Just nowTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:57am

🚨Question Time is nearly here🚨

If you’ve just joined us, welcome to the ABC’s federal politics live blog! It’s nearly Question Time in the House of Representatives.

My co-blogger Courtney Gould has just sat down in the green room to bring you all the hot takes from the lower house.

We’re expecting a condolence motion for former Labor minister Graham Richardson first up today. 

MPs are shuffling into the chamber, so settle in as we bring you questions without notice here live!

4m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:52am

Joyce’s experience on ‘wide range of issues’ will be good for One Nation: Hanson

Pauline Hanson says she thinks Barnaby Joyce’s experience on a “wide range of issues” will make him a good fit for One Nation.

“I think his experience and wide range of issues, we agree totally about net zero, getting rid of net zero and getting out of the Paris agreement,” Hanson says.

“I think that is so important. His experience with immigration, I think there’s a lot of things that we agree on,” she says.

9m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:47am

‘We’ll see what happens’: Hanson coy on Joyce’s next move

Pauline Hanson has been asked whether she’s confident Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce will move across to One Nation.

Hanson entertained Joyce for a steak dinner last night, after Joyce left the door to joining the minor party.

The One Nation leader says she thinks the Nationals MP enjoyed his dinner in her office at parliament last night.

“Well, we’ll see what happens. It’s still final decision, has to be up to Barnaby,” Hanson says.

12m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:44am

Hanson doesn’t provide examples of when burka was a national security risk

Pauline Hanson has been asked if she can provide specific examples of how wearing the burka is a threat to national security.

The One Nation leader wasn’t able to provide an examples, but instead pointed to it being a potential risk.

“If you can wear a helmet into the bank or any other venues where they tell you to take it off, why is the burka any different?” Hanson says.

18m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:38am

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson stands by views on burka after censure(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson is speaking after she was censured and banned from the Senate for seven sitting days.

Hanson says she stands by her views on the burka, and says there is no dress code for parliament.

She says she has been denied the right to introduce a bill to the Senate to ban the burka.

“That is the heart of democracy, to allow me to move my private member’s bill to debate the issue and put it to the vote. They have denied me that right. Not on this one occasion, but previously as well,” Hanson says.

Hanson says being censured and banned from the Senate for seven days doesn’t really worry her.

She says she’ll be standing for re-election in Queensland.

“I’ll stand my ground and what I believe in, I will continue to do so. It will be the people that will judge me,” she says.

24m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:32am

Government says US has not raised concerns over ‘mass migration’

The federal government says the Trump administration hasn’t raised any concerns with it over “mass migration” to Australia — despite media briefings suggesting US diplomats are going to ramp up pressure on Canberra on the issue.

Senior US State Department officials have told media outlets in Washington DC that American diplomats in multiple Western countries will now “begin collecting data and reporting on migrant-related crimes and human rights abuses facilitated by people of a migration background.”

The Trump administration has repeatedly warned Western nations against what it’s termed “mass migration” suggesting it could pose profound threats to social stability.

The Nine newspapers has now quoted a senior State Department official saying the administration wanted to “just warn our friends that if you import a rapid number of individuals of any background, particularly of a culture that’s radically different from Australia’s, without any sort of mechanism for diffusing the impact, that can lead to political unrest, that can lead to economic instability.”

Some Labor MPs have been privately scathing about the directive, while the Greens senator David Shoebridge says the US is “not even pretending to hide” that it’s “now openly working to manipulate Australia’s domestic politics.”

But an Australian government spokesperson says “the US administration has not raised this matter with Australia” — which suggests that American diplomats are not exactly racing to raise the deeply fraught issue with Canberra.

“Australia is a pluralist nation, we welcome different races, religions and views, united by respect for each other’s humanity and for each other’s right to live in peace,” they said.

31m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:25am

Greens unconvinced by latest offer on environment reforms

The Greens are yet to be convinced by the latest offer from the federal government on its environmental law reforms.

The government has put new amendments to the Greens today, after previously offering for native forest logging projects to be assessed under national environmental standards within three years.

It’s understood the proposal would not include coal and gas projects as part of the “streamline assessment pathway”, and ensures the minister still has the power to declare that a project needs Commonwealth approval, even when decision-making power is given to the states.

Talks between the Greens and the government remain productive, but the minor party believes what’s been offered so far is not enough to win its support.

37m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:20am

What happened with the censure motion?

So, the Pauline Hanson censure motion got bit tricky in the end but let me do my best at explaining it.

The censure motion was split. The first vote that occurred was on the following parts of the censure motion (that actually contained you know, the censure part).

