One Nation senator Warwick Stacey resigns
Josh Butler
Pauline Hanson said this morning One Nation senator Warwick Stacey, elected at the May election, is resigning for health reasons.
Stacey was elected as a senator for NSW and helped double One Nation’s Senate numbers from two to four. He said in a statement he was dealing with “personal health issues”.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to fully dedicate myself to the role as I deal with my personal health issues.
I don’t think a person elected to parliament should be anything less than completely dedicated to a role entrusted to them by voters, so I’m resigning to make way for someone who can do that on behalf of the people of NSW.
Stacey was only sworn in as a senator a few weeks ago in the opening fortnight of parliament. Stacey confirmed his resignation in a phone call with Guardian Australia.
Key events
Petra Stock
Analysis reveals Australia’s largest gas guzzlers
Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry uses 13 times more gas than local manufacturing, according to new analysis by climate activist group Market Forces.
The vast majority of gas used in Australia is directed towards LNG exports, followed by gas power plants and manufacturing, according to the report.
Only 10 facilities – mainly those producing alumina and ammonia – made up more than half of manufacturing gas use.
According to Market Forces estimates, the five largest manufacturing gas users could require carbon offsets up to $1.3bn over the decade, if they failed to reduce their reliance on gas.
Kyle Robertson, Market Forces head of research, said
Australia’s biggest manufacturers, particularly alumina and ammonia producers, need to immediately step up and invest much more in the transition to renewable energy.
Manufacturers guzzle a lot of our gas but 13 times more is gobbled up, turned into liquified natural gas and sent overseas.
Patrick Commins
Canavan to convene rebel roundtable on energy prices
While the government’s anointed luminaries are huddled in the cabinet room without their mobile phones and natural light, Matt Canavan plans to convene a “real” productivity roundtable on the grass in front of parliament house.
Senator Canavan has joined fellow Queenslander, Barnaby Joyce, in calling for getting rid of the net zero target and replacing renewable energy with new coal plants.
So it’s no surprise that the rebel roundtable late tomorrow morning will address what they call “the elephant in the room”: rising power prices.
Canavan and a staffer have been walking the halls of parliament house this morning wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Energy prices are the real productivity issue”.
The AFR has reported that a former Productivity Commission chair, Gary Banks, will give a keynote speech. Other invitees reportedly include an ex-Business Council of Australia boss, Tony Shepherd, and an executive of the Housing Industry Association, Simon Croft.
Luca Ittimani
BHP hikes profits, but pays $4bn less in Australian tax
Mining giant BHP paid $4bn less in Australian tax while hiking profits over the year to June after iron and coal prices slid, as the company hikes copper production to switch towards green industry.
The price BHP received for its steel making coal prices fell nearly 40% in 2024-25 compared to the previous year and energy coal prices fell 10%. The company’s coal output fell after it sold two mines and wet weather slowed down truck productivity.
BHP’s annual report, out today, said Australian coal supply would likely recover but said Queensland’s coal royalty scheme had discouraged it from long-term investments in local mining, joining other miners’ criticisms.
Iron production increased but prices fell by a fifth, with BHP predicting resilient Chinese and Indian demand would keep commodity markets moving but noting tariffs were dragging global economic growth. Together, that saw global revenue fell by US$4.4bn to US$51.3bn.
Tax payments in Australia fell even further, as the company reduced its effective tax rate from 33% to 32.1%. Once you add royalty payments, BHP paid A$10.5bn (US$6.8bn) in tax in 2024-25, an A$4bn (US$2.7bn) fall from A$14.5bn (US$9.5bn) the previous year.
BHP’s tax payments in Chile doubled to US$3.2bn as it hiked production at the world’s largest copper mine, Escondida. The company produced 2 Mt of copper over the year for the first time – less than 1% of its iron output – but it hopes to double output from South Australia and has more projects in the pipeline.
More efficient copper mining helped profits rise over US$1bn to US$9bn. Copper is playing an increasingly important role in the business, now responsible for almost half of underlying earnings. The metal’s importance to green technology has driven up global demand and prices.
