Federal election 2025 live: tight races in Goldstein and Kooyong; Senate vote count continues – latest Australia news update
Liberal Hollie Hughes: Taylor should have been supporting Dutton, not mulling future leadership role
Outgoing Liberal senator for NSW Hollie Hughes has claimed the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, was manoeuvreing for the Liberal leadership two to three weeks before the end of the election campaign on Saturday.
Hughes told Sky News on Monday night:
I got a phone call today from someone who was a very senior person within the organisation at the federal level, and they had received a phone call – they were saying two to three weeks ago – encouraging her to get behind supporting Angus for leader. So that was two, three weeks before the election was finished, and I was horrified when the numbers were being done.
She said it wasn’t something she was privy to during the election campaign, and she said Taylor should have been supporting Dutton during the election.
I am a Liberal, and I’m still very much committed to Liberal values, but I think the behaviour of some of the people in that party room is absolutely reprehensible. I don’t think they were supportive of Peter Dutton. I don’t think they did the work. And I think they were more interested in their own future political ambitions than they were [anything] else. And you know, I think that shows from the policy vacuum that we saw.
Hughes said a joint Taylor and Dan Tehan ticket may be the wrong call, given the party’s problem with female voters, and she said they should “go back to the monkey pod” – a reference to the room members of the right faction met in parliament for lunch. She said she supports Sussan Ley for the leadership. Hughes will get to vote in the party room before her term in the Senate expires next month.
Key events
Nick Evershed
Update on undecided seats
Time for an update on undecided seats!
We’re calling Forde for Labor, which is a gain for Labor at the expense of the LNP’s Bert van Manen.
The Liberals have also successfully retained Forrest in WA.
Fremantle, Wills, Menzies, Monash, Flinders and Calwell are still too close to call at this point.
Bullwinkel is so close that the Labor and Liberal candidates are separated by only 28 votes, with the Labor candidate Trish Cook in the lead. The AEC lists 3,081 postal and other votes still to be processed today (and this number will change, with most absent and pre-poll votes yet to be counted), and so far the postal votes are splitting narrowly in favour of the Liberal party candidate.
In Longman, the LNP candidate leads by 309 votes, despite a swing against him of 2.9 percentage points. Postal votes are currently favouring the LNP, with 53.2% going their way compared with 46.8% going to Labor, so it’s hard to see how Labor could take the lead here, but again most absent and declaration votes have yet to be counted and may favour Labor more.
The ALP are very likely to retain Richmond against the Greens, but this is one of the seats where the two-candidate preferred count is being re-done, so we’re going to hold off a little longer on making a call.
I’ll do a separate post on the other seats which involve either the Greens or independent candidates.
Liberal Hollie Hughes: Taylor should have been supporting Dutton, not mulling future leadership role
Outgoing Liberal senator for NSW Hollie Hughes has claimed the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, was manoeuvreing for the Liberal leadership two to three weeks before the end of the election campaign on Saturday.
Hughes told Sky News on Monday night:
I got a phone call today from someone who was a very senior person within the organisation at the federal level, and they had received a phone call – they were saying two to three weeks ago – encouraging her to get behind supporting Angus for leader. So that was two, three weeks before the election was finished, and I was horrified when the numbers were being done.
She said it wasn’t something she was privy to during the election campaign, and she said Taylor should have been supporting Dutton during the election.
I am a Liberal, and I’m still very much committed to Liberal values, but I think the behaviour of some of the people in that party room is absolutely reprehensible. I don’t think they were supportive of Peter Dutton. I don’t think they did the work. And I think they were more interested in their own future political ambitions than they were [anything] else. And you know, I think that shows from the policy vacuum that we saw.
Hughes said a joint Taylor and Dan Tehan ticket may be the wrong call, given the party’s problem with female voters, and she said they should “go back to the monkey pod” – a reference to the room members of the right faction met in parliament for lunch. She said she supports Sussan Ley for the leadership. Hughes will get to vote in the party room before her term in the Senate expires next month.
Wild winds forecast for Victoria’s eastern ranges, this afternoon
A severe damaging winds warning has been issued for parts of the eastern ranges of Victoria, with gusts around 90km/h possible above 1200 metres from this afternoon.
The Bureau of Meterology has said the winds will ease after sunrise tomorrow.
