What we learned today – Thursday 8 May
And with that, we’ll close the blog for today. Thanks for reading our coverage and I hope you have a great evening wherever you are. Here were today’s major developments:
Firebrand Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defected to the Liberals in a move that could have major implications in the race to replace Peter Dutton as Coalition leader. Price – who can choose to sit with either Coalition partner as a Country Liberal – had previously sat in the Nationals party room.
Two men were convicted of murdering Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy who died in hospital 10 days after he was “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth on 13 October 2022.
Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial continued. Today, the court heard Patterson’s daughter told police she ate leftovers of the deadly mushroom lunch with her mother and brother for dinner the next day.
The inquest into the fatal mass stabbing at the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre also went on. Today it heard evidence that security guards have been so heavily traumatised by Joel Cauchi’s attack many have been unable to return to work.
In political news, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, conceded defeat in his electorate of Melbourne, saying he “fell just short” of holding the seat. He claimed his constituents’ “hate” for Dutton was a factor in the swing away from the Greens and towards Labor. Bandt’s colleague Samantha Ratnam also conceded the neighbouring seat of Wills to Labor.
Guardian Australia confirmed that the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will be dumped from federal cabinet.
Elsewhere, at a fiery annual general meeting, Woodside Energy withstood a rebuke by shareholders of its climate plans by garnering sufficient support to retain its chosen board members and approve executive pay plans.
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Continued from earlier post:
Detetive Snr Sgt Steve Cleal said Michelle and the rest of the family, as well as Cassius’s friends, “should never have gone through this tragedy” and said he was proud of how they had handled themselves during the 13-week supreme court trial.
He went on:
I’m also very proud of the kids that gave evidence in this trial.
They had five of the most experienced defense barristers in the state going at them and and they, I just want to say, I’m proud of you, and you did very well.
I hope the verdicts handed down today can in some way provide some kind of healing towards the family as they go through this terrible and tragic process.
I just want to say while I have this opportunity that Cassius was completely innocent of all the events that led up to this terrible tragedy … the incidents that unfolded that terrible day, this was not his fault.
Cleal said the perpetrators had been charged after a “complex” investigation that involved a “mammoth” effort by multiple teams.
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WA police detective says it was ‘powerful’ to hear Cassius Turvey’s murderers found guilty
Detetive Snr Sgt Steve Cleal, from the West Australian police’s homicide squad, held a press conference earlier today after two men were convicted of murdering Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey.
Noongar-Yamatji schoolboy Cassius Turvey was 15 when he died in hospital 10 days after he was “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022, causing nationwide outrage.
In a packed courtroom, Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, were convicted of murdering the 15-year-old by a jury after three days of deliberations.
Cleal said hearing the guilty verdicts being delivered was a “very powerful” moment as he sat with Cassius’ mother, Michelle, in court. He added:
I’m glad I could, in some way, help them have their moment, because they deserve that sense of relief.
As part of the healing, they’ve got a long way to go, but this certainly helps.
Michelle, said earlier today that her son, who was chased into bushland and bashed with a metal pole, was ‘hunted down for days’ and had identified his killers before he died.
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Nationals leader ‘disappointed” by Jacinta Price’s decision to defect to Liberals
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says he is “disappointed” that Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberal party room.
The Northern Territory Country Liberal senator and shadow Indigenous affairs minister had chosen to sit in the Nationals party room since being elected to the federal parliament in 2022.
But amid the fallout to the Coalition’s election defeat, Price said earlier today she believed she could be more effective as a member of the Liberal team.
In a statement, Littleproud said he was disappointed in Price’s decision and that:
The Nationals negotiated an extra position in shadow cabinet before the election, to give Senator Nampijinpa Price a promotion and shadow ministerial opportunity.
The Nationals were the first to lead the ‘No’ case in relation to the Voice, backing Senator Nampijinpa Price early and before anyone else did.
Our strong stance led to an overwhelming majority of Australians voting ‘No’.
Littleproud continued:
I appreciate Senator Nampijinpa Price has ambition that extends beyond the possibilities of The Nationals and I wish her well.
The Liberals will need to rebuild after Saturday’s election and Senator Nampijinpa Price will play a key role in that recovery, while The Nationals are proud to have kept all of our lower house seats.
The Nationals will continue to fight for regional Australia, which ultimately helps all of Australia.
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Ed Husic and Mark Dreyfus to be dumped from Labor cabinet after factional deal
The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will be dumped from federal cabinet after a factional deal by the Labor party’s right faction went against him.
Husic’s supporters have confirmed to Guardian Australia that the decision was made on Thursday afternoon and that appeals to Anthony Albanese for an intervention to save Husic failed.
His dumping comes as a result of the New South Wales right faction being overrepresented at the top of the government and a push by Victorian MPs for an extra place in the ministry.
The national right faction is due to meet this evening in Canberra, ahead of a full caucus meeting on Friday.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is also being pushed out of cabinet, with his Victorian right faction moving to install backbencher Sam Rae and economics committee chairman Daniel Mulino in the ministry.
The NSW senator and assistant minister Tim Ayres is set to be elevated in the looming reshuffle. He is personally close to Albanese, well regarded among colleagues and is a member of the ALP’s powerful national executive.
