Nationals scrapping net zero policy after party room meeting
The Nationals have unanimously decided to scrap net zero commitments after a party room meeting this morning.
Nationals leader David Littleproud is speaking to media now:
I’m proud to say that our party room has got to unanimous position of scrapping net zero commitments by 2050.
He goes on:
A little while ago we informed the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, of the National party’s decision to scrap net zero by 2050 and to set a policy platform predicated on principles about a better, cheaper, fairer way to reduce our emissions and to have an energy policy that will actually work for Australians.
Key events
David Littleproud said he informed Sussan Ley days ago of the details of the policy position the Nationals were considering – including research that had been commissioned months ago to support it – but would not divulge details of their conversation after the party room decision had been made today, only to say Ley was “fully cognisant of what we were considering”.
Littleproud asked whether Nationals willing to split from Coalition over net zero
Asked if the Nationals were willing to split from the Coalition again if the Liberal party decides on taking a different position to them, Littleproud says that’s a discussion for after the Liberal party has completed its own processes.
Littleproud said:
There’s a structured process, one in which the Liberal party has respected the sovereignty of our party room. We’ve got to our position before the Liberal party has settled theirs. So we’ll respect the Liberal party and the processes that they’re going to undertake. When that’s determined, then we’ll have those discussions after that.
‘Net zero is not the only way to reduce emissions and to address climate change,’ says Littleproud
David Littleproud says he expects that the “old arguments that we’re climate deniers and we’ve been left behind” will be trotted out in response to the Nationals’ announcement today, but that it “doesn’t advance the intellectual debate in this country at all”.
Littleproud says:
We’re up for this conversation to say to [Australians] that net zero is not the only way to reduce emissions and to address climate change. I challenge the prime minister to have that conversation without the puerile arguments […].
Littleproud then throws to deputy leader Kevin Hogan, who describes it as “an exciting day” but claims the party is “not walking away from emission reductions”:
I think Australians now have a choice. As David said, we have come up with a well-documented plan here that we think is cheaper, better and fairer. Now why do I say that we are not walking away from emission reductions? We are committed to emission reductions. That was both mentioned at our meeting yesterday, our federal council meeting, but also in our party room today.
There are there is a commitment to lower emissions. However, what we also want is we want Australian households, Australian businesses to have energy bills that they can afford.
‘Regional Australia is being torn apart’ by energy policy, Littleproud says
Nationals leader David Littleproud claims “regional Australia is being torn apart” by the government’s energy policy, and that there is “a better, cheaper, fairer way” to reduce emissions than net zero.
In justifying the Nationals’ policy change away from net zero, Littleproud said:
What we want to do is be responsible, be better in terms of the policy of getting practical measures on the ground to address climate change and our environment, empowering local communities to have a stronger, more resilient environment around adaptation. We’ve been focused solely on mitigation. And when you’re only a bit over 1% of total global emissions, you can hardly mitigate the world’s emissions. We should be looking and putting more into adaptation, empowering landholders to be able to have those environmental outcomes.
We need to prioritise cheaper energy and that is where we’ve made it very clear, very clear, around using technology, not just having an all-renewables approach.
Nationals scrapping net zero policy after party room meeting
The Nationals have unanimously decided to scrap net zero commitments after a party room meeting this morning.
Nationals leader David Littleproud is speaking to media now:
I’m proud to say that our party room has got to unanimous position of scrapping net zero commitments by 2050.
He goes on:
A little while ago we informed the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, of the National party’s decision to scrap net zero by 2050 and to set a policy platform predicated on principles about a better, cheaper, fairer way to reduce our emissions and to have an energy policy that will actually work for Australians.
Passengers flown home after Coral Adventurer cruise cancelled a week after passenger’s death on Lizard Island
Caitlin Cassidy
All passengers who were onboard the luxury Coral Adventurer cruise have been disembarked and flown home after the 60-day journey was cancelled after less than a week after the death of passenger Suzanne Rees, aged 80.
Rees was left on the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard Island and wasn’t found until the next day.
