Federal politics live: Senior Liberals named to lead review of election disaster

Susan McDonald has been asked whether she supports calls from within the Country Liberal Party to pull out of the Paris Agreement and dump Australia’s net zero emissions target.

McDonald says the Albanese government has rushed the transition to renewable energy.

She says it is increasing energy costs for families and businesses.

“We have seen our biggest trading partners like China and India not have 2050 targets, the US has just pulled out of it altogether. And countries like the UK are using technologies like nuclear to meet their own targets,” McDonald says.

Asked if Australia should pull out of net zero emissions by 2050, McDonald has sidestepped the question and says Labor’s targets are “destroying” Australian families and businesses.

Pressed on that point, and whether the Liberals would be walking into electoral oblivion if they dumps their net zero target, McDonald says she doesn’t think that’s the right question.

“I think the question is, what is in the best interest of Australia and Australian businesses, Australian jobs, Australian families,” she says.

And that’s where we’ll leave Afternoon Briefing for today.

Shadow Resources Minister Susan McDonald has joined Afternoon Briefing where she’s been asked about an Abu Dhabi company’s takeover bid for Santos.

The investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company has made a nearly $30 billion bid for South Australia’s largest company.

McDonald says she has concerns about the offer as it stands, and that it’s up to the Foreign Investment Review Board to determine if the takeover is in Australia’s national interest.

“That is the role of the review board … to satisfy Australians that this will be in Australia’s national interest, that we will see ongoing development of the resources, that they will be supplied to the domestic market,” McDonald says.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the federal government understands why  Donald Trump had to cut short his visit to the G7 summit, effectively cancelling a planned meeting between the US president and Anthony Albanese.

“We were amongst a number of countries whose bilateral meetings were not able to proceed because world events, and in particular regional events in the Middle East, required Trump’s attention, we understand that,” Wong says.

Wong says the federal government looks forward to another meeting taking place between the two leaders.

Asked what the delayed meeting between Albanese and Trump could mean for the Pentagon’s review of AUKUS, Wong says she’ll leave it to the PM to determine how he’ll go ahead with rescheduling a meeting with Trump.

Wong says the AUKUS pact is a good deal for the US, UK and Australia.

The foreign minister has also responded to comments from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley criticising Albanese for failing to secure a meeting with Trump.

Wong says it’s time for the opposition to “back Australia”.

The foreign minister has been asked about reports the US is considering using “bunker buster” bombs to target Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.

Penny Wong says the US secretary of state has said that Washington is maintaining a “defensive posture” in the Middle East.

But says Iran is a threat and that it is a “destabilising force” in the region.

Wong says Iran’s nuclear capabilities, not only risk Israel’s security, but risk international peace and security.

The foreign minister says Australia is urging dialogue and de-escalation because it is concerned about regional conflict.

“There is a real risk of regional escalation with all the risks that brings to all the peoples of the region. A return to dialogue, de-escalation, is called for,” Wong says.

Penny Wong says the Australian government is making plans to assist Australians in the Middle East to safety when it is safe to do so.

The foreign minister says about 650 Australians in Iran and 600 people in Israel have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking to leave the region.

Asked if the government is looking at options to evacuate Australians to nearby countries, Wong says the government is looking at all options.

“We are assessing very carefully the security implications of the security status of various options. We will provide the assistance we can to get people to safety when it is safe to do so,” Wong says.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has joined Afternoon Briefing where she has reiterated her calls for de-escalation and prioritisation of dialogue and diplomacy in the Middle East.

The foreign minister says the Australian government is “concerned” about what is happening in the Middle East.

She says the government is prioritising the safety of Australian personnel and their dependents in Iran’s capital Tehran.

Wong says the government has made its expectations about the safety of Australian staff clear to the Israeli government.

“The location of aerial bombardment is obviously in Israeli hands and you would expect that we have made appropriate representations both through me but also throughout the diplomatic channels,” Wong says.

Asked if the government is worried Australian government workers in Tehran may come under fire, Wong says the safety of staff and their families is of the “utmost priority”.

Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas has started on ABC News.