Husic conceded last year that many Muslim and Arab Australians did not feel listened to by the Labor government over Israel’s war in Gaza, describing his public interventions as necessary so that people believed “that their concerns have somewhere to go to be vented and aired”.
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Dutton says Greens ‘appalling treatment’ of Jewish community to blame for poor election results
Ousted opposition leader Peter Dutton has blamed the Greens’ poor election results in the House of Representatives on the progressive party’s “appalling treatment” of the Australian Jewish community.
In a post on X, Dutton said:
No spin by Adam Bandt can change the reality that he, and other Green members, lost their seats because of their appalling treatment of the Jewish community.
Australians were rightly disgusted at their behaviour. We were proud to preference the Greens last, helping to ensure Adam Bandt’s loss.
The Greens have a formal policy of calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Dutton posted the statement shortly after Bandt said people’s “hate” for Dutton in the electorate of Melbourne was a factor in the swing away from the Greens.
Bandt, the Greens leader, conceded the seat of Melbourne to Labor this afternoon.
The Greens also lost two seats in Brisbane to Labor, leaving them with just one lower house MP.
Bandt told reporters that “people in Melbourne hate Peter Dutton with a very good reason”.
Bandt continued:
They have seen his brand of toxic racism on display for many years, seen his time as immigration minister, seen him make comments about Melbourne and like many, many of them wanted him as far away from power as possible.
Despite us making it very clear that we shared their position, my initial take is some votes [went] away from us as people saw Labor [as] the best option to stop Dutton.
Dutton, who also lost his seat to Labor, told reporters at Canberra airport yesterday that he intended to maintain a “graceful silence” after exiting politics.
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Man extradited from Queensland and charged over alleged armed robbery in Sydney 14 years ago
A man has been charged with armed robbery 14 years after he allegedly threatened a service station employee on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with a sawn-off rifle, New South Wales police say.
In a statement, police said the 36-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in Brisbane on Tuesday morning after a review of the case – and with assistance from Queensland police.
Police said they used a NSW warrant to arrest the man at the property on Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge.
The man was taken to the Brisbane watch house and appeared the same day before the Brisbane magistrates court where an extradition order to NSW was granted, police said.
Police said their detectives accompanied the man to Sydney airport yesterday, where he was taken to Mascot police station and charged with robbery while armed with dangerous weapon.
He was refused bail to appear at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court earlier today, where he was remanded in custody to reappear at the same court on 10 July, police said.
Police said the officers who responded to the alleged incident on 22 April 2011 were told a man had entered a service station on Pittwater Road in Narrabeen and allegedly threatening a 20-year-old staff member with the firearm.
The man allegedly left the store with cash and was last seen running west along Robertson Street, police said.
Police said they had been unable to identify the man at the time.
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Greens concede Wills as Samantha Ratnam calls Labor’s Peter Khalil
The Greens have conceded the Melbourne seat of Wills after mounting a strong but ultimately unsuccessful challenge against Labor’s Peter Khalil.
The Greens candidate, Samantha Ratnam, posted a video on Instagram about half an hour ago in which she said she had called Khalil to congratulate him.
In the video, Ratnam said:
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the line this time. But we got very, very close.
I want to thank all of you for the incredible community support that we received and built over the last year.
Ratnam, who filmed herself leaning over a stack of three books – Nelson Mandala’s Long Walk to Freedom as well as the autobiographies of former Greens leaders Christine Milne and Bob Brown – also thanked her campaign team and volunteers for their help in her “history making result”.
She went on:
I’m holding onto hope and I would encourage you to hold onto hope, too. Because we don’t have the luxury of giving up.
Ratnam said she was looking forward to spending more time with her young daughter, Malala, and getting “back into the community sector” as a social worker. She promised that “I’ll be back”.
With nearly every vote counted, including preferences, the Australian Electoral Commission has Khalil leading Ratnam 52.16% to 47.84%.
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The curious case of the Norfolk Island booth
Earlier in the week, election enthusiasts had raised a curious detail about the count for Bean on the AEC’s TallyRoom website – there was a booth with primary votes yet to be reported.
The pre-poll voting centre for Norfolk Island, which is part of the Bean electorate, was lagging behind the other polling stations in Bean, and still hadn’t reported as of Thursday morning.
During the AEC briefing I reported on earlier, election analyst Kevin Bonham asked the AEC about the missing booth.
According to the AEC there was an issue with phoning in the pre-poll results from Norfolk Island on election night, which meant the results were delayed in being added to the official count until this afternoon. The AEC has also just added the two-candidate preferred count for the regular booth on Norfolk Island.
This matters because the count is so incredibly close in Bean between Labor’s David Smith and the independent Jessie Price. With the addition of the new Norfolk Island figures Price has gone into the lead with a margin of 197 votes.
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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defects to Liberals
The shadow Indigenous affairs minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has reportedly defected to the Liberal Party.
The Northern Territory Country Liberal senator has chosen to sit in the Nationals party room since being elected to the federal parliament in 2022.
But amid the fallout to the Coalition’s thumping election defeat, Price said she believed she could be more effective as a member of the Liberal team.
In a statement reported by the Australian Financial Review, she said:
I am eager to fight for the best interests of all Australians as part of the Coalition.
