Irwin’s legal team threatened to sue Pauline Hanson’s party for defamation, but no legal proceedings have been initiated. Australia’s patchy laws in this area likely put a stop to it.
For a leader with something of a fetish about having things under control, Scott Morrison is in a painful place. Just now, it seems, very little is controllable.
The opposition pursued Angus Taylor in question time, but it did not have the numbers in the Senate for the inquiry.
Lukas Coch/AAP
One Nation’s two senators have saved Energy Minister Angus Taylor from an inquiry into his intervention over endangered grasslands, with a Labor motion defeated 33-32 in the Senate.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor is under pressure over a potential Senate enquiry.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Pre-poll votes within the first 24 hours were almost double the number at the same stage in 2016. That could hurt some minor parties who traditionally spend big in the last few weeks of a campaign.
Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and Fraser Anning’s new Conservative National Party will compete for the conservative vote.
AAP/The Conversation
Voter dissatisfaction with the major parties means minor party preferences are likely to play a critical role in many seats, making the election outcome hard to predict.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek.
AAP/DARREN ENGLAND, AAP/GLENN HUNT
Ahead of Saturday’s crucial byelections, senior Labor Party figures have described a vote for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party as a vote for the Coalition. What do the records show?
Bill Shorten, speaking on Sunday in Longman at Susan Lamb’s formal campaign launch.
Darren England/AAP
The outcomes in Longman and Braddon are vital for Shorten, who would face very serious leadership instability if he lost both seats, and a rough patch if the ALP were defeated in one.
One paradox of leaders of personality parties is that while they attract voters and so can get others elected, this can be their downfall, because they are by nature loners not team people.
Pauline Hanson has had a spectacular meltdown on live television.
Sky News
In an extraordinary Thursday night interview on Sky Hanson, who accused Burston of trying to defect to the Shooters party, said it was not the first time he had stabbed her in the back.
Michael McCormack on Barnaby’s future, latte sippers and other matters
CC BY33,8 MB(download)
In this interview Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack pointedly avoids saying Joyce should run again in his New England seat at the election.
The recent elections in Tasmania, South Australia and the byelection in Batman have left an impression that the advance of the minor parties has stalled. This is not necessarily the case.
Voters still prefer Malcolm Turnbull over Bill Shorten, according to focus group research ahead of Saturday’s state election.
Darren England/AAP
Malcolm Turnbull’s cancellation of next week’s House of Representatives sitting has been received sceptically by Queensland ‘soft’ voters, but they still prefer him over Bill Shorten.
Annastacia Palaszczuk is seeking a second term as premier when the state goes to the polls on November 25.
AAP/Darren England
Of the four concessions One Nation won from the government in the latest media reforms, one has the potential to seriously threaten the public broadcaster.
Senior Lecturer in Political Science: Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute; Research Associate for Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland, James Cook University