{"id":580591,"date":"2026-02-10T20:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/580591\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T20:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:05:23","slug":"federal-politics-liberal-moderates-propose-petition-for-angus-taylor-to-prove-support-for-ley-leadership-spill-as-it-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/580591\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal politics: Liberal moderates propose petition for Angus Taylor to prove support for Ley leadership spill \u2014 as it happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:57am<\/p>\n

That’s the end of our live blog!\"Holly<\/p>\n

And with that, we’ll have to leave the federal politics blog here for today. Thank you for joining us!<\/p>\n

You can look back on today’s developments below, or\u00a0download the\u00a0ABC News app<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0subscribe to our range of news alerts\u00a0<\/strong>for the latest updates.<\/p>\n

We’ll see you again tomorrow morning for more federal politics news.<\/p>\n

12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:55am<\/p>\n

ACMA chair orders review into media release processes after ABC reporting\"Romy<\/p>\n

Officials from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have appeared at senate estimates this afternoon.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been asked about reporting by some of my colleagues<\/a> that the regulator changed a draft media statement announcing action against Sportsbet after lobbying from the gambling giant.<\/p>\n

ACMA\u2019s Jeremy Fantin<\/b> says Sportsbet claimed there were factual inaccuracies in the draft statement.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAs a consequence that quote was changed slightly to step back from the direct statement to a more general statement,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ACMA was also asked about ABC reporting<\/a> that the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) successfully convinced the regulator to delay telling the public it had been caught in a massive breach of spam laws.<\/p>\n

Chair Nerida O’Loughlin<\/b> says she believes the delay was linked to the availability of CBA senior management on the day of the release and \u201cwe accept the criticism that has been made\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI ordered a review across the organisation of the way we process these matters and we will change our processes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ms O’Loughlin says ACMA does not intend to make the review public but would provide details to the committee on notice. <\/p>\n

12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:52am<\/p>\n

ABC questioned over Bonnie Blue Facebook hack\"Holly<\/p>\n

Senator Henderson <\/b>has turned her attention to an incident where an ABC Facebook account was hacked and the profile picture was replaced with a photo of adult entertainer Bonnie Blue.<\/p>\n

Hugh Mark\u00a0<\/b>says the broadcaster quickly rectified the issue.<\/p>\n

He confirmed that it was a result of a hack and says ABC technology teams are in communication with Meta<\/b> about “whatever vulnerabilities” might exist.<\/p>\n

“We haven’t finished the review,” he says.<\/p>\n

12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:40am<\/p>\n

Shadow AG says Grace Tame’s intifada chant was ‘disgraceful’\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace<\/b> has condemned\u00a0Grace Tame’s<\/b>\u00a0intifada chant at a demonstration in Sydney yesterday.<\/p>\n

The Australian of the Year recipient attended a protest against Isaac Herzog’s<\/b> visit to Australia and was filmed reportedly chanting, “From Gadigal to Gaza globalise the intifada.”<\/p>\n

The Shadow Attorney-General says the “disgraceful” chant was effectively calling for the extermination of the Israeli people and state.<\/p>\n

Wallace has stopped short of saying Tame should be stripped of her Australian of the Year title, but says the Australia Day council should be taking a “very dim view” of her words.<\/p>\n

\n

“They [the chants] are occurring from an Australian who has won the highest honour in Australia to be awarded the Australian of the Year award. I think that that is entirely antithetical to the principles of the Australian of the Year award,” Wallace says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“There is history, there is precedent for the Australian of the Year award being taken from a recipient,” he says.<\/p>\n

12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:23am<\/p>\n

ABC MD stands by Always Was Tonight program\"Holly<\/p>\n

Liberal senator\u00a0Jacinta Nampijinpa Price<\/b> is back\u00a0with another line of questioning about satirical program Always Was Tonight, hosted by\u00a0Tony Armstrong.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

She says the show endorses racism, pointing to a number of tickers \u2014 the line of text you see at the bottom of the TV screen \u2014 broadcast during the program.<\/p>\n

She points to one that says, ‘The only true crime white Australians don’t love investigating’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s called satire,” Senator Hanson-Young<\/b> interjects from the other side of the room.<\/p>\n

ABC MD Hugh Marks<\/b> is brought back to the question, which is why ABC leadership is “endorsing racism”.<\/p>\n

\n

“Senator, I don’t believe we are endorsing racism,” Marks says.<\/p>\n

“Exactly what that show is designed to do, and we can all have a view on whether it achieved it or not, was to raise and make awareness of important issues.<\/p>\n

“I stand by the program.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

13h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 6:53am<\/p>\n

McIntosh says Grace Tame should be investigated over actions at Sydney protest\"Samantha<\/p>\n

Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh<\/b> says Grace Tame<\/b> should be investigated for her actions at a Sydney protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog.<\/b><\/p>\n

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce<\/b> has called for the Australian of the Year recipient to be stripped of her honour for using the phrase “globalise the intifada”, while leading chants at the rally.<\/p>\n

McIntosh says she wouldn’t go that far, but did say Ms Tame’s actions “should be investigated against those values”.<\/p>\n

\n

“What was Grace Tame doing to reflect those values of being an Australian of the Year?” she told Sky News.<\/p>\n

“It is written down as part of how a person gets chosen, so I would like Grace to be reflecting on whether she is being a good Australian citizen.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

13h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 6:41am<\/p>\n

ABC ombudsman finds satirical program did not breach standards, MD says\"Joshua<\/p>\n

ABC managing director Hugh Marks<\/b> says a satirical program which was produced by the ABC has been reviewed by the organisation’s ombudsman.<\/p>\n

Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price<\/b> has questioned ABC managers about the Always Was Tonight program which featured ABC television presenter Tony Armstrong<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The ABC MD says the ombudsman reviewed the program after receiving complaints, but found the show did not breach editorial standards.<\/p>\n

\n

“I think we can take comfort both from the finding of the ombudsman and if you watch the show itself, I think it raises many important issues for Indigenous Australians,” Marks says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

13h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 6:21am<\/p>\n

Liberal senator questions withdrawal of ABC journalists from Adelaide Writers’ Week\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson<\/b> is back up again questioning ABC managers, this time on the withdrawal of some high profile ABC journalists from the now-cancelled Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW).<\/p>\n

Randa Abdel-Fattah’s<\/b>\u00a0appearance at the festival was cancelled after the Adelaide Festival board said her presence at the event wouldn’t be “culturally sensitive” in the wake of the Bondi attack.<\/p>\n

More than 180 authors and participants subsequently withdrew from the event, including prominent ABC journalists Sarah Ferguson<\/b>, John Lyons<\/b>, Laura Tingle<\/b> and Louise Milligan.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Milligan said she withdrew from the event in support of her friend Louise Adler<\/b>, who later resigned as AWW director.<\/p>\n

Henderson has questioned whether those journalists withdrew from the festival in support of Abdel-Fattah and whether that amounted to activism.<\/p>\n

ABC editorial director Gavin Fang<\/b> says their withdrawal from the event doesn’t indicate they support Abdel-Fattah.<\/p>\n

\n

“I disagree that somebody’s not commenting or somebody making a comment on social media where they’ve said they are withdrawing, indicates that they have taken a position in supporting the comments of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. I just simply do not think that that inference is accurate,” Fang says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ABC managing director Hugh Marks<\/b> has echoed Fang’s comments, saying he doesn’t think their withdrawal amounts to an expression of a view.\u00a0<\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 6:00am<\/p>\n

Kovacic confirms petition proposal for leadership challenge\"Holly<\/p>\n

Liberal senator\u00a0Maria Kovacic <\/strong>has confirmed to Afternoon Briefing <\/b>our earlier reporting that moderates in the party want to\u00a0force Angus Taylor<\/b> to present a petition proving he has the numbers to challenge her leadership.<\/p>\n

“I think that transparency is important here,”\u00a0Kovacic<\/strong>\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

“If we’re going to have change and we are going to fix things and allow Australians to trust us again… we need to be open and clear about who we are.<\/p>\n

“We need those individuals to be very transparent about why they want a spill.<\/p>\n

“If we’re being accountable, put your name to it. Enough is enough.”<\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:56am<\/p>\n

ABC managers quizzed on editorial guidance for Israel-Gaza war\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi<\/b>\u00a0is up next and she’s asked ABC managers about the organisation’s editorial guidance for staff reporting on the Israel-Gaza conflict.<\/p>\n

Faruqi says the guidance requires ABC journalists to challenge claims of crimes against Israel.<\/p>\n

But she says that same guidance doesn’t explicitly require journalists to provide a counter-perspective on claims made by the Israeli government about Palestinians.<\/p>\n

ABC editorial director Gavin Fang<\/b> has rejected that and says the guidance does require journalists to interrogate contentious claims and seek “relevant perspectives”.<\/p>\n

“I think what you’re reflecting there is that there are specific allegations that often get made in relation to this conflict about the conduct of the State of Israel,” Fang says.<\/p>\n

\n

“Like any comment, any claim, any contentious issue that we report on, we need to seek relevant perspectives from all sides … all parties that are relevant to that issue where we can,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Faruqi says it would be good to see that made explicitly clear in the editorial guidelines.<\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:49am<\/p>\n

