Australia politics live: Labor reveals new tactic in battle over Senate question time; Joyce warns Coalition split ‘not as easy as you think’

12.58am GMT Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has lashed the Coalition over its plans to dump support for net zero by 2050 emissions policies, urging Labor MPs to maintain focus on the economic opportunities from the renewable energy transition. Speaking to a closed-door meeting of the Labor caucus at Parliament House on Tuesday, Albanese said the politics were bad for the opposition leader, Sussan Ley. “It is all about investment certainty,” Albanese said. “We need investment certainty to deliver reliable energy. This is a common sense approach.” Of the Coalition, Albanese said: Those opposite have torn themselves apart before and they’re doing it again. It’s important we keep our focus on what we are doing for jobs and the economy. Albanese noted that 24 out of 28 coal fired power stations in Australia had announced their closures under the former Coalition government. 12.51am GMT Queensland treasurer vows to continue good faith negotiations with teachers’ union Queensland’s treasurer, David Janetzki, has vowed to continue good faith negotiations with the state’s teachers union, in the face of threatened strike action. QTU delegates voted on the weekend to take their second strike action of the year within the next three weeks. The first is estimated to have disrupted learning for 600,000 school students across the state. At a press conference in Rockhampton, Janetzki said “we believe we’ve made a good offer”: Well, we’ll remain good faith negotiators, and we’ll continue to work with them [the union]. We’ll let the process take its course now. We want to see teachers well paid and safe in the classroom, and that’s what we’re working towards through some of the red tape reduction and work that the education minister [is taking]. More than two-thirds of teachers voted down an 8% pay rise offer last week. The state government hopes to take the union into industrial arbitration to resolve the dispute. Updated at 12.55am GMT 12.40am GMT Sydney defence expo continues uninterrupted by protest Inside the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, outside which police arrested at least 10 protesters and used pepper spray on crowds, the atmosphere is relaxed. Thousands of people, including hundreds of white-uniformed Australian navy personnel, are packed into the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. A naval band is playing classical flute music, while attenders are being given out free doughnuts and lollies by organisers and exhibitors, including some of the world’s largest weapons companies. Inside the main exhibition hall, people are flocking to stalls run by the likes of Lockheed Martin and the Australian federal and state governments, as attenders pose alongside scale models of ballistic missiles and unmanned drones. Among the exhibitors is Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, and the Israeli state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, who both have large, centrally located stalls. Former member of the UN commission of inquiry, Chris Sidoti, has criticised the companies for being “key enablers of the Israel Defense Forces in its commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza over the last two years”. Guardian Australia has approached Rafael and Elbit for comment. Updated at 12.44am GMT 12.28am GMT Sydney weapons expo protesters to march to Town Hall Protesters are set to march from Sydney’s Tumbalong Park, where they have gathered since 6.30am this morning, to the city’s Town Hall. NSW police said the unplanned march should begin momentarily, with traffic disruptions and rolling road closures as the group moves through the CBD. Marchers will head from the park to Liverpool Street, before turning on to George Street. A police operation is ongoing. UPDATE: Protesters have indicated they will be marching from Darling Harbour to Town Hall at 11.20am.Traffic is expected to be disrupted, with rolling road closures to take place.The group is expected to march from Tumbalong Park onto Liverpool Street, before turning onto… https://t.co/MrzPRz8hTl— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) November 4, 2025 Updated at 12.31am GMT 12.17am GMT Greens to move amendment to ensure workers under 18 are paid super The Greens are set to move an amendment to Labor’s Superannuation Guarantee bill today, making sure workers under 18 are paid super. This bill will require employers to meet key obligations to accurately calculate employees’ individual superannuation guarantee. And the Greens want under-18s included. Right now, to be eligible for super, under 18s need to work at least 30 hours a week for the same employer. However, most young people juggle paid work with school and study commitments and, therefore, are unable to reach the required 30 hours per week. As a result, hundreds of thousands of young workers are missing out. The Greens’ amendment would ensure super contributions are paid to all workers, including under-18s. Greens spokesperson for finance, employment and workplace relations, senator Barbara Pocock, said: Under-18s pay taxes and contribute to our economy, so why shouldn’t they receive super? Excluding young people from super only makes it harder to get ahead – robbing them of thousands in retirement savings and financial security. The