Australia news LIVE: Sussan Ley defends leadership as Liberals and Nationals reel from Coalition split
PM attends funeral for Labor mastermind killed in alleged assault
By Hamish Hastie
The nation’s political and business elite turned out in their hundreds to say goodbye to Labor election mastermind and Mineral Resources director Tim Picton, 36, at a memorial at Optus Stadium on Friday morning.
Nearly 750 people squeezed into the Riverview Room at the stadium, with Picton’s wife Priya and four-year-old daughter Charlotte sitting alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, former WA premier Mark McGowan, WA Premier Roger Cook, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskus and Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison.
Picton’s sister Jo and brother, South Australian Health Minister Chris, led the tributes for their brother.
“When he arrived, he completed our family. Chris and I felt it instantly. He was the missing piece,” Jo said. “Tim walked early, and from that moment, he never stayed still for long, which I’m sure we can all attest to.”
South Australian-born Picton died this week after being allegedly coward-punched during a night out in Northbridge.
The alleged assault left him with serious brain bleed and he was placed in a coma, from which he never woke from.
Jo said that despite being four years older than her brother, Picton was her protector.
“It pains me to no end that no matter how hard we championed him when the tables were turned in the last few weeks, we could not protect him,” she said.
Dangerous heatwave heads for south-east Australia
By Lachlan Abbott
Temperatures will soar this weekend across much of south-east Australia as a heatwave moves across the country.
South Australian authorities are holding a press conference to warn about the health threat. The mercury in Adelaide is forecast to reach at least 42 degrees on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.
A total fire ban has been declared across all of Victoria tomorrow as the maximum in Melbourne is forecast to hit 40 degrees. Tuesday is also shaping up to be particularly severe : Mildura, in far north-west Victoria, is forecast to hit 48 degrees.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkin said the severe heat could bring near-record temperatures to some areas.
Sydney, meanwhile, should reach 32 degrees tomorrow, but isn’t expected to get as hot at the start of next week.
Brisbane will heat up on Australia Day, when temperatures reach 37 degrees, but Perth is unusually cool at the moment.
ASX recovers after slow start as gold miners rise
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In business news, the Australian sharemarket climbed into the green by lunchtime after more gains on Wall Street following US President Donald Trump walking back his most severe threats over Greenland.
The S&P/ASX 200 started the session slightly lower but was up 19.6 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8868.3 points, just before 2.30pm.
Stocks tied to gold jumped after the price of the safe-haven metal rebounded.
Financial stocks gave up some of Thursday’s strong gains. Commonwealth Bank (down 1.3 per cent), Westpac (down 0.8 per cent), National Australia Bank (down 0.8 per cent) and ANZ Bank (down 1.2 per cent) all lost ground.
Read the latest market news here. (https://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/asx-set-to-edge-higher-as-wall-street-climbs-a-bounces-20260123-p5nweq.html)
Teal MP agrees Coalition chaos ‘potentially’ helps Kooyong bid
By Lachlan Abbott
Independent MP Monique Ryan agrees a dysfunctional Coalition is likely to help her win her coveted Kooyong seat at the next election, but says she is still not rubbing her hands with glee.
“I think this is a really distressing time for many people who know that the Albanese government needs to be held to account and that the Coalition has been failing to do that for a long time,” she said on ABC Radio Melbourne this morning.
“I mean, the crossbench is willing to step up to the extent that we can – and I think we have done that effectively – but we want the opposite side of politics to be effective.”
Pushed on whether it helped her election prospects, she said: “I guess, potentially.”
Ryan also said she had concerns with the hate crimes legislation that triggered the Coalition schism, even though she voted in favour of it.
“We had communities asking us to take action on it, and it seemed that the right thing to do was to take some action as best we could,” she said.
“But what I said in my speech earlier this week is that we put politics in front of policy, and I hope that’s not going to be something that ends up blowing up in people’s faces.”
Conservative Liberal gives Ley lukewarm support as leader
By Lachlan Abbott
Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam, a member of the party’s right faction, has given Sussan Ley a relatively lukewarm endorsement to continue as party leader after yesterday’s Coalition implosion.
Asked on 3AW today whether Ley would last as leader, the shadow home affairs minister said:
Well, no one’s challenged her. There’s no one ringing around. I can tell your listeners, I’ve not had a single solitary phone call from anyone saying: ‘Will you vote for me as leader?’
So that being the case, she will be our leader. I support her.
Duniam credited Ley with settling the party’s energy policy, despite the dumping of a net zero emissions target being widely criticised by climate scientists and the teal movement that has ravaged moderate Liberal seats in the last two elections.
He also defended her from accusations she was at fault for the Nationals walking away from the Coalition.
“I think it’s a bit difficult to control what others do in they’re their own party,” Duniam said. “What’s happened is lamentable. It is not what Australians want.”
