News and politics live: Labor and Coalition clash over CGT carve-outs as Mark Butler rejects backdown claims

That concludes our live coverage for today.

Thank you for joining us as we brought you the latest news as it happened.

West Australians have been urged not to touch sick or dead birds or animals after a suspected detection of H5 strain of bird flu in the State.

Australia’s Agriculture Minister Julie Collins has held a snap press conference in Tasmania on Friday afternoon to confirm the first confirmation of the virus on mainland Australia.

The bird detected has been described as a migratory bird in “an isolated area” of “southern western, Western Australia”.

She said the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development was investigating and samples had been sent to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

“We cannot confirm yet whether it is the strain of concern that is circulating at this stage, known as the H5 strain bird flu,” she said.

Ms Collins said the testing is expected to be completed “overnight or early” Saturday and she would fly to Canberra urgently for further briefings across the weekend.

While Ms Collins said there was no evidence of infection in poultry, she urged Australians to be cautious.

“There is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time, nor is there any evidence of infection in poultry,” she said.

“A key message for everyone is, please do not touch sick or dead birds or animals.

“If you see multiple sick or dead birds or other animals, please take photos or record it from a safe distance, record your location and go to Birdflu.gov.au to report it.

“I want everyone to know that this is what we have been preparing for.

“We’ve undertaken a series of national exercises, and we’ve invested $113 million to strengthen our nation’s preparedness for the H5 bird flu, including an additional $11 million in the most recent budget.

“If it is confirmed to be the H5 bird flu, this will be sobering, but not unexpected, given the spread globally.”

Industry experts and representatives from State and Territories have met this afternoon to discuss the issue.

Andy Burnham has done what Keir Starmer has failed to demonstrate and passed the only test in British politics worth taking — beating Reform UK.

The by-election victory of the so-called “King of the North” has put Keir Starmer’s premiership on notice, with Mr Burnham saying his stunning election win in Makerfield was a turning point and final chance to change the UK government.

The popular Mayor of Manchester did not just pass his electoral test; he crushed it, easily slaying Nigel Farage’s Reform party as he swept to a convincing victory.

It is much-needed hope for the beleaguered mainstream left of centre politics — it shows that populism is far from unstoppable.

In May, Reform took all wards in the local election, but in the by-election, which was put to voters as a chance to elect a replacement for Keir Starmer, they opted for Labour.

Mr Burnham won 54 per cent of the vote, increasing Labour’s majority to 9231 votes, compared to 35 per cent for Reform. Turnout increased to 58 per cent compared to 52 per cent in 2024 general election.

He united the left, reducing the recently resurgent Greens and Liberal Democrats to less than half of a per cent.

The right split with 34 per cent for Reform, 7 per cent for the new Restore party which seeks to be more hardline than Reform and just 2.2 per cent for the Conservatives.

Read Latika M Bourke’s analysis in full.

Counter-terrorism police are determining whether a third man charged over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue was aware that Iran had orchestrated the firebombing.

Authorities on Friday arrested a 20-year-old Airport West man for the attack which gutted Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024.

Australian Federal Police’s Peter Crozier on Friday told Melbourne reporters that probing any link to foreign players would be a “key line of inquiry” for the “politically motivated attack”.

Assistant commissioner Crozier had been asked if the latest man had been directed by “offshore individuals” and if the three accused were thought to be “foot soldiers” of the regime.

“This investigation does have international connections, and we’ll continue to work collaboratively with our international partners,” he said.

“As part of the investigation, we have identified that there are people who are driving or being principals of some offending.

“On a number of occasions we’ve seen, where there are a number of tied or cut ways, that these people potentially they might actually be aware of the people who are directing. That remains a key line of inquiry for us.”

Read the full story.

One Nation has claimed credit for the government’s decision to pare back its changes to the capital gains tax concession, saying the populist party’s multi-million-dollar crowdfunding effort had “rattled” Labor.

The government’s plans to raise taxes on investments including housing, shares and companies prompted fierce backlash from the business community, in particular from startups who feared they would be disproportionately impacted.

But One Nation Senator Sean Bell claimed his party’s surging popularity also played a role.

“One Nation’s campaign to ‘fire the liar’ rattled them, they realise they’re exposed, and that is what has driven them into this hugely embarrassing backflip,” he told Sky News on Friday.

Pressed on what the right-wing party would do differently, Senator Bell said One Nation had proposed allowing couples to split their income for tax purposes, but insisted the focus should be on the government’s “deeply flawed Budget”.

