Australia news live: stock market plunges early after ‘ugly’ night on Wall Street; new NSW Liberal leader thanks colleagues

12.57am GMT Sloane says taking the leadership has “been a harmonious ascension, which is I’m very lucky.” Asked if she was considering a cabinet reshuffle, she said: The problem I’m going to have is we have so much talent in the party. I’ll be spoilt for choice. So, yeah, I’ll be having those conversations with colleagues over the coming week probably. She said if former leader Mark Speakman wants a position he will have one. 12.52am GMT Kellie Sloane needs ‘to think’ if she believes in gender quotas Sloane was also asked if she believed in gender quotas. She paused before answering: I need to think about that one. I have wavered back and forth. I ... Not at the moment. Not at the moment in NSW but I’m open to those conversations with colleagues. I mean, I certainly want to see more women in our federal party. I love to see more women in our state party. I hope that when they see a female-female leadership team, which wasn’t [about] gender but just happened, that will inspire more women to enter politics. That’s my hope. Updated at 1.00am GMT 12.51am GMT Asked what voters were expected to think when about the Coalition having two positions on Net Zero, she says: I like to stop talking about those two words and be focused on the here and now and the pain for families in New South Wales. We - we have had a consistent position on net zero since 2016 as a Coalition. I believe we can work through the nuts an bolts of policies that will drive practical outcomes, reduce the expenses for families in New South Wales, and we will all, you know, come to a happy conclusion around that. 12.47am GMT Sloane says she wants ‘to be a chippy or a cementer’s best friend’ Asked how she will be different from former leader Mark Speakman, she said: I bring my own personal style to leadership. I’ll be consultive, I’ll try to remain myself, be authentic, listen to people. We’ve got to do a better job of telling our story and reminding the people of NSW what we stand for. She said she is pro-housing and wants to make sure everyone in NSW, including essential workers and families, can buy a home. “I want to be a chippy or a cementer’s best friend.” Updated at 12.53am GMT 12.42am GMT Sloane has started her speech, talking about how her team is young and full of women: We have one of the youngest parliamentary teams and I don’t count myself amongst them but we do have six colleagues under the age of 40 and they bring unique perspectives as well. Almost half of our team are women. We could do with some more but we have rich experience, we have ideas, and we have energy, and we are ready to serve the people of NSW and provide a really positive ambitious vision for our state. She also talked about how she is not a career politician: I’m a country-raised, public school-educated working mum who has built a career listening to people telling their stories and advocating for them. She says she has worked as a CEO for a not-for-profit and as a journalist. Updated at 12.48am GMT 12.39am GMT Kellie Sloan says Liberals ‘ready for the fight’ at next election Kellie Sloan is up in NSW, she has started by thanking former leader Mark Speakman and her colleagues for electing her. The next election is just over 15 months away. I don’t underestimate the challenge ahead of us, but I am ready for the fight and, as a team, we are ready for the fight. This has been an uninspiring Labor government and we are committed to a positive, to bold and ambitious vision for NSW and NSW deserves that. I won’t be doing this by myself. I’m doing it on the shoulders of one of the most impressive parliamentary teams in the country. Updated at 12.42am GMT 12.24am GMT Chris Minns calls Kellie Sloane a ‘lovely person’, wishing her the best in opposition NSW premier Chris Minns sent his well wishes to Kellie Sloane after she became the new opposition leader, adding his praise for Mark Speakman’s tenure over the Liberal party. He said during a media briefing earlier: Kellie Sloane is a really lovely person and I wish her the very best for the job. Obviously I am in competition with her, but it is a real honour to lead a political party, so hats off to her, it is an achievement for her. I also want to pay tribute to Mark Speakman, one of the gentleman of politics in Australia, someone that I genuinely believe believes in public service. He handled himself with class in the last 24 hours. Minns went on to urge the parties to work together and find “common ground” to advance the state’s interests: The truth of the matter is we both have a responsibility to work together, if we can. There’s got to be some common ground between political parties. There is plenty of time for us to trade political barbs in the future. But if there’s things we can work on today to better New South Wales that has got to be our focus. Updated at 12.35am GMT 12.13am GMT Who is Kellie Sloane, the new NSW Liberal leader? The former television journalist, chosen unopposed as the Liberal leader