Australia news live: senior Liberals confirm opposition to net zero emissions target in crunch party meeting

4.55am GMT Police release CCTV footage after media allegedly assaulted outside NSW parliament Police have released CCTV footage after a man allegedly assaulted two members of the media outside NSW parliament yesterday after stealing a wreath from a Remembrance Day memorial. In a statement this afternoon, NSW police said officers commenced inquiries yesterday morning after reports a man was seen “behaving an offensive manner”. They said: “Police established about 7am, the man stole a wreath from a police memorial at a park on Sir John Young Crescent. From there he walked to Parliament House where he approached members of the media and allegedly assaulted two members of the media before throwing a cup of coffee at a camera.” CCTV footage shows the man then allegedly throwing the wreath over the fence of Parliament House on Macquarie Street. Police allege he later struck the rear of a car being driven into a nearby carpark, causing damage, before leaving the scene. “No injuries were reported, and the news crew left the area before police arrived,” the statement said. Police have urged anyone who identifies the man, or has information about the incidents, to contact Crime Stoppers. 4.45am GMT Senior Liberals confirm opposition to net zero emissions Senior Liberals – including Sussan Ley’s deputy, Ted O’Brien – have confirmed their opposition to net zero emissions at a party room meeting, heightening the prospects that the target will be dumped. The Liberal Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, also spoke strongly against the target at Wednesday’s meeting, urging colleagues to fight against net zero like it did the Indigenous voice to parliament at the 2023 referendum, sources told Guardian Australia. On the other side of the ledger, moderate Liberals Andrew Bragg, Jane Hume and Julian Lesser have all made the case to retain the target in some form, as has Andrew McLachlan – the party’s most pro-climate member. Updated at 4.50am GMT 4.35am GMT Asio warning ‘a wake-up call’, Liberals say The shadow minister for cybersecurity, Claire Chandler, says today’s warning of cyber espionage and sabotage from Australia’s intelligence agency should be “a wake-up call for Australians”. Mike Burgess accused “Chinese hackers” of seeking to gain access to critical infrastructure assets, including telecommunications networks. Chandler has urged the government to take the threat seriously: Members of the Coalition, myself included, have warned for years about risks from foreign actors, particularly the CCP and Russia, targeting our critical infrastructure. Australians deserve confidence that our essential services – like power, water, transport and banking – are secure. Cyber sabotage could cripple our economy and endanger lives. We need urgent, coordinated action to embed security into every layer of critical infrastructure before it’s too late, and I certainly hope the Albanese government tackles this with the resources and urgency required. Updated at 4.42am GMT 4.19am GMT Australia and Indonesia conclude negotiations on bilateral treaty on security The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Indonesia president, Prabowo Subianto, are holding a press conference in Sydney on the substantial conclusion of negotiations on a bilateral treaty on security. Albanese said it is a “watershed moment” in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. It would see the two countries consult at a leader and ministerial level on a regular basis on matters of security, and if either country’s security is threatened, to consult and consider what measures may be taken to either individually or jointly deal with those threats, Albanese said. He said the relationship between the two countries is the strongest it has ever been, and Albanese said he hopes to travel to Indonesia in January to formally sign the treaty once it has gone through the Australian domestic process. Subianto said the treaty will commit the two nations to close cooperation on defence and security: I mentioned many times that we cannot choose our neighbours, especially countries like us. It is our destiny to be direct neighbours. So let us face our destiny with the best of intentions. I believe in the good neighbour policy. Good neighbours are essential. Good neighbours will help each other in times of difficulties and in the Indonesian culture we have a saying: when we face an emergency, it is our neighbour that will help us. Updated at 4.25am GMT 4.06am GMT Hastie says Coalition should be prepared to fight double-dissolution election on climate targets The Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has told colleagues that a future Coalition government should be prepared to go to a double-dissolution election if it can’t repeal Labor’s legislated climate targets in the federal parliament. The Liberal leadership aspirant and strident net zero opponent made the appeal at Wednesday’s party room meeting to decide whether to dump the emissions goal. According to several sources in the room, the Western Australian MP told colleagues that the Coalition should commit to repealing the Albanese government’s legislated 2030 and 2050 climate targets if it wins the next election. If the Senate repeatedly blocks a repeal bill, Hastie said a Coalition government should be prepared to go to a double-dissolution election and fight a campaign on climate targets. Updated at 4.16am GMT 3.59am GMT In a moment of levity, what is the best wheat cracker in Australian supermarkets? Nicholas Jordan risks it for the biscuits, sampling 19 wheat crackers in the driest taste test yet. He sorted several hundred crackers into a complicated family tree-like categorisation system, then sorted that based on the following criteria: size and structure designed for dips, cheese and platters; unflavoured; and wheat-based. This left Jordan with 19 products, a mix of classic, water and wafer crackers. So, what came out on top? Jatz are, predictably, awesome. So