Australia news LIVE: Liberal leaders face fresh pressure over Nationals’ dumping of net zero; Eleven injured, one still fighting for life after UK train mass stabbing

13 hours ago 4

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7.22am

Coalition ‘headed for electoral oblivion’, says independent MP

By Emily Kaine

Independent MP Monique Ryan has this morning slammed the Coalition for its division over net zero, claiming they are “headed for electoral oblivion”.

Speaking to Nine’s Today show following the National Party’s announcement yesterday that they were abandoning net zero, Ryan said, “[The Coalition] don’t know what they believe. They’re trying to look at, I think polls or the popularity contest. This is an important issue, and Australia, they know that climate change is real. They know that we need to do something about it. They’re looking to political leaders for leadership.

“They are not getting it. And I think they’re just basically driving themselves off a cliff in terms of their both their electoral prospects, but also what that means for these political parties. It’s a critical time for the Coalition. They need to, you know, really look to themselves and look to what their guiding principles are, if there are any at all, and get back to those. If they don’t, they are headed for electoral oblivion.”

The Nats’ new policy will focus on climate adaptation and mitigation of carbon emissions, National Party leader David Littleproud said yesterday.

The decision poses a significant problem for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as MPs return to parliament today. Three sources, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity, said moderates would prefer to split the Coalition than drop net zero aspirations altogether, and some were willing to quit the frontbench over the issue.

“The Liberal Party has lost two elections on net zero, and it looks like it’s just going to drive itself into an existential crisis here. It’s, it’s a bit sad, really, because we need an effective opposition, but we’re not going to get that at this point in this term of government from the Nationals or from the Liberals,” Ryan said.

7.00am

Littleproud: Nats’ new climate policy ‘cheaper, better, fairer’

By Emily Kaine

Nationals leader David Littleproud has today doubled down on his party’s decision, announced yesterday, to abandon its commitment to a net zero by 2050 climate target.

The Nats’ new policy will instead focus on climate adaptation and mitigation of carbon emissions, Littleproud said yesterday.

“We believe there’s a cheaper, better, fairer way to reduce emissions, to live up to international standards, and to try and make sure we take the pressure off Australians who are having trouble to pay their electricity bills. We’re seeing people losing their jobs. This net zero by 2050 will cost Australia $9 trillion putting at risk things like Medicare, NDIS… We should do the right thing, not just in mitigation of emissions, but also in terms of adaptation, making sure that we have a more resilient environment,” Littleproud told Nine’s Today show this morning.

Nationals leader David Littleproud addresses the media after the net zero policy change on Sunday.

Pressed on whether he was frustrated by the Coalition’s indecision over net zero, Littleproud insisted that the party “respected” its Coalition partners’ process.

“I think you’ve got to work from the premise of respect, and that’s what we work on. This isn’t about personality. This isn’t about Coalition. This is about good policy… rather than politics, and we just hope that this will feed into the process with our Coalition partners, and we’re doing that in a constructive way.”

“It’s important that we just let each party work through their own processes,” Littleproud said.

6.47am

Eleven injured, one fighting for life after mass stabbing on UK train

By David Crowe

Eleven people were rushed to hospital after a mass stabbing on a UK train bound for London, with one still fighting for their life.

Police said they were called at around 6.39am Sunday AEDT after reports that “multiple people” had been stabbed as the train from Doncaster to King’s Cross headed south towards Huntingdon, about 120 kilometres north of London.

Emergency personnel inspect the train at Huntingdon following the attack.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes when the train was brought to an emergency halt at a station near the university town of Cambridge, where police arrested two suspects and ambulance officers took 10 bloodied passengers to hospital. Another passenger later self-presented at hospital.

Police arrested two British-born men in relation to the attack but later released one, but released one of them later and concluded the horror attack was the work of a single assailant.

Investigators are still searching for a motive after saying there was no reason to conclude the attack was terrorism.

The person fighting life-threatening injuries in hospital is a conductor on the London North Eastern Railway who sought to stop the assailant, whom authorities are hailing as a hero and witnesses saying he tried to shield passengers from attack.

6.47am

Ley faces fresh challenge after Nats drop net zero

By Natassia Chrysanthos, Brittany Busch and Paul Sakkal

Nationals leader David Littleproud yesterday announced that the party would scrap their commitment to net zero by 2050 climate target.

He said the party’s new climate policy would be to focus on bringing down Australia’s emissions in line with the rest of the world.

Nationals leader David Littleproud during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Sunday.

The position was agreed to unanimously by Nationals MPs during a party room meeting in Canberra.

The decision poses a significant problem for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as MPs return to parliament today.

Three sources, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity, said moderates would prefer to split the Coalition than drop net zero aspirations altogether, and some were willing to quit the frontbench over the issue.

6.47am

What’s making news this morning

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, November 3. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage for the first half of the day. Here’s what is making headlines this morning, as well as some news you may have missed over the weekend.

Nationals leader David Littleproud yesterday announced that the party would scrap its climate target commitment to net zero by 2050. He said the party’s new climate policy would be to focus on bringing down Australia’s emissions in line with the rest of the world. The position was agreed to unanimously by Nationals MPs during a party room meeting in Canberra. The decision poses a significant problem for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as MPs return to parliament today. Three sources, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity, said moderates would prefer to split the Coalition than drop net zero aspirations altogether, and some were willing to quit the frontbench over the issue.
A mass stabbing on a UK train bound for London left 10 people in hospital with injuries, with one, a conductor who intervened to save lives, still fighting for his own. Police arrested two British-born men in relation to the attack but later released one. They said there was “nothing to suggest” the incident was a terror attack.
The audacious daylight robbery of jewels worth €88 million ($157 million) from the Paris Louvre Museum was executed by small-time criminals rather than professionals from the world of organised crime, the Paris prosecutor said today. Laure Beccuau said one of the suspects, aged 37, had 10 convictions for theft, but his profile didn’t match that of a high-level organised criminal, The Parisien reported.