Australia news live: senior Liberals hammer out climate and energy policy behind closed doors; jobless rate falls

12.54am GMT Seven’s merger with Southern Cross Media a step closer Australia’s competition watchdog has helped get Kerry Stokes closer to retirement, clearing Southern Cross Media to take over his Seven West Media, AAP reports. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has opted not to oppose the media tie-up, with deputy chair Mick Keogh saying the companies were different enough not to significantly impact advertising or content markets. Southern Cross is a radio and podcast business, led by the Triple M and Hit networks, while Stokes’s company operates national broadcaster Seven and newspapers in Western Australia. Keogh said on Thursday: Southern Cross and Seven are not close enough competitors for content. Owners of traditional media platforms such as radio, free-to-air television and newspapers will continue to face strong competition from digital media. Southern Cross will be no exception, even after the acquisition. Updated at 12.56am GMT 12.44am GMT Unemployment rate falls to 4.3% The unemployment rate has dropped to 4.3% in October, from 4.5% in September, as new official data revealed a big jump in employment in the month. In a result that backs the case for a cautious Reserve Bank to keep interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future, the number of employed Australians climbed by a robust 42,200 in October. The RBA’s latest economic forecasts predict the jobless rate will remain at about 4.4% over the foreseeable future. Blair Chapman, a senior economist with JobSeeker, just spoke to the ABC about the figures: It is a positive month … People are right to not hang their hats on a single month of data. This is one of the strongest months of employment for a little while. [Considering] the relatively weak employment growth over the last few months, 42,000, that is a good month. Updated at 12.50am GMT 12.28am GMT Sydney’s new fish market one step closer to completion, with opening date set for January The mammoth new Sydney Fish Market is closer to opening after the NSW government said today construction on the structure is now finished, with the keys in the hands of the company that operates the market. The new building will be open to the public on 19 January after individual vendors finish their fitouts inside, allowing one final holiday season trading period at the old market nearby. NSW premier Chris Minns said in a statement the new fish market would be a “magnificent building” for Sydney’s harbour: From when it opens, this world-class building will attract millions of visitors each year and provide an enormous boost to our economy. Thank you to everyone who has slogged away at completing this incredible building that we can all be so proud of. Updated at 12.31am GMT 12.11am GMT Bill to restrict late-term abortion defeated in South Australia after emotional debate A bill to restrict access to abortion after 22 weeks and six days has been defeated in the South Australian parliament. The former One Nation MLC Sarah Game, who is now an independent, worked with the controversial anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe on the legislation that went before the SA parliament on Wednesday night. It was voted down by 11 votes to eight. Several MLCs became visibly distressed and tearful during the debate on Wednesday evening. The attorney general, Kyam Maher, referred to comments from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) that the bill was premised either on an ignorance of reality or a wilful misrepresentation of the facts. “I can only imagine the pain and anguish that mothers and families must experience when having such a difficult decision so late in a pregnancy for a variety of complex and very deeply personal reasons,” he said. Read more here: Related: Bill to restrict late-term abortion defeated in South Australia after emotional debate 11.59pm GMT NSW government supports 11th-hour compromise on controversial workers compensation reforms The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, says the government will support an 11th-hour compromise from the crossbench, as it attempts to pass controversial workers compensation reforms in the final sitting weeks of the year. They reforms to the scheme, which the government says is costing it billions, passed the lower house in June, but were sent to a parliamentary inquiry by the upper house. The Coalition and the Greens oppose the proposal to raise the threshold at which workers would receive compensation for psychological injury, or “whole of person impairment” (WPI), from 15% to about 30%. The inquiry report, released this month, found this left workers at risk of self-harm or suicide. The compromise, proposed last week by crossbenchers including lower house independent MP Alex Greenwich, would see the WPI threshold increasing gradually from 25% in July next year to 29% by 2029. The NSW chief psychiatrist, Murray Wright, would also be tasked with devising a tool to determine psychological impairment within 18 months. Asked if the government would commit to the chief psychiatrist’s recommendations irrespective of cost, Mookhey said: We’ll have to wait to see what the chief psychiatrist says, but we are absolutely committed to working with the chief psychiatrist to see the result of it. We’ve made the point all along – this is as much a task of modernisation as it is a task of … taking old concepts, updating them, fixing them, changing them, creating new ones if that’s what’s necessary. Updated at 12.21am GMT 11.49pm GMT Limits on landlord loans no surprise, but not yet, economists say Economists say they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the financial stability regulator moved to limit banks’ lending to property investors, after data