Australia news LIVE: Teals to form new party; ASIO boss criticises terror threat level

Good morning, and welcome to our national news live coverage for Thursday, June 25. We’ll be keeping you up to date with today’s news.

Here are today’s main headlines.

Teal independents to form new political party: Teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender will form a new political party, Community Strong Australia, in a much-anticipated move set to further destabilise the two-party system, and an attempt to grab disaffected One Nation voters.

ASIO boss criticises terror threat level: The nation’s domestic spy boss has revealed he is working with the government to overhaul the decade-old terror threat warning system, as he warns that the current threat level underestimates the seriousness of the dangers Australians face.

Warning over Labor’s union procurement changes: New federal laws that would allow businesses with union-backed enterprise agreements to be favoured for taxpayer-funded work have sparked warnings they could create a fresh corruption risk in Commonwealth contracts, drawing comparisons with practices exposed in the CFMEU scandal.

Trump cancels event, demands voter ID laws ahead of midterms: President Donald Trump’s deteriorating relationship with the US Congress has reached new lows after he cancelled a planned event on Capitol Hill and refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill until lawmakers passed stricter voter ID laws.

Meanwhile, in the media world, Today show host Karl Stefanovic will leave Nine following his incendiary podcast interview with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson, potentially defusing a major advertiser boycott.

As we bring you the latest news and reaction to the new political party established by teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender, we want to know what you think of its name: Community Strong Australia.

The party’s creation - which was revealed exclusively by this masthead here - will seek to exploit Australia’s political upheaval.

Steggall described it to this masthead as a “centrist party, not a centre-right replacement”. All other teal MPs have declined to join.

This morning, Liberal senator James Paterson and shadow treasurer Tim Wilson rejected suggestions the party was a threat, with the latter saying he could not even remember its name.

So, we are keen to know: what do you think of the name? Share your thoughts below.

Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has scoffed at Community Strong Australia, the new political party formed by teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender, saying they do not pose a threat to his party.

“I wish them all the best, but if they can’t even convince the Teal MPs in parliament to join their party, I think they’re going to really struggle to convince Australians to vote for their party,” Paterson told Sky News.

“I mean, when you’ve got people like Monique Ryan and others [like] Kate Cheney say that they’ve got no interest in joining the teal party, I think that’s pretty revealing.”

Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said the new party does not have values beyond believing in themselves, and he was “not the least bit concerned” about a party he could not remember the name of.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has brushed off reporting that his MPs are frustrated with his repeated failure to say whether he does or does not support multiculturalism, as the party faces sustained losses in support to One Nation.

“I think all of us absolutely reject Labor’s version, Labor’s multiculturalism, which is different for different people,” Taylor told Nine’s Today this morning.

“I’m not going to comment on anonymous backgrounding ... I don’t do that. What I focus on is our plan, holding Labor to account, and with respect to the issue we were just talking about, you know, a multiculturalism that says you can have different rules for different people - that’s not what Australia is. That’s not what I stand for,” he said.

Reporting in The Australian newspaper this morning said that “a growing number of Liberal MPs” were questioning Taylor’s leadership and were “dismayed” at his lack of cut-through since taking reigns of the party in February.

In this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor, the Coalition’s primary vote had fallen by 3 per cent, to a record-low of 20 per cent of the primary vote since Taylor’s ascension. By contrast, One Nation has risen to 29 per cent of the primary vote, ahead of Labor on 28 per cent.

Taylor was repeatedly questioned this week over whether he supported the value of multiculturalism, and repeatedly failed to offer a direct response. The questions come as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson advocates for a policy of “monoculturalism”.

Education Minister Jason Clare has said he has faith in Australian security agencies, as the government revealed an Islamic State-linked Australian woman will return to the country.

“I’ve got great faith ... that they’re taking every step they need to take to keep Australians safe, and that they’d be following the law in this case,” Clare told ABC television this morning.

“This is not their first rodeo, and it’s not just, what I’ve colloquially called ‘ISIS-brides’. In the past, under the former government, I think about 40 foreign fighters returned to Australia, and they took the steps that you would expect ... to monitor and keep Australians safe, and I’d expect that they’ll do exactly the same here.”

