5m agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 5:42amBoyce cites threat of losing Nats seats at next election if party doesn’t reunite with Libs
The Nationals MP who will move a spill motion against David Littleproud on Monday says his party must return to a Coalition with the Liberals.
Colin Boyce announced on Sky News today that he’ll run for the Nationals leadership when parliament returns next week.
In a statement, Boyce cited concerns about the threat of losing upper house seats at the next election if the country party doesn’t reunite with the Liberals.
The Queensland MP says he announced his intentions early to give his colleagues the time and space to consider the decision.
“The reality is that if the National Party goes to the next election alone, our Senate positions in New South Wales and Victoria will be under threat, as will lower house seats due to three-cornered contests,” Boyce says.
“The National Party is an institution that has served rural and regional Australia for more than 100 years, and I want it to remain a strong and viable force well into the future,” he says.
28m agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 5:19am
Australia commits to establishing infrastructure fund for Timor-Leste
OK, we’ve got more details on that agreement signed by Anthony Albanese and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão today.
The leaders have agreed to continue cooperation on border security and immigration and building resilience to cyber threats.
They also agreed to allow up to 10,000 Timorese workers to take up employment opportunities in Australia by 2027 and 2028.
But in the more meatier parts of the communique, released by Australia, the leaders shared an ambition for an agreement on Greater Sunrise to be developed as soon as possible “for the benefit of both states”.
“Australia and Timor-Leste commit to working closely together and with the Sunrise Joint Venture in good faith to develop an ambitious timeline to conclude the Petroleum Mining Code, Greater Sunrise Production Sharing Contract, and fiscal regime framework required under the Maritime Boundary Treaty,” the declaration says.
It says Australia will establish an infrastructure fund to be used in Timor-Leste once both nations can come to an agreement on the Greater Sunrise gas fields.
“This commitment will see at least a third of Australia’s revenue from the project being provided to Timor-Leste via the Infrastructure Fund,” the communique says.Â
39m agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 5:08am
PM ‘committed’ to returning Port of Darwin to Australian control
Anthony Albanese has been asked about the Port of Darwin, which Labor promised to return to Australian hands prior to the last election.
The Chinese ambassador to Australia today told journalists Beijing has an obligation to protect Landbridge, the Chinese company that owns the port, if it is forced out.
Albanese says the government has made it clear it wants the Port of Darwin under Australian control.
“We are committed to making sure that that port goes back into Australian hands because that is in our national interests,” Albanese says.
46m agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 5:01am
PM acknowledges commercial issues related to Greater Sunrise gas fields
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Woodside, Timor Gap and Osaka Gas will put forward a development plan for the Greater Sunrise joint venture.
“Today’s agreement that we have signed the Parseria acknowledges how important this project is,” Albanese says.
The PM says the Australian government acknowledges there are commercial issues involved, but that there will be oversight.
51m agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 4:56am
Albanese peppered with questions over Greater Sunrise gas fields
Australia and Timor-Leste have been locked in years-long negotiations over the development of the massive Greater Sunrise gas fields that lie between the two nations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was peppered with questions about the Greater Sunrise gas fields.
He says the agreement that was signed today, which we’re still seeking details on, will be important for both countries.
The PM says Australian diplomat Dr Katina Cooper has been appointed to help “push things along” between the commercial partners on the Greater Sunrise gas fields.
“That is very important. The most recent negotiations occurred in Canberra in December 2025. And so this is a shared resource between Australia and Timor-Leste,” Albanese says.
1h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 4:44amPM holds press conference in Timor-Leste
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been holding a press conference with Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão.
The Timor-Leste prime minister says the leaders discussed Australia’s labour mobility program.
He says his government has also found a parcel of land to place the new and bigger Australian embassy in Dili.
Albanese has announced Australia will boost funding to support Timor-Leste’s ascension to ASEAN with an additional $8 million.
“You don’t get to choose your neighbours, but you do get to choose your friends. And Timor Leste is a friend and has a friend in Australia,” Albanese says.
“Australia will boost the funding that was provided for technical assistance and capacity building package so that the total will be up to $20 million, an increase of 8.2 million,” he says.
1h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 4:19amBridget McKenzie says Boyce’s Nationals spill motion has ‘come out of the blue’
Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says Colin Boyce’s announcement to run for leader came as a surprise.
“The Nationals party room met just last week and was united in its opposition to Labor’s unfair gun laws and their rushed approach to flawed hate laws legislation,” McKenzie says.
“Members were rock solid in support of their shadow ministers who upheld the will of the party room,” she says.
McKenzie is one of few to issue a statement since Boyce made his announcement.
Her comments match what Nationals colleagues have privately been saying.
McKenzie says the plan by her colleague was unexpected.
“This spill motion has come out of the blue. I don’t believe the party room has changed since last week’s events.”
