Australian news and politics live: Jacinta Price offered chance to run as Liberal in 2025 Federal election

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, now a Liberal party room sitting Senator after defecting from the National’s party room, was reportedly offered the chance to run for the Liberal Party in the 2025 Federal election.

Claims have been made that former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton tried to lure Senator Price to enter the race as a Liberal in either Lingiari or Solomon. The Nationals also reportedly attempted to have Senator Price run in Paterson or Hunter.

In a statement addressing the claims, Senator Price told Sky News: “I previously ran for the lower house seat of Lingiari at the 2019 election.”

“I did receive suggestions from various individuals, including supporters, colleagues and friends, who would have liked me to run for a lower house seat.

“I remain content with that decision and look forward to (continuing) a big task that lies ahead for the Liberal Party in holding the Albanese government to account in the Senate.”

Anthony Albanese’s scathing rebuke of Israel for continuing to restrict aid into Gaza has sparked speculation his government is eyeing sanctions on Australia’s Middle East ally.

Israel last week lifted its months-long aid blockade on Gaza.

But despite thousands of lorries packed full of food and critical supplies waiting on the border, fewer than 700 trucks have entered the Palestinian territory, according to Israeli officials.

With Gazans facing famine and photos emerging of severely malnourished children, Australia has joined other major Western countries in condemning the Israeli stranglehold on aid.

The UK, France and Canada have even threatened sanctions – a step Australia could follow, according to a leading international law expert.

Read the full story.

A well-known firebrand senator has beaten an upper house colleague’s daughter to retain her seat after a nail-biting election count.

Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie faced a tight race for the state’s final Senate seat against One Nation’s Lee Hanson, whose mother Pauline founded the party.

But on Tuesday the Australian Electoral Commission declared Senator Lambie had triumphed and will return to parliament for another term.

Tasmania’s other senators include Labor’s Carol Brown and Richard Dowling, the Liberals’ Claire Chandler and Richard Colbeck, and Nick McKim from the Greens.

The upper house chamber will also be home to at least one new face after Labor’s landslide May 3 election win produced another surprise result.

Charlotte Walker will become Australia’s youngest-ever senator at just 21 years old after she was preselected in the usually unwinnable third spot on Labor’s South Australian ticket.

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Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has thrown his support behind an extension of AUKUS, a new frontier in space defence.

Mr Morrison, who is responsible for the creation of AUKUS after ripping up a French submarine deal made between former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and French President Emmanuel Macron, revealed his support at the 2025 Australian Space Summit.

“Australia can and must stand out as a rising actor with the potential to plug important holes in allied capabilities,” The Australian reported Mr Morrison as saying.

The former PM said the extension, referred to as “pillar three”, would deter countries from entering into space military operations.

He claimed China and Russia were “advancing” and “developing” space military strengths through launches and even a “nuclear anti-satellite weapon”.

“The blurred lines between civil and military domains created by the dual-use space technologies makes this even more challenging to contest,” he said.

“By 2030, with deliberate development, Australia can offer unique contributions: southern-hemisphere sensors watching the skies, a strategic location for space operations, and additional resilient satellites and launch options.”

Thousands of nurses and midwives have voted to strike for the first time in 20 years, saying promised “nation-leading” wage increases never transpired.

More than 96 per cent of Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union members voted in favour of protected industrial action as a stoush with the state government escalated.

The 50,000-strong union is demanding the Queensland government follow through on its 2024 election commitment of “nation-leading” wages for the health workforce.

The state government’s public sector wages offer is currently three per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra three per cent in December 2027.

The union said 66.7 per cent of nurses and midwives would be paid less than their Victorian counterparts by the end of the agreement.

Read the full story here.

The PM fielded a question about community concerns that the assistance of the ADF and his own visit came too late.

He defended the relief response, saying he was on the ground personally on Friday, and his Emergencies Minister Kristy McBain has remained in the area the entire time.

He stated the ADF have been working constantly on the ground alongside Disaster Relief Australia, which will boost its numbers imminently to 100.

“We have Australian Defence Force in the air through choppers, rescuing people,” he said.

“The priority in last week was rescuing the extraordinary number of people who needed to be rescued. Just to give some indication, 7791 incidents received for this event. 795 flood rescue activations,” he said.

The damage assessment so far has deemed 695 buildings non-habitable, the PM revealed.

“We will provide what support is necessary,” he said.

“What the defence force can add here is engineering capacity as well. They have skills that aren’t available in other places, and they will make a substantial difference.”

Anthony Albanese says the government’s first priority was to ensure immediate relief for those impacted by the floods.

“We’re in early stages. What we’re about is making sure that people are looked after in the immediate sense,” he said.

Asked about the responsibility of insurance firms, he added that, “we expect insurance companies to do right by their customers and swiftly process claims.”

An office has been set up in the area to help people process claims, Mr Albanese said.

“Our focus now is on the clean up and recovery from this event. That’s our focus, the immediate needs. That’s what people here expect us to do. Yes, there are longer term issues that need to be looked at,” he said.

The Prime Minister said if more was needed it would be provided.

PM Albanese has praised the relief efforts and volunteers helping the community recover from the impact of the severe floods.

“We look after each other to build times. We don’t leave people behind,” he said, announcing the activation of the Australian Government disaster recovery payment in nine local government areas.

“This payment helps people who have suffered the most serious impacts, including major damage to their home or serious injury or loss of a loved one as a result of severe weather,” he said.

“It’s a one off payment of $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible child,” he added, saying it would be available from 2pm tomorrow.

The Prime Minister has been in Taree on Tuesday, visiting communities impacted by severe flooding and the volunteers helping them.

He was accompanied by Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain, NSW State Emergency Service Commissioner Mike Wassing and NSW Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin.

The PM visited a couple of dairy farms and said the “devastation that we have witnessed firsthand, has been only exceeded by the extraordinary resilience that these Australians are showing.”

He called the community “remarkable” but added that every Australian will be affected by the impact on the dairy industries.

“The human impact we must remember first and foremost, the loss of five lives through these devastating floods, but the extraordinary hardship that people have gone through,” Mr Albanese added.

“People have spoken about the 2021 floods and how that had a devastating impact, but they thought that would be the peak. Well, this flood has been far worse, and the impact has been far more severe.”

After a tense few weeks of counting, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected for another six years in the upper house.

After the distribution of preferences, Senator Lambie finished fifth, ahead of Liberal senator Richard Colbeck.

The full result for the six seats up for grabs in this election went to:

1. Carole Brown - Labor
2. Claire Chandler - Liberal
3. Nick McKim - Greens
4. Richard Dowling - Labor
5. Jacqui Lambie - Jacqui Lambie Network
6. Richard Colbeck - Liberal