Australia politics live: Icac hears evidence on ‘shake down Angus’ message as opposition leader’s staffer berates journalist for asking about it

Key events

While negotiations continue on wagering reform between the government and Coalition, we’ve been told the some in the opposition are pushing against proposed ban to offshore lotteries.

One Liberal MP who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told us that they believed the proposed ban would reduce competition in the sector and was mainly to protect WA’s Lotterywest, the only government-owned lottery in Australia which says all available profits from a Lotto ticket go “straight back to the WA community”.

The WA premier, Roger Cook welcomed that legislation, and said himself it would protect Lotterywest.

Liberal MP urges colleagues do take stronger action on gambling reforms

The Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has demanded the parliament take stronger action on gambling, urging his colleagues to go much further than the deal being discussed between Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese.

Wallace, who has been a vocal proponent for gambling action alongside his Liberal colleague, Simon Kennedy, issued a statement today calling for ads on streaming services to be opt-in only, and for wagering ads to be banned for an hour before and after televised sport on broadcast TV.

He also called for gambling inducements - like bonus bets and promotion - to be “expressly opt-in, rather than forcing Australians to opt out to help minimise the predatory behaviour of gambling corporations on young adults, men in particular.”

When nearly 80% of Australians agree that we need stronger regulation of gambling advertising, parliamentarians should sit up and take notice.

There aren’t many issues in Australian public life where you get that level of agreement. We disagree about tax, energy, migration, housing and almost everything else, but on gambling reform Australians are sending Parliament an extraordinarily clear message.

Wallace went on to say:

This should not be about protecting the bottom line of multinational gambling corporations. It should not be about which lobby group can make the most noise in Canberra.

Reformers associate may have ‘lied’ about contribution from Angus Taylor, inquiry hears

Pressed by counsel assisting, Juliet Curtin, on why Dylan Whitelaw might have thought the money was for the Reformers, the following exchange takes place with Dallas McInerney:

McInerney: I don’t recall telling Mr Whitelaw that. I know Mr Whitelaw is proudly telling the rest of the Reformers that. That’s not a verbatim for me.

Curtin: So I think now what you’re suggesting is that Mr Whitelaw misinterpreted you? That’s the possible explanation you’re offering now, is it?

McInerney: Well, I guess, well, there’s a number of explanations I’d venture, but I guess that’s one of them.

Curtin: Well, what are the other ones?

McInerney: He lied ... He boasted. He lied.

Curtin: He boasted? Why would he be doing that?

McInerney: I think that’s best put to Mr Whitelaw. I can’t go to his motivations. What I can help you with is by confirming that that is not the commitment that came out of that meeting.

McInerney says he does not recall if Angus Taylor made a commitment, which he has previously said would have been for internal Liberal party elections and not for the Reformers, of $15,000, or an ongoing commitment of $3,000.

Taylor has not been named in Icac’s allegations and has repeatedly denied he ever made payments to the Reformers.

When asked about the messages at the inquiry last month, Whitelaw said he did not recall sending them, nor did he recall Taylor making a financial contribution to the Reformers.

Catholic Schools CEO asked at inquiry about subsequent messages referring to Angus Taylor

Returning to the NSW Icac, Dallas McInerney has been asked about subsequent messages exchanged between the Reformers about the now-federal opposition leader Angus Taylor.

Reformers associate Dylan Whitelaw wrote to other members in the days after the “shake down Angus” message:

Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!

McInerney, who has repeatedly denied that he asked Taylor for money for conservative factional group the Reformers, says of the message:

The only explanation I can venture, noting this is not my exchange of correspondence, is that I did emerge from that meeting with an in-principle support that the internal elections for the conservative faction, which are upcoming, would be supported in addition to our candidates in the key election seats.

One Nation’s sole Victorian MP on student protest, being “one of the gayest parties”

Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, One Nation’s sole MP in the Victorian parliament, has told reporters she thinks students protesting against her party and its leader, Pauline Hanson, are being “misled by the Socialist Party”. She continued:

They need to really use their brains. They’ve got amazing brains, and they need to think critically because they’re destroying that opportunity to get into universities, to walk into jobs. You’re not going to be able to protest your way into a job or into university. You need to sit there and learn the academics.