Ugly scenes in Sydney ‘entirely foreseeable’ says Steggall\"Holly<\/p>\n

Independent MP Zali Steggall <\/b>has told Afternoon Briefing\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0it was “completely foreseeable” that Herzog’s<\/b> visit would be disruptive to social cohesion in Australia.<\/p>\n

She holds the PM <\/b>responsible for the ugly scenes playing out in Sydney<\/b> overnight, including protesters being punched by police.<\/p>\n

\n

“It is incredibly concerning when we are putting a foreign head of state ahead of what I think are valid concerns from members of our community,” she says.<\/p>\n

“The Prime Minister has a responsibility to the whole of Australia and to our whole social cohesion as a diverse, multicultural, multi-faith nation, and I squarely put it on him that this was completely foreseeable, that this was going to disrupt our social cohesion.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She says while she accepts the Jewish community is the priority for the Prime Minister<\/b>, and mostly views the president in a different light to the protesters, the government must make “tough calls” when it comes to social cohesion.<\/p>\n

\n

“This is Australia first and foremost and our social cohesion must be the primary focus of the government,” Steggall says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:43am<\/p>\n

Four Corners was upfront about verification of claims by former ASIO agent: ABC MD\"Joshua<\/p>\n

The environment and communications committee is back from a short break to continue its grilling of ABC management.<\/p>\n

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson<\/b> has probed ABC MD Hugh Marks<\/b> about last night’s Four Corners program on the Bondi terror attack.<\/p>\n

The program aired claims that an ASIO agent informed the organisation about gunman Naveed Akram’s<\/b> terrorist associations and alleged radicalisation, six years before the Bondi Beach attack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Henderson has asked what the basis was for the program airing those claims, given the former agent was apparently disgruntled with ASIO.<\/p>\n

Marks says sometimes a program or piece of journalism is based off a sole source or witness.<\/p>\n

He says the program was upfront about the fact that the ABC was not able to verify some of the former agent’s claims.<\/p>\n

\n

“I think in broadcasting the documentary we made those things clear to the audience so that the audience is able to see the claims made in the context of those facts,” Marks says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:28am<\/p>\n

Leeser says Australians are ‘sick’ of protests\"Holly<\/p>\n

Back to Afternoon Briefing:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Shadow Education Minister Julian Leeser, <\/b>who is a Jewish Australian, has been asked about the rallies in Sydney overnight where we’ve seen some confronting scenes of protesters being punched by police.<\/p>\n

He says the protesters chose to hold their rally in an area that police had declared an exclusion zone during Isaac Herzog’s <\/b>visit.<\/p>\n

\n

“The protesters could have gone to Hyde Park. They chose instead to thumb their nose at that decision and to protest elsewhere in the city,” Leeser says.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had 2.5 years of protests of this sort, and I think Australians are sick of seeing protests of this sort.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He accused the protesters of “resorting to violence” and “calling for the death of people”.<\/p>\n

He says the phrase ‘globalise the Intifada’ calls for the murder of Jews.<\/p>\n

As Afternoon Briefing<\/b> host Patricia Karvelas <\/b>points out, people in the Pro-Palestine movement say the term is not antisemitic and does not imply violence toward Jews.<\/p>\n

The Arabic word ‘Intifada’ translates to ‘uprising’ or ‘shaking off’.<\/p>\n

Leeser says the phrase should be criminalised across Australia <\/b>as it has been in Queensland.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:27am<\/p>\n

ABC MD says ASIO got his email wrong for complaint about Four Corners episode\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Hugh Marks<\/b> says the nation’s domestic security agency got his email wrong when attempting to contact him about last night’s Four Corners episode.<\/p>\n

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) released a statement raising concerns ahead of the release of the episode on the Bondi Beach terror attack.<\/p>\n

The security agency raised concerns about the motivation and credibility of one of the program’s sources.<\/p>\n

Marks has defended the program and says it was transparent and “stood up very well”.<\/p>\n

\n

“They [ASIO] wrote to me, they didn’t seek to call me or contact me, they did get my email address wrong,” Marks says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“I think it says more about ASIO if they can’t even get the email address of the managing director of the ABC right,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young <\/b>says.<\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:13am<\/p>\n

Leeser tight-lipped on petition demand\"Holly<\/p>\n

I’m interrupting your play-by-play of the ABC in estimates to bring you some news from our friends over at Afternoon Briefing.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Host Patricia Karvelas<\/b> has asked Shadow Education Minister\u00a0Julian Leeser<\/b> about the moderates in the party pushing for Angus Taylor <\/b>and his supporters to present a petition to prove he has the numbers to roll leader Sussan\u00a0Ley.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Leeser<\/b> is a moderate himself but says he wasn’t involved in those discussions and it isn’t what he wants to focus on.<\/p>\n