on Friday morning, has a reputation for being a good performer and the government has taken notice. The Sydney Morning Herald analysed parliamentary speeches by the premier, Chris Minns, since March 2023 and found “the member for Vaucluse” was among his most common phrases, uttered more frequently than “public transport”. In 18 different speeches, 44 times, Minns took aim: anticipating future battles at the dispatch box and on the campaign trail. Now Kellie Sloane is leader, Minns has one clear line of attack: her relative inexperience in politics. Mark Speakman himself, during Thursday’s last-ditch attempt to head off the challenge, pointedly referred to her as a terrific “first-term” MP. But in a job where cut-through communication skills are career-defining, Sloane’s CV points to potential. Read more here: Related: Who is Kellie Sloane, the new NSW Liberal leader – and can this first-term former journalist save the party? Updated at 12.22am GMT 11.57pm GMT Bob Brown says Labor nature bills ‘an insult to the environmental conscience of Australians’ Celebrated environmentalist and former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has told a Senate committee the Albanese government’s proposed nature reforms are “an insult to the environmental conscience of Australians”. Appearing before an inquiry examining the bills late on Thursday, Brown urged the Senate to reject the bills unless they were substantially improved and said the fact the environment minister had no power to consider harm caused by climate change was analogous to a treasurer being given no power over taxes: This legislation is an insult to the environmental conscience of Australians and the body politic, which is charged with looking after the interests of Australia, should throw it out. The fact that the minister for the environment is prevented from taking action on the biggest threat to the environment, which is climate change, is analogous to a treasurer having no power over taxes. And I say that must be taken seriously, because that’s how the situation is. Brown also criticised the government’s failure to close a loophole that effectively exempts logging covered by regional forest agreements from national nature laws: The embedding in this legislation of the regional forest agreements, which we know have been the biggest cause of destruction of the habitat of so many rare and endangered creatures in Australia, is an affront to the rights of Australians in the future. Updated at 12.08am GMT 11.35pm GMT Sussan Ley thanks Mark Speakman and says Sloane will do ‘outstanding job’ Sussan Ley, the opposition leader, just spoke briefly about the NSW Liberal leadership spill. She thanked Mark Speakman for his leadership and said it would now be important for the NSW party to “go about their business” in the lead-up to the next election: I want to thank Mark Speakman for his leadership of the New South Wales Liberals and say that Kellie Sloane will do an outstanding job with the team there. It is important that state Liberal parties go about their business as they do every day of the week. It is important for us and it’s important for me as the federal liberal leader to talk to Australians about our serious, compelling, credible policy alternatives in the lead-up to the next election. Updated at 11.41pm GMT 11.18pm GMT ASX hits ‘air pocket’ as stocks dive Australian shares are down sharply this morning, after a Nvidia-fuelled global rebound gave way to enduring concerns that a stock market bubble has engulfed Wall Street. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 2% to 8,383 points in early trading, erasing more than $50bn in value from the index. The ASX took its lead from the US where equities suffered an “ugly reversal”, according to IG analysts, erasing the relief rally that had been sparked by strong profits reported by the world’s biggest company, chip maker Nvidia. IG said the reversal was caused in part by Nvidia’s results “failing to quell unease about stretched tech valuations”. While the Australian share market is very different to that of the US, it has been pulled and pushed around by Wall Street. There is some overlap, with the fortunes of Australian uranium companies, for example, tied to the potential energy usage of the AI-fuelled tech sector. Morningstar market strategist Lochlan Halloway described the pullback as an “air pocket”: In the last few months, global equities have started to look stretched, and particularly in Australia, where we enjoyed AI-like returns without an obvious fundamental driver. Our bull market was built on shaky foundations, and climbing down from such heights is probably sensible. The value of bitcoin fell again overnight, and is now down 20% in a month to trade around the $US88,000 mark. It is seen as a “risk asset” that has suffered from souring market sentiment. Updated at 11.44pm GMT 10.54pm GMT Major environment groups urge government MPs to improve nature bills Some of Australia’s biggest environment groups have written to all government MPs and senators urging changes to Labor’s