Australian politics live: fourfold surge in home battery installations after federal subsidy; O’Brien says Liberals can stand alone | Australia news
important events
Labor ‘mindful’ of government’s role in spending
finance minister Katy Gallagher He has been on the hot seat today, taking part in morning media interviews and pressing government spending, which currently stands at over 27% of Australia’s GDP.
Speaking to RN Breakfast, he says there are huge pressures on the budget, including defence, health, aged care and the NDIS.
He also defends the budget, saying the government has already found billions of dollars in savings and last year asked the civil service to find 5% of the lowest priority spending (which caused some controversy).
We are aware of the role of public expenditures in the economy. We are responsible for the decisions we make. We saved 114 billion dollars.
If you take the NDIS alone, it was growing at 22 per cent when we came into government. We’re reducing that to 8%… I think part of what we need to do is manage large programs that are growing very quickly, and that’s what we’re doing. So, the NDIS, aged care, but there are other areas where as finance minister I look at all these programs and think about what’s going on there and how we can reduce some of the growth or increasing pressure.
Cait Kelly
Nearly 40,000 people aged 15-24 have nowhere to live in Australia each year, and only 3.1% have access to long-term housing, according to a new report from the Home Time Youth coalition.
Each year, only 23.6% of young people have access to medium-term housing, while the majority become homeless and many are turned away without any help.
The main cause of youth homelessness is domestic violence (83%), with early experiences of homelessness significantly increasing the risk of long-term or chronic homelessness.
The report found that Youth Homelessness costs the government $626 million each year in preventable health and justice system costs, and that every dollar invested in youth housing returns $2.60 in community benefit.
Cait Kelly
New data from the Productivity Commission has revealed the number of Australians in prison has risen to an eight-year high, while the number of prisoners dying from unnatural causes has risen to 26, almost half of whom are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
The national average daily prison population increased by 5.9% in 2024-25, reaching an eight-year high of 45,526; real net operating expenses reach $5.43 billion in 2024-25; This is up 4.3% since 2023-24 and 49.3% over the last 10 years.
Across the country, 22 people, including 6 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, died in police custody. This is down from 2022-23, when the total number of deaths in police custody was 41, an 18-year high.
However, in 2024–25, 26 people died in prisons from ‘unnatural causes’, including suicide, drug overdose, accidental injury or murder; This number is the highest in the last five years; 10 of these were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Independent MP says government spending is too high
Independent Member of Parliament Zali Steggall It also pressures the government to reduce its spending and calls on the government to take responsibility for increasing inflation.
Speaking to the Today Show earlier this morning, Steggall said the government needed to consider where it needed to “re-prioritise spending”. He says:
We need to look at the factors affecting inflation. Of course, the RBA has found that private sector spending is too high, but we must be clear that government spending has now risen to 28% of GDP… What are we spending on, what is beneficial and supportive of the Australian people? And I think that’s where we really need to ask the government questions.
National Senator also joined Steggall Matt Canavan“It’s a bad day for Australian homeowners who are facing a huge, huge increase in mortgage payments due to this mismanagement of our economy,” he says.
Coalition does not support capital gains tax reforms
Financial Review This morning it is reporting that the government may consider rolling back the generous 50% capital gains tax cut for property investors.
The Greens are currently conducting a federal investigation into the tax cut, with calls from the NSW government requiring the policy to be reconsidered.
Staying with O’Brien on Sky, he asked whether the opposition would support any changes to the CGT. No, short answer:
This is what happens when you have a Labor government that runs out of money and is looking for more. What are they doing? They tax people… We will not join them Jim Chalmers He said he was trying to demand more money from Australians because he couldn’t stop his spending.
Ted O’Brien tries to achieve ‘Jimflation’
Shadow treasurer and shadow deputy treasurer, who coined the term late last year. Ted O’Brien is still trying to achieve “Gimflation”.
The government is feeling the pressure from yesterday’s rate hike, which the Coalition said was a result of record government spending.