Greens believe superannuation should be a universal right. Every worker deserves super, whether they’re 16 or 60 years old, and should receive the same financial rights as everyone else, whether part-time or full-time. Labor has previously promised to deliver super for all workers. The national platform states: Labor will … work with unions and employers to examine gaps in the superannuation system and where possible close these gaps for injured workers, young workers, carers (including for parents who provide full-time care up until school age) and low income families. Updated at 12.20am GMT 12.02am GMT Greens say door is still open for environmental laws negotiations The Greens are expected to vote against the EPBC environmental laws in the lower house this week. Following a meeting of the party room this morning, the Greens have said they don’t believe the legislation goes far enough to protect forests and address climate change, and has been geared too much toward mining and industry interests. The minor party isn’t expected to propose amendments in the lower house, but hasn’t ruled out amendments in the Senate. The Greens say their door is still open to minister Murray Watt for more negotiations, but they’ve resolved to oppose it in the lower house for now. Updated at 12.11am GMT 11.53pm GMT Cancelling Centrelink payments a ‘fundamental breach of natural justice’, Wilkie says This morning, independents Lidia Thorpe and Andrew Wilkie gave a presser on the amendment to give home affairs the power to cancel Centrelink payments of those accused of a serious crime and on the run from the law for a minute. Wilkie said it was a “fundamental breach of natural justice”. Until someone has been convicted in a court found guilty, then they are innocent. So the whole notion of taking income support of anyone in the community simply because they are accused of something is a fundamental breach of natural justice. It is wrong. It’s also punitive, because the person who has the income support stopped is, in all likelihood, providing financial support for someone else, for the wife and the kids, for the family. Thorpe called for an inquiry into the proposed amendment: People are innocent [until] proven guilty. We look at the assault on Aboriginal women who are victims of family violence, and the cops rock up. And then Aboriginal women become the perpetrators. Now this has long-reaching impact … and an inquiry needs to happen. Updated at 12.17am GMT 11.28pm GMT Barnaby claims credit for net zero drama Barnaby Joyce has claimed credit for the Coalition sitting on the brink of dropping or dramatically altering its net zero pledge, saying he and supporters like Matt Canavan have “just moved the whole agenda to exactly where I want it to be”. Joyce told a press conference: I think I’m going quite well. It’s almost like I’ve done it before. Joyce says he’ll remain outside the Nationals and Coalition party rooms for now, even as the two opposition parties discuss net zero and climate commitments today in their weekly meetings. Joyce said he had no meetings scheduled with Pauline Hanson this week - who, as we reported yesterday, still remains out of the country and was reportedly spotted at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Halloween party – as questions remain about whether he could switch to One Nation. In a doorstop, Joyce downplayed the impact of the damaging and ugly net zero fight on the Coalition’s electoral fortunes, noting it was still early in the cycle before the next election. He also said he didn’t want the debate to claim the scalp of Liberal leader Sussan Ley, who is fighting to stave off pressure from her right flank. Joyce said he wanted to see renewable power wound back, and maintained that coal power would be the cheapest option, raising concern about the effect of power prices on businesses. However Joyce claimed “the Business Council is wrong” after the peak corporate group backed net zero and called on the Coalition to maintain its commitment. Asked why he remained outside the Coalition and Nationals party rooms, and why he wasn’t internally contributing to the debate he wanted to have, Joyce said he and colleagues like Canavan had moved the whole debate, but wouldn’t telegraph what his next campaigning move would be. It’s having no effect, is it? We’ve just moved the whole agenda to exactly where I wanted to be. I think I’m going quite well. Here’s a trick. Keep cards close to your chest and don’t tell anybody what you’re doing, because that’s how you have effect. Updated at 11.38pm GMT 11.18pm GMT The Senate shenanigans don’t stop! We’ve got a copy of a motion which Labor has drawn up, that would stop all senators from being able to leave the chamber during the extra long question time. A quick recap: senate question time has been extended to give non-government senators five extra questions, until the government hands in a report on government board appointments that independent David Pocock has been chasing for months, and was handed to Labor two years ago. Now it seems like Labor are looking to move a motion on top of that one, that “all senators be required to attend the Senate whilst questions without notice are asked and answered”. A senator can only be “excused” if they have been “granted leave of absence by the Senate” or with the agreement of all whips and independent senators. So what does that mean for bathroom breaks? Or any other