are the products trying to be like Jatz. Read more here: Related: Australian supermarket wheat crackers taste test: ‘All the reviewers knew which one was the real deal’ 3.45am GMT Anti-renewables conservation charity grilled over use of AI in government submissions A Queensland conservation charity known for its anti-renewables stance has been grilled over its use of artificial intelligence in submissions to government, in a fiery Senate hearing looking into the broader issue of climate change-related misinformation. The Labor senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah questioned Rainforest Reserves Australia over errors in submissions it made to the Queensland government over the proposed Moonlight Range windfarm, a development the state government ultimately rejected. Referring to a submission, Ananda-Rajah said: Seven of the 15 references you cite in opposition to this windfarm appear to be completely fabricated. Ananda-Rajah also questioned the group over errors in its submissions, reported in the Guardian, such as mention of an “Oakey Wind Farm”, which does not exist, and reference to a 2023 report by the “Queensland Environmental Protection Agency”, which has not existed since 2009. When asked whether AI was used to generate the submission, Steven Nowakowski, the RRA’s vice-president, said: It was actually written by a human and artificial intelligence was used to edit it. Kenneth Carey, an RRA supporter, said: In regards to the use of AI within any submissions from Rainforest Reserves, we acknowledge minor factual corrections may be necessary in any large evolving data set … The [EPA] examples that we provided are from a department that no longer exists, however, it has changed its name, so that data itself is absolutely correct. Ananda-Rajah said: The Oakey windfarm is a complete fabrication … Is it not conceivable given your reliance on AI, given the sloppiness of your own work, that you have misled community members? … You have undermined your own credibility. In a previous response to Guardian reporting, an RRA volunteer said the citation relating to Oakey windfarm was “misattributed” but was “intended to illustrate a real and serious issue”. Updated at 3.56am GMT 3.16am GMT Liberals debate abandoning net zero target behind closed doors Liberal MPs remain locked in a party room meeting to resolve their position on net zero emissions. The meeting has been running for more than two hours and could drag long into the afternoon as MPs argue the case for against retaining the Scott Morrison-era commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The bitter internal dispute has pitted conservatives, who want all references to net zero dumped, against moderates, who want it retained in some form, meaning Sussan Ley will face an internal backlash regardless of where the party lands. In a show of factional force ahead of the meeting, more than a dozen conservatives – including Angus Taylor and fellow potential leadership contender Andrew Hastie – walked into the Parliament House meeting room together. The federal Liberal party director, Andrew Hirst, briefed the meeting on internal research on voter attitudes toward net zero and the energy transition before MPs made their contribution. One Liberal source said Hirst told MPs that voters equated net zero with taking action on climate change. The shadow communications minister, Melissa McIntosh, emailed supporters with the text of the message that she planned to deliver at the meeting. The message read: We need to abandon net zero and give the Australian people hope. We need a short, medium and long term energy policy. We need 24/7 baseload power to back our sovereign manufacturing, including more gas. We need nuclear to power the future of our nation – the big data centres – to protect our information and our sovereign communications. We need to prioritise our nation when it comes to our natural resources. Updated at 4.46am GMT 3.09am GMT Asio boss says foreign delegate ‘ripped the branch off a fruit tree’ Earlier today we brought you details of Asio director-general Mike Burgess’ speech, which accused Chinese hackers of attempting to penetrate critical infrastructure. Burgess also warned about an increase in corporate espionage targeting Australia’s research and development sectors. He cited one example of a foreign delegation being given a tour of an unnamed research facility in Australia. He alleged one member of the group briefly broke away from their escort and was caught taking photos of a laboratory. The photos were subsequently deleted. Burgess says the unnamed visitor managed to steal an object from the facility: What they didn’t discover was [the delegate] ripped the branch off a fruit tree that was a special breed with 20 years of research and development put into it. They stole it and would have taken it back to their home country to reverse engineer it. That’s outright intellectual property theft, happening at a scale that is unprecedented in human history. More than one nation has done that over the years. Right now, there is one nation that is doing a lot of that. Updated at 3.12am GMT 2.57am GMT Aurora alert for southern Australia as severe solar storm reaches earth Australian skies may be lit up with the technicolour of aurora tonight as an unusually severe solar storm affects the Earth’s atmosphere. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued an aurora alert for as far north as southern New South Wales, with Australian space weather forecasting centre data showing the strong solar storm is in progress. Aurora australis is expected to be seen in night-time hours, provided skies are clear. The bureau said three coronal mass ejections were observed between 9 and 11 November. The second and strongest of the CMEs was expected to reach earth today, with a chance the geomagnetic storm could reach G5 in strength. According to Nasa, G5 solar storms can trip high-voltage lines, overheat transformers and cause GPS-guided vehicles to veer off-course. Another big aurora graced Australia’s south-eastern skies in June, as seen in our gallery below: Related: Aurora australis: southern lights dazzle across New Zealand and Australia’s east coast – in pictures Updated at 3.10am GMT 2.35am GMT Australian travellers heading back to the US, Flight Centre says Australians are starting to book more trips to the United States after being deterred in the early months of Donald Trump’s presidency, Flight Centre has reported. Workers, entertainers, academics and gender-diverse Australians are among those who faced incidents or warnings over US border protocols earlier this year. The backlash saw a drop in long-haul US flights booked through Flight Centre in the first half of the year. But the travel agency this morning said that was turning around, with Graham Turner, Flight Centre’s founder, telling investors: We are, however, starting to see signs of recovery … Bookings from Australia to the US increased in October 2025 for the first time since the March quarter. The Australian Bureau of Statistics today confirmed Australians’ aversion to US travel had persisted into September, with just 58,610 residents returning from American holidays that month compared with more than 67,000 in 2024. The September month data represents residents returning from trips they booked and took up to a year beforehand US government arrivals data up to August also shows a decline. But on a wider view, Australians’ US travel has been relatively resilient through 2025 so far, totalling 541,000 by September compared with 546,000 for the same period to 2024. Updated at 2.48am GMT 2.23am GMT Former CFMEU leader John Setka arrested and charged by Victoria police Former CFMEU leader John Setka has been arrested and charged by Victoria police after allegedly sending threatening and harassing emails to a union administrator. The 61-year-old was arrested at a home in Footscray at about 6.40am on Wednesday. Police searched the property and seized a mobile phone and an iPad. Setka was subsequently charged with seven counts of “using a telecom communications device to menace, harass and offend”. The arrest was first reported by the Age. He has been bailed and will appear before Melbourne’s magistrates court on 30 January. The police operation was led by Taskforce Hawk, which was established in July 2024 to target allegations of criminal behaviour linked to the construction industry. According to police, Setka sent “a number of allegedly threatening, offensive and abusive emails to a CFMEU administrator following a notice to produce sent on 27 October and a follow-up letter sent on 28 October”. Victoria police’s assistant commissioner Martin O’Brien has encouraged anyone with “information on concerning behaviour witnessed in any construction industry workplace to come forward and speak to police”: As always, it can be done anonymously and reports will be treated with the strictest of confidence. – with AAP Updated at 2.31am GMT 2.11am GMT Record high landlord lending prompts calls for intervention The Greens have called for the banking regulator to limit loans to property investors, after new data showed landlord lending has hit record highs. More than 57,000 investors borrowed nearly $40bn to buy homes from July to September, a $6bn increase on the previous three months and 13% increase in loan numbers. Owner-occupier numbers rose just 2%, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data out today. Landlord loans have steadily increased since March 2023 at a faster rate than owner-occupier loans and now account for two in every five new home loans. Dr Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, attributed 2025’s acceleration to interest rate cuts and low vacancy rates in rental housing. The Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, two weeks ago said intervention by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority could be handy if the economy needed more rate cuts in future but wasn’t needed. The Greens senator Barbara Pocock said today’s data showed that had changed, calling for the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, to make the regulator put the brakes on lending to landlords. We need to urgently rein in an overheated credit market for property investors. Apra has intervened before and they must do it again. Apra put a threshold on investor lending from 2014 to 2018. It said in October it was watching for risky lending and discussing limits on investor, interest-only or small-deposit loans with banks. Updated at 2.55am GMT 2.06am GMT That’s all from me. Daisy Dumas will be your guide until Josh Taylor picks up the blog later this arvo. Take care! 1.58am GMT RBA worried about ‘very sharp’ drop in global markets The head of the Reserve Bank’s financial stability department is worried about a “very sharp” drop in global markets, saying investors around the world are ignoring “a confronting set of potential risks”. Wall Street is leading sharemarkets around the world to record highs, despite a litany of worries ranging from Trump’s trade aggression and the breakdown of the global order, structural worries about the Chinese economy, and hugely and unsustainably indebted advanced economies. Brad Jones, an RBA assistant governor, told a super conference this morning that “a lot of central banks are sort of scratching their heads as to why market pricing looks so benign”. The prices investors are prepared to pay for assets suggests they are not worried about any of the risks that keep central bankers like Jones awake at night. He said some investors think they will get bailed out by monetary or fiscal authorities if things really go sour, which is “a pretty dangerous” way to invest. Investors also have “a heck of a time” pricing in geopolitical risks. Jones said: I look back, just for instance, at the Cuban missile crisis, (when) we stood on the brink of catastrophe. The stock market fell about two or 3% over that period. So I think, as a general rule, global financial markets have a tough time pricing binary risk like geopolitical risk. 1.41am GMT High court challenge planned for child social media ban Today marks