Josh Butler
Hanson describes Stacey as a ‘man of principle’
One Nation will get to name someone as his replacement “in coming weeks”, Hanson’s office said, which will keep the party’s Senate numbers at four. The party is not yet naming that replacement. Hanson said:
It is with profound regret that we farewell him from the Senate so soon after he was elected.
I was delighted when it was announced Senator Stacey had won a seat representing NSW. I knew he would bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise to our team along with the strong conservative values that made Australia great.
I wish Senator Stacey all the very best with his health and his future.
One Nation senator Warwick Stacey resigns
Josh Butler
Pauline Hanson said this morning One Nation senator Warwick Stacey, elected at the May election, is resigning for health reasons.
Stacey was elected as a senator for NSW and helped double One Nation’s Senate numbers from two to four. He said in a statement he was dealing with “personal health issues”.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to fully dedicate myself to the role as I deal with my personal health issues.
I don’t think a person elected to parliament should be anything less than completely dedicated to a role entrusted to them by voters, so I’m resigning to make way for someone who can do that on behalf of the people of NSW.
Stacey was only sworn in as a senator a few weeks ago in the opening fortnight of parliament. Stacey confirmed his resignation in a phone call with Guardian Australia.
Sussan Ley says all Australians should be ‘very sad’ about state of relationship with Israel
Opposition leader Sussan Ley was just asked about Israel’s decision to revoke some visas for Australians to the Palestinian Authority. Ley said she really regrets “the way that the relationship between the Albanese government and the government of Israel is deteriorating”.
She told the press in Sydney:
That is something all Australians should be very sad about today. Israel is a liberal democracy in the Middle East and we should be supporting them as that liberal democracy and the steps that the Albanese government has taken over recent days and weeks certainly have not demonstrated that.
This is an elected member of the Israeli parliament and it’s a very unusual thing to refuse a visa and I haven’t seen explanations from Tony Burke that actually explain what is going on here.
The politician in question, Simcha Rothman, is a far-right member of Israel’s parliament. He has described Palestinian children in Gaza as “enemies” and called for Israel’s total control of the West Bank.
Josh Butler
Oh, the table is oval
The roundtable – which is actually occurring around the long oval table of the cabinet room – today features the likes of the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, the independent MP Allegra Spender, the secretaries of key government departments, unions bosses Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil, business leaders Innes Willox and Andrew McKellar and the RBA chief, Michelle Bullock.
Sitting on the far rounded edge of the cabinet table – as far from Albanese as would be possible – is the Liberal deputy leader and shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien.
Josh Butler
Behind closed doors, roundtable begins in earnest
The economic roundtable has gone behind closed doors in the cabinet room, so we’re left to wait and wonder what’s going on in there. As we leave the boffins to their discussions, one person joked to us this morning that it was like a papal conclave – doors sealed, onlookers anticipating outside waiting for smoke signals to emerge.
We managed to nip inside the cabinet room earlier as Albanese and Chalmers made their opening addresses. The prime minister said he didn’t expect the assembled participants to agree on every issue (with the unions, business groups, environment leaders and politicians in one room, it’s probably hard to agree on the lunch order, let alone the future economic direction of the country), joking that he would be shocked if they reached a settled consensus position on thorny topics like artificial intelligence this week.
But in the spirit of consensus (a word you’re hearing a lot this week) Albanese invited all the roundtable members to drinks at the Lodge tomorrow night.
We’ve been ushered out of the room by the PM’s media team, and while we leave the economic titans to their own devices, even the participants have not been left to their own (electronic) devices – phones, watches and other tech gear have had to be surrendered at the door.
A few desks full of electronics were seen by the door of the cabinet room, held in little plastic boxes with each leader’s name on a sticky note. We hope there’s no mix-up on the way out, and that they’ve all since been turned to silent after one phone and watch started prominently buzzing just moments into the three-day meeting, a deafening ringtone interrupting Chalmers’ opening address.