I believe I will be more effective in this regard if I am a member of the Liberal Party, especially as the party faces a significant rebuild after Saturday.
A rebuild I feel obliged to play a robust part in.
I want to bring back our core values of liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law, free market and economic prosperity, minimal government intervention, a fair go and most of all, love for our nation, Australia.
Price shot to national prominence during the voice to parliament referendum as the public face of the successful No campaign.
In January, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, appointed the conservative warrior to a government efficiency portfolio, which drew immediate comparisons with Elon Musk’s Doge in the Trump administration.
Price attracted further comparisons with Trump-style politics during the campaign, declaring she wanted to “make Australia great again” at a rally in Perth.
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Hello, I’ll be here with you on the blog until this evening.
Thank you for joining me on the live blog today. Handing over now to the great Catie McLeod, who will keep you posted with the afternoon’s news.
Greens party room to elect a new leader next week
As Adam Bandt concedes the seat of Melbourne, the Greens party are set to elect a new leader.
Leadership of the party “will be determined by a meeting of the party room next week”, according to a media statement from Bandt’s office. Senator Nick McKim will be the interim caretaker.
Bandt has been the member for Melbourne since 2010, when he became the first Greens MP to win a lower house seat at a federal election, and the leader of the Greens since 2020.
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Bandt urges media to report on climate crisis 'as if country being invaded'
Adam Bandt is urging media to report on the climate crisis “as if our country is being invaded”.
“Before I finish up, I wanted to give free advice to the media, if I can,” the outgoing Greens leader says. He is giving his concession speech:
I really want the media to stop reporting on climate as a political issue and start thinking about it as if our country is being invaded. You should treat the climate crisis as if there is a war on.
During the course of this parliament, for a large part of it, pollution, climate pollution is higher under this government that it was under Scott Morrison. We were knocking on your door … trying to get you to write stories about it, we were asking questions about it in parliament, we were holding press conferences about it and we really struggle to get anyone to take that seriously.
I would ask the media, every time you get a press release talking about renewable energy projects, every time you get told that the climate crisis has [to] been taken seriously, please do not just treat this as well, ‘we will report what political parties say’. Look behind it. Look at the signs. Because your kids, our kids, they are in for a hellish future in their lifetimes if we don’t get the climate crisis under control.
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Bandt is praising the Labor campaign for its link between the former opposition leader Peter Dutton and the US president, Donald Trump, which he says was key to driving the election outcome:
Hats off to the prime minister and the Labor campaign … Have to acknowledge they did run a very good campaign.
They linked Trump to Peter Dutton and made it clear, as we sought to, was that Labor made it very clear that Dutton was about trying to bring the Trump style of politics to Australia and I think it became one of the key defining features of the election that drove a big part of the five-week riptide.
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Bandt says ‘hate’ for Dutton in Melbourne a factor in swing away from Greens
Adam Bandt says people in Melbourne’s “hate” for the former opposition leader Peter Dutton was a factor in the swing away from the Greens.
The outgoing Greens leader is speaking to the media:
People in Melbourne hate Peter Dutton with a very good reason. They have seen his brand of toxic racism on display for many years, seen his time as immigration minister, seen him make comments about Melbourne and like many, many of them wanted him as far away from power as possible.
Despite us making it very clear that we shared their position, my initial take is some votes linked away from us as people saw Labor [as] the best option to stop Dutton. I spent a fair bit of time in polling groups in Melbourne, had a few conversations where people told me they usually vote Green but this time they did not because of Peter Dutton, which is disappointing for us.
Bandt pointed to the Trump effect encouraging “that huge riptide from Liberal to Labor”:
[It] had an effect on us as well.
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The outgoing Greens leader, Adam Bandt, urges Anthony Albanese’s re-elected Labor government to use its “big majority” to tackle climate and inequality, or else “watch for a big swing at the next election”.
Bandt is speaking live to the media:
I am really proud of what I have achieved as leader of the Greens. We have achieved the highest vote in Greens history. I leave with the vote for the Greens higher than when I started and [biggest] representation ever in parliament. This election we may also end up with a record high vote in the Senate of around 13%.
If the government does not use its big majority to start actually cutting climate and tackling Australia’s massive inequality crisis, watch for a big swing at the next election. And see those go Green.
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Bandt says One Nation and Liberal preferences got Labor over the line
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, is speaking to the media after conceding the seat of Melbourne to Labor’s Sarah Witty.
He says Greens “got the highest vote in Melbourne”, but One Nation and Liberal preferences “get Labor over the line”.
“I want to thank Melbourne voters for regularly giving me the highest vote, including in this election, and to thank you for the last 15 years.”
Read more here:
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Greens leader Adam Bandt concedes seat of Melbourne
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has called the Labor candidate, Sarah Witty, to concede the seat of Melbourne.
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Three-candidate preferred counts under way in some seats
Another aspect of the increasingly complex count is that the 2025 election had a record number of seats in which the final two candidates for the two-party preferred count (TCP) was not the pairing the AEC had expected. The TCP is the vote count which takes voters’ preferences into account, so the two candidates’ primary vote plus the voter preferences from candidates who didn’t make the top two.
In some seats, this means the TCP count is simply restarted with a new pairing.