four weeks until the under-16s social media ban kicks in on 10 December, and NSW Libertarian MLC John Ruddick says he plans to challenge the law in the high court. The case has yet to be filed, but Ruddick’s office said the law would be challenged on the grounds of the right of freedom of political communication. There are only a handful of days the high court will sit before the 10 December deadline, but Ruddick’s office expects it will get a mention before then. Google – which had threatened to challenge YouTube’s inclusion in the ban on that ground, and two others – has yet to mount a challenge to the law. Related: Revealed: YouTube’s three legal grounds for challenging inclusion in Australia’s under-16s social media ban Updated at 2.04am GMT 1.25am GMT Union calls for gig economy standards following Menulog shutdown announcementThe Transport Workers’ Union has called for the remaining food delivery companies, including DoorDash, Uber Eats and Hungry Panda to support work standards, following the announcement that Menulog would shut operations in Australia in two weeks. Menulog had supported legislation to put the standards around pay and exit payments in place – which can be set by the Fair Work Commission.The TWU national secretary, Michael Kaine, said: This will be a shock to the thousands of food delivery riders who rely on Menulog for income. We will be working to ensure those workers receive pay for their work and fair exit payments over the coming weeks. In the gig economy, workers are still languishing with below-minimum wage rates, no sick leave or superannuation, and deadly pressure to rush to make a living and avoid being deactivated. We urgently need standards in the gig economy to stop the relentless downward spiral. New laws introduced by the Albanese government will significantly level the playing field – but DoorDash, Uber Eats, Hungry Panda and Easi now need to come to the table to ensure we get standards in place as soon as possible. Updated at 1.32am GMT 1.09am GMT Critics say effort is an attempt to ‘politicise abortion care’ South Australian Abortion Action Coalition co-convenor Brigid Coombe said the bill was a “cynical attempt to politicise abortion care” that ignored “years of expert patient-centred deliberation”. She said: Its cruelty is out of step with medical and community values. Fair Agenda’s senior campaign manager, Amy Barrett, said the bill “would deny a woman facing devastating pregnancy complications the chance to make the best decisions for herself and her families, in consultation with her healthcare team”. Sarah Game has campaigned alongside anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe, who has been banned from the state parliament after alleged “threatening and intimidating tactics”. Game says if a mother’s life is at risk or her health is threatened, doctors should do an emergency caesarean or induce labour so the baby is born alive. Updated at 1.16am GMT 1.00am GMT New effort to water down abortion rights in South Australia Another move to water down abortion rights is under way in South Australia, less than a fortnight after an ill-fated federal move. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie were among those suggesting a law to allow parental leave after a stillbirth would be used by women needing a late-term abortion. Experts say anti-abortion tactics from the US that focus on late-term abortions – which happen rarely, and overwhelmingly for medical reasons – are being imported to Australia to “chip away at rights”. Late today, the SA legislative council will debate a legislative amendment introduced by former One Nation MLC Sarah Game, who is now independent. The current law allows abortions from 23 weeks when there is significant risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant person. Game’s bill would water that down to only allow abortion that saves the life of the pregnant person or another foetus, or if there was a significant risk of foetal abnormalities. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the bill was “based on a fundamental misunderstanding” of the “extraordinarily rare” procedures, which “almost always invariably involve circumstances of severe fetal abnormalities incompatible with life, or serious threats to the pregnant woman’s health and life”. Updated at 1.03am GMT 12.51am GMT Albanese meets with Indonesian president Indonesia’s president has met with Anthony Albanese for his first official visit to Australia since being sworn in as leader, AAP reports. After arriving in Sydney on Tuesday night, Prabowo Subianto was welcomed at Kirribilli House ahead of one-on-one talks between the two leaders. While the short trip will be the first time the Indonesian leader has come to Australia since being sworn in, with Prabowo previously visiting Canberra in August 2024 as defence minister and president-elect. He has served as Indonesia’s president since October 2024. After the meeting with the prime minister, Prabowo will travel the short distance to Admiralty House to meet with the governor general, Sam Mostyn, where there will be a ceremonial welcome and state lunch. Albanese and Prabowo will then visit the Royal Australian Navy base at Garden Island. Albanese said the bilateral meeting would strengthen ties between the two countries: Australia and Indonesia share a deep trust and unbreakable bond as neighbours, partners and friends. Together we are committed to working for a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. I look forward to building on our previous discussions about how we can develop the strength and depth of our bilateral relationship. Updated at 12.53am GMT 12.41am GMT What to expect from Liberals’ net zero meeting Liberal MPs will soon begin filing into a Parliament House meeting room to thrash out the party’s position on a net zero emissions target. Here’s a quick rundown of how the meeting is expected to play out. The shadow minister for energy and emissions reduction, Dan Tehan, will put forward a set of “principles” to shape the party’s approach to climate and energy