Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
What we learned; Wednesday 4 February
And with that, we’ll shut the blog. I hope you have a great night. We’ll be back tomorrow with more breaking news. Until then, here’s a look at today’s top stories:
It was another sitting day in federal parliament. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, batted away questions about her leadership amid the prospect of a spill by Angus Taylor. Her other major problem – how to reconcile with the Nationals and reunite the Coalition – was also bubbling away, with ongoing conversations about how the two parties can settle their messy divorce.
Former Liberal minister, and moderate, Christopher Pyne, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra, where he said, among other things, that he thought One Nation was in a position to do “relatively well”.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer directly denied claims by rightwing political strategist Steve Bannon that he was behind Palmer’s controversial $60m advertising strategy at the 2019 federal election.
The Victorian MP and former deputy Liberal leader, Sam Groth, announced he would resign from parliament next week “to pursue other opportunities”. He’s leaving seven months earlier than planned, which will trigger a byelection.
The Queensland premier asked for an investigation into how a cardiothoracic surgeon – previously restricted from performing major heart and lung surgery by the New South Wales medical regulator – was appointed to a senior government clinical safety position.
It was announced that the two figures at the centre of the Adelaide festival controversy – Randa Abdel-Fattah and Louise Adler – would headline an alternative to the cancelled Adelaide writers’ week.
Three NSW Labor backbenchers said they would protest Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit in defiance of the premier.
A 27-year-old Melbourne man died at a ski resort in Japan, days after the death of Queensland snowboarder Brooke Day.
And the Clean Energy Council released its rooftop solar and storage report, which found solar battery installations in Australia increased four-fold in the second half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.
Share
Updated at 07.59 CET
Caitlin Cassidy
Government’s antisemitism taskforce backs Australian curriculum review
The federal government’s antisemitism taskforce has endorsed a review into the Australian curriculum to embed further Jewish knowledge into school study designs.
The taskforce, chaired by David Gonski, met for the second time on Tuesday alongside the special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal.
They resolved to meet monthly for the remainder of the year and made a string of endorsements, including to review the Australian curriculum and to create a Social Cohesion Hub for early childhood educators, teachers and parents.
Teqsa, the higher education regulator, also confirmed it was writing to vice-chancellors of all of Australia’s universities reminding them of the “need to ensure students’ safety and wellbeing and encouraging stronger responses to any instances of antisemitism and hate”, a communique of the meeting read.
The taskforce will next meet in early March.
Share
Updated at 07.43 CET
NRMA calls for ebike registration and confiscation powers
Ima Caldwell
The NRMA has called for a crackdown on illegal ebike and escooter use, warning that New South Wales faces a burgeoning “road safety disaster”.
After a group of ebike riders illegally crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak hour on Tuesday afternoon, NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury urged the government to implement a formal registration scheme.
He said an “all of community approach” was required to curb the trend, and that:
We need to find a way to get these kids off these bikes and absolutely get these kids off our roads.
Parents have got to stop buying kids these bikes.
Khoury added that police and council rangers should be granted the authority to confiscate bikes used illegally or by underage riders.
Share
Updated at 07.52 CET
Lisa Cox
Thousands of bony bream deaths at Lake Menindee following heatwave
Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shore of Lake Menindee in western New South Wales in the aftermath of last week’s extreme heatwave.
Menindee resident Graeme McCrabb, one of the community members who raised the alarm about a catastrophic fish kill in the region in 2018-19, said fish started washing up on Monday night.
He estimated between 100,000 and 300,000 fish – mostly bony bream – were dead on the banks of the lake. He added:
It’s a few kilometres long, it’s lots of little bony bream. But it’s nothing like what we’ve had in the past.
McCrabb said the fish kill was small compared to the 2018-19 disaster and another mass kill in 2023 when millions of fish, including large species such as Murray cod, died in the Darling-Baaka River, primarily in Menindee’s weirs.
He said the immediate problem for the community after the latest fish kill was “the smell – they’re living there with dead fish and it’s hot”.
He said the fish deaths at the lake were likely due to the change in temperature – “from stinking hot last week to just hot this week” – with bony bream not coping well with sudden changes in temperature.
Thousands of dead fish washed up at the Menindee lakes in March 2023. Photograph: Samara Anderson/AAPShare
Updated at 06.44 CET
Ima Caldwell
Police investigating group of ebikers after illegally riding on Sydney Harbour Bridge
NSW police are investigating a group of about 40 ebike and e-motorcycle riders who illegally crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak hour on Tuesday afternoon.
