What we learned today – Friday 9 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks for reading our coverage of a big week of news following the federal election. Have a great weekend. Here were today’s top stories:
The Liberal leadership race was firming as a contest between the deputy leader, Sussan Ley, and the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, after Dan Tehan ruled himself out. Nationals senator Matt Canavan launched his own leadership challenge against David Littleproud.
Speculation swirled over the re-elected Albanese government’s new ministry, with suggestions the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, could replace Mark Dreyfus as attorney general in Labor’s second-term cabinet and Mark Butler and Jason Clare face moves to new portfolios.
Flood water surged into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in what could be the most significant top-up in a generation.
Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial continued, with the court hearing her children ate the leftovers of her beef wellington lunch after their mother and relatives fell ill eating the same meal the previous day.
A 26-year-old man was due to face court charged with domestic violence-related manslaughter over the death of a baby in regional New South Wales.
The independent MP Zoe Daniel was yet to concede defeat in the seat of Goldstein despite Liberal Tim Wilson claiming victory a few days earlier. On social media, Daniel asked people to “respect the process and the voters” in her electorate by waiting for a “definitive” result.
In other political news, former Liberal MP Gladys Liu demanded a “heartfelt apology” from Senator Jane Hume over her remarks claiming “Chinese spies” could be handing out pamphlets for Labor at voting booths
Updated
Tech Council says Husic a ‘champion of technology’ after cabinet removal
The chair of the Tech Council of Australia (TCA), Scott Farquhar, has released a statement following the government’s decision to dump the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, from the federal cabinet.
Faruqhar said Husic had been a “champion of technology” even before he took on the the portfolio, adding:
He recognises the importance of it to Australia, and he has been a solid and consistent advocate for innovation and development of the local industry.
The national reconstruction fund will stand as an important legacy for the industry.
We look forward to continuing momentum with the government in progressing flagship policies, including our shared goal of 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030, and on industry and government collaboration on research and development, digital infrastructure and tech adoption to support the productivity agenda.
Faruqar said the TCA expected the new cabinet and wider ministry would continue to “reflect the priorities of Australians and of industry”.
He said the council would support a minister dedicated to the digital economy, “given its importance to our economy and productivity” to “continue to momentum in this space” and “demonstrate Australia is serious about innovation”.
Updated
Labor rank-and-file urge Albanese to recognise Palestinian statehood
Grassroots Labor members in the party’s Friends of Palestine group have written to the freshly re-elected prime minister, Anthony Albanese, urging him to recognise Palestinian statehood at an upcoming United Nations conference.
The letter, sent today and signed by Wendy Turner, Peter Moss and Marg D’Arcy, said:
Labor’s clear parliamentary majority provides the government with an unprecedented opportunity to pursue a broad, progressive agenda, domestically and internationally.
The issue of Palestinian statehood will be considered at a United Nations special conference in June.
We call on the Australian government to implement long-held ALP policy and join the overwhelming majority of the international community in recognising Palestinian statehood at this conference.
The group also urged the government to restate its support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and reject Israel’s plan for expanded military intervention.
The letter comes a few days after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced plans for a new “intensified” offensive in Gaza that he said would involve Israeli troops holding on to seized territory and significant displacement of the population.
You can read more about the situation here:
Updated
Shoebridge says he won’t seek Greens leadership
Greens senator David Shoebridge says the party is “gutted” by the loss of leader Adam Bandt and that he won’t put his hand up to replace him.
Bandt was defeated at this election in the seat of Melbourne by Labor’s Sarah Witty after 15 years as the progressive inner-city electorate’s representative.
Shoebridge has been interviewed on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, where he said of Bandt:
He’s been a terrific leader of our party room, incredibly consensus-driven, really getting an incredibly united team behind him.
We were worried about the redistribution [of the Melbourne electorate’s boundaries] but I think the way the preferences flowed, it really made it quite hard for Adam.
Asked about the process to replace Bandt as party leader, Shoebridge said:
The party room will come together next week to determine who our new leader will be.
That is a process that I expect to be collaborative and respectful and honest and frank.
I look at my colleagues, the breadth of talent and skills … and I think we will have a strong future with a future leader.
I can make this announcement - it won’t be me. I won’t be putting my hand up to be the party leader.
Updated
Matt Canavan to challenge Littleproud for Nationals leadership
Nationals senator Matt Canavan has announced plans to challenge David Littleproud for the leadership of the junior Coalition partner next week.
Amid growing bloodletting within the Liberal party and the Nationals after Saturday’s electoral drubbing, Canavan said new leadership was needed.
Littleproud has led the Nationals since May 2022, replacing former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.
The shock challenge comes a day after firebrand Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said she would move to the Liberal party room, positioning herself as a possible deputy leader in a ballot due on Tuesday next week. That decision has angered Nationals MPs.
On Friday afternoon, Canavan said changing the Coalition’s climate policy would be a key ambition if his leadership tilt was successful.
Canavan told The Australian the Coalition should scrap Australia’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
He wrote:
Our plan should be based on how we can save the country, not save the party.
I am standing for my party’s leadership so that I can tell my kids I did everything I could to fight for a better life for them.
Canavan has been an outspoken critic of the transition to renewable energy and served as resources minister from 2017 to 2020.
Updated
China accuses Australia and US of stoking 'confrontation' in South China Sea
China has accused Australia and its allies the US and the Philippines of attempting to “stoke confrontation in the name of cooperation”, condemning recent joint military exercises by the three Pacific countries in the South China Sea.