However, in some cases where it is difficult to determine the correct final pairing, the AEC may decide it is necessary to conduct a three-candidate preferred count (3CP).
The AEC is currently carrying out three-candidate preferred counts in 12 seats, including in the closely watched seats of Monash and Ryan.
In Ryan, the current 3CP count has the LNP and Greens as the final two candidates ahead of Labor, which, if this bears out, will likely result in a Greens victory in the seat. However, the Greens lead over Labor in the 3CP is only 2.2 percentage points, so it is still a close race for the second spot.
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Bandt slips further behind in Melbourne count
Since we posted on the count in the seat of Melbourne, the Australian Electoral Commission has updated and the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has slipped even further behind. The margin has increased from 2,560 to 2,735 in favour of Labor’s Sarah Witty.
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Count going well but AEC is dealing with ‘increased complexity’ in close contests and preferences
The Australian Electoral Commission has given an update on the election count today, and says it is dealing with “increased complexity” in the count due to an increasing number of seats that have close contests between the first, second and third candidates, and the unpredictability of preference flows.
Despite the increased complexity of the count, the AEC spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth said the count was proceeding well.
“In the overall broad sense of how we’re going, we’re still tracking as well as we ever have in terms of count speed in this period,” he said.
One aspect of the count that has changed in 2025 is that postal votes are being counted faster than in previous years.
A change in legislation has allowed the AEC to open and sort, but not count, postal ballots ahead of election night.
This means the postal count is able to begin more quickly compared with previous elections.
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Bandt to address media as count shows him well behind in Melbourne
Just a reminder the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, is still a long way behind in the seat of Melbourne as hopes fade he can keep hold.
As of midday, Labor’s Sarah Witty was ahead by a margin of 2,560.
Bandt will be speaking to the media shortly – we will bring you live updates.
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Labor factions to meet in Canberra amid infighting over cabinet positions
Labor’s factions are meeting this afternoon at Parliament House in Canberra. The building is crawling with newly elected MPs from around the country, ahead of a formal caucus meeting tomorrow.
But, despite the jubilation at the government’s re-election, it looks like the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, and the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, could be victims of infighting between the groups within Labor.
Guardian Australia has been told Dreyfus has appealed to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to keep his spot in cabinet. He has been the country’s first law officer since 2022 and previously held the same portfolio at the end of the Rudd-Gillard government in 2013.
One Labor source said there was a push for renewal and factional bosses wanted the powerbroker and Hawke MP, Sam Rae, on the frontbench.
Rae is close to the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and is a convener for the party’s right faction.
Supporters of the change have pointed to the Liberals as an example of what happens when parties do not renew their parliamentary line-ups.
Separately, supporters of Husic say the infighting between the party’s left and right factions is a bad look.
MPs from Victoria and other states believe the NSW right faction is overrepresented, with six places in the Albanese ministry. The left is expected to add an extra position, due to its growing presence in the party’s caucus.
Husic has been a minister since 2022. In 2019, he stepped down from the opposition shadow ministry to make way for NSW senator Kristina Keneally, stressing someone of the former premier’s talents should be recognised. Keneally attempted to move from the Senate to the House of Representatives but lost to the independent Dai Le in her seat of Fowler.
One source said the fight was “ruthless”.
The new ministry is expected to be sworn in on Tuesday next week.
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Perth Bears NRL team will be ‘great value for money’, premier says
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, says the creation of the Perth Bears NRL team will represent “great value for money” for taxpayers in his state.
Cook has been speaking to reporters in Perth to formally announce the Perth Bears will become the NRL’s 18th team in 2027, after his government committed $65m in state funding for the move.
The premier said joining the competition would be a “goldmine” for his state and he was expecting a $50m return each year, particularly from the 200,000 members of the former first grade club North Sydney also called the Bears.
Cook said:
It has been a long haul. We have been negotiating with the NRL for many months now, the conversations have been positive.
We want to make sure people can be confident that this represents great value for money for WA taxpayers.
This will produce a great economic benefit for WA. It will provide an opportunity for West Aussies to participate in another national competition which we all love but it is also … a great place-making opportunity.
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Business creation steady in 2025
Conditions have been tough for a lot of businesses, but Australian entrepreneurship is alive and kicking. Business creation kept steadily picking up in the first three months of 2025, new data today suggests.
The year to March saw the highest number of businesses exit trading on record, at nearly 460,000, once you account for seasonal ebb and flow. Thankfully some 510,000 businesses started up over the year to balance it off, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported.
That gap between starts and shutdowns looks to have levelled off since 2023 and 2024, when big surges then big cuts saw it jump around. The net increase has stayed at about 0.4% to 0.6% a quarter for the last year. That’s weaker than we saw coming out of the pandemic but it’s about in line with 2019 levels.
If you look at the raw numbers and ignore seasonal jumps, there were about 20,000 more businesses operating in March than there were in December, taking the total to nearly 2.7m. An eighth of those were in postal and delivery services and another eighth were in property and real estate.
At first glance, that’s a big improvement from the last quarter of 2024, when the number of businesses went backwards, though the end of each calendar year often sees a lot of shutdowns. That suggests Peter Dutton’s warnings about businesses going under could have had added resonance at the end of last year, but may have lost significance as businesses recovered from their annual low point.
