Australian politics live: free public transport for Victoria...

10.09pm BST

Australia should establish an east coast gas reserve, says the CEO of Bluescope steel.

Mark Vassella told ABC RN Breakfast this morning that manufacturing in Australia is closing down “largely because of dysfunction in the gas market”.

He says the gas industry has been very valuable for the country, but we’re now seeing “out of control” energy costs particularly for trade-exposed industries like Bluescope steel.

In major producing nation countries like Qatar or the US, energy costs at $2 or $3 a gigajoule. In 2024, Australia paid over $10 a gigajoule for gas… for gas now in Australia, you’re paying in the high teens somewhere between $13 to $20 a gigajoule…

Those producer nations that I’ve talked about with much lower costs typically have a reservation system and a pricing mechanism. In fact, Western Australia since 2006 has run a reservation system where domestic gas prices have been at a much lower level than we see on the East Coast… And I think, quite frankly, if the government was setting up the industry today, we would be looking at a very different setup and a reservation system and a pricing mechanism would be part of that setup.

9.55pm BST

Coalition continues targeting ‘waste’ in budget

The Coalition says it will go through the budget “line by line” looking to cut “waste” as part of its economic plan.

There’s not really a whole lot surprising there - the Liberals promised the same thing ahead of the last election, and have continuously accused Labor of going on a budgetary spending spree.

The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, won’t reveal where the waste is or what he’ll cut, and won’t say whether the Coalition will cut taxes if it wins government.

There is no doubt that this government is introducing measures in their budget which are wasteful. We will be going through line item by line item to identify where that waste is.

Updated at 10.07pm BST

9.53pm BST

Coalition calls for Senate inquiry over Optus triple-zero outage but pin blame on government

The Coalition is pinning blame on the government over the Optus triple-zero outage in September, and is calling for a Senate inquiry into the issue.

Yesterday, the opposition directed every single question to the communications minister, Anika Wells, during question time.

Former shadow communications – now backbencher – Sarah Henderson is on ABC RN Breakfast this morning and questions why it took so long for the government to act when a report into a previous Optus outage was released 18 months ago.

This minister has her training wheels on, she’s a new minister by her own admission, she’s not doing a good enough job, and she’s got a lot to answer for.

Asked why there needs to be another inquiry when the Australian Media and Communications Authority (Acma) is already looking at it, Henderson says:

Asking Acma, the regulator, to investigate this matter is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank. The regulator cannot investigate itself.

Updated at 9.55pm BST

9.44pm BST

Deported Australian who was on Gaza flotilla claims Australia did not support their extraction

One of the Australians who was on the Global Sumud Flotilla claims the Australian government did not support their extraction from Israeli detention.

Juliet Lamont, an Australian film-maker, tells ABC News Breakfast that the flight from Israel to Jordan, where she currently is, was not facilitated by the Australian government.

We were facilitated by other governments, not the Australian government, and now we’re here and we’re trying to find a way to come back to Australia and we’re really, really upset that the Australian government have been so shameful [in] their support of their citizens.

The Italian government has been really supportive, because they have basically set their whole country on fire and the Australian government have been bereft and absolutely shameful in their … support.

Lamont says the group were in an “outrageous” prison in Israel and were left with no access to medication or food.

Dfat said it has been providing consular assistance to the seven Australians who were arrested by Israeli authorities, among the more than 500 people who were on the flotilla.

Updated at 9.48pm BST

9.31pm BST

Victoria to introduce free public transport during summer weekends

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is doing a breakfast television blitz this morning to announce that the public will be able to travel for free every weekend from early December until 1 February, as part of the launch of the metro tunnel.

Allan has described it as a “thank you” to commuters for enduring disruptions as the project was built. Speaking on Today, she said:

To say thank you to Victorians for their [patience, we are] delivering free public transport for everyone every weekend, everywhere in our state. From the opening of the metro tunnel in early December through to the 1st of February, when we integrate this amazing piece of infrastructure into the [public transport network].

Over the summer, the tunnel will run every 20 minutes between 10am to 3pm on weekends, and 10am to 7pm on weekends.

Then on 1 February, under a full timetable overhaul called the government calls the “big switch”, Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines will begin exclusively using the tunnel.

The premier defended the two-phase launch:

This is how you do it to get a smooth, safe start, to get passengers using this infrastructure at the earliest opportunity.