policy and a set of “open questions” for debate and endorsement of his colleagues. We haven’t seen the exact wording of the proposed principles or the “open questions” but we can safely assume that MPs will be asked if they want to remain committed to a net zero emissions target. Every member of the Liberal party room will get the opportunity to contribute, meaning the 12pm meeting could drag on for a few hours. Guardian Australia understands the decision on whether or not to retain the climate target will not be put to a formal vote. We’re expecting Tehan to stand up for a press conference following the meeting to explain the outcome. The Liberal members of the shadow ministry will reconvene at 9am to endorse the position before negotiations start on an agreed policy with the Nationals, who have already agreed to dump a net zero emissions target. A joint party room meeting is scheduled for Sunday to endorse the new Coalition position. Updated at 4.44am GMT 12.25am GMT Menulog to shut down in Australia due to 'challenging circumstances' Menulog will close its Australian operations after 20 years in business, the company announced today. In a statement, the company said: While Menulog has a proud 20 year history, it has been navigating challenging circumstances. This strategic decision reflects our ​focus on accelerating growth and investments in other markets. About 120 employees will be affected by the closure, who will be provided redundancy packages. The company will also provide eligible couriers with a four-week “voluntary payment”. The managing director for Menulog, Morten Belling, said: Today is a tough day for the Menulog business and I would like to reassure everyone this decision was not taken lightly. Our priority now is to support our customers, couriers and partners. This is why we are providing everyone a two-week transition period, in which customers can redeem unused vouchers and credits. The Menulog platform will remain operational until midnight 26 November. Updated at 1.32am GMT 12.06am GMT Chalmers says turning back on net zero policies would be ‘act of economic insanity’ The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is adding to the pressure on Liberal MPs debating whether to ditch net zero by 2050 policies on Wednesday, pointing to the economic importance of cutting emissions. “The transformation to cleaner, cheaper, more reliable energy is a golden economic opportunity for Australia and we’d be mad to miss it,” he said in a statement ahead of the meeting, adding: To turn Australia’s back on net zero and practical climate change action would be an act of economic insanity. The only outcome worse for our economy than a disorderly transition would be to abandon net zero completely. Chalmers pointed to Treasury analysis released at the time of Labor’s announcement on new climate targets for 2035. The report warned about a “disorderly” approach to the energy transition, warning of lower economic growth, reduced investment, missed export and employment opportunities, and higher electricity prices Chalmers lashed the Coalition for “extremism” on climate change. They’re hopelessly divided, recklessly divisive and a danger to our economy. Updated at 12.10am GMT 11.49pm GMT Australia ordered to pay Russia for embassy takeover Australia can reclaim a proposed Russian embassy site but will need to compensate the country for the forceful takeover, AAP reports. The high court ruled as valid federal laws passed to reclaim land Russia had leased to build a new embassy in Canberra on national security grounds. But the commonwealth was liable to pay a reasonable amount of compensation for the acquisition under the constitution, it said in its judgment on Wednesday. The commonwealth will need to pay half of Russia’s cost for the case. In 2023, Australia quickly passed laws to cancel Russia’s lease on a plot of land where it planned to build an embassy a few hundred metres from Parliament House. Russia rejected the cancellation of the 99-year lease, which was granted by the Australian government in 2008, as hostile action amounting to “Russophobic hysteria”. Updated at 11.55pm GMT 11.32pm GMT Minns: staff may not have been notified about neo-Nazi rally ‘because it was on the weekend’ The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says staff in his office may not have been notified in advance about Saturday’s neo-Nazi rally outside parliament “because it was on the weekend”. The NSW speaker, Greg Piper, has revealed his staff were told about the rally by parliamentary security. The NSW police deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell has apologised after admitting he knew in advance about the event, which was approved by local police command, and the Sydney Morning Herald has revealed intelligence officers also knew. The premier, the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, and the NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, have all said they did not find out about the rally until after it happened. Asked today why his staff were not notified by parliamentary security, whose procedure is reportedly to warn all MPs about protests outside parliament, Minns said: If I were to speculate, I would suggest it was because it was on the weekend. The truth of the matter is, people work on the weekend and people come into the office on the weekend. So a glaring oversight. It’s a reason, not an excuse, and one that we need to fix as soon as possible. On Monday, Minns told reporters a review into the rally would look into communication between police and the premier’s office, saying he didn’t know if an “errant email” may have referenced the rally before it happened. Updated at 1.03am GMT 11.14pm GMT Children could face life sentences for serious offences under Victorian government ‘adult time’ plan Children as young as 14 who commit “serious crimes” will be sentenced as adults under a Victorian government plan to combat youth crime, AAP reports. The state government said on Wednesday that it will adopt an “adult time for violent crime” laws similar to those