Protesters interrupt Woodside AGM
Protesters have disrupted the opening speeches at Woodside Energy’s annual general meeting in Perth, prompting the chief executive, Meg O’Neill, to temporarily halt proceedings.
The oil and gas giant is also facing a backlash from shareholders over concerns its operations are overly reliant on offsets, and not aligned with Paris climate agreements.
O’Neill told protesters, who interrupted her speech with high-pitched noises, that she had “lots of videos” to play at the AGM when interrupted.
Woodside has attracted increased scrutiny since giving the go-ahead to a US$17bn development in Louisiana, which puts it on track to become one of the world’s biggest gas producers.
A diverse group of shareholders, including Australian super fund Hesta, are voting against various resolutions at the AGM in protest over the company’s climate plans.
The Woodside chair, Richard Goyder, pre-empted the interruptions, telling shareholders that “disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated”.
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Police, rangers and excavators move in to Brisbane parks as tent city residents face eviction
Three Queensland councils have initiated or implemented crackdowns on homeless camps across the state’s south-east this week.
The three local governments – Brisbane city council, the City of Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast city council – all deny coordination between them. But residents of tent cities in Brisbane’s Musgrave Park and Carey Park in the Gold Coast now face eviction after being issued notices on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Read the full story:
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Super giant lodges protest vote against Woodside
The superannuation fund Hesta has lodged a protest vote against Woodside ahead of its annual general meeting in Perth today as pressure mounts over the oil and gas giant’s climate plans.
Hesta has voted against Woodside’s remuneration report, and opposes the re-election of Woodside’s director, Ann Pickard, a former Shell executive who chairs the committee responsible for overseeing climate risk. Hesta said in a statement:
We believe the steps taken by Woodside so far fall short of what is needed to position it for the global transition to a low-carbon future and the company needs to do more to materially address the concerns voiced by investors.
Critics believe Woodside’s strategy is overly reliant on offsets, not aligned with Paris climate agreements and does not seriously consider emissions produced by those using its gas.
Hesta is one of the biggest shareholders to indicate it will oppose resolutions put forward today. The AGM is due to start shortly.
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Max Chandler-Mather fires back in post-election spat with PM
The former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has continued to spar with the PM over who was the rudest in parliament.
Stay with me while I fill in the backstory quickly: after losing his seat, Chandler-Mather said he was happy he wouldn’t have to return to parliament because it was “a sick place” to work, and people yelled at him when he got up to speak.
The PM then weighed in, calling him a hypocrite and saying he “should have a look at the way that he conducted himself in question time”.
Now, Chandler-Mather has responded again on X, saying the PM had just proved his point:
I feel like the PM launching into another attack on someone who isn’t even in parliament, rather than celebrating a historic win proves my point, which is this is how the political class treats ppl who fight for renters & real change.
— Max Chandler-Mather (@MChandlerMather) May 7, 2025
Compare this to his kind words for Dutton. pic.twitter.com/fAPHcPhp25
If you want to read more about this you can go here:
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Jeff Kennett, former premier, throws support behind Sussan Ley for Liberal leadership
The former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has weighed in on the party’s leadership challenge, urging the party to support Sussan Ley.
Speaking on ABC he said:
Sussan Ley is experienced in life, she is an experienced politician, she has been a very loyal deputy to Peter Dutton. She will be consultative with the rest of her parliamentary team and I think she brings a different perspective to the role of leader at a time when is the world is changing and changing very quickly, that is a sympathetic ear but the capacity to make the right decision both for the country and [for] the party.
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Mother expected to survive Toowomba fire ‘but things can change quite quickly’, police caution
Marchesini says the woman is in critical condition but is expected to survive. The 11-year-old and the 18-year-old have both been released from the hospital.
About the mother, he said:
At this stage we can only take advice from the health professionals. From what we have been advised at this point in time, she is in a critical condition … [she] has survived last night, is expected to survive but things can change quite quickly.
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Police say situation will be treated as suspicious until proven otherwise
Marchesini:
With these sorts of situations, we will always treat matters as suspicious until proven otherwise … when we have people we can’t talk to, we have people who have exited the house.
There was some information provided to police and at this stage it is too early to comment further until we have spoken to all parties involved. That leads us to treat this matter as suspicious until we can prove otherwise.
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Queensland police treating Harristown fire as suspicious
Marchesini says that police have had “some” interaction with the family and they are treating it as suspicious.
A 36-year-old woman remains in a critical condition in the Royal Brisbane and women’s hospital and continues to be under police guard. A 34-year-old male was released from hospital yesterday. An 11-year-old boy and 18-year-old male who were under observation have been released from hospital.
The woman in hospital is the mother of the children, while the 34-year-old male is the father of some of the children, he says. There is another man interstate who is part of the family that police have made contact with.
What we know so far is that we are treating this matter as suspicious. We have detectives from the Darling Downs district, along with the homicide investigation unit, assisting with this investigation.
He says they are asking anyone with information or any vision to come forward.
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Harristown house fire scene one that ‘no one should have to see’
Marchesini says the scene has deeply affected the first responders:
It was a scene that no one should have to see. While we are first responders and are trained to deal with these sorts of incidents, I want to assure you that we are not immune to feeling the impact that it has had on all those effected.
