Federal politics live: Barnaby Joyce expected to announce his defection from the Nationals soon

9m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 2:33am

‘Nudify’ services used by Australian school students blocked after eSafety compliance action

Australians will be blocked from accessing three popular “nudify” websites linked to the generation of child sexual exploitation material, including students creating fake nude images of classmates.

The UK-based company behind some of the world’s most widely used services, where photos of real people can be uploaded and artificially altered to make the subjects appear nude, has withdrawn access in Australia following enforcement action by the eSafety Commission.

The “nudify” services were receiving about 100,000 visits a month from Australians, and have been linked to several high-profile cases related to the creation of AI-generated sexual exploitation material of school students.

Read the full story from chief digital political correspondent Clare Armstrong.

37m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 2:04amGraeme Samuel endorses Labor-Greens deal to pass environment protection reform laws(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

The man who conducted a review of Australia’s outdated environmental protection laws has endorsed a deal reached between Labor and the Greens to pass updated legislation.

Graeme Samuel, who led an independent review into the nation’s environment laws and handed down a report five years ago, says the amendments strike the right balance.

Professor Samuel, who has previously criticised the Coalition for pushing back against government’s legislation, says the opposition is talking themselves into “irrelevancy”.

“I went through the amendments this morning with the minister’s office and gave a tick across every single one of them,” Samuel says.

“They’re all sensible, they tighten up issues that will both be in favour of protecting the environment but they don’t impact on the efficiency which was part of the reform,” he says.

Samuel has heaped praise on Environment Minister Murray Watt, who he says has produced a “remarkable” reform package.

51m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 1:50am

Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan rips into government’s climate targets(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan has ripped into the federal government over its climate targets and electricity costs.

Speaking in the House of Representatives, the shadow energy minister says the government’s energy emissions reduction policies has caused a “mess”.

Tehan says the government has delivered an “energy crisis” that is “stealing from from tables” and destroying the competitiveness of businesses.

“The minister has embarked on the most expensive, most disruptive, uncosted and unplanned energy transition in the developed world,” Tehan says.

Tehan says Australians are selling their belongings or reverting to buy now, pay later schemes to keep up with high energy bills.

He says Labor is destroying the standard of living in Australia.

“So when the minister says renewables are cheapest, he is giving a part time response. He’s only counting part of the equation,” he says.

56m agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 1:46am

Business Council says environment changes a ‘missed opportunity’ despite ‘sensible’ fixes

A mixed response from the peak business body, which had been a key negotiator behind the scenes on the environment bill.

Chief executive Bran Black has called it a “missed opportunity” to get a major party deal and says there is still some “ambiguity and risk” in the proposal.

“As it stands… there’s lots more work to do to deliver a net benefit for business and the economy,” Black says.

But he also calls some of the changes “sensible” and acknowledges Labor has addressed some of its “most significant” concerns.

The BCA calls the model for the new environmental agency “an improvement” on what had been proposed before the election, although still describes it as “not preferred”.

1h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 1:28am

Government projected to badly miss 2035 climate target, fall shy of 2030

Australia is projected to fall just shy of its 2030 climate target and badly miss its 2035 target without significant changes, the climate change minister has revealed.

The Climate Change Authority says Australia is on track to reach a 42 per cent reduction in emissions by the end of this decade, 1 per cent short of the legislated target.

But the authority has warned in its annual statement that the country is far further behind on meeting the government’s recently decided commitment to cut emissions by 62 to 70 per cent by 2035.

The CCA says on current projections, emissions will fall by just 48 per cent instead.

Read the full story from political reporter Jake Evans in the link below.

1h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 1:23amJoyce’s legacy will be ‘trashed’ if he defects to One Nation, Bridget McKenzie says(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie says former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce would trash his legacy if he were to resign from the Nationals and defect to One Nation.

As friend of the blog Clare Armstrong reported earlier, Joyce is expected to make his intentions on whether he’ll stay in the Nationals clear soon.

Speaking to Sky News, McKenzie says Joyce has achieved a lot during his time as a member of the Nationals.

“He’s actually done serious things and his legacy is significant but that will be trashed if he goes to One Nation and I think that’s the big difference and that’s the question he’s going to have to ask himself,” McKenzie says.