yesterday showed landlord loans hit record highs in September. The surge in lending shocked banks and markets and saw the Greens urge the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to pull the brakes on investor lending. An Apra spokesperson confirmed they would respond to the letter. The regulator has since July been engaging with banks on options to curb lending, including new investor loans, in case limits are needed. Cameron Kusher, an independent property expert, said Apra could have reason to act by early 2026: We’ve seen intervention before and it’s happened when investor lending has been at similar levels to what it’s at now … I’d be surprised if we got it this year but I wouldn’t be surprised if early next year there was some sort of intervention. Ashwin Clarke, a senior economist at Commonwealth Bank, noted the sharp rise in investor loans would raise worries but was yet to reach the 2014-15 highs that last triggered Apra’s intervention: This print will likely add to their concern, but we don’t think the threshold for macroprudential policy has been reached. Read more here: Related: Property investors make up two in every five Australian home loans amid record borrowing 11.32pm GMT What’s the mood like in Parliament House amid the Coalition’s net zero policy debate? The mood was much more subdued this morning in the corridors of Parliament House ahead of a shadow ministry meeting to settle on climate and energy policy. Unlike yesterday, when streams of Liberal frontbenchers and backbenchers filed into the party room for a five-hour marathon meeting on whether to keep net zero by 2050, no journalists or photographers crowded to observe the frowns or smiles on the faces of Liberal MPs entering. Held in one of the Senate’s committee rooms, media activity is restricted and this journalist was politely reminded of those rules by Liberal staffers and shooed away. Yesterday, my colleague, Dan Jervis-Bardy, reported 49 MPs spoke, with 28 speaking against net zero entirely, 17 expressing a desire to keep it in some form while four were on the fence. The meeting’s outcome – to make it official – seems all but written in stone at this stage, but anything can happen in Canberra. The shadow cabinet is expected to meet for a much shorter period today, a relief to most who waited hours for a resolution yesterday only to be fed breadcrumbs of information by the late afternoon. But the implications could be long-lasting for a party already rife with internal division, struggling to attract inner-city and suburban votes and broadly shunned by younger voters. Updated at 11.35pm GMT 11.20pm GMT ACCC issues recall notice for children’s sand that may be contaminated with asbestos The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published a recall notice for children’s sand products that may contain asbestos. The products include colourful sand sold at several retailers, including Officeworks, Educating Kids, Modern Teaching Aids and Zart Art. The sand is brightly coloured and labelled as Kadink Sand (1.3kg), Educational Colours Rainbow Sand (1.3kg) and Creatistics Coloured Sand (1kg). The products were sold between 2020 and 2025, and were recalled because they may contain a naturally occurring asbestos called tremolite asbestos. ACCC deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said: We have engaged with Officeworks who is a major supplier of these products and they advised that the products have been removed from sale. We expect they will take all the necessary steps to alert their customers. We continue to engage with suppliers and expect all to provide appropriate support to consumers including responding to queries and providing advice about arranging a refund. Anyone who purchased the sand is advised to stop using it immediately and secure it away from children. Do not throw it in general waste, but look up asbestos disposal facilities in your area here. Updated at 11.26pm GMT 11.10pm GMT Aurora australis the result of ‘cannibal’ solar storm The aurora australis that lit up the sky across large parts of Australia and New Zealand last night resulted from what has been dubbed a “cannibal” solar storm. Dr Laura Driessen from the Sydney Institute for Astronomy said: There’s a really strong and magnetically active sunspot on the sun at the moment. Since 9 November, the sun has released two strong coronal mass ejections – bursts of high-energy plasma – towards Earth. Driessen said: They happened at two different times on the ninth and the 10th. Basically, the one on the 10th was a bit faster, so it caught up with the one on the ninth. Experts from the British Geological Survey told CNN: The second one caught up with the first one and they amalgamated together by the time they reached Earth. Hence, the term ‘cannibalised’, as the second one gobbled up the first one. Updated at 11.18pm GMT 10.55pm GMT Penny Wong says Australia still advocating for climate summit, adding Pacific voices ‘should be elevated’ The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, spoke earlier about the ongoing tussle over next year’s UN climate summit, the annual Cop. Wong told ABC News this morning that conversations surrounding the event, which Australia would like to host in Adelaide in partnership with Pacific nations, remain “difficult” as Turkey has maintained its own hopes of hosting it. She said: Turkey has been very focused on maintaining its bid. What we are saying is that the Pacific is at the frontline of climate change. We are saying that Pacific voices and the Pacific experience should be elevated the Pacific’s agenda should be more prominent in the global agenda. That has been really the impetus behind Australia’s bid to host this and we’ll continue to work with others and to engage with Turkey to try to get the outcome that we want for Pacific island nations. Updated at 