Nationals leader Matt Canavan eyes move to lower house as pollster warns of One Nation wipeout

Michelle Landry announces she will not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia at the next election

Matt Canavan could attempt a switch to the House of Representatives after a colleague announced her looming retirement, as a leading pollster said the Nationals leader had a “zero per cent” chance of holding his Senate seat if the One Nation polling surge remains unchanged.

Veteran National MP Michelle Landry on Friday announced she would not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia, around Rockhampton, at the next election.

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One Nation proposes $2,000 baby subsidy in Victoria but says it won’t touch state abortion laws

Announcement comes a day after Liberal and Labor parties say they will cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care

One Nation has proposed a $2,000 baby bonus for new parents in Victoria – a day after the Labor and Liberal parties both agreed to cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care.

The deputy leader of One Nation in Victoria, Colleen Harkin, announced the plan on Friday to remove out-of-pocket costs for pregnant women in the public healthcare system and a $2,000 subsidy for those accessing private maternity care.

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A Trump impersonator and opera singers: CPAC was a spectacle, but the right still can’t agree how to take down Labor

Preferences proved the sticking point at the conference as conservatives face the prospect of a third successive election defeat

Many mainstream Australians would feel as if they’d been dropped in a foreign country at the Conservative Political Action Conference, lost amid oblique references to transgender swimmers, blue hair, women’s bathrooms, jokes about falling off stages and Matt Canavan in hi-vis and speed dealer sunnies.

It’s an interesting spectacle. At this year’s conference in Brisbane, rightwing campaigner Monica Smit was deep in conversation with a Donald Trump impersonator, opera singers belted out the national anthem (the first verse, twice, for unknown reasons), senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and her folk singer husband sang the anthem again, and Karl Stefanovic jokingly thanking CPAC for “rudely interrupting my unemployment”.

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Hanson seems more and more like the de facto opposition leader. At CPAC, Angus Taylor warmed the seat for her

Cooperation between One Nation and the Liberals ‘up to Angus Taylor’, Pauline Hanson says at conservative conference. How would that work?

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference billed itself as a chance for the leaders of the three main conservative parties – Liberals, Nationals and One Nation – to make their pitch and compete for rightwing voters.

The reception they received in Brisbane on Saturday suggests Pauline Hanson is effectively the preferred opposition leader, with Angus Taylor relegated to leading a minor party.

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One Nation’s AI video is vile and tired – but the ensloppification of Australian politics doesn’t stop there

The inflammatory clip shows the wild west of online politicking created by unrestricted access to AI – and why watchdogs need more powers to do something about it

One Nation’s new AI-generated campaign video is a new low – even for them.

The video – reportedly played at the party’s Victorian campaign launch over the weekend – is an AI-generated collection of racist tropes, depicting a man who appears to be African brandishing a machete, an apparently Middle Eastern man with an explosive vest, a south Asian man in a turban talking about “mass migration” and an Indigenous elder talking about people receiving “money … on the basis of need, not identity”.

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One Nation to establish headquarters in multimillion dollar Brisbane office bought by Gina Rinehart

Barnaby Joyce defends move, saying party will lease space off mining billionaire’s company at commercial rates

Barnaby Joyce says there’s no conflict of interest between One Nation and mining billionaire, Gina Rinehart, after it was revealed Australia’s richest woman had bought a new multimillion dollar Brisbane city office for the minor-party to lease.

The One Nation MP said the party’s national head office would pay the market rate to Rinehart’s company to rent the space, claiming there would be no mate’s rates.

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Guardian Essential poll: Coalition’s primary vote sinks to lowest ever as majority support hardline immigration ideas

More than half of Australians want to see the country’s migrant intake lowered while One Nation’s primary vote climbs to 25%

The Coalition has failed to capitalise on growing criticism of Labor, with the opposition stuck at its lowest-ever primary vote in the Guardian Essential poll.

The poll also shows more than half of all Australians want immigration cut and have voiced support for hardline enforcement, such as forced deportation.

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One Nation boss called David Farley an ‘asshole’ in lead-up to Farrer byelection, text messages reveal

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show that Kelvin Morton has also clashed with party HQ staff and Brisbane volunteers

One Nation’s general manager, Kelvin Morton – brought in by the party to improve its vetting processes – referred to David Farley as an “asshole” just days before Farley’s historic Farrer byelection win for the party in May.

In a series of text messages seen by Guardian Australia, Morton responds to a news article published in the Sydney Morning Herald about infighting among senior party figures over Farley’s previously undeclared support for the Labor party.

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Australia news live: Anthony Albanese says OpenAI agent hacked Medicare

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Anthony Albanese has revealed an artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI hacked Medicare in June.

The prime minister made the comments at the UN summit in New York.

This incident occurred in June this year and involved an Open AI agent gaining unauthorised access into the public-facing Medicare statistics reporting service portal, which is administered by Services Australia.

The AI agent accessed both public and non-public files.

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Australia news live: Chalmers says ‘monetised misogyny’ online fuelling DV; Greens say triple-zero run for ‘profits of corporations’

Follow the day’s news live

Jim Chalmers was also asked earlier if the government would support a national royal commission into violence against women and children. He said the government had chosen to increase resourcing for child and family violence and domestic violence, adding to the ABC:

We’re trying to deal with the sources of all of this violence, whether it be more security in the housing system, whether it be the monetised misogyny that we see online – there are a whole range of factors feeding in here.

