liveFederal politics live: Nationals leader backs in nuclear as Liberal senator demands it be scrappedBy political reporters Joshua Boscaini and Courtney GouldTopic:Elections3h ago3 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 8:59pmSkip to timelineabc.net.au/news/federal-politics-live-election-albanese-labor-liberal-party/105261766Link copiedShareShare articleNationals leader David Littleproud is arguing the Coalition's nuclear power policy is not the reason it lost the election.It comes as Liberal senator Maria Kovacic demands the policy be scrapped.Follow along with the day's events on our live blog below.Key EventsNuclear wasn't the reason why the Coalition lost the election: Littleproud29m ago29 minutes agoWed 7 May 2025 at 12:01amNationals were too 'gun shy' in last parliament: Canavan1h ago1 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:39pmParliament a 'miserable' and 'sick place': Ousted Greens MP2h ago2 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:59pmShow all key eventsSubmit a comment or question Log in to commentLive updatesLatestOldest5m agoWed 7 May 2025 at 12:25amFormer Liberal MP says Coalition has lost migrants and aspirational AustraliansJBy Joshua BoscainiAs the Liberal bloodletting continues, a former Liberal MP who lost his seat to a teal independent at the 2022 federal election says the Coalition lost some key demographics this election.Jason Falinski, the former member for Mackellar, has told Sky News the Liberal Party lost migrants and modern aspirational Australians."We need to spend more time listening to Tim Wilson and less time listening to people like Matt Canavan because the truth of the matter is the people that Matt represents are now well and truly in our column and there are no more seats to win in the Matt Canavan column," he says.So should Wilson be in the Liberal leadership in the next parliament?Falinski says "yes".He says the Liberals need to be focused on economic prosperity, rather than culture war issues.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event29m agoWed 7 May 2025 at 12:01amNuclear wasn't the reason why the Coalition lost the election: LittleproudCBy Courtney GouldNationals leader David Littleproud is sticking by nuclear, insisting the policy wasn't the reason why the the Coalition lost the election."Nuclear wasn't why we lost the debate and the election. I think people are trying to draw bows that are very long and not pointed in the right direction," he told Sky News Regional this morning."The reality is, the fundamentals haven't changed — you can't run an industrial-scale economy like Australia's on renewables alone."It comes as Liberal senator Maraia Kovacic became the first within her party to break ranks and call for the policy to be ditched.She told ABC's Radio National Breakfast the Coalition should listen to the message voters sent on May 3."The message from the community is very, very clear, and that's why I believe this nuclear policy has to go," she said.ReactReactCopy link38m agoTue 6 May 2025 at 11:52pmWatt pays tribute to Zoe DanielJBy Joshua BoscainiEmployment Minister Murray Watt has paid tribute to independent MP Zoe Daniel who lost her seat to Liberal challenger Tim Wilson.The ABC projects Wilson, who lost the seat of Goldstein to Daniel at the 2022 federal election, has successfully reclaimed the electorate.Speaking on Sunrise, Watt says he feels for her."I've lost a seat at the state level. It's not a great experience and, you know, she was a pretty decent person but we'll see what the final results is."ReactReactCopy link45m agoTue 6 May 2025 at 11:44pmAnalysis: The Coalition and Clive Palmer didn't win their own election culture warABy Annabel CrabbAfter the referendum, the ABC's Antony Green compiled a chart of seats where Labor secured a high primary vote at the 2022 election, but a low "Yes" vote for the Voice.The list of seats where the gap was highest reads like the tour itinerary for the Dutton campaign bus. Hunter, McMahon, Paterson, Watson, Whitlam and Dobell in NSW. In Victoria, Gorton and Hawke.These are the seats to which Peter Dutton referred when he assured reporters that the Liberal Party's private polling showed a path to victory that no-one else could see.In the early part of the ABC's election night broadcast, senator James McGrath maintained his confidence that there was a "goat track" on a "knife edge" through such seats.Of these poor goats, nothing has been heard since. On the night, the Liberal Party did not secure increased support in a single one of these seats, let alone win any of them.Who won the election culture wars? Not Dutton or PalmerReactReactCopy link1h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 11:20pmMurray Watt says Labor hasn't settled on 2035 emissions reduction targetJBy Joshua BoscainiEmployment Minister Murray Watt says Labor hasn't settled on a 2035 emissions reduction target yet despite reports Labor's environmental wing is pushing for an ambitious 2035 target.The