The Queensland police service has been and will continue to provide ongoing support to the family involved as well as to our fellow officers and colleagues.
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Queensland police confirm another two children dead after Harristown house fire
Detective Superintendent George Marchesini:
It is with deep sadness today that I am here to inform you of the passing of two more people following the fire at Harristown. Last night a four-year-old girl [and] an 11-year-old girl succumbed to significant injuries that they sustained in that house fire which was on 7 May.
They sadly passed away at the Queensland children’s hospital. On behalf of the Queensland police service, I would like at this time to extend our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and all those involved in this tragic event. That is also including the community.
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Police making statement on suspicious Toowoomba house fire
Just going live to Brisbane, where police have said two more children have died after a suspicious house fire in Toowoomba.
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Southbound lanes closed on M1 Pacific Motorway
For those travelling in Sydney, all southbound lanes are closed on the M1 Pacific Motorway on Hawkesbury River Bridge after a truck and several cars crashed on the freeway.
It’s been reported the truck driver was trapped inside the vehicle after the crash, but has been freed and airlifted to hospital with leg and pelvic injuries.
⛔MOONEY MOONEY: All southbound lanes closed on the M1 Pacific Mwy on Hawkesbury River Bridge due to a truck & car crash.
— Live Traffic Sydney (@LiveTrafficSyd) May 7, 2025
➡️Use the Pacific Hwy instead and allow extra travel time.
❗Check the latest at https://t.co/a6jZFEmdsl pic.twitter.com/mzJQ8OpoJR
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Home prices up in outer suburbs
Home prices are rising the fastest in Australia’s outer suburbs as worsening affordability prices homebuyers out of the inner city. Frankston and Fairfield in Melbourne and Sydney are among the top risers, Cotality data has found.
Poor affordability and high interest rates mean homebuyers on typical, median incomes cannot afford the typical home in their city, according to Tim Lawless, the research director at Cotality (formerly Corelogic):
That’s pushing buyers further out, where homes remain comparatively affordable. The result is that we’re seeing outer suburban markets do much of the heavy lifting in terms of price growth.
Suburbs more than 20km from Sydney’s CBD saw the highest rises in the region. More than three in four suburbs 20km away from the city centre saw prices rise while only one in four those 5km from the CBD rose in average values.
Melbourne prices have been falling overall but more than a third of suburbs at least 20km from the city centre saw growth. In cities where property prices have soared across the board in the last year – including Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth – the outer suburbs still led the way, with many areas seeing price hikes in the double digits.
The national housing market has slowed recently, with fewer homes sold and prices rising slower in part due to worsening affordability. CoreLogic analysts attributed that to back-to-back long weekends and buyer uncertainty amid the federal election campaign and Trump tariff chaos.
With the first two factors out of the way, hopes for easing tariffs and an expected interest rate cut on Tuesday 20 May are leading analysts to predict prices will pick up:
The walkback of US tariffs and a strong majority result in the federal election [is] restoring some confidence.
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Something’s changed … and it’s us!
So you may have noticed the site looks a little different today. We’ve had a makeover!
Our app has had an overhaul. The My Guardian tab has been streamlined to allow you to personalise (follow topics and writers that matter to you), there is a dedicated tab for Guardian’s podcasts and a new in-app audio player, the homepage has been redesigned with curated highlights – plus, there are new puzzles (sudoku!).
And the website redesign is now mobile-first (where 75% of our digital audience are reading), and visual storytelling has been elevated. You’ll find a more curated selection of photography and video from here on out.
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, says:
Our digital relaunch is more visual and contemporary and will allow us to keep innovating and developing new ways to project Guardian journalism around the world.
We hope you like it. Read more about the changes here:
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PM calls Max Chandler-Mather a hypocrite after ousted Greens member describes parliament as a ‘sick place’
Anthony Albanese has labelled Max Chandler-Mather a hypocrite who should look in the mirror after the former Greens MP described workplace culture in parliament as “bloody awful”.
The prime minister, who clashed with Chandler-Mather on a number of occasions during question time, said the 33-year-old who lost his Brisbane seat on Saturday needed a “mirror and a reflection on why he’s no longer in parliament”.
“This is a guy who stood before signs at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane describing me as a Nazi,” Albanese told ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday.
Chandler-Mather described parliament as a “sick place” on Tuesday as he recalled the “yelling and screaming” that took place at times while he delivered speeches.
Read the full story:
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NSW gives go-ahead for 10 projects to connect to first renewable zone
The New South Wales government has given the go-ahead for ten renewable energy and storage projects, totalling 7.15GW, to connect to the state’s first renewable energy zone.
The ten projects, which include wind and solar farms as well as battery storage, have secured “access rights” to an incoming transmission line as part of the Central-West Orana zone, centred on Dubbo 400km north-west of Sydney.
Combined, the developments were expected to create more than 3,200 jobs during construction, 870 ongoing positions, and would produce enough electricity to power 2.7m homes. Once completed, they would avoid 10m tonnes of carbon emissions each year, according to the government.
While three projects – Liverpool Range windfarm, Birriwa solar and battery system and Spicers Creek windfarm – had already gained planning approval, the remaining seven would still be subject to planning and community consultation processes.