Tory Shepherd
Dutch academic poses new theory about centuries-old shipwreck
An “evil” man took advantage of a shipwreck to lead a mutiny that caused the death of more than 100 men, women and children.
So goes the story of the Batavia, wrecked off the Western Australian coast in 1629. But does the truth lie elsewhere?
Read more on this story below.
Victoria Health: beware of poisonous mushrooms, this autumn
The Victorian health department is warning people to be aware of poisonous mushrooms growing during autumn as weather becomes wetter and cooler.
Death cap mushrooms and yellow-staining mushrooms are more evident at this time of year, the Victorian chief health officer, Dr Christian McGrath said, and people should be on the lookout for the mushrooms growing in home gardens and publicly accessible areas.
Initial symptoms of the poisoning include stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
McGrath said:
Adults and children should not touch wild mushrooms with their bare hands, let alone eat them, and animals should be kept well away from them.
Anyone who collects and consumes wild mushrooms of unknown species is putting themselves at risk of potential poisoning and serious illness. Consuming a death cap mushroom can be fatal.
The mushrooms should only be removed from home gardens by wearing gloves, placing them in a bag, and disposing of them in a closed general waste rubbish bin.
Cait Kelly
Tasmania’s homeless numbers ring ‘alarm bells’, says community services peak body
Tasmania’s social housing waitlist has hit a record high of more than 5,000 applications, with 3,871 people homeless or sleeping rough.
The data was released as the Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) unveiled a new, interactive housing dashboard.
TasCOSS chief executive Adrienne Picone questioned if the state was on track to meet its target of 10,000 social and affordable homes by 2032.
She said:
The dashboard shows Homes Tasmania has delivered a mix of 4,345 ‘homes’ since 2022, but this includes land lots and crisis units. In actual fact, the number of safe, secure and appropriate new homes is only, at most, 2,567.
Meanwhile, a key barometer for affordable housing availability in this state – the social housing waitlist – hit a record high 5,000 applications last month, with 3,871 of those homeless or sleeping rough.
This must ring alarm bells for a government committed to end homelessness in Tasmania by 2043.
It begs the question, is the government’s housing target and record on delivery keeping up with the level of need in the community?
Benita Kolovos
Victoria’s new commissioner: police exist to prevent crime
Mike Bush says the issues facing Victoria – last year it recorded its highest crime rate in almost a decade – are not unique. He says he will take a “different” approach to the former leadership of Victoria police to tackle it.
There are crime issues within the state. Everyone knows that these crime issues are actually global, quite similar wherever you go, but it’s not good enough just to turn up after the act. It’s really important that we respond well, we investigate, we resolve, but you have to do more.
You have to get in front of these things. And having a prevention mindset and a prevention focus at the front is really, really important. Some of you will be familiar with Sir Robert Peel, that is the number one principle of policing. We actually exist to prevent crime and harm. So yeah, we will be taking a different look at that as to how we do [approach] it. There’ll definitely be more visibility, but we’ll also be quite sophisticated about how we bring in the intelligence and deploy people to get in front of crime issues.
Bush also confirms he was approached by the Victorian government for the role. Allan explains:
The appointment of a new chief commissioner is a significant one for any government. It’s an important one, and it’s a significant one for the community … The instruction to the recruiting agency and the panel was to go and find the best person for the job, to go and find someone who could look at what some of the challenges are.
Benita Kolovos
New Victorian police commissioner appointed
The former head of New Zealand’s police force, Mike Bush, has been appointed Victoria police’s next chief commissioner.
The premier, Jacinta Allan and police minister, Anthony Carbines, have just made the announcement this morning and were joined in person by Bush.
Bush joined the New Zealand police in 1978 and was chief commissioner from 2014 until April 2020, when he retired. He led the police response to the 2019 Christchurch massacre and the White Island volcano eruption.
Asked what made him come out of retirement, Bush tells reporters:
I have a real passion for police that’s kind of in my blood. I’ve been doing it my entire adult life and most of my life has been committed to public safety. It’s just so important that people in communities are safe and feel safe, and police services are at the forefront of that. So that’s two very good reasons, and the third one is that the state of Victoria is a brilliant place. Kiwis love Victoria. I’m no different and I’m very honored to be part of your community and to serve you.
It is the first time someone who has not worked at Victoria police has been appointed to the top job since 2001.