“This government has put a terrible bill, a terrible Budget before parliament. Our entire focus (is that) it is defeated,” he said.

Recent polls show One Nation is the most popular political party in Australia while its leader Pauline Hanson leads Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister.

- with AAP

Ridiculing Pauline Hanson is something of a blood sport for reporters and newspaper columnists.

There is a professional expectation that you take any interview opportunity to shoot down her policy rationale and steamroll over her logic.

There is pressure to eviscerate her and should you not, you end up feeling that you have somehow failed as a journalist.

Mocking Hanson has for 30 years been the low-hanging fruit of Australian journalism. For 29-and-a-half of those years, it was as simple as shooting fish in a barrel.

Journos didn’t think twice about jumping in the ring with Pauline. They didn’t even bother putting the mouth guard in because they knew she wouldn’t put a glove on them.

That all changed this year. Millions of words have been written about why One Nation has surged in popularity but you only need six to explain the phenomenon: Bondi Beach, ISIS brides, shit Budget.

Read Ben Harvey’s opinion piece in full.

Former KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates has admitted the whistleblower who raised allegations about confidential information being used to win lucrative contracts was made to feel uncomfortable.

This was despite him claiming to have previously promoted a “speak up” culture within the big four auditing and financial services firm.

“I talked to the firm extensively about that. I was very proud of many things that happened in that respect but in this case, we didn’t get it right,” he told a Parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

“I don’t think we made the whistleblower feel comfortable through the process in terms of that whole concept of speaking up.”

Mr Yates has claimed the embattled auditing firm he led until last month acted in the right way despite a whistleblower claiming it used confidential information to secure lucrative contracts.

“Across that passage of time, I felt at every point in time, my team were conducting themselves in the right way,” he said

“I felt that we were approaching this in the right way. I felt that the investigations were being conducted in the appropriate manner and they escalated as we got more and more information but on reflection, a lot of those things have not worked as I would have hoped they would have.”

Lendlease chief executive Tony Lombardo told a Federal Parliamentary inquiry he had met with KPMG’s then CEO Andrew Yates in May 2025 regarding a whistleblower’s allegation confidential board papers from construction group Lendlease were used to secure audit contracts with the likes of Westpac and Dexus.

“I had a face-to-face meeting with the then CEO of KPMG - it was an update on a number of different matters but the whistleblower matter was raised at the end of that meeting,” he said.

“It was alleged that the whistleblower had information about the use of Lendlease board papers and the allegation was around those documents being stored in an individual’s locker at the time.

“KPMG had informed myself at the time that they had investigated the matter and had not substantiated the matter.”

Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, who aired allegations about the conduct in the Senate in March, asked Mr Lombardo if this was a formal meeting.

“It was a catch-up that I had scheduled with the then CEO at the time, Andrew Yates; it was a general business catch-up and at that meeting, the whistleblower matter that had arisen, I’d been informed about that,” Mr Lombardo said.

““He was aware there was a whistleblower allegation, which had been raised with KPMG.”

Health Minister Mark Butler has dismissed suggestions he’ll become the next Prime Minister as “rubbish” during a TV clash with opposition frontbencher Tim Wilson.

Appearing on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Friday morning, Mr Butler – a factional ally of the Prime Minister who is increasingly tipped as a possible successor – was asked about the relationship between Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese.

“This is an enormously productive relationship, which I watch up close,” Mr Butler said, prompting the Liberal frontbencher to shoot back with a bold political prediction.

Mr Wilson responded: “He does watch it up close, because I suspect this is the Treasurer’s last budget and the Prime Minister’s probably going to fall with him.”

“The person who’s going to win out of that is going to be Prime Minister Mark Butler.”

Mr Butler shot back: “Total rubbish, Tim”.

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg has accused the Government of botching its tax reform agenda, arguing Labor’s decision to water down key Budget measures amounted to an admission the original policy was flawed.

Speaking on ABC Radio National Breakfast on Friday, Senator Bragg said changes to capital gains tax concessions and testamentary trust arrangements had exposed weaknesses in the Government’s plan.

He claimed younger Australians would ultimately bear the burden of the reforms.

“The budget measures have more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese,” he said.

“Younger Australians will now face a punitive tax system on the capital side or on the income pay-as-you-go side. So that’s what we really object to that.

“This has not been a recalibration of the tax system. This has been an increase in capital gains tax and virtually nothing on the pay-as-you-go side.”