7m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:50pm

📸Anthony Albanese meets with Zhao Leji

(ABC News: Matt Roberts)(ABC News: Matt Roberts)(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

15m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:42pm

Funding boost to 1800 Respect to ‘keep up with demand’

(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek joined ABC’s Radio National Breakfast to discuss a funding boost for domestic, sexual and family violence hotline, 1800 Respect.

She says that the number of calls to the hotline has grown from 11,000 in its first year of operation to about 342,000 calls last financial year.

“We want to keep up with demand. At the moment, well over 90 per cent of calls are being answered within 20 seconds. That’s great but we know that year on year the demand for this service is increasing,” she says.

“We want to keep up with that because people need somewhere to turn.”

Asked whether she thinks the incidence of domestic, family, and sexual violence is increasing, Plibersek says it is a “mixed picture”.

“We’re seeing some areas like intimate partner violence slightly decreasing, but we’re seeing big increases in, for example, young relationships under 18s,” she says.

“We’re seeing big increases in violence there. So we need to keep evolving as this problem in our society evolves.”

25m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:32pm

Tyrrell calls for pause to environment reform

The government’s environment reforms have been rushed through, independent senator Tammy Tyrrell says.

Environment Minister Murray Watt has given himself a deadline of this week to pass the laws but needs to secure a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens to do so.

Tyrrell, a senator for Tasmania, called for Watt to pause and allow the legislation time to “breathe and grow”.

“I think we should stop the rush, wait for the inquiry to be finished next year in March and ensure that it’s analysed and looked at in the detail that it requires,” she told ABC’s Radio National. 

“There’s a few pieces to the puzzle, and they’re all huge pieces of legislation, and if we don’t get it right in the first instance, we’re going to be spending time putting band-aids all over it, if and when it gets passed.”

She’s concerned that if the Senate isn’t given enough time to consider the impacts of the bill, it could have major implications for industries like forestry in her home state.

30m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:27pm

Hanson a ‘one trick pony’: Tyrrell

(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Independent senator Tammy Tyrrell was in the chamber yesterday when Pauline Hanson strode in wearing a burka.

She Tasmanian senator branded the One Nation leader as a “one trick pony”.

“Senator Hanson prances out of the Senate chamber and then does this ridiculous theatrics. It’s disrespectful to the parliament, it’s disrespectful to the Senate,” she told ABC’s Radio National Breakfast. 

“I don’t understand why such childish antics are acceptable to somebody who says that they believe in law, legislation [and] doing things the right way.”

32m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:25pm

Hanson’s burka stunt ‘dangerous and pathetic’: Greens leader

Greens leader Larissa Waters has also condemned Pauline Hanson, calling her decision to wear a burka in the Senate as “dangerous and pathetic”.

“That’s insulting to anyone of faith in the country, and insulting to anyone who wants parliament to actually help people and fix the cost of living and bring down the cost of housing,” she told Nine.

“Not just focus on itself,
and not just the pathetic stunts like that.

“It’s shameless attention seeking that doesn’t actually help anyone or make anyone’s lives better. It actually just fuels racism. It’s dangerous and pathetic.”

39m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:18pm

Greens question cybersecurity at Parliament House after MPs told to switch off phones

China’s third-highest ranking lawmaker, Zhao Leji, will return to Parliament House this morning for a meeting over breakfast with Anthony Albanese.

His visit yesterday sparked a cyber security warning from the Department of Parliamentary Services, which directed MPs and staffers to put their phones and internet-connected devices into lockdown mode while the Chinese delegation was in the building.

Labor’s Amanda Rishworth declined to go into what security advice had been provided ahead of Leji’s visit.

“I’m not going to go into security advice on the Today Show but … this visit, as many visits are, really important in our constructive relationship,” she told Nine.

Greens leader Larissa Waters, who was also on the panel, questioned if the parliament’s cyber security needed another look at.

“If one man walking through the building can bring us all to halt, then I think our cyber security needs a bit of a look at,” she said.

44m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:13pm

Top Chinese official to meet PM

China’s third-highest ranking politician, Zhao Leji, will return to Parliament House this morning for a meeting over breakfast with Anthony Albanese. 

Zhao is visiting Canberra as a guest of the Australian parliament.

Supporters greeted Zhao Leji outside Parliament House on Monday. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

His visit yesterday sparked a cybersecurity warning from the Department of Parliamentary Services, which directed MPs and staffers to put their phones and internet-connected devices into lockdown mode while the Chinese delegation was in the building.

It’s unclear what Albanese intends to discuss with Zhao.

