Former federal Liberal candidate says dumping net zero could cause ‘generational damage’ – as it happened

6.35am GMT What we learned today, Friday 7 November We’ll leave our live news coverage there for the week. Thanks for joining Nick Visser, Penry Buckley and Luca Ittimani on the blog today. Here’s what we covered: Roshena Campbell, the deputy mayor of Melbourne, has warned the Liberal party’s moves to dump net zero will do “generational damage”. Macquarie Bank shed $6bn in market value after reporting disappointing results. Weekend thunderstorms have been forecast for much of Australia’s east. A backbench Liberal MP, Sarah Henderson, said Sussan Ley was losing support as Liberal leader. Ley said she wouldn’t “comment on commentary”. Nine Entertainment revealed it had asked the government for compensation if gambling ads are banned, gaining the backing of Kate Chaney, the independent MP. The Victorian Liberal party will head to a trial over its loan to the former leader John Pesutto after mediation failed. News Corp’s chief executive said AI was “empty, ignorant infrastructure” without intellectual property. Have a good weekend. Updated at 6.44am GMT 6.25am GMT Credit card outstanding debt hits four-year-high Credit card debt accruing interest climbed $530m in September to reach its highest level since July 2021. The rapid monthly growth took the total debt accruing interest on personal credit cards to $18.4bn, according to a Canstar analysis of RBA credit card figures, released today. Climbing debt suggested more households were relying on credit to get by, the Canstar spokesperson Laine Gordon said. Over the past year, credit card debt accruing interest has risen in eight out of 12 months, suggesting that some Australians are finding it hard to keep their heads above water as costs continue to rise. To make matters worse, RBA data shows Australians with credit card debt are being slugged with rates above 18 per cent on average. At those levels, it’s little surprise so many people are struggling to make a dent in what they owe. Spending on both debit and personal credit cards rose $567m in September, to be $4.2bn higher than it was a year beforehand. Transaction amounts on credit cards alone fell 1% in September after record-high spending the previous month. Updated at 6.40am GMT 6.10am GMT Shares resume slide as rate-sensitive stocks tumble Australian shares are down for a second straight week against a backdrop of sticky inflation and fears the Reserve Bank’s interest rate-cutting cycle is over, AAP reports. The S&P/ASX200 and the broader All Ordinaries each fell less than 1% on Friday. An afternoon tumble in financials stocks eradicated an early lift for the market, with three of the big four banks in the red by the close, and investment giant Macquarie Group weighing heavily, as we reported earlier. The top 200 has fallen almost 3% in a fortnight and is sitting at six-week lows heading into the weekend. The Australian dollar is buying 64.75 US cents, down from 65.07 US cents on Thursday at 5pm. Updated at 6.16am GMT 5.55am GMT Inquiry hears of ballot box intimidation and misinformation at 2025 election Politicians and campaigners have told a parliamentary committee they faced growing intimidation and bully tactics at May’s election, AAP reports. Helen Haines, the independent MP, also expressed concerns about violence, saying one booth required a police presence. She told the inquiry today: It was dangerous and our volunteers did not wish to return to that polling booth because they felt so threatened. Nicolette Boele, who won the Sydney seat of Bradfield from the Liberals, said she had to hire private security. The Greens deputy convener, Jonathan Parry, spoke of intimidation tactics at polling booths, with a volunteer from another party coming and standing over him at the federal election in May. Parry also attributed more brazen misinformation to a lack of consequences without laws on truth in political advertising. Kevin Bonham, the election analyst, said prominent social media users played a role in posting constant disinformation. He told the inquiry: They’re usually not bots, it’s particularly rightwing accounts that are outside the Liberal party mainstream, the sort of Sky News-oriented types, some of the supporters of minor right parties. You can read more about the inquiry here: Related: Unprecedented ‘weirdest stuff’ and concerns about Americanisation of Australia’s 2025 election to be probed in review Updated at 6.14am GMT 5.43am GMT Minister defends military purchases from Israel Pat Conroy has continued to defend the Albanese government’s purchase of military equipment from Israel. The defence industry minister first said it was important to get “the best equipment” for the armed forces on Tuesday, speaking at a weapons expo in Sydney. This afternoon, Conroy stood by his remarks. He told the ABC: I make no apology for getting the best possible equipment for the Australian Defence Force … That’s about giving the best equipment to our soldiers, sailors and aviators so they can defend Australia. Conroy said the government was working to build more military equipment in Australia as well. He brought up and denied, unprompted, claims that Australia has exported military equipment to Israel. Critics of the government say Australia has continued to export machine components: Related: Marles insists Australia ‘not supplying weapons to Israel’ but critics argue ‘parts of weapons are weapons’ Updated at 6.24am GMT 5.30am GMT Dumping net zero will do ‘generational damage’, former Liberal candidate warns Roshena Campbell, the deputy mayor of Melbourne, has warned the Liberal party’s moves to reject net zero emissions