Australian politics live: Lambie compares ‘dangerous’ Hanson to Trump; NSW One Nation leader wants abortion ‘stopped’ | Australian politics
Lambie pleads with voters to reject ‘dangerous’ and ‘delusional’ Hanson
Sarah Basford Canales
Jacqui Lambie has warned Australians not to support a “dangerous” and “delusional” Pauline Hanson, drawing comparisons between the One Nation leader and controversial international leaders.
In a speech during adjournment last night in the Senate, the Tasmanian senator said she had received a stream of abuse after her impassioned defence of Andrew Hastie after he was repeatedly labelled a “traitor” in One Nation’s cartoon series.
Lambie said:
One Nation whips up the anger and they tell people who to blame. That’s the populist trick … It’s a trick Australia, and we’ve got to wake up to it. Because every time a populist leader, like Trump or Farage, get any power, the lives of working people don’t get better. They get worse.
The outspoken senator criticised Donald Trump’s potential forever war with Iran while singling out Hanson’s support of his actions.
You’d put [Australian soldiers] back in another American forever war? [Hanson] is not only dangerous, she’s delusional!
Lambie said figures such as Trump and Nigel Farage were great at telling people they would fight for them while doing the opposite.
Senator Hanson will be fine in her retirement, as will Nigel and Donald in theirs, because once again they are feathering their own nests … Australia can choose not to follow the ugly politics of populism, we can do better because we bloody are better.
And it’s not about right or left, it’s about respect and finding solutions, and not operating from a place of fear – whatever side you’re on.
Key events
One Nation running ‘US-style Maga politics’, Hastie says
Andrew Hastie says the national tone has “taken a real dip” with One Nation making politics personal and “Maga-style”.
It’s certainly personal for Hastie with One Nation targeting his Western Australian seat of Canning, and Hastie and Pauline Hanson currently feuding over a cartoon video that labelled the former SAS captain a “traitor”.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Hastie says he hasn’t spoken to Hanson in the last week.
The national tone has take a real dip of late and become quite personal, US-style Maga politics have been run by One Nation, and I have decided to push back. We want to win the next election as the Coalition and it’s a three-cornered contest and the Liberal party should be striving to be number one on the ballot. That’s what I’ve been arguing for.
It seems like a pretty clear message to his party to push back hard on Hanson and One Nation.
Asked more explicitly if he’d be comfortable with the Coalition joining with One Nation to form government, Hastie says the Liberals need to focus on themselves … at least for now.
Our primary vote is still very low compared to what it’s been in historic terms, we have to focus on being number one in terms of primary votes. Whatever happens after the election I don’t know. We’re fighting for our survival and we should be focused on that.
Sports precinct funding report reveals a ‘pattern of behaviour’, Wilson says
Tim Wilson says there are plenty of questions for Labor to answer over a report in the ABC which says health minister Mark Butler’s office asked an Adelaide council to put forward a $6m sports precinct upgrade for federal funding before any detailed costings or formal planning had been done.
Labor then awarded the project $5m of funding in the 2025 election – under the invite-only grant scheme.
Wilson tells News24 the government needs to explain who reached out to the council, who made the initial contact, what proposals were put forward and whether Butler is an honorary member of the club.
I think what we’re now seeing is a pattern of behaviour. The prime minister gave a grant to a golf course in his electorate just around the corner from his home, of which he was a member, which he failed to declare. Now we have the health minister, the next wannabe prime minister, doing exactly the same thing.
I think the problem we’ve got is the government was in a desperate attempt before the last election to stay in office. Now, the election turned out differently than as it appeared in, say, November 2024. And so they scurry to try and dole out public money to get themselves in a winnable position. The problem is it’s now catching up with them.
‘Ball was dropped’ on antisemitism, former spy boss says
Former Asio boss Dennis Richardson told the Lowy Institute last night that the “ball was dropped” on antisemitism, but this morning says he won’t focus on any particular people to ascribe responsibility.
Speaking to RN Breakfast, Richardson says some things that were said in the public sphere, citing comments posted to social media by an Islamic preacher in November 2023, were not immediately and widely condemned as they should have been.
He adds the country needs to have a discussion about Islamic extremism without making Muslim Australians feel targeted.
That’s a difficult thing to do. However, I think one way to do it is to ensure that Muslim leaders are at the centre of any such discussion and guide that discussion in a way that Australian Muslims as a whole do not feel targeted. Because there is a real risk when you have a discussion about extremist Islam, you have a real risk that Muslims as a whole feel under pressure. Equally, if you don’t have that discussion, you play into the hands of extremists at the other end of the spectrum.
Asked whether the royal commission – which he was initially engaged in but then left – has heard from the right people and was doing the right work, he says everyone should withhold judgment until the final report is released later this year, but that it has already done an “outstanding” job of spotlighting the experiences of Jewish Australians.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
One Nation will continue dominating chatter across the halls of parliament today, and if you haven’t already, take a read of my colleague Sarah Martin’s piece on Pauline Hanson’s daughter working remotely without ministerial approval.
And what to do with AI and whether it will lead to the end of human civilisation? The issue has drastically ramped up in Canberra this week after a slow down warning from tech leaders, while creatives push for the government to hold strong on copyright protections.
It’s going to be another busy one – let’s get cracking.
Gambling company fined $1m for sending 800 messages to 165 people on Betstop
Henry Belot
Betting company Dabble has been fined more than $1m for continuing to send more than 800 messages to 165 gamblers who had joined the federal government’s self-exclusion register and asked to be left alone.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority also found the gambling company failed to close the betting accounts of 157 people who registered with Betstop, which helps people break their gambling addictions.
In a statement, Acma said Dabble sent more than 2,000 push notifications to 45 customers without including any information about the Betstop service, which is a legal requirement.