Australian newspaper has reported that the Labor Environmental Action Network has pushed Anthony Albanese to adopt a 70 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035.Asked if he's in favour of that, Watt says Labor won't get ahead of itself by leaping to decisions.Watt also says the Coalition's nuclear energy policy was a vote loser in the cities.He says the nuclear energy policy that the Coalition took to the election had been driven by the National Party."Whoever ends up as the Liberal Party leader after this needs to make a decision about whether they're going to continue to be dictated to by the National Party, who only represent a very small number of seats around the country, or whether they're going to take back control of the Coalition," he says.ReactReactCopy link1h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:55pmNationals frontbencher sidesteps question about whether he'd run for party leadershipJBy Joshua BoscainiNationals frontbencher Michael McCormack has been asked whether David Littleproud should stay on as leader of the Nationals.McCormack has told Sky News all the leaders positions will be vacated, which always happens in the National party room after an electionHe says he's "devastated" Perin Davey will not return to parliament."That's a big loss, not only to the party but to the parliament," he says.When asked if he will put his hand up for the leadership, he sidesteps the question and says he wants the Nationals to remain united.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event1h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:39pmNationals were too 'gun shy' in last parliament: CanavanCBy Courtney GouldNationals senator Matt Canavan has argued his party was too "gun shy" in the last term of parliament, stressing the Coalition is a "a business relationship, not a marriage".So would he consider a formal split between the Liberals and the Nationals? Canavan told Sky News it was not the "goal"."Perhaps one thing we could have done more of in the last parliament is to have some proper policy debates, but there was a priority on unity," he says."This is a business relationship, not a marriage. We need to make decisions for what is the best if in the best interests of this country."But he said the approach of giving the Liberals an "opportunity" to win back seats in the city "clearly didn't work"."Maybe it's time for the Nationals party to rediscover its voice and push for options that benefit all Australians and prioritise our country over global agreements that mean nothing to people," he said.ReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:27pmCanavan wants nuclear to remainCBy Courtney GouldMeanwhile, Nationals senator Matt Canavan has also been out and about this morning, and has been asked about the future of the Coalition's nuclear policy."What I want to see is an energy policy that brings down people's power bills," he says."I think the original sin of our energy policy at the last election was that we designed an energy policy to reduce emissions, not to reduce the cost of living."Does that mean he wants nuclear to stay in the mix?"Yeah, of course," he saysReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:22pmMcCormack says he's still in favour of Liberals and Nationals remaining in a CoalitionJBy Joshua BoscainiNationals frontbencher Michael McCormack says the Liberals and Nationals are "much stronger" together and believes the Coalition should stay together."I'm not in favour of a merger, I'm in favour of a Coalition, I think a Coalition is Australia's best form of government," he says.Asked how the Coalition wins over the cities again, McCormack says the Liberals need to be more active and work "every weekend" to win back city voters."We have to re-convince the Australian public that we are worth voting for. We have to take a suite of policies that are going to be strong and solid and we've got to be able to enunciate those policies," he says.McCormack says he believes there was a "centralised" message that came out of Coalition campaign headquarters.Asked whether the Coalition would be able to win back government in a single term, McCormack said: "Absolutely. You can never say never."ReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:13pmNuclear should remain on the table, Michael McCormack saysJBy Joshua BoscainiNationals frontbencher Michael McCormack has appeared on Sky News where he's been asked whether the Coalition should keep its nuclear energy policy.McCormack says that it will be discussed, along with all the other policies the Coalition took to the election."I got a lot of head nods when I said we needed to have a national, rational discussion about nuclear energy as part of our power mix, but of course the people of Australia have voted," he says.Asked about his personal view on the nuclear energy policy, McCormack says he believes Australia needs to adopt nuclear energy if it wants to reach net zero by 2050."I think we need to have the national, rational discussion about it. Forget the Simpsons memes … and all that nonsense that went on. I do think we need to have a sensible discussion about it going forward," he says.