Australia news LIVE: Popular support for One Nation surges, draws level with Coalition; Shift in US naval strategy signals progress for AUKUS submarines

One Nation’s primary vote continues to surge in the polls, and has now drawn level with the Coalition, the most recent Resolve Political Monitor polling shows.

In the first published poll since Taylor deposed Ley as leader, support for One Nation has surged to 23 per cent of the primary vote – although voters appear willing to give Taylor an opportunity to turn things around, backing the Coalition under Taylor by three more percentage points than under Ley.

Asked how they would vote in either of two scenarios – one with Ley leading the Coalition and Taylor as leader in the other – voters handed One Nation 25 per cent of the primary vote to Ley’s 20 per cent, whereas One Nation’s vote and that of a Taylor-led Coalition were even at 23 per cent.

In either case, the Coalition’s support has continued to slide from 28 per cent in January to another record low, while One Nation has surged from 18 per cent last month. Labor, meanwhile, regained some ground against a Taylor-led opposition to earn 32 per cent of the primary vote.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, February 16. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making headlines today.

• Sussan Ley was ousted as the leader of the Liberal Party on Friday, replaced in a leadership spill by conservative Angus Taylor. Senator Jane Hume was also elected as the party’s new deputy leader, replacing shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien.
• One Nation’s primary vote continues to surge in the polls, and has now drawn level with the Coalition, the most recent Resolve Political Monitor polling shows. In the first published poll since Taylor deposed Ley as leader, support for One Nation has surged to 23 per cent of the primary vote.

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers is being urged by the International Monetary Fund to use his May budget to embrace far-reaching tax reform including increasing the GST, overhauling the capital gains tax and cutting company tax to lift living standards and get the economy growing faster.

• The United States Navy is preparing for a significant shift in its plans that could reduce its reliance on Virginia-class attack submarines, potentially making it easier for Australia to acquire the vessels as planned under the AUKUS agreement.

• And five European allies have blamed Russia for killing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using toxin from poison dart frogs while he was held in an Arctic penal colony two years ago, a claim Moscow has rejected as propaganda. In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analyses of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and that is not found naturally in Russia.

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