Australia news LIVE: Liberals, Nationals to meet on net zero; Albanese wants deals with Fiji, Vanuatu

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is holding a press conference in Melbourne this morning with the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan. Stream it live below:

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong has taken aim at the Coalition’s dumping of net zero, saying it would jeopardise Australia’s standing in the Pacific region.

“The Pacific’s view of the Coalition’s approach to climate policy is well documented, and it has become emblematic of the Coalition’s disrespect for the Pacific,” Wong told ABC’s Insiders. “That was the case under Tony Abbott, that was the case under Scott Morrison, and regrettably, it is the case under Sussan Ley.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“The Pacific regard climate change as their number one issue. So when parties, ostensibly of government in our country, do this, or make jokes about water lapping at the door, or demonstrate to them that they simply are not prepared to act, what the Pacific take from that is disrespect.”

Wong said Australia’s prosperity and security was tied to the Pacific region, and neglecting those relationships threatened that stability.

“This just demonstrates again that the Coalition not only would impose higher costs on Australians, but impose a cost on Australia in our region,” she said.

Wong pointed to Australia’s COP bid for next year, made in partnership with the country’s Pacific neighbours.

“This is the primary reason why we sought the COP, to bring the world’s attention to what is happening for our Pacific Island family,” she said.

Angus Taylor, currently the Coalition spokesman on defence, has told the Daily Telegraph that in the six months since he lost the leadership ballot to Sussan Ley, he’s been talking to colleagues about what their agenda should be - “and I’ll be putting my hand up to keep prosecuting that agenda”.

Taylor says there are five big battles the Coalition should have with the Albanese government: net zero, immigration, family policy, investment and defence.

Members of the Right faction have already signalled that they want to have a debate about how far to lower the immigration intake, and Ley has already said it would be her next priority.

Taylor also called for three factional colleagues on the backbench, new conservative Senator Jess Collins, and senators Jacinta Price and Sarah Henderson, who both refused to express confidence in Ley, to be given more important roles: “We’ve got to get people like [Price, Henderson, and Collins] on the field and playing.”

Anthony Albanese is moving to lock in a security pact with Fiji, as well as resuscitate a security deal with Vanuatu two months after negotiations collapsed during his visit to the Pacific Island nation.

The prime minister is looking to build on a “watershed” defence agreement with Indonesia that analysts say has reshaped power relations in Asia, and has struck a positive tone on the prospect of avoiding conflict with China over Taiwan.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the flight deck of HMAS Canberra in Sydney, where they announced a defence pact on Wednesday.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong

In an interview from his Kirribilli residence, Albanese told this masthead that progress was also being made on a long-delayed trade deal with the European Union, coming off the back of an export tie-up with the United Arab Emirates struck last month.

Read the full report from our chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal here.

Shadow frontbencher Jonno Duniam has commended the leadership of Sussan Ley and backed her to remain opposition leader for the rest of the term after the settling of the Liberals’ internal net zero debate.

“I’m supporting Sussan Ley. She’s our leader. She’ll take us to the next election, and we are going to give it a red hot go and hold this appalling government to account,” Duniam told Sky News.

Asked which of his fellow Right faction MPs, Andrew Hastie or Angus Taylor, would be the best option for leader, Duniam said: “Sussan Ley’s our leader”.

“I stood with Sussan Ley at a press conference on Thursday and outlined our plan to go through the process we’re about to conclude today. I’ve stood with Sussan Ley at a range of press conferences. I’ve been asked multiple times, do I support her? And my answer is, as it has been on all of those occasions, I support her because she’s the one who’s guided us through this process. She’s the one who’s landed this policy outcome. I look forward to working with her on other issues like migration, which is in the home affairs and immigration policy area.”

Ley promoted Duniam to opposition home affairs spokesman last month after Hastie quit her frontbench.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Sunday, November 16. My name is Brittany Busch, and I’ll be helming our coverage for today. Here’s what is making headlines this morning, as well as some news you may have missed.

• The Liberals and Nationals will hold a joint partyroom today to ratify the Coalition’s position on net zero. A press conference on its outcome is expected to be held at 4pm AEDT.
• Caitlin Fitzimmons has taken a look at how to make the most of the government’s three free hours of solar plan.
• US President Donald Trump has exempted beef – including billions of dollars worth of Australian exports – from his sweeping tariff program as he responds to growing unrest from American consumers over the cost of living.