11.09pm GMT 10.39pm GMT Albanese adds he is ‘concerned’ about neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament The prime minister was asked about the neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament last weekend, and reports that members of a group that promotes white supremacist views intend to register as a political party. Related: Was the neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament legal? Could police have stopped it? Albanese said: I am concerned about the gathering that was there. I condemn it unequivocally. There’s no place in Australia for the antisemitic display that we saw outside New South Wales parliament house. The prime minister said the New South Wales government was “responding” to reports of the party registration. He would not comment on any individuals at the rally having their visas reviewed, but said: I do note that people who come to Australia and then say that they are anti-migrants coming to Australia, I think that speaks for itself. 10.32pm GMT Albanese says Coalition ‘choosing to take Australia backwards’ with net zero debates Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking about the Coalition’s debates on its net zero policy. He just said during a press conference: The Coalition are choosing to take Australia backwards. They’re walking away from jobs for Australians, and investment certainty for business. … They’re walking away from climate action because they fundamentally do not believe in the science of climate change. … Australians cannot afford to keep paying the price of Coalition infighting when it comes to climate policy and energy policy. 10.25pm GMT Senior Liberals meet to decide fate of net zero target Liberal members of the shadow ministry are meeting this morning to decide the fate of the party’s commitment to a net zero emissions target. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is expected to agree to dump the climate goal after the majority of MPs supported abandoning it during an almost five-hour party-room meeting in Canberra on Wednesday. Senior Liberals including Angus Taylor, Ted O’Brien, Michaelia Cash, James Paterson, Alex Hawke, Jonno Duniam and James McGrath all argued in favour of ditching the 2050 target during the marathon meeting, putting enormous pressure on Ley as she fights to retain authority over the party room. The shadow ministers are expected to retain a commitment to the Paris agreement, which could be enough to prevent an exodus of moderate Liberals who have threatened to quit if the party walks away from all of its climate commitment. On Wednesday, the party room backed a set of “principles” to underpin the party’s climate and energy agenda, which included backing coal, gas and nuclear and opposing most of Labor’s emissions reduction policies, including changes to the safeguard mechanism to curb pollution at major industrial sites. After Thursday’s meeting, three Liberals and three Nationals will be tasked with thrashing out a joint Coalition position, which will be put to the joint party room on Sunday. Updated at 12.15am GMT 10.16pm GMT Victoria signs first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners The state of Victoria has officially signed the first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners. The premier, Jacinta Allan, signed the document this morning alongside the co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly, Rueben Berg, and Natalie Hutchins, the minister for treaty. Related: Australia’s first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners passed in Victoria The document establishes the First Peoples’ Assembly as a permanent representative body to advise the state government. The assembly will be able to make representations, provide advice and question ministers. Ministers and departments will also be required to consult the assembly on laws and policies related to first peoples. Updated at 10.19pm GMT 10.03pm GMT Fortune teller arrested for alleged role in multimillion-dollar fraud scheme Two women, including one claiming to be a feng shui master and fortune teller, have been arrested and charged for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar fraud and money-laundering operation in Sydney. NSW police said the arrests are part of a growing investigation into a scheme to purchase luxury “ghost cars” that did not exist using allegedly stolen personal information to apply for false loans. The two women, 53 and 25, were arrested yesterday in Sydney’s Dover Heights. Police said the older woman “allegedly exploited vulnerable clients within the Vietnamese community by persuading them to take out financial loans – while taking a share herself – based on her prediction that there was a ‘billionaire’ in their future”. The alleged fraud is estimated to total nearly $70m. The older woman was charged with 39 offences, including 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. She was refused bail and will appear in court today. The younger woman was charged with multiple counts, but was granted conditional bail to appear in court in January. Seventeen other people have been arrested as part of the broader investigation, Strike Force Myddleton, and remain before the courts. The NSW Crime Commission has now frozen $75m in assets linked to the alleged syndicate. Updated at 10.18pm GMT 9.51pm GMT Real estate agents face $110,000 fine for underquoting under new laws in NSW Real estate agents in New South Wales could be fined $110,000 or more if caught underquoting properties under proposed new laws intended to stamp out misleading price estimates and increase transparency for buyers. The Minns Labor government has started consultation with the property sector as it prepares to draft legislation to enact tougher underquoting laws, which it expects to introduce to parliament next year. Underquoting is a