targets will do “generational damage” to the party. The Liberal party is on track to dump the Coalition’s net zero target and align the pace of Australia’s emissions reduction with that of other countries, in line with the Nationals’ approach, Guardian Australia reported today. Campbell warned that move would suggest to young voters that Liberals were not interested in urgent climate action: For so many young voters that will be a gamechanger. They will not look at the Liberal party, not at the next election, [or] the next election after, and this is the sort of generational damage that can keep a major party out of government … When we’re talking about softening language, speaking to aspirations instead, speaking to emission reduction over a longer time period, that is so out of step with the views of younger voters, that this is an urgent issue that deserves an urgent response. Campbell, a former Liberal candidate for the outer-suburban Melbourne seat of Aston, said the party would never regain inner-city seats like Kooyong and struggle to hold on to Goldstein. Liberal infighting over whether to abandon support for the net zero emissions target has destabilised Sussan Ley’s leadership of the party, with the backbench MP Sarah Henderson today claiming the leader is “losing support”. Updated at 5.51am GMT 4.57am GMT Hot housing market boosts News Corp’s realestate.com.au REA Group, the News Corp-controlled real estate listings behemoth that runs realestate.com.au, is making millions on the booming activity in Australia’s property market. REA today reported 12.6 million people visited realestate.com.au on average in July, August and September and buyer inquiries were up 19% compared to the previous year, averaging 2.7m each month. Fewer homes are going up for sale compared to last year, though, with listings 8% lower on the previous year. Surging buyer demand more than offset the fall in listings, though, and REA earned $429m in the three months to September, $16m higher than the same period in 2024. The company’s revenue on rent listings also grew as prices rose and listings declined. REA predicted listings to stabilise after a pickup in Sydney and Melbourne sales, which analysts at RBC said would further boost REA’s revenue. It noted limited stock in the other cities meant some sellers were delaying the listing of their properties – a vicious cycle, further limiting supply. Guardian Australia has previously investigated REA, the biggest real estate listings company in the country, over its heavy fees and market dominance. You can read more here: Related: The ‘symbiotic relationship’ that makes selling a house in Australia so damn expensive Updated at 5.15am GMT 4.34am GMT Commonwealth Bank’s ‘sour taste’ as Choice leaves lemons In lighter news, consumer advocacy group Choice has handed Commonwealth Bank a basket of lemons and a letter for its chief executive, Matt Comyn. CBA was the recipient of “a special prize” in Choice’s 2025 Shonky awards on Wednesday for charging low income-customers a collective $270m in unfair fees, making it Australia’s most awarded business. Choice invited Comyn to a trophy presentation event next week at CBA’s Sydney headquarters: Dear Matt, Commbank’s refusal to refund 2.2 million customers who were charged $270 million in unfair fees has left a sour taste … We want to give you a special trophy for Commbank’s 4th Shonky, and a petition signed by more than 25,000 Australians who think you should pay this money back. In the meantime, please enjoy this basket of lemons, the official symbol of the CHOICE Shonky Awards. We hope this is where the bitterness ends. By facing up and refunding your customers, you could still make lemonade. In response to receiving the award on Wednesday, a CBA spokesperson said the bank had paused overdraw and monthly account-keeping fees for eligible concession customers and committed to making goodwill adjustments where appropriate to customers who have incurred unusually high fees. Read more about CBA’s record-setting prize here: Related: Commonwealth Bank, Temu and HCF among those named at this year’s Shonky awards Updated at 4.51am GMT 4.23am GMT Bowen agrees with UK PM that the ‘consensus is gone’ on fighting climate change Chris Bowen has endorsed Keir Starmer’s grim assessment of the international consensus on limiting global temperature increases, insisting net zero emissions by 2050 policies represent the “bare minimum” needed to protect the globe. The UK prime minister told world leaders on Thursday at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil that the “consensus is gone” on fighting climate change around the world, a decade after the landmark Paris agreement in 2015. Starmer said green energy policies were a “win-win” for the globe and for economic growth, even as Donald Trump retreats from global cooperation and labels climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”. Bowen, who is leading implementation of Australia’s 2035 emissions target and will travel to the summit in Belém next week, said Starmer was right. The climate change and energy minister said: It’s a contested space, but that makes supporting action in keeping with the science more important, not less important. Read the full story here: Related: Chris Bowen agrees with UK PM that the ‘consensus is gone’ on fighting climate change Or listen to the interview on the Australian Politics podcast here: Related: Why net zero is dividing parliament with climate minister Chris Bowen - podcast Updated at 4.26am GMT 3.58am GMT Kate Chaney backs Nine’s call for gambling ad ban compensation Kate Chaney, the independent MP, has backed Nine Entertainment’s calls for any ban on gambling ads to