She also claimed One Nation was “not racist”:

We’re definitely not racist. If you have a look at our followers, our members, our candidates, there is a diverse range of people.

And when asked about Barnaby Joyce’s comments that the party was “one of the gayest parties” in Australian politics, she said:

I can see where he’s coming from. We have a diverse range of people within One Nation, and that is gay and lesbian people as well. Back in the old days, gay meant happy, and I’m really happy to be a part of One Nation.

Senate forces Labor to hand over melon-gate correspondence

The Coalition and Greens have teamed up in the Senate ordering the government to hand over correspondence from Japan over melon-gate.

Liberal senator James Paterson moved that the government provide by no later than midday on Monday, 17 August 2026:

1. the official correspondence from the Government of Japan to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, reported by media outlets to have been dated 13 July 2026, concerning the Prime Minister’s comments in an interview with podcaster Nikki Osborne;

2. All correspondence between the Prime Minister’s office and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet concerning the official correspondence from the Government of Japan referred to in paragraph (a), including emails, letters, text messages, instant messages, handwritten notes, minutes, briefings and submissions; and

3. All internal documents held by the Prime Minister’s office concerning the official correspondence from the Government of Japan referred to in paragraph (a), including emails, letters, text messages, instant messages, handwritten notes, minutes, briefings and submissions.

This week the Coalition asked the Australian federal police to investigate the leaking of the memo from the Japanese government to the media.

The motion was also supported by David Pocock and One Nation.

Animal Justice MP says Carroll ‘worse’ than Allan as outdoor recreation bill passes Victorian parliament

The Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell has issued a lengthy statement accusing Ben Carroll of being “gutless” and “worse” than Jacinta Allan after the Victorian parliament passed a bill she says will create a “shooting super agency”.

The outdoor recreation bill passed parliament today, despite pleas from Purcell and animal protection, environmental and wildlife groups. It will merge the Game Management Authority (GMA) and the Victorian Fisheries Authority into a new agency called Outdoor Recreation Victoria, which will be responsible for both the promotion and regulation of the industry, a structure she says is a “grave conflict of interest”.

It passed the upper house months ago but needed to return to the lower house for it to approve amendments. Purcell had hoped a vote would not go ahead under the new premier. She said:

Today [Carroll] had the perfect opportunity to show Victorians that he was different. He could have shown that he was a true leader by pulling the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill from the parliament ... After all, this piece of legislation was Jacinta Allan’s pet project that she created to shore up support for shooting and killing in Victoria – and it was amended to be even worse than her original proposal after a deal was struck with the s to pass it in the upper house.

Instead, she said “when given the chance to prove that he actually is different” Carroll had Ben “cowered to the gun lobby at the first hurdle”. Purcell went on:

This is a gutless decision by a gutless premier. No matter what he tries to do now, Ben Carroll has lost all hope of repairing the disappointment and anger from the animal protection, environmental and wildlife community after the former premier’s destruction. Ben Carroll is right. He’s not Jacinta Allan – he’s worse.

Purcell has usually maintained a constructive relationship with the government but after it scrapped the group voting ticket system that helped her get elected, she appears more emboldened to speak out against them. More on GVTs here:

Icac witness responds to ‘I want to shake down Angus’ message

Returning to the NSW Icac, Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney has been asked about a message he wrote in March 2021 about federal opposition leader Angus Taylor.

McInerney, who is a factional ally of Taylor, sent a message to Reformer Robert Assaf, later shared by Assaf with other members of the group, in which he wrote:

I have breakfast club with ministers this Thursday morning, who can I get an update from? Re SCD [state council delegate] progress in the last six to 12 months. I want to shake down Angus for 10k.

McInerney accepts he wrote the message and that it refers a to a breakfast meeting with NSW Liberal ministers, as well as a separate request to Taylor, but says the money referred to was not for the Reformers. He says:

The state council delegate count is a proxy measure of the standing of the faction relative to the whole of the party. So I was mindful to bring an update of that measure to the meeting. Further, I was going to approach Angus for support for upcoming internal elections and what could be directed to our candidates in the key seats.