The convoy travelled along the bridge’s main deck – where cycling is prohibited – before continuing along the Western Distributor and Haymarket.
Police were called to Hickson Road at approximately 4.30pm after reports of the group riding in a “dangerous manner”.
While no pursuit was initiated, officers tracked the riders to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the botanic gardens, where the group dispersed.
No arrests or charges have been laid, but the traffic and highway patrol commander, Assistant Commissioner David Driver, confirmed on Wednesday that investigations are ongoing.
Driver said police are currently identifying participants through school uniforms and registered bikes and that:
This had potential for people to be injured and killed.
He urged parents of those involved to have a “strong conversation with their children” regarding road safety.
Share
Updated at 06.33 CET
Catie McLeod
Hello, I hope you’ve had a nice day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of the day’s news.
ShareKrishani Dhanji
Thank you all for joining me on the blog today. I’ll leave you with the lovely Catie McLeod for the rest of the afternoon.
I’ll see you back here bright and early in the morning.
Share
Updated at 06.14 CET
Tl;dr – here’s what you missed from question time
It was another long question time today, clocking in at about 1 hour and 45 minutes, including that division.
The Liberals directed all their questions again on inflation and yesterday’s interest rate rise. The government tried to turn the heat back to the Liberals and their pre-election budget.
Ted O’Brien got booted out of the chamber for interjecting too much.
There was some curious reading happening in the chamber, and perhaps some not-so-subliminal messaging – with Andrew Hastie sitting with a copy of The Art of War on his desk, and neighbour Garth Hamilton reading Othello.
Kate Chaney asked Labor why they haven’t responded to 57 of the 78 committee reports they have received while in government. She didn’t get a very clear answer.
And of course there was a division in the chamber at the end of QT (something I’ve not seen before), but with no surprise the government had the numbers.
Share
Updated at 06.12 CET
There’s a division during question time
During a dixer on why question time has changed, and why more questions are going to the crossbench (which is basically an excuse for the leader of the house, Tony Burke, to have a go at the Coalition), Alex Hawke stands up and says that Burke should no longer be heard.
This is a parliamentary procedure that, if voted by the chamber, would see Burke no longer allowed to speak temporarily.
While Labor obviously outnumbers the opposition, the opposition calls for a vote on the matter anyway, so now the house is sitting through a division.
It looks like a few Liberals and Nationals have left the chamber during the vote.
Share
Updated at 05.47 CET
Richard Marles warned over unparliamentary remark
The independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who represents the Tasmanian seat of Clark, asks what will happen to the Anglesea Barracks in Hobart, and whether it will be included in the defence estate sell-off.
It takes 45 seconds for the deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, to say: “yes, Anglesea Barracks remains a critical part of the defence estate.”
Before that he goes off at the Liberals for not asking a question on the sell-off, and makes an unparliamentary remark that earns him a telling off from Milton Dick. The words in question:
The question is noteworthy in one respect – being asked at 3.30 in question time as the first non-government question which has been asked on the defence estate review. As much as it highlights the dog over here who hasn’t barked. I mean, we had the biggest reform to the defence estate in our country’s history, and we have not heard from the shadow minister.
Share
Updated at 05.58 CET
Interest rate rises ‘would have been worse under a Liberal government’: Albanese
Can the government guarantee that there won’t be more interest rate rises, asks Liberal MP Cameron Caldwell. He says one of his constituents, Lee, wrote to him after yesterday’s rate rise, saying the rise “will kill me. My stress levels are already out of control.”
Anthony Albanese says: “I say to Lee that we understand, as a government, that many people are under financial pressure.”
The PM then says that he would tell Lee that the situation would have been worse under a Liberal government.
Share
Updated at 05.33 CET
Nationals MP asks about government’s broken promise on energy bills
We’re back to the broken $275 energy bill reduction promise, with Nationals MP Andrew Willcox, asking when those energy prices will fall.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, again says wholesale prices dropped by 44% in the last quarter – and the key is getting more renewables into the grid. He said:
If we keep the policy settings in place that sees more of the cheapest, most reliable form of energy penetrate our energy system, we will see it continue to flow through to wholesale prices and retail prices.
Share
Updated at 05.27 CET