Liberal MP proposes Australia pay migrants to go home
Liberal MP Garth Hamilton proposed this morning Australia start paying migrants to go back to their home countries if they’re struggling to find work or a place to live.
Hamilton spoke to 2GB to tout the idea, which has been implemented in a smattering of other countries. He said:
The reality is, a lot of migrants who are coming over here, they aren’t finding work, they aren’t finding the housing, they aren’t finding that things were as rosy as they’d hoped because of the high immigration policies that we’ve employed.
We have to address this, we have to address it now. We’re not going to build our way out of this problem
All of this is trying to give people a pathway home. This is a cost that Australia is already bearing, either through welfare or the high rents that we’re paying because of the extra demand on housing in Australia. This is a cost that we’re just moving from one place to another.
Greens add crossbenchers in Tasmania in ‘powerful position’ to work with Liberal premier
Woodruff added that a strong crossbench in Tasmania had given the Greens and others the ability to deliver “great legislative reforms”, saying she had had good conversations with Jeremy Rockliff about ways parliament could operate in a more sustainable way moving forward. She told RN Breakfast:
I have had a commitment from Jeremy Rockliff that he will work in good faith and also wants to have those same mechanisms put in place. So it’s not our intention to do anything except to work hard for four years and get change for the people of Tasmania.
Tasmanian Greens say conversations with Labor went nowhere in attempt to form minority government
The Tasmanian Greens leader, Rosalie Woodruff, said Labor leader Dean Winter “refused” to make any compromises, explaining her party’s decision not to back another vote of no-confidence in Liberal premier Jeremy Rockliff as parliament returns today.
Woodruff spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying she had been talking seriously with Labor as Winter sought to form a minority government with the crossbench after the state’s snap election. But she said her conversations with Rockliff allowed the Greens to talk about “the problems we’d had with him and his government over the last 11 years and the deep concerns that we still have about what the Liberals have been doing to the budget and to the environment in Tasmania.” She went on:
We have had some sit-down, long conversations multiple times with Dean Winter and really tried to get some policy changes from them, some compromises really. … We were looking for some way forward, some changes at all.
But Dean Winter and Labor refused to make any compromises on their policy positions before going back to parliament. …That wasn’t good enough. We tried really hard in good faith, but Dean Winter hasn’t shown any capacity or ability or intention to make any changes for the people who voted for us. …
Coalition open to Australia contributing non-combat peacekeepers to Ukraine
James Paterson, the shadow finance minister, said the Coalition would be open to a contribution to a peacekeeping effort to Ukraine, a shift from a stance from the former opposition leader Peter Dutton who described any involvement as a “thought bubble by the prime minister”.
Paterson spoke to ABC News as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington to meet with Donald Trump:
It’s very clear if there’s to be a durable peace, that security guarantees for Ukraine are going to be necessary. Now, that would have to be led by the United States and European partners. But if Australia is invited to play a role in, that then we should consider whether we can make a constructive contribution to that.
Paterson was asked about the potential for Australian peacekeepers to be sent to the region in a non-combat role. He said:
We are clearly not a central player in this conflict but we do have a very strong interest in making sure this isn’t just a pause in Vladimir Putin’s war that’s resumed at a later date. We want it to be long-lasting. So we should consider any request from our allies and friends in Europe as to if we can make a symbolic contribution towards this.
Very clearly the heavy lifting would be done by Nato in this instance. But we are a partner of Nato and if we’re asked to make a contribution, we should consider it.
Tom McIlroy
Lone opposition member at roundtable says he will be constructive and critical
The opposition’s sole representative at the economic reform roundtable, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, lashed Labor for being too slow to act on falling living standards in Australia.
Speaking before the summit began on Tuesday, O’Brien said Chalmers needs to do more to help households:
He has set himself the biggest test since he has entered parliament. He has made it very clear to the Australian people that he will turn the stats around on living standards. Australia has experienced the biggest decline in living standards of all developed nations as a direct consequence of this government’s actions.
I see my role as representing the 27 million Australians who have been struggling under this Albanese government. I will, of course, be constructive where I can, and critical where I must.