So what will the Coalition cut and where will it find savings? Speaking to Sky News, O’Brien is not saying anything yet:
Cuts are not the priority here. There are offsets and they are very different things and so the government has the right to determine what its spending priorities are, but with those rights come commensurate responsibilities and that means finding room in the budget to pay for them.
Again the host Peter Stefanovic He forces O’Brien to list where those savings will come from, but the shadow treasurer keeps the list extensive.
Basic principles. IT [tax] It needs to be lower, it needs to be fairer.
The coalition may reform this week under the following conditions: Ley
Ley faces two challenges, the other being of course Coalition division. Yesterday, we reported that the Liberal leader had offered the Nats a deal that would keep three former front row players out of the front row for six months.
He says he expects to meet David Littleproud again today.
The coalition could reform this week, but under certain conditions, and those conditions are overwhelmingly supported by the majority of my party room. And they say shadow cabinet solidarity is essential. This shadow cabinet and party room takes precedence over any party room, and three senators face ongoing suspensions.
Ley: Leadership rumors ‘ridiculous suggestions’
Susan Ley answered questions about his leadership due to the possibility of a leak Angus Taylor is hiding behind it.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast this morning, Ley was asked whether she had spoken to Taylor about the not-so-secret meeting of leading senior members of the right wing before the former Liberal MP on Thursday. Katie Allen‘s funeral.
He says Taylor is in his leadership group: “We had discussions about the issue of interest. [rates]It’s about the conditions Australians face.
So is he worried that Taylor is planning to replace him next week? Ley’s explanation is as follows:
These are ridiculous suggestions and they are not conversations I have with colleagues, they are being made by people in the media and are not the focus of my team.
He’s trying to redirect the conversation to focus on interest rates and inflation.
Deputy leader says Liberal party can do it alone
Daisy Dumas
shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, He says the Liberal party has the ability to fight the Albanian government on its own if the impasse between the Liberals and the Nationals is not resolved.
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 program last night, the deputy opposition leader said “there is no doubt that voters want to ensure that we have a stable opposition, an effective opposition. There is no doubt about that and I cannot argue otherwise.”
Whether that opposition comes from the Liberal party holding the government to account or from a reunited Liberal-National party, let’s wait and see.
Australia would be best served by a Coalition, but at the end of the day if that doesn’t happen then I have great confidence in the depth of talent within the Liberal party and yes, I believe we can certainly hold a very weak government to account.
Battery installations quadrupled after federal subsidy, report says
Petra Stock
Solar photovoltaic installations in Australia have quadrupled in the second half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
The Clean Energy Council’s rooftop solar and storage report released today revealed more than 450,000 home batteries had been installed across Australia by the end of last year.
Australians have continued to embrace solar energy, with more than 139,000 systems installed in the second half of 2025. This brings the number of households using solar power to 4.3 million.
As a result, Australia’s share of rooftop solar has continued to grow, accounting for 14.2% of energy supplied to the grid in 2025; It has almost doubled since 2020, when it was 7.2%.
CEC CEO, Jackie Trad, He said the figures were a testament to incentives such as the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program, launched in July along with other state-based programs in New South Wales and Western Australia, that have expanded Australia’s long-standing love of rooftop solar.
Our largest power plant is now on the rooftops of more than 4.3 million households, helping to put downward pressure on electricity bills for consumers and businesses by being less reliant on expensive gas or unreliable coal to power our grid.
On Tuesday, the minister of climate and energy said Chris Bowen, He told parliament that more than 218,000 home batteries had been installed under the federal government’s subsidy scheme. This number was expected to rise to 2 million by 2030, as part of the expansion of the program announced in December.
Good morning
Krishani Dhanji
Krishani Dhanji We are with you for another busy day in Parliament.
The government will remain on the defensive against yesterday’s decision to raise interest rates by the Central Bank, which had previously publicly stated that the economy had “turned the corner” on inflation. There will be a lot of reactions to this decision today.
There is some new data that shows a record number of solar panels are being installed in Australian homes; We’ll talk more about this in a moment.
And the Liberals and Nationals are still out (Labour says Beckham family style), but “constructive” talks continue; We will closely monitor any movement there.
I got my coffee, I hope you got your coffee too; let’s get started!