1h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 3:55am
Morrison a ‘pretty divisive figure’: Chalmers
Circling back to Treasurer Jim Chalmers for a moment, where he was asked about former prime minister Scott Morrison’s proposed crackdown on Islamic preaching.Â
“We’ve got our own suite of measures that we legislated through the parliament and those measures are all about trying to unify the country, not divide the country,” he said.
“Typically, Scott Morrison has a very different objective. He’s a pretty divisive figure and the government’s got its own approach to this.
“The government’s approach has been to crack down on antisemitism, to crack down on hate speech, to strengthen our gun laws and to try and rebuild social cohesion in our country.”
The former prime minister used a speech at a conference in Israel and an opinion piece in The Australian on Wednesday to outline his multi-step proposal to strengthen oversight of Islamic teaching after the Bondi terror attack.
It includes a national register for Islamic preachers and a recognised accreditation system for imams.
2h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 3:26amAndrew Bragg says Liberals have tried to make it work with the Nationals ‘for too long’
Shadow Housing Minister Andrew Bragg says the Liberals have tried to make the Coalition work for the Nationals for “too long”.
The Nationals split from the Liberals last week after Sussan Ley accepted the resignation of three shadow ministers who defied official Coalition policy on Labor’s hate laws.
Speaking to Sky News, Bragg says the split from the Coalition will provide the Liberals the opportunity to form their own identity in urban seats.
“I think the circumstances of last week very unfortunate and I think we’ve tried to make it work but sometimes you can’t make things work and you’ve got to focus on what you can control yourself and what we can control is our own policy agenda,” Bragg says.
“Most Australians live in urban electorates and that gives us a very clear focus as a Liberal Party and I’m excited about the opportunities we have ahead to develop some bold policies,” he says.
2h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 2:56am📸 Albanese lands in Timor-Leste
Anthony Albanese descends from his prime ministerial plane after touching down in Timor-Leste (AAP Image: Mick Tsikas)
Anthony Albanese has touched down in Timor-Leste (OK, it happened a little while ago now, but the pictures are trickling in now).
The prime minister is in town for talks with both the Timorese president and prime minister on the two-day visit, which will also include an address the island nation’s parliament.
Australia is Timor-Leste’s largest development and security partner and supported the country’s ascension, last year, to ASEAN.
But the two governments have been locked in years-long negotiations over the development of the massive Greater Sunrise gas fields that lie between the two nations.
2h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 2:51am
Shadow treasurer says Morrison’s suggestions should be considered
Ted O’Brien says suggestions from former prime ministers, regardless of political stripe, should always be considered.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has used a speech in Israel to propose introducing a register for Islamic preachers as part of a raft of suggestions to crackdown on antisemitism in Australia.Â
He also said religious materials and teaching should be translated into English for “transparency”.
“I think former prime ministers, have every right to put forward their ideas on public policy and they should always be considered, regardless of political stripe,” O’Brien says.
3h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 2:37am
O’Brien won’t be drawn on impending Nationals leadership spill
Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien has refused to be drawn on the impending leadership spill in the National Party.
Nationals MP Colin Boyce announced on Sky News that he will spill the party leadership on Monday and run for leader.
O’Brien says it’s a matter for the National Party and that he won’t be commenting on their internal matters.
“I made very clear at the end of last week that it is not the business of the National Party to be commenting on the internal matters of the Liberal Party,” O’Brien says.
“And so I can assure you today, as a Liberal, I won’t be commenting on internal matters of the National Party,” he says.
He’s repeated that Australia is best served under a Coalition government.
3h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 2:33am
Inflation figures above expectations, Coalition says
Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien says the inflation figures are “terrible news” for Australians.
Australia’s inflation rate rose by 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025, which is higher than expected.
“These inflation figures are wildly above what was expected, and what it means is in 2026, hardworking Australians are going to be paying more tax,” O’Brien says.
“They’re going to be paying higher prices for everything. They will see their real wages likely deteriorate and interest rates likely rise,” he says.
He says Treasurer Jim Chalmers is refusing to concede that something has to change.
O’Brien says the government needs to introduce quantifiable fiscal rules to contain spending and reduce “wasteful” spending, pointing to the fringe benefit tax carveout for electric car users as one option.
3h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 2:20am
More Nationals respond to Colin Boyce’s leadership ambitions
More Nationals have expressed their shock at Colin Boyce’s decision to put his hand up for leader, saying they are surprised and frustrated.
As we heard from Clare Armstrong, MPs and senators first heard of Boyce’s plan to contest for the top job when he announced it live on Sky News.
Further Nationals have since spoken to the ABC privately about his decision.
One MP explained how Boyce hadn’t attended a single party room meeting last week ahead of parliament voting on gun reforms and hate speech legislation.
They said his criticism of David Littleproud was hypocritical given he didn’t participate in the party process and didn’t believe there would be a change in leader.
Another MP said they were “really cranky” because Boyce’s announcement took the focus away from policies and actual problems constituents are facing.
They also said they couldn’t see a change in leader when the party meets on Monday.
3h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:56am
Chalmers says high inflation not government’s fault
Eager to distance himself from the “unwelcome” jump in inflation, Chalmers points out that it’s the private sector, not the public sector, which has been running hot recently.
