Australia news LIVE: Ley’s allies confident she will remain party leader; Melbourne to swelter in worst heatwave since Black Saturday

Staying with Rishworth, the minister has labelled the Coalition “a matter of chaos”, following the National Party’s split from the Coalition last week as well as increasing speculation around a leadership challenge in the Liberal Party.

“I’d say it’s just a matter of chaos over there. I don’t know if you can even call it a Coalition anymore. There’s been obviously a nasty divorce, but you know, quite frankly, it’s the same old from this Liberal and National Party. No new ideas, just focused on themselves,” she told Nine this morning.

“We’ll put them to one side and get on with the job.”

Speculation about Ley’s future ratcheted up last week after the Coalition fell apart over a dispute about frontbench discipline.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth has faced questions this morning about “divisive” Australia Day protests around the country yesterday.

Today host Karl Stefanovic pressed Rishworth on displays of antisemitism, including neo-Nazi chants, at some of yesterday’s protests.

“For the vast majority of Australians, yesterday brought them together… But there was a minority that behaved very badly, and it is disgraceful to have seen some of this behaviour, and there is just no place for it,” Rishworth said.

She also expressed resounding support for amendments that would embed “Australian values” into the school curriculum.

Rishworth said she supported the proposal that schools make teaching the national anthem to children in the Northern Territory mandatory.

“I definitely support Australian kids learning the Australian anthem,” she said.

“Along with that, Minister Clare [O’Neil] is really looking at how we embed Australian values into our curriculum.”

A dangerous heatwave is bearing down on Victoria today, threatening record temperatures and uncontrollable fire conditions.

Melbourne is tipped to crack 45 degrees while parts of the state’s north-west are forecast to reach a record 49 degrees under the worst heatwave conditions since Black Saturday in 2009.

They include large swaths of the Mallee region, including the regional city of Mildura and the country town of Ouyen, where the previous record was 47 degrees.

Ambulance Victoria set up its emergency operations centre at the start of the heatwave over the weekend, and is prepared to redeploy paramedics to the state’s hardest-hit areas.

Powercor, the electricity distributor for Melbourne’s CBD and Victoria’s west, said it would have bolstered crews, including dispatchers and controllers, ready for widespread power outages in the coming days, as grids are expected to be overloaded with people using air conditioners.

Melbourne is forecast to swelter through a maximum 45 degrees, only marginally lower than the 46.4 degrees recorded on Black Saturday, before temperatures plummet overnight.

Allies of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley have confidently proclaimed she will stay in the job as her conservative critics remain split.

Backers of Andrew Hastie have said they hope Angus Taylor pulls out of the leadership race as the Liberal Party’s Right is in disagreement over whether Hastie or Taylor should challenge Ley’s position after this masthead revealed on Saturday that Hastie rebuffed a suggestion to run as Taylor’s deputy.

Hastie loyalists are hoping Taylor bows out should he come to accept their judgment that Hastie enjoys much more support in the Right – a claim disputed by Taylor’s camp, especially because Taylor’s supporters think he has more support among non-right-wingers in the party.

One of Ley’s allies taunted the MPs pushing behind the scenes for a spill, describing them as a “small group of disgruntled colleagues”.

Ley addressed reporters yesterday and said she was “absolutely not” of the belief that her leadership was over.

“I know there’s some frenzy of speculation in the media. I’ve been elected by my party room to lead. I’m doing that – I have the confidence of my team,” she said.

Read the full story from our chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Tuesday, January 27. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.

• Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her allies have confidently proclaimed she will stay in the job as her conservative critics remain split, while backers of Andrew Hastie hope Angus Taylor pulls out of the leadership race. Speculation about Ley’s future ratcheted up last week after the Coalition fell apart over a dispute about frontbench discipline. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Ley said she was “absolutely not” of the belief that her leadership was over.

• A severe heatwave is set to batter Victoria today, threatening record temperatures and uncontrollable fire conditions as parts of the state’s north-west are forecast to reach a record 49 degrees under the worst heatwave conditions since Black Saturday in 2009. Melbourne is tipped to crack 45 degrees.

• US President Donald Trump has sent his border tsar, Tom Homan, to Minnesota to oversee ICE operations amid ongoing unrest and violence between federal immigration agents and civilians. The decision comes after two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents.
• Israel has recovered the body of the last remaining hostage held in Gaza, the military said, fulfilling a key condition of the initial phase of Trump’s plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory. The recovery of the remains of police officer Ran Gvili – held in Gaza for more than 840 days – could pave the way for a limited reopening of the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the devastated enclave’s main gateway to the outside world, in line with Israeli pledges.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest live news updates from Australia and around the world.