It follows the resignation of commissioner, Shane Patton, after a no confidence vote by rank and file police officers. Rick Nugent was then appointed as acting commissioner but blindsided the government last month when he announced he would not be applying for the post.
Visy chair Anthony Pratt resplendent at Met Gala in ‘recycled’ outfit
Australian billionaire and Pratt Industries and Visy chair Anthony Pratt is at the Met Gala in New York, donning a bright green suit with “Pratt 100% recycled” covering the entire outfit, from the suit to the shirt and tie.
And here’s a closeup of the suit.
Pratt, a supporter of US president Donald Trump, last week announced a US$5bn (A$7.8bn) investment pledge to make recycled goods in the US, which he said would create 5,000 manufacturing jobs and would help the “reindustrialisation” of the US. He attended a White House event hosted by the president and his company’s press release called the announcement a “vote of confidence in President Trump’s leadership”.
For more on the Met Gala, we have a separate live blog running below.
Swimmer goes missing at Pottsville Beach, Northern Rivers of NSW
A search is under way for a missing swimmer at a beach in the Northern Rivers of NSW.
NSW police said emergency services were called out at 7.10am to Pottsville Beach after reports of a missing swimmer, and officers were told a woman had entered the water a short time earlier but had not resurfaced.
With help from marine area command, the Westpac rescue helicopter and Surf Life Saving NSW, police are searching for the woman, said to be of caucasian appearance and in her early 20s.
Seven West Media buys Southern Cross regional stations in $3.8m deal
Seven West Media has agreed to buy the TV licences and assets of stations in Tasmania, Darwin, Spencer Gulf, Broken Hill, Mount Isa, and remote, central and eastern Australia from Southern Cross Media, the company announced to the ASX today.
The deal is worth $3.75m.
SWM managing director and chief executive, Jeff Howard, said:
Following this acquisition, Seven will reach almost 100% of Australia’s population [exRiverland]. With the successful launch of our Phoenix total television platform, our valued advertising partners and media buyers will be able to seamlessly reach and target these new and attractive audiences across both broadcast and digital campaigns.
The deal came after an initial deal struck with Australian Digital Holdings in February, which was set to launch right-wing news channel NewsMax Australia on the stations, fell through, Southern Cross told the ASX on today, with final conditions not satisfied.
ADH was launched with the backing of broadcaster Alan Jones after he left Sky news, before later rebranding to Newsmax Australia. The Newsmax Australia website still says “coming 2025”.
We’ve had a ‘gut full’: Sydney council addresses dumping with NSW’s first shared e-bike agreement
Waverley Council in Sydney’s east has signed an agreement with share bike provider Lime to regulate the use of the bikes in the area.
The council says the memorandum of understanding will put a responsibility on Lime to better manage and regulate the bikes, and contribute to the provision of parking infrastructure, as well as establish rules on where bikes can be ridden or parked.
Mayor Will Nemesh said:
We have taken urgent action because our community has had a gut full of e-bikes being carelessly dumped all over the place. This agreement is about ensuring there is a clearly defined framework of accountability and transparency for share bike operators.
I congratulate Lime for demonstrating their commitment to working with Council and ensure public safety and public amenity comes first.
The agreement will start on 30 June, and run for two years after a six-month trial period. The bikes are limited to 25km/h but this may be restricted in certain locations.
Lime said it is the first shared e-bike agreement in NSW.
AEC vote count reaches 78%, including 1m postal votes
An update on where the Australian Electoral Commission is at with vote counts, as of Tuesday morning, 8am, via AAP.
The vote count is at 78% nationally, with 14.1m lower house first preferences counted, including 1m postal votes.
First preferences have been counted for 7.2m Senate papers.
The AEC is delivering 1.3m ballots to home electorates for counting, and a mandatory second count of all votes will begin today.
Adam Morton
Voters rejected attacks on Labor’s climate crisis policies
Analysis of the election result has barely begun, but this much is clear: the country has backed a rapid acceleration towards renewable energy. Labor didn’t say much about the climate crisis during the campaign, announcing only one new policy. But Anthony Albanese and his climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, emerged with their ambitious goal of the country sourcing 82% of electricity from solar, wind and hydro by 2030 not just intact, but emphatically endorsed.
Labor’s position has been relentlessly attacked by the Coalition, right wing organisations backed by fossil fuel interests and one of the country’s biggest news media companies. Australians rejected that position comprehensively.