in Queensland, which implemented the tough approach in 2024. Children as young as 14 could be tried in adult courts, and possibly face life sentences under the proposed changes to be announced by the premier on Wednesday. “We’re introducing Adult Time for Violent Crime,” the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, announced in a social media post. Read more here: Related: Children could face life sentences for serious offences under Victorian government ‘adult time’ plan Updated at 11.15pm GMT 10.56pm GMT Former independent MP’s son details threats to their family during election campaign to parliamentary inquiry Former independent MP Zoe Daniel’s son says his family faced threatening and abusive behaviour during the 2025 election campaign, and took aim at the Goldstein MP and the Liberal party for not publicly condemning the threats. Arkin Daniel-Reid spoke to the parliamentary inquiry into the 2025 election and said his mum “didn’t want me to speak today” but that he couldn’t “stay silent”. Evidence given to an inquiry is bound by parliamentary privilege. Daniel-Reid, in a statement to the committee, described being “tailgated” and “high-beamed” by a car when he was driving in a vehicle with Zoe Daniel campaign stickers. He also said their family vehicle was “doxed”. I was driving my car dressed in Zoe campaign stickers along the Nepean highway, I was then tailgated and high beamed … I changed lanes and tried to distance myself but was met with the same driver laughing and pointing at me in my rear-view mirror as if it was normal.After [Daniel] was followed, abused, threatened and spat on, the straw that broke the camels’ back for me was the doxing of our family car. Someone took a photo of our car inside the located electorate office car park with the numberplate left unblurred, posting it to a Facebook page. My sister is often driven to school in that car and it had become the target of some sort. Daniel-Reed said neither the Liberal party nor Tim Wilson “condemned” the doxing of the car. A statement from the Liberal party on behalf of Tim Wilson [said] for my mum to apologise for using this very serious issue for political gain, with no public condemnation. Updated at 11.03pm GMT 10.37pm GMT Minns government passes planning laws overhauling approvals amid environmental concerns The NSW government has passed its landmark overhaul of planning laws, amid concerns the laws will apply to mining and power projects. The bill, which passed the upper house yesterday, includes an overhaul of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (EPA) Act, and establishes a Development Coordination Authority, which the government has described as “a single front door” for advice on major developments across government agencies. But the legislation, which will amend the EPA to include “housing delivery, climate resilience and proportionality” in its objects and remove regional planning panels, has drawn the concern of climate advocates and a failed amendment by the Greens, amid fears it could allow new mines to be fast-tracked. As Guardian Australia NSW state correspondent Anne Davies has reported, Minns told a mining summit last month the laws would make a “huge difference” when it came to mineral exploration, although he told Guardian Australia new projects would still be subject to full environmental assessment under the changes. Related: Minns admits mining and power projects can be fast-tracked under contentious NSW approval laws In a statement today, Minns said: The Bill’s passage represents a major step forward for NSW housing and planning reform. For too long, NSW has been held back by a system that was slow, complex and out of step with the necessity to deliver more homes for those who need them. Updated at 10.42pm GMT 10.27pm GMT Qantas flight returns to Adelaide after passengers smell smoke in the cabin A Qantas flight from Adelaide to Canberra diverted back to its departure point this morning after pilots reported a technical issue onboard and crew saw smoke in the flight deck. The airline said in a statement the plane landed safely shortly after takeoff, and engineers would be checking the aircraft later today. “Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted,” a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement. Leah Blyth, a senator for South Australia, was on board the plane en route to Canberra for the Coalition’s net zero policy meeting. She spoke about the experience to FiveAA this morning: Look, it wasn’t scary, it was unusual. Obviously we fly a fair bit … but I’ve never had a cabin sort of fill with smoke quite like that before. So that was certainly unusual. MP Tony Pasin and senator Andrew McLachlan were also on the flight. Blyth described the smoke as smelling “electrical”, but praised the airline’s staff for their handling of the incident: Hats off to Qantas staff who were calm, cool and collected and they got us safely back on the ground with no incident. It’s never nice being up in the air and smelling, sensing smoke. All passengers are on a new aircraft that departed about half an hour ago. Updated at 10.50pm GMT 9.49pm GMT NSW confirms state funeral for John Laws next week The family of broadcaster John Laws has accepted an offer for a state funeral in New South Wales, the premier said this morning. Laws, a titan of talkback radio, died at home on Sunday. He was 90. The funeral will be held on 19 November at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. Premier Chris Minns said in a statement: On behalf of the NSW Government, I extend my deepest condolences to John’s family, friends, colleagues, and all who listened, learned and were challenged by him. His legacy lies not only in the thousands of hours on air, but in the connection he forged with millions of Australians. Related: John Laws, Australian radio’s ‘Golden Tonsils’ who dominated airwaves for six decades – obituary Updated at 9.57pm GMT 9.34pm GMT Climate 200 relaunches fund for community groups supporting independent candidates Ahead of today’s meeting of Liberal MPs on the hot-button