NSW’s climate change and energy minister, Penny Sharpe, said:
By unlocking new renewable capacity and enhancing battery storage, we are making our power grid more reliable and putting downward pressure on bills.
The state currently has about 13GW of renewable energy capacity made up of solar, hydro, wind and biomass power stations.
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RecipeTin Eats beats Brooki at publishing industry awards amid plagiarism allegations
Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats has beaten cupcake queen Brooke Bellamy at the publishing industry’s annual awards, as Maehashi and other authors accuse Bellamy of plagiarism.
Maehashi won the illustrated book of the year a second time at the Australian book industry awards night in Melbourne on Wednesday for her most recent book, RecipeTin Eats: Tonight.
In April the prize-winning author accused Bellamy, who runs the popular Brooki Bakehouse in Brisbane, of copying her caramel slice and baklava recipes in her bestselling book, Bake with Brooki.
Read the full story:
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ANZ issues warning on global economy as homeowners prove resilient
ANZ’s chief executive, Shayne Elliott, has warned that global economic conditions remain uncertain, marked by periods of increased volatility, in comments made after the major lender delivered a small bump in half-year cash profit to $3.57bn.
Elliott told shareholders today that mortgage holders were proving resilient despite grappling with cost-of-living pressures. He said:
While initial interest rate relief was welcomed by retail and commercial customers, we know many continue to face challenges.
Generally, households remain remarkably robust and resilient, with strong balance sheets the norm for our customers in both Australian and New Zealand.
There is widespread expectation among economists that the Reserve Bank will cut the cash rate again later this month. This would offer more relief to mortgageholders but potentially push home prices higher, making it even more difficult for prospective buyers.
The number of mortgage holders falling behind on repayments appears to have stabilised, hovering at around four-year highs but below pre-pandemic levels, according to ANZ data.
The bank’s $3.57bn six-month cash profit result was up from $3.55bn one year ago, and its profit margins were stable. ANZ declared an 83c dividend per share.
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Faruqi refuses to concede Bandt will lose Melbourne as Greens leadership speculation mounts
The Greens say their vote has remained steady, despite facing up to three lower house seat losses, including the seat of leader Adam Bandt.
Deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi joined RN Breakfast a short time ago, and wouldn’t concede that Bandt would lost his seat of Melbourne.
Faruqi also wouldn’t bite on if or when the leadership would change:
I am hoping that he gets back in and we can continue with that leadership team.
The Greens normally hold a party room meeting after every election to determine the leadership team.
The host, Sally Sara, said Greens members had told the program that Faruqi had been counting numbers to support her leadership, but she rejected that.
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Ben Raue’s predictions for Menzies, Bullwinkel and Bradfield
Analyst Ben Raue also predicted that Labor’s Gabriel Ng lead by 1,145 votes in Menzies, Victoria, will “grow slightly”.
In Bullwinkel, WA, Labor is leading by just 86 votes. Raue expects the margin to grow to about 564 votes.
He noted that in Bradfield, NSW, Liberal Kapterian is in the lead by 215 “but it’s still very close”. He expects her to increase her lead “slightly”.
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Analyst Ben Raue still predicts Ryan will win Kooyong
In Kooyong, independent Monique Ryan’s strong lead on election night has dwindled to the point where the seat count is extremely close. Analyst Ben Raue last night predicted “her chances of victory now appear strong,” with the count putting Ryan 723 votes ahead of Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer.
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How Dutton’s election campaign in Dickson went horribly wrong
When Anthony Albanese visited Dickson on the first day of the election campaign, Labor strategists were still not expecting to mount a serious challenge in the Brisbane commuter belt seat, held by Peter Dutton for 24 years.
“I think the logic was to start the campaign on the front foot, in enemy territory, rather than anyone thinking too much that we could win Dickson,” a Labor source says.
Five weeks later on election night, Labor’s Ali France, a three-time challenger in Dickson, became the first person ever to unseat an opposition leader at a federal election.
The trigger for Labor to mount a final blitz in Dickson came from an unlikely source.
On 31 March and 1 April, Climate 200 conducted a poll in Dickson in the hope of positive news about support for community independent candidate Ellie Smith.
The UComms poll found the independent could not win Dickson – her primary vote was about 10%. But the poll also showed Labor was in front in the seat at 51.7% to 48.3%.
Guardian Australia understands that Climate 200 then showed the poll results to Labor – which had not commissioned any previous polling in Dickson, and was unaware the seat was so close – on 4 April. The party quickly conducted its own survey, which showed Dickson as a dead heat.
On 9 April, Labor’s campaign director, Paul Erickson, sent an email to supporters headed: “We’re taking on Dutton in Dickson”. Read this full story:
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Shareholders target Woodside over climate credentials
Climate activists, pension funds and governance groups will try to unseat three directors at Woodside at its annual general meeting in Perth today as opposition intensifies over the oil and gas company’s plans to increase fossil fuel production.
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis, along with US pension giants CalPERS and CALSTRS, are among those recommending shareholders express their opposition to Woodside’s strategy by voting against several resolutions.
Some significant investors, including AustralianSuper and Hesta, declined to comment on their position.