The Royal Australian Navy’s destroyer HMAS Sydney joined a guided missile frigate from the Philippines navy and aircraft from both the US and the Philippines to conduct drills in the contested sea last week.
Asked about China’s view of the joint exercises, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing they were a deliberate provocation.
The US and other countries outside the region have patched up small groupings in the South China Sea to stoke confrontation in the name of cooperation, flex military muscles in the name of freedom and create trouble in the name of upholding order.
They are the biggest source of risks undermining the peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Lin condemned the Philippines particularly, accusing Manila of being a “pawn” for more powerful countries and causing “trouble at sea”, and said:
It has also brought in and collaborated with forces outside the region to create disruptions and flex military muscles in the South China Sea, acting as a pawn for these forces. Such acts will only backfire.
China claims a huge swathe of the South China Sea – inside its so-called “nine-dash line” – as its exclusive territory, and has ignored a 2016 ruling from the permanent court of arbitration which found that China’s claim had no basis under international law.
Australia’s Department of Defence said its joint exercise with the US and the Philippines was designed to “build mutual understanding and interoperability between nations and armed forces”.
The department said:
Australia and our partners share a commitment to upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, and other maritime rights under international law.
The exercises come at a time of heightened tension over navigational freedom at sea. They follow similar joint exercises between the same three countries, and Japan, in the South China Sea in February.
And in April, in the shadows of Australia’s federal election, a flotilla of Chinese warships circumnavigated Australia, and conducted live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.
Updated
Man charged over baby’s death in regional NSW
A man has been charged over the death of a baby in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
A 26-year-old man, known to the child, will appear in court today with charges over alleged involvement in the death of a four-week-old baby boy, New South Wales Police said in a statement.
Child Abuse detectives were notified after the baby was taken to Wagga Wagga Base hospital on 27 July 2023 in a critical condition suffering unexplained serious injuries, police said. The baby was transferred to Sydney Children’s hospital where he died three days later.
In July 2023, detectives attached to the state crime command’s child abuse squad established Strike Force Wighton to investigate the suspicious death of a four-week-old baby boy.
Strike Force Wighton was established, and after extensive investigation detectives arrested the man in Albury this morning. He has been charged with domestic violence related manslaughter. He was refused bail to appear before Albury local court today.
Updated
Zoe Daniel not conceding Goldstein despite Liberal Tim Wilson claiming victory
The independent Goldstein MP, Zoe Daniel, has asked people to “respect the process and the voters” in her electorate by waiting for a “definitive” result.
Daniel had given a victory speech on Saturday night, before her Liberal challenger, Tim Wilson, claimed victory after staging a dramatic comeback that, if ultimately successful, would make him the first MP to reclaim a seat lost to a teal independent.
But Daniel, a former ABC journalist who won the seat in Melbourne’s inner south-east from the Liberals in 2022, is yet to concede.
This afternoon, Daniel posted a statement on Instagram, noting that the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) was yet to declare the seat and that:
I understand everyone’s desire to rule a line under the election result in Goldstein. I would also prefer it was resolved.
However, there are still up to 10,000 votes to count including postals, absentee and prepoll declaration votes.
Please respect the process and voters until a definitive decision is made.
Wilson is ahead of Daniels by 1,320 votes, with 87.2% of the vote counted, according to the ABC.
Updated
Hi, I hope you’ve had a good day so far. I’ll be here until this evening.
Thank you for joining me on the blog today. Handing over now to Catie McLeod, who will keep you posted with the afternoon’s news.
Patterson trial adjourned for the day
Back to the Patterson trial.
Erin Patterson’s son has recalled a “fond” memory of his mother taking a photograph of a mushroom in mid-2020 while on a walk together.
His pre-recorded video evidence, where he is interviewed by a police officer, has been shown to his mother’s murder trial.
In the video, he told the interviewer about going on a walk in Korumburra’s Botanic Park with his mother during Covid and seeing mushrooms.
“I remember Mum took a picture of them because she thought they looked nice,” he said.
“I don’t remember what they look like.”
Patterson’s son said he had never foraged or picked mushrooms with his mother.
He also told the interviewer about helping his mother clean up after the lunch in July 2023. He said he did not see any leftovers from the meal that needed to be scraped into the bin. Asked about the plates from the lunch, he said they were white dinner plates and that they were all the same.
The trial before Justice Christopher Beale will resume on Tuesday.
Updated
Former Queensland minister Gordon Nuttall dies
The former Queensland Labor minister Gordon Nuttall, who spent six years in prison for fraud, perjury and corruption, has died.
Nuttall, who was aged 71, held various portfolios – including minister for industrial relations, and health – during the Beattie government, before his resignation from cabinet in 2005. He left parliament the following year.
In 2009 he was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for corruptly receiving more than $300,000 in secret commissions from mining executive Ken Talbot, and former WorkCover director Harold Shand.
He was later charged and convicted on additional allegations of corruption and perjury. The court of appeal ultimately extended his total sentence to 14 years
Nuttall was released in 2015, having been granted parole after serving six years, including time in maximum security.
Nuttall told the Courier-Mail in 2023 he had been battling advanced kidney cancer.
Updated
The new Labor ministry – who’s in, who’s out
Labor ministry announced – but no portfolios divvied up as yet.
We now have a confirmed list of who’s in and who’s out of the Labor ministry.
You’ll remember there was a lot of tussling within the left and right factions yesterday, which saw cabinet ministers Ed Husic and former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus booted out by the right faction.