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:59pmParliament a 'miserable' and 'sick place': Ousted Greens MPCBy Courtney GouldOusted Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has described parliament as "bloody awful", "miserable" and a "sick place" in his first interview after conceding defeat in the Brisbane seat of Griffith.The high-profile MP lost the inner-city Brisbane seat of Griffith to Labor candidate Renee Coffey on Saturday. But he told triple j Hack he had no regrets about his three years in parliament."Parliament is a sick place … There were times when I was sitting in parliament and you'd watch both sides of politics team up to defend the stage 3 tax cuts," he said."Then we were getting attacked because we said we should spend a bit more on public housing and give something for renters."I feel proud of that work … and I think if I had my time again I would do it all again."The Greens have lost two of their three seats in inner-city Brisbane, and leader Adam Bandt's seat of Melbourne is still too close to call. Chandler-Mather blamed the poor result in the lower house on a declining vote for the Liberal Party resulting in Liberal preferences flowing to Labor.Loading Instagram contentReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:58pmGallagher says Labor has 'no intention' to revisit IR reformsJBy Joshua BoscainiKaty Gallagher says there's "no intention" to revisit the industrial relations reforms Labor put in place in the last term of parliament.Gallagher has told ABC Radio National Breakfast that the Albanese government will continue to engage with business and stakeholders on tax reform.The finance minister has been asked whether she expects the Greens to be more collaborative this time, with the minor party on track to hold the balance of power in the Senate."Well I hope so, I genuinely do. We had a lot of trouble getting some of our agenda through the Senate particularly in the areas of housing but also in environment and I would be hoping that the message that's been sent by the electorate which is that they want a majority Labor government to deliver on the things Labor said we'd do," Gallagher says.She says there will probably be two pathways to get its legislation through the next Senate — the first with the Coalition, and the second with the Greens.ReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:54pmHow will Labor increase productivity in the workforce?JBy Joshua BoscainiKaty Gallagher has been asked on ABC Radio National Breakfast how Labor plans to increase productivity in the workforce.She says a lot of the policies Labor brought to the election were focused on driving productivity."It's making those investments in human capital through skills and training, and that's why we were so clear about fee-free TAFE and about easing some of the financial burden when it comes to university, but also in relation to technology and the energy transition," she says.Asked what productivity gains there were to be found in the care economy, Gallagher said it was about ensuring people were paid and trained better."I'm not saying it's going to be easy or that it will happen overnight, but these are really important areas as the care economy continues to take up a big part of our economy," she says.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:48pmGallagher 'hopeful' she'll remain in all of her portfoliosJBy Joshua BoscainiKaty Gallagher has joined Sally Sara on ABC Radio National Breakfast and she's been asked whether she'll retain her portfolios.She says the PM has assured she'll remain finance minister but ultimately it's up to Anthony Albanese to allocate the portfolios.Asked whether she'll lose the women and government services portfolio, Gallagher says she hasn't had that discussion with the PM."He certainly made it clear that he thought the leadership team plus the economic team would remain in their portfolios and so I'm hopeful of remaining in all of those portfolios but it's up to him," she says.Gallagher says she's expecting the representation of women in the next Labor caucus will be greater than the last term of parliament.ReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:33pmShould the ACT and NT get more representation in the Senate?JBy Joshua BoscainiABC News Breakfast co-host James Glenday has asked Katy Gallagher whether Senate representation for the ACT and NT will be boosted before the next election.Gallagher says it's a long-running debate and is in the interests of the territories and the parliament."We would like the parliament to move as a whole on it. I think when you make those sorts of changes, it's best to have people all pulling in the same direction, and the Liberal Party weren't prepared to do that," she says.She says Labor is prepared to reopen that discussion