Critics believe Woodside’s strategy is overly reliant on offsets, not aligned with Paris climate agreements, and does not seriously consider emissions produced by those using its gas. Woodside said in a statement:
We believe that Woodside has a significant role to play in the energy transition. Assessing and approving Woodside’s climate strategy is a key role of the board.
The company, headed by Meg O’Neill, has long argued that developing new supply is necessary to keeping “energy affordable and reliable as Australia transitions to a lower carbon future”.
Votes will be cast for three Woodside directors, including the former Shell executive Ann Pickard, who chairs the committee responsible for overseeing climate risk.
The former treasurer of Western Australia, Ben Wyatt, and former Anglo American executive Tony O’Neill, are also up for re-election. Will van de Pol, chief executive at climate activist group Market Forces, said:
Woodside has thumbed its nose at shareholders, responding to last year’s world record rejection of its climate plan by doubling down on gas expansion that will cause massive real-world emissions growth.
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Thank you to Martin Farrer for kicking off the live blog this morning. I’ll be rolling your news updates for the day – let’s go.
From inaccurate (and non-existent) polling to a years-long ground game by the Labor challenger Ali France, and from national factors to the impact of a local independent, our Queensland correspondent Ben Smee unpicks how Peter Dutton became the first opposition leader to lose his seat.
Read his article here:
And talking of polls, we look at how the really dubious thing was not so much getting the margin of Labor’s win correct but that all the surveys were very similar.
Rudd criticises Trump's film tariff plan as a 'tax on Bluey'
Kevin Rudd has taken aim at the US proposal to put tariffs on screen productions, saying the world does not want a “tax on Bluey”.
Australia’s ambassador to the US was speaking at a Milken Institute event in Los Angeles, on a panel about the state of modern diplomacy.
The discussion turned to the diplomatic value of culture, and Rudd said cultural brands had the “power to capture the public imagination”.
He gave the example of the cartoon Bluey, which is set in Brisbane and became a global success, and added “by the way … I don’t think we want to see a tax on Bluey” – a reference to Donald Trump’s plan to add a 100% tariff to foreign-produced films
Rudd said:
What happens if we lock down our countries with competitive, punitive arrangements against each other’s movies? Movies are the way in which we kind of understand each other more.
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Albanese pledges to deliver environment protection agency
Anthony Albanese has pledged to deliver an environment protection agency that can protect the environment while also standing up for jobs and the mining sector.
In an interview with ABC’s 7.30 last night, the prime minister said he would sit down with “sensible people” across the sectors to determine another way forward on the failed environment watchdog.
In the final months of the Albanese government’s first term, a proposed federal EPA was dumped amid a major backlash from Western Australia. The proposed body would have been able to make approval and regulatory decisions and impose beefed-up penalties with Environment Information Australia to provide data, information and analysis.
Albanese promised to deliver a different model in his second term as prime minister. While he didn’t offer any details about the new model, Albanese told 7.30:
“We need to make sure that there is more sensible decision making. That’s something that I’m committed to. It’s something as well that conservation groups want to see where a project clearly doesn’t stack up. There should be an easier way to make decisions.”
Asked about whether the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, had done a good job with creating the initial model, Albanese deflected to blame the Senate.
“She was dealing with a Senate that was a Senate of blockers, whether it be the Greens or the Coalition, not wanting to look for solutions, looking to play politics.”
Plibersek had struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and the independent senator David Pocock on supporting the nature positive legislation before Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young.
Plibersek is expected to be moved out of the environment portfolio after the caucus meets on Friday.
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Pioneering Australian scientist dies aged 68
Prof Rinaldo Bellomo, a medical science pioneer who has been hailed as “one of the world’s most influential scientific minds”, has died aged 68.
Bellomo completed his medical degree at Monash University after arriving in Australia from Italy in 1980 and served as a professor in the medical faculty where his contributions focused on improving intensive care – particularly in the management of acute renal failure, to which he dedicated much of his life.
In a statement last night, the university said it acknowledged his passing with “deep sadness and profound respect”, describing him as “a towering figure in Australian and global intensive care medicine, and a cherished member of our academic community”.
It said his “scientific achievements are almost without parallel. Professor Bellomo was named one of the world’s most influential scientific minds for seven consecutive years (2014–2021) by Clarivate Analytics, recognising his prolific contributions to medical science”.
He was, the university noted, the most published and most cited medical researcher in Australian history.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories and then Rafqa Touma will be your guide.
Anthony Albanese might have won an election victory for the ages but his problems aren’t going away. MPs on both sides of the factional divide are lobbying furiously for representation in the prime minister’s new cabinet, we’re reporting this morning, with Victorian MPs demanding that what they consider as a bias towards the NSW right faction be corrected. And speaking on 7.30 last night, Albanese pledged to deliver an agency that can protect the environment while also standing up for jobs and the mining sector. More on that – and all the news on the seats still too close to call, and the Liberals’ leadership fight – coming up.
The academic and medical world is paying tribute to one of Australia’s greatest ever scientists this morning. Prof Rinaldo Bellomo, of Monash University, considered “one of the world’s greatest scientific minds”, has died aged 68 with the university saying in a statement that he was “a towering figure in Australian and global intensive care medicine, and a cherished member of our academic community”. More coming up.