emergencies? We’ll try and get to the bottom of this! But I will note that – like in the case of question time being extended – the Coalition, Greens and crossbench can again team up to defeat this motion if Labor brings it forward. Updated at 11.34pm GMT 11.03pm GMT 10 arrested during Sydney protests over defence expo 10 people have now been arrested at this morning’s protests in Sydney’s Tumbalong Park. NSW police said its operation remains ongoing, with a smaller group of protesters still demonstrating near the ICC against the weapons expo. Police said on social media: The safety and security of delegates at the venue and the wider community is paramount. Anyone who breaches the peace will be arrested. Police will continue to have a presence at the assemblies and will work with protestors to ensure there is minimal impact to the community. UPDATE: 10 people have now been arrested, and the police operation remains ongoing.The safety and security of delegates at the venue and the wider community is paramount.Anyone who breaches the peace will be arrested.Police will continue to have a presence at the assemblies… https://t.co/hwdz82SxFD— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) November 3, 2025 10.57pm GMT Legal service warns security services changes will impact Aboriginal women misidentified as perpetrators Staying on the security services amendment, senator David Pocock is expected to try and split the changes into a separate bill that can be sent to an inquiry today. Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre CEO and Bundjalung woman Christine Robinson has also put out a statement saying: Wirringa Baiya has concerns about the proposed amendments, and the way that these are being pushed through the parliament without adequate scrutiny. As a service that works with Aboriginal women who are often misidentified as perpetrators, we see the many possible unintended consequences of this proposed amendment.” The 2024 Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children found misidentification of women as perpetrators puts First Nations women at risk. Robinson said: We urge the government to remove this amendment from the bill and go through the appropriate pathway to allow necessary scrutiny and input from stakeholders. Updated at 11.03pm GMT 10.50pm GMT Critics urge government to scrap plan to allow police and ministers to cancel welfare payment A growing group of civil society organisations representing welfare recipients, First Nations people, survivors of family violence, disabled people and legal experts are calling on the government to scrap a proposed amendment that will allow police and federal government ministers to cancel someone’s welfare payment. The person must be accused of a serious crime and on the run from law enforcement. Karly Warner, chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (Natsils), said: The Government is trying to pass legislation that would allow police to cancel Centrelink payments for people who have not been found guilty of any offence. This is an unprecedented attack on fairness and due process which will shake public confidence in our legal system. Under this legislation, people’s benefits could be stripped away simply because they are unaware police have issued a warrant for their arrest, and without any opportunity to access legal help. The proposed amendments will inevitably have a greater impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are grossly overrepresented at every stage of the criminal process. Cutting off people’s Centrelink payments will not only impact those individuals, but put their children and families, too many of whom already live below the poverty line – at risk of homelessness and child removals. Updated at 10.56pm GMT 10.41pm GMT Joyce warns Coalition split 'not as easy as you think' As the Liberals and Nationals try to find a pathway to energy harmony, Barnaby Joyce – who is still not sitting in party room meetings – says he’s keeping his cards “close to his chest” on whether he’ll fully return to his party. While “vastly happier” with the Nats current position of scrapping net zero, as previously reported, he’s not happy about the number of renewables that will continue being built in the regions. Speaking to Sky News, he says: On the backbench, you don’t have many cards, and when you [have] the few cards you do have, you keep them very close to your chest, because I think people would have given net zero no chance of having an effect on the agenda. Egotistical statement, I think I have. Joyce says he respects leader Sussan Ley and regards her a “political friend”. On whether the Coalition can or should be split, he says, “that’s not as easy as you think”. Updated at 11.35pm GMT 10.19pm GMT ‘The Liberal party is not National party lite’, says Liberal MP Shadow cabinet minister, and moderate, Tim Wilson says his party should stand its ground and develop its own energy policy separately, after the Nats came out of the gate early over the weekend. Speaking to Sky News a little earlier, Wilson said there is a pathway for the Coalition to be united on energy policy, but it has to “lead on the conversation” and not be “defined by the terms of our opponents”. The Liberal Party will develop its own policy, the liberal party is not National party lite. We will make our own decisions about our own policy, and we will stand up for what we believe in for conversations around energy