On 25 October, the luxury cruise ship arrived on Lizard Island as part of a circumnavigation of Australia. Rees had to pull out of a planned hike to the island’s Cook’s Look summit.
The Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island at 3.40pm. It was five hours before authorities were alerted that she was missing, and a land and sea search-and-rescue operation was launched. Rees was found dead the next day.
The vessel stayed near Thursday Island from Wednesday until Saturday while it disembarked passengers. As of Sunday, all had disembarked and been flown home.
Coral Expeditions was expected to return to Cairns early this week, where the cruise ship was based. As of Sunday afternoon, it was tracking just south of Haggerston Island, near the Great Barrier Reef marine park off far north Queensland.
A spokesperson for Queensland police said the death, which would be investigated by the coroner, was “non-suspicious”.
Dfat trying to find out whether Australians affected by a mass stabbing attack on UK train
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working to determine whether any Australians were affected by a mass stabbing attack on a London-bound train in the UK overnight.
British police said 10 people have been taken to hospitals, nine of them with life-threatening injuries, and two people have been arrested after the attack near the town of Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, England.
A spokesperson for Dfat said in a statement:
The Australian Government is closely monitoring developments following a mass stabbing on a train in Huntingdon, UK. Our thoughts are with those injured and their loved ones.
Australian officials are urgently making enquiries with local authorities to determine whether any Australians have been affected. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.
Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).
Caitlin Cassidy
Ballarat Grammar board issues unreserved apology to its community after regulator imposes conditions on its boarding school
The board of Ballarat Grammar has issued an apology to its community after the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) banned the prestigious school from accepting new boarding students until it could prove it complied with child safety standards.
On Friday evening, VRQA’s CEO, Stefanie Veal, announced the regulator had imposed six interim conditions on the school’s boarding premises registration while it continued a review.
She said the conditions included that until the review was complete, “Ballarat Grammar is prohibited from enrolling or accepting any new students at its school boarding premises”.
As part of the conditions, Ballarat Grammar must notify the VRQA of any incident or complaint relating to child safety within 24 hours.
Ballarat Grammar has previously announced changes to its school leadership team and stronger boarding supervision after media reports in the ABC and Nine Newspapers alleged a hazing culture was operating at the school’s boarding houses by older schoolmates, prompting investigations by police and regulatory agencies.
In a statement on Sunday, the board said it accepted the “seriousness of the findings and the impact on students, families and the wider school community”.
We recognise that the events this year have not met our school community’s expectations, we unreservedly apologise … The school will continue to undergo a period of transformation as we take sustained action to demonstrate that the School has addressed the VRQA’s findings and, most importantly, that students and families can continue to have full confidence in our commitment to safety, wellbeing, and care.
Chinese premier could visit Uluru next year, Albanese says
The prime minister says he’s “optimistic” about the future of global trade as he prepares for China’s premier to visit Australia next year, AAP reports.
As he wrapped up his visit to the Apec summit in South Korea, Anthony Albanese said China’s Li Qiang could travel to Uluru on his next trip to Australia.
Albanese said he encouraged his counterpart to do so when the pair met in Malaysia on Monday, arguing the visit could bring tourism benefits for the region.
He told Sky News on Sunday:
I think that would be a very good thing to showcase Central Australia to what is, after all, well over a billion people.
Li last visited Australia in mid-2024, which was widely seen as a warming of the relationship between Canberra and Beijing.
While Albanese met with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of Apec, the summit was overshadowed by major talks between the American and Chinese presidents in the South Korean port city of Busan.
The US and China have agreed to wind back some trade restrictions after Trump slapped tariffs on goods linked to production of the drug fentanyl, and Xi clamped down on the sale of crucial rare earth metals to the west. Both barriers will now be eased.
Albanese also indicated he had written to the Turkish prime minister as Australia tries to negotiate hosting rights for the UN climate conference in 2026. Turkey has lodged a rival bid for the Cop event and is refusing to budge.
