Australian news and politics live: Chalmers signals willingness to negotiate super tax, Teal takes Bradfield

Anthony Albanese has spoken about his support for influencers to be embedded in election campaigns.

Playing a game of “yay or nay” on Mix 94.5 Perth on Wednesday, the PM said “yay” when asked about content creators being in the mix.

“Politics shouldn’t be about people in suits and old blokes essentially pontificating behind a keyboard,” he said.

The 2025 election campaign involved influence from partisan influences, including Abbie Chatfield who championed the Greens to her 568K Instagram followers and Teal-backer Hannah Ferguson who pushed anti-Peter Dutton content to her 97.3K followers.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is threatening to call an early election as he faces a no-confidence motion that could topple his minority government.

Mr Rockliff has warned that forcing Tasmania to the polls again would hurt the state, while State Labor leader Dean Winter has accused him of budget mismanagement and broken promises.

“It seems Dean Winter and the Labor Party are hell bent on forcing Tasmania to an early election,” Mr Rockliff wrote on Facebook.

“An election just over 12 months since the last one. That’s the last thing Tasmania needs. That’s the last thing Tasmanians want.”

“Investment and business confidence would go off a cliff,” Mr Rockliff added. “Because the budget hasn’t been passed, nurses, doctors, firefighters and police would risk not being paid. But that’s what a no-confidence vote would do: force Tasmania back to the polls.”

Anthony Albanese has told breakfast radio his trip to WA over the past few days has to thank West Aussies for his historic election win.

“It’s been a real opportunity to come back and just say thank you to the people of Western Australia,” he told 96FM Perth on Wednesday..

WA delivered Mr Albanese a historic 11 of the State’s total 16 seats in the House of Representatives, with two new MPs in Tom French in Moore and Trish Cook in the new electorate of Bullwinkel.

“We had a very successful election, of course, we elected two new members in Moore and Bullwinkel and it was very much a part of our re-election,” he said.

It marks a flip in voting patterns for WA, which has historically elected Coalition MPs.

The PM arrived in Perth on Monday and is expected to leave today after a full schedule on Tuesday. It included hosting a Cabinet meeting in the CBD.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Mr Albanese declared he would launch his 2028 election bid in Perth.

“I brought the entire Cabinet here. I had a terrific meeting with the Premier,” the PM told 96FM Perth.

“And I want to make sure, back here in WA which helps to drive our national economy, that we continue to work to create jobs and that economic activity.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has made it clear his party will fiercely oppose Labor’s proposed tax increase on high-balance superannuation accounts, criticising the plan for taxing unrealised capital gains.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Ted O’Brien has indicated the Coalition is open to negotiating superannuation tax reform with Labor, provided the tax on paper profits is dropped. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also signalled a willingness to discuss the issue.

Senator Canavan reinforced the Coalition’s stance against taxing unrealised gains, while speaking to Channel Nine on Wednesday.

“We should only tax people when you’ve got some sort of income to be able to pay the tax man,” he said.

“The problem with unrealised gains is that a lot of people out there like farmers who have assets in superannuation – they may be asset rich, but they’re cash poor, and they don’t have the cash flow to pay a tax bill on an annual basis,” he said.

“There’s no way in hell we’ll support that, we’ll fight that to the death.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planning a visit to Australia in the coming months, signalling renewed determination from both sides to clinch a free trade deal as a safeguard against US President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff war.

Trade Minister Don Farrell, currently in Paris for OECD trade talks, described the urgency to ​The Australian Financial Review​: “The world has changed since we last met. Australia and Europe have to be the adults in the room.” He confirmed von der Leyen’s visit is tentatively set for late July or early August, should a deal be ready to sign by then.

Mr Farrell is meeting with European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic to break the impasse that halted negotiations in October 2023, mainly over agricultural market access. “He told her we’re determined to get this done,” Mr Farrell said, referencing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent meeting with von der Leyen in Rome.

Previous talks faltered over European resistance, mainly from France and Ireland, to allow more Australian beef and lamb into the EU.

​Read the full story here.​

Leader of the Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters has announced the party’s new portfolio allocations ahead of parliament’s return in July.

The announcement comes after a major setback for the Greens at the 2025 federal election, where the party lost three of its four House of Representatives seats, including that of former leader Adam Bandt in Melbourne. Despite winning the highest primary vote in Melbourne, the Greens were overtaken by Labor after preferences from the Liberal and One Nation parties.

Ms Waters says she will make women’s safety a leadership-level issue in the next parliament, as recent data shows men’s violence against women is increasing. She will continue as Greens spokesperson for women and prioritise women’s policy across health, housing and workplace relations.

Following the departure of Senator Cox, Ms Waters will assume the First Nations portfolio. The Greens say they remain committed to Truth, Treaty, and Justice, and support full implementation of the Deaths in Custody and Bringing Them Home reports. Waters says the party room is united in its commitment to First Nations justice and will elevate it across all portfolios.

​Read the full story here.​

Former White House cost-cutting chief Elon Musk has taken aim at US President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending package, calling it a “disgusting abomination” as the Senate moves to pass the bill before July 4.

In a post on X, Mr Musk’s social media platform, he wrote: “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it”.

Having left the Trump Administration last week, Musk described the measure as a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.”

​Read the full story here.​

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s shaky hold on government is in danger of collapsing, after the opposition flagged a no-confidence motion.

In his budget reply speech on Tuesday, Labor Opposition Leader Dean Winter said he would put forward the no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff, challenging the crossbench to support it.

Key independent Craig Garland said he would support the motion, telling ​The Australian​ the Liberal government’s state budget last week that doubled state debt, the controversial AFL stadium project and the TT-Line ferries fiasco were keys to his decision.

“I’ll be supporting a no-confidence motion in the Premier. I’m just sick to death of the arrogance and ignorance,” he said.

Independent Kristie Johnston and Jacqui Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner have also signalled support.

​Read the full story here.​

The UK is ramping up its military, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declaring the country must be in a state of “war-fighting readiness” amid rising global threats.

Australia’s government says it will not automatically follow the UK’s lead, despite US calls for even higher defence spending and Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has responded to whether Australia should be considering training up for war like the UK.

“Of course we should! I mean, we have two key allies globally, the United States and the United Kingdom. When you’ve got the Labour Party in the United Kingdom taking these sort of steps, when you have the United States saying we need to ramp up our investment in Defence, it’s not for nothing,” she told Sunrise on Wednesday morning.

“We know we’re in very challenging geopolitical times. It’s not just the commentators. The threat is real. Other nations, other key allies, are taking that seriously.”

She added, “And the reality is, if we wanted to go it alone and defend ourselves, we could increase our Defence budget five times and still be falling short of being able to defend ourselves. So we need to rely on our allies. We always have.”

“The reality is we can’t do it alone. The threat is real. And we need to step up.”