Australia news LIVE: Coalition frontbench splits over net zero; Trump cracks down on NGOs, left-wing activists following Kirk assassination

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says claims that he is setting a dangerous precedent by vacating his electorate office after two years of continuous protests are “absolute nonsense”.

“People have [not] been able to get the services that they need, and people being denied access to assistance on the NDIS or Centrelink, or Medicare... that doesn’t advance any cause in the Middle East, all it does is disrupt people,” Albanese told Seven’s Sunrise.

The premises in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville had been his electoral office for more than 30 years, but had to regularly close since pro-Palestinian protesters began targeting the office.

A Free Palestine protest outside Anthony Albanese’s electorate office in Marrickville in March 2024. The electorate office has permanently closed this week.Credit: Rhett Whyman

New Labor MP for Brisbane Renee Coffey had to close her office today because of protesting and a number of other MPs from across the major parties have faced attacks on their offices in recent years.

The prime minister was speaking from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on the 50th anniversary of the nation’s independence from Australia. The government is hoping to sign a joint defence treaty with PNG this week.

A planned new Australia-Papua New Guinea defence treaty has reportedly hit a late roadblock after PNG’s cabinet failed to approve the agreement.

The Australian has reported that the country’s national executive was unable to consider the treaty as scheduled last night because a number of ministers didn’t show up, meaning cabinet could not achieve a quorum.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. Credit: Kate Geraghty

It is unclear whether Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape will sign the treaty on Port Moresby on Wednesday as scheduled.

Marape told PNG media last night that “the process is still running” and “we’re not yet at the point of signing”.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says the National Climate Risk Assessment report released yesterday was “over-egged”, claiming it was designed to scare Australians so the government can implement net zero, which he calls a “government led socialist project”.

“The transparent agenda of this Labor government is to put more of the foot of government on everybody’s neck. That’s what they’re trying to do here,” Canavan told Sky News this morning.

A long-term net zero sceptic, Canavan is leading the Coalition’s review of the policy, and yesterday said it was likely the opposition would walk away from it.

Senator Matt Canavan.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said yesterday that he would likely need to leave the Coalition frontbench if they remained committed to net zero.

The government will this week release its updated 2035 climate targets, following yesterday’s damning report into what Australia would look like at 1.5, 2 and 3 degrees of warming.

“Net zero is the revolutionary idea that we would change how we drive, how we make things, how we grow our food, all within one generation. Nothing like this has ever been tried in world history,” Canavan said.

“It is the biggest socialist project, government led socialist project – that’s what it is – that has ever been attempted. And like all socialist projects, it is going to end in tears.”

The government will today reveal final plans for their controversial social media ban for under-16s, but there will be no legal requirement for platforms to age-test all users.

While platforms are required to prove to the eSafety watchdog that they have taken “reasonable steps” to remove the accounts of users aged under 16, there will not be a legally enforceable standard for accuracy.

However, eSafety can launch legal action if platforms cannot demonstrate they have taken “reasonable steps” to remove underage users, with a court able to impose fines of up to $49.5 million for such breaches.

The government will today reveal final plans for their controversial social media ban for under-16s. Credit: Aresna Villanueva

“The government has done the work to ensure that platforms have the information they need to comply with the new laws — and now it’s on them to take the necessary steps,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

Platforms are expected to be compliant from the first day of the ban on December 10.

Australia and Papua New Guinea are expected to sign a new bilateral defence treaty this week, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits PNG for the 50th anniversary of the nation’s independence.

It follows a number of developments that have strengthened the defence relationship between the two countries in recent years, including a 2023 bilateral security agreement and major Australian investment in PNG’s Lobrum Naval Base expansion.

Anthony Albanese arrived in Port Moresby yesterday for PNG’s independence celebrations.Credit: AAPIMAGE

Australia and PNG will be legally required to come to each other’s aid in the event of a military attack on either territory under the landmark defence treaty. The agreement will also give the Australian Defence Force unlimited access to a series of designated facilities and areas in PNG.

PNG’s cabinet endorsed the security pact last night, and it is expected to be signed tomorrow.

The Trump administration is preparing a major crackdown against NGOs, left-wing activists and what it calls “terrorist networks” advocating violence against conservatives after the assassination of key Donald Trump ally Charlie Kirk.

It comes as FBI director Kash Patel revealed investigators had matched DNA traces from a towel wrapped around the gun allegedly used in the crime to the suspect in custody, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson – as well as DNA traces from a screwdriver found at the crime scene.

Vice President J.D. Vance, a close friend of Kirk’s, hosted the slain activist’s radio show overnight and invited a stream of White House figures to pay tribute to the 31-year-old.

In one conversation, Vance asked Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to outline the actions the two of them had been working on since the assassination to combat political violence.

“You have crazies on the far-left who are saying, ‘Stephen Miller and J.D. Vance, they’re going to go after constitutionally protected speech’,” Vance said. “No, no, no. We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence. That’s not OK. Violence is not OK in our system.”

Read the story by Michael Koziol here.

A senior member of Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet has warned he could quit the frontbench if the Coalition does not abandon its support for net zero following a landmark climate report handed down by the federal government yesterday.

West Australian MP Andrew Hastie told ABC Radio Perth that he would consider quitting the frontbench – or that he could be sacked by Ley – because he believed the opposition should dump the targets.

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie and leader Sussan Ley.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The federal government’s landmark National Climate Risk Assessment Report warns that climate change-fuelled heatwaves will kill thousands of Australians every year, wipe $611 billion from property values and put 1.5 million homes at risk of rising sea levels if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed.

Hastie’s comments are likely to worsen tensions within the Coalition over a policy that has divided the party for a decade.

Read more from James Massola here.

Good morning and welcome to our national news blog. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be leading our coverage through the morning.

Here’s what is making headlines today:

• The Coalition split over net zero targets has deepened with a senior member of Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet threatening to quit the frontbench if the Coalition does not abandon its support for net zero. West Australian MP Andrew Hastie told ABC Radio Perth he would consider quitting the frontbench because he believes the opposition should drop the targets.
• US Vice President J.D. Vance said the Trump administration will crack down on NGOs, left-wing organisations and “terrorist networks” advocating violence against conservatives following the assassination of prominent conservative and Trump supporter Charlie Kirk.
• Australia and Papua New Guinea are expected to sign a new bilateral defence treaty this week when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits PNG for the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence. It reflects an increasingly close defence relationship built between the two nations in recent years.