Out of the 30 places in the ministry, there are three new faces from Victoria – from the right faction, Sam Rae and Daniel Mulino, and from the left faction, senator Jess Walsh.
Also receiving a promotion is Tim Ayres, a NSW senator from the left, who was an assistant minister in the last parliament.
Anthony Albanese will now decide which of them sits in the cabinet, and what portfolios they’ll all receive, before they’re sworn in on Tuesday.
We know that some of the most senior ministers such as Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Don Farrell, Katy Gallagher and Richard Marles will all keep their current portfolios.
Updated
Shots fired at Coles Creek in Gympie, Queensland
People are being told to stay indoors in Gympie due to shots being fired in Coles Creek, Queensland, this afternoon.
Police were called to the scene around 12:15pm after reports shots were fired towards the Bruce Highway, adjacent to Maher Road, according to a QLD Police statement. No injuries have been reported.
Police made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act, and an exclusion zone has been established for Maher Road and both directions of the Bruce Highway adjacent to the road.
“Residents within the exclusion zone are asked to stay indoors and members of the public and motorists to avoid the area,” the police statement said.
Updated
Let’s look at the state of play on seats still in doubt.
In Kooyong, latest counts see Independent Monique Ryan maintaining the lead over Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer.
Labor’s Gabriel Ng is looking more likely to take Menzies from the Liberal’s Kieth Wolahan. Labor also retain a narrow lead in the new WA seat of Bullwinkel.
In Bean, independent Jessie Price has a very narrow lead of just 165 votes over Labor’s David Smith.
You can read into the seats that have been too close to call here:
Greens to decide new leader next Thursday
It’s all happening in politics right now – with Labor, Greens and Liberal members all jostling for cabinet/ shadow cabinet/ and leadership positions at the same time.
Saturday’s election claimed the scalps of two party leaders – Peter Dutton and Adam Bandt, who conceded defeat yesterday.
While it was confirmed this morning that Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor will go head to head next Tuesday to determine who will lead the Liberals, the Greens will be deciding on their new leader a couple of days later on the Thursday.
Acting Greens Leader Nick McKim just announced the date in a statement, and said losing Bandt, on top of Queensland MPs Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates was “a bitter blow”.
Our party room will meet on Thursday to decide our next leader and leadership team. There are a number of incredible people who would make great leaders of our party, and I have absolute confidence that whoever is chosen will lead us strongly and well.
Current deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi and South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young are considered to be the top leadership contenders.
US company confirms deal to buy Nine-backed real estate portal Domain
US property conglomerate CoStar has secured a deal to buy Domain, the real estate portal majority owned by media company Nine.
Domain confirmed on the ASX today that the deal, disclosed in February, would go ahead, valuing the property platform at $3bn. This equates to a cash payment of $4.43 per Domain share.
The new owner will be looking to boost the competitiveness of Domain against its dominant rival, the News Corp-backed REA Group, which owns listings platform realestate.com.au.
The Domain board has asked shareholders to support the deal. The transaction still has some hurdles to overcome, and will require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
The decision by Nine to sell the asset represents an immediate cash injection into the media company, but robs it of a strategic asset that added diversity to its publishing and broadcast business.
The Domain chair, Nick Falloon, said:
The Domain board has carefully considered the CoStar proposal and believes it represents compelling value and a high degree of certainty for Domain shareholders through the cash offer and limited conditionality.
Share price movements show that many investors had expected the final offer would be more than $4.43, but recent market volatility had also raised concerns that the deal might collapse.
Updated
Erin Patterson’s son tells court he ate leftovers of mushroom meal the next day
Turning our focus back to the Erin Patterson trial for a moment.
Erin Patterson’s son ate leftovers of the deadly mushroom meal the next day, describing it as “some of the best meat I’ve ever had”.
In pre-recorded video evidence, Patterson’s son says the meat he and his sister consumed the day after the lunch in July 2023 was “eye fillet” beef. He says his mother heated up the meat that she had cooked a day earlier.
Patterson’s son describes the meat, which he says was served with potatoes and beans:
“It was very soft ... some of the best meat I’ve ever had,” he says.
He says the meat was a “block” and did not have anything on it.
Patterson’s son says he saw his mother preparing the meat and asked her if it was leftovers, which she confirmed.
“Sometimes I don’t like leftover meat as much as fresh meat but I really liked this meat,” he says.
Patterson’s son says the meat looked the same as the meat he saw his mother cooking the day of the lunch in a frypan.
He says his mother complained of dizziness and diarrhoea and did not eat any leftovers.
Updated
‘Our party is at a crossroads’: Angus Taylor announces candidacy for Liberal party leadership
Angus Taylor says the Liberal party must “rebuild its foundations” and “offer Australians more than opposition” in his statement announcing he will run for leadership of the party.
“This is not a decision I’ve taken lightly but it is one I’ve taken with conviction following discussions with many of my colleagues this week,” Taylor said.
Our party is at a crossroads. After the result on Saturday, we owe it to our members, our supporters, and the millions of Australians who believe in our cause to regroup, rebuild, and get back in the fight.
He said “policy isn’t enough,” and that the party “must bring in new talent that reflects modern Australia – especially more women”:
This moment demands experience. It also demands energy, humility and a clear plan for the future.
We must offer Australians something more than opposition. And that means being ready – not just to hold Labor to account but to show that we’re fit to govern again.
We live in the best country in the world but for too many Australians right now, it doesn’t feel that way. They’re doing it tough. They’re uncertain. They want a government that understands them. We must become that alternative.