1 a) on Monday 24 November 2025, Senator Hanson engaged in behaviour in the chamber that
was intended to vilify and mock people on the basis of their religion; (8) Censures Senator Hanson for her actions, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people.(9) Does not regard it as appropriate for Senator Hanson to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this Parliament. (10) Considers Senator Hanson’s conduct in defying the ruling of the chair and refusal to leave the chamber following her suspension amounts to further disorder under standing order 203.

This passed 40 votes to 25, with most of the Coalition voting against it. Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan crossed the floor to vote for it.

(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

The remainder of the motion passed 55 votes to 5. (The motion in full is too long for me to post here but you can read it on the Dynamic Red here).

43m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:14am

Coalition hasn’t said what changes it wants to ‘unacceptable impact’ provision: Watt

Environment Minister Murray Watt says he has been negotiating with multiple people from the Coalition.

One of the Coalition’s key sticking points with the environmental reform legislation is the definition of “unacceptable impacts”.

Watt says the Coalition hasn’t detailed exactly what it means when it says it wants changes to the definition of “unacceptable impact”. 

Speaking to Sky News, the environment minister says it has been difficult to reach an agreement with the Coalition when he’s had to deal with different negotiators.

“We’re now at a point where I’ve got multiple people from the Coalition seeking to negotiate with me rather than one,” Watt says.

“If you’ve got the Coalition constantly coming to us asking for changing amendments, and they want this and then they want that, it makes it a little bit hard to reach an agreement with them,” he says.

43m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:14amHanson hit with further sanction, can’t attend Senate for seven sitting days(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

At the conclusion of Pauline Hanson’s speech, Foreign Minister Penny Wong stood up to move that the One Nation leader be suspended from the Senate for seven sitting days.

After initially asking for a vote to be held, Hanson said she was fine for the vote to be cancelled.

“The people will judge me at the next election,” she told the chamber before her mic was cut off.

46m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:10am

Hanson rejects claims she doesn’t have respect for people of faith

Pauline Hanson has rejected the accusation that she does not have respect for people of faith.

“You know, I have stood up for the Jewish people. I’m not Jewish but the way they were treated … by some of the people in this chamber … and that wasn’t pulled up at all,” she says.

Hanson says a burka isn’t a religious requirement and it’s been imposed on women.

Her time expires.

51m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:05am

National interest provision in environment laws designed for national security, defence: Watt

Environment Minister Murray Watt has also stepped up on Sky News this afternoon to discuss Labor’s environmental protection legislation.

Watt is working furiously to win over the support of either the Coalition on Greens to pass the legislation through the Senate this week.

Speaking to Sky News, the environment minister says the fast tracking processes in the laws were never designed for fossil fuel projects but rather for housing and renewables energy projects.

Watt says the national interest provision has been intended solely for defence and national security projects.

“This is not to say that fossil fuel projects can’t go ahead. They would continue to go ahead under the current kind of systems,” Watt says.

“It’s about saying that those new fast tracking processes that we’ve introduced for approvals in shorter periods of time, that they are more designed for things like housing or renewables.

“They will still be ways under the legislation that we passed that we can get moving on priority projects to have them delivered,” he says.

52m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 2:05amPauline Hanson has been censured

Pauline Hanson has been censured by the Senate after the split motion passed.

The One Nation is now giving a five minute explanation. Hanson says she’s making her statement directly to the Australian people.

As she’s said across multiple interviews since her suspension yesterday, she says she only wore the burka because she wad denied the right to introduce her bill to ban face coverings.

“This is not the first time you’ve done it to me,” she says.

59m agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:58am

Coalition asks for censure motion to be split after its proposal fails

The opposition has failed in their bid to put forward it’s own censure motion for Pauline Hanson. 

As previously mentioned, the censure motion was quite different to the one proposed by the government and did not specifically name Hanson.

It was voted down 25 votes to 40.

Manager of Opposition Business Anne Ruston is now seeking to have Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s motion split. It would mean the Coalition could vote for the parts of the motion they agree with and not the rest.

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:53am

Labor MPs told to stay in Canberra until Friday for environment bill

The final week of parliament for the year just got a little bit longer for lower house Labor MPs who have been told to stick around in Canberra until Friday.

This is all in case Labor does manage to secure a deal with the Greens or Coalition on its environment reforms in the Senate and the amended version of the bill has to then be sent back to the House of Representatives for final sign off.

Speaking to his Labor party room colleagues on Tuesday for what will be the last full caucus meeting of the year, Anthony Albanese got a bit sentimental.

The prime minister said it was an “honour” to be leader and thanked his caucus for putting him in that position.

