Australia news live: Canadian PM to visit next month; One Nation just behind Labor in new federal poll | Australia news
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit Australia next month
Tom McIlroy
Canadian prime minister, Mark CarneyHe will visit Australia early next month and deliver a major speech to the federal parliament.
Anthony Albanese He confirmed that Carney’s visit, scheduled for March 3-6, would include talks on closer economic and security cooperation.
Carney will also visit Sydney and Canberra during the visit.
While in Australia, he will discuss cooperation on investment, economic security, critical minerals and defence. Stronger connections between key institutions in Canada and Australia will also be on the agenda.
“Canada is one of Australia’s closest friends, built on generations of trust with a shared commitment to promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” Albanese said.
“As our countries face new challenges and opportunities, we must deepen our cooperation with our partners to support our national interests.
“I look forward to discussing ways to build on our existing collaboration with Canada to shape the next phase of this important relationship.”
important events
Good morning, Nick Visser I’m here to take over. Let’s get to the morning news.
Jordyn Beazley
South Australian premier Peter Malinaukas said he thought economic inequality, rather than racism, was the main factor drawing voters to the One Nation party.
Malinaukas appeared on the ABC at 7.30pm on Monday and was asked about voting in South Australia that showed the party was no longer seen as a fringe option. Despite a surge in One Nation, polls show Labor steadily heading for a massive victory ahead of next month’s election.
Malinaukas said the “deepest” issue that caught One Nation’s attention was the housing shortage. He said:
“There are legitimate grievances. I think a lot of them come from a sense of economic inequality, a sense that economic opportunities are at risk for future generations and real concerns about that, so the best thing parties in government can do, and I see workers of course being one of them, is to focus on the policy that will make a difference and try to prosecute the arguments for those policies.”
He was also asked whether he thought “there is racism against Muslims in Australia” which One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has “successfully exploited”. He said:
“While there are people on the fringes who share a different view, the vast majority of Australians do not share those views and I want to do my best to represent that. State warriors return to the state to provide for them
South Austereo boss leaves after two months
Jeff Howard has resigned as CEO of the combined Seven West Media and Southern Cross subsidiary Southern Austereo, after just two months on the job.
Howard was appointed boss of the new company but left just before the new financial results were published.
The statement stated that he would resign “with immediate effect.”
Heath Mackay-Cruise became chairman on Friday, after Seven founder Kerry Stokes completed his term as interim chairman of the merged organisation.
Mackay-Cruise said in a statement:
On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Jeff for his efforts throughout the transition period and the successful implementation of the regulatory plan. [for the merger] and the creation of a market-leading, multi-platform media company is now complete.
The board is confident in our team’s ability to apply financial discipline and industry-leading expertise to drive Southern Cross Media Group’s scale and performance going forward.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit Australia next month
Tom McIlroy
Canadian prime minister, Mark CarneyHe will visit Australia early next month and deliver a major speech to the federal parliament.
Anthony Albanese He confirmed that Carney’s visit, scheduled for March 3-6, would include talks on closer economic and security cooperation.
Carney will also visit Sydney and Canberra during the visit.
While in Australia, he will discuss cooperation on investment, economic security, critical minerals and defence. Stronger connections between key institutions in Canada and Australia will also be on the agenda.
“Canada is one of Australia’s closest friends, built on generations of trust with a shared commitment to promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” Albanese said.
“As our countries face new challenges and opportunities, we must deepen our cooperation with our partners to support our national interests.
“I look forward to discussing ways to build on our existing collaboration with Canada to shape the next phase of this important relationship.”
Capital Brief/DemosAU’s latest federal poll shows One Nation’s support continues to grow.
The survey of 1,551 respondents was conducted between 16 and 20 February, days after Angus Taylor replaced Sussan Ley as opposition leader.
But the change had no visible immediate impact: the figures show Labour’s 29% (down 1% from January), One Nation’s 28% (up 4%) and the Coalition’s 21% (unchanged). The Greens and the ‘others’ were defeated.
Anthony Albanese leads the preferred prime minister leadership rankings with 37% (down 2), followed by Pauline Hanson on 25% (down 1) and Taylor on 19% (up 3 points in Ley’s latest poll).
However, Albanians’ net positive score is -17%; While 29% of voters have a positive opinion about the Prime Minister, 46% have a negative opinion. Hanson’s score is -1% (37% positive, 38% negative) and Taylor’s is -4% (24% positive, 28% negative). Ley’s final approval rating was -18%.
DemosAU has made a (very rough) seat projection based on the data, estimating that this would mean a strong majority for Labor and an absolute rout for the Coalition, taking 20 seats at best (possibly as few as 9). One Nation would be the new Opposition with 43-54 seats to Labour’s 76-85.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Canadian prime minister, Mark CarneyThe US will travel to Australia early next month as part of a broader Asia-Pacific tour aimed at diversifying trade links amid ongoing tariff turbulence from the Trump administration. More on that in a moment.
The first public hearing of the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion will begin today with the commissioner and former high court judge in attendance. Virginia Bell to uncover how he will approach the investigation. More is coming.
And the fact that One Nation is just one point behind Labor and seven points ahead of the Coalition in a new federal poll offers further evidence that the party has entered an electoral purple patch.