proposed nature bills, which they say “do not protect nature” in their current form. The two-page statement from groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and legal firm Environmental Justice Australia, sent late Thursday, says “reform at any cost is not the answer”. The groups said “given the stated positions of political parties on nature protection, it is clear that a deal between Labor and the Coalition will not advance nature protections and could make things considerably worse”. It comes as the government chases a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens to pass its proposed reforms in the Senate in the final parliamentary sitting week for the year next week. The changes the groups have proposed include: Removing excessive discretionary powers granted to the environment minister Making the proposed environment protection agency the default decision-maker for development proposals, with the environment minister only permitted to intervene in “exceptional circumstances” Closing native forest logging loopholes and scrapping a “risky” proposal for a restoration contributions fund for developers or significantly tightening when and how this option can be used Delivering a promised standard on First Nations engagement and reversing attempts to shorten community consultation periods Building consideration of climate change into the laws and not delegating decisions under the federal water trigger to the states They said: We call on the Labor government to substantially improve the bills and negotiate in good faith with members of the Senate that care about nature and a vibrant, healthy Australia. Related: Will Labor’s environment laws actually address Australia’s biodiversity crisis? Five reasons to be concerned Updated at 11.00pm GMT 10.33pm GMT Sloane thanks colleagues for ‘faith and trust’ they have placed in her Kellie Sloane just gave a brief statement to media after she was named leader of the NSW Liberal party in an uncontested vote. She said: What a day. A few moments ago, a united Liberal party room endorsed me as the new leader and it’s an incredible honour, and a huge responsibility, one I don’t take lightly. I’m ready to work for New South Wales and I thank my colleagues for the faith and the trust that they’ve placed in me today. I’ve got a whole lot more to say at a news conference in a couple of hours. And just like that, it’s over. After yesterday’s drawn-out spill, this morning has passed quickly and quietly. The Liberal party room meeting started at 9am but media weren’t let into the opposition’s parliamentary offices until just before the announcement at 9.10am made by Liberal whips Adam Crouch and Chris Rath. Journalists, photographers and camera operators and their equipment milled about awkwardly in a small elevator lobby. Sloane, who is holding a press conference later this morning, did not take questions. Instead, after her brief speech, Sloane and upper house member Natalie Ward, who has remained deputy leader, walked down the corridor to the opposition leader’s office recently vacated by Mark Speakman. Updated at 10.46pm GMT 10.15pm GMT Kellie Sloane new leader of NSW Liberals Kellie Sloane, the NSW Liberals’ health spokesperson, has been appointed as leader of the opposition. She was given unanimous support to take the top job.. The 52 year-old former journalist replaces Mark Speakman, who led the party since the March 2023 election. Speakman resigned on Thursday after pressure from his colleagues concerned about the party’s ability to cut through, particularly after the damage inflicted on the Liberal brand by the infighting in Canberra. Sloane, a moderate, is expected to stick with the party’s recent decision to continue to support a net zero by 2050 target. Related: Mark Speakman stands down as leader of NSW Liberals with Kellie Sloane expected to replace him Updated at 10.16pm GMT 9.52pm GMT Greens maintain loss of Cop31 an ‘embarrassment’ for Australia The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said Australia’s move to drop its bid to host next year’s Cop31 climate summit in Adelaide is “an embarrassment”. Related: Australia’s failed bid to host Cop31 looks like a mess – but it may actually be the best result possible | Adam Morton Waters said the notion that there will be a pre-Cop event in the Pacific – part of the Albanese government’s hopes to elevate Pacific voices – was a “consolation prize”. But she said the loss of the climate event was a “missed opportunity” for Australia to hone its environmental message, and a boon for the government’s support for fossil fuel projects such as the extension of the North West Shelf gas plant. She told RN Breakfast this morning of the Albanese government: I think they wanted to avoid the scrutiny. Of the fact that they, within two weeks of re-winning government, approved the biggest gas plant in the southern hemisphere that would have more emissions than all of our coal-fired power stations put together over 10 years, an absolute carbon bomb. The fact that they’ve ticked off on more than 30 other coal and