Updated
Erin Paterson’s son gives evidence in murder trial
Back to the Patterson trial.
Erin Patterson’s son has told her trial his father did “lots of things to try and hurt mum.”
The jury is being shown pre-recorded video evidence of Patterson’s son, who cannot be named for legal reasons. In the video, he is being interviewed by a police officer.
Asked about his parent’s relationship prior to the lunch, he says it was “very negative”
“I know dad does a lot of things to try to hurt mum,” he says.
He points to his father’s name not being on the school bills and him wanting to be able to access his children’s activities and reports.
He says for the past year he and his sister had been living at their mother house full time. He says their father, Simon Patterson, had tried to convince him and his sister to “come back.”
“I said I didn’t want to because he never did anything with us over the weekend,” he says.
Patterson’s son says he recalls his mother preparing a salad on the morning of the lunch but did not see any other food.
Updated
Antony Green calls Bendigo for Labor
ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, has called Bendigo for Labor.
What was thought to be a contest between Labor and the Liberals turned into Labor v Nationals. Labor’s Lisa Chesters had a narrow lead over National’s Andrew Lethlean as of Wednesday morning.
The AEC has counted a 2,177 vote margin in Chesters’ favour.
Updated
Julie Fragar wins Archibald prize 2025
And Julie Fragar’s portrait of artist Justene Williams has brought home the 2025 Archibald prize. Read the full story here:
Updated
Jude Rae wins Wynne prize
Jude Rae’s ‘Pre-dawn sky over Port Botany container terminal’ has won the Wynne prize for “best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours”.
Updated
Gene A’Hern wins Sulman prize
Gene A’Hern’s ‘Sky Painting’ has won the Sulman prize, which recognises the “best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist”.
Updated
Archibald prize 2025 – who is about to win?
We’re just minutes away from learning the winner of this year’s Archibald prize – here is a reminder of the finalists (in pictures):
Updated
PM’s department boss quits
Anthony Albanese has announced the head of his department has quit, a week after Labor’s election victory.
Department of the prime minister and cabinet secretary Glyn Davis will leave his role – the notional head of the federal public service – on 16 June.
“I thank Prof Davis for his outstanding contribution as secretary,” Albanese said.
One of the key priorities of our government’s first term was rebuilding the capacity of the Australian public service.
This included rebuilding the confidence of people who worked in the APS, making sure they understood that the government valued their ideas, respected their hard work and recognised their vital role in our democracy.
Davis is a former Melbourne University vice-chancellor and chief executive of the Ramsay Foundation.
Albanese paid tribute to his work during Labor’s first term in government.
To his enduring credit, he leaves a great national institution in far better shape than he found it, to the benefit of all Australians.
I want to offer my personal thanks for his friendship, advice and support over the past three years. I’m sure he will continue to make a significant contribution to public life.
Prof Davis goes with my gratitude, respect and very best wishes to him, Margaret and his family.”
The PM said he will announce a new secretary for the department at an appropriate time.
During an address to the Labor caucus, Albanese said parliament would return in late July.
Updated
‘Fall from grace’: ex-spinner spared jail for coke deal
An ex-Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill will serve a community sentence after being convicted over a cocaine deal which led to his violent kidnapping.
He supplied drugs for the deal between his regular dealer and his brother-in-law in April 2021, a jury found in March.
The 54-year-old knew the cocaine was worth $330,000 but he was oblivious to the fact that a one-kilogram brick had changed hands.
Jurors found him not guilty of taking part in a large commercial drug supply but found him guilty of the lesser charge of supplying an indictable quantity of coke.
MacGill appeared at Downing Centre District Court on Friday where a statement from former Test captain Steve Waugh backed his former colleague.
He was sentenced to an intensive corrections order of one year and 10 months. MacGill must complete 495 hours of community service work and undergo drug testing as part of the order, in lieu of a prison term.
Judge Nicole Noman found the ex-leg-spinner played an indispensable role setting up the cocaine deal.
“His role was essential to bring the parties together and for the transaction to occur,” she said.
The lucrative cocaine deal put MacGill on the path to his violent kidnapping after his drug dealer stole two bricks of cocaine in a drug ripoff. The kidnapping then spurred adverse media reports against him.
“The offender’s colossal lapse of judgment has been causative of a very public fall from grace,” the judge said.
- Australian Associated Press
Albanese’s phone rings mid-speech: ‘to the viewers at home, stop ringing!’
It seems Anthony Albanese forgot to mute his phone. The prime minister’s caucus address was interrupted twice by his own phone ringing – “to the viewers at home, stop ringing!” he quipped.
Albanese ended his address with a call to his Labor MPs:
My final ask is that over the next three years we remain with a laser-like focus on them …
On the people who voted for us and the people who did not as well, the people we want to see … lifted up and given an opportunity. The people who need healthcare, the people who need our better and fairer schools funding agreement … The people who need access to free Tafe. The people who need the NDIS to function properly and to fully participate in our society and contribute. The people in multicultural Australia who need to be respected and recognised – and there has been some, you know, a rise in division in our society. We are the inclusive party. The party for all, the party who recognises as well that until we can look at people’s postcode and not say that means something, then our task is not done. Until we close the gap between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians, our work is not done.
It is a practical task that we have. I am so confident that we are able to do so.