Updated at 9.34pm BST

9.25pm BST

The Australians detained by Israel over participation in Gaza flotilla have been deported to Jordan

A group of Australians who were detained in an Israeli prison after being arrested as part of the pro-Palestinian flotilla carrying aid to Gaza have been deported to Jordan.

Confirmation the seven Australian citizens had been released by Israeli authorities was received on Tuesday night, following Australian government representations to authorities on the ground.

The government raised the welfare and treatment of Australians who were detained with Israel in Tel Aviv and in Canberra.

The Israeli navy stopped the Global Sumud flotilla last week, intercepting all but one of the vessels attempting to breach the blockade. On Friday, all 42 vessels were confirmed to have been stopped by Israeli forces.

The flotilla was carrying about 500 people, including parliamentarians, lawyers and activists such as Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner.

You can read the full story here:

Updated at 9.27pm BST

9.19pm BST

Clare O’Neil decries opposition’s ‘cover-up’ accusations over return of six Australians from Syrian detention

Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil and shadow cabinet minister Michaelia Cash have clashed this morning over the circumstances surrounding the return of six Australians from a Syrian detention camp.

On Sunrise a little earlier the two traded barbs over whether the Australians were supported by the government in their return. The opposition is accusing Labor of a cover-up over their return.

The first group of Australian children born to foreign fighters to be returned from northern Syrian camps was in 2019 under the former Morrison government.

This morning, O’Neil was at pains to say the Labor government wasn’t helping the latest group, and attacked Cash for calling it a “cover-up”

Here we have a group of people who were not offered any repatriation assistance by our government. So, as usual we’re seeing Michaelia trying to make a political issue out of something that doesn’t really make sense. Why was Michaelia in favour of it in 2019, but in 2025 she has all these issues and questions?

Asked for details on exactly how the group made their return, O’Neil said she’d let the foreign minister and prime minister answer those questions. Cash wasn’t convinced.

Australians want leadership, not excuses. They want answers not silence …

What is the issue, Clare, with saying the ISIS brides have returned? The children were not born in Australia. They were born overseas. They didn’t have any documents, they didn’t have a passport or birth certificate. The Australian government had to facilitate the giving of those documents to the children in order for them to come into Australia.

Updated at 9.35pm BST

9.06pm BST

Family of activists detained by Israel on Gaza flotilla demand investigation into torture allegations

The families of Australian activists on board the flotilla carrying aid to Gaza are demanding an investigation into allegations they have been tortured and injured after being detained in Israel, Greens MP Sue Higginson says.

In a letter signed by NSW Greens MPs, Higginson has written to the Northern Rivers MP, Justine Elliot, demanding she advocate for locals Surya McEwan, Juliet Lamont and Hamish Paterson who joined the Global Sumud Flotilla.

In a statement, Higginson said:

Today I joined the families of locals Surya McEwan and Hamish Paterson to express our anguish at Israel’s brutal torture of Surya, Hamish and my friend Juliet Lamont, Australian citizens who peacefully and legally tried to get baby formula, food and medical supplies to starving Palestinians in Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The families called for their local federal member Justine Elliot to end her silence on the abduction and torture of her constituents, and for Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to facilitate their immediate release and to investigate the dreadful allegations of mistreatment by Israel.

Updated at 9.08pm BST

9.04pm BST

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for another parliamentary sitting day. It’s going to be a busy one, so let’s get straight into it!

8.57pm BST

Labor to introduce ‘tell us once’ legislation to cut red tape

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says Labor will make it easier for Australians to engage with government services, with new legislation to create a “tell us once” approach.

Labor will introduce new legislation today called the regulatory reform omnibus bill 2025, designed to provide better regulation, cut red tape and provide more accessible government services.

The “tell us once” approach at Services Australia is designed to reduce the number of times Australians are required to provide the same information when accessing services like Medicare rebates, Centrelink, and child support.

Gallagher said the bill is an result of the government’s economic reform roundtable.

“These are commonsense reforms from the Albanese Labor government that will make a real difference in people’s lives,” she said.

“Accessing everyday services shouldn’t be difficult or burdensome, and we’re committed to streamlining services like the age pension and child support to make them simpler and easier to access.”