“Does he want to be part of a party of government to get things done … or join a protest party where you won’t be able to do that type of thing?” she says.

1h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 1:08amBarnaby Joyce expected to announce whether he’ll resign from Nationals soon(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

It’s decision day for Barnaby Joyce, who is poised to announce if he will defect to One Nation after more than two decades as a Nationals member.

Joyce is due to use a 90 second speech in the lower house just before Question Time to officially make his intentions known.

The maverick former deputy prime minister has been mulling his political future for the last few months after quitting the Nationals party room and confirming he would not recontest his seat of New England at the next election in 2028.

He’s left the door open to a tilt at the senate, which is an area One Nation are keen to expand into.

1h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:59am

Minerals Council criticises Labor’s deal with Greens on environment bill

The Minerals Council of Australia says a deal reached between Labor and the Greens to pass environment laws doesn’t strike the right balance.

The council says the bills are an “inferior and disappointing outcome” that doesn’t enable efficient project development.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable says the government’s deal with the Greens will increase red tape by requiring miner to make climate disclosures.

“The failure to restrict the federal EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] to compliance, enforcement and assurance functions only creates more power for unelected officials when the agency should be accountable to the public through elected officials,” Constable says.

“The nuclear actions definition as drafted in the bill will capture commodities and activities unrelated to the nuclear fuel cycle — such as critical minerals, universities and medical facilities, when simple changes could have maintained the focus on radiological risk,” she says.

1h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:54am

WA premier says Labor’s environment reform bill ‘could have been worse’

The WA Premier has thrown his support behind a deal between Labor and the Greens to reform Australia’s environmental laws.

“It could’ve been better from an industry point of view but it could have been a lot worse,” Roger Cook told a business breakfast in Perth this morning.

When then-Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek attempted to pass her version of the reforms in the last parliament, they were shelved after opposition from Cook.

“There’s no doubt that the legislative package has improved as a result of the deep engagement from Western Australian industry,” he said.

You wouldn’t describe Cook as sounding thrilled with the current form of the laws though, telling the crowd there had been one major “missed opportunity”.

“And that missed opportunity was to do an agreement with the Liberal party to make sure this legislation perhaps further reflected the concerns of industry,” he said.

“The Liberal party are a dysfunctional rabble. They’ve been marginalised, basically led by the nose by Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce and quite frankly they’ve let WA industry and the WA community down by not being better engaged.”

Cook added that WA would be the first state to receive a bilateral deal to streamline federal and state approvals processes.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:25am

How will the environment bill lead to more red tape?

The opposition leader has been asked how the environment laws will add red tape to other industries.

Sussan Ley passes the mic to Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell, who says the bill does not discuss climate reporting.

“It is in the explanatory memorandum and we have asked for more clarity around that particular thing,” Bell says.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:22am

Coalition supportive of social media ban despite comments from shadow minister(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh has said the Coalition reserves the right to withdraw its support from the social media ban for teens if there are problems.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has struck a different tone to McIntosh and says the opposition is determined to protect children.

“We are determined to continue because we want to protect children against big technology, however we will always hold this government to account,” Ley says.

“We are days away from those new laws taking effect and we want to see that they are actually going to work in the interest of children,” she says.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:19am

Ley rejects suggestion Coalition was shifting the goalposts in negotiations

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has been asked whether the Coalition was shifting the goalposts during the negotiations.

Ley has rejected that and says the deal with the Greens put critical minerals projects at risk.

Angie Bell has stepped up to says the items the opposition put to Labor had been on the table for months.

“The government has had these concerns from stakeholders and from the Coalition for some time, they have not addressed those concerns,” Bell says.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:15amLey says there was a lack of good faith negotiations on Labor’s behalf(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Sussan Ley says she didn’t receive an offer from the prime minister to meet about the environment laws.

The PM said this morning the Ley didn’t take up an offer to meet about the environment laws.

The opposition leader says she texted the PM after Question Time yesterday, but that the text remains unanswered.

“I come back to the point about the lack of good faith negotiations because we know that this could have gone into next year. We could have taken the time to get it right,” Ley says.