He said any money from Taylor would be for “whoever was subsequently put in place to run the campaign on behalf of the faction” and was “entirely independent” of the Reformers. He said the funds would go to “printing brochures, pamphlets, postage, mailout”. He has not yet been asked if Taylor ever made a payment.

He is asked if the phrase “shake down” is of “a perhaps pejorative tone”. “No, no, it wasn’t intended as such. It’s a turn of phrase,” he says.

Taylor has not been named in Icac’s allegations and has repeatedly denied he ever made payments to the Reformers.

Taylor staffer verbally attacks 10 news journalist over Icac questions

One of Angus Taylor’s staffers has gone a bit ham, verbally attacking journalist Ashleigh Raper over her questions to the Liberal leader about whether he spoke with Dallas McInerney about sending money to the reformers group.

During the press conference, Taylor repeatedly said he would not provide a running commentary on the Icac probe.

But as soon as the press conference ended, and while cameras were still running, staffer Kane Silom was heard rebuking Raper.

Are your ratings that bad? Seriously, that’s a fricking disgrace.

Labor senator, Tony Sheldon, has subsequently verbally attacked Taylor and said he needs to answer the questions Raper was asking. He told the media:

What did you Angus Taylor know about branch stacking activities in Liberal branches, and did you have any conversations with Dallas McInerney about funding for those operations? He has refused to answer those question on several occasions when he was asked today, he needs to come clean.

NSW opposition leader removes upper house member from state executive

The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has removed upper house member Chris Rath as her representative on the party’s state executive after the NSW Icac heard evidence about how he assisted members of conservative factional group the Reformers.

On Wednesday, Jeremy Greenwood told the commission that during a parliamentary inquiry which preceded Icac’s probe, Rath sent him a photo of a committee paper with his old address saying process servers had attempt to issue him with summons there. Greenwood was read a message from Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet advising of a committee meeting on serving summons. “Rath will tell us result after,” Jean-Claude Perrottet wrote.

The opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has declined to make a decision about Rath’s future on her front bench until after Icac’s hearings conclude. The shadow planning and arts minister, who received a caution from the parliamentary privileges committee in 2023 and recused himself from the inquiry, has been referred to the privileges committee a second time over the incident.

In a statement following a Sydney Morning Herald report about the assistance he had provided to members of the Reformers, Rathe, said he was “apologetic”:

This Inquiry commenced in the highly politically charged context of an election campaign, and at the time I didn’t comprehend the gravity of the allegations ... I am not under investigation by Icac, nor have I been called as a witness to the inquiry or asked to provide any evidence.

Australians should get a financial stake in Tomago smelter, Greens say

The Greens say the public should get a stake in the Tomago aluminium smelter, after the government announced a $2.5bn bailout package.

The package is funded 50-50 by the New South Wales government and commonwealth.

The Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne says a public stake would ensure Australians get a proper share of wealth from national resources and increase worker security:

We can’t trust private companies with our workers, our resources, or our climate.

The big-business parties seem to love anything that privatises the profits from Australian resources. They endlessly funnel public funds into propping up the dying projects of multinational corporations, often the same corporations driving the climate crisis, with no return on investment for the everyday Australian.

s MP makes fiery speech on discarding of gambling reform recommations

s MP Pat Conaghan has made a fiery speech in the House of Representative about gambling reforms.

He referred to explosive evidence heard at the parliamentary inquiry into the legislation earlier this month, where former rugby league star Luke Bateman alleged gambling company promoters supplied him with cocaine and alcohol and the betting industry exercised no duty of care.

Conaghan was deputy chair of the parliamentary committee led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, that handed down the ‘you win some, you lose more’ report in June 2023.

Witness after witness came into this place and spoke of loved ones, family members, who were targeted by predatory online wagering services. Some of them survived deputy speaker. Some of them didn’t.

And we heard evidence, from a family member who had to cut down her brother, from a tree. Because he was targeted, even though he had tried and tried and tried to get away from these practices of online wagering services. And there are other people whose family members didn’t survive …

I ask, what’s the point? What is the point of being on a committee that delivers 31 recommendations unanimously? … This comes from evidence from people who have been affected. This comes from the intelligence of every single member sitting in this place on that committee, and we say, this is what should be implemented. Just to be discarded.

