Australian news and politics live: Liberals reject need for party rebrand despite shock polls, One Nation rise

Beijing has hit out at Australia’s new security treaty with Vanuatu, warning that bilateral agreements should not target third countries, as China pursues its own pact with the Pacific nation.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his counterpart Jotham Napat signed the long-awaited Nakamal agreement, with Australia receiving an assurance that no foreign military bases will be established in Vanuatu.

Asked about the agreement on Monday evening, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “The co-operation should not target any third party, still less be used as an excuse for geopolitical contest.”

“We hope that the co-operation between relevant countries and Pacific nations will be truly conducive to the development and stability of the Pacific Islands region,” Guo added.

After Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh said the party must rebrand as Angus Taylor failed to turn the polls around, colleagues have rejected the suggestion.

“Australians don’t want us to rebrand. They want us to change the country that is actually going backwards,” Liberal Senate leader Michaelia Cash told Today.

“I’m out in the streets every day, talking to people. I walk through shopping centres, and people come up to me, and they say, ‘Please change the government. We cannot afford any more of a Labor-Greens dirty deal’.”

Jonno Duniam, Opposition home affairs spokesman, said voters weren’t worried about the packaging of Liberals.

“I think people are less concerned about the packaging or the box and what it looks like on the outside and more worried about what is on the inside, which is, frankly, where we’ve got to be focused,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to actually get our policy work done, we’ve got to announce it. We’ve got to get out and communicate. We’ll sell it. That’s when we’ll start seeing the dial shift or people return to us having abandoned us.”

If the Prime Minister’s banking details can allegedly be accessed without authorisation, what does that mean for millions of other Australians?

That question is likely to be asked after a former Ernst & Young graduate employee, and another, were charged over the alleged unauthorised access of confidential Commonwealth Bank customer records, including those belonging to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

A man who had been seconded to Commonwealth Bank as part of EY’s graduate consulting program has since been dismissed and is facing criminal charges over the alleged privacy breach, along with another person.

According to The Australian Financial Review, the former employee used internal banking systems to access the personal banking details of Mr Albanese and at least one senior EY partner despite having no legitimate work reason to do so.

The alleged breach was detected through Commonwealth Bank’s internal monitoring systems, which track access to sensitive customer information and alerted EY to the activity.

“It is not appropriate for us to comment on individual contractor matters,” a Commonwealth Bank spokesman said.

Read the full story.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described as “horrific” the case of Perth man Simon Peter Carman, who has been charged in Thailand over the death of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla.

“It’s a horrific case, and I think we’ve all been horrified by what has happened, and our sympathy goes to the friends and family,” she said this morning.

“In relation to consular assistance, again as minister, I’m bound by privacy obligations. We obviously provide consular assistance to Australians overseas where required.”

She says Australian officials have been engaging with their Thai counterparts, and she anticipates speaking with the Thai foreign minister at an imminent ASEAN meeting.

In a demonstration of the woes still besetting the Liberal Party, shadow treasurer Tim Wilson this morning stepped up to waiting TV cameras to talk about the “widows’ tax”, and the deal Labor and the Greens struck last week to pass tax changes – only to be met with seven questions about his party’s poor standing.

Does the Liberal Party need a rebrand? If it’s so good, why do only 17 per cent of people want to vote for it? Does it need a new leader?

“I’ve said consistently there’s a lot more work to do to build out the blue horizon of liberal hope,” Mr Wilson said.

He went on to spruik his book, The New Social Contract: Renewing the Liberal Vision for Australia, and its discussion of “the choice … between a liberal democratic future or a social democratic future”.

It does have some fans within Parliament House; unfortunately for Mr Wilson, they all seem to sit around the Cabinet table, judging by how often ministers quote it at him in Question Time.

Two Ernst and Young graduates have reportedly been sacked and are now facing the weight of the law after they allegedly accessed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s banking details.

The AFR reported that the two graduates, who were on secondment at CBA, that they grads commenced work with EY in March, before being sent off to the bank.

The outlet also claimed the grads allegedly accessed details of a senior partner.

It is understood that the PM’s office is aware of the alleged breach but has not commented on the matter.

EY, CBA and PMO have been contacted for comment.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Albanese government and the Greens look set to make a $1b super deal as Labor continues to prioritise young Australians, especially those who will be old enough to vote at the next election.

The Greens are pushing to make a move that would block the Treasury from exempting major companies from paying super for those under 18.

Dr Chalmers told ABC on Tuesday that the issue was “really important”, promising to engage young people and unions before making a decision.

“This is a really important issue. I actually met with a delegation of young workers about this last week. We are always looking for ways to strengthen the superannuation system to make it deliver for more workers,” he said.

“We’ve indicated a willingness to continue to engage with young people, with unions, with the super sector, on proposals about what the next set of changes might be in superannuation.”