tactic used by some agents who advertise a property for less than the estimated selling price or the owner’s asking price in order to lure buyers and drum up competition. It is against federal consumer law to underquote, and most states, including NSW, have additional regulations to further discourage the practice. Read more here: Related: Real estate agents face $110,000 fine for underquoting under new laws in NSW Updated at 9.54pm GMT 9.24pm GMT Teal MP says net zero debate signalling ‘death knell of the Liberal party’ Teal independent MP Sophie Scamps said the Coalition’s position on net zero policies signals the “death knell” of the Liberal party as Sussan Ley appears poised to dump emissions targets. Scamps appears on the Today Show this morning, where she was asked about apparent wins yesterday in Canberra by conservatives looking to dump the net zero targets. Scamps said: I think it signals the death knell of the Liberal party. They’ve been led around by the nose by the likes of Barnaby Joyce and Gina Rinehart for way too long. We have been facing climate change, which is the issue of our era, and the Liberal party and the Nats have failed to act now for 25 years. Not only have they failed to act, but they’ve also failed to lead and they’ve obstructed action on this. We know that the cheapest form of electricity is renewable energy. We would like to be way further ahead, but unfortunately, we had a Coalition that blocked action for many decades and that’s why people are moving away from the Liberal party in droves. Updated at 9.30pm GMT 9.07pm GMT Wong says Coalition wars over climate change ‘fused in their minds’ The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said this morning the Coalition “still haven’t learned” in its fight over net zero policies. Wong spoke to ABC News this morning, saying the opposition was seeing the same infighting over climate change as it has for the past 15 years. She said: What we see the Coalition is the same conflict, the same climate chaos, the same leadership wars which has defined them on this issue for, you know, what is it, 15 more years. What is the consequence? Well, we’ve seen it. The consequence is higher energy prices … What we need is policy certainty. That’s what the Albanese government is giving. The Coalition still haven’t learned – the climate wars and leadership contests have become fused in their minds for almost 15 years and it all continues. Updated at 9.14pm GMT 8.51pm GMT Liberal senator says those seeking to drop net zero commitments for political win are ‘wrong’ Andrew McLachlan, a Liberal senator from South Australia, said Coalition colleagues who believe scrapping net zero commitments will help them politically are “wrong”. McLachlan spoke to RN Breakfast this morning after members of the opposition met in Canberra to discuss their stance on net zero. Sussan Ley is poised to dump the target after the meeting after senior MPs advocated for doing so. Related: Liberals poised to dump net zero target after majority reject policy in marathon five-hour meeting McLachlan said he is a “big supporter” of Ley, but said those seeking to abandon net zero pledges would fly against momentum in business and the opinions of the broader community. He told RN Breakfast: I’ve been in the Liberal party a long time. There’s been good days and bad days. You pick yourself up, you move forward, and you fight for your values. I’m passionate about the natural world. I think, as a person of a conservative disposition, I owe it to advocate for it. … I wouldn’t be advocating for net zero if I didn’t think it was important. I do so because I have a strong commitment to emissions reductions, but I also think it’s exceptionally good politics, but that’s my secondary factor. … I’m a financial services executive before I came to parliament. I lived every day under targets. I don’t know why there’s a fear of targets. Updated at 9.04pm GMT 8.36pm GMT Measles alert issued for north Brisbane Queensland Health issued an alert after a confirmed case of measles spent time in two hospitals last Saturday, warning members of the public to be on alert for signs and symptoms of the virus. The confirmed case spent several hours at Brisbane Northside Emergency at St Vincent’s private hospital in Chermside between 8am and 12pm on Saturday 8 November. They also spent time at North West private hospital in Everton Park between 12pm and 1pm that day. ⚠️ #Measles alert for Gold Coast, Brisbane and Wide Bay⚠️Find out more: https://t.co/63TlfdWFFu pic.twitter.com/ByZ6WFzCaj— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) November 12, 2025 The health department said “members of the public who visited the above areas on the specified dates and times may have been exposed to the disease and need to be alert for symptoms for up to three weeks from the exposure date”: Measles is a highly infectious virus that is spread by coughing and sneezing or through direct contact with secretions from the nose or mouth. Symptoms usually start 7-10 days after contact with an infected person but can sometimes take as long as three weeks. The measles virus is also airborne and can spread via aerosols which can survive for up to two hours in the air after an infected person leaves a room. Early symptoms include fever, lethargy, runny nose, moist cough and sore red eyes, followed a few days later by a blotchy, red rash that often starts on the face before spreading to the body. Updated at 8.43pm GMT 8.18pm GMT Victoria government to lengthen family violence orders and change stalking laws Victoria will reform stalking laws to create better clarity about the offence, under proposed laws to be introduced by the state government on Thursday. The Allan government will also introduce legislation to create a two-year minimum term for all family violence intervention orders to reduce the number of times victim-survivors need to go to court. The stalking reform involves creating better clarity over what constitutes a stalking offence under state legislation. It was a key recommendation from a 2022 report commissioned after the murder of Melbourne woman Celeste Manno in 2020. Last year Luay Sako pleaded guilty to murdering his former colleague after stalking her. As part of a suite of reforms to strengthen family violence orders, courts will extend the length of these to align with a perpetrator’s prison sentence if they are behind bars. An additional 12 months will be added after the perpetrator is released from prison to help reduce the heightened family violence risk at this time. Updated at 8.25pm GMT 8.11pm GMT Good morning, and happy Thursday – Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s see what the day has in store. 