and climate change. Sussan [Ley] did an excellent job in May of this year when the National party sought to split off, and rather than simply chasing them, she stood her ground, because she knows that once she loses moral authority, you can’t get it back. You need to stand up as the leader of the party, for the Liberal Party. Updated at 10.33pm GMT 10.08pm GMT Queensland teachers to strike after knocking back pay offer from state government Queensland teachers have voted to take strike action in the next three weeks, after knocking back a pay offer from the state government last Friday. Queensland Teachers Union delegates voted for the escalation at a state council meeting on Saturday, after union members overwhelmingly voted down a state government 8% pay offer last week. “No specific date has been determined, further meetings of QTU Executive are expected before any formal announcement will be made,” QTU president Cresta Richardson said. The QTU encourages the government and the Premier to end the negotiation by offering a package that addresses the QTU’s claims, and our members see value in. Meanwhile, state government employees members of the building trades group of unions are set to walk off the job at 10am today. Members of the Electrical Trades Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, the Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union and CFMEU are demanding a 35-hour working week, which they say would put them in line with white-colour public servants. Related: Thousands of Queensland teachers have gone on strike with 600,000 school students affected. What happens next? Updated at 10.18pm GMT 9.55pm GMT Liberals and Nationals should stay together but ‘not at any cost,’ Bragg says Like an old married couple, the Coalition has gone through plenty of “marriage counselling” sessions, Andrew Bragg says. Jumping back into that interview on ABC News Breakfast, the shadow cabinet minister says that the Liberals do need to come up with their own separate policy, after the Nationals came out with the anti net zero stance over the weekend. Bragg says he’s a supporter of the Coalition staying together and he doesn’t “believe that the fragmentation of the centre-right is in Australia’s interests,” but that also doesn’t come at any cost. We’ve been married for a long time. There have been times where there have been marriage counselling sessions and I think before the next session, we certainly need to have our own position. There’s a reason you have divorce laws, I guess. But we would be much better served to stay with the Nationals, because we have given Australia good government over this last 80 years. So that would be my strong preference, but it’s not at any cost. Bragg is also aware of the other existential threat to the Liberal party – young people. He says there’s an expectation with the growing number of millennials and gen Zs on the voting roles, to show “that we actually believe that [climate change] is a real risk to our future, and that we have a credible policy to address it”. Updated at 10.02pm GMT 9.39pm GMT NSW premier: ‘I’m not responsible for the invitations’ to defence expo The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has defended the state government’s sponsorship of the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, the focus of an attempted blockade by human rights protesters in Darling Harbour this morning. Speaking on ABC Radio Sydney earlier, the premier said the maritime sector was a “massive part” of the NSW economy, contributing 40% of defence industry jobs in the state, which he said would remain important as regions including the Hunter move away from coal extraction. Minns denied having seen calls from NSW Labor MPs Cameron Murphy and Anthony D’Adam for Israeli weapons companies to be removed from the conference, as reported by the Guardian, but characterised the MPs as “frequent critics” of the government. Asked if he was comfortable with the attendance of Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, and the state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, he said: I’m not responsible for the invitations. That’s not me running away from ... who’s invited to this particular summit. I have got little to no exposure or decision making in relation to Australia’s relationship with foreign countries and foreign arms manufacturers in relation to where it’s used. That’s the Commonwealth government’s responsibility, it’s not mine ... We want to see the industry grow. I’ve got a responsibility to see ten of thousands of people move into new industries in the decades ahead. Updated at 9.47pm GMT 9.38pm GMT We have some more pictures of the protest outside the ICC in Sydney. Police have been using pepper spray on demonstrators. Updated at 9.44pm GMT 9.26pm GMT Protesters pepper-sprayed by police in Sydney after Hannah Thomas addresses crowd Police just used pepper spray on the gathered crowd, prompting people to run from a squad of mounted officers. Some people are coughing and wiping their eyes in the grass, while others have reconvened. The pepper spray was used as some in the crowd attempted to break through metal barricades. More police vehicles are arriving, adding to the dozens of officers already here. Before the police used pepper spray, Hannah Thomas, the former Greens candidate who was seriously injured during a protest in June, briefly spoke to the rally crowd. Thomas, who has undergone multiple rounds of surgery, told Guardian Australia it was still triggering being back at an action that was heavily policed. But she said the defence expo warranted the protest. “That event is fucked.” Updated at 10.14pm GMT 9.23pm GMT Dropping net zero would make Australia a ‘pariah state’, Bragg says One of the Liberal party’s most staunch net zero supporters, Andrew Bragg, says Australia can’t walk away from the Paris agreement and a commitment to reduce emissions. But, and there’s a big but here, that doesn’t mean net zero has to be reached by 2050. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Bragg says – as he did yesterday – that the Paris agreement states that net zero has to be achieved in the second half of this century. (However, we would add here, that the advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on what is needed to achieve the Paris goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C is net zero by 2050). Virtually every country has committed to net zero emissions. We would be a pariah state. The Paris Agreement is the red line here. I mean, you’ve got to be in the Paris Agreement. Because if you weren’t, you would be in a group of countries like Iran and Libya and maybe two or three others … And the Paris Agreement requires you to get to net zero in this century. I think that that would be an important objective for Australia to maintain Updated at 9.28pm GMT 9.02pm GMT No rate cuts from RBA today The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy board won’t be announcing a rate cut at 2:30pm today, after figures last week showed inflation came in hotter than expected in the September quarter. After three cuts this year, the RBA’s cash rate sits at 3.6%. With the outcome preordained , there will be a lot of focus on the RBA’s latest set of economic forecasts, released in the latest Statement on Monetary Policy, and the governor’s press conference at 3:30pm. Unemployment is also on the rise, and Michele Bullock will need to explain how the central bank is navigating the last mile to bring inflation definitively back under control without pushing the jobless rate much higher. Economists have largely pushed out forecasts for a rate cut to early next year, or predicted that the central bank may be done cutting rates. That will be bad news for indebted homeowners, but may help take some of the steam out of the already unaffordable housing market, where prices are accelerating. Financial markets, for now at least, are still pricing in some chance of a rate cut over the coming year. Updated at 9.08pm GMT 8.57pm GMT Four arrested as protestors converge on Sydney defence expo A few hundred protesters are gathered at Sydney’s Tumbalong Park, where police have cordoned them into a fenced-in area across from the International Convention Centre. The protest was initially meant to be a blockade, but dozens of uniformed officers and mounted units have surrounded the ICC to prevent any major disruption. Josh Lees, an organiser for Palestine Action Group, said police were aggressive when protesters began to gather near Sydney’s IMAX theatre, using pepper spray and pushing the group towards the cordoned area. He said multiple people were arrested. It’s unclear if anyone has been charged. NSW police said four people have been arrested, adding in a statement: Police will have a presence at the assemblies and will work with protestors to ensure there are no breaches of the peace and there is minimal impact to the community.” Chants of “shame”, “long live Gaza” and “hands off the West Bank” rang through the crowd. Lees said it was a nice turnout for an early Tuesday morning, but added: It’s good, but we need more. Updated at 9.16pm GMT 8.56pm GMT McIntosh believes there is enough goodwill between the two parties to form a unified position on energy policy. Staying on RN Breakfast, McIntosh says there’s a “long history of being able to work with the Nats”. I think our relationship is strong enough for us to come to settle on a position as long as we’re listening to our communities … So if we continue on a sensible path where we are stripping away any other agendas besides trying to do the best for Australians, I think we’ll end [up] there. McIntosh adds that the Liberal party’s review - led by Dan Tehan – has been “a good one” and will save the party from an internal “uproar”. On the issue of Sussan Ley’s leadership, McIntosh says the media are “making more of that issue than what we’re feeling internally”, but admits the party does need to get its act together. Everyone’s had a chance to speak. It’s not like we’ve waited for one party room, there’s going to be an uproar, and no one really knows each other’s positions. But I think Australians do want us to sort out our issues quite quickly. They’re disappointed in us, probably could use stronger words than even disappointed and want us to get our act together. So let’s start focusing on those policies that make a difference. Updated at 9.01pm GMT 8.52pm GMT Melissa McIntosh wants Liberals to ‘get their act together’ Internal divisions haven’t stopped Coalition MPs fronting up to their morning interviews today, including shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh, who tells ABC RN Breakfast the public want her party to “get their act together”. The Liberals are getting closer to an energy policy, but there’s still broad internal debate over where it should land. McIntosh says