Updated at 9.04pm BST

8.56pm BST

Rent hikes accelerate as rental vacancies hit record low

Rent hikes are back on the rise after a decline in new listings brought vacant rental rates to a record low – despite a boom in housing investor activity.

Just 1.47% of Australia’s rental stock is up for rent, less than half the average pre-pandemic proportion, new data from Cotality shows.

The annual pace of rent hikes has now accelerated to 4.3%, the equivalent of $28 increase in the nation’s median weekly rents. The median weekly rent has surpassed $700 across Australia’s capital cities, with Brisbane and Perth running especially hot.

Regional rents are catching up to the cities as well, reaching $591 in September on a weekly median basis – about $110 behind the capitals, compared to a gap of $120 in May 2024.

Rent price growth had previously been easing from an annual pace of about 8% and held near a four-year-low of just 3.4% since May, amounting to about a $20 weekly increase on the median rent, Cotality found.

Kaytlin Ezzy, an economist with Cotality, said re-accelerating rent rises were the result of far fewer properties than normal being listed “for lease”, with listings running at just three-quarters of the pre-pandemic average.

Ezzy noted that even a recent explosion in home loans to investors, or prospective landlords, had not boosted rental listings.

Property investors have become so active in recent years that the Reserve Bank said last week overcrowding in the market could risk a future house price bubble and resulting crash in its review of Australia’s financial system.

8.51pm BST

Lawyers argue police opposition to Palestine Action Group’s Sydney rally is unconstitutional

As 1,000 gathered in Bankstown, roughly 400 marched through Melbourne for a peaceful vigil to honour the war dead.

Further gatherings are planned this week, including Palestine Action Group’s planned Sunday rally that will start in Sydney’s city centre and finish at the Sydney Opera House forecourt if police fail in their legal bid to have it banned

The NSW supreme court elevated the matter to the state’s highest court for a hearing set on Wednesday, when pro-Palestine lawyers will argue police opposition to the protest is unconstitutional.

“You’d have to live in a vacuum not to be aware of the significant public importance of these proceedings to all members of the community,” Justice Ian Harrison said, citing the urgency required to have the matter finalised by Sunday.

NSW has a permit system that allows protest participants to block public roads and infrastructure unless a court denies permission due to a police challenge.

A lawyer for the organisers argued a narrow reading of the protest legislation meant only relatively minor protections would be offered.

Specific offences relating to activities at the Opera House would not be covered, unduly constraining demonstrators’ implied constitutional right to political communication, they said.

“This case will have far-reaching ramifications, not only for the pro-Palestine movement, but for the right to protest in general in Australia,” their lawyer, Nick Hanna, told AAP.

Hundreds of Muslim Australians gather in Sydney to mark two years of Gaza war

Hundreds of Muslim Australians have gathered in Sydney to mark two years since Israel began its military assault on Gaza in retaliation to Hamas’ attack, with speakers calling for an urgent ceasefire, Australian Associated Press reports.

Speakers at the rally in Bankstown last night told attendees waving Palestinian flags that Israel’s lethal campaign is grounded in decades of illegal occupation.

They gathered despite pleas from several Australian leaders, including Anthony Albanese, to leave 7 October alone for Jewish groups to mourn Hamas’s deadly surprise attack two years go.

“We are gathered here today, despite immense pressure on the organisers of this rally ... through the politicians of this country that today is not a day to mourn ... or in remembrance of the Palestinians,” speaker Firaz Nomin told the crowd.

“It should be a day instead on which we pretend that history started two years ago.”

They lambasted Albanese and his foreign minister, Penny Wong saying they should be concerned with seven Australian citizens detained in Israel as part of an aid flotilla to Gaza shouting “Bring them home”.

Other speakers recounted the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Franckom and six-year-old child Hind Rajab, as they led the crowd in chants of “Stop killing children”.

Updated at 8.51pm BST

8.30pm BST

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will be here to steer you through another day in parliament.

Hundreds of Muslim Australians gathered in Sydney last night to mark two years since Israel began its military assault on Gaza in retaliation to Hamas’ attack, with speakers calling for an urgent ceasefire. As 1,000 gathered in Bankstown, roughly 400 marched through Melbourne for a peaceful vigil to honour the war dead. More coming up.

Rents are on the rise in Australia with the annual pace of increases up to 4.3%, according to new figures, as the number of vacant rentals falls to pre-Covid levels. More coming up.