Australia news live: Economic hits driving voters towards One Nation, Labor boss says | Anthony Albanese

One Nation’s rise in new heartland a warning to majors

The rise of One Nation has seen heightened activity among local representatives of all political persuasions fighting for the limelight in the populist party’s new regional heartland, AAP reports.

David Farley’s historic win for One Nation at the Farrer by-election in early-May sent shock waves through federal politics, especially the major parties. Observers now see One Nation’s management of the electorate – and the way the major parties respond – as a model on how the next federal election could be fought, amid a surge of support for the Pauline Hanson-led populists in national polls.

Farley’s presence in Farrer’s major centres of Albury and Griffith, and his visits to the regional communities of the once safe Liberal electorate, have been noticed by politicians at a local level, according to Albury City mayor Kevin Mack. He says the increased scrutiny on the region has lit a fire under some local councillors:

I’m seeing politicians going to the opening of envelopes. They seem to be going to things I’m not going to, which I didn’t know existed. They seem to be creating their own opportunities.

The shift in approach from established politicians from major parties was a natural result when threatened by a rise from smaller ones, according to Australian National University political scientist Jill Sheppard.

The great virtue of Australian politics is that we have stability, but the price of stability is the parties tend to get a bit lazy. For a normal voter who is just hoping life can feel a little bit better, that’s not always very satisfying. … I suspect that there will be some kind of ripple effect from Albury.

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Coalition says PM wanted to ‘shut down debate’ at LNP national conference

The Coalition says Anthony Albanese was desperate to shut down debate on contentious issues such as Aukus and Israel and Palestine at Labor’s national conference because he wanted to avoid exposing the “deep divisions” with the party.

The party’s three-day conference ended on Saturday without any major fights after Ed Husic’s push to adopt a harder line on Israel collapsed amid resistance from factional powerbrokers.

A proposed amendment from the party’s anti-war movement to abandon the Aukus pact also failed to reach the conference floor.

The shadow defence minister, James Paterson, said it was “telling” that neither issue was debated at Labor’s peak policy-making forum.

He said:

I think it is very telling that rather than have the debate and win the debate, the prime minister and his government would prefer to shut down the debate. I think that shows what he knows. He knows that deep down there is deep divisions within the Labor Party on core national security interest issues, on core foreign policy issues, and on core defence policy issues.

The prime minister is worried that he would be embarrassed on the floor of the conference if Aukus was allowed to be debated, or if Israel-Palestine was allowed to be debated, or indeed the US alliance was allowed to be debated. I think he shut that down because he was afraid about where it would go.

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Senior Labor sources denied actively attempting to block Husic’s resolution, arguing the former minister simply didn’t have any support. The Maritime Union of Australia initially agreed to second Husic’s motion before withdrawing support on Saturday morning, causing it to lapse.

Some delegates who were sympathetic to Husic were reluctant to back the resolution because they didn’t want to potentially overshadow a display of unity arranged for the debate, when MPs Josh Burns, who is Jewish, and Basem Abdo, the son of Palestinian refugees, united in support of the government’s official position.

Labor’s pro-Palestine wing did secure a win on Saturday with the party committing to strong controls and transparency around weapons export permits.

Adeshola Ore

Chris Bowen says Australia’s fuel supply ‘solid and secure’

The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, has sought to assure Australians that fuel supply remains “solid and secure” as the drawn out Middle East conflict pushes global crude back above $US100 a barrel.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Bowen said there was uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East:

But one thing Australians can be certain about is that our fuel supply continues to be solid and secure.

Bowen said as of Saturday, Australia had 42 days’ worth of petrol, 38 days’ worth of diesel and 32 days’ worth of jet fuel. There are 51 ships on route to Australia, with 3.1bn litres of fuel due to arrive in the next four weeks, he said. He said Australia’s fuel stock was 15% more than when the US and Israel first bombed Iran in February.

Australia’s scaled-back extension of the fuel excise reduction is due to end on 2 August. Economists have warned that the end of the excise and higher global prices mean Australians face the prospect of petrol prices above $2 a litre over the coming weeks.

Lisa Cox

Two more local birds with suspected deadly bird flu in South Australia

South Australia has two more suspected cases of deadly H5 bird flu in local terns, marking a possible escalation in the disease’s presence in the state.

On Saturday, the South Australian government said samples would be sent to CSIRO to verify whether the birds had the deadly H5N1 strain. Results are expected in the coming days.

The two birds are greater crested terns, which members of the public found and reported. One was found dead near the Surf Life Saving Club at Semaphore in Adelaide and the other was found unwell at Robe and has since died.

To date 17 cases of H5N1 have been confirmed nationally, with only one so far in a local bird – also a greater crested tern found at Robe Marina earlier this month.

Federal agriculture minister Julie Collins said terns were known to mix with petrels and other migratory subantarctic species that had been found with bird flu.

Collins said there was still no evidence of widespread local transmission of the disease:

We have no evidence of any transmission in Australia in terms of the H5 bird flu at this point in time. We have no mass mortalities being recorded. We have no bird flu in our culture or agriculture systems, and the risk to human health remains low.

Tom McIlroy

Economic hits driving voters to One Nation: Labor boss

Labor’s national secretary, Paul Erickson, says repeated economic hits are pushing voters to consider right wing parties like Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, warning major parties need to address these anxieties.

Erickson is the campaign strategist behind Labor’s wins in 2022 and 2025 and is preparing to fight a reelection campaign for Anthony Albanese in about 18 months time. He told Sky:

When we think about the last decade, one thing that has stood out is that every time workers and businesses felt like through the crisis, the latest crisis, and every time they’re picking themselves up off the floor, another big event comes along, another crisis.

Whether it is war in Europe, war in the Middle East, a global inflation surge, all the way back to the pandemic, and that constant sense of every time you’re picking yourself up off the floor, another knock comes along, I think has led to a sense for people in the community of pessimism that, as progressives and as a centre-left party, we need to tackle and take on.

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But I think is at the core of this rise of the populist right all over the world.

Good morning and happy Sunday,

It’s Caitlin Cassidy here to guide you through today’s news.

The prime minister has been accused by the Coalition of wanting to “shut down debate” at Labor’s national conference on issues like Aukus and Israel and Palestine at Labor’s national conference because he wanted to avoid exposing the “deep divisions” with the party. It comes as Ed Husic’s push for Labor to recognise claims of a genocide against Israel failed, prompting the backbencher to criticise the party’s culture under Anthony Albanese.

South Australia has two more suspected cases of deadly H5 bird flu, marking a possible escalation in the disease’s presence in the state. Some 17 cases of H5N1 have now been confirmed nationally, with only one so far in a local bird.

And the energy minister, Chris Bowen, has assured Australians that fuel supply remains “solid and secure” as the drawn out Middle East conflict pushes global crude back above $US100 a barrel.

If you’d like to get in touch, I’m on caitlin.cassidy@theguardian.com.

Let’s get into it!