gas projects since they took government, the fact that they’re currently trying to rewrite our environmental laws to fast-track coal and gas approval. And the fact that there’s an algal bloom that’s driven by a marine heat wave that’s caused by climate change on the beaches of Adelaide. Updated at 10.01pm GMT 9.31pm GMT Government urging those in Fina’s path to stay up-to-date and heed warnings Kristy McBain, the federal minister for emergency management, said officials are urging people to “prioritise their safety” and heed cyclone warnings and advice. The federal government has been working with the NT to ensure officials are embedded in the region to assist with any response. McBain added that generators and staff had already deployed into areas of predicted impact. She told RN Breakfast this morning: We’ve been working really closely with the Northern Territory government on the pre-deployment of assets, but it is really important that people listen to those warnings and they’ll be continually updated. … But these things are a little bit unpredictable at this stage. So we’re just asking people to be aware. 9.13pm GMT Tropical Cyclone Fina to start impacting NT this morning Tropical Cyclone Fina is currently a category 1 cyclone, but could intensify to a category 2 or category 3 storm later today. The Bureau of Meteorology said the slow-moving cyclone is headed south-west, with a warning zone issued for the Tiwi Islands and Cape Hotham to Warruwi. The agency has urged residents to complete preparations quickly and be prepared to shelter in a safe place. The Daly River mouth area to Cape Hotham, including Darwin, are currently under a watch zone. Gusts and damaging winds up to 120km/h may develop this morning, with those winds increasing to 155km/h on Friday as the system nears the coast. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are possible in coastal areas of the Tiwi Islands and Warruwi, which will extend to nearby areas inland across the western Top End, including Darwin, on Saturday. The BoM said: Fina is forecast to further intensify to a severe tropical cyclone during Sunday afternoon in the southern Timor Sea. There continues to remain a chance that it could reach category 3 intensity earlier, during late Friday or early Saturday as it moves into the Van Diemen Gulf. ⚠️🌀Tropical Cyclone Fina is slowly moving southwest, with impacts for the #NorthernTerritory from early this morningWarning zone: Tiwi Islands, and Cape Hotham to WarruwiWatch zone: Daly River Mouth to Cape Hotham, including #DarwinLatest track map: https://t.co/sUS8eqwtb5 pic.twitter.com/wCsWAI8PjE— Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory (@BOM_NT) November 20, 2025 Updated at 9.39pm GMT 9.00pm GMT Three charged after alleged murder of man on NSW south coast NSW police have arrested and charged three men for the alleged murder of a 43-year-old man in Bega on the state’s south coast in October. The three men, aged 29, 32 and 34, will appear in court on Friday. According to police, the arrests relate to the fatal stabbing of a man found wounded in a Bega park on 6 October. The man died at the scene. A spokesperson for the force said police divers searched a private property and wetlands last week and seized items for forensic examination. On Thursday morning, police searched three homes in Bega and Bemboka before arresting the men. They were denied bail. 8.45pm GMT Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia to ban use of power banks on board Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia will ban the use of power banks on board aircrafts over the next few weeks amid a rise in safety risks associated with damaged or defective lithium batteries. From 1 December, Virgin will require passengers to keep power banks in their carry-on baggage, within easy reach during a flight (in the seat pocket, under the seat in front of you or in your hands), and they may not be used on board. From 15 December, Qantas and Jetstar will impose similar rules, banning the use of power banks or charging power banks while on board. Customers may carry two of them in their cabin baggage but they should be with the passenger at all times if possible. Related: Qantas business lounge passenger set on fire after power bank explodes in his pocket Updated at 9.00pm GMT 8.19pm GMT Victoria makes it free to change gender on birth certificate The Victorian government will make it free for trans and gender diverse people to officially change their gender on a birth certificate. It currently costs people born in Victoria $140 to be issued a new birth certificate. Those born interstate must pay $122 to update their details in Victoria. Victoria’s minister for government services, Natalie Hutchins, said the government was “making sure money is not an obstacle for trans and gender diverse people to have documents that reflect who they really are”. The Victorian government believes less than one-third of trans and gender diverse people have identity documents that reflect who they are. The state government changed laws in 2020 to ensure