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In praise of Canberra
Anthony Albanese dunks on the opposition’s “juvenile anti-Canberra rhetoric” while welcoming his Labor caucus to the nation’s capital:
You will enjoy living in this great city, Australia’s largest city. It matters and the … frankly juvenile anti-Canberra rhetoric that we saw from the Coalition really hurt them during this campaign. It really did.
Updated
PM praises diversity of Labor MPs
Anthony Albanese celebrates the diversity in the caucus room, and is met by applause when noting the proportion of women present:
I look around this room and say a representative group, a majority [are] women, we are still counting, but at least 57% women.
He continues:
I also see people of … different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different experiences, different faiths. I see a diverse group of people that are truly representative of our nation. That’s what our parliament should be. Because we seek to represent the entire nation.
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‘What a room!’ PM addresses Labor caucus
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is addressing caucus, welcoming new Labor MPs to Canberra and urging that “we seek power in order to deliver for the people”:
What a room! For those of you who are new, welcome … This is where decisions are made that make a difference to the country. You need to be in government to make a difference and I have spoken in this room now for three years, but for three years in the other room as well. As the leader of the Labor party, it is an incredible honour for me … As Australia’s 31st prime minister, that is an incredible honour.
We don’t seek power for its own sake. Not to decide who is in what part of the building. We seek power in order to deliver for the people who need Labor to be in government. And to develop a better nation. That is our objective, each and every day.
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Patterson a ‘very good cook’, daughter says
Erin Patterson’s daughter has told the trial her mother was a “very good cook”.
The daughter’s pre-recorded video evidence is being played to the jury in Patterson’s triple murder trial.
Asked by the police officer what her mother would cook, she says Patterson had made “lots of stuff before”.
Patterson’s daughter tells the interviewer she does not like mushrooms but sometimes eats them. She says her mother sometimes bought mushrooms at the IGA in Korumburra or Woolworths in Leongatha.
Asked about the last time she bought mushrooms with her mother, she says she cannot remember. She says she had not been to an Asian grocery shop before with her mother.
Updated
Erin Patterson’s trial resumes with video of daughter giving evidence
We’re following Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial today and will bring you live updates.
Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
Patterson’s daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has given pre-recorded video evidence. The prosecution began playing the video, where she was interviewed by police, on Thursday.
In the remainder of the video shown this morning, her daughter recalls what happened the day after the lethal lunch. The interviewers ask Patterson’s daughter about her previous evidence that she ate leftovers of the mushroom meal with her mother and brother.
Patterson’s daughter says her mother told her they were eating the leftovers of the lunch.
The police officer asks: “What did she say?”
Patterson’s daughter says:
I remember I was asking her what we were having that night and she said she was making leftovers from yesterday’s lunch.
Updated
When dealing with Trump, put all your cards on the table, Turnbull says
Back to Malcolm Turnbull’s appearance on Slate’s Political Gabfest podcast, where he repeated his earlier calls for leaders to stand up to Donald Trump rather than seeking to appease him in trying to avoid tariffs, and suggested that the Aukus deal should be on the table as part of Australia’s discussion:
You want to do exactly what Trump does. You’ve got to put all of your cards on the table, you can see his and then work out which ones you can play and how much leverage you’ve got.
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Chris Minns sends best wishes to new pope
New South Wales premier Chris Minns has congratulated the new pope on his election, sending “best wishes as a leader in our turbulent world”:
We welcome His Holiness’ messages of peace, bridge building, and compassion.
Australia will be inviting Pope Leo to Sydney in 2028 for the International Eucharistic Congress, and New South Wales would be honoured to host Pope Leo XIV.
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Macquarie chief executive takes home $24m as profits lift
The Macquarie Group chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, earned a breezy $24m last year, according to documents released today, mostly consisting of lucrative bonuses.
The annual pay packet, which is tightly linked to company profits, comfortably makes Wikramanayake one of Australia’s highest paid executives.
While the pay packet fell modestly from the $25.2m she earned a year ago, it is still an extraordinary sum even by executive standards.
Macquarie reported a $3.72bn full-year net profit, up 5%, for the 12 months to 31 March, backed by its global asset management and banking divisions. It has emerged as a robust competitor to Australia’s big four retail banks in the home loan market.
Wikramanayake was the highest earning Macquarie executive last year. Simon Wright, head of Macquarie’s commodities and global markets unit, earned $22.7m.
Unlike many companies, the chief executive is not always the highest paid employee at Macquarie, due to a bonus system that richly rewards profit making.
The former head of the commodities division once earned more than $57m during a period marked by volatile energy prices.
You can check how much more CEOs earn than average workers, according to this interactive Guardian Australia published last year.
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Sydney archbishop Anthony Fisher has said US cardinal Robert Prevost’s “missionary heart” would hold him in good stead as new pope:
Like the late pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV will bring to the church the experience of being part of a religious order with an emphasis on simplicity and community.
It was very moving that the Holy Father opened his first address to a watching world with a greeting of peace, and repeated the central truth of the gospel, that God loves all of us “without any limits or conditions”.
– Australian Associated Press
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We must ‘do the hard work to reconnect’, Tehan says
In Dan Tehan’s announcement that he will not be contesting the Liberal leadership, he said the party needs to have “an honest look” at the election outcome, and “deep into the heart of the party itself”:
The Australian people want a Liberal Party that speaks to their lives, their families and their hopes for the future. They want small businesses and farmers to thrive. We must create a political movement that can provide that vision.
That means an honest look at the 2025 election, our history and the future. We must also look deep into the heart of the party itself.
We must do the hard work to reconnect Liberal values and the Australian people.
