Australia politics live: Bowen hits back at Tehan in row over climate negotiations travel bill; warning over integrity bodies

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McKenzie’s travel expenses under scrutiny

Victorian s senator Bridget McKenzie has denied misusing taxpayer funds to attend her son’s wedding and engagement party, insisting her travel to Tasmania in 2022 and 2023 coincided with official business.

The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday McKenzie claimed taxpayer-funded flights to Tasmania on the weekend of the engagement party, when she was a minister in the Morrison government, and 10 months later, at the time of the wedding.

Total costs for the travel are unclear. Records from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority show on 29 April 2022, McKenzie’s flew from Melbourne to Devonport, where her son lives. No cost has been disclosed. On 1 May, she billed taxpayers $259.40 for a flight from Devonport to Melbourne.

Her office said McKenzie undertook “a series of high-profile formal ministerial appointments” in Tasmania over the weekend of the engagement party.

“Senator McKenzie undertook legitimate activities while working in Tasmania, when she was a senior government minister,” a spokesperson told the Nine newspapers.

On the weekend of her son’s wedding, in February 2023, taxpayers paid $853.52 for McKenzie’s travel. Her official duties that weekend included a press conference on budget cuts for local infrastructure.

s leader Matt Canavan said he was “absolutely” confident McKenzie had followed the rules. He said on Monday she had paid for personal elements of the trip.

Why was Bowen having a go at Dan Tehan this morning?

It wasn’t exactly out of the blue – but because Tehan released details from documents obtained by the opposition under FOI laws, that that Chris Bowen’s department has spent nearly half a million dollars in the first quarter of this year on trips to Turkey, Fiji, Germany and Korea.

Tehan says that department officials revealed in estimates last night that the trip to Fiji included a visit to the resort island of Denarau, where officials visited the Sheraton Hotel, which could be the venue hosting the so-called pre-COP climate conference.

He also says the documents also show that more than 100 people in Bowen’s department have been pulled into the ‘ climate negotiations’ section.

Bowen directly refuted that this morning during his press conference, saying that 30 officials are working on COP – and that they were already “were engaged on climate discussions anyway”.

UN special rapporteur to make submissions in North West Shelf court challenges

The federal court will allow a United Nations special rapporteur to make submissions in two legal challenges to the Albanese government’s approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension.

Friends of Australian Rock Art and the Australian Conservation Foundation have challenged environment minister Murray Watt’s controversial decision last year to approve an extension of the life of the gas processing plant in Western Australia from 2030 to 2070.

The cases are separate and made on different grounds but are expected to be heard consecutively in July.

On Monday, the court approved an application from the UN special rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, to join the legal challenges as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”).

ACF climate campaigner Piper Rollins said:

We understand this means international law, including the ICJ’s ( Court of Justice) advisory opinion on states’ obligations on climate change, is relevant to the legality of the minister’s decisions about the North West Shelf extension.

It is the first time a special rapporteur has joined an Australian climate case. Puentes Riaño will provide information for the court, including on Australia’s international legal obligations.

Susan Swain, co-convenor of Friends of Australian Rock Art, said:

We always felt that this case was internationally significant for a number of reasons so we are pleased that the Amicus intervention by the UN special rapporteur has been allowed by the court.

Nudify app-ban legislation ‘complex’ as government seeks to exclude ‘general purpose AI like Grok’

The federal government has said it will be “complex” for legislation to seek to ban deepfake AI nudify apps without catching general purpose apps such as Elon Musk’s Grok, freedom of information documents for estimates briefings for the communications department have revealed.

The Albanese government announced in September last year its intention to ban nudify apps that allow users to use AI to create deepfakes nudes of people whose images they upload.

The announcement was made before Grok users on the X platform began using the AI chatbot to create deepfake images of women and children with their clothes removed at the start of this year, drawing widespread outrage and a number of investigations across the globe – including Australia.

The legislation has yet to be introduced into parliament but, according to briefing documents prepared for the February 2026 estimates hearings, the department noted the Grok incident illustrated “the real harms posed by readily available nudification tools” and the need for action.

The department said the government is seeking to restrict the ability of anyone in Australia to access technology to create non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes, but noted it would be complex legislation to cover “general purpose AI like Grok”.

The way to achieve this in legislation will be complex as we want to retain the ability for Australians to continue to access AI services that are useful while restricting access to the elements of the technology that cause harm.