in this term of parliament.ReactReactCopy link2h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:30pmDoes Labor need to campaign in Canberra more to counter Pocock's popularity?JBy Joshua BoscainiKaty Gallagher has been asked whether Labor needs to campaign in Canberra more to counter the popularity of independent senator David Pocock.She says the Labor vote has held up across the city."I think from all the conversations I had on the polling booths — and we did campaign very strongly here in the ACT — they [Canberrans] didn't want a Dutton government. They were very clear about that," she says.She says the Liberal vote in the ACT is "dead until they get themselves together"."But they did say they wanted David and I in the Senate. And that's what's actually going to be returned," she says.ReactReactCopy link3h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:25pmLabor factions jostle for extra representation in Albanese government ministryJBy Joshua BoscainiFinance Minister Katy Gallagher has appeared on ABC News Breakfast, where she's been asked whether a senior NSW Labor frontbencher will have to be demoted order to fit the right numbers into the new ministry.Negotiations are underway as Labor's factions jostle to secure extra representation in the Albanese government's ministry ahead of a caucus meeting on Friday.Gallagher says the caucus will go through nominations for a range of positions at meeting later this week."The fortunate thing for us is we've got a huge amount of talent on our frontbench and we've got a lot of talented people coming up through our ranks," she says.Asked if it has been getting testy behind the scenes, Gallagher says there's only been enthusiasm about Labor's victory on Saturday.ReactReactCopy link3h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:17pm'Australians care about our climate and our environment': KovacicJBy Joshua BoscainiLiberal senator Maria Kovacic says Australians didn't view the Coalition's nuclear energy policy as a serious way to address climate change.Kovacic says Australians, particularly young Australians, believe in climate change."Young Australians, all Australians care about our climate and our environment and they didn't see this as a legitimate climate policy," she says"The primary concern people had was they could see this wasn't going to deliver any kind of outcome for at least 15 or 20 years."Asked why there wasn't an understanding from the Coalition's campaign that its work-from-home policy was unpopular, Kovacic said the policy was an additional change that families didn't need."It was something that sort of triggered an additional concern or worry," she says.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event3h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:10pmLiberal senator calls for Coalition to drop its nuclear energy policyJBy Joshua BoscainiLiberal senator Maria Kovacic says she wants the Coalition's nuclear energy policy to be scrapped.Kovacic has told ABC Radio National Breakfast that Australians delivered a resounding message about the Coalition's policies on Saturday.She said the nuclear policy was at odds with Liberal Party values of free markets and small government."The notion of the party that is meant to do that, that is the cornerstone of its values, would then nationalise a major portion of our energy system is completely at odds with who we are and what we stand for," she says.She says Saturday's election result was "devastating" for the Liberal Party, which has lost "very good members of parliament"."We have lost shadow cabinet ministers, so the message from the community is very, very clear, and that's why I believe this nuclear policy has to go," she says.ReactReactCopy linkKey Event3h agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:04pm🗳️ Labor's Julie Collins retains Franklin, ABC projectsCBy Casey BriggsThe ABC projects that Labor MP Julie Collins has retained the seat of Franklin, in Tasmania's south.The agriculture minister has held off a strong challenge from independent candidate Peter George, who was campaigning against commercial salmon farming.ReactReactCopy linkShow more postsPosted 3h ago3 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 8:59pm, updated 13m ago13 minutes agoWed 7 May 2025 at 12:17amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)TimelineRead nextCommentsTimelineKey EventsLatestNuclear wasn't the reason why the Coalition lost the election: Littleproud29m ago29 minutes agoWed 7 May 2025 at 12:01amNationals were too 'gun shy' in last parliament: Canavan1h ago1 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 10:39pmParliament a 'miserable' and 'sick place': Ousted Greens MP2h ago2 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:59pmGallagher 'hopeful' she'll remain in all of her portfolios2h ago2 hours agoTue 6 May 2025 at 9:48pmLiberal senator calls for Coalition to drop its nuclear energy policy3h ago3 hours 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