Last month, Albanese raised concerns with Chinese Premier Li Qiang over a dangerous military encounter in the South China Sea.

47m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:10pm

Hanson cooks Joyce steak on her parliament sandwich press

Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce shared their “home cooked” dinner at Parliament House on Monday evening.

The pair have been locked in a flirtation ever since the former deputy prime minister announced he was stepping back from the Nationals over net zero.

Footage of Hanson cooking the dinner aired by Nine this morning showed the One Nation leader cooking a meal of Wagyu steak on a sandwich press in her parliament office.

I’m not joking. That’s actually what happened.

Labor’s Amanda Rishworth questioned whether the dish was cooked all the way through.

“I hope that’s cooked well through otherwise it may end up in a poisoning incident in parliament. Unintended, perhaps.”

47m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:10pm

Hanson stunt just ‘headline grabbing behaviour’: Plibersek

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has called out Pauline Hanson for wearing a burka in the chamber for the second time in her parliamentary career as “headline grabbing behaviour”.

The Labor frontbencher rubbished Hanson’s argument that she had repeated the stunt to call attention to national security, questioning where her comments were when a “bunch of neo-Nazis” appeared outside of NSW parliament a couple of weeks ago.

“I don’t remember the last time someone in a burka robbed a bank. I think it’s completely standard rehashed Pauline Hanson headline grabbing behaviour,” she told ABC’s News Breakfast. 

“The only thing
that you can be guaranteed of is that some girl in a headscarf on her way to school today is going to be bullied on the train.

“I think the other thing that’s disappointing about this is that we’ve had warnings from the ASIO director that the biggest, fastest-growing threat is from right-wing extremism.

“We saw a bunch of Nazis
lined up outside the New South Wales Parliament a couple of weeks ago.

“I don’t see Pauline Hanson calling out that behaviour or that risk. She’s once again going for a group of people who will be threatened, abused and perhaps even physically assaulted on their way to work or school today.”

54m agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 8:03pm

Ley condemns Hanson’s repeated burka stunt

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has condemned Pauline Hanson’s burka stunt in the Senate on Monday afternoon.

Hanson was suspended from the chamber for the day after she strode in the chamber wearing a burka, frustrating and then stalling debate as the Senate was forced to shut down for more than 1.5 hours.

It’s the second time in her political career that she has appeared in the chamber wearing the burka. Hanson’s stunt came after she was blocked from introducing legislation to ban the face covering.

In a statement late on Monday, Ley said the stunt “cheapens our parliament” and doesn’t reflect how Australians want elected representatives to act.

“This is a reminder of how brittle One Nation’s politics are. They must resort to reheating desperate stunts. Australians deserve better and we will remain focused on fighting for them and holding the government to account.”

1h agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 7:57pm

1800 Respect gets funding boost ahead of meeting

Domestic, sexual and family violence hotline 1800 Respect will receive an extra $41.8 million as demand for the service continues to grow.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says the increased budget from 2026-2027 will ensure the service can continue to meet increasing needs without delays.

“At the moment, over 92 per cent of calls are answered by a counsellor within 20 seconds, so we’re doing well but we know that demand continues to increase and we want to keep up with that increasing demand,” she says.

The funding increase comes ahead of the final women’s ministers meeting in Canberra this Friday,  where we’re expecting to hear more about how the commonwealth, states and territories plan to respond to the rapid review into preventing violence against women and children.

The review — led by Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin in 2024 — recommended restricting late-night home delivery of alcohol and a full gambling ad ban.

It was the second major report to do so after a parliamentary inquiry led by the late MP Peta Murphy also called for a complete ban.

When we asked Anthony Albanese about whether that recommendation would be followed in August, he said the government wouldn’t be making “policy on the run”.

We’ll bring you more from that meeting later in the week.

1h agoMon 24 Nov 2025 at 7:57pm

👋Good morning

Hello chickens! Welcome to another edition of our federal politics live blog.

I’m Courtney Gould, joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra.

We’re still no closer to learning whether the government will meet its self-imposed Christmas deadline to pass its revamped environment reforms. Expect there to be a flurry of negotiations today as the parties spend the morning locked in partyroom meetings.

Speaking of partyroom meetings, could today be the day Sussan Ley’s leadership is challenged? It’s an interesting question and depends on if the latest opinion polls have caused enough discontent within the ranks for them to move. Or could we see an empty chair challenge? We’ll find out later this morning.

Meanwhile, the reaction to Pauline Hanson’s latest burka stunt is still rolling in.

The day really could take us anywhere, friends, so let’s just jump right in.

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