The department stated it was engaging with stakeholders on the matter and any app not captured by the new nudify laws would still be subject to other eSafety powers.

The eSafety commissioner has yet to announce the outcome of the Grok investigation, before a Senate estimates appearance on Wednesday afternoon.

Musk has previously denied Grok was used to generate child abuse material, or illegal images, and immediately after the scandal X restricted the types of images people could generate using Grok on the platform.

It’s past 10am which means that it’s party room time – but this fortnight that’s only for MPs, because senators are still locked away in estimates grilling public servants (and each other).

Party room is where leaders will give their MPs a pep talk and discuss what legislation they’re going to support or reject.

It’s sometimes also an opportunity for MPs to voice their concerns or ask questions on particular issues (which often gets leaked out to us in the media). We’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled.

Then the House will resume sitting at midday.

Royal commission hears from NSW police in second block of public hearings

The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion will continue its second block of public hearings, with appearances from NSW police officers.

Three witnesses are scheduled to give evidence on Tuesday, an anonymised superintendent from the eastern suburbs police area command, as well as two assistant commissioners, Peter McKenna and Scott Cook.

The commission is expected to go into closed door hearings later this week to hear sensitive testimony about what information security agencies held about the two Bondi shooters before the December attack on the Chanukah by the Sea event.

Public hearings can be seen here.

Minns insists state and federal intelligence agencies do communicate amid ‘intelligence failure’

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has insisted that state and federal police and intelligence agencies do communicate, amid reports claiming that earlier warnings about the alleged Bondi gunmen went unheeded.

The premier was asked on 2GB radio earlier this morning if reports showed state and federal agencies did not communicate. He said:

If the question you’re asking is, do they communicate? They do. They’ve got the joint counter-terrorism taskforce. It’s a committee that comprises senior NSW police, the AFP and intelligence agencies. And I’m not suggesting that it’s perfect, and I’m definitely not suggesting that we can’t make it better, but I know that they’ve been credited with thwarting or stopping … terrorism events in NSW since the committee was established. So, again, this doesn’t mean that it’s running perfectly. We’ve clearly had a giant law enforcement and intelligence failure in December of last year that we need to correct and make better but I also don’t want the public believing that no one talks to each other.

The interim report of the royal commission into antisemitism recommended a review of joint counter-terrorism agencies, with “consideration of leadership structures, team integration, systems access and information sharing arrangements”. It called for a particular focus on the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team NSW.

The commission’s second block of hearings, focusing on intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies, continues today.

Warning call issued for integrity agencies

The Centre for Public Integrity has launched a new report at Parliament House this morning calling for Australia’s core integrity agencies to be independent and accountable.

Along with crossbench MPs including Helen Haines, David Pocock and David Shoebridge, the centre has called for budget funding for agencies including the Australian Audit Office to be provided through a process separate from government, and for limited terms of appointments be made for office holders.

The new report – Beyond Labels: Securing Functional Independence for Core Integrity Agencies – also calls for non-government led parliamentary committees to provide oversight for core integrity agencies.

Its release comes before departing Anti-Corruption Commission boss Paul Brereton faces Senate estimates this afternoon.

Prof Gabrielle Appleby, CPI’s research director, warned the auditor general’s budget allocation meant it might not be able to fulfil its core functions of scrutinising government.

In this report, we address that lever of funding that government can pull against integrity agencies, and we call for greater transparency in relation to how governments fund integrity agencies with separate appropriations bill and greater accountability.

It’s unfortunate we are seeing these pressures on our integrity agencies but there are design solutions that we have in this report and we urge the government at this point to pick those up.

‘Mr Tehan is the biggest hypocrite in the federal parliament’: Bowen

Bowen is going over the opposition’s criticism of his role as the Cop climate summit president of negotiations, and says there’s been a bunch of misinformation floating around.

There are 30 – not 100 – staff linked to the role, he says, and criticises the shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, for spending thousands of dollars on international travel during the Morrison government.

A quick note here – Tehan was trade and tourism minister at the time, so some travel does come with the job.

Bowen says Tehan went to the Maldives twice on the VIP Royal Australian air force plane at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, while he went to Europe last week via a commercial airline.

Mr Tehan is the biggest hypocrite in the federal parliament. When he was the last minister in his last year as minister, he went to France, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, United States, Indonesia, India, United Arab Emirates, France, again Italy, Belgium, United Kingdom, and the Maldives twice at taxpayer expense.