7.56pm GMT 100 community groups call on parliament to reject nature law reforms More than 100 community groups have called on the federal parliament to reject the Albanese government’s legislation to reform Australia’s nature laws. In a letter, which was expected to be handed to the environment minister Murray Watt last night, 130 organisations said the proposed changes to national laws would take environmental protection and community rights and interests backwards: We are dismayed that the Albanese government has put forward national environment law reform that experts tell us will take us backwards – backwards on protecting environments, backwards on integrity, and backwards on community rights and interests. The signatories include more than 60 regional conservation councils and environment groups and 19 national organisations such as 350.org Australia, Friends of the Earth Australia and Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action. The groups are concerned about several aspects of the bills, including a new streamlined assessment process that reduces community consultation and fast-tracks approvals, a proposal to hand approval powers under national laws to state and territory governments, and a new “pay to destroy” environmental offsets scheme. Georgina Woods, head of research and investigations at the Lock the Gate Alliance, said the reforms took “a hatchet to already inadequate environmental protections and the public’s right to participate in decisions that affect us all”: Kirsty Howey from the Environment Centre NT said the government had promised laws that would protect nature but instead “they’re fast-tracking destruction” and the legislation locked out regional communities on the frontlines of the biodiversity and climate crises: This is a message from the heart and soul of the environment movement. Grassroots groups across the country say no to Labor’s nature law betrayal. Related: Will Labor’s environment laws actually address Australia’s biodiversity crisis? Five reasons to be concerned Updated at 8.10pm GMT 7.51pm GMT Liberals to unveil their energy policy Following a “constructive” meeting of the Liberal party yesterday (Dan Tehan’s words) that went for nearly five hours, the party will today reveal its energy policy with the likelihood that it will be dumping the net zero by 2050 target. The shadow energy minister, who has been charged with creating the policy, spent last night writing up a submission which he’ll present to the shadow ministry at 9am this morning. At a press conference last night, Tehan gave little away, and said we’d all know the policy – which he and leader Sussan Ley will announce – by midday today. That policy will reflect two foundational principles and eight guiding principles that were handed out following yesterday’s marathon meeting. The two foundational principles are to create a stable energy grid with affordable power, and reduce emissions in a responsible way that ensures Australia “does its fair share” – in that order. The eight guiding principles include: putting affordable energy first, technology neutrality, a commitment to Paris (but with no legislated mandates or interim targets), social licence requirements for electricity infrastructure and scrapping carbon taxes, tariffs and mandates such as the national vehicle emissions standards. Updated at 8.08pm GMT 7.40pm GMT Aurora lights up night sky Stargazers were given a rare treat last night when the southern lights were visible across wide parts of the Australian night sky. A severe solar storm had paved the way for the spectacular display of aurora australis, particularly in Victoria and as far north as the Blue Mountains where they were seen over the Three Sisters near Katoomba. Aurora Australis putting on a great display over the 3 sisters at echo point, Katoomba, Blue Mountains tonight... pic.twitter.com/YA4JOkjLyH— Ben Pearse (@benjaminpearse) November 12, 2025 The lights were also seen in New Zealand. Updated at 7.48pm GMT 7.30pm GMT Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer, setting the scene for the day, and then it will be Nick Visser to guide you though the day. We’re expecting to hear Sussan Ley announce whether or not the Liberal party is going to keep its net zero commitment or follow the Nationals in ditching the policy. After yesterday’s marathon five-hour party room meeting, the shadow cabinet will hear the verdict from Dan Tehan at 9am and then we expect to hear from the leader in public by midday. More coming up. Stargazers were given a rare treat last night when the southern lights were visible across wide parts of the Australian night sky. We have some pictures coming up. More than 100 community groups have written an open letter to all federal MPs and senators urging them to reject the Albanese government’s legislation to reform Australia’s nature laws. The letter, signed by groups such as Lock the Gate Alliance and Friends of the Earth, says the reforms “take us backwards”. More details shortly.