draw together a rare concentration of world leaders and royalty.
The prime minister is expected to hold talks with other leaders as a hive of diplomatic activity is expected to play out on the sidelines of the historic event.
Since arriving in Rome on Friday, Albanese has met with the Sydney Catholic Archbishop, Anthony Fisher, and the Melbourne Archbishop, Peter Comensoli, Nine newspapers reported.
The prime minister also spoke briefly about the importance of the inauguration mass for Australia’s 5 million Catholics at a church in Rome that welcomes visiting Australians.
It’s a whirlwind two-and-a-half-day visit and one the recently re-elected prime minister will be sure to use in advancing Australia’s domestic and foreign policy agenda.
Although official itineraries have not been released, Albanese is expected to meet with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen.
At the top of the agenda for both meetings will be trade and the war in Ukraine.
Other notable attendees include the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US vice-president, JD Vance, who is set to represent the US in place of Donald Trump, and Britain’s Prince William.
The mass, expected to be attended by tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square, will begin at 10am local time (6pm on Sunday AEST). It is expected to follow a visit by the Pope to St Peter’s tomb in the basilica.
– AAP
Updated
Ruston says she is open to the introduction of quotas for women in the Liberal party after the disastrous election result, saying “nothing is off the table”.
I think our policy offerings need to reflect the feedback that we get more broadly across Australia.
Updated
Ruston asked AI why Liberals lost – and 'no clear theme' emerged
After the disastrous 2025 election result for the Coalition, Ruston says she asked an “off the shelf” large-language model, commonly referred to as AI, what people thought about the party and the election results, and that the result returned “no clear theme”.
Actually more than anything, it showed me that there were so many different issues that Australians were considering when they went to the ballot box to vote that I think it shows us we absolutely have to look at everything. There was no clear theme apart from quite clearly the Australian public went to the ballot box and didn’t vote for us.
The senator continued:
Basically, it said that the product offer that we took to the Australian public, Australians did not support quite clearly and we need to go back to the drawing board and have a look at all of the issues that factored into it. Many issues have been ventilated over the last two weeks by colleagues, by commentators and every single one of them deserved to be considered.
Ruston was also quick to add that the party won’t be relying entirely on AI to conduct its post-election review.
There are many ways that we need to address this. We need to speak to our party members, we need to speak to the frontbench and the backbench. We need to make sure the backbench is included in the process of going forward. We need to speak to the Australian public.
But obviously, technology gives us an opportunity to be able to collate the broader commentary across Australia that something we probably haven’t had access to before and we should use that as well. Every tool that’s available should be used.
Updated
Climate policy to be left to shadow ministry – Ruston
Asked about ongoing negotiations on the Coalition agreement between the Liberal and National parties, Ruston says the talks are under way.
Ruston says it is her preference that the Coalition’s attitude towards climate change and the Paris agreement, and the future of nuclear, should be left to the shadow ministry to hash out.
Liberal party policy is developed in the Liberal party room. National party policy is delivered in the Nationals party room and Coalition policy is designed or is agreed to around the shadow cabinet table. So a Coalition shadow cabinet will be the one that will put forward Coalition policy. But we should never shy away from the fact that we have got two separate party rooms that go through policy processes separately.
Asked whether she will stay in the Coalition, the senator says “I certainly hope so”.
Updated
Liberals ‘work best’ when they’re a broad church – Ruston
Ruston is also asked about a decision by the South Australian Liberals to place Alex Antic, a member of the party’s factional right who has been consolidating power within the state by courting religious groups in particular, ahead of her on the Senate ticket.
Ruston:
Well, obviously that’s a decision for the party members here in South Australia. What I’m excited about is now having been hopefully re-elected to the parliament for another six years to play my role as part of the team, part of the leadership team, because I’m really excited about the opportunity to rebuild our party.
On the takeover by the conservatives in South Australia:
Well, look, as I said, we’re a broad church. That’s where we work best when we’re tolerant of the broad range of views that we have, but our values are all the same. I mean, I don’t think anybody in my party doesn’t mean that aspiration is the most important thing we should strive to be able to enable every Australian to be able to achieve.