include compensation for media companies and apply across the board. As we reported earlier, Nine’s chair, Catherine West, said the company had asked the government for financial support if it restricts ads on wagering. Chaney supported that call today: Gambling ads make up a small part of the total advertising revenue for media companies, as Ms West acknowledges, so finding a workable solution is not as difficult as the government is making out. The crossbencher was a member of the parliamentary committee that recommended restrictions on gambling ads in mid-2023, led by the late Peta Murphy, a Labor MP. Chaney in October proposed a levy of 0.5% on every dollar wagered, following similar proposals by that committee, and from the Australia Institute and the Public Health Association. Gambling ads could be replaced by public health messages, funded by the levy and covering the media and sporting code revenue lost to an ad ban, Chaney told Guardian Australia. I have a problem with the gambling debate being framed by the Albanese government as a difficult balancing act between companies who want gambling revenue, and everyday Australians … If it’s about media revenue, that’s a problem that can be solved. Updated at 4.16am GMT 3.33am GMT Macquarie Bank sheds $6bn in market value Macquarie Bank has lost almost $6bn in market value after disappointing investors with its financial results – though its efforts to break up the big banks’ party have seen some success. The challenger to the big four banks enjoyed double-digit growth from April to September in home lending and household deposits. Mortgage brokers are responsible for most of the boom in Macquarie borrowers, while its condition-free savings account has attracted households’ cash. Profits in its banking and financial services exceeded market expectations, but net profits across the group were less than $1.7bn for the six months to September, $200m lower than expected. John Storey, an analyst with UBS, said the market would need to trust in management to deliver a much stronger next six months. The market has shown no such trust, dumping Macquarie shares to a six-month low, with the big bank now valued at less than $77bn. Updated at 4.36am GMT 3.17am GMT Princess Anne to arrive in Australia tomorrow Princess Anne will land in Melbourne tomorrow for a tour of Australia taking in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Anne is visiting from 8 to 11 November in her role as colonel-in-chief to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, which is marking 100 years since its formation. The visit, one of more than 20 by Anne to Australia, is the first royal visit since King Charles’s in October last year. It comes almost immediately after Charles officially stripped their brother, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, of his HRH style and his prince title. A US congressional panel has written to Mountbatten Windsor to ask that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal operations. Updated at 5.53am GMT 2.59am GMT Weekend thunderstorms forecast for much of the east The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting rain storms for much of eastern Australia this weekend, with severe weather possible for parts of NSW and southern Queensland on Saturday. Severe thunderstorms are possible across the east coast tomorrow from Wollongong up through Sydney and into southern parts of Queensland and Brisbane’s western suburbs. The BoM meteorologist Jonathan How says thunderstorms are more likely in some areas, bringing heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail. We also do have an area of red where severe thunderstorm is likely. That extends from Newcastle and the Hunter, up into the mid-north coast and then southern parts of the tablelands … We may also see the additional risk of destructive winds gusts which can cause significant damage. A cold front, a low pressure system and a warm front moving through eastern Australia will also bring rain and the risk of minor flooding to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, before conditions ease into Sunday. Updated at 3.06am GMT 2.28am GMT Sussan Ley goes on to say she values “every single member of my team”, including Henderson. In order to interrogate her view, you should probably ask her … What I am saying is that every one of my team is absolutely united behind the focus that we have right now, which is to hold this Labor government to account for an energy policy that is destructive of households, businesses and, indeed, harming the economy. Asked about backbencher criticism, including of her recent calls for the US ambassador, Kevin Rudd, to be sacked, and her decision to go after Anthony Albanese for wearing a Joy Division T-shirt, Ley says: I’m proud of my team and I know that every single member of that team is contributing to the serious credible policy agenda that I spoke about. Asked about how she plans to fix disunity in the Liberal party, including around net zero emissions policy, Ley says: I’ll clearly have more to say after the Liberal party meets, and I’m not going to presuppose the outcome of that meeting. Because I made it clear when I became leader that every single member of my party room would be enfranchised to contribute to the policy discussion about energy, and they have. That includes the working group, led by Dan Tehan, that has heard from industry and experts. It includes backbench committees. Updated at 5.54am GMT 2.20am GMT Ley won’t 'comment on commentary' amid leadership concerns The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is speaking now in Canberra, after the Liberal senator Sarah Henderson expressed concern about her