Changes to victims of crime registers to come before NSW parliament
Victims of crime in NSW will be given a chance to receive notifications about their offender’s progress through the custodial system in a change backed by prominent advocates, AAP reports.
Laws mandating a victim receive information about their rights to sign up as a registered victim-survivor and receive the critical information about perpetrators will hit NSW parliament on Tuesday.
Notifications a victim-survivor can receive include details about an offender’s location, their sentence, parole eligibility and other things affecting a victim’s safety.
Victim-survivors are often able to make a submission relating to an offender’s suitability for parole.
Victims advocate Howard Brown welcomed the changes and said they would help people move on with their lives.
The victims registers are able to provide the kind of information that victim-survivors may feel they need to be able to take back control of their lives, sometimes many years after a serious crime has been committed against them.
Maximising free and full access to such a vital resource like the victims register is a major step towards healing for victim-survivors.
Corrections minister, Anoulack Chanthivong, said the changes balanced the safety implications for victims with the need for them to not to be retraumatised.
The mandatory notifications are expected to be for families of murder victims, those where an offender is serving a life sentence, and for victims of serious offences such as attempted murder, sexual assault and abduction.
David Pocock: unlikely a second ACT independent will be elected to Senate
The independent senator for the ACT, David Pocock, said it was “really humbling” to nearly double his vote from the 2022 election, but he told ABC RN Breakfast he wasn’t taking it for granted.
I’ll continue to represent people in the ACT, as I have been doing, engaging in good faith, really bringing their voices into parliament. My commitment was to be accessible and accountable to people in the ACT, and over the last three years, I held over 50 public forums, from town halls, round tables, mobile offices, really wanting to hear from people in the ACT. And one of the things I take very seriously, as one of only two senators in the ACT is that not everyone voted for me.
There’s a whole bunch of people in Canberra who don’t like me, but I represent them, and I vote on their behalf. And so I take that very seriously, to actually get out there and hear a really wide range of perspectives to help inform how I conduct myself and ultimately how I vote.
He said there was a frustration in the community that the major parties weren’t standing up to vested interests, and that was a big reason people were voting for independents over the major parties. But he said, given the huge Labor vote in the ACT, it was unlikely a second independent would get the second senate spot in the ACT.
Wong says she will remain foreign affairs minister and Coalition ‘are not the party of middle Australia’
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, continues her media appearances for the day, telling ABC’s RN Breakfast she will stay on as foreign minister in the government, and said the most surprising factor in the election for her was the realisation that the Coalition “are not the party of middle Australia”.
I had a look at the AEC’s current count of metropolitan seats. So they have an inner and outer metropolitan seat at this stage. On current numbers, the Coalition are down to seven out of 88 seats in metropolitan areas.
Know what that says? Sally, that says that in the cities and suburbs, the Coalition does not represent middle Australia. It doesn’t represent the hopes, aspirations and struggles of people, of Australians and their families living in our cities and suburbs. That really was a profoundly, profound message from the electorate.
She said the government would continue to talk to the US administration to argue against tariffs, and repeated her earlier comments regarding film production that Australia and the US collaborate well on film production.
Bridget McKenzie: Coalition had many problems and Labor ran a ‘superior’ campaign
Nationals senator, Bridget McKenzie, told ABC’s RN Breakfast there needs to be a “deep, honest and brutal” examination in what went wrong in the Coalition’s election campaign, but said no one factor was at fault.
There’s no one issue that you can point to that was the reason the Coalition had a catastrophic loss … there are issues around the campaign, research, communication, policy, etc., and tactics and strategy. And let’s be give credit where credit’s due. The Labor Party ran a superior campaign.
McKenzie said the Donald Trump factor benefits the incumbents at a time of global uncertainty, and said Trump “isn’t a conservative” as he “is literally ripping down institutions in a reaction to a political class in America which is very different to the political class here in Australia.”
Here in Australia, we have a compulsory voting which tears us to the center, and for good reasons.
Wong says US, Australia ‘make great films together’
In response to US president Donald Trump suggesting tariffs could be placed on foreign-produced movies, Wong says “we make great films together”.
We’ve got Australian actors who work on American films. We have American films which are filmed here in Australia. We have collaboration between our artists in the creative industries. The collaboration is a good thing. So let’s not get in the way of that.
