Australian news and politics live: Ley announces new shadow ministry after reuniting Liberal Party, Nationals

Mr Albanese says gas has an important role to play in meeting Australia’s energy needs.

“When you are looking at the role, for example, in areas like Gladstone here in Queensland and the aluminium sector is one where you need that firm capability as more and more reliant upon renewables.

“Our view is renewables backed by gas, backed by batteries, and backed by Hydro is the way forward for Australia.

“We will wait and see whether the Coalition continue with their nuclear fantasy. One that I note, which was not backed by the LNP Government here in Queensland.

“This is friendless except within the federal Caucus. And a lot of that is just about who is a majority and who the leader is and what the positioning is.

“You know, pretend people like Matt Canavan with his dress-ups. What we actually need is real solutions and real investment going forward”.

Asked if Australia would follow other countries’ moves to introduce sanctions against Israel in an attempt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, Mr Albanese said Australia “follows its own path”.

“We follow our own path and Australia determines our own foreign policy,” Mr Albanese said.

“We have been very consistent the whole way through, and what people don’t say when they put forward ideas like this is what that means.

“We currently have, for example, unlike some of those countries, we don’t provide military assets to Israel or to that region.

“So we are in different circumstances, but we make it clear, as we have consistently, we want to see a ceasefire.

“We want to see hostage release, we see Hamas has no role in the future, but we want to see humanitarian aid delivered to people in Gaza.

“We have been very consistent. We, as a Government, will continue to act in that way..”

Dr Chambers continued by announcing, “Today, we got more encouraging news about the fight against inflation.”

“Today we learned that headline inflation at 2.4, underlying inflation at 2.8, means that both headline and underlying inflation are within the Reserve Bank’s ultimate target band once again, with headline inflation in the lower half of the Reserve Bank’s target band.

“That is very welcome and encouraging news.

“It shows that the progress that we have made together as Australians on inflation has been substantial and it has been sustained.

“This is the ninth consecutive month where headline inflation has been in the target band, and in the fifth consecutive month that underlying inflation has been in the target band”.

“It is actually the longest period where both measures of inflation have been in a target range since this monthly data started being collected in 2018.”

Treasurer Jim Charmers highlighted the importance of farming in Queensland, also thanking the region for its support of Labor in the 2025 Federal election.

“South-east Queensland and Queensland more broadly is such a crucial part of the national economy,” he said.

“It will be even better represented now as a consequence of the decisions that are Queensland, the people of Queensland made in sending these wonderful people to represent them in the House of Representatives.

“Queensland has voted for higher wages, lower income taxes, and they plan to build Australia’s future with Queensland front and centre.

“Today, we got more encouraging news about the fight against inflation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that his Government is providing an additional $36 million in new support for farms and producers after the Queensland floods.

“My government will continue to be driven by those principles of know when held back and no one left behind, and that is something that over the next three years we will endeavour to justify the faith that the Australian people have shown in us and to earn their support,” he said.

“Many Queenslanders, like people throughout Australia, either voted Labor or gave us a high preference for the first time.”

Former Nationals leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce will not sit on the shadow frontbench.

With the Coalition back together, after the Nationals on Wednesday green-lit a new agreement, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will soon unveil her new look shadow cabinet.

But Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce, who have been vocal about the Coalition split over the last week, will not be a part of it.

Mr McCormack was shadow minister for international development and the Pacific in the last Parliament, whilst Mr Joyce was shadow minister for veterans’ affairs.

The higher cost of food, housing and recreation has pushed inflation slightly higher, defying predictions from economists of a fall deeper into the Reserve Bank’s comfort zone.

The monthly consumer price index reading from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed the year-on-year increase remained steady in April at 2.4 per cent — where it has sat for the past three months.

The biggest contributors to the annual movement were food and non-alcoholic beverages up 3.1 per cent), housing (up 2.2 per cent), and recreation and culture ( up 3.6 per cent).

The annual trimmed mean for April — which strips out price volatility — ticked up from 2.7 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said that measure had remained relatively stable for the past five months.

“The CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel measure rose 2.8 per cent in the 12 months to April, compared to a 2.6 per cent rise in the 12 months to March,” she said.

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The Geelong Cats have been a winning AFL team for decades and now their home town can lay claim to being champions of Australia.

The Victorian region has become the most popular place for capital city escapees to settle, with its picturesque coastline and thriving industry making it an ideal sea-change destination.

Greater Geelong has overtaken Queensland’s Sunshine Coast as the top region to welcome new residents from the capital cities, followed by Lake Macquarie, NSW; Moorabool, Victoria; and Maitland, NSW.

The Regional Movers Index, a quarterly report compiled by the Regional Australia Institute using Commonwealth Bank data, also shows most tree-changers are coming from Sydney and Melbourne.

The rate of people moving to Australia’s regions increased by more than 10 per cent in the March quarter, according to the index released on Wednesday.

Santos boss Kevin Gallagher has compared Victoria to North Korea as the industry ramps up demands for governments to shred regulations.

Mr Gallagher told the Australian Energy Producers conference in Brisbane that he would rather invest into the United States or Papua New Guinea than Australia.

He said Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia were “very supportive jurisdictions” for onshore investment.

“Victoria, North Korea, they’re in a different category altogether.

“I’m gonna get in trouble for that one. I know I am.”

The Adelaide-based company recently iced the $2 billion Dorado oil project off WA’s coast and blamed approvals uncertainty.

Mr Gallagher said the big issue was that decisions could be challenged even after approval was granted.

“An approval has to be an approval,” he said.

“We’ve seen some retrospective intervention, not just by the current government, the previous government started this ball rolling. It’s like a drug, they get hooked on it.”

Victoria’s economic management has been under pressure amid concerns of growing public debt.

Queensland Nationals MP Colin Boyce has been damning of the party’s leader David Littleproud saying he left his party room in the dark on his Shadow Cabinet solidarity demand during Coalition negotiations.

Speaking on Sky News on Wednesday, Mr Boyce called for better unity of the party and to “start engaging everyone in the room”. Mr Boyce said he can’t support a man who “misleads” his party room but said he had no knowledge of any leadership challenges.

“I’m calling him out. None of that has come through the party room,” he said.

“We’re served this stuff up and expected to agree with it. It’s never discussed.

“If we don’t use all of the knowledge of the room, what’s the point of being there?”

Mr Littlleproud had announced he would split from the Coalition last Tuesday before returning to the negotiating table 48 hours later. On Wednesday, the parties reunited and are expected to announce a Shadow Cabinet on Wednesday.