hold on the Coalition in an interview with Sky News this morning. Asked about Henderson’s comments, Ley says: I’m not going to comment on commentary. You wouldn’t expect me to. Because I’m not focused on comments that other people relay to me, or that might be made in a variety of contexts. The only thing I care about is working hard for the Australian people, and I lead a team of very … a very proud team. Updated at 2.34am GMT 2.06am GMT Police appeal for information after four found dead in Queensland house fire Police are appealing for information after four people were found dead after a house fire in Emerald, a town in central Queensland, yesterday. Emergency services were called to the address just before 7am on Thursday and found a property fully engulfed in flames. The blaze was extinguished shortly afterwards, but four people were found dead inside the property. Formal identification is ongoing, but police say a man, 36, a 15-year-old girl, a one-year-old girl and a five-month-old boy were killed in the blaze. Two other women, aged 25 and 38, escaped the fire and were treated at a nearby hospital. Det Acting Insp Brett Richard said in a statement: It has been a very sad and tragic scene, and we have a lot of families gathering around to provide support to each other. A crime scene has been established and an investigation is ongoing. Police said during a press conference today there is not yet a known cause for the fire. Updated at 2.16am GMT 1.38am GMT NSW government considering changes to legal protection for 10 to 14-year-olds The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says the government is considering legislative changes to the common law presumption of doli incapax, under which children between 10 and 14 are protected from criminal prosecution. The centuries-old presumption, from the Latin for “incapable of evil”, offers protection on the basis 10 to 14-year-olds don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, although it can be rebutted. The premier, speaking in Tamworth earlier to announce an investment to tackle regional youth crime, said the government was also considering changes to “the situation as it’s currently constituted”. It’s not necessarily about driving high conviction rates, it is the current situation. But for many youth, there is no consequences at all … we just can’t be in a situation where we’re asking the police to arrest the same person over and over and over again, because it’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for the community. It’s not good for the families involved. And lastly, perhaps most importantly, it’s not good for the child involved either. Following a high court decision in 2016 clarifying the presumption, the proportion of 10 to 13-year-olds prosecuted in court fell from 76% in 2015-16 to 16% in 2022-23. A review into doli incapax commissioned by the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, has recommended the common law presumption be made statutory law, although Minns says the review shows the principle is “not working”. The review said while youth crime was a concern, only a small proportion in the 10 to 13 age group engaged in serious or persistent offending, and the principle remained an “important safeguard against the possibility of inappropriate findings”. Updated at 1.46am GMT 1.21am GMT Liberal party to head to trial over Pesutto loan after mediation fails A dispute over the $1.5m loan issued to the former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto is set to go to trial after attempts to settle the matter outside court failed. Five members of the Victorian Liberal administrative committee – recently renamed the state executive – launched supreme court action against the directors of the party’s finance vehicle, Vapold, and the remaining 14 members of the executive over the loan. They argued that the party’s constitution prohibited the loan, which was approved by the executive after a vote in June. The loan was used to help cover $2.3m in legal costs after fellow MP Moira Deeming successfully sued Pesutto for defamation. If he had failed to pay, Pesutto would have had to declare bankruptcy, forcing a byelection in his marginal seat of Hawthorn. Senior Liberal sources confirmed that formal mediation, ordered by the supreme court, came to an end on Thursday after the parties were unable to reach an agreement. It means the case will now proceed to an expected five-day trial, which has been set down to begin on 16 March, just eight months out from the state election. The opposition leader, Brad Battin, will be among defendants likely to take the stand to be examined over his role in approving the loan. Defence submissions, seen by Guardian Australia, argue that the interpretation of the constitution is not a matter for the courts. Updated at 1.37am GMT 12.57am GMT Three pedestrians seriously injured after being struck by car in western Sydney Three people have been taken to hospital in a critical condition after being struck by a car at an intersection in western Sydney. In a statement, NSW police say emergency services responded to reports just after 9am following a crash in Blacktown. Police say the three men, believed to be aged in their 30s, were standing outside a business when the cars collided, causing one to mount the curb and allegedly strike the pedestrians. NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the men at the scene for multiple injuries, with all three taken to Westmead hospital. A crime scene has been established. The drivers of both vehicles, believed to be aged in their 20s and 30s, have been taken for mandatory testing. No charges have yet been laid. 12.32am GMT Nine asks for