Australian news and politics live: Coalition hound Albanese, MP booted as Question Time erupts

Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae has come prepared to Question Time after he was grilled by the Coalition on aged care packages.

The Minister approached the dispatch box with prepared lines and has received vocal support from his party behind him.

“I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. Australians expect us to get aged care right,” he started his response.

“Now, the decisions of the new aged care act, and the support at home that accompanies it, were made by this parliament or rather the last parliament but here in the last term.

“They were led by my wonderful predecessor, the now Minister for Communications. They were supported by the Opposition.

“The Albanese government’s reforms will deliver aged care of the highest quality for older Australians.

“When the support at home program commences from 1 November this year, the Albanese government will release more than 80,000 additional new home care places in the first 12 months of the program.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley has opened parliamentarian Question Time in the House of Representatives by returning fire to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae.

It came after the Coalition put Minister Rae on the spot yesterday by directing all questions to the 38-year-old MP in his new portfolio.

“Yesterday the minister gave three different explanations for why Labor is breaking its promise to deliver an additional 83,000 home care packages,” Ms Ley started her question.

“First he blamed the sector. Then he blamed elderly Australians. By the end, he seemingly blamed the now Minister for Communications and her legislation.

“Minister, was the home care package rollout delay, a decision of the minister? A decision of the Health Minister? Or was it endorsed by the Cabinet?” she added.

Continuing her “skibidi” inspired speech, Senator Payman said: “One of the issues I’ve been tweaking about lately is AI safety.

“Australia has the potential to be peak at implementing this technology safely, but at the moment, there’s more AI slop than a Deloitte report.

“ICL TS PMO SM. Wilted rose emoji. Whenever the Government talk about AI, they tell us about the incredible productivity lift it offers.

“@grok is this true?” she asked, mentioning X’s AI feature that answers users’ questions when tagged.

“Like Speed doing a backflip, this attitude is gurt, but only the dangerous part. Our government, like Tung Tung Tung Sahur, needs to wield a big stick.”

She also referenced the viral Dubai Chocolate in her brain-rot inspired speech.

Fatima Payman has delivered a second “skibidi” speech after going viral last year in her appeal “to the sigmas of Australia”.

The independent WA senator had used the speech in September 2024 when opposing the social age limit, but invoked it again to slam suggestions that AI firms should be allowed to train on copyrighted material for free.

“To the Sigmas of Australia! The goofy ahh government is still capping, but is anyone surprised? When a rizzless, auraless, unc Prime Minister is running the show, a chopped government is what follows,” she said.

“To all the industry insiders who suggest that AI should be allowed to train on copyrighted material for free, I have only one thing to say. SYDAU!”

According to the website Urban Dictionary, the acronym ”SYDAU” means “shut yo dumbass up”.

Australia’s permanent migration figures will remain at 185,000 over the 2025-26 financial year, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed.

The figures were released on Tuesday after tens of thousands of protesters stormed Australia’s capital cities demanding migration be lowered in order to put less pressure on housing and amenities.

Unlike overseas net migration, which accounts for visitors who remain in Australia for more than 12 months in a 16-month period, permanent migration includes the number of skilled, daily and humanitarian visas authorised by the government.

Mr Bourke said the steady 185,000 figure would allow Australia to control migration growth.

“It follows consultation with the states and territories, which recommended maintaining the size and composition of the program, with a focus on skilled migration,” he said.

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On Friday afternoon, the Albanese Government quietly “announced” a new deal with Nauru that would see the NZYQ cohort shipped out of Australia at a cost of $408 million.

The NZYQ cohort, made up of about 280 non-citizens, was saved from indefinite detention in a 2023 High Court ruling, which said that would be unlawful, and now looks set to be sent to Naura.

However, the Coalition has announced it is launching a Senate inquiry into Labor’s quiet move, as details for the program with a high price tag remain.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has issued a defiant statement after a neo-nazi confronted her at a media event on Tuesday morning.

Ms Allan said she was “unharmed and undeterred” following Thomas Sewell’s actions.

“It comes as no surprise that nazis oppose me and my Government,” her statement said.

“I wear that with a badge of honour.”

The Premier went on to push attention away from her, instead, focusing on “nazis targets”, which she says includes “multicultural people, LGBTIQA+ people, First Peoples and Jews”.

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Anthony Albanese has told his colleagues meeting in Canberra that the incident this morning, where a neo-nazi confronted Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, was “quite horrific”.

He said he’d been in talks with the premier about the extremists and the rallies over the weekend.

Mr Albanese told caucus he had been shocked to see neo-nazis at the weekend rallies “openly in uniform”.

But he said in response to a question about neo-nazi groups actively recruiting new members at the rallies, that politicians had to “make sure we give people space to move away and not push them further down that rabbit hole”.

The self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who gatecrashed the Victorian Premier’s press conference has been confronted by a reporter outside a courthouse and questioned about the incident.

Thomas Sewell said he was walking through a park when he overheard a journalist mention his name during a question to Jacinta Allan about the weekend’s anti-immigration protests.

“I was just walking through the park as they mentioned my name and I just said, ‘Jacinta, why don’t you allow Australians to protest?’”

The 31-year-old, who is currently facing criminal charges over allegations of intimidating a police officer, told Sky News that the Government is trying to silence anti-immigration protesters.

“They are happy for everyone else to protest but if you want to stop immigration, you’re going to cost these corrupt politicians and bankers a lot of money, and that’s why they hate us,” he claimed.

A press conference held by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has been abandoned after it was interrupted by a self-proclaimed neo-nazi.

Thomas Sewell approached the media event as Ms Allan was questioned about his involvement in the weekend’s anti-immigration protests.

“Jacinta Allan, why don’t you think Australians should have the right to protest? Why do you want to ban us from protesting?” Mr Sewell can be heard yelling in a video shared on social media.

“Shouldn’t we have the right to speak in our own country?” he questioned.

He then repeatedly called the Premier a “coward” as she was escorted from the event.

Victoria Police confirmed the Premier’s security team intervened to “ensure the safety of everyone present”.