people do not need to undergo surgery before changing the sex recorded on their birth certificates. Updated at 8.57pm GMT 8.07pm GMT Good morning and happy Friday, we’ve made it. Nick Visser here to guide the blog through the morning. Let’s get started. Updated at 8.15pm GMT 7.59pm GMT Albanese flies to South Africa for G20 summit Anthony Albanese will advance Australia’s interests at a global summit without the spectre of Donald Trump hovering over him, Australian Associated Press reports. Albanese will be the first Australian prime minister to visit South Africa since 2013 as he jets to the G20 leaders’ summit where climate change, trade and security are expected on the agenda. “Now more than ever, Australia needs to be working with our international partners to tackle the shared challenges and opportunities ahead,” the prime minister said. “Being part of the G20 helps build a stronger, more resilient global economy, which benefits all Australians at home.” Albanese flew from Perth to the South African capital yesterday for the summit, which has been overshadowed by the Trump administration’s boycott. A total of 42 countries will attend Africa’s first G20 but not the United States after Trump said he would not attend, citing discrimination against the country’s white farmers. South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has denied Trump’s claims. It comes after Albanese secured a $3bn Australia-US critical minerals deal after meeting Trump at the White House in October. The summit will provide an opportunity for Australia to advance its interests without Trump’s presence, Monash University head of politics and international relations Zareh Ghazarian said. “Security and conflict is obviously a huge issue, climate change which is something governments are grappling at a domestic level, and trade will also feature as a key part of discussions,” Ghazarian said. “It will give Australia an important global forum to engage with other leaders.” Albanese is expected to meet with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the event and has signalled conversations with leaders from South Korea, Japan, Europe and Canada during his two days at the summit. Updated at 8.16pm GMT 7.47pm GMT Dreyfus says referendum on four-year terms should be ‘sooner rather than later’ While constitutional change has been taken off the table by Albanese, the prime minister has said he would support four-year terms, which was also recently endorsed by former PM John Howard. Dreyfus said Australia is an “outlier” on having an election every three years when other countries, and Australia’s states and territories, have longer terms. “I believe that sooner rather than later Australians should be asked to adopt four-year terms for their national government ... We are also an outlier in world terms, with just six of 186 nations with active legislatures having three-year terms.” Just last week, John Howard supported the call, observing, wisely: “It’s ludicrous you’ve got four-year terms in all the states but the national parliament doesn’t. It’s just crazy.” Dreyfus also called for a constitutional commission to be adopted, which he believes would “help establish in the public mind that our constitution is not a frozen document but a living one”. Updated at 8.07pm GMT 7.41pm GMT Former AG Mark Dreyfus calls for republic referendum Former attorney general Mark Dreyfus has called for the government to renew the republic campaign, and to push for four-year federal terms, in his first major comments since he was relegated to the backbench. Dreyfus addressed the Geoffrey Sawer Lecture at ANU last night, calling for the government to forge ahead with constitutional change after suffering defeat on the Indigenous voice to parliament campaign. The push is in direct contravention of Anthony Albanese’s position. The prime minister, in September, definitively ruled out holding another referendum while he remains leader. The former AG said: It’s time to renew the campaign to establish an Australian republic. Australia – and Australians – have changed in many ways over the past quarter century. In my view it is time – past time – for Australia to break its residual constitutional ties with the United Kingdom and its monarchy. Updated at 8.05pm 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 with the main action. It could be a hectic day, with New South Wales likely to get a new opposition leader and a cyclone hovering off the coast of the Northern Territory. But first, let’s catch up with developments overnight. In his first major speech since being relegated to the backbench, former attorney general Mark Dreyfus said last night it was “well past time” that Australia held another referendum on becoming a republic and shed the residual ties with the UK. More in a moment. Anthony Albanese will have the chance to advance Australia’s interests at the G20 summit in South Africa without the spectre of Donald Trump, one expert says. The prime minister could use the opportunity to seal a trade deal with the EU, the ABC reported. More coming up.