Australian news and politics live: Barnaby Joyce confirms he’s defecting from Nationals Party

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has accused Labor and the Greens of doing a “dirty deal” and working against Australia’s national interest.

“The Labor-Greens alliance, which is back in business and working against communities interests in industry for the future, against jobs and most importantly, working against lower power prices for Australians,” Ms Ley told a press conference in Canberra.

“What is very clear from the reaction so far to the dirty deal done by the Labor Party with the Greens … what is absolutely clear is that this is going to put energy prices up and provide further pressure on electricity bills to struggling households and families.”

Ms Ley denied Anthony Albanese’s claim that he offered to talk to her during question time.

“I didn’t receive an offer from the Prime Minister to meet. I texted him after Question Time and the text remains unanswered,” she said.

“We know that this could have gone into next year, we could have taken the time to get it right.

“Any deal done with the Greens, that involves our industries that make our country strong that pay our bills ... it is certainly not in the interest of families who are desperate to have some cost-of-living relief.”

A dedicated 24 hour hotline has been estabished for Australians seeking consular assistance or advice following the deadly Hong Kong fire which has already claimed dozens of lives.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has expressed the government’s condolences to those affected by the blaze, and said Australians who need help or advice should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) emergency consular line.

“Those pictures coming out of Hong Kong are horrific. And on behalf of all Australians, we send our deepest sympathy and care to all of those people and families affected by that horrific fire,” Senator Gallagher told the ABC .

Australians who need to contact the consular assistance line can call DFAT on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 if calling from overseas.

Speaking at his portrait unveiling, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull referred to the “ludicrous” and “insane” debate around energy and climate change within the Coalition in the current Parliament.

He used his speech to highlight the need for a clean energy transition in Australia.

“We’re still having the same insane conversations on the right of politics about energy,” he said.

“I mean, it’s really ludicrous. When I was prime minister, I used to say - tediously for everyone who listens to me - energy policy should be determined by engineering and economics, not ideology and idiocy. That’s kind of common sense.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a speech ahead of the unveiling, and said the work was a tribute to Mr Turnbull’s character.

A new portrait has been unveiled at Parliament House for former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Renowned artist Jude Rae had been tasked to immortalise the former Liberal PM, with her work to be featured in the hallways of Parliament House in the Historic Memorials Collection.

A crowd had gathered to watch the unveiling, with Mr Turnbull giving a speech thanking Ms Rae and speaking on his parliamentary career.

He also used his speech to raise the threats to democracy abroad and the need for “respectful” debate.

“The challenges to democracy are very real,” he said. “We see what is happening in the United States, and it shapes every assumption that we have had.

“We look at what is happening in Europe. Look at the challenges in our own region. Democracy is under siege, but here in Australia, I believe it is stronger than just about anywhere else.”

Banking regulator APRA has ordered lenders to limit how much they offer to home loan borrowers in a move to rein in runaway house prices fuelled by the recent return of property investors.

On Thursday, the regulator said that from February 1, 2026, residential home loan lenders must not lend more than 20 per cent of their total new lending to borrowers that need to take on levels of debt more than six times their income.

“Rising indebtedness has in the past often been associated with an increase in riskier lending and rapid growth in property prices,” said John Lonsdale. “We will consider additional limits, including investor-specific limits, if we see macro-financial risks significantly rising or a deterioration in lending standards.”

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The Coalition has doubled down on their criticism of Labor’s negotiations on the country’s environmental laws.

After Liberal Senator Jonathon Duniam’s spray in the Senate over Labor’s deal with the Greens, the Coalition issued a statement accusing the PM of being misleading by claiming he’d offered talks with Sussan Ley but she didn’t take up the offer.

“The Prime Minister is being characteristically tricky,” a spokesperson said on Thursday morning.

“He never offered to meet with the Opposition Leader about EPBC.”

The Coalition also claim to have a text exchange between the leaders proving so.

Jonathon Duniam has unleashed on Labor after the Government struck a deal with the Greens to overhaul the nation’s environmental protection laws.

The Liberal Senator, who was directly involved in the Coalition’s negotiations with Labor, labelled it a “dirty, dodgy deal” during a spray in the Senate on Thursday morning.

Senator Duniam claimed that Coalition was in “good faith” negotiations “even as late as 10pm” on Wednesday.

“We got our message that they weren’t going to deal with us through the press conference this morning. I don’t think that’s good faith discussion,” he said.

“I’d very much love to know what the price of this latest agreement between the Government and their natural bedfellows, the Australian Greens political party, is this time.

“They’ve been behind closed doors for a couple of weeks now, hatching this one up.”

The deal that Labor struck with the Greens also includes key changes that business and the resources sector wanted.

It will offer a clearer definition of “unacceptable impacts” and “net gain”, and limit the new stop-work orders from the National EPA to 14 days.

As well, the Government has promised to phase out the exemptions for native forestry from environmental rules.

It will offer a $300 million fund to help forestry businesses transform.

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The Government has struck a deal with the Greens to pass the environmental law overhaul.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the deal on Thursday morning, with the expectation the bills will pass before parliament ends for the year this week.

It comes after mining and business representatives made a last ditch lobbying effort to convince the Coalition to make a compromise.

WA Premier Roger Cook also urged the Liberals to get on board in a message late on Wednesday.

Ahead of the PM’s press conference, Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young told ABC TV that they were “very close” to a deal.

“We’re just trying one last time to get some details sorted,” she said.

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Labor is expected to strike a deal on its historic overhaul of environmental laws as negotiations reach a pointy end.

Greens leader Larissa Waters and environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the Greens were provided with amendments to the laws, drafted to secure their support.

Labor has remained optimistic an agreement will be struck with either the Greens or the Coalition to pass the laws by the end of the year.

An agreement must be struck by Thursday if the 1500-page package of bills is to be tabled in the Senate.

The bill aims to ensure better protections for the environment while tackling a backlog of critical infrastructure, energy and housing projects by streamlining approvals processes.

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