Patrick Commins
Chalmers tells attendees we need to do ‘more’ ‘better’ in call for ‘good ideas’
Jim Chalmers addressed attendees on the first day of the three-day economic reform roundtable, riffing on how well the economy is going under Labor: a rate cut last week, inflation down, unemployment low and real wages growing. But, naturally, our hyperactive treasurer is not satisfied:
Australia’s performance, in many ways, does set us apart, but we’re not satisfied with that. We need to do more, and we need to do better, and we will do better, and that’s what this is all about.
He repeats his “three days to inform three budgets” line, which is his new favourite, alongside old faves like “churn and change”.
Speaking to the people in the room he said: “Now to make the most of this opportunity, we need your concrete ideas”.
We need you to be specific. We need you to suggest ways to pay for them so that good ideas are also affordable ideas. We need you to be willing to test your ideas with others in the room.
We need you to be able to find common ground and recognise that sometimes that involves compromises, because this is all about building consensus, and it’s all about building momentum, which means going beyond our own narrower sectional or commercial interests and serving the national economic interest.
Labor’s economic roundtable begins
Tom McIlroy
Anthony Albanese has officially opened the government’s economic reform roundtable in Canberra in the past few minutes. There’s about 30 people squashed into the cabinet room for the start of the three-day summit, set to be overseen by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
Albanese says some of the proposals coming out of the summit could be considered for this year’s mid-year budget update, due in December, and next May’s federal budget.
The prime minister said some of the agenda items for the summit – including AI – won’t be solved immediately:
Even though this won’t be broadcast live, [because of] the nature of the cabinet room, the ideas that have been generated already will be the subject of the discussions.
One of the things I’ve said is that we are focused on delivery and getting things done, but how things are done are also important.
Albanese said the national interest should override sectional interest during the discussions.
“My government is focused on looking after people on the economic journey,” he said.
Josh Butler
Some scenes from Canberra with the productivity roundtable about to begin
The economic reform summit is about to begin, and while parliament house isn’t exactly abuzz, there is a quiet hum going through the building.
With all the formal activities happening in private in the cabinet room and therefore off-limits to your humble correspondent (aside from a few selected remarks from the prime minister and treasurer to be broadcast on TV), we’re reduced to loitering around outside the ministerial wing.
Sadly there no bunting, flags or paraphernalia for the summit that we can see – a quick wander past the cabinet room area earlier showed a few privacy screens and some information signs, but little else in the way of journalistic colour.
The Nationals senator Matt Canavan was drinking a coffee at Aussies cafe earlier, in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “energy prices are the real productivity issue”. He joked to us that he was holding his own roundtable later today.
Sydney delivery rider hospitalised after allegedly being stabbed with screwdriver
A delivery rider in inner Sydney was hospitalised last night after he was allegedly knocked off his bike and stabbed multiple times with a screwdriver, police say.
NSW police said the man, 24, was riding through the Sydney suburb of Ultimo near the CBD around 9.15pm on Monday night. On arrival, police were told the rider was allegedly pushed to the ground by an unknown man, who later walked away after the alleged assault.
The 24-year-old rider was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to the hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Officers have established a crime scene and begun an investigation.
Opposition says visa tit-for-tat reflects worst Australia-Israel relations since the second world war
The shadow finance minister, James Paterson, told the ABC this morning he believes the visa episode demonstrates “Australia’s bilateral relationship with Israel is the worst it has ever been since the creation of the state of Israel”.
Paterson said he was not familiar with “all” of the views of far-right politician Simcha Rothman, who was denied a visa yesterday, but said barring any visiting lawmaker was a major decision. He questioned the move by the government in an interview on ABC News:
It is a very big call to block the visa of a visiting member of parliament from other country. My question is did Tony Burke discuss the diplomatic implications of that visit with the foreign minister, Penny Wong? Did he discuss it with the prime minister? …
This is not a decision to be taken lightly and the all the implications should have been considered and its not clear that occurred.