Updated
Ruston not ruling in or out Liberals’ support for Aukus
Ruston has also demurred on the question of whether the party will review its support for Aukus, saying she is “not going to rule in, rule out”.
Quite clearly that is a very, very important policy position that has been adopted by both sides of the parliament – in fact, both the Labor party and the Coalition. I think it stands in very strong stead in very uncertain times. But it’s not for me to be ruling in, ruling out. The leaders made it very clear, I think you can read from what I have just said, I think we could consider Aukus a very strong platform in our policy rebuild.
On health policy, Ruston says she wishes “the Labor party well to make sure their policies are implemented so Australians can afford to go and see a doctor” but is “not ruling anything in or out” on whether the Coalition would help pass Labor’s reforms.
On abortion, Ruston says the issue is “something that’s well and truly in the domain of the states and territories and should stay there”, and she is not aware of any proposal that would “make any changes in relation to the small amount of responsibility that the federal parliament has for this issue”.
Updated
Liberals must ‘build from the bottom up’ after election disaster – Ruston
Asked why the Liberals were now reviewing their embrace of the Paris climate agreement under the former government of Scott Morrison, Ruston says the walloping voters handed the party meant “absolutely everything” was up for review.
To be quite frank, we have to build from the bottom up again because that election result was quite disastrous for the Liberal party and we need to be open and honest with ourselves about what we need to take forward so that we are meeting Australia where they are and not talking about where we are.
Ruston also dodges a question when pressed on the position taken by Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who has blamed a cost-of-living crisis on efforts to achieve net zero.
The senator has also signalled that the Coalition’s support for nuclear may also be up for review.
Clearly we need to be doing something different. I think, you know, keeping an open mind, making sure we’re honest and open with that analysis of what went wrong, and actually come out with a policy proposal and a modern Liberal party, still maintaining all of the values that we hold so dearly.
Updated
Coalition divided over energy policy, Ruston admits
The Coalition is divided on how to address the existential threat of climate change and the future of net zero, the Liberal senator Anne Ruston says.
Ruston is speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers. She was asked about how the parties may confront the issue in the context of comments by the Australian Industry Group CEO, Innes Willox, that reopening the climate wars would be “like reopening an old wound”.
Willox said:
Oh God, no, no, anything but, please. We have been there before many times over the past 20 years or so and to reopen the climate wars, as you aptly describe them, is like reopening an old wound.
Ruston said “energy is the economy and we need to get energy policy right”.
But there’s no secret there is a divergence of views in our party room about how we achieve that, but right now, I absolutely think the thing we need to concentrate on is making sure that people can afford their power bills, making sure that industry, as Innes points out, that they have confidence in our energy policy in Australia so they can’t to invest here.
We don’t want companies to go broke like we have seen. We don’t want companies offshoring like we have seen. I think one of the most important issues is to get, you know, solid feedback and make sure our energy policy is fit for purpose for modern Australia.
Updated
O’Brien sidesteps question on his choice of shadow portfolio
O’Brien is asked if he wants the shadow treasurer’s role, as was widely speculated ahead of last week’s leadership vote.
For context, the deputy Liberal leader typically gets their choice of portfolio, although it doesn’t always play out that way. Ley herself was believed to have asked for the foreign affairs role earlier this year only for the then leader Peter Dutton to appoint David Coleman.
Back to O’Brien, who again plays a straight bat.
Those conversations continue to be had. We haven’t finalised them.
Clennell asks O’Brien if Ley has promised the role to someone else.
I understand your wish for a yes or no answer to any question, Andrew, and I respect that. I really do, but again, my answer doesn’t change. We are having these discussions at the moment
Updated
Russia’s sentencing of Australian Oscar Jenkins a ‘sham trial’ – Watt
Just taking a step back for a minute to the interview with Labor senator Murray Watt.
The frontbencher was asked for his response to news Oscar Jenkins has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in Russia for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Watt said:
This is an appalling decision from Russia, and another outrage in a long line of outrages when it comes to matters involving Ukraine. We are appalled by this decision from Russia. We consider this to be a sham trial, and we don’t accept that Mr Jenkins should be treated this way. In our view, he should be treated as a prisoner of war.
Updated
O’Brien: nuclear discussion between Coalition party leaders
The new deputy Liberal leader, Ted O’Brien, is up next on Sky.