Queensland premier says state cleaning up after weekend’s storms
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has sought to reassure Queenslanders that the state is prepared for cleanup efforts after this weekend’s storms brought giant hail, downed trees, blocked roads and damaged buildings.
Since Saturday morning Queensland SES had received 277 requests for help, the vast majority of those for leaking and damaged roofs, with some of the most affected by the storms included Somerset, Brisbane and Ipswich, AAP reports.
Crisafulli said emergency crews had been busy overnight helping Queenslanders affected by the storms. One of the 120 attendees at a wedding at Biloela needed to be hospitalised after the wild weather.
Crisafulli said it had been a tough week with crop netting, irrigation equipment and some fruit and vegetables in Bundaberg also significantly affected by storms on Friday.
He said:
I want Queenslanders to know we’re prepared for this … I think that’s what makes the state so resilient, the ability to be able to deal with what Mother Nature throws at us.
Cait Kelly
Centrelink threatening payment suspensions at rate of five a minute, new analysis suggests
Centrelink has been issuing payment suspension notices to jobseekers and those on disability support pensions at a rate of more than five a minute, new analysis suggests, amid concerns over the legality of the troubled system.
In total, government data collated by the Antipoverty Centre shows there were 2,683,605 suspension actions between June 2024 and July 2025.
They have taken place under Centrelink’s mutual obligations regime, which is meant to ensure recipients are actively looking and preparing for work. If they do not fulfil activities – such as completing job applications or attending meetings with job providers – their payments can be suspended.
According to the Antipoverty Centre, the data shows this is still frequently occurring, despite new rules offering a five-day grace period for people to contact their job provider before their payments are blocked. However, the majority of suspensions are lifted before a person’s income is impacted.
Read the full exclusive story here:
Little Creatures recall batch of Hazy Lager beers
The producers of popular beer brand Little Creatures have issued a recall of a batch of its 375ml cans of Hazy Lager after it was found to be too strong and the cans potentially explosive due to over-fermentation.
In a product recall notice published by Food Standards Australia on Saturday, Lion – Beer, Spirits & Wine Pty Ltd said the affected batch was marked with the best-before date of 10/11/2025.
The problem was secondary fermentation, the notice said, adding:
Products affected may contain excess alcohol and carbonation, which can lead to over-pressurisation of the can. This may cause the can to burst, potentially resulting in injury.
Consumers were advised that they should not open or drink the product but rather dispose of it safely, and any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
The affected cans had been available for sale in Dan Murphy’s and BWS in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, IGA and Independent liquor retailers in NSW, and Coles in WA.
Albanese takes swipe at Sussan Ley while answering question about ‘Australian character’
Earlier we brought you some comments from Anthony Albanese in Korea after meeting with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the Apec summit. Taking questions from the media, the prime minister was asked about Trump as “a character”, and what they had in common.
Albanese responded:
We have got on very well in the phone conversations that we’ve had as well. I deal with people on an equal basis. I think Australians are like that. And I bring the Australian character to my prime ministership.
When asked what constituted the Australian character, the PM allowed himself a little snark, in reference to the recent Sussan Ley-led kerfuffle around him wearing a Joy Division T-shirt when he got off a flight from the US:
I think we’re all a bit different, but we’re all pretty relaxed, and we’re all straight-talking. We’re less formal than some cultures. That’s the truth. Some of us even wear T-shirts when we get off planes.
Liberals ‘not ruling out’ abandoning Paris agreement, Angie Bell says
The Liberals are “not ruling anything out” when it comes to their revised energy policy – including abandonment of the Paris agreement – shadow minister for the environment, Angie Bell, has said.
Speaking on the Sky News program, Sunday Agenda, Bell was at pains to note that the party was going through a long-term project to rethink their energy policy, including net zero, and were “not quite at the end of that process” yet.
Bell said:
On Friday, we had another meeting of the backbench and I was present at that meeting, and we all agreed that energy prices need to come down and that we need to do our part in global emissions. Now I don’t want to get ahead of that in respect for my colleagues. Dan Tehan is running that show [leading the review] and so I will leave that announcement of our policy to Dan and Sussan [Ley].