Jason Clare says trust in the Australian Research Council was damaged under the Coalition

The education minister says the Australian Research Council (ARC) needs “trust” to pursue its best ideas in a dig at accusations of political interference under the Coalition.

Speaking on its 25th anniversary in Canberra on Thursday, Jason Clare said:

The role of the ARC is to give our best researchers the opportunity to follow their best ideas. And that requires something else. Trust. Trust in researchers. Trust in peer review. Trust in the institutions we establish to make these decisions.

And over the years, that trust had been damaged. Before we came to Government, the ARC was bedevilled by political interference. That wasn’t good for our universities. It wasn’t good for businesses who work with our universities either.

Clare said Labor removed the power of ministers to approve ARC grants because “politicians should not decide which physicist, historian or mathematician has written the better research proposal”.

Research excellence should be judged by people who understand the research.

Union of Students calls out One Nation’s ‘racist policies’ ahead of nationwide protest

The Union of Students (NUS) says they will not “sit quietly” ahead of a nationwide protest against Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, taking place from 1pm today.

The walkout was organised by the NUS, which represents tertiary education students in Australia. Students will gather in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle and Wollongong in opposition to the party’s “racist policies”.

Its national president, Felix Hughes, said:

Pauline Hanson’s racist politics are not welcome on our campuses or in our communities. Pauline Hanson has spent decades making racism a political strategy. Students will not sit quietly while One Nation tries to drag those politics further into the mainstream.

Hughes also backed international students as “our classmates, not our enemies”:

They are not responsible for the housing crisis or the cost of living, and we will not let Hanson turn students against each other to advance her racist politics.

Students also organised mass moratorium marches against Hanson’s growing popularity in the 1990s.

Greens praise David McBride after his release from prison

The Greens are celebrating the parole of David McBride from prison today after the former army lawyer served his full non-parole period of 27 months.

Their justice spokesperson, Senator David Shoebridge, said McBride had paid a “terrible price for telling the truth”.

It’s a price no whistleblower should ever be made to pay again. The Albanese government has had the power to free David since they got elected and refused to act … David walks out of prison today and he holds his head high, having spoken the truth and faced the full force of the state.

Shoebridge also called for better protection of whistleblowers, calling McBride’s sentencing a “warning to every public servant who might one day consider speaking up”.

When I have visited him in prison during his more than two years locked up, David’s commitment to truth has been unwavering and I know he took immense comfort in the support he has in the community at large.

Minns steps in as Albanese faces more heat on melon-gate

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, stepped in to defend the PM and deflect questions over melongate which have plagued Anthony Albanese all week.

At the press conference in Tomago earlier, Albanese was again asked what he meant by his comments and hand gestures in the now infamous Bush Deep podcast before Minns intervened and said:

Go and ask 1,000 workers what they care about today. This is the biggest announcement for this region in a generation.

Can we just talk about it for 5 minutes?

(They had spent already well over five minutes talking about the announcement).

‘A terrific speech’: Canavan supports Bragg but warns against changing backpacker visa numbers

The s leader, Matt Canavan, says he doesn’t want to see working holiday visas touched in the effort to reduce migration numbers.

But he’s playing nice, saying his colleague Andrew Bragg gave a “terrific speech” to the Press Club yesterday.

Bragg said that net overseas migration numbers should be dropped to 180,000 a year (in the 2024-25 financial year the NOM was 306,000, and is predicted to drop to about 260,000 in the 2025-26 financial year). He said the way to get there is to drop the number of international students, working holiday visas and family visas.

Canavan told a press conference a little earlier:

Look, I thought Andrew gave a terrific speech. He’s doing excellent work on exposing the deficiencies in the government’s housing agenda, the almost complete lack of homes that are being built.

All Andrew said was that we’ll look at all these things to bring migration numbers down. Now, I will say, though, that as leader of the s party, we will not be changing, we’ll not be seeking changes to working holiday visa makers, because that’s not the reason why we’ve had the surge in migration.