Regarding the Nationals’ concerns with the hate crimes bill, Duniam added: “I briefed the Nats multiple times on these issues, drafted amendments for them. It’s disappointing they couldn’t find the way through that we did in the short time we had.”
NSW premier mourns ‘terrible crime’ as three shot dead in state’s west
By Max Maddison
NSW Premier Chris Minns has described the death of three people in Lake Cargelligo as a “terrible crime” and has urged people not to confront a man police are searching for in relation to the shootings.
Three people, two women and a man, were shot dead on Thursday afternoon in the rural town, which lies about 130 kilometres north of Griffith in the state’s west. A fourth person, a 19-year-old man, was seriously injured and taken to hospital. Police are searching for Julian Ingram, 37, in relation to the shootings.
“Let me start first by saying that’s a tragic series of events ... There is an active police operation. There are specialist police forces that have been moved into site,” Minns said on Friday morning.
“It’s a terrible crime. Gun-related violence is something that’s a big issue.”
Minns was unable to confirm whether Ingram was a licensed gun owner or whether he was subject to a current apprehended violence order.
“I’m not in a position to run a commentary on the circumstances that might have led to this,” he said. “People should heed the instructions of police in the area as we seek to apprehend the individual.”
Read the full story here (https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/manhunt-for-alleged-killer-after-three-people-shot-dead-in-nsw-town-20260123-p5nwez.html) .
Inside the Coalition split: From attack to collapse in 48 hours
By Natassia Chrysanthos, Paul Sakkal and Mike Foley
Late on Tuesday night, long after lights in the House of Representatives had dimmed and other lower house MPs had retreated to their hotels or restaurants around Canberra, Nationals leader David Littleproud sidled into the Senate chamber.
Senators were still in the thick of a late-night debate about whether to pass Labor’s hate crimes laws, which would criminalise hate groups and crack down on visas in response to last month’s Bondi massacre.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley had struck a deal with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, guaranteeing support for Labor’s laws if he agreed to a few of their requests.
But the Nationals wanted extra amendments.
Read the full inside story about the Coalition’s implosion here (https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/inside-the-coalition-split-from-attack-to-collapse-in-48-hours-20260122-p5nw4x.html) .
Nationals senator insists Littleproud has party backing
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Former Nationals frontbencher Susan McDonald has insisted that David Littleproud’s leadership is safe for now and said she hoped the Coalition could rejoin forces quickly.
“I’m very optimistic the Coalition will get back together at some point because we know that united, we are stronger,” she told AAP today.
“However, at the moment, circumstances are that I think that is unlikely in the near term.”
McDonald, of course, was one of the three Nationals whose vote against shadow cabinet-backed hate crimes legislation precipitated the Coalition’s combustion.
AAP with Lachlan Abbott
Leeser ‘sad’ that Nationals voted against hate crimes bill
By Lachlan Abbott
Liberal frontbencher Julian Leeser has blamed the Nationals for blowing up the Coalition, expressing disappointment that three senators voted against hate crime legislation that shadow cabinet supported.
“Sussan Ley has my unequivocal support,” Leeser said on ABC News this hour, crediting the opposition leader with pushing to recall parliament and pass laws after the Bondi attack.
“I am sad that the Nationals didn’t agree with us on this particular issue because it’s so important.”
Leeser said former shadow cabinet members Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald could have abstained from voting on the hate crimes legislation like their lower house colleagues.
He argued their open opposition meant they had to face consequences.
“Senior frontbenchers in the shadow cabinet need to adhere to shadow cabinet positions,” said Leeser, who stepped down from the opposition frontbench in the last parliament to support the Voice to parliament that his party opposed.
“I know that well, because I myself have stood down from the shadow cabinet in the past when I disagreed with the position of my shadow cabinet colleagues.”
Ruston rebukes Littleproud for comments about Ley
By Lachlan Abbott
Liberal senator Anne Ruston backed Sussan Ley’s leadership today and said it was not appropriate for David Littleproud to rule out serving in a Coalition with her as leader.
Speaking on ABC Radio National earlier today, Ruston said the Coalition breakdown was unfortunate, but blamed the Nationals for its disintegration.
“We would like to see a Coalition continue, but the circumstances around the actions of the National Party this week left the leader with no option but to accept the resignations of three people who, by their own admission, broke the very fundamental rule of a Coalition, and that is shadow cabinet solidarity,” she said.
“So I think the leader is absolutely right.”
Asked if it was appropriate for Littleproud to effectively say the Nationals would not rejoin the Coalition with Ley as Liberal leader, Ruston said:
No, it’s not.
I mean, the decision as to who is the leader of the Liberal Party is a matter for the Liberal Party. It’s not the matter for the National Party or anybody else for that matter. And you know, I believe absolutely the Liberal Party has the right to make decisions about its leader, and we will not be dictated to by anybody as to who our leader is.