issue of net zero by 2050 emissions policies, campaign outfit Climate 200 has relaunched its fund for community groups looking to support climate-friendly independent candidates. The Community Accelerator Fund is designed to raise and distribute more than $1m for community groups working ahead of the next federal election. Groups who did well at this year’s federal election but fell short against major party candidates, could again receive early-stage funding from Climate 200. Climate 200’s post-election review found early funding was critical to success for local groups around the country, and that the sooner groups got to work, the more likely they would be successful. The moves come as some Liberal branches undertake early preselection and after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told Labor officials to move quickly to lock in candidates, giving them the best chance to build name recognition in key seats. Climate 200’s money can go to recruitment of community organisers, placement of candidate recruitment ads, local events, volunteer training, and communications campaigns. “As the Liberal party tears itself apart over net zero, community groups are getting on with the job of real leadership, working to get the political leaders they deserve,” co-convener Kate Hook said. 9.18pm GMT Removing CO2 from atmosphere vital to avoid catastrophic tipping points, leading scientist says Removing carbon from the atmosphere will be necessary to avoid catastrophic tipping points, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned, as even in the best-case scenario the world will heat by about 1.7C. Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who is one of the chief scientific advisers to the UN and the Cop30 presidency, said 10bn tonnes of carbon dioxide needed to be removed from the air every year even to limit global heating to 1.7C (3.1F) above preindustrial levels. To achieve this through technological means, such as direct air capture, would require the construction of the world’s second-biggest industry, after oil and gas, and require expenditures of about a trillion dollars a year, scientists said. It would need to be done alongside much more drastic emissions cuts and could also have unintended consequences. Rockström was among several leading climate experts who spoke at a first public event for the Science Council, which was set up as an advisory body by the Belém Cop30 presidency. Read more here: Related: Removing CO2 from atmosphere vital to avoid catastrophic tipping points, leading scientist says Updated at 9.21pm GMT 9.04pm GMT Tim Wilson warns Liberals of becoming ‘Nationals-lite’ Shadow minister Tim Wilson says his party would be “Nationals-lite” if they dumped or watered down their emissions reduction targets, ahead of the crucial party room meeting today. Liberals will meet in Canberra at midday to discuss the net zero target. The meeting is expected to run for some time. We’re hearing comments from Liberal MPs arriving in Canberra, and Wilson wrote on X that: “Today is going to be a great day.” “Liberals face a choice,” he continued. “We can be Nationals-lite & outsource our emissions policy to globalists. Or we can lead, choose hope, a sovereign target, build energy, reindustrialise Australia & back small business!” Wilson finished his post with a cheeky sign-off: “Welcome to Liberal country.” Updated at 9.12pm GMT 8.49pm GMT Liberal senator describes atmosphere as Coalition descends on Canberra to debate net zero policy Leah Blyth, a Liberal senator for South Australia, said predictions for how the Coalition moves forward on net zero remains the “million-dollar question” as members descend on Canberra today. Blyth spoke to RN Breakfast, saying while she personally doesn’t believe net zero is “working for the Australian people”, she was looking forward to the broader opposition discussing if they should abandon the policy. She said: It will certainly be a very good process for us to have a genuine debate and come up with a position that’s in the best interests of the Australian people. … I think all of my colleagues are absolutely in favour of us doing our bit and to certainly have the minimal impact that we can on our natural environment. … I think the really important thing is everyone in the Coalition is committed to doing what’s right for our economy, for the environment and for the Australian people. Blyth said her major hurdle with net zero remained the price tag: I don’t think that we can be stewards of the environment if we can’t afford it. Updated at 8.59pm GMT 8.35pm GMT Ken Henry says he hopes Coalition reflects on what they owe to future Australians during net zero debate Ken Henry, the former federal Treasury secretary and now chair of the Nature Finance Council, said this morning he hopes members of the Coalition debating the opposition’s stance on net zero have a moment to “pause and reflect” on how they serve Australians. Henry spoke to RN Breakfast this morning as MPs are set to meet in Canberra today to discuss the policy, a major thorn for opposition leader Sussan Ley and her hold over the Coalition. Related: Advance launches last-minute lobbying campaign pressuring Liberal MPs to dump net zero target Henry said: If 25 years ago somebody had told me that this would be happening right now, in November 2025, I would have just simply laughed at them. I would hope that the people who are involved in the debates in the Coalition at the moment at some stage this week take the opportunity to pause and reflect and ask themselves what their role is. And I would hope that in contemplating that reason, they understand the awesome responsibility that they owe to future generations of Australians. He went on: That their job is not all about worrying about the cost of living in the present, but that they do whatever they can in a functioning democracy to ensure that future generations of Australians enjoy even more opportunity than has been available to us. And there’s no way they’re going to be able to argue that they’re looking after future generations whilst