Meanwhile, opposition defence spokesman James Paterson attacked the government, saying they have not done enough to stop the return of Islamic State-linked women.

Dragons are rumoured to sleep on a pile of gold, and now we might know why: they’re hedging against the brutal inflation the mythical beasts are being blamed for causing.

“We are fighting the inflation dragon,” Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told Nine’s Today program this morning.

“We’ve made substantial progress – the war in the Middle East hasn’t helped – but we know there’s more to do.”

Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson said the government’s economic model was stoking inflation.

The last of the Islamic State-linked Australian women stranded in a detention camp in Syria has been granted a permit to return to Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has revealed.

The Sydney woman, Hodan Abby, was blocked from boarding a flight in Damascus in May under a temporary exclusion order issued by the federal government.

She was later believed to have disappeared with her young disabled daughter inside the Syrian prison system.

Burke said that Abby had formally requested to return to Australia, and the government could no longer prevent her from returning to the country.

Teal independent Nicolette Boele has welcomed the arrival of Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender’s new political party Community Strong Australia, but has maintained that she will remain an independent.

“Today is a significant day, and a hopeful one. Many Australians want climate action, integrity, and politics that is done with them and for them. Community independents have offered exactly that – but only to the electorates lucky enough to have one on the ballot. What launches today could open that door to a great many more,” Boele said in a statement.

“For now, I am remaining independent. That is the mandate Bradfield gave me, and any decision to change that belongs to my community, not to a press conference. I am still working through what this party would allow me to do for the people I represent that I cannot already do as a community independent – and until I am certain, I will not pretend otherwise.”

Boele, the teal with the slimmest electoral margin of the cohort, said she was “genuinely excited” about the party’s potential impact on the Australian political landscape. She said she expected to work with the party “often”.

“Community Strong Australia represents the kind of brave, hopeful politics our country needs more of, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.”

Defender Jacob Italiano has been ruled out of the Socceroos’ World Cup clash against Paraguay and is expected to miss the rest of the tournament, further exposing the lack of available depth in what has been the team’s long-term problem position.

In a sizeable blow to Australia’s hopes, Italiano injured his groin at training on Monday (US West Coast time) and is unlikely to play any further part in their campaign, according to sources with knowledge of his fitness status.

Coach Tony Popovic confirmed the news on the eve of their Group D showdown with Paraguay, saying the extent of the 24-year-old’s injury was still to be determined by scans in the coming days.

It is the second forced change Popovic will need to make to his starting line-up, with Mathew Leckie (hamstring) also unable to back up from Australia’s 2-0 defeat to the United States.

Italiano’s absence leaves a big hole on the right side of Australia’s defence.

Vince Rugari explains more here.

France has confirmed its first case of Ebola after a doctor who returned from humanitarian work in the Democratic Republic of Congo tested positive.

The news was confirmed by the French Health Ministry, which identified five possible contacts who should isolate.

The patient – who has not been named – is the first Ebola case to be identified outside the region in the current outbreak. He is in stable condition and is receiving care at a specialised facility, the ministry said.

The rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has sickened more than 1100 people in Congo and Uganda and killed almost 280. Health officials have struggled to contain the outbreak in a region beset by insecurity, displacement and hunger.

Household electricity usage is forecast to almost halve over the next 25 years due to Australia’s booming adoption of rooftop solar panels and batteries, but overall grid demand could double because of businesses’ power usage and energy-hungry data centres.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has modified its 25-year road map for the transition of the power grid to reflect a transformative surge in the number of home battery installations and growing demand for data centres to power AI tools.

There are already more than 600,000 homes around the nation with their own battery systems, allowing them to stash their rooftop solar power during the day and discharge it to power their homes after sunset.

Millions more are expected to install batteries by 2050, which the market operator now says will slash household electricity consumption by 44 per cent, despite homes having more electric appliances and electric vehicles.

Read more in this story by Mike Foley and Nick Toscano.