He says Ley<\/b> has shown herself to be a strong leader in her response to Bondi.<\/p>\n

“She showed herself to be a great leader in a national crisis,” he says.<\/p>\n

Karvelas <\/b>asks again if he thinks Taylor<\/b> should have to demonstrate that he has enough support through signatures for<\/p>\n

He doesn’t bite.<\/p>\n

“This is a matter for people who are thinking about leadership issues in the party. I reiterate my strong support for Sussan,” Leeser<\/b> says.<\/p>\n

14h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 5:12am<\/p>\n

Disposal freeze notice won’t impact journalists’ access to sources: ABC management\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young<\/b>\u00a0has asked ABC managers about what impact a disposal freeze will have on the organisation.<\/p>\n

A disposal freeze notice has been issued to the ABC ahead of the antisemitism royal commission.<\/p>\n

It requires the organisation to retain documents that could relate to the inquiry and fall under the remit of the commission.<\/p>\n

The managers have been asked what impact the disposal freeze notice could have on journalists’ ability to access information from sources.<\/p>\n

ABC editorial director Gavin Fang<\/b> says the corporation will always seek to protect its confidential sources to meet its journalistic ethics.<\/p>\n

\n

“My understanding is that we will continue to protect our sources, as we would do, using the variety of different means that we would, and that would obviously extend beyond that type of messaging app,” Fang says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

15h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 4:56amLiberal moderates want Taylor to clear hurdle before potential spill\"Patricia<\/p>\n

Liberal Party moderates want to force\u00a0Angus Taylor<\/b>\u00a0and his supporters to present a petition to\u00a0prove he has the numbers if he wants to trigger a spill of Sussan Ley\u2019s<\/b> leadership.<\/p>\n

The moderates have officially put the proposal to Ley\u2019s office to require Taylor to collect signatures in order to move a vote.<\/p>\n

The proposal is being considered by Ley.<\/p>\n

A senior moderate Liberal MP said it was “important for transparency” and the move is to force the challengers to prove they have enough support for a spill.<\/p>\n

Former prime minister\u00a0Malcolm Turnbull\u00a0<\/b>famously used a petition in an attempt to call\u00a0Peter Dutton\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>bluff and delay his leadership challenge in 2018.<\/p>\n

Spill rules are governed by convention so it\u2019s unclear whether the mechanism can be used again.<\/p>\n

15h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 4:51am<\/p>\n

Henderson questions ABC management about ‘Silenced’ documentary\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson<\/b> is up and she’s asked ABC managers about a documentary called ‘Silenced’.<\/p>\n

The documentary, which is linked with the ABC, discusses the\u00a0Brittany Higgins<\/b>\u00a0defamation trial, according to Henderson.<\/p>\n

Henderson has asked if there’s anything in the documentary that could defame former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The ABC’s editorial director Gavin Fang<\/b> says the corporation hasn’t viewed the script yet.<\/p>\n

Hugh Marks<\/b>\u00a0has stepped in and says the ABC will review the program to make sure it holds up editorially before it features on any ABC platform.<\/p>\n

\n

“I can assure you that we will perform all reasonable reviews of the program before and to ensure that it meets all standards and does not fall foul of the areas that you’re suggesting,” Marks says.<\/p>\n

“If it has the potential to fall foul of [that], we will, of course, make sure that that’s done,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Marks says the ABC contributed $340,000 to the program and it will feature in the United States first.<\/p>\n

15h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 4:39am<\/p>\n

ABC in the hot seat at Senate estimates\"Joshua<\/p>\n

It’s the ABC’s turn at Senate estimates this afternoon, with the corporation’s managing director Hugh Marks <\/b>up first.<\/p>\n

Marks has begun with an opening statement, outlining that the broadcaster remains Australia’s most trusted media organisation.<\/p>\n

He’s announced the ABC will launch a program called National Forum that will begin in March and will discuss issues of “national significance”.<\/p>\n

“It will be a public square, healthily pluralistic, which aims to elevate discussion on important issues affecting Australia, because some conversations can be difficult, that as a nation we can’t shy away from discussing them,” Marks says.<\/p>\n

He says the first forum will focus on the lives of Jewish Australians, including issues arising from the Bondi terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

15h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 4:15am<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf7 Question Time in pictures\"Joshua\"\"(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)\"\"(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)\"\"(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)\"\"(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12h agoTue 10 Feb 2026 at 7:57am That’s the end of our live blog! And with that, we’ll…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":580592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[38602,4740,69423,91287,22389,606,52159,5368,50,162361,17126],"class_list":["post-580591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-australia","tag-coalition","tag-federal-politics-live","tag-greens","tag-labor","tag-liberals","tag-nationals","tag-news","tag-one-nation","tag-sussan-ley"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116048136777910797","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}