Australian news and politics live: Watt says environment bill will happen with or without Coalition, Greens

Opposition leader Sussan Ley has read the names of 74 women lost in the past year to domestic violence in Australia to Federal Parliament.

In her solemn speech to mark the launch of the 16 Days campaign, Ms Ley urged the nation to “maintain the rage” to help end the insidious issue.

“Today, I stand here in our national parliament and read these names into our national record. These women matter,” she told the House of Representatives.

“These names should echo through this building and echo across our country.”

“How do we maintain the rage? We must not look away. We must continue to go into the dark places.

“We must continue to shine the light. These women have stories. These women have names. We must not ever forget them.”

It comes after she revealed at her first National Press Club as Liberal leader in June that she had experienced domestic violence in the form of coercive control.

Politicians on both sides have raised questions over the Bureau of Meteorology’s $96 million bill for a website design which was loathed by Australians.

Labor Assistant Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the government simply couldn’t explain the spending which was why the Environment Minister had launched a probe into it.

“That cost blowout is ridiculous and that’s why Murray Watt has launched an investigation to try and find out how this has occurred,” he told Sky News on Monday.

“That cost blowout is ridiculous and simply unacceptable.”

Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic said the BOM app was an important piece of government infrastructure but agreed the excessive cost of the redevelopment needed to be explained.

“For the cost to blow out to almost $100 million is extraordinary and something that this government needs to explain as to how this has happened, why it has happened, and how the spending has gotten so out of control,” she said.

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Nationals Leader David Littleproud has criticised the Bureau of Meteorology’s $96 million website redesign, saying it “misled” the public on the bill, which had the potential to erode public trust.

“It’s disgraceful and there’s a cultural deficiency at the Bureau of Meteorology,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News on Monday.

“They actually said publicly that it costs $4.1 million, it’s now 96 million. The fact that they have misled the Australian people in that way is disgraceful.

“They should be an organisation that the Australian people can trust, particularly when they’re using Australian taxpayers’ money.

“This is a disgrace for the Bureau of Meteorology. They’ve had a litany of errors, not just in their forecasting, but now treating people with such disrespect.”

“It just goes to show there’s a cultural problem at the Bureau, and unless the minister gets involved, I suspect we’re going to see an erosion of any confidence in the bureau moving forward.”

Environment Minister Murray Watt has urged the Bureau of Meteorology to “take taxpayers’ money seriously” after their “disappointing” $96 million website bungle.

It comes as it has been revealed the cost of the recent BOM website overhaul, which angered scores of Australians, was a staggering $96 million rather than the $4.1million that was originally claimed.

Speaking on Sky News on Monday, Senator Watt said it was clear the agency hadn’t met public expectations with the project.

“I’m as disappointed as anyone about this. I’m very disappointed in the way this has been handled,” Senator Watt said.

“The BOM is an independent agency, and it manages its own affairs. But obviously it’s important that they, like every other federal agency, take taxpayers’ money seriously.”

Adding to the intrigue surrounding Sussan Ley’s future, Andrew Hastie will miss at least one day of Parliament this week as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

The Canning MP didn’t make the trip across the Nullarbor on Sunday with his West Australian colleagues (nor did Michaelia Cash, who continues to recover from a broken ankle).

He injured his shoulder in a jujitsu lesson in June and told supporters on Friday that he’d had “a repair job” on it last Wednesday.

“This week I’ll be working on a writing project and publishing an extended essay each week,” he wrote in an email to supporters, asking them to suggest topics.

“What questions do you think I should spend time answering? From the personal to the political, let me know what you’d like me to focus on.”

The Liberal party room will meet on Tuesday, ahead of the usual joint meeting with Nationals colleagues.

Police are preparing for protests around Federal Parliament on Monday as the third-highest ranking figure in the Chinese Government flies into Canberra for a visit, which will include a meeting with the Governor General.

Over the weekend, Zhao Leji, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, touched down in Brisbane, where he was met by the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Milton Dick

On Monday, Chairman Zhao will call on Governor General Sam Mostyn at Government House, then head to Parliament House for a formal dinner with the presiding officers.

The Nightly has confirmed the senior Chinese official will have breakfast with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday morning before he flies out of Australia.

WA antagonist Andrew Hastie has emerged as the front-runner to replace Sussan Ley, according to a new opinion poll that reveals half of voters can’t pick anyone they want to lead the Liberals.

The Coalition’s primary vote was still languishing at a record low 24 per cent, in the last Newspoll before Parliament rises — despite dumping net zero and talking tough on migration.

The poll — published in Monday’s Australian — showed Labor has increased its two-party preferred lead to 58-42 per cent, while 46 per cent of the 1245 voters surveyed answered “don’t know” when presented a list of potential Liberal leaders.

Ms Ley topped the list with 21 per cent support, including from 28 per cent of Coalition voters.

But Mr Hastie, who has previously confirmed his leadership ambitions, was closest on her heels with the backing of 15 per cent and — crucially — with 26 per cent support from supporters of One Nation, that has been the major beneficiary of the Liberal party’s identity crisis.

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Environment Minister Murray Watt says Labor’s controversial environment reform bill will pass Parliament this week, with either Coalition or Greens support.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Parliament will be passing these much-needed reforms to our national environment laws, and it’ll happen this week,” he told ABC on Monday.

“The only question now is whether it will happen with the support of the Coalition or the Greens,” the Senator added.

“Both the Coalition and the Greens have got a really important choice to make about whether they want to be part of reforming these laws in a way that strengthens our environmental protections while also speeding up the approval processes for things like housing and renewables, or whether they want to sit on the sidelines and see the other one run past them.

“This is going to happen this week.”