Updated
Dan Tehan rules himself out of Liberal leadership race
Shadow minister for immigration Dan Tehan is not standing for leadership of the Liberal party, he has just confirmed:
I love the Liberal Party, and I want to help reconnect us with the Australian people, but after careful consideration and conversations with my colleagues, I have decided not to stand for a leadership position.
I will work hard and serve in whatever capacity I am asked to rebuild our party.
Updated
Australian bishops hail pope’s election
Australian bishops have welcomed the “momentous” election of US cardinal Robert Prevost as new pope.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said:
The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV is yet again a sign of the wisdom behind the Italian saying that “those who enter the conclave as a pope inevitably emerge from the conclave as a cardinal”.
Cardinal Prevost brought to his most recent role as Prefect of the Dicastery for bishops an approachability and willingness to listen which were no doubt developed throughout his many years as an Augustinian missionary in Peru.
Recent popes have sought ways to be of service to the wider Christian family and we can expect that Pope Leo XIV will follow this same path. The growing sense of unity and common purpose, already evident among Christians, can be a powerful countersign to the fragmentation we see in so many societies and communities.
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Global News Corp mastheads suffer sharp revenue drop
News Corp’s global mastheads have suffered a sharp fall in revenue after lower advertising income cut into revenue streams.
Revenue at the conglomerate’s news media unit, a division that includes the Sun and the Times in London, the New York Post and the Australian, fell in the quarter to US$514m, down 8% from a year ago, according to results published today.
The company, part of Rupert Murdoch’s sprawling empire, attributed the slide to lower advertising income and lower circulation and subscription revenues.
Members of the Murdoch family have been involved in a court battle over the future control of News Corp as well as Fox News.
While News Corp has increased digital subscriber numbers at its Australian operations, online readers for the Sun and New York Post have plummeted. The declines have previously been linked to changes in referrer platforms.
The conglomerate, which also owns book publishers, real estate advertising assets and the business information unit Dow Jones, reported a slight lift in overall revenue to US$2bn for the three months to 31 March.
The company profited from higher audiobook sales and robust revenue generated from the Dow Jones unit, which includes the Wall Street Journal as well as business resources such as economic risk analysis services.
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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defends defection to Liberal party room
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defended her defection to the Liberal party room but wouldn’t confirm if she’ll run for deputy leader on a ticket with Angus Taylor.
Speaking to 2GB, Price said she was “disappointed” in the reaction from Matt Canavan, who said her move was “why people are sick of politicians” and compared it to Lidia Thorpe’s defection from the Greens.
Price said she had consulted with colleagues before the move, and also seemed to suggested that she had wanted to sit in the Liberal party room from the start:
I wanted to do it in a respectful way. So I did speak to my colleagues. I even spoke to Sussan Ley as well. So there are many that I had spoken to into the lead-up to this being announced.
The decision I have chosen, which is something I can do as part of the Country Liberal party, is which party room I sit in in federal parliament, to be quite honest, it is something that I wanted to do from the first time I was elected.
Asked whether she would join Taylor’s ticket, she remained coy, saying she’d already undertaken a “huge step”.
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Prime minister Anthony Albanese says the election of US Cardinal Robert Prevost as new Pope “comes at an important time for the Catholic Church and the world”.
His statement says:
Today is a momentous day for Catholics around the world and faithful in Australia, and I join them in congratulating their Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, Bishop of Rome, on his election overnight.
As the first North American Pope, Pope Leo XIV’s leadership comes at an important time for the Catholic Church and the world.
Australia will invite His Holiness Pope Leo to Australia for the International Eucharistic Congress being proudly hosted in 2028. My government looks forward to continuing Australia’s strong relationship with the Holy See under Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.
May the papacy of Pope Leo advance the cause of peace and social justice for all humanity.
Liberals trapped in ‘Rupert Murdoch-owned rightwing entertainment echo chamber’, Malcolm Turnbull says
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has appeared on the US Political Gabfest podcast, saying Donald Trump is “making the centre left great again” and the Liberal party is “living in a Rupert Murdoch bubble”:
In many ways, Donald Trump is making the centre left great again. All around the world, the parties of the right, particularly those that channel Trump, or are seen to be channelling Trump, have been set back.
Right from the time he started this tariff war, the you’ve seen the centre right party, the Liberal party … you saw its numbers started to decline.
The problem for the Liberal party has been that it has essentially been living in a largely Rupert Murdoch-owned rightwing entertainment echo chamber, and so they have been running policies and lines that appeal to that audience. But when played out in a general election, when you’ve got to win everyone or you’ve got to win the centre ground, they have backfired spectacularly.
You had a cost-of-living election, that’s that was the big issue. But the Liberal leader, [Peter] Dutton, was more often than not talking about woke issues, basically copying things that were being done in Washington, you know, decreeing that all federal public servants would no longer be allowed to work from home.
It’s that kind of agenda that that fires up the rightwing base on Fox in your country, or Sky News in Australia, which belongs to Rupert. And it’s it’s really a terrible trap.
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Mark Butler welcomes election of new pope
Health minister Mark Butler says the election of US cardinal Robert Prevost as new pope is “terrific news”.
He was speaking on ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning:
It was terrific news that I read when I first woke up, really quick election to the first American Pope in history and he takes his name from Leo XIII, who was a pope very well-known for his commitment to social justice. The billion or so Catholics around the world, the one in four Australians who identify as Catholics, will be overjoyed today after a period of grieving and mourning for the much-loved Pope Francis.
