Politics live updates: Jane Hume questions Albanese’s Farley offer as Hanson accuses PM of political meddling

Former Prime Minister John Howard has warned the nation could miss out on valuable skills and expertise unless it develops strategy to better engage Australians building careers overseas.

His comments follow a new survey highlighting concerns among expatriates about the country’s economic competitiveness, ambition and ability to adapt to rapid technological change.

The October 2026 Global Australians Survey, which gathered responses from 902 participants living overseas, found 63 per cent believed Australia was not ambitious enough about its future, while 60 per cent said the nation was falling behind global economic and technological change.

A further 61 per cent said Australia was failing to fully utilise the skills, experience and connections of its overseas workforce.

Mr Howard said improving Australia’s appeal would be critical to addressing the loss of skilled workers.

“I think there’s a lot of movement in different directions because of the unusual and very competitive circumstances in which they’re living,” Mr Howard said, as cited by The Sydney Morning Herald.

“There’s more to living in a country than the size of your salary. I wouldn’t like to be living in parts of Europe at the moment.

“The strength of our economy is the principal determinant of whether people who have got skills on offer will move to another country.”

NSW Minister David Harris has announced he will step down from politics at the March election, ending a 16-year parliamentary career and leaving Labor facing battle to hold his Central Coast seat of Wyong.

Mr Harris confirmed his retirement in a statement on Friday morning following months of uncertainty over his political future that delayed Labor’s preselection process.

His departure is expected to open the door to a strong One Nation challenge in the traditionally contested electorate.

“Before entering the NSW parliament, I spent 23 years in public education as a teacher, executive and principal, working to shape the futures of local children,” Mr Harris said.

“I hope the next Labor candidate shares my passion for education as I have found that is the lifeblood of our community.”

A new report by Australia’s anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal has labelled “progressive anti-Semitism” one of the most damaging forms of anti-Jewish hatred, warning that social justice rhetoric can disguise discrimination.

The report calls for a crackdown across universities, healthcare, media and the arts, including an investigation into anti-Semitism in healthcare and new conduct rules for publicly funded arts organisations.

“What we have is antisemitism that I describe as much more in the middle: well-intentioned people who are concerned about the policies of the state of Israel and feel critical of them,” Ms Segal told the Sydney Morning Herald before the report was released.

“And they transfer that criticism to Jewish members of society in Australia … through a lens of thinking that they are upholding progressive values and human rights.

“It’s really conflating criticism of policies of the government of Israel onto Jewish Australians.

“And actually, Jewish Australians have got no influence on the state of Israel. They may not support any of those policies, and yet, they are suffering.”

Labor MP Jagadish Krishnan is under pressure to explain a business loan that has sparked a $1 million legal battle, but has vowed to “vigorously defend” his reputation in court.

The Member for Riverton, who co-founded Spectrum Health in 2014, has launched a counter-suit over an American businessman’s claim that Dr Krishnan, his wife and companies linked to them have failed to “timely repay” a six-figure loan that was secured during a visit to New York in May 2024.

Court documents filed in New Jersey on October 20 by Kannan Amalraj and Kenyan Consulting LLC accuse Dr Krishnan of a “breach of contract” and of “unjustly enriching” himself.

This masthead does not suggest any of the allegations made in the New Jersey court documents are true.

In a writ filed in the WA Supreme Court this week, Dr Krishnan claims that emails from Mr Amalraj and his wife Gokila to Premier Roger Cook and Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson “falsely and maliciously defamed” him.

On Thursday, Dr Krishnan denied any wrongdoing.

“I’m confident I have acted appropriately, and I stand by the position I’ve taken,” he told reporters outside his electorate office in Willetton.

“I understand there’s interest in this matter, but given it’s now before the courts, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go into details or comment on the claims.”

He said his visit to New York while parliamentary secretary to the Premier was a “private trip” and did not include any parliamentary business.

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Deputy leader of the Opposition Jane Hume has questioned the Prime Minister’s decision to approach politicians individually over parliamentary staffing after Pauline Hanson slammed Anthony Albanese over allegations taxpayer funds were being used to woo One Nation MP David Farley.

The controversy centres on the Prime Minister’s offer to Mr Farley of an additional taxpayer-funded parliamentary staffer, a position with a potential salary package of $200,000 a year.

Speaking to Sunrise, Ms Hume said the issue was not whether Mr Farley should receive additional staff support, but why the Prime Minister wasn’t negotiating with political parties as a whole.

“It’s really important that politicians are resourced appropriately, and there’s been longstanding conventions as to how that should happen,” Ms Hume said on Friday morning.

“I think the question here is, for the Prime Minister, is why he was approaching politicians from different parties on an individual basis, rather than on the basis of their party.

“The Prime Minister has famously cut the resources to both the crossbench and to the opposition, breaching long standing conventions that have been around since the time of Bob Hawke.

“And it’s really up to the Prime Minister to explain why he’s cut the resources to those that would impose scrutiny on the government, and yet maintained resources for his own side.”

Mr Farley had not requested the role and ultimately rejected it, saying it would be inappropriate to accept while Senator Hanson was seeking a broader agreement with the government over staffing allegations.

“The attributes that I was looking for in a political party to represent Farrer is that I need political courage, I need political tenacity, and I made my decision to join One Nation,” he told News24 on Thursday.

“I know that I’ve still got that courage and tenacity in behind me. I have got a very, very clear and defined mandate.”

In a social media post, Senator Hanson labelled the “unsolicited” move an attempt to “exert undue political influence”.

“David did not request this allocation of staff. No reason was provided by the prime minister for the provision of this staff,” Senator Hanson said.

WA Premier Roger Cook has demanded the Albanese Government scrap its controversial plan to crackdown on backpackers as its way to rein in migration, telling his Federal colleagues it could decimate West Australian tourism and hospitality.

Premier Cook brought his fight for the State’s jobs to Canberra on Thursday, weeks after Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced Labor would target working holiday visas as a major part of its push to reduce net overseas arrivals by about 75,000 per year.

The scheme — which the SA Labor Premier has also hit out at — came amid One Nation’s surge in popularity, with cutting migration at the centre of the minor party’s plan to reduce pressure on housing and services.

Mr Cook — who was joined by Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods and Tourism Council WA boss Evan Hall — met with Mr Burke on Thursday to argue the changes risked losing about 4500 jobs primarily in regional areas.

The Premier, who had written to the Albanese Government earlier in the week, said second and third-year working holiday visa holders were heavily relied on in the State, with roughly two thirds arriving over east and taking about a year to reach WA.

He described his conversations with Mr Burke as “very, very positive” and said details about extending second and third year backpacker visas, specifically concerning regional stay requirements, were “being worked through”.

“WA wants workers,” he said. “It’s important that our national leaders work together to reach an appropriate balance,” he said.

NSW Transport Minister John Graham joined south-west Sydney locals before the crack of dawn to ride the first passenger service on the Southwest Metro at 4:31am on Friday morning.

The M2 train doors opened on the platforms at Bankstown Train Station, with bleary-eyed MPs, reporters, tradies, city workers and train enthusiasts all piling on board to get a first glimpse at Sydney’s newest piece of major public infrastructure.

Cheers erupted as it pulled out of Bankstown for the first time, then there were more cheers as new commuters got on at all stops to Central.

Metro stations in Bankstown, Punchbowl, Wiley Park, Lakemba, Belmore, Campsie, Canterbury, Hurlstone Park, Dulwich Hill and Marrickville all opened simultaneously, granting passengers from throughout Sydney’s west quick and easy access to the CBD and Sydney’s northern suburbs.

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​with NCA Newswire​