they’ll get to a position “relatively soon”, and says many in her community of Western Sydney, struggling with their power bills, don’t want net zero. This is not an ideological thing that we don’t believe in climate change or any of that sort of stuff. They’re just really struggling. Their power prices are up … Dan Tehan has been very consultative with colleagues for weeks now, and there’s been a number of working groups, a number of meetings, a number of sessions for people to be involved with I think we’ll come to a position relatively soon. Updated at 9.01pm GMT 8.42pm GMT Coalition must ‘pull itself together in some shape or form’, Monique Ryan says Independent Monique Ryan – who won former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s seat – is weighing into the party’s political woes, and says voters are “asking what the Liberals care about”. Leader Sussan Ley hasn’t been given a chance to be a leader, says Ryan, after Peter Dutton led a “really disappointing campaign” without a significant policies. Ryan says there needs to be a strong opposition, to stop it becoming a government that can do what it likes unchecked. (She’s not particularly complimentary of Ley though). At the moment all [Liberals] seem to care about is their own political prospects, which are heading to oblivion if they continue to behave this way. I don’t think [Ley’s] been particularly impressive herself, to be honest, but, you know, people want the conservative side of politics to have a policy platform. We’ve seen in Victoria for many years what happens when you don’t have an effective Opposition. What you have is a poor government that can do what it likes and Australians deserve better. They need to have an effective Opposition. So I would hope that the Coalition can pull itself together in some shape or form so it can do that. Updated at 8.52pm GMT 8.16pm GMT Keeping the Coalition together Can the Liberals and Nationals coexist? “Very easily” says Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie. The Nationals came out of the gates early to firm up a position to scrap net zero, leaving the Liberal party scrambling to come up with its own policy, that will appease members of its own party and keep the Coalition together. On the Today show, McKenzie concedes leader Sussan Ley has “one of the most difficult jobs” in Parliament, to rebuild the Liberal party. We want her [Ley] to be successful because we believe that the Coalition is the best government … and after a catastrophic loss, there’s a lot of rebuilding to do. But, you know, the National party’s been getting on with the job of delivering an energy plan that’s cheaper, better and fairer. The Liberals have made clear [their] process hasn’t finished yet. And when it [is] we’ll sit down and have a conversation. Updated at 8.24pm GMT 8.08pm GMT Good morning Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started. Liberals and Nationals will sit down today for their party room meeting, as the senior Coalition partner considers dropping net zero targets. The government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation bill (EPBC) will also be up for debate in the House today – and I’ve been told there has been plenty of time allocated for plenty of speeches. We’ll also be following the attempt by protesters to blockade a state-government sponsored defence conference in Sydney this morning organised by the Palestinian Action Group. It’s going to be a busy one – stick with us! Updated at 8.15pm GMT 8.05pm GMT Hastie ‘increasingly determined to run for leadership’ next year Staying with the Coalition turmoil and as mentioned at the top of the blog, the Nine newspapers are reporting that Andrew Hastie is “increasingly determined” to run for the Liberal leadership in the new year. There is a growing possibility that Ley will bow to pressure from the rightwing of the Liberal party to dump support for Australia’s net zero target after their Coalition partners the Nationals announced over the weekend that they would ditch the plan. If she does not – and she is privately believed to want to keep the policy in order to woo back urban voters – she could leave herself open to a leadership challenge in the new year, the Nine outlets report. Her deputy, Ted O’Brien, and rightwinger Angus Taylor are seen as potential challengers but Hastie “is viewed as a more likely contender” after “developing his support base and policy agenda” in the weeks since quitting the frontbench team over climate policy. The report said: Sources close to Hastie not authorised to speak publicly said that despite wanting to spend more time with family, he was increasingly determined to run for the leadership as early as next year. His supporters believe he has overtaken Taylor as the right’s preferred candidate, though Taylor is likely to draw more support from the moderates given he has espoused less contentious policy positions than Hastie since the election loss. Updated at 8.14pm GMT 7.56pm GMT Sussan Ley under pressure from conservative men Our political editor writes this morning that there are no good options for Sussan Ley in the showdown over net zero and she faces either losing voters or losing the backing of many MPs and splitting the Coalition asunder. Tom McIlroy writes: If things get worse for Ley, a leadership rival like Angus Taylor or Andrew Hastie might move against her, seeking to draw a line under the chaotic six months since the election. A