Australia news live: John Hewson savages Sussan Ley’s Liberal leadership; 9,500 new university places

8.57pm GMT Liberal MP has a long pause when asked about Sussan Ley’s future Liberal MP Sarah Henderson seemed to express concern with opposition leader Sussan Ley’s hold on the Coalition in an interview with Sky News this morning. Henderson spoke to Peter Stefanovic amid questions about Ley’s leadership, saying: Henderson: I do believe that we can turn things around. Stefanovic: With a new leader or with Sussan Ley? Henderson paused for a long moment, before saying: Henderson: Well, Pete, I am just going to say at the moment that I cannot support the way things are. Stefanovic: With Sussan Ley as leader? It sounds like you’re not supporting her position as leader. Henderson paused again, before saying: Well I can’t back in the way things are, Pete, and I’ve got to be authentic and I’ve got to be honest about that. Updated at 8.59pm GMT 8.41pm GMT Nacc watchdog still considering two complaints about possible conflicts of interest Two complaints about a potential conflict of interest between the national anti-corruption commissioner and his ties to defence, his former employer, are under consideration. Gail Furness, the Nacc inspector, a watchdog for the federal anti-corruption watchdog, has revealed in her latest annual report she is still considering at least two complaints received in 2024-25 relating to commissioner Paul Brereton. Brereton, a former army major general who became the Nacc’s inaugural chief in 2023, has come under fire for maintaining his connections to defence after taking on the role. Brereton has admitted to remaining in the army reserves and has assisted the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, another position Brereton held, on a number of occasions. The Nacc inspector’s report said one matter had been dismissed, one had been resolved satisfactorily, one was still under consideration and the other “concerned an ongoing matter which is not appropriate for the inspector to report”. 8.27pm GMT HSC exams come to a close in NSW Year 12 students in NSW will breathe a sigh of relief today as this year’s HSC exams come to a close. About 4,300 students are set to file out of the final exam, food technology, later this afternoon, bringing an end to more than 400,000 exam sessions across 123 subjects. Last year’s food technology exam included questions such as “Which sector of the Australian food industry has responsibility for the growth of seaweed?” and “Explain the potential health implications for an adolescent who consumes 500 mL of bubble milk tea every day”. Overall, about 75,000 students will have sat an HSC exam, including the new syllabuses in geography, software engineering, and computing. Marking is already under way but anxious students, teachers and parents will have to wait until Thursday 18 December for Atar results. The acting minister for education and early learning, Courtney Houssos, congratulated the class of 2025 on reaching the milestone. Exams are now behind you and you can look with confidence to the future knowing you have put your best foot forward. Thank you to everyone who has supported our students in the lead-up to and during exams – parents, families, teachers and school staff who have been there every step of the way. Updated at 8.32pm GMT 8.20pm GMT Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it. 8.08pm GMT Universities to add an extra 9,500 places As many as 9,500 extra Australian students will be able to enrol at university in 2026, after a decision by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission allocating extra places. Figures released last night by the federal education minister, Jason Clare, show the extra places represent a 4.1% increase on 2025 levels. Clare said the number of Australians starting university will be at record levels next year. We’re creating more places at uni so more Australians get a crack at uni. More and more jobs require more and more skills. The federal government’s Universities Accord includes a target for 80% of the workforce to have a tertiary qualification by 2050, up from about 60% today. Labor has also announced an extra $66.9m to more than double the number of university study hubs in suburbs and towns across the country, to help outer suburban and country students access higher education. An extra seven hubs will be opened in Fairfield and Liverpool in New South Wales, Northam in Western Australia, Beenleigh in Queensland, Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Sorrell in Tasmania and on Norfolk Island. Updated at 8.28pm GMT 7.59pm GMT And for more on the Coalition crisis, look no further than this analysis this morning by Dan Jervis-Bardy about how the net zero emissions issue became so toxic. Related: Toxic emissions: how net zero became a ‘poisoned’ policy for the Coalition 7.55pm GMT Hewson criticises Andrew Hastie’s agenda Hewson was also highly critical of Western Australian MP Andrew Hastie, who is widely considered a potential leadership contender. “He’s been sold a bit of a dump by the right of the party,” the former Liberal leader said, arguing Hastie’s criticism of Australia’s immigration program was unlikely to be popular in the broader electorate. Hastie is a vocal critic of Australia’s climate targets, an issue the Liberals appear to be a step closer to resolving their differences over. After weeks of internal brawling, a party room meeting has been called for next week to finalise the Coalition’s energy and emissions reduction policies. Liberal members will discuss their energy and emissions-reduction policy on Wednesday. Shadow ministers will meet to formalise their position the following day. But even if the Liberals land a cohesive plan amid fierce internal divisions, they will still need to strike an agreement with the Nationals. A six-person committee – three Liberals and three Nationals – will attempt to reach a compromise on the issue before an online hook-up of both party rooms on 16 November. Updated at 8.06pm GMT 7.46pm GMT John Hewson unleashes on Sussan Ley's 'lack of leadership' Sussan Ley has been savaged by a former Liberal leader for lacking strategy and leadership, as the party grapples with infighting and demoralising polling, Australian Associated Press reports. The opposition leader has been accused of failing to articulate a way forward for the Liberals, who are edging closer to a final position on their energy and climate change policy. After a fortnight of damaging infighting and wild leadership speculation, Ley has called a series of party room meetings to bed down a new approach to energy and emissions reduction. As the party prepares to negotiate its final policy, former Liberal leader John Hewson has delivered a withering assessment of Ley and the party she leads. “She hasn’t shown any clear strategy, or any strong capacity in terms of leadership,” he told AAP. Hewson, who let his membership lapse in 2019 because of concerns about the party’s record on climate change, said the opposition was devoid of serious policies because its members had little experience outside politics. “They haven’t got people with significant business experience ... I don’t think that they’ve got people who are policy wonks in economic policy,” he said. “You can’t just keep being negative and hoping to win on criticism, as [Tony] Abbott did.” As opposition leader, Hewson took a highly detailed promise of economic reform to the 1993 federal election, which the Coalition lost to Paul Keating’s Labor government. “I’d really like to see Sussan be given a fair run with everyone pitching in and doing a proper policy job,” he said. Updated at 7.54pm GMT 7.30pm GMT Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser to get you through to the end of the week. Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party has been has been savaged by one of her predecessors, John Hewson, for lacking clear strategy as the party grapples with infighting and demoralising polling. More coming up. The Albanese government has announced the creation of up to 9,500 extra places at Australian universities after a decision by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission allocating additional spots. More in a moment.