Now, if Mr Tehan is going to criticise me for federal travel, for ministerial travel, he needs to justify why was he in all those countries at taxpayer expense in his last year as minister.

He wants to criticise me for international travel? All right, Dan, let’s have the debate.

Bowen says BHP still subject to safeguard mechanism, responding to leaked memo

Bowen is asked by my colleague Dan Jervis-Bardy, about the Guardian’s reporting on a leaked internal memo from mining company BHP that it’s delayed or stalled key climate projects to reduce emissions.

The energy minister brushes off some of the concerns and says that he’s made his expectations on emissions reductions with emitters “crystal clear” both publicly and privately.

Bowen says there are some challenges around the technology available to reduce emissions but that either way BHP has to abide by the government’s safeguard mechanism.

I will say we have requirements under a matter of law with the safeguard mechanism, BHP is included in that, that does provide some flexibility because we do recognise that the 200 also biggest emitters in the country, in terms of facilities, they do face different challenges and opportunities, but I want to see all large emitters reducing emissions on site. That applies to BHP and everyone else.

‘When coal breaks down, bills go up’: Bowen

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is fronting the media on the latest default market offer for 2026-27, which will see household bills drop from 1 July when new rules come into effect.

He said this morning that increased renewable energy and batteries in the system have led to the bill relief – which will see some households bills on the east coast drop up to 10.7% and some small businesses see relief up to 20%.

Bowen acknowledges that there’s more to do but says the plan that Labor has put in place is “showing dividends for the Australian people”.

We’ve always said renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, it’s the fastest to deploy. It’s more reliable. Coal breaks down every day and when coal breaks down bills go up.

North Sydney pool to reopen in August

The North Sydney pool, one of Australia’s most beautiful, will reopen to the public in August after more than five years and a multimillion-dollar cost blowout.

At the end of the North Sydney council meeting last night, the mayor, Zoë Baker, confirmed that the formal handover of keys from the contractor to the council had taken place and the pool would open to the public on Friday 7 August.

She said:

The keys are with council staff. It is a significant milestone and it represents the transition from construction to operational readiness ahead of reopening to the community.

It first opened in 1936 and I can confirm that it will reopen to the public on the 7 August 2026 during its 90th anniversary year. Over the coming months, council teams will be on site completing the final stages of preparation to deliver the best possible experience for the community when the facility reopens.

The last stage will include additional fitouts, staff recruitment and final assessments. The famous art deco pool under the Harbour Bridge, which first opened in 1936, was due to reopen in 2022 after closing for a major refurbishment in 2021 but has been hampered by delays and ballooning costs – which have now reached $122m.

You can take a look at the refurbished pool here:

Labor putting a ‘poison pill’ in budget bill, Hastie says

Coalition frontbencher Andrew Hastie says Labor is employing “classic wedge politics” to corner the opposition, by grouping capital gains tax changes with the tax offset for workers in one bill – which will be introduced Thursday.

Anthony Albanese confirmed yesterday that the working Australians tax offset (which will hand workers back $250 after the next financial year) will be in the same bill as negative gearing and CGT reforms (which the opposition has vehemently opposed).

The Coalition says it will oppose the whole bill – despite supporting the tax offset.

But Hastie tells Sky News the public will see through the politics.

Labor’s trying to put a poison pill in this bill, the working Australian tax offset, which we support, but nonetheless the Australian people did not vote for an increase to their taxes, and this is exactly what Labor is going to do, and this is ultimately a vote for more taxes, which is why we will oppose it.

This is classic wedge politics, and people can see through it, because in the end you’re going to get hit harder by a tax increase.

Haines calls for transparency on Nacc appointment

After the shock announcement from Paul Brereton that he would step down as national anti-corruption commissioner – two years early – independent MP Helen Haines is calling for a transparent process to appoint his successor.

Speaking to media, Haines is also launching the Centre for Public Integrity’s report on the oversight on integrity agencies – including the Nacc and national audit office.

Haines says there should be stronger oversight and an independent appointments panel to determine who will replace Brereton:

We don’t have a clear understanding of how people are either tapped on the shoulder or whether there is an expression of interest going out, what the criteria are for appointment, and we need stronger oversight on those appointments.

