Australia news live: Anthony Albanese to address new caucus where women outnumber men; Liberals set date to pick leader
Key events
SUSAN LAWin the race for Liberal party leadership, is speaking on Sunrise. She says the Liberals “got it wrong” and “need a fresh approach”:
On the weekend, we suffered a significant election defeat and since then, I have been having many conversations with my colleagues, members of the community, with members of the party, indeed the Coalition, with everyday Australians. I have listened. We got it wrong. We need to do things differently, going forward, and we do need a fresh approach. So, on Tuesday morning when the Liberal party room meets in Canberra, I will be putting myself forward for the position of leader of the federal party.
Former Greens leaders speak out
As mentioned earlier, we have a lead story this morning (new popes aside) focusing on Greens reaction to the party’s disappointing showing in the election.
The veteran former leader Bob Brown said that the diminished party had to resist Labor arrogance, particularly on climate and environmental issues. The party should focus on its roots of “being the leading party on protecting the environment and tackling climate change, but also social justice”, he said.
Here’s the full article:
Rafqa Touma
Good morning! Thank you Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’ll be rolling your news updates from here.
Bandt blames boundaries, preferences and primary vote
Adam tiedthe outgoing Greens leader, told ABC 7.30 last night that it was “obviously not the outcome that I wanted” to lose his seat but pinned his loss on changed boundaries in his seat of Melbourne, a dip in the primary vote and preferences:
It is the case that even though we got the highest vote, it will be One Nation and Liberal preferences that do get Labor over the line.
Asked whether he regretted the Greens blocking policies on housing and the establishment of an environmental protection agency, Bandt said his party had secured an extra $3.5bn for public and community housing:
I do wish we’d been able to get the government to the point of not opening new coal and gas mines, but I think these crises, like the climate crisis, the housing crisis, the inequality crisis, they’re only going to get worse unless the government acts.
We have a full report here:
Paterson also said if the Coalition’s policies had been “ready earlier” and “up for public scrutiny”, they could have been well received, adding their nuclear platform must be “up for review”.
Pointed to flaws in the policy, Paterson said the “risks were obvious and it was a political risk”.
I have great admiration for Peter Dutton that he didn’t play it safe in opposition, he took something he thought our country needed and argued for it … “We took it to the last election and it is going to be very difficult for us to take it again to a future election simply for practical reasons.
On their working from home policy, he said it was clear “policy processes need to be improved”.
It’s not always the case that every policy that’s taken to an election goes through robust internal party processes, they don’t always go through shadow cabinet … one of the very clear lessons out of this election campaign is our policy processes need to be improved, … we need to stress test things much earlier and robustly before we release them publicly.
Paterson wouldn’t be drawn into whether he would back SUSAN LAW or Angus Taylor.
James Paterson blames ‘Trump effect’ for defeat
Caitlin Cassidy
The shadow home affairs minister, James Patersonsays the Trump effect is the “single largest factor” that led to the Coalition loss.
Speaking on ABC 7.30 last night, the MP conceded “a lot of things went wrong when you have a loss this bad”, but said Donald Trump’s presidency had a particularly “devastating effect” on polling numbers.
We peaked around inauguration day and slid after that, particularly fast after the Zelenskyy meeting and again after the tariffs. But that’s not to exonerate us of political responsibility there. We could have done more to innoculate ourselves against there and that, there were some things that happened in the months in the lead-up to the campaign and the campaign itself that exaggerated the similarities between us and Donald Trump.
The truth have the politics of the centre right Liberal Party in quite different than what’s has been happening in the Republican party in the US but the government successfully tied us to them and it was devastating.
Liberal party room to elect new leader on Tuesday
Caitlin Cassidy
The Liberal party will meet next Tuesday, 13 May, to elect a new party leader and deputy leader.
A joint statement from acting leader Sussan Ley, Senate opposition leader Michaelia Cash, acting chief opposition whip Melissa Price and chief opposition whip in the Senate Wendy Askew read:
“Having consulted with our colleagues, we announce that a party room meeting of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party will take place in Canberra at 10am on Tuesday, 13 May 2025.
In relation to electorates where the outcome is uncertain and counting continues, the Federal Director of the Liberal Party is tasked with determining which members and candidates are projected to win and therefore who can participate.”
The statement read that “with a bias towards enfranchisement”, Andrew Hirst had been tasked with making projections by 10am Monday “to ensure appropriate travel arrangements can be facilitated”.
Main contenders for the role are Angus Taylor, who could appoint senator Jacinta Price as deputy following her defection to the Liberals, Ley and Dan Tehan.
Read more here:
Albanese to address buoyant Labor caucus in Canberra
Anthony Albanese will address a caucus meeting of his new MPs in Canberra today after his party’s landslide win, Australian Associated Press reports.
The scale of the success has taken even senior Labor ministers by surprise, lending to a buoyant feeling among the party’s members.
A record number of women will be taking their seats in parliament, with women to outnumber men in the Labor partyroom.
At least 46 seats will be held by women in the Labor government out of a total of 150 in the House of Representatives.
More than a dozen new MPs will join the ranks after Labor increased its seats from 77 to at least 90 as the count continues.
Australian National University political historian Frank Bongiorno said Labor hadn’t had a victory this size since 1943.
“It’s a remarkable opportunity for the government to craft a legacy, which could extend even beyond this term,” he said.
“Governments don’t normally extend their majorities … you normally win your first election reasonably comfortably, and then you begin burning political capital straight away in that first term, and then often have to scrape a win the second time round.”
But the hard work starts now for Anthony Albanese after his big win so we’ve been looking at his to-do list, including forming a new cabinet, cutting student debt, delivering an environmental protection agency – and getting married.
Read more here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it will be Rafqa Touma for the bulk of the day.
Our top story is that former Greens leaders have urged the party to stand up to “arrogant” Labor in the new parliament. Bob Brown urged the party to “never again” preference Labor over the Liberals and instead to run an open ticket, while Richard di Natale claimed the Greens had been “unlucky” in Saturday’s election and hit by a “perfect storm”. It comes as the party seeks a new leader to replace Adam tiedwho said on the ABC’s 7.30 last night that boundaries and preferences had contributed towards his defeat. More reaction coming up.
Anthony Albanese will welcome his newly elected MPs to Canberra today as Labor politicians come together for the first time since their emphatic victory at the federal election. The prime minister will address the caucus meeting in Canberra, with women to outnumber men in the Labor party room.
A different atmosphere will abide in the Liberal party room after the party set next Tuesday as the day to elect a new leader. The shadow home affairs minister, James Patersonsaid on 7.30 last night that the Trump effect was the “single largest factor” that led to the Coalition loss. More coming up.
