Federal politics live: Anthony Albanese tells Bob Katter to ‘have a look at himself’

Asked if he thinks changs need to be made that would allow people to access the loans more quickly, Littleproud says the minister needs to ensure loans are handed out quickly.

“The minister simply needs to sign a piece of paper for that to happen, and the RIC needs to be able to address that. That’s what they’re there to do,” Littleproud says.

David Littleproud says he supports the loans being used to help farmers bolster climate resilience and transition to net zero.

“I think when we were in government, we didn’t have loans, we gave direct grants for things like better resilience in terms of water infrastructure, whether that be drilling out bores, new bores, or whether that be for water, or whether that be desilting dams and making sure that there was stronger resilience,” Littleproud says.

Asked why he supports the loans to help farmers transition to net zero but not support a policy of net zero, Littleproud says he doesn’t think net zero is the way to address climate change.

“I believe in climate change. I believe that man has made a contribution to that. But it’s a pure old debate to say that if you don’t believe in net zero, you don’t believe in climate change,” he says.

“What you can do is be sensible about reducing emissions, how you do it in a uniquely Australian way, and making sure that you do that in an affordable way for Australians,” he says.

Shadow Agriculture Minister and Nationals leader David Littleproud has spoken to ABC Radio National Breakfast about the $1 billion funding boost to the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC).

Littleproud has welcomed the funding boost and says the corporation is an “important vehicle” that requires continued investment for certainty.

He has called for the government to consider reverting back to implementing an interest-free period during times of disaster, including droughts.

“I think the government needs to be quicker on this, whether it be the algal bloom, whether it be the floods in western Queensland where 200,000 head have been lost, or whether it be for the drought in southern Australia,” Littleproud says.

“The government has sort of dragged its feet. This is welcomed, but we need some real, timely action now,” he says.

Anthony Albanese has been asked if the government is aware of the pain regional communities are feeling as a result of having to carry the burden of Australia’s renewable energy transition.

Albanese says governments need to do better with community consultation, and that the feelings people have about renewable energy need to be taken into account and listened to.

He says Australia’s coal-fired power stations are reaching their retirement age, and that Australia needs to move to renewable energy.

“The cheapest form of energy is renewables. How that process happens, though, is important as well, and we need better engagement, there’s no question about that,” the PM says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he advocated the United States drop reciprocal tariffs on Australia.

Australian products are currently subject to 10 per cent baseline tariffs, however, other countries are subject to higher tariffs.

Albanese has told ABC Ballarat that he lobbied Republican congressman Jason Smith, who is visiting Australia, to drop the tariffs.

“I had a long meeting with him. I advocated Australia’s case,” Albanese says.

“I think that [tariffs] are an act of economic self-harm. Tariffs hurt the country that’s imposing them because it increases costs,” he says.

The PM has provided some more details on that $1 billion boost to the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) to help farmers in need of financial assistance.

Anthony Albanese says it’s an extension of the RIC and can be used for concessional loans to help farmers stay profitable.

Albanese says it will also help farmers prepare for a changing climate.

The PM says the government will broaden the scope for the low-interest loans, targeting productivity and the transition to net zero.

Some farming groups have called on the government to move from offering low-interest loans to no interest loans.

The PM says it’s not surprising people will ask for no interest loans. 

“There are reasons for the integrity of the system that you build in some small amount of interest, and that is what this does,” he says.

Bob Katter’s son Robbie Katter says there is a “deeply personal family dimension” for his father in relation to his Lebanese heritage.

“I am not going to go into too much detail there, nor will I ever publicly, I don’t think it is anyone else’s business,” Robbie tells Sky News.

Robbie says it’s “no big shock” his father responded aggressively “when you poke the bear”, but he acknowledges the reporter was not asking questions with malice.

Robbie, who serves as a state MP under his father’s banner, defended Bob’s behaviour, saying the Channel Nine reporter asking questions was probing into personal matters.

“I would say too, he is an 80-year-old man. It’s hard to see how that’s too intimidating. I know he is a lot more aggressive than other 80-year-olds, so I get that,” Robbie adds.

Reporter Josh Bavas had asked Bob about his own Lebanese migrant heritage after the Queensland MP held a press conference opposing immigration from countries that he said did not share Australia’s values.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has joined ABC Ballarat where he says the AFP is joining the search for an alleged gunman in Porepunkah, Victoria.

“We need to find this criminal who is responsible for this tragedy,” Albanese says.

“This is a horrific incident. Tragically, it’s so reminiscent of the loss of life we saw in Queensland just a couple of years ago,” he says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Bob Katter needs to “have a look at himself” after he threatened a journalist at a press conference in Brisbane yesterday.

At a press conference about migration to Australia, a Channel Nine journalist asked about Katter’s Lebanese ancestry.

The Kennedy MP in response said: “I’ve punched blokes in the mouth for saying that. Don’t you say that!”

Albanese says, while he likes Katter, the MP needs to recognise that’s not the behaviour expected of any Australian, including an elected representative.

“Bob Katter needs to have a look at that footage, have a look at himself, frankly, and recognise that that’s just not what we expect of any Australian, let alone someone who’s in public office,” he says.

Iranian ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi left Australia after being expelled from the country by the federal government, along with three other diplomats.

Sadeghi labelled allegations the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind two antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne as “baseless accusations”.