they continue to avoid achieving net zero in a timely fashion. Updated at 8.40pm GMT 8.19pm GMT NT childcare staff charged over death of toddler Ebony Thompson Staff at a childcare centre in the Northern Territory have been charged over the death of a toddler in 2023. The NT education department said last night two charges had been laid against the Humpty Doo Community & Child Care Centre near Darwin and the three nominated supervisors who were on staff when Ebony Thompson died. They included one count of inadequately supervising children and one count related to the protection of children from harm and hazards. Both charges were under the Education and Care Services National Law. The infant was just 22 months old when she was found unresponsive at the childcare centre on 31 August 2023 after being unaccounted for during a period of around 10 minutes. She died in intensive care days later of a brain injury due to cardiac arrest. A coroner’s findings, released in late October, determined Ebony was trying to get over a chicken-coop gate by standing on a tricycle and fell prior to her death. 8.10pm GMT Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Nick Visser here to take things over. Let’s get to it. Updated at 8.14pm GMT 7.54pm GMT Homelessness advocate welcomes expansion of NSW crisis accommodation A Salvation Army leader working first-hand with homelessness has said the NSW government’s crisis accommodation announcement responds to a system “under enormous strain”, with one in two people urgently seeking safe shelter currently being turned away.The divisional commander of New South Wales/ACT Salvation Army, Major Robyn Black, said the charity is seeing people experiencing homelessness that they’ve “never seen before”.“People who used to be volunteers at the Salvos are now finding themselves homeless, and people who are the working poor, people who still have a job and cannot afford rent in Sydney. We have the working homeless,” Black told Guardian Australia.Black described the $130m funding and additional 200 crisis accommodation beds, announced by the NSW government today, as “a tangible and compassionate” response to homelessness.“I think this is a fantastic step in the right direction. There are other factors at play [like] family and domestic violence, there’s a severe rental affordability crisis, there’s the increased cost of living. But at least this gives a chance of people having a roof over their head.” Updated at 7.56pm GMT 7.51pm GMT Minns government invests $130m to expand crisis accommodation The NSW government has today announced a $130m investment to add at least 200 crisis accommodation beds across the state for those in critical need of safe shelter. Crisis accommodation will be expanded and upgraded to increase capacity and better support people experiencing homelessness, including domestic and family violence victims, young people and Aboriginal communities. The first of the 200 additional beds are expected to be available from next year. The plan comes as homelessness has continued to rise each year under the Minns government, with a 35% increase in people sleeping rough in the state since 2023, according to the past three NSW Street Counts. The minister for housing and homelessness, Rose Jackson, said the plan was “about making sure that when someone reaches out for help, there’s a door open, a bed ready, and the support they need to get back on their feet”. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said: “Whether it’s a mum and her kids escaping domestic violence, or a young person facing a night on the streets, this plan will deliver more safe and secure beds. Every new bed means one fewer person sleeping rough.” 7.37pm GMT Big four banks have handed fossil fuels $43bn in decade, analysis claims Australia’s big four banks have provided $43bn to fossil fuel companies in the last decade, with ANZ and Westpac continuing to fund further gas expansion. Expansions of coal, oil and gas projects accounted for $30bn of the funding, according to analysis by green advocacy group Market Forces released nearly 10 years on from the Paris agreement’s signing. Each bank has endorsed the agreement and CBA has reduced its fossil fuel financing since changing its policies in 2024, with NAB indicating it will do the same, Market Forces’ report found. ANZ has provided the most fossil fuel funding of the big four, accounting for over $10bn from 2016 to 2021 and a further $5.7bn since 2022. Westpac has become the second largest, lending $3.8bn since 2022 to companies such as Woodside and BP. The report concluded the two banks’ policies were “little more than window dressing and greenwashing”. The big four would be breaking their own promises if they offered further financing to any of the 23 active customers with “egregious” fossil fuel expansion plans incompatible with the Paris agreement, it found. Kyle Robertson, head of research at Market Forces, said ANZ and Westpac could still stop enabling the industry: “Australia’s biggest banks have well and truly given their fossil fuel clients long enough to prepare. If they’re still not transitioning, it’s time to turn the money tap off once and for all.” An ANZ spokesperson said the bank was a significant lender for the energy sector and aimed to move towards a lending portfolio accounting for net zero emissions in line with the Paris agreement. Westpac was contacted for comment. Updated at 7.44pm GMT 7.29pm GMT Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take up the slack. Australia’s big four banks have provided $43bn to fossil fuel companies in the last decade, with ANZ and Westpac continuing to fund further gas expansion. A study by the green advocacy group Market Forces showed the expansion of coal, oil and gas projects accounted for $30bn of the funding. More details in a moment. The NSW government is going spend $130m to add at least 200 crisis accommodation beds across the state for those in critical need of safe shelter. The Salvation Army said the move was a response to a system “under enormous strain”. More details coming up.