Australian election news and updates recap May 8: Price may run as Taylor’s deputy in Liberal leadership tilt

After leading the Coalition to an historic defeat, former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s post-parliament pension could cost taxpayers up to $280,000 per year.

Mr Dutton lost Dickson to Labor’s Ali France after holding the Queensland seat for over 24 years.

Parliamentarians voted to give themselves a pay rise last in July, pushing the base MP salary up to $233,660.

Mr Dutton’s $280,000 pension would be significantly lower than the $432,239 he was paid as opposition leader.

The chief financial officer of Bluescope Steel said the Australian Government worked “really hard” to exempt Australian companies from being hit by tariffs under the Trump administration.

Steel and aluminium were among the first products to be hit by US tariffs, attracting a 25 per cent rate in March.

At the time, the Labor government received criticism for not being able to negotiate a deal with the US, but Bluescope CFO David Fallu said that criticism wasn’t justified.

“A lot of people criticise the Government, I’d say in some cases justifiably so, but in this area, they worked really hard,” Mr Fallu said.

Mr Fallu said he expected to see a delegation heading to the US to engage with the Trump administration now the election was resolved.

Bluescope was exporting over 100,000 tonnes of steel to the US West coast with total steel and aluminium exports to America valued at around $1 billion.

Australia had previously been exempt from previous metals tariffs and Mr Fallu said he didn’t expect to see the issue resolved any time soon.

“I don’t think its super quick,” he said.

Bluescope is also advising the administrator for the Whyalla Steelworks and he described restoring the plant to profitability as “putting Humpty Dumpty back together.”

“It’s in a very challenging situation,” he said, noting that Whyalla produces a commodity product that made it less economic as a business.

He said the challenge facing the government was how to redeploy the workers given it was the only industry in town.

“There’s literally nothing around and there’s 21,000 people in the city, so I think this is actually a government challenge,” he said.

The race for Kooyong in Victoria continues to ebb and flow as incumbent Teal candidate Monique Ryan fights to hold her seat.

Ms Ryan is currently leading the count, 723 votes clear of Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer.

Hamer has enjoyed a swing toward the Liberals but is still behind with nearly 90 per cent of votes counted.

Neither candidate is ready to claim or concede, with the Liberals praying for small silver lining after a monumental defeat nationally.

The Prime Minister has told the Greens to reflect on the real issues in their party after ousted Greens Senator Max Chandler-Mather said he hated Parliament and its bullish culture.

Anthony Albanese told the ABC that Mr Chandler-Mather may need some time to reflect on where the real issues lay.

“He should have a good look at the way he asks questions in the Parliament and maybe what he needs is a mirror and a reflection on why he is no longer in parliament,” Mr Albanese said.

“His attitude - this is a guy who stood before signs at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane, describing me as a nazi.

“So, you know, I think he should have a look at the way that he conducted himself in Question Time, including the questions that he asked of me, which I found pretty offensive and some of which were ruled out of order.

“So I think it is a bit rich for him, of all people, who has been rejected by his own electorate after just one term, and indeed, the seat of Melbourne is very much under a cloud, is the best way you could put it.

“Adam Bandt hasn’t conceded yet, but it is very difficult to see a pathway in which he will resume his seat in Parliament.”

The Prime Minister says he will ramp up converstaions with the EPA and big mining companies around project approvals in WA.

“What we will do is sit down with sensible people across the spectrum, whether that be the mainstream environment groups who I met with before the election,” Mr Albanese told the ABC.

“I had a roundtable with them and I’ve also sat down with groups such as the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy, Rio Tinto, BHP, the big resources companies.”

When quizzed on WA Premier Roger Cook’s involvement and power to approve projects the PM replied: “The Premier of WA, Roger Cook and I are great friends. We are on the same page and we want to make sure that a federal EPA can support industry and jobs and provide certainty but also produce sustainable outcomes.

“You can protect the environment whilst you are also standing up for jobs and certainty for the resources sector.”

Anthony Albanese is enjoying the honeymoon period following Labor’s massive Federal election win but says he will take nothing for granted.

When asked about the idea that his government already look unbeatable at the next election he said nothing is ever certain in politics.

“I take nothing for granted and some of the commentators will always overreach,” Mr Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30 Report.

“We have received a clear mandate, but I also know from experience that a strong mandate doesn’t guarantee you another term.

“Just ask Campbell Newman who went from having an opposition that you couldn’t form a cricket team under to Annastacia Palaszczuk winning three elections.

“So we take nothing for granted.”

Senator Faruqi denied she was canvassing numbers to become the next leader of the Greens.

“Adam Bandt is still leader, and can I say Adam is a fantastic leader, and we work really well as a team as leader and deputy leader, and I am hoping that he gets back in and we can continue on with that leadership team,” she said.

“Like I said, lots of results still to be counted. We don’t even know yet what our party room looks like.

“And of course, after every election, we will follow the process of electing the leadership team, but that will only happen once the votes have been counted.”

Senator Faruqi claims fear drove the swing away from the Greens in the Lower House to Labor candidates.

“We know that Labor and Liberal are seen as the major players forming government,” she said.

“So this is the anxiety around a divisive, a hate-filled kind of Peter Dutton government, people were really fearful.

“I think we do need to reconsider how the Greens actually win and hold on to Lower House states, because it’s clear that Labor and Liberals will always be working together to keep the Greens out, even in seats where Greens come first on primary vote.

“So there is this new reality that we need to think about, about how we can win seats in our own right.”

Responding to Liberal MP Julian Leeser’s claim that the vote against the Greens was a rejection of rising anti-Semitism, Senator Faruqi said the party was anti-racism.

“This is a narrative around Gaza that some would like to push to suit their own agenda, but the numbers tell the real story in multicultural and migrant communities across the country, where this was an issue,” she said.

“There are booths where the Greens have one swing of over 20 per cent and that includes booths in Wales and Fraser in Victoria, in Western and South Western Sydney, New South Wales in Moreton in Queensland and in South Australia and more.”

Greens deputy leader Mehreen Fahruqi is still refusing to concede leader Adam Bandt has lost his seat in Melbourne.

This is despite it being called yesterday by 7NEWS and ABC for Labor’s Sarah Witty after a 4.4 per cent swing against Bandt, with just under 70 per cent of the votes counted.

Speaking on ABC, she said there were still thousands of votes to be counted and the party would wait until all votes were counted to declare the result.

She blamed the swing against the Greens nationally as progressive Australians being “deeply anxious” about a potential Dutton government.

“I think that was a factor in some of the Lower House seats, but also those same voters clearly wanted us to hold a potential Labor government to account, which is why we also achieved record high Senate votes,” she said.

Don Farrell says he took calls on election night from leaders in Europe ready to start brokering deals on trade with Anthony Albanese’s re-elected government.

“On election night, I got messages from my European colleagues,” Mr Farrell said.

“They’re very keen to re-engage and have another crack at an EU free trade agreement on behald of the EU’s 450 million people, $17 trillion economy.

“They’ll be very important if we can get a breakthrough there. The Indians also contacted me and we were very close to a free trade agreement with them.

“I think we can move very quickly now to finalise that agreement and of course, in the next few weeks, our new free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which sends all of our products into the UAE tariff-free, will come into force.

“And of course, we want to continue discussions with the United States.

“We believe in free and fair trade, and that’s the argument we’ll be prosecuting with them.”