Tune in as we bring you all of the most important updates over the next hour.

Former Liberal politicians Pru Goward and Nick Minchin will lead a review into the Liberal Party’s 2025 federal election loss.

The Liberals say the review will examine the performance of the Coalition’s campaign, the Liberal Party divisions, and the consultants and service providers used by the party.

It will also look at the party’s historically low primary vote, the party’s electoral performance among different voter groups, and the “challenge” presented by independents.

“Further relevant matters may be considered as the review progresses, where they are judged to have a material bearing on the Party’s electoral prospects,” a Liberal Party statement says.

The party is accepting submissions until August 1.

A defence expert says it’s disappointing a planned meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the US president won’t go ahead.

Donald Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and returning to Washington because of the situation in the Middle East.

The pair were meant to meet on the sidelines in Canada tomorrow, as Australia pushes the US for a commitment to the AUKUS pact and tariff exemptions.

Claire Yorke from the Centre for Future Defence and Security at Deakin University says Australia can still pursue its diplomatic objectives with other allies.

“It will be a disappointment for Prime Minister Albanese, who was looking forward to getting reassurances from America about AUKUS given the announcement of the American review into it last week, and also seeking protections for Australia with the threat of tariffs,” Yorke says.

Former NSW premier Nick Greiner will lead the federal Liberal Party’s intervention into the NSW branch of the Liberal Party.

Senior Liberals have gathered at Liberal Party headquarters in Canberra today to discuss two key issues, including the federal intervention of the NSW Liberal Party.

Speaking outside Liberal HQ, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the intervention, which has been extended for nine months, will be supported by Peta Seaton.

Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston, who were previously part of the panel leading the NSW intervention, have been dumped.

“Nick Greiner will chair a panel going forward and will be supported by Peta Seaton, who was part of the previous panel comprising Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston,” Ley says.

“The good work that has been done by the previous panel will be transferred to the new panel,” she says.

The second major issue that was discussed at today’s meeting was who would lead a review into the Coalition’s 2025 federal election loss.

Ley says the review will be announced shortly and that it will be chaired by “eminent Australians”.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie warns the government cannot afford to wait for the outcome of a test case addressing the NZYQ cohort, after one former detainee allegedly critically injured another man in Melbourne.

A 43-year-old former detainee released after the “NZYQ” High Court ruling was charged on Sunday over an alleged serious assault of a 62-year-old man, who was taken to hospital with critical injuries.

Hastie said the Coalition supported the government to create powers that would allow people released from immigration detention to be re-detained, but the government is yet to make a single application.

“The reason why the parliament rushed through these preventative detention powers 18 months ago was to prevent exactly this sort of scenario, where an innocent person is [allegedly] harmed by a member of this cohort,” he said.

“The question is: What is Tony Burke doing? Why didn’t he exercise the preventative detention powers given to him by the parliament, and why is he being so passive in protecting the Australian community?”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement yesterday separate powers that would see the NZYQ cohort deported were being tested in the High Court.

“The courts are setting the precedents right now on our laws,” Burke said in a statement.

Clerical workers should be allowed to work from home unless their bosses can demonstrate that doing so would be impractical or bad for business, according to Australia’s largest white-collar union.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) has told the workplace umpire there should be a legally binding presumption towards approving requests for remote work in the admin sector unless there are “reasonable business grounds” for refusal.

The proposal, obtained by the ABC, is part of an ongoing Fair Work Commission (FWC) process to better reflect the modern reality of working from home in the legal award for clerical workers, seen as a test case for other workers in the award system.

Business group Ai Group has proposed to the FWC that working from home be agreed between employers and employees and that penalty rates, overtime and other standard perks should not apply to workers who can choose when and where they do their work.

The process is playing out in the context of mounting expectations that the federal government will legislate a work-from-home right for all workers.

A $20,000 custom desk built for a senior public servant working in Parliament House that had been mothballed in storage is now out of retirement.

But it remains a mystery who is using the now-infamous desk.

The Department of Parliamentary Services will only confirm that the desk will be used by “a staff member”.

