Australian news and politics live: Coalition attacks Labor on housing as Chalmers brands Liberals a ‘meltdown’

The shadow ministers sharing their vision for the sinkhole that has become the federal Liberal Party over the past two days aren’t campaigning to become leader, but if colleagues happen to be impressed by their eloquence, what can you do?

Among them, Perth MP Andrew Hastie deserves a prize for the week’s best flip-the-personal-narrative appearance. Last year he quit the front bench “because the Coalition wasn’t moving hard enough on immigration”, he said, and launched a stop-the-boats-type petition under the Trump-inspired slogan: It’s time to put Australia first again.

On Monday there were no MAGA references by the opposition industry spokesman. Through the unexpected medium of ABC television, Mr Hastie responded to one of the most miserable opinion polls in Coalition history by revealing that he is, notwithstanding the fierce opposition to immigration, an unembarrassed multiculturalist.

“I grew up in inner-city Ashfield,” he told Patricia Karvelas, referring to the Sydney suburb where a minority of residents state their ancestry as “Australian”. “My father was the minister of a church where we had a Chinese, Korean, Western Samoan congregation. I lived multiculturalism in that sense, but they were all bound by one faith.”

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The leader of the ACT Liberal Party has told Pauline Hanson to “go to hell” over her call for a monocultural Australia, saying the One Nation leader has no right to tell Australians what language they should speak at home.

ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton, whose wife Luisa is Colombian, has taken aim at Senator Hanson’s recent comments as his federal Coalition colleagues continue to grapple with One Nation’s rise.

“What rubbish is that? What is that? I’m married to a beautiful Colombian woman, and as such, mine is a genuinely bilingual household,” Parton said in a video posted to Instagram, before speaking briefly in Spanish.

“She can go to hell, like honestly, she’s not going to tell us what language we speak in our home.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has torn into Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, using fresh calls for a Coalition “rebrand” to argue the party is in full-blown meltdown.

Labor seized on comments from Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh, who suggested the party needed to rethink its values, with Dr Chalmers saying the problem runs far deeper than messaging.

“I know that the member for Lindsay has been saying that they need to rebrand their values over there,” Dr Chalmers said.

“It’s not a marketing problem over there, it’s a meltdown.”

Dr Chalmers took direct aim at Taylor, referencing his earlier warning that the Coalition faced a “change or die” moment when he challenged for the leadership.

“He said that his leadership was a ‘change or die moment’, and then he made the wrong choice,” Dr Chalmers said.

“He said it was a change or die moment, and then he forgot to change, and so that leaves only one option.

“They haven’t changed a bit. They haven’t learned a thing.”

The attack comes as the Coalition grapples with dire polling, with recent surveys placing its primary vote at historic lows, trailing both Labor and One Nation at around 17 to 18 per cent.

Dr Chalmers didn’t stop there, later labelling questions from the opposition as “desperate and more than a little bit pathetic” during a heated exchange in the House.

“Just like the Leader of the Opposition, the questions from the Liberal and National Party are becoming desperate and more than a little bit pathetic,” he said.

The Coalition has doubled down on its focus on negative equity, using Question Time to press the government over the potential impact of housing policies on first home buyers.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor opened proceedings by directing a rare first question away from the prime minister, asking Housing Minister Clare O’Neil: “How many first home buyers have fallen into negative equity since the budget?”

Negative equity occurs when a homeowner owes more on their mortgage than the current market value of their property.

The line of attack follows a similar strategy from the opposition on Monday, with repeated questions aimed at linking Labor’s housing policies to falling home values.

Ms O’Neil hit back at the premise of the question, saying she would “go through it again for those who are a little bit slower off the uptake”.

“According to Treasury, [house prices] will continue to grow over time, but a little bit more slowly than they otherwise would have,” she said.

“I think those opposite surely have availed themselves of the information about the Treasury modelling that suggests a slower rate of growth of about 2 percentage points.”

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson continued the pressure, warning that “Labor’s correction in house prices means the value of an Australian home could collapse by 10 to 20 per cent, smashing Australia’s nest egg”.

He asked whether the minister had received advice from Treasury or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on how many first home buyers could be pushed into negative equity “because of Labor’s deliberate correction”.

The opposition’s framing hinges on comments made by Ms O’Neil last week, when she referred to a “market correction,” a term typically used to describe a 10 to 20 per cent fall in asset prices. The minister later clarified she was using the phrase in a colloquial sense, but the remark has continued to be used against her in Question Time.

Responding to Mr Wilson, Ms O’Neil said she was “being asked effectively the same question” and again pointed to Treasury modelling indicating house prices would keep rising, albeit at a slower pace than previously forecast.

