Live news and politics: Tensions rise as Tony Burke quizzed on Labor government’s weak border protection

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Everyone in the Canberra Bubble knows the rule: you don’t disclose what happened at mid-winter press gallery ball.

The charity-cum-networking dinner is conducted off-the-record to allow the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to engage in some gentle self mockery.

Which explains why Anthony Albanese’s pleasure was obvious when, in question time today, he was asked by a Liberal about an anti-Budget activist who secured a tennis match with the prime minister in a charitable auction at Wednesday evening’s event.

“If I was someone on that side, led by this leader of the opposition, I wouldn’t be mentioning last night,” Mr Albanese said, laughter erupting from his MPs. “I would pretend it was all a bad dream!

“I’m sure you were there, and many were, and we’re not supposed to talk about it, in spite of the fact he just came in and asked a question about it!”

The joke was on Angus Taylor, whose comedic delivery on Wednesday evening was poor, according to feedback from the press gallery.

Read the full opinion piece.

Labor’s Defence Industry Minister has labelled conservative war-time prime minister Robert Menzies a “nazi appeaser” while struggling to say whether he would fire underperforming officials in his department under a newly announced shake-up.

During a National Press Club address titled “Progressive Patriotism: A Labor approach to defence capability, defence industry and reform”, the senior minister argued his party had the superior track record on military decisions and investment since Federation.

“I’m very interested in disclosing what really happened before World War II and during World War II, where it was the choice between John Curtin and nazi appeaser Robert Gordon Menzies,” Pat Conroy said when asked about whether the left of politics had been reluctant to show national pride.

“Like this is really important stuff that the left needs to embrace more fully, but we should be proud of it, like John Curtin saved Australia. He was a progressive Labor prime minister, and we should own that.”

Read the full story.

Our politics at present is characterised by complaint. It stands to reason, there is much to complain about.

But it is a big problem for the Government.

People with complaints are not happy people. And when people are not happy, they demand change.

The first thing they usually want to change is the government.

Voters hold governments responsible for the quality and cadence of the national mood. And they should.

As legendary press gallery journalist Peter Bowers told me when I was just starting out in Canberra 33 years ago: “Mate, governments are always responsible. Especially when they’re irresponsible.”

The only antidote to the pervading sense of negativity and despondency is hope.

Read the full opinion piece.

Following his speech at the National Press Club on Thursday, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has avoided directly stating if the US will bring weapons to Australia under AUKUS.

The line of questioning comes after the Defence Department told Senate Estimates that US submarines carrying nuclear weapons could dock at Australian bases, with the US policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ meaning the Australian government and people would not know.

He told the Guardian that Australia is a signatory to the treaty of Rarotonga which commits participants to a nuclear-free South Pacific.

“The US is very cognisant of us being a signatory to that treaty,” he said.

When asked several times to directly confirm that the US won’t bring nuclear weapons to Australia, he refused to give a crystal clear answer.

“The US has a long stated policy of neither confirming or denying whether their platforms carry nuclear weapons. That’s an approach for them, they respect our commitment to the treaty,” he said when asked a third time.

When the Press Club host asked Mr Conroy to clarify his answer, he said “the Treaty of Rarotonga is very clear on that.”

Elon Musk’s X fought against an order to remove harrowing Bondi massacre content, telling eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant the footage showing murder victims was “no worse than a gore movie”.

Australia’s internet regulator detailed the struggle to purge graphic terror attack footage amid ongoing friction with tech giants at the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion on Thursday.

Following the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah celebration, highly graphic and confronting material circulated online, including footage of the shooting, images of victims, and explicit witness accounts.

In response to the spread of this violent content, the eSafety Commission set up a dedicated investigation team to address it.

Ms Inman Grant said takedowns can be delayed as Australian law requires a Classification Board ruling before the regulator can force tech platforms to remove content.

“We fought hard against X in terms of not allowing that post-mortem Bondi content,” she said.

“We fought really hard and we were able to get them to agree to keep that ‘Refused Classification’.”

Read the full story.

A Liberal leader has sought to distance herself from a political donations scandal ensnaring a former premier’s brothers, senior party powerbrokers and a fugitive developer.

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said she supports an Independent Commission Against Corruption probe into long-standing allegations of misconduct involving members of the state Liberal branch.

She described the timing of the inquiry due to start in July, less than a year out from state elections, as a “massive distraction” that was damaging to her party in pleading its case to govern.

“To be absolutely clear that I don’t stand for the kind of behaviour that is being alleged,” she told reporters in parliament on Thursday.

“This behaviour, if it’s proven, is absolutely reprehensible, has no place in the party that I lead.”

The inquiry was sparked when state Liberal MP Ray Williams in 2022 used parliamentary privilege to claim powerbrokers within his own party were engaged in branch-stacking and improper local council dealings.

Controversial property developer Jean Nassif was alleged to have drawn on his political connections through donations to facilitate favourable planning decisions.

The claims led to a parliamentary inquiry in 2023 that engaged professional process servers to search for then-Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet’s brothers, Jean-Claude and Charles, without success.

- with AAP

Dodgy disability providers could be named and shamed, fines for bad conduct increased and greater powers granted to agencies overseeing the NDIS in a bid to crack down on fraud in the scheme.

As the Federal government plans to kick hundreds of thousands of participants off the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a parliamentary inquiry warned tougher measures are needed to limit the amount of taxpayer money stolen by fraudsters.

The Labor-led committee has warned fraud is increasingly becoming a major issue in the $56 billion scheme and threatens to undermine public trust.

The government is planning to increase fines for some NDIS-related offences, but the committee warned stronger deterrents may be needed to crack down on exploitation, neglect and abuse of vulnerable Australians.

Read the full story.

- with AAP

Things heated up in Parliament after Question Time, when Dan Tehan tried to censure the Minister of Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, over a quote in his National Press Club speech.

Tehan appeared visibly angry and called for Contoy to be censured for calling former Prime Minister Robert Menzies a “nazi appeaser”.

“This is an utter, utter disgrace.,” he said.

Leader of the House, Tony Burke, immediately moved to shut down the motion, saying Tehan should “no longer be heard”.

During the final Question Time before the midwinter break, Independent MP Monique Ryan has asked about reports that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission won’t advise on reasonable costs of degrees until next year.

This means the controversial Job Ready scheme will continue until at least then.

“How can you justify this when you have acknowledged on many occasions that Job Ready isn’t working?” she asked.

Education Minister Jason Clare said he acknowledged the Job Ready scheme had been a failure and the commission not advising on new costs until next year was unmoveable..

“I have said it’s failed. I’ve said work on fixing it is unfinished business,” he said.

“What is also a fact is that no government has done more to cut student debt.”