new leader could use the summer break to recalibrate and start fresh in 2026. It will be an awful look for the first female opposition leader to be torn down by a bunch of conservative men, but once the rot sets in, even a small stumble can become the spark for a leadership challenge. Ley is dogged by bad options and bad timing. Whether she can hold on to her job to Christmas, and present a credible climate policy, remains to be seen. Read Tom’s whole article here: Related: Coalition on brink of abandoning net zero emissions pledge as Ley under pressure to side with Nationals 7.49pm GMT Nationals net zero position doesn’t put pressure on Ley’s leadership, Littleproud says The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has said the Nationals ditching the net zero target will not put pressure on Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party. Littleproud told ABC’s 7.30 that the Nationals and Liberals are “sovereign parties” and each party was going through its review process on net zero, with the Nationals deciding this week ahead of the Liberals settling their position in the coming weeks. Asked if it would cost Liberals urban seats at the next election, he said the Nationals’ policy is still about reducing emissions, but should be done in a cheaper way and address energy affordability for businesses and households. He said after the Liberals decide their position, the two parties will work constructively to get to consensus. He said “all solutions” including nuclear “should be on the table” for forms of energy, with coal assets sweated out through the transition, with the energy operator focused on the most affordable energy source, not focused on the 2030 interim target. Updated at 8.07pm GMT 7.43pm GMT Rivalry between the US and China is ‘all over’, Keating says Keating was also frank in his assessment of the rivalry between China and the US, describing the Asian superpower’s achievements as “like nothing in human history”: It comes after Trump described crucial trade talks with the Chinese president in South Korea as “amazing”, saying their dispute over the supply of rare earths had been settled and that he would visit China in April. Keating said “between the United States and China, it’s all over”: The Chinese have won hands down. It’s all over. They can out produce people. They’ll dominate technological capabilities … What China is today in terms of modernity, capacity, utilisation of services, is like nothing in human history. He said president Trump was “too street smart” to know that there would be “any chance of any sort of military defeat of China”. The Americans see the Chinese have committed the great sin of internationalism. They built an economy bigger than America … This year, Chinese GDP is $40tn, and American GDP is $30tn … Imagine American military police in Shanghai, Beijing today with 1.4 billion Chinese [people]. I mean, what does an American victory look like? 7.35pm GMT Paul Keating says he gave 'fighting points' to Anthony Albanese before Trump meeting The former prime minister Paul Keating says he provided Anthony Albanese with “fighting points” ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump lest the US president turn “nasty” on him. Speaking to journalist Troy Bramston at the State Library of NSW on Monday evening, Keating said he believed the prime minister would have been willing to respond to Trump with strength if the situation called for it: I did give our prime minister a heap of fighting points in the event that Trump turned nasty on him. It turned out he didn’t have to use them … The meeting went really well, but I think the prime minister was up for having Australian punch back, if he received one [hostility], and I think this is the way to handle it. Asked how he would respond to Trump if he were in office, Keating described the president as a “power guy”: If you showed the slightest sign of weakness, you’re buggered with him. He likened Trump’s leadership style to that of the “mafia family model”, in that it was insular and respected powers regardless of whether they adhered to the global rules based order: Trump’s primary interest is in the western hemisphere. That’s why he’s interested in Greenland. That’s why he’s interested in Canada and Mexico … He doesn’t care about Europe … I don’t think he cares about east Asia … he has a view about these places like mafia families … The Chicago family doesn’t disturb the family in Florida, right? I think this is Trump’s view about foreign policy. 7.26pm GMT Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani will take you through the day’s events. The former prime minister Paul Keating says he provided Anthony Albanese with tips about how to “fight back” against Donald Trump if the US president had turned nasty during their recent meeting. Speaking at the State Library of NSW, Keating also compared Trump to a mafia boss and said that China had won the battle for superpower supremacy with the US “hands down”. More coming up. The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has said the Nationals’ decision to ditch the net zero target will not put pressure on Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party. His comments on ABC’s 7.30 last night came after a weekend of turmoil around the Coalition and reports this morning that the former frontbencher, Andrew Hastie, would consider running for the Liberal leadership. More on that, too, soon.