The watchdog has fined the company $1,069,200. According to Acma, Dabble has also been given a court-enforceable undertaking to guarantee future compliance with the rules.
Acma member, Carolyn Lidgerwood, said the breaches were serious and undermined the federal government’s harm minimisation strategy.
People who register with BetStop have made a clear decision to exclude themselves from online wagering. Providers must respect that decision by closing their accounts promptly and ensuring they are not targeted with gambling promotions.
BetStop is an important consumer protection measure, but it only works if wagering companies follow the rules. The Acma will take action where wagering providers fail to meet their obligations.
NSW government to smooth transfer of rental bond from one property to the next from today
Renters in NSW will be able to transfer their bond from one property to the next from today, meaning they won’t need to come up with thousands of dollars upfront every time they move.
It’s expected Smart Rental Bonds will save more than two million renters across the state up to $4,000 each time they move home – though the online scheme costs $25 to use.
The NSW government will pay the landlord the bond upon the end of the lease, while the renter will repay the government.
Renters will need to pay the difference if the second bond is higher – equally they will be refunded the difference if it is cheaper, provided there is no agreed claim on the bond.
The NSW government scheme has already seen $1m in bond transfers in Penrith, Parramatta and the Central Coast, where it was rolled out early.
It follows similar moves to make renting fairer in NSW, including a ban on no grounds evictions, a limit of one rent increase a year, enforcing fee-free ways to pay rent and making it easier for people to have pets.
NSW One Nation leader fronts rally opposing ‘abortion up to birth’
Caitlin Cassidy
The head of One Nation in New South Wales has fronted a rally opposing “abortion up to birth” ahead of an expected vote in the upper house on Libertarian member John Ruddick’s bill to ban “sex-selective abortions” during private member’s business today.
Mike Newman appeared alongside members of fringe parties outside the state’s parliament house on Tuesday evening, where he claimed One Nation wanted to “stop” abortion rights. Stumbling upon his words, he told the crowd:
We want to stop it. We want to make sure that same-sex, sorry, abortion is stopped. We want to make sure that people have the right to life, and we will vote for you in favour of that.
Debate on Ruddick’s bill was adjourned in the June sitting week, and is expected to be decided via a conscience vote. Labor and opposition sources said the vote was expected to be close, or for support for Ruddick’s bill to fall slightly short.
The event follows another anti-abortion rally in June, attended by One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce, where he piled pressure on Nationals MPs to vote on favour of the bill.
Some members were expected to be absent for today’s vote, including Shooters, Farmers and Fishers MLC Robert Borsak, who spoke in favour of the bill in June. A senior Liberal source said that without members including Borsak, there did not appear to be “any room or margin” which could deliver Ruddick’s bill.
Caitlin Cassidy
UK ‘on track’ to begin building Aukus submarines, Marles says
Richard Marles was also asked about Aukus, and whether he was concerned about reports from the UK which indicated the Labour government was delaying its decision about beginning to build the boats by two years to 2028.
He said there was “no change” on Australia’s end in terms of the UK’s position and rejected that they were “red flags”.
The ultimate number of submarines is not the key issue here, the key issue is the development of the design, the pace of that which is happening.
The UK is on track to cut steel in respect of its first SSN Aukus submarine next year. It’s on track to have that submarine come off the production line in the UK in the late 2030s. That’s perfect timing in respect of what we’re doing … We are really comfortable with what is happening there.
Caitlin Cassidy
Marles takes ‘comfort’ from AI company boss’s call for safeguards around the technology
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, says he is “comforted” by a recent essay from the boss of artificial intelligence company Anthropic which warned his industry must slow the pace in developing AI systems.
Appearing on ABC’s 7.30 program on Tuesday evening, Marles was asked about Dario Amodei’s comments urging governments to press pause on the AI revolution.
He replied:
I actually take comfort in Dario Amodei’s essay and the call he’s made … It’s firstly not about … stopping this all together but rather making sure that the development of the safeguards that are in place in respect of this technology is in front of the technological capability itself …
The technology is being developed very quickly, and … from an Australian point of view, our focus is making sure that, in seeing this as a revolutionary technology which can be doing so much good in Australia, that we do have in place … AI safeguards in Australia which make sure that this is a technology which will benefit Australians and not the other way around.
Lambie pleads with voters to reject ‘dangerous’ and ‘delusional’ Hanson
Sarah Basford Canales
Jacqui Lambie has warned Australians not to support a “dangerous” and “delusional” Pauline Hanson, drawing comparisons between the One Nation leader and controversial international leaders.
In a speech during adjournment last night in the Senate, the Tasmanian senator said she had received a stream of abuse after her impassioned defence of Andrew Hastie after he was repeatedly labelled a “traitor” in One Nation’s cartoon series.
Lambie said:
One Nation whips up the anger and they tell people who to blame. That’s the populist trick … It’s a trick Australia, and we’ve got to wake up to it. Because every time a populist leader, like Trump or Farage, get any power, the lives of working people don’t get better. They get worse.
The outspoken senator criticised Donald Trump’s potential forever war with Iran while singling out Hanson’s support of his actions.
You’d put [Australian soldiers] back in another American forever war? [Hanson] is not only dangerous, she’s delusional!
Lambie said figures such as Trump and Nigel Farage were great at telling people they would fight for them while doing the opposite.
Senator Hanson will be fine in her retirement, as will Nigel and Donald in theirs, because once again they are feathering their own nests … Australia can choose not to follow the ugly politics of populism, we can do better because we bloody are better.
And it’s not about right or left, it’s about respect and finding solutions, and not operating from a place of fear – whatever side you’re on.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Jacqui Lambie has launched a fiery attack on Pauline Hanson, urging Australians not to support the “dangerous” and “delusional” One Nation leader. More coming up.