compensation if gambling ads are banned Nine Entertainment has asked the Albanese government to pay it compensation if it bans gambling advertisements, and not to limit any ban to broadcast media. The Albanese government has resumed negotiations with the wagering industry to restrict ads, with industry sources expecting to see legislation by the end of the year, Guardian Australia reported in October. Nine chair Catherine West confirmed the company had been discussing ad restrictions with the government, seeking “some type of compensation” and a commitment to make any ban apply broadly across all media types. She told Nine’s AGM: We believe that gambling across the society is a collective responsibility … We already have a lot of regulation. It would not be fair for us to not be able to do gambling and gambling companies to be able to sponsor word searches on Google. That will just mean that the revenue is diverted away from us across the board. West did not directly answer when asked whether Nine had asked the government to resist moves to limit gambling ads. She said the ads accounted for the “low single digits” of Nine’s revenue, which was nearly $2.7bn in the year to June. West said Nine was not considering allowing viewers to opt out of gambling ads, a method pioneered by SBS in 2024. The Guardian has not accepted gambling advertising across all of its global platforms since 2023. You can read more about the decision in this piece by Guardian Australia’s editor Lenore Taylor: Related: Australians say they hate gambling ads. From now they will no longer see them on Guardian Australia Updated at 12.45am GMT 12.14am GMT New neurotechnology gets $54m investment from federal government A brain-computer interface (BCI) that promises to help paralysed people control digital devices with their minds has scored a $54m investment from the federal government. Synchron, which started at the University of Melbourne, has developed neurotechnology that has been described as “miles ahead” of Elon Musk’s Neuralink. The federal funds come from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) as part of its latest $305m funding round. The NRFC said in a release “the company’s status as an industry pioneer means that it will likely set the standards for BCI integrations with products such as iPhone, Apple Vision Pro, and Chiral AI – the world’s first cognitive AI”. Synchron founder Tom Oxley said the investment would help the company fund their final clinical trials. Overnight, Unesco adopted new guardrails for the “wild west” of neurotechnology amid ongoing concerns about mental privacy and freedom of thought. Read more here: Related: Brain chips: the Sydney researchers ‘miles ahead’ of Elon Musk’s Neuralink Updated at 12.18am GMT 12.00am GMT NSW premier’s department to assume control of regional youth crime services The New South Wales premier’s department will assume control of coordinating efforts to end reoffending in regional communities, under a $23m investment to tackle youth crime. The targeted funding, announced today, includes $12m for youth crime responses in Moree and to expand those in Tamworth and Kempsey. It also includes $6.3m towards bail supervision, including four new caseworkers and the completion of the Moree bail accommodation service, for which a site has been secured. In addition, the premier’s department itself will coordinate the delivery of services by frontline agencies and NGOs in Tamworth, Kempsey, Walgett, Coonamble, Brewarrina and Bourke. It has already taken an active role in services in Moree. As Guardian Australia has reported, youth crime dropped in regional NSW by more than 12% in the two years to June 2025, with even sharper drops in crime hotspots including the area around Moree. Experts and advocates have said the overall drop is likely due to a number of factors, including local-led initiatives. In April last year, the Minns government toughened bail laws for young repeat offenders for break and enter and car theft offences, and committed more than $26m in other initiatives, including the Moree bail accommodation. It later extended the bail laws for three years, amid concerns from some Labor MPs it was not yet clear how effective they had been. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said today that youth crime in regional areas involved “complex issues that won’t be solved overnight”. What we don’t want to see is young people wrapped up in the justice system again and again, which is why this package is a balance of intervention, prevention and wrap-around support measures. Updated at 12.01am GMT 11.36pm GMT Nine calls for action against US tech giant AI scraping Nine Entertainment has called for political action as US tech giants’ artificial intelligence platforms scrape news sites without paying the publishers. The chair, Catherine West, singled out American tech platforms as the targets of Nine’s ire, telling shareholders at the company’s AGM: Our industry is facing increasing pressures from predominantly US-centric international tech platforms that have demonstrated little regard for accurate information, or Australian culture and democracy. She pointed to one example, reported in the Nine papers in October, where an AI platform summary incorrectly suggested a Nine employee was responsible for a “heinous crime”. Matt Stanton, Nine’s chief executive, called for the Albanese government to amend the news media bargaining code, which forces tech companies to pay for news as AI threatens business models. He said: Generative AI platforms [are] scraping our news platforms to train their systems without Nine’s permission or any payment. This requires decisive political action to ensure this