Read the full story below.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says US President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7, and the PM’s inability to secure a meeting with him, will be to the detriment of Australia.

Ley says Anthony Albanese should not have relied on meeting Trump at the sidelines of the G7 summit.

She says the PM should have been more proactive in securing a face-to-face meeting away from international summits.

“Given the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, this decision is understandable but to the detriment of Australia,” Ley says.

“This was an important opportunity for the prime minister to seek assurances on AUKUS and protect Australia from tariffs.

“The prime minister should have been more proactive in seeking to strengthen this relationship — Australia’s most important — and we encourage him to change his approach to advance our national interest.”

The treasurer says the conflict in the Middle East is having “big implications” for inflation and the global economy.

Jim Chalmers says oil prices have been volatile, jumping between 10 and 11 per cent on Friday.

Asked if Australians will experience a sustained increase in fuel prices, Chalmers says customers will see volatility.

“We’re seeing the gold price shoot up because that’s where people invest when times are uncertain,” Chalmers says.

“And so what that means for us, is the potential of higher petrol prices usually takes a couple of weeks before the international barrel price reaches the bowser price in the suburbs and towns of Australia,” he says.

The treasurer says if the situation in the Middle East deteriorates further and access to sea lanes is affected, there is the prospect of higher petrol prices and reduced global growth.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has appeared on Sky News where he’s been asked about US President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7 summit in Canada.

Chalmers says the president’s return to Washington DC is “not especially surprising” and that it’s understandable he’s leaving early to address matters in the Middle East.

“This was always a chance of happening given what’s happening around the world, particularly in the Middle East,” Chalmers says.

“I don’t think it’s especially surprising. I do think it’s understandable given the events that are unfolding in a really dangerous part of the world,” he says.

He says the PM has had three phone conversations with Trump in recent months, and that the G7 presents Anthony Albanese a “really important opportunity” to meet with other leaders.

We’ve just heard from a spokesperson for the prime minister on Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7.

“Given what is occurring in the Middle East this is understandable,” they said.

“As the prime minister said a short time ago, we are very concerned about the events in the Middle East and continue to urge all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy.”

It’s pretty similar to what Defence Minister Richard Marles told reporters just a short time ago. 

Anthony Albanese will continue with his program at the G7 summit in Canada tomorrow as planned (minus a Trump meeting).

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles says people shouldn’t read too closely into US President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7.

The acting prime minister says it’s “completely understandable” for the US president to return to Washington DC amid the conflict in the Middle East. 

Marles defended the PM’s inability to secure a meeting with Trump, saying Albanese and Trump have had a number of phone calls.

“This is essentially the American president needing to deal with what is obviously playing out in the world today,” Marles says.

“We feel very confident about where the relationship is going with the Trump administration. We understand the circumstances of this moment, and I’m sure that in the not too distant future, you’ll see a meeting between the two leaders,” he says.

The acting PM says Anthony Albanese will continue his program at the G7 without the meeting Trump.

Shadow Trade Minister Kevin Hogan says the prime minister must detail what his plan is now that his meeting with Donald Trump possibly won’t go ahead.

Hogan says Albanese hasn’t been able to secure a face-to-face meeting with the US president seven months after his election.

In a statement, he says Australia has “unresolved issues” that need to be discussed, including tariffs on Australian goods.

“Australia’s economic and security relationship with the United States is one of our most important. With global uncertainty on the rise, it is more important than ever that our government acts with clarity and purpose,” Hogan says.

The ABC’s Americas editor John Lyons says US President Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7 summit in Canada is an “ominous” sign of developments in the Middle East.

Speaking to the ABC News Channel, Lyons says there are indications Iran may want a ceasefire with Israel.

Lyons says the Israel Defense Forces’ heavy bombing of Iran may have caused Iran to engage in talks.

“The fear is of a major new Israeli bombing campaign of parts of Tehran that up until now might have been exempted,” Lyons says.

“There are some strong indications this morning that Iran wants a ceasefire.”

If you’re looking for more information about the conflict in the Middle East, you can follow our dedicated live blog at the link below.