Australia news LIVE: Minister warns Morrison and Bragg’s Islam remarks risk inflaming division; Ley’s rivals to meet today in Melbourne

Influential Nationals senator Matt Canavan says he understands MP Colin Boyce’s intentions to rebuild the Coalition, but he will not support Boyce’s spill motion in the party room come Monday.

Speaking to Sky News just now, Canavan said, “I understand the points Colin is making about the critical juncture here for the National Party. I think he’s doing this in a genuine attempt to try and rebuild the Coalition, but it’s not something I’ll support.

Canavan said he has not canvassed any of his colleagues about the motion so far, and is not sure whether Boyce will receive any votes.

“I haven’t canvassed any of my colleagues about this issue. I think Colin might have said he hasn’t either, so he probably doesn’t know.”

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie insists David Littleproud will “absolutely” stay leader of the party following a surprise announcement by MP Colin Boyce that he would move a spill motion for the leadership on Monday.

Asked on Today whether Littleproud would be the leader come next week, McKenzie said, “Absolutely … I cannot see the spill motion getting up on Monday.”

Her comments echo the sentiments of other Nationals senators, including Matt Canavan, who said yesterday that he thought it unlikely Boyce’s spill motion would be successful.

Canavan told this masthead yesterday he would not support Boyce’s motion and that the Coalition should be reformed “as soon as possible”.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the throwing of an alleged bomb into a crowd at an Invasion Day rally in the Perth CBD on Monday was a potential “act of terrorism”.

WA Police allege a 31-year-old man threw a device containing screws and ball bearings surrounded by an explosive liquid into the crowd in the Perth CBD during a protest.

A joint statement released by WA Police, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO said investigations were ongoing.

The AFP’s Joint Counter Terror Team confirmed the incident was now being treated as a “potential terrorist act”.

The unit said there were no ongoing threats to public safety.

Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly has warned former prime minister Scott Morrison and Liberal senator Andrew Bragg have risked inflaming community tensions and fuelling fear with remarks that target Muslim Australians following the December Bondi terrorist attack.

Her rebuke was reinforced by Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik. He said that extremism must be confronted, but cautioned that conflating criminal activity with the Muslim faith would undermine trust and compromise genuine counter-extremism efforts that keep the community safe.

Both are Muslims who worked in counter-extremism before their current roles – Aly was a professor while Malik ran programs in the NSW premier’s department.

Their comments responded to a fresh rift that Morrison opened with Australian Muslims when he gave a speech in Israel on Tuesday that called on Australian Islamic leaders to enforce stronger standards within their own communities.

Morrison said Muslim leaders should start licensing preachers, translating all sermons into English and setting up a board to police radicals.

Read the full story by federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, January 29. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage throughout the morning. Here’s what is making news today.

• Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly has warned that former prime minister Scott Morrison and Liberal senator Andrew Bragg have risked inflaming community tensions and fuelling fear with remarks that target Muslim Australians following the December Bondi terrorist attack.

• Liberal challengers Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie, the two conservatives considering a tilt against Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, will hold their first face-to-face talks in weeks today in Melbourne, where they will both attend the funeral of former Liberal MP Katie Allan. It comes at a fraught time for the party, following National Party leader David Littleproud’s decision to split from the Coalition last week.

• Littleproud is also facing turmoil in his own party, after MP Colin Boyce yesterday announced on air that he planned to move a spill motion for the leadership of the Nationals to the party room on Monday afternoon, and intended to put himself forward for the job. The embattled Nationals leader is also under fresh pressure from Ley, after she claimed Littleproud was too busy fending off a leadership threat to discuss reforming the Coalition.
• Police are investigating whether the bomb allegedly thrown into a crowd at a Perth Invasion Day rally on Monday was an act of terrorism. WA Police allege a 31-year-old man threw a device containing screws and ball bearings surrounded by an explosive liquid into the crowd of about 2500 people in the Perth CBD during a protest, and a joint statement by WA Police, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO said investigations were ongoing.

• At least three iPhone models were left unable to take or make phone calls on the Telstra network last night after receiving an Apple software update intended to ensure older iPhone devices can contact Triple Zero when their primary network is unavailable. Telstra confirmed it was investigating an issue with making and receiving calls on the devices, including to Triple Zero.

• And overseas, US President Donald Trump said a “massive armada” of US warships now in the Middle East is ready to strike Iran, as he issued his most direct threat to date for the Islamic Republic to negotiate or face American military action.

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