Haines – who was a key architect of the NACC – made a rare intervention on Monday to urge the government to consider new merit-based and independent selection processes for major appointments, before Brereton announced his resignation.

Minns says he and Albanese ‘disagree on a fair bit’ but downplays falling out

Returning to the NSW premier, Chris Minns has also responded to speculation that his relationship with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has deteriorated after the Bondi beach terror attack.

Asked about a 16 December meeting before a press conference in which the Sydney Morning Herald reported Minns and the prime minister argued over what information to share with the public, the premier said:

I don’t remember it being particularly acrimonious. There might have been a disagreement about what to say in that media conference that was taking place in the meeting afterwards but I’ve got to say … we disagree on a fair bit. There’s no doubt about it.

But Minns added that Albanese was “excellent” in responding to natural disasters or crises:

He never goes missing. He answers the call straight away. He never says no. I mean, I’ve been in a situation where he’s bounced his own officials, his own ministers, to get money and resources for NSW even when people have told him not to.

Asked if their relationship is “on the rocks”, Minns said:

It’s not … I’m always going to fight my corner and my responsibilities are different to his. I have to stick up for NSW. I have to sometimes put on the boxing gloves and make sure that we get our fair share, and sometimes that’s uncomfortable in terms of the relationship.

In recent months, the premier has been vocally critical of federal Labor, including over the allocation of GST, as well as what he has characterised as the budget’s lack of action on changes to income tax, in particular for those in the top bracket.

Labor confirms women and children from Syrian camp travelling to Australia

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has confirmed seven women and 12 children from a Syrian camp have made plans to travel to Australia.

He said – again – that the government “has not and will not provide any assistance to this group”.

In a statement, Burke said law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been preparing for the return of the cohort in 2014 and “have longstanding plans in place to manage and monitor them”.

These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation.

As we have said many times – any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law.

The priority of the government, as always, is the safety of the Australian community.

Opposition says Queensland coal behind drop in energy bills

The opposition has come up with its own reason for household and small business energy prices falling over the next financial year – Queensland coal.

Joining RN Breakfast, the shadow resources minister, Susan McDonald, says that Australians are already around $1000 worse off on their energy bills than the PM had promised when Labor came to power.

She says she’ll wait with bated breath to see if prices do come down under the next default market offer and, if they do, she reckons it’s not because of more renewables in the system.

Do we think that people are ever going to get that back in their pockets? People are struggling. Small businesses are closing. I will wait and see with bated breath whether or not this happens. But if it does, I suspect it’ll be from Queensland because they’ve extended their coal-fired power stations and they’re using fossil fuels.

Resources minister dismisses BHP leaked memo

Madeleine King has dismissed the joint investigation by Guardian Australia and the ABC’s Four Corners program that shows BHP has backtracked on decarbonisation at a vast network of mines.

Leaked internal documents show the giant has quietly considered options to push major climate investments in its Western Australian iron ore operations into the next two decades.

Sally Sara asks King if she’s concerned about the reporting but King shrugs it off.

BHP is committed to cutting emissions. They will make their commercial decisions, as do others. BHP and other miners are subject to the safeguard mechanism.

Sara asks again if there are any concerns from the government over the revelations. King replies:

No, because they’re doing their job.

King takes a dig at gas industry

Sticking to energy, the resources minister, Madeleine King, says the government has opened up consultation with the gas industry over its 20% east coast gas reservation scheme – which Labor says will reduce household gas bills.

But she’s not happy with how the gas industry is handling itself.

Speaking to the ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning, she says the government released a discussion paper yesterday to promote discussion on the issue – but the industry isn’t playing ball.

We could have brought in legislation that just reflects what we think, how we think it should operate. And I imagine the CEO and others from the AEP (Australian Energy Producers) and the gas industry would have objected to that wildly. So what we have chosen to do is have a discussion paper and an open discussion for consultation. They also object to that. So I really don’t know where they hope is the middle ground. I think open consultation and development of this policy involving gas producers is the best way to go. If they disagree with that, that’s a matter for them.

Host, Sally Sara asks how much the reservation scheme will drop energy bills – but King won’t say.

She also dismisses concerns that the reservation policy would have an impact on producers who are not exporters in the long term – and takes another dig at the peak body.

I’m disappointed by the AEP’s attitude in relation to this, but it’s not unexpected, to be fair. That’s why we’re going to consult to get it to get it right.