A fifth case of H5 bird flu has been detected in Australia, with authorities confirming the virus in a migratory seabird found in Western Australia.

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins announced the update during a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday, stressing there is currently no evidence of widespread wildlife deaths or any spread into poultry or agricultural systems.

“This giant petrel was found at Roses Beach in West Australia... It’s not unexpected that other migratory seabirds may have also arrived at other locations along Australia’s coastline,” she said

The latest case brings the total number of confirmed H5 detections in Australia to five, all in migratory seabirds, four in Western Australia and one in South Australia.

She also reassured the public that authorities are well prepared to respond to any developments linked to the virus.

Chief Veterarian Officer Beth Cookson says there is low risk to human health at this stage.

“I think it’s a real strength of our biosecurity system that we have detected these individual cases. Of course, I would acknowledge that these birds are active in our southern waters during this period of year, and the climatic conditions do mean that they are occasionally sighted on the southern shoreline,” she said.

Ms Cookson also noted that there have been over 100 negative tests.

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Motorists are being warned to expect petrol price increases from July 1, as the Federal Government scales back its temporary fuel excise relief.

From midnight, the excise cut introduced following the Middle East conflict will be reduced from 32 cents per litre to 16 cents per litre, before ending on August 2.

The change is expected to deliver about $11 in savings for motorists filling a 65-litre tank, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a June 22 statement.

“This extension to the fuel tax cut recognises that economic and fuel stability recovery will take time, and our action provides a graduated return to normal settings for the fuel excise,” he said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has put fuel retailers on notice ahead of the change, revealing it wrote to companies last week reminding them not to use the partial restoration of the tax to boost profits.

The watchdog said retailers must be transparent with customers and able to justify any claims made about price movements.

ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey has issued a strong warning:

“We will closely examine fuel price movements and market behaviour, both in the lead-up to and following the increase in fuel excise,” she said.

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Beijing has hit out at Australia’s new security treaty with Vanuatu, warning that bilateral agreements should not target third countries, as China pursues its own pact with the Pacific nation.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his counterpart Jotham Napat signed the long-awaited Nakamal agreement, with Australia receiving an assurance that no foreign military bases will be established in Vanuatu.

Asked about the agreement on Monday evening, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “The co-operation should not target any third party, still less be used as an excuse for geopolitical contest.”

“We hope that the co-operation between relevant countries and Pacific nations will be truly conducive to the development and stability of the Pacific Islands region,” Guo added.

After Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh said the party must rebrand as Angus Taylor failed to turn the polls around, colleagues have rejected the suggestion.

“Australians don’t want us to rebrand. They want us to change the country that is actually going backwards,” Liberal Senate leader Michaelia Cash told Today.

“I’m out in the streets every day, talking to people. I walk through shopping centres, and people come up to me, and they say, ‘Please change the government. We cannot afford any more of a Labor-Greens dirty deal’.”

Jonno Duniam, Opposition home affairs spokesman, said voters weren’t worried about the packaging of Liberals.

“I think people are less concerned about the packaging or the box and what it looks like on the outside and more worried about what is on the inside, which is, frankly, where we’ve got to be focused,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to actually get our policy work done, we’ve got to announce it. We’ve got to get out and communicate. We’ll sell it. That’s when we’ll start seeing the dial shift or people return to us having abandoned us.”

If the Prime Minister’s banking details can allegedly be accessed without authorisation, what does that mean for millions of other Australians?

That question is likely to be asked after a former Ernst & Young graduate employee, and another, were charged over the alleged unauthorised access of confidential Commonwealth Bank customer records, including those belonging to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

A man who had been seconded to Commonwealth Bank as part of EY’s graduate consulting program has since been dismissed and is facing criminal charges over the alleged privacy breach, along with another person.

According to The Australian Financial Review, the former employee used internal banking systems to access the personal banking details of Mr Albanese and at least one senior EY partner despite having no legitimate work reason to do so.

The alleged breach was detected through Commonwealth Bank’s internal monitoring systems, which track access to sensitive customer information and alerted EY to the activity.

“It is not appropriate for us to comment on individual contractor matters,” a Commonwealth Bank spokesman said.

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described as “horrific” the case of Perth man Simon Peter Carman, who has been charged in Thailand over the death of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla.

“It’s a horrific case, and I think we’ve all been horrified by what has happened, and our sympathy goes to the friends and family,” she said this morning.

“In relation to consular assistance, again as minister, I’m bound by privacy obligations. We obviously provide consular assistance to Australians overseas where required.”

She says Australian officials have been engaging with their Thai counterparts, and she anticipates speaking with the Thai foreign minister at an imminent ASEAN meeting.