Politics live updates: NDIS payments to non-citizens to cost billions PBO in analysis commissioned by Libs

Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume is demanding a carve out for Western Australia under Labor’s proposed national gas reservation scheme, saying the Coalition will also not support it until the government guarantees the policy won’t discourage investment.

The Albanese government wants to pass the legislation through the parliament in the final fortnight of sitting for the year, with the Resources Minister saying they’re still in negotiations with Senators.

“We want to see more gas in the system. If this legislation that Labor are proposing would mean less gas investment, less gas for Australians, that simply isn’t good enough,” Senator Hume told News24 on Monday.

“We want to see a gas reservation, certainly, but there are changes that need to be made. West Australia should be carved out. It’s an east coast gas problem that we have, and there should be a specific east coast solution.”

“Most importantly, we do not want to do anything that would deter future investment in gas and Australia,” she added.

Speaking to the ABC, Minister King said Senators were now having to “face a choice” this week and insisted that her home state of WA can’t be carved out completely.

“We do have a constitution and WA is part of our federation, is part of our Commonwealth ... so having Western Australia be part of the scheme is a matter of them being part of the Commonwealth and to make the scheme robust,” she said.

NDIS payments to non-citizens are forecasted to reach $53.5 billion in the next decade.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) analysis was commissioned by opposition leader Angus Taylor and published by The Australian.

It revealed that almost 10 per cent of the NDIS’ annual costs came from non-citizens and expenditure is expected to reach $4.6 billion in 2026-27, on par with the Paid Parental Leave Scheme and AUKUS funding.

Non-citizens eligible for NDIS payments includes permanent residents and eligible New Zealand visa holders.

Payments to these groups are expected to rise about 5 per cent annually.

Australia has joined forces with Canada, Italy, and the UK to urge Israel to allow aid into Gaza.

The group of foreign ministers, including Penny Wong, wrote in a statement that people in Gaza “desperately need” shelter and humanitarian assistance, further exacerbated by recent floods.

They called on Israel to “stop the delays now and allow immediate, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza”.

“The crossings must be opened and the tents allowed in.”

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has thrown down the gauntlet to the state’s One Nation leader Mike Newman ahead of the March election, after he promised to put a freeze on new hires to the public service.

Mr Newman, who previously served as NSW’s senior trade and investment commissioner in Japan, said earlier this year that a One Nation government in NSW would seek to save $9.2bn over four years by freezing public service numbers and indexing wages.

To date, Mr Newman has refused to submit One Nation’s policies to the NSW Parliamentary Budget Office for independent scrutiny.

Speaking to the NewsWire, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) general secretary Michael Whaites made an offer to Mr Newman, claiming policies like those he proposed did not “add up”.

Read the full story here.

More than 50 years on from the end of the Vietnam war, Australia’s relationship with its former adversary has rarely been warmer.

But despite growing trade volumes and stronger diplomatic ties, the case of detained Australian citizen Tran Hiep is an awkward reminder that the socialist nation’s human rights record is less than stellar.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised consular issues, including that of Mr Hiep, in his first meeting with Vietnamese counterpart Le Minh Hung on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on Sunday.

Mr Albanese congratulated Mr Hung on his appointment and the pair exchanged views on issues affection regional peace, stability and prosperity, according to a readout of the meeting distributed by the Australian side.

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Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has denied Pauline Hanson directly apologised over an episode of the One Nation leader’s Please Explain series, which crudely made fun of the veteran’s health issues.

Senator Hanson initially defended the cartoon, which joked about Senator Lambie’s experience with vaginal prolapse – a condition she revealed during a fiery Senate speech about veterans’ health reforms.

Later, the One Nation leader told News24 she “does apologise for that” and that the cartoon “does bear my name and I’ve got to take responsibility for that”.

Asked about the incident on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Senator Lambie denied she had received a direct apology from the One Nation leader.

Read the full story here.