theft cannot go on without consequence or commercial arrangement. Nine this morning reported advertising revenues have been lower than expected since June but digital subscriptions to the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age had grown steadily. Stanton will say Nine plans to attract further subscriptions to the news sites and streaming service Stan. Updated at 12.31am GMT 11.23pm GMT Qantas sees no impact to US services amid government shutdown, but domestic US connections could face issues Qantas currently has not had any impact to its US services from the ongoing government shutdown in the country, which will soon see 40 major airports limit flights. But customers making domestic connections in the US to or from their Qantas flights could be affected, facing delays or cancellations on parts of their journeys. Related: US airlines cancel flights after aviation agency directive to cut air traffic The Australian airline is monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis and will work with customers travelling on any domestic connections in the US that may be affected. The Associated Press recently published a list of “high-volume markets” where the US Federal Aviation Administration said air traffic must be reduced by 6am eastern time on Friday. The move will force airlines to cancel thousands of flights and create mass scheduling issues and delays at some of the US’s biggest airports. Updated at 11.53pm GMT 11.08pm GMT Banking insider accused of being part of multimillion-dollar fraud syndicate A NAB insider accused of using his position at the bank to deliver around $10m worth of dodgy business loans is accused of being part of a major fraud syndicate, AAP reports. The Sydney man’s arrest is the latest in a string of busts targeting a group that allegedly used stolen personal information to apply for loans to buy non-existent luxury “ghost cars”. The 36-year-old was hit with 19 charges after he was arrested in the city’s south-west on Thursday. NAB, which worked with NSW police on the matter, confirmed the man’s employment had been terminated. No customers had been affected by the alleged fraud, it confirmed. The man was the 15th person charged by a NSW Police strike force targeting the same syndicate, while the NSW Crime Commission has seized $60m in assets. He was charged with nine counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, among other offences. He will appear in Fairfield local court on Friday. Updated at 11.11pm GMT 10.57pm GMT More from News Corp’s quarterly financial results The media conglomerate recorded a sharp drop in advertising revenue at its global stable of newspapers, down 4% from a year ago, driven by lower levels of print and digital advertising. This was mainly attributed to weakness at its Australian mastheads, which include the Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun. News Corp has been trying to increase subscription revenue from Australia by increasing cover prices. It recorded a lift in digital subscribers in Australia. Updated at 10.58pm GMT 10.40pm GMT News Corp chief says AI needs intellectual property so it is not ‘empty, ignorant infrastructure’ The News Corp chief executive, Robert Thomson, says he expects to announce further partnerships with technology companies after describing artificial intelligence as “empty, ignorant infrastructure” without the intellectual property that informs it. The comments, made at News Corp’s quarterly results in the US, come amid a broader tussle between publishers and the tech sector over access to content. Publishers around the world have been vocal critics of AI models that access news content without paying for it. There’s also a debate in Australia over whether technology firms should be exempt from copyright rules that stop companies mining text and data to train their models. Thomson said: Our wooing has gained increasing traction and we expect to announce further partnerships in the near future, which we expect to have a positive impact on our results. Information and sophisticated data are the essence of AI and, without these essential ingredients, AI is but empty, ignorant infrastructure. The media conglomerate reported a 2% lift in its quarterly revenue to $US2.14bn ($3.3bn). The result was helped by strong earnings at News Corp’s majority owned REA Group, the owner of realestate.com.au. News Corp, a US-headquartered company that is also listed on the ASX, owns mastheads in the US, the UK and Australia. The Guardian has also sought commercial licensing deals with AI companies. In February, it signed a global licensing deal with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT. Updated at 12.02am GMT 10.18pm GMT Illegal tobacco burns $3.3bn hole in Australia’s tax revenue, crime agency says The illegal tobacco market has left a $3.3bn hole in the federal government’s finances, with Australia’s national criminal intelligence agency warning organised crime’s dominance of the market is continuing to grow. The Australian Taxation Office believes the illegal trade now accounts for one in five tobacco sales, which has led to reduced tax revenues despite the government’s excise on legal cigarettes reaching almost $30 for a pack of 20 in September. The excise has increased almost eightfold since 2006, when it was $4.65. The excise increase – designed to reduce rates of smoking – has drawn critics, including the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, who has called on the federal government to undertake a review. Read more here: Related: Illegal tobacco burns $3.3bn hole in Australia’s tax revenue, crime agency says Updated at 10.22pm GMT 9.56pm GMT Sixty-four students will compete today in