“And the evidence is what you see before you. A dirty deal done with the Greens party,” she says.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:12am

Opposition says environment minister hasn’t listened to stakeholders

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the proposition the Coalition put to the government on environment law reform was supported by industry.

Ley says there were several critical areas the Coalition wanted the government to address.

She says the environment bill is a “bad bill” that is operating against the interest of the industry and business in Australia.

“The fact the government might have come halfway to meeting half of the things we wanted them to, is not addressing the problem here,” Ley says.

Angie Bell has stepped up and says the Environment Minister Murray Watt hasn’t been listening to key stakeholders in the negotiations.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:08amLey says Labor never intended to do a deal with the Coalition on environment(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has been asked whether she’s being disingenuous for doing a deal “late at night” when she’s said she’d do a deal late at night with Labor.

She’s also been asked how she thinks the current laws won’t improve the approvals process for projects.

Ley says the Coalition were having “good faith” conversations with the government up until last night.

She says there was no rush to get the bill passed today, and that Labor never wanted to do a deal with the Coalition.

“They wanted the optics of concluding something, anything on the last sitting day to cover up their massive, massive failures,” Ley says.

Ley has passed the mic over to Susan McDonald who says the laws will lead to the duplication of processes.

2h agoThu 27 Nov 2025 at 12:02am

Opposition says environment bill will drive up the price of gas

Shadow Resources Minister Susan McDonald says it’s a “dark day” for primary production in Australia, mostly for the mining industry.

McDonald says Labor and the Greens have undermined investment in Australia and will send Australian jobs offshore.

“We have acted in good faith. The Coalition has been negotiating with the government to try and improve this bad legislation,” McDonald says.

“It will drive up the price of gas in your home and extraordinarily, just after the government was trumpeting its agreement with the US government on critical minerals, there is parts of this legislation that will undermine even Australia’s ability to deliver on that,” she says.

2h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 11:59pmCoalition says environment bill will ‘kill off’ industries

Coalition frontbencher Jonathon Duniam says the deal with Labor and the Greens on environment laws will “kill off” industries.

He says the bill will lead to the demise of the native forestry industry within three years.

“If anyone thinks the Greens were supporting a bill that’s going to make it easier to get things through environmental approvals processes, you’re kidding yourselves,” Duniam says.

He says the government has given the opposition just a few hours to go through the details of the bills.

2h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 11:56pm

Angie Bell says Labor’s environment reforms will deliver more red tape

Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell says the government’s environment bill will take Australia backwards and deliver more red tape for gas and housing.

Bell has rejected the suggestion that the Coalition wasn’t at the table to negotiate on the legislation.

“It’s a bad bill for those Australians who work in the sectors that will be impacted by this,” Bell says.

“Australian energy producers have said that this will deliver more red tape. This will deliver more red tape for gas. This will deliver more red tape for housing,” she says.

2h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 11:53pmOpposition Leader Sussan Ley says Labor’s agreement with Greens is a ‘dirty deal’

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has just stepped up to respond to the agreement announced to pass the government’s environment protection legislation.

The opposition leader says the Labor-Greens alliance is back, and that the government is working against lower power prices.

She’s described it as a “dirty deal”.

“What is absolutely clear is that this is going to put energy prices up and provide further pressure on electricity bills for struggling households and families, for the simple reason that the Greens have got what they want,” Ley says.

2h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 11:50pmFormer PM Malcolm Turnbull’s portrait unveiled at Parliament House(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

A portrait of former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been unveiled at Parliament House this morning.

Turnbull’s speech at the unveiling took a turn to address recent discussions around renewable energy.

“Interesting now that we’re still having the same insane conversations on the right of politics about energy. It really is ludicrous,” Turnbull said.

“When I was PM, I used to say tediously to everyone who listened to me: energy policy should be determined by engineering and economics, not ideology and idiocy. That’s kind of common sense isn’t it.”

(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the portrait reflected Turnbull’s character as someone who “was always in a hurry”.

“It is fitting for the prime minister who commissioned snowy hydro 2.0 that this is an artwork of tremendous, stored energy,” Albanese said.

The artwork was painted by Jude Rae, who said painting the former PM was an incredible honour.