First off the bat, he’s asked whether the Liberals and Nationals will strike a formal agreement or go their separate ways after the election disaster.
O’Brien says:
There’s no doubt … that the Liberal party and the National party are at their strongest when they are in a Coalition and they’re working together. That’s proven to be the case over many many years.
One potential sticking point is the future of the opposition’s nuclear plan, which O’Brien spearheaded as shadow climate change and energy minister.
O’Brien sidesteps the question of whether the Nationals have insisted that the nuclear plan be retained in order to agree to a Coalition deal.
Look, the discussions are between (Liberal leader) Sussan Ley and (Nationals leader) David Littleproud – I’ll leave it to them. When it comes to issues of policy, the Liberal party has already made very clear what our approach is, and that is, we need to be listening to the Australian people.
Updated
Austria wins Eurovision
Austria has won the Eurovision song contest for the third time after a jury vote delivered the 2025 win for Viennese-born JJ with their song, Wasted Love.
The favourite Switzerland received no love from the public as Austria took out the contest, but not without challenge from Israel.
Accepting the trophy, JJ said they wanted there to be “more love”.
Australia was knocked out in the semi-final and so did not compete in this round.
Updated
Watt: ‘I’m someone who can bring different groups together’
Watt was appointed to the portfolio to replace Tanya Plibersek, whose three years in the role were defined by a failure to deliver Labor’s promised nature reforms.
Clennell asks Watt if he was placed in the role because he is a “fixer” who might make more “reasonable” decisions than Plibersek.
Watt responds:
I’ll leave it to commentators like you, Andrew, to determine why I’ve been put in this role and come up with different descriptions, but I guess, you know, I think my record does show that I’m someone who can bring different groups together and make decisive decisions and then get matters passed through the Senate.
Watt points to his success as agriculture minister in legislating an end date for the live sheep trade as well as overseeing the federal government’s intervention into the CFMEU as industrial relations minister.
For more on Plibersek’s effort to negotiate the nature positive reforms, read the Guardian’s previous reporting here:
Updated
We need an EPA ‘with teeth’, environment minister tells Sky
The environment minister, Murray Watt, is speaking on Sky News.
In an interview with Guardian Australia published on Friday, Watt said establishing a federal environment protection agency was a “very high and immediate priority” for the re-elected Albanese government after Labor failed to get it through parliament in the previous term.
One of the big unanswered questions is the design of the EPA 2.0, including whether it would have the power to make decisions on projects or just enforce nature laws.
Speaking with Sky, Watt is refusing to rule anything in or out at this stage:
Obviously, it’s very early days in my tenure in this role and I’ll be consulting widely about all of these issues.
He adds:
We did go to the election committing and recommitting, in fact, to having an independent EPA. And we need such a body with teeth to be able to assist in protecting our environment. But in terms of the details around the model of that, that is something I’ll be consulting on.
As we reported on Friday, Watt will next week travel to Western Australia to meet with the premier, Roger Cook, and mining leaders who lobbied to sink the nature watchdog in the last term.
Host Andrew Clennell suggests it’s “unusual” for an environment minister to make a beeline for the mining state so soon after taking on the role.
Watt responds:
I don’t think so. I mean, whether it be Tanya Plibersek or other environment ministers, they’ve always engaged in wide-ranging consultations.
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Anne Ruston to speak on Insiders
South Australian Coalition senator Anne Ruston will speak with ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Labor’s new environment minister, Murray Watt, is speaking to Sky News, as is the Australian ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, and the Liberal deputy leader, Ted O’Brien.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has described the 13-year prison sentence handed to an Australian man on the charge of fighting in Ukraine as a “mercenary” as an “outrage”. The PM was speaking in Rome overnight, where he said the government would continue to advocate for Oscar Jenkins.
Albanese is representing Australia at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass and is expected to hold talks with other leaders, with the war in Ukraine on the agenda, as well as trade. He is expected to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though he told reporters on Saturday a time had not yet been locked in, according to the ABC.
The Victorian government has pledged free public transport for under-18s from 1 January next year, allowing children to register for a special youth Myki card. The government says more than 1 million children and their families will benefit from the $318m program.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
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