Australian news and politics recap May 21: Albanese on shock Coalition split and Abbott’s stark warning
Scroll down for all the latest posts.
Key events
21 May 2025 - 03:53 PM
Noalition a perfect chance for Libs to get ‘mojo back’
21 May 2025 - 02:56 PM
Katter predicts Coalition will reform ‘at speed of light’
21 May 2025 - 01:14 PM
‘Not funny’: Vic Premier steaming over cow manure stunt
21 May 2025 - 12:44 PM
Albo: ‘I’m really optimistic about Australia’s position’
21 May 2025 - 12:35 PM
‘A matter for them’: Albanese on shock Coalition split
21 May 2025 - 12:25 PM
Albo: ‘It was an incredible honour’ to be at Pope Leo XIV inauguration mass
21 May 2025 - 12:20 PM
Albanese says trip to Indonesia ‘very successful’
21 May 2025 - 12:08 PM
PM’s surprise move for Labor election guru
21 May 2025 - 11:48 AM
Abbott ‘deeply regrets’ Coalition split, issues stark warning
21 May 2025 - 11:23 AM
Erickson: Teal threat is something Labor will take into account
21 May 2025 - 11:15 AM
Erickson says influencers important part of campaign
21 May 2025 - 11:12 AM
Erickson: The Government most focus on voters
21 May 2025 - 11:10 AM
Erickson: Cost of living was number one issue
21 May 2025 - 11:01 AM
Erickson slams Greens’ campaign strategy
21 May 2025 - 10:53 AM
Erickson: The five things that won Labor the election
21 May 2025 - 10:50 AM
Erickson: How Labor took on the Coalition
21 May 2025 - 10:42 AM
Erickson outlines Labor’s campaign strategy
21 May 2025 - 10:35 AM
Paul Erickson says Aussies chose vision for future
21 May 2025 - 10:24 AM
Labor election mastermind set to speak
21 May 2025 - 10:23 AM
Dan Tehan urges caution and to ‘slow down’ on decision making amid Coalition split
21 May 2025 - 09:48 AM
MP calls Coalition split ‘most significant act of political self harm’
21 May 2025 - 09:37 AM
Watt guarantees ‘lots of people’ will be ‘unhappy’ after North West Shelf decision
21 May 2025 - 09:35 AM
‘Really complex project’: Watt to make North West Shelf decision by May 31
21 May 2025 - 09:33 AM
Liberals’s ‘10 year’ Jacinta Nampijinpa Price plan revealed
21 May 2025 - 09:18 AM
Paterson slams Nationals for abandoning political traditions
21 May 2025 - 08:45 AM
Littleproud says he and Ley hugged after coalition split, and will help rebuild
21 May 2025 - 08:38 AM
Littleproud says Ley wanted to ‘cut all policies’
21 May 2025 - 08:30 AM
O’Brien ‘optimistic’ party will get back together
21 May 2025 - 08:26 AM
Hume says Liberal policies still stand but review underway necessary
21 May 2025 - 08:04 AM
‘I could not get a guarantee’: Littleproud on what caused Coalition split
21 May 2025 - 07:59 AM
‘We’re not getting ahead of ourselves’: Chalmers urges caution despite Coalition chaos
21 May 2025 - 07:58 AM
Littleproud says Nationals need Liberals while defending split
21 May 2025 - 07:31 AM
Cash rejects Littleproud’s excuse of policy for Coalition split
21 May 2025 - 07:22 AM
‘It wasn’t unanimous’: Nationals bombshell split claim
21 May 2025 - 07:06 AM
Wild live TV snub as Coalition split worsens
21 May 2025 - 06:57 AM
Tim Wilson declares he has won Goldstein ... Again!
21 May 2025 - 06:46 AM
Sticking point was Cabinet solidarity: Hume
21 May 2025 - 06:40 AM
Have the Liberals lost that loving feeling?
21 May 2025 - 06:14 AM
Chaos as Sydney grinds to a halt following train incident
21 May 2025 - 06:08 AM
Nationals will take pay cuts after split with Liberals
21 May 2025 - 05:40 AM
Albanese’s campaign manager to spill the beans on big election win
Chaos as Sydney grinds to a halt following train incident
Commuters attempting to use Sydney’s train network are in the middle of another nightmare day following a major incident during Tuesday’s peak hour.
A 1,500-volt overhead cable fell onto train carriages near Strathfield station in Sydney’s west, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of passengers from the affected train as well as three others impacted by the resulting outage.
Crews worked overnight in challenging wet and dark conditions to assess and repair the damage.
Despite bringing the “catastrophic event” under control by Tuesday night, the disruption has flowed into Wednesday morning, with knock-on effects impacting the morning commute.
Authorities have urged passengers to consider alternative travel options where possible.
“Most lines will be impacted this morning due to power supply issues at Strathfield. Trains will operate, but services will be reduced and will not run to a normal timetable. Please delay non-essential travel,” a Sydney Trains spokesperson said.
Nationals will take pay cuts after split with Liberals
Nationals MPs have put their money where their mouth is as they abandon a coalition arrangement.
Half a dozen members have taken a haircut worth tens of thousands of dollars to their pay packet after walking away from leadership positions.
Party leader David Littleproud has pulled the Nationals out of a partnership with the Liberals after they failed to agree on the retention of policies following an election defeat.
With the Liberals now holding all the cards in opposition, the shadow cabinet - made up of just over 20 of the opposition’s top generals with portfolios shadowing government ministers - will not contain any Nationals.
The two parties carve up spots in government and opposition on a proportional basis dependent on seats won.
Seven Nationals will step back from shadow cabinet, including Mr Littleproud, meaning they lose their 20 to 25 per cent loading on their base salary rates of about $230,000.
Albanese’s campaign manager to spill the beans on big election win
The mastermind behind Labor’s decisive election victory will lay out how the party secured one of biggest wins in history.
In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Labor’s national secretary and campaign director Paul Erickson will say the government’s economic narrative and ability to adapt was crucial to its expanded majority.
Labor boosted its ranks to have at least 93 seats in the next parliament, one of its largest majorities in history, with Mr Erickson credited as the architect behind the result.
“The conventional wisdom undervalued Labor’s capacity to use our record as the foundation for our second term policy offer,” he will say in the speech.
“Over three years, Labor’s record and Peter Dutton’s opposition built up an advantage for Labor as the best party to provide cost-of-living relief.”
The speech as comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived back in Canberra on Wednesday after a successful overseas trip to Indonesia, the Vatican and Singapore, where he met with the Pope and other world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