We do acknowledge that all of this violence is obviously entirely unacceptable. It’s horrific in every way. That’s why we’ve increased the resources and that’s why we all need to do better to do everything we can to make a difference here.

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Alleged underworld supporters and unfounded health claims: One Nation rolls out more Victorian election candidates

Party has unveiled a steady stream of contenders for state election, including a former councillor who lost his licence for drink-driving

Candidates contesting the Victorian state election for One Nation include a former Liberal who has won support from alleged underworld figures, a naturopath who has endorsed Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that paracetamol is linked to autism and a former shire councillor who lost his licence for drink-driving.

Pauline Hanson announced who would be her party’s upper house candidates and Victorian leader, Warren Pickering, at a press conference last month. Since then One Nation has used social media to unveil a steady stream of candidates, with 51 of the 88 lower house spots now filled.

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Pauline Hanson says she’s sorry ‘if I offended people’ with Indigenous Australians remarks

One Nation leader had been condemned by figures from across the political spectrum over the resurfaced podcast comments

Pauline Hanson has made a qualified apology after describing Indigenous Australians as the “most primitive race on Earth”, saying she did not intend to upset people and said she was sorry “if I offended people”.

The One Nation leader has been under fire from figures across the political spectrum after the comments from a podcast released in September 2025 resurfaced.

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Do not call her a racist: anti-Pauline Hanson strategists tell campaigners character attacks won’t work in Victoria

Exclusive: strategic rethink urges progressive activists to respectfully steer one-on-one conversations with One Nation supporters towards economic concerns

The message from strategists was blunt: do not, however tempting, personally attack Pauline Hanson or call her a racist.

The request has been made to progressive campaigners and unionists who have been asked to start one-on-one conversations with One Nation supporters before the Victorian election in November.

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‘I don’t want to be here’: Andrew Hastie was a reluctant but ‘straightforward’ witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

The Liberal MP and former SAS soldier is under attack from One Nation after complying with a subpoena to give evidence in the failed 2022 civil case

“I don’t dislike Mr Roberts-Smith at all. I pity Mr Roberts-Smith. I pity this whole process. I don’t want to be here.”

Andrew Hastie was a reluctant witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hastie appeared only under force of subpoena in 2022: compelled to attend court, obliged to swear an oath, and to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

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One Nation’s Warren Pickering admits to illegal drug use and says he is ‘no angel’ in extraordinary press conference

Victorian One Nation leader says his actions ‘hurt people I loved, and I will live with that forever’

The Victorian One Nation leader, Warren Pickering, has admitted he “made mistakes” in his 20s, including using ecstasy, methamphetamines and marijuana, losing his licence multiple times for drink driving and hurting people he loved.

But he has denied claims by his ex-partner, published by The Australian, that he smoked ice – also known as crystal meth – in front of children and said he was considering legal action against the publication at a press conference on Tuesday. Guardian Australia and the ABC were barred from attending the press conference.

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NSW Greens MP pleads with federal colleagues not to back National party motion to block koala park deal

Federal Greens partyroom split over plan for NSW to get millions of dollars’ worth in carbon credits for creating a koala national park

A New South Wales Greens MP has pleaded with her federal colleagues not to vote with the Coalition and One Nation to block a plan for the NSW government to get millions of dollars’ worth in carbon credits for creating a koala national park.

Sue Higginson, a former lawyer and forest campaigner turned NSW upper house MP, is the first member of the minor party to speak in detail about a dispute that has split the Greens and environmentalists.

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One Nation’s immigration policy is clear as mud – but that ambiguity could be a secret weapon for Pauline Hanson

The party’s key figures are either unable or unwilling to neatly articulate their migration targets, contradicting one another – and themselves

One Nation has experienced a swell in popular support in the past year, and has primarily done so off the back of tough talk on immigration – a policy area almost synonymous with its leader, Pauline Hanson.

But a series of blunders this week show a party unable, or unwilling, to clearly articulate what it would actually do about immigration levels.

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News live: dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods

Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live

Dfat aware of a ‘number’ of Australians in flood zone

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said it is aware of a “number” of Australians in the area affected by the flooding, saying officials stand ready to provide consular assistance.

We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China.

Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.

We are deeply saddened by the devastating flooding in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and surrounding areas.

Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster. We express our solidarity with the people of Nepal during this difficult time.

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One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts ‘in two minds’ about whether gay people should be equal

Footage shows senator on stage at the Church and State conference responding to question about party’s director James Ashby

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts told a conference earlier this year that he was in “two minds” about whether gay people should have equal rights.

In footage from June’s Church and State conference, released on Sunday, the senator can be seen responding to a question about James Ashby, the party’s director, who is gay.

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Swans fans turn up to support women’s team – as it happened

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Victorian Labor expands on free dental care election promise

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, and health minister, Ingrid Stitt, have held a press conference this morning off the back of their announcement yesterday that the Labor government would open 10 free public dental clinics if re-elected in November.

You can’t use a Medicare card for dental unless you’ve got a healthcare card or you are a category of a particular citizen, it is very difficult … I’ve been visiting a lot of dentists over the past few weeks. There [are] waiting lists. People are in enormous, unbearable pain.

This will be a cost of living measure but it will also make sure that we deal with the healthcare of some of the most vulnerable Victorians. This is really going to fill the gap that’s been there for decades.

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