the NSW premier’s Spelling Bee Nearly 200,000 students from across 1,000 public schools participated in the spelling bee this year, a new record, with the 64 junior and senior finalists from years 2 to 6 travelling to Penrith’s Q theatre this morning. Half of the finalists are from regional, rural and remote NSW, and more than a third speak a language other than English at home. The premier, Chris Minns, said: It’s fantastic to see students from every corner of NSW coming together to put their skills to the test in one of our state’s great public school traditions. This year’s record participation shows how much young people across the state value literacy and education. My colleague Caitlin Cassidy will bring you updates from the bee later today. Updated at 10.01pm GMT 9.38pm GMT ‘I am desperate for us to do better,’ Henderson says Sarah Henderson is stoking leadership tensions within the Coalition this morning, further criticising the state of play for the opposition under Sussan Ley. After stopping short of endorsing her leader on Sky, Henderson has told journalists in the Canberra press gallery something has to change. “All I can say to you, authentically and honestly, is I don’t support the way things are at the moment,” she said. She conceded the comments were not an endorsement of Ley. At the end of the day, we need to do better and I’m very hopeful that we can turn this ship around. I think a lot of my colleagues are very concerned about the way things are going. Asked if Ley could turn the situation around, Henderson said: “I don’t know.” I don’t support the way things are, and I am desperate for us to do better. I think there’s increasing concern in our party as to the way we are going but there’s also a great deal of conviction that, if we get our policy act together, if we start focusing on the Australian people, not on ourselves … the infighting has been terrible. I think, at the end of the day, Australians are depending on us to be the best opposition we can be to be effective, to fight hard and that’s my determination. She refused to answer if conservative leadership hopefuls Andrew Hastie or Angus Taylor could do a better job. Updated at 9.46pm GMT 9.31pm GMT Man dies after workplace accident in northern NSW A man died after a workplace incident in northern NSW overnight. NSW police said emergency services were called to a construction site on the New England Highway just before midnight on Thursday night. The worker, 45, was reportedly standing behind a parked truck when he was allegedly hit by a materials transfer vehicle that was travelling towards the truck. The man died at the scene. Police said the driver of the transfer vehicle was taken to a local hospital for mandatory testing. A crime scene has been established and an investigation is ongoing. Updated at 10.02pm GMT 9.05pm GMT Henderson tells Sky that the Coalition ‘can turn things around’ Henderson adds that while she thinks Ley is losing support, things could change again in her favour. She told Sky News earlier: Things are not travelling well. I do have to say, really honestly, I do think Sussan is losing support, but I do believe in miracles. We can turn things around. Updated at 10.03pm GMT 8.57pm GMT Sarah Henderson circumspect on Sussan Ley's future as Liberal leader Liberal senator Sarah Henderson seemed to express concern with opposition leader Sussan Ley’s hold on the Coalition in an interview with Sky News this morning. Henderson spoke to Peter Stefanovic amid questions about Ley’s leadership. There was the following exchange: Henderson: I do believe that we can turn things around. Stefanovic: With a new leader or with Sussan Ley? Henderson paused for a long moment, then: Henderson: Well, Pete, I am just going to say at the moment that I cannot support the way things are. Stefanovic: With Sussan Ley as leader? It sounds like you’re not supporting her position as leader. Henderson paused again, before saying: Well I can’t back in the way things are, Pete, and I’ve got to be authentic and I’ve got to be honest about that. Updated at 2.34am GMT 8.41pm GMT Nacc watchdog still considering two complaints about possible conflicts of interest Two complaints about a potential conflict of interest between the national anti-corruption commissioner and his ties to defence, his former employer, are under consideration. Gail Furness, the Nacc inspector, a watchdog for the federal anti-corruption watchdog, has revealed in her latest annual report she is still considering at least two complaints received in 2024-25 relating to commissioner Paul Brereton. Brereton, a former army major general who became the Nacc’s inaugural chief in 2023, has come under fire for maintaining his connections to defence after taking on the role. Brereton has admitted to remaining in the army reserves and has assisted the inspector general of the Australian Defence Force, another position Brereton held, on a number of occasions. The Nacc inspector’s report said one matter had been dismissed, one had been resolved satisfactorily, one was still under consideration and the other “concerned an ongoing matter which is not appropriate for the inspector to report”. Updated at 10.18pm GMT 8.27pm GMT HSC exams come to a close in NSW Year 12 students in NSW will breathe a sigh of relief today as this year’s HSC exams come to a close. About 4,300 students are set to file out of the final exam, food technology, later this afternoon, bringing an end to more than 400,000 exam sessions across 123 subjects. Last year’s food technology exam included questions such as “Which sector of the Australian food industry has responsibility for the growth of seaweed?” and “Explain the potential health