Though he says (as usual) that he does not want to wade into the RBA’s territory, he refers several times to quotes from RBA Governor Michele Bullock suggested she is not overly worried about government spending.
“If government spending was the problem we wouldn’t have had three interest rate cuts in the last year,” he says.
“I take responsibility for my parts of dealing with the inflation challenge.”
4h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:39amLittleproud responds to announcement of Nationals spill motion
David Littleproud has responded to Nationals MP Colin Boyce’s announcement he’ll challenge the leader for the leadership next Monday.
Boyce said on Sky News he would be moving to trigger a spill of the party leadership next week and run for party leader.
The Nationals leader says he has always respected the party’s room’s decisions and direction, including the “right to voice different opinions”.
“We celebrate that freedom within the Nationals,” Littleproud says in a statement.
“I stand by my record as leader of the Nationals and what our party room has achieved, through important policy work and standing up for regional, rural and remote Australia,” he says.
Littleproud has defended his record as the Nationals leader, including the party’s opposition to Labor’s new hate laws, which was in defiance of official Coalition policy.
4h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:23am
Inflation jump ‘unwelcome but unsurprising’
An uptick in inflation has been labelled as “unwelcome but unsurprising” by Treasurer Jim Chalmers.Â
Inflation rose to 3.8 per cent in the year to December, up from 3.4 per cent a month pervious, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Chalmers said the figure was “higher than what we would like”.
“You can see the temporary factors, like the unwinding of particularly the state based energy rebates. You can see some more persistent pressures in areas like market services and housing as well,” he told reporters in Brisbane.
“We’re seeing this in other countries as well.”
He said today’s figures were an important reminder more needs to be done to challenges to the economy, such as productivity and global economic uncertainty.
4h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:15amBarnaby Joyce says Nationals shouldn’t rush to reunion with Liberals
Former Nationals leader and now-One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says the Nationals shouldn’t rush back into a relationship with the Liberals just days after dramatically ending the Coalition.
Nationals backbencher Colin Boyce says he intends to challenge for the leadership of the party on Monday, saying it was a mistake to split from the Liberals and he wants to offer colleagues an alternative to reunite the Coalition.
Joyce, an outspoken critic of Nationals leader David Littleproud, did not agree with Boyce that the country party should be rushing to re-establish the Coalition.
“I do believe it’s rather chaotic … you can’t go into a marriage after an election, go out of a marriage for whatever it was, eight days, go back into the marriage, go out of the marriage and then want to go back into the marriage.
“You’d make Liz Taylor and Richard Burton blush.
Joyce says he is not disappointed Boyce has ruled out defecting to One Nation.
“Not really, I say this all the time … joining a political party is like getting divorced, don’t do it unless you are really sure that’s what you want to do. It’s not a bed of roses,” Mr Joyce tells the ABC.
“With Colin, I don’t believe Colin is ready to change parties … and I think him standing for the Nats is his business, and I wish him all the best.”
Boyce’s challenge comes amid concerns from Nationals MPs that an ascendant One Nation could wipe country MPs from their seats if polling is replicated at the next election.
After another poll showing One Nation ahead of Liberals and Nationals among prospective voters, Joyce’s message for others on the right of politics was to stick to their guns.
“It is showing people are kind of tired of the amorphous soup that seems to go chasing polls rather than stand for anything. If what you want to do is find out where the sensible centre is, well you might arrive there and find out there is only a cupful of people there.”
4h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:07amNationals bemused over Boyce’s announcement he’ll spill leadership
Colin Boyce’s Nationals colleagues are a mix of surprised and bemused at the Queensland MP’s announcement he will contest the party’s leadership.
Four Nationals who spoke to the ABC privately said they first learned of Boyce’s intention to mount a challenge against leader David Littleproud when the Flynn MP announced it on live television.
Boyce told Sky News he wanted to give his colleagues the “option” of removing Littleproud, who he criticised for leading the Nationals’ split from the Coalition last week.
One Nationals MP said Littleproud’s support in the party room was “rock solid”.
Another said they did not expect Boyce’s spill motion to result in a leadership change.
Two Nationals speculated Boyce could use the defeat of the spill to justify a defection to One Nation, but two others said they did not believe their colleague would jump ship.
4h agoWed 28 Jan 2026 at 1:02am
Guided weapons facility to receive $500m upgrade for more storage, security
The federal government will inject more than $500 million into the redevelopment of a guided weapons and explosive ordnance facility in Western Sydney.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says the money will go towards upgrade works to Defence Establishment Orchard Hills for more storage capacity and better security.
Conroy says the facility houses guided weapons and plays a part in testing and maintaining RAAF missiles and key advanced naval weapons.
The upgrade is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs, according to the government.
“This facility was originally built in 1945 and some parts of the facility haven’t been touched since then so this is a really critical investment in the base infrastructure, including security and we’re rolling that out around the country,” Conroy says.