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Angus Taylor confirms he will stand to be Liberal leader
Angus Taylor has confirmed to the AFR that he’s running for leader of the Liberal party.
The shadow treasurer didn’t confirm widespread rumours that he wants Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as his deputy. He said she was an “extraordinary addition” to the party.
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Bridget McKenzie lashes out at Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s defection
The fallout from Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s decision to defect from the Nationals party room to the Liberals continues, with Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie calling the move “disappointing” and saying loyalty is “essential” in politics.
McKenzie joined Sky News a moment ago, and couldn’t hide her disappointment, pointing out that, while the Liberal party was decimated on Saturday, the Nationals held all of their seats.
She seemed to put the blame for the defection on both Price and the Liberal party:
The Liberal party has got a lot of deep thinking to do. We wish them well with that, but they shouldn’t be seeking to damage us in the process of trying to rebuild themselves.
Asked if she felt betrayed, McKenzie said:
Loyalty is a rare commodity in politics, but it’s an essential one and, out in the bush, it’s worth everything … I was disappointed [but] ultimately, that’s a decision for Senator Nampijinpa Price to resign from our room.
Yesterday on X her fellow Nationals senator Matt Canavan said Price’s “decision to put her own ambition over the will of the voters is exactly why people are sick of politicians”.
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McKim targets PM for ‘lack of grace’
Nick McKim says prime minister Anthony Albanese has conducted himself with a “distinct lack of grace” post-election win.
The acting Greens leader said preferences from parties like One Nation in the seat of Melbourne ultimately resulted in Labor winning the seat over the outgoing Greens leader Adam Bandt:
There’s an awful lot of Labor MPs who owe their position to Green’s preferences around the country, which makes Mr Albanese’s distinct lack of grace over the last few days – in particular, deciding to punch down on Max Chandler-Mather the other day – which makes it all the more surprising, because he’s punching down with one hand, and on the other hand, he’s clasping a whole bunch of MPs who owe their positions to Green preferences.
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‘We will always call out war crimes’
Asked whether the Green’s stance on Gaza damaged the party’s performance, Nick McKim firmly disagreed, saying it was “not about some kind of political calculation”. The acting Greens leader is speaking on ABC RN:
Let’s be really clear about why we took the stance we have on Gaza. This was not about some kind of political calculation. There’s a genocide under way in Gaza.
There are tens of thousands of innocent people who are being burned to death. They are being dismembered. They are being buried alive, including children and babies, and that sort of thing has to be called out, no matter where it’s happening and no matter who is doing it.
We will always call out war crimes. We will always call out ethnic cleansing, and we will always call out genocide, and we’ll continue to call out and tell the truth about what is happening in Palestine.
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Nick McKim rules himself out of Greens leadership race
The Greens acting leader Nick McKim says he is not throwing his hat in the ring for leadership of the party. He is speaking on ABC Radio National:
It’s an immense privilege to lead the Greens, and I’ve bene the leader of the Greens in Tasmania, but that also means I know what the job is.
I have had a fair bit of self-reflection over this over the last few days, and I’ve always believed, if you can’t give the job 120% then you shouldn’t be doing it. And I don’t want to let my party room colleagues down. I don’t want to let our party down. I don’t want to let the movement that we represent down. So I’ve decided not to take that job.
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‘I am the right person to lead the party forward’
Asked about the Liberal party’s “woman problem”, Sussan Ley says:
I’m putting my hand up. I’m determined and convinced that I am the right person to lead the party forward at this time and I think my appointment would send a strong signal to the women of Australia, but it’s about much more than that. It is about the policy offering. It is about what modern Australia expects of us as Liberals. It is about working collegiately across our party and it is about a strong work ethic, something that I’m known for in our party and in our country.
I’m not going to take a backward step. We can be successful. We can win the next election. And this is a moment to look forward and really bring the Australian people with us on this journey.
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‘I want to harness all the talent in my team’
“We do need to reflect a modern Liberal party,” Sussan Ley says. She is speaking on Sunrise before the Liberals’ party room meeting on Tuesday, when they will select a new leader:
It’s about making sure that I am listening to my colleagues and … demonstrate to them we want a strong approach that includes everyone. I want to harness all of the talent in my team, take it forward under my leadership and meet the Australian people where they are because, clearly we didn’t do that at the last election. But we do need to reflect a modern Liberal party, meeting modern Australians in every single walk of life across the country.
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Sussan Ley says she will stand to be Liberal leader
Sussan Ley, in the race for Liberal party leadership, is speaking on Sunrise. She says the Liberals “got it wrong” and “need a fresh approach”:
On the weekend, we suffered a significant election defeat and since then, I have been having many conversations with my colleagues, members of the community, with members of the party, indeed the Coalition, with everyday Australians. I have listened. We got it wrong. We need to do things differently, going forward, and we do need a fresh approach. So, on Tuesday morning when the Liberal party room meets in Canberra, I will be putting myself forward for the position of leader of the federal party.
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Former Greens leaders speak out
As mentioned earlier, we have a lead story this morning (new popes aside) focusing on Greens reaction to the party’s disappointing showing in the election.
The veteran former leader Bob Brown said that the diminished party had to resist Labor arrogance, particularly on climate and environmental issues. The party should focus on its roots of “being the leading party on protecting the environment and tackling climate change, but also social justice”, he said.
Here’s the full article:
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Good morning! Thank you Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’m Rafqa Touma and I’ll be rolling your news updates from here.