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:41amFaruqi welcomes move to censure Hanson(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is up next. She condemns Pauline Hanson for her actions and welcomes the move to hold the One Nation leader to account.

“Of course, decades of harm that One Nation and Senator Hanson has caused to people of colour, to Muslims, to Asians by her racism and dog whistling won’t be taken away by this motion,” she says.

“But it is a start.”

She says eight years ago when Hanson first entered the chamber in a burka there were no Muslims in the chamber. There are now two Muslim women.

Faruqi says the motion should act as a “wake up call”.

“You just want to talk about respecting each other. Well, this is where respecting each other and just talking the talk has got us.

This parliament drips now in racism, because for decades, for decades, politicians and both major parties can I say, let it happen. And today there’s a Senator here who effectively said that he hates Muslims. That is what it has come down to, because you all let it happen, and I won’t let that go.”

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:34amOpposition puts forward own censure motion

Manager of Opposition Business Anne Ruston is supporting the move to censure Pauline Hanson but the motion she’s putting forward is quite different to the one from the government.

It notes:

a) affirms that Australia has been built by people of every race and faith; b) reaffirms that Australia is a nation that welcomes different races,
religions and views, united by respect for each other and each other’s
right to live in peace; c) rejects any attempt to vilify or mock people because of religion; d) reiterates its solidarity with those who have been vilified because of their
faith; e) reaffirms that all parliamentarians have a role to play in upholding
appropriate standards of behaviour in Parliament; andf) calls on those who work in and report on this chamber to ensure they are
not causing harm or platforming harmful actions.

Ruston says:

“It is so, so important that when we come into this place that our actions, our behaviours, our words, all reflect what we would like to see as our proud society, and fundamental to that absolutely has to be respect, respect for everybody, because what we do in here is a reflection of what happens out there,” she says.

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:28am

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley prepared to meet with PM to discuss environment laws(ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has appeared on Sky News where she has been quizzed about the government’s overhaul of environment laws.

As friend of the blog Jake Evans reported earlier, the Coalition is not happy with the proposed compromise put forward by Labor.

Ley says the negotiations have been “really badly managed” by the Environment Minister Murray Watt.

She says the minister hasn’t met the opposition “halfway” on its concerns.

The opposition leader says she is willing to meet with the prime minister to discuss the legislation, which is before the Senate.

She says the definition of “unacceptable impacts”, which has been a sticking point for the Coalition in the negotiations, hasn’t been addressed in any of the amendments put forward by Labor today.

“What we hear from industry is that right now, as it stands, is that would rule out whole swathes of existing projects because they simply wouldn’t meet the arbitrary test,” Ley says.

“Now, that hasn’t been mentioned at all in any of the amendments, even though it’s been a subject of discussion,” she says.

Ley says Labor will “stand condemned” if it does a deal with the Greens to pass the legislation.

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:22am

Hanson ‘willingly crossed boundaries’ with burka stunt: Wong(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Penny Wong has continued, saying Pauline Hanson’s actions yesterday crossed boundaries” and was disrespectful to the Senate.

“This can be a place of great contest. It should be. But there should be guardrails,” she says.

“Even where there is contest, there should be limits on what we do and what we say. What we say yesterday was all of those boundaries crossed … willingly.”

Wong says Hanson’s actions “damaged” the institution by defying orders to remove the burka and refusal to leave the chamber.

“I’ve never seen someone be so disrespectful to this institution.”

The motion put forward by the government would require Hanson to “make an explanation or apology” of no more than 5 minutes.

Wong says if that fails to take place she’ll move onto the “next step of action” available to the chamber under the standing orders.

1h agoTue 25 Nov 2025 at 1:14amHanson to be censured by Senate(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Pauline Hanson is back in the Senate after her suspension yesterday. She’s dressed in her regular clothes today.

But she’s facing a censure motion put forward by Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Just five senators voted against allowing Wong to move forward with the motion: the three One Nation senators and Ralph Babet. 

“After what occurred yesterday, someone I’m close to this morning spoke about a conversation with her seven-year-old daughter last night. And her daughter asked, ‘Mummy, do Christians hate Muslims?'” she said.

“You see, I grew up in a, in Australia, where my brother and I were the only Asians at school. And I’ve spoken at length about what that was like.

“My beloved grandmother, a devout Buddhist mom, a somewhat lapsed Methodist, and, cousins, who were Muslim, a family of many faiths, as is our country. 

“This is modern Australia, an Australia that is stronger because we are united at home … stronger in the world because our multicultural society gives us the ability to reach into every corner of the world and find common ground,” she said. 

She says Hanson “mocked and vilified” an entire faith. Wong added she knows what it’s like to come home to “racist graffiti on your driveway as a kid”.