Anthony Albanese says it was a big decision to expel the Sadeghi from Australia — one which Australia hasn’t taken since World War II.

“No ambassador has been expelled from Australia in the post-war period. That says something about how significant this was, but this was an attack on Australian soil by a foreign power, completely unacceptable. And we took appropriate strong action,” he says.

Asked if Australia will increase defence spending to what the US would like us to, Albanese has declared Australia will do “what we like”.

He has pointed to the government’s decision to spend $10 billion on purchasing new Mogami-class frigates as a sign Australia is committed to defence spending.

“Just in the last month, we announced the frigates, that the first ones will be built in Japan and then subsequent ones built here in Australia,” Albanese says.

“We’ve lifted defence spending by $10 billion just over the forward estimates, and by $57 billion over the medium term,” he says.

Was a meeting with US President Donald Trump discussed in Washington? Anthony Albanese says that’s not the reason Marles made the visit.

He says Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, is responsible for any future meeting between Albanese and Trump.

The PM says he had a meeting with the head of the US Ways and Means committee, Jason Smith, on Wednesday.

“He’s a very welcome guest here in Australia. And we regularly have dialogue,” he says.

So, has the PM locked in a meeting with Trump yet? Albanese says we’ll see it on our screen when it’s confirmed.

He’s signalled that he might meet with Trump at one of the upcoming summits, with the UN General Assembly, APEC, ASEAN and the Quad, all meetings coming up.

“I’ll certainly be with President Trump a number of times between now and the end of the year,” he says.

The prime minister says he finds the fuss over the meeting between Defence Minister Richard Marles, US Vice-President JD Vance and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “rather bizarre”.

Just to recap, there was confusion yesterday about whether Marles’s visit to Washington earlier this week was a meeting or a “happenstance encounter”.

Anthony Albanese says Marles met with the vice-president and defense secretary and other senior people in the Trump administration.

“And that’s a good thing. And then he came home. That’s a good thing. And Richard got back yesterday morning straight into parliament, straight down to the job,” Albanese says.

Asked what the objective of the meeting was, the PM says it was to engage with the US “on the full range of issues”.

He’s given a hint that AUKUS may have been discussed.

 “One of the things that we do is engage diplomatically right around the world. But there’s no country that’s more important than the United States. And of course, in the defence area, the AUKUS arrangements are critical for us,” he says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has joined Channel Nine where he’s been asked about the manhunt for a gunman in Victoria.

Victorian police are still searching for a man alleged to have killed two police officers on a rural property near Porepunkah.

Albanese says the Commonwealth has offered Victoria “every support that is required”.

He says the federal government wants people in the north-east Victorian town to feel safe again.

“Porepunkah is a small community and this has devastated them. It’s devastated the families of the police officers who’ve lost their lives,” Albanese says.

The PM has offered his condolences to the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart who were killed on Tuesday.

The federal government will pour an additional $1 billion into low-interest loans for struggling agricultural businesses through the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC).

The government will also broaden RIC’s loan scope to include assistance for improving climate resilience, boosting sector productivity, and supporting agriculture transition to net zero.

Agricultural Minister Julie Collins says the government wanted to give the agricultural sector certainty as the loans were due to end on June 30.

“We have been listening to farmers, and what we want to do is to make them more resilient in the good times so that when the difficult weather times do come, they’re more resilient and more prepared, which is what the new loan product will be about,” Collins says.

Amanda Rishworth has been asked about a Federal Court ruling ordering Qantas to pay $90 million for illegally sacking 1,800 workers.

She’s been asked whether the government needs to revisit what enforcement powers there are, or giving agencies more teeth.

Rishworth says she thinks the decision sent a strong message to businesses in Australia that they must comply with the law.

But it seems like the employment minister doesn’t think the country needs any further employment mechanisms for now.

“We have a Fair Work Ombudsman and we have the Fair Work Commission, and we also have other jurisdictions in which these matters can be pursued,” Rishworth says.

“We’re always looking to make sure we’ve got the settings right,” she says.

Rishworth has been asked about concerns from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry which say the bill opens the door to unwinding long-standing clauses that already exist in a range of modern awards.

The employment minister says she doesn’t accept that position, and that the principle was clear in the bill and explanatory memorandum.

“This is inserting another principle into the principles when making, varying, or rescinding awards,” Rishworth says.

” We took this to the election, the Australian people voted, and we’re now delivering on that election commitment,” she says.

Federal government legislation to enshrine penalty rates into law has passed federal parliament.

It will mean workers employed under the award system could not have penalty or overtime rates bargained away.

However, the Coalition has questioned conflicting statements by the government about whether the laws will have a retrospective focus.

Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth has joined ABC Radio National Breakfast and says the laws will only impact awards “going forward”.

“What this bill says going forward, any attempts to undermine penalty rates and overtime in the awards is now not able to happen if anyone is worse off,” Rishworth says.

“This bill is a very simple proposition, and that is changes to awards going forward cannot reduce penalty rates or overtime,” she says.

Asked if it will impact current awards, Rishworth says the current laws will apply if there are planned changes to awards in the future.

“What this is, is a principle that stops variations that erode people’s paying conditions when it comes to overtime and penalty rates,” she says.

Hello, and welcome to today’s federal politics live blog — the final one for this sitting week!

I’m Josh Boscaini joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra, ready to bring you today’s main politics stories.

I’m not quite sure what today could bring, so let’s get into it and see what we get!

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