implications for an adolescent who consumes 500 mL of bubble milk tea every day”. Overall, about 75,000 students will have sat an HSC exam, including the new syllabuses in geography, software engineering, and computing. Marking is already under way but anxious students, teachers and parents will have to wait until Thursday 18 December for Atar results. The acting minister for education and early learning, Courtney Houssos, congratulated the class of 2025 on reaching the milestone. Exams are now behind you and you can look with confidence to the future knowing you have put your best foot forward. Thank you to everyone who has supported our students in the lead-up to and during exams – parents, families, teachers and school staff who have been there every step of the way. Updated at 8.32pm GMT 8.20pm GMT Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it. 8.08pm GMT Universities to add an extra 9,500 places As many as 9,500 extra Australian students will be able to enrol at university in 2026, after a decision by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission allocating extra places. Figures released last night by the federal education minister, Jason Clare, show the extra places represent a 4.1% increase on 2025 levels. Clare said the number of Australians starting university will be at record levels next year. We’re creating more places at uni so more Australians get a crack at uni. More and more jobs require more and more skills. The federal government’s Universities Accord includes a target for 80% of the workforce to have a tertiary qualification by 2050, up from about 60% today. Labor has also announced an extra $66.9m to more than double the number of university study hubs in suburbs and towns across the country, to help outer suburban and country students access higher education. An extra seven hubs will be opened in Fairfield and Liverpool in New South Wales, Northam in Western Australia, Beenleigh in Queensland, Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Sorrell in Tasmania and on Norfolk Island. Updated at 8.28pm GMT 7.59pm GMT And for more on the Coalition crisis, look no further than this analysis this morning by Dan Jervis-Bardy about how the net zero emissions issue became so toxic. Related: Toxic emissions: how net zero became a ‘poisoned’ policy for the Coalition 7.55pm GMT Hewson criticises Andrew Hastie’s agenda Hewson was also highly critical of Western Australian MP Andrew Hastie, who is widely considered a potential leadership contender. “He’s been sold a bit of a dump by the right of the party,” the former Liberal leader said, arguing Hastie’s criticism of Australia’s immigration program was unlikely to be popular in the broader electorate. Hastie is a vocal critic of Australia’s climate targets, an issue the Liberals appear to be a step closer to resolving their differences over. After weeks of internal brawling, a party room meeting has been called for next week to finalise the Coalition’s energy and emissions reduction policies. Liberal members will discuss their energy and emissions-reduction policy on Wednesday. Shadow ministers will meet to formalise their position the following day. But even if the Liberals land a cohesive plan amid fierce internal divisions, they will still need to strike an agreement with the Nationals. A six-person committee – three Liberals and three Nationals – will attempt to reach a compromise on the issue before an online hook-up of both party rooms on 16 November. Updated at 8.06pm GMT 7.46pm GMT John Hewson unleashes on Sussan Ley's 'lack of leadership' Sussan Ley has been savaged by a former Liberal leader for lacking strategy and leadership, as the party grapples with infighting and demoralising polling, Australian Associated Press reports. The opposition leader has been accused of failing to articulate a way forward for the Liberals, who are edging closer to a final position on their energy and climate change policy. After a fortnight of damaging infighting and wild leadership speculation, Ley has called a series of party room meetings to bed down a new approach to energy and emissions reduction. As the party prepares to negotiate its final policy, former Liberal leader John Hewson has delivered a withering assessment of Ley and the party she leads. “She hasn’t shown any clear strategy, or any strong capacity in terms of leadership,” he told AAP. Hewson, who let his membership lapse in 2019 because of concerns about the party’s record on climate change, said the opposition was devoid of serious policies because its members had little experience outside politics. “They haven’t got people with significant business experience ... I don’t think that they’ve got people who are policy wonks in economic policy,” he said. “You can’t just keep being negative and hoping to win on criticism, as [Tony] Abbott did.” As opposition leader, Hewson took a highly detailed promise of economic reform to the 1993 federal election, which the Coalition lost to Paul Keating’s Labor government. “I’d really like to see Sussan be given a fair run with everyone pitching in and doing a proper policy job,” he said. Updated at 7.54pm 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 to get you through to the end of the week. Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party has been has been savaged by one of her predecessors, John Hewson, for lacking clear strategy as the party grapples with infighting and demoralising polling. More coming up. The Albanese government has announced the creation of up to 9,500 extra places at Australian universities after a decision by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission allocating additional spots. More in a moment.