The process of reviewing the policy had been estimated to take between six and nine months, Bell said:
I think we’re around about month six. And so, I’m sure that in the coming weeks or months we will see what our position is. But we’re not in a hurry on this. This is a target for 2050, Andrew. We need to go through our proper processes to make sure that we’re right on this because, clearly, the Labor government is failing when it comes to energy prices.
Asked if the Coalition might resolve to abandon the Paris agreement, Bell said:
I’m not ruling anything out at this point … Again, that is part of our policy we will work through, in this process that we’re undertaking at the moment.
For more on the ructions in the Coalition over energy policy and net zero, take a look at this analysis from Guardian Australia’s Canberra bureau on Friday:
Giant hail and weather chaos leaves nine injured in Queensland
Nine people attending a school fair were injured by giant hailstones in a supercell thunderstorm in Queensland yesterday, AAP reports.
Giant hailstones, some measuring as big as 9cm, and heavy rain smashed south-east Queensland on Saturday afternoon.
Paramedics assessed nine people, all with hail-related injuries, at the 150th Anniversary of Esk State School, about an hour from Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon.
One woman was taken to Ipswich hospital with neck and head injuries, a man in his 20s was taken to Gatton hospital with minor burns, and two women – one in her 20s and another in her 30s – were taken to hospitals privately, also with minor injuries.
On the bulk-billing announcement this morning, Guardian Australia’s health reporter Natasha May spoke to GPs and practices, who don’t all accept the government’s claims that the scheme will help as much as they say it will.
Prior to the election, GPs were already warning that not everyone would make changes to bulk billing if the incentives were too low:
This feature, from April, paints a picture of why the outcomes of the funding aren’t as obvious as the government would like them to appear:
If you’d like a little refresher on the politics of the overhaul of federal environmental laws, Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor Adam Morton had this analysis last week:
He writes:
There are some things we know. The proposed changes to the EPBC Act do not deal with its fundamental problem: despite its name, the law does not prioritise protecting the environment. Its principle role is to allow projects – including fossil fuel developments – to go ahead, with some conditions attached to limit environmental damage.
That approach has failed, partly because the environment minister of the day has a remarkable amount of discretion to approve what they see fit. Ministers have routinely approved offsets that do not compensate for the nature that has been lost. Conditions have not been enforced. The cumulative impacts of multiple developments have not been considered.
… Added up, it means major surgery will be needed to address the systemic problems set out in the last major state of the environment report. The risk is that the overhaul ends up as tinkering rather than transformation.
Giving Canavan and Joyce responsibility for climate policy ‘like handing Dracula the keys to the blood bank’, Watt says
Giving Matthew Canavan and “the ghost of Barnaby Joyce” responsibility for climate and energy policy “is like handing Dracula the keys to the blood bank,” the environment minister, Murray Watt, has said.
Commenting on ABC TV’s Insiders on the expectation that the Nationals will formally drop their commitment to a net zero target by 2050 today, Watt said it seemed like “the tail wagging the dog in the Coalition”.
He continued:
We’ve got the National party which didn’t even rate 4% of the vote in the last federal election dictating terms to the Liberal party who claim to be the majority party in a Coalition. It’s a repeat of what we saw with nuclear, where the National party went out first, dragged the Liberal party into supporting nuclear only to be resoundingly rejected by the Australian people at the last election.
I mean, the idea that you would hand over climate and energy policy to the likes of Matthew Canavan and the ghost of Barnaby Joyce is like handing Dracula the keys to the blood bank. Half the National party don’t believe in climate change, the other half just want to wish it away. What they are doing in dragging the Liberal party to this position is getting in the way of the incredible economic opportunity that transitioning to net zero provides.
So it’s a real test for the Liberal party about whether they’re going to continue being dictated to by a junior partner in their coalition who doesn’t believe in climate change or whether they’re going to get with the rest of the world and take the economic opportunities that transition involves.