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Bandt blames boundaries, preferences and primary vote
Adam Bandt, the outgoing Greens leader, told ABC 7.30 last night that it was “obviously not the outcome that I wanted” to lose his seat but pinned his loss on changed boundaries in his seat of Melbourne, a dip in the primary vote and preferences:
It is the case that even though we got the highest vote, it will be One Nation and Liberal preferences that do get Labor over the line.
Asked whether he regretted the Greens blocking policies on housing and the establishment of an environmental protection agency, Bandt said his party had secured an extra $3.5bn for public and community housing:
I do wish we’d been able to get the government to the point of not opening new coal and gas mines, but I think these crises, like the climate crisis, the housing crisis, the inequality crisis, they’re only going to get worse unless the government acts.
We have a full report here:
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‘Our policy processes need to be improved’
James Paterson also said if the Coalition’s policies had been “ready earlier” and “up for public scrutiny”, they could have been well received, adding that its nuclear platform must be “up for review”.
Pointed to flaws in the policy, Paterson said the “risks were obvious and it was a political risk”:
I have great admiration for Peter Dutton that he didn’t play it safe in opposition, he took something he thought our country needed and argued for it …
We took it to the last election and it is going to be very difficult for us to take it again to a future election simply for practical reasons.
On the working from home policy, he said it was clear “policy processes need to be improved”:
It’s not always the case that every policy that’s taken to an election goes through robust internal party processes, they don’t always go through shadow cabinet … one of the very clear lessons out of this election campaign is our policy processes need to be improved … we need to stress test things much earlier and robustly before we release them publicly.
Paterson wouldn’t be drawn on whether he would back Sussan Ley or Angus Taylor.
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James Paterson blames ‘Trump effect’ for defeat
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, says the Trump effect is the “single largest factor” that led to the Coalition loss.
Speaking on ABC 7.30 last night, the MP conceded “a lot of things went wrong when you have a loss this bad”, but said Donald Trump’s presidency had a particularly “devastating effect” on polling numbers:
We peaked around inauguration day and slid after that, particularly fast after the Zelenskyy meeting and again after the tariffs. But that’s not to exonerate us of political responsibility there. We could have done more to inoculate ourselves against there and that, there were some things that happened in the months in the lead-up to the campaign and the campaign itself that exaggerated the similarities between us and Donald Trump.
The truth have the politics of the centre right Liberal party in quite different than what’s has been happening in the Republican party in the US but the government successfully tied us to them and it was devastating.
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Liberal party room to elect new leader on Tuesday
The Liberal party will meet on Tuesday to elect a new party leader and deputy leader.
A joint statement from the acting leader, Sussan Ley, the Senate opposition leader, Michaelia Cash, the acting chief opposition whip, Melissa Price, and the chief opposition whip in the Senate, Wendy Askew, read:
Having consulted with our colleagues, we announce that a party room meeting of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party will take place in Canberra at 10am on Tuesday, 13 May 2025.
In relation to electorates where the outcome is uncertain and counting continues, the Federal Director of the Liberal Party is tasked with determining which members and candidates are projected to win and therefore who can participate.
The statement read that “with a bias towards enfranchisement”, Andrew Hirst had been tasked with making projections by 10am Monday “to ensure appropriate travel arrangements can be facilitated”.
The main contenders for the role are Angus Taylor, who could run with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as his deputy after her defection to the Liberals, Ley and Dan Tehan.
Read more here:
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Albanese to address buoyant Labor caucus in Canberra
Anthony Albanese will address a caucus meeting of his new MPs in Canberra today after his party’s landslide win, Australian Associated Press reports.
The scale of the success has taken even senior Labor ministers by surprise, lending to a buoyant feeling among the party’s members.
A record number of women will be taking their seats in parliament, with women to outnumber men in the Labor party room.
At least 46 seats will be held by women in the Labor government out of a total of 150 in the House of Representatives.
More than a dozen new MPs will join the ranks after Labor increased its seats from 77 to at least 90 as the count continues.
Australian National University political historian Frank Bongiorno said Labor hadn’t had a victory this size since 1943:
It’s a remarkable opportunity for the government to craft a legacy, which could extend even beyond this term.
Governments don’t normally extend their majorities … you normally win your first election reasonably comfortably, and then you begin burning political capital straight away in that first term, and then often have to scrape a win the second time round.
But the hard work starts now for Albanese after his big win so we’ve been looking at his to-do list, including forming a new cabinet, cutting student debt, delivering an environmental protection agency – and getting married.
Read more here:
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it will be Rafqa Touma for the bulk of the day.
Our top story is that former Greens leaders have urged the party to stand up to “arrogant” Labor in the new parliament. Bob Brown urged the party to “never again” preference Labor over the Liberals and instead to run an open ticket, while Richard Di Natale claimed the Greens had been “unlucky” in Saturday’s election and hit by a “perfect storm”. It comes as the party seeks a new leader to replace Adam Bandt, who said on the ABC’s 7.30 last night that boundaries and preferences had contributed towards his defeat. More reaction coming up.
Anthony Albanese will welcome his newly elected MPs to Canberra today as Labor politicians come together for the first time since their emphatic victory at the federal election. The prime minister will address the caucus meeting in Canberra, with women to outnumber men in the Labor party room.
A different atmosphere will abide in the Liberal party room after the party set next Tuesday as the day to elect a new leader. The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said on 7.30 last night that the Trump effect was the “single largest factor” that led to the Coalition loss. More coming up.
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