A 59-year-old man has been charged with reckless cause injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault after an alleged attack on the husband of Liberal candidate Amanda Dow. The incident happened on Sunday in Mernda, where police say the victim had gone to retrieve campaign signs. He suffered facial injuries and was discharged from hospital. The accused is due to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on February 1. Meanwhile, the latest Newspoll shows Labor trailing the Liberal-National coalition by 10 points ahead of the November 28 state election.
A 59-year-old man has been charged with reckless cause injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault after an alleged attack on the husband of Liberal candidate Amanda Dow. The incident happened on Sunday in Mernda, where police say the victim had gone to retrieve campaign signs. He suffered facial injuries and was discharged from hospital. The accused is due to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on February 1. Meanwhile, the latest Newspoll shows Labor trailing the Liberal-National coalition by 10 points ahead of the November 28 state election.
The husband of Liberal Party candidate Amanda Dow has allegedly been assaulted during a confrontation over election signs in Mernda. The party said he suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital, where he was discharged. Police said a 59-year-old Mernda man has been charged with recklessly causing injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault. The accused has been released on bail and is due to appear before Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on February 1. Yan Yean is currently held by Labor with a margin of 4.3 per cent.
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WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas told a state conference there is a pathway to victory in the 2029 state election. He said the party is not working in partnership with One Nation, though the two share a goal of removing Labor. Zempilas said his ambition is to govern in its own right with the Nationals, while not ruling anything out as circumstances change. The party faces a choice between leveraging rising support for One Nation or confronting it directly. Federal Liberal leader Angus Taylor also addressed the conference.
Labor has announced that Penrith City councillor Garion Thain will contest the Badgerys Creek seat at the March 2027 state election. It is his second attempt at the seat, after he ran against Liberal MP Tanya Davies in 2023. Davies recently announced she would not contest the election, and the Liberals have yet to name a replacement. The Liberal Party currently holds the seat with a 10.5 per cent margin. Premier Chris Minns said he hoped the seat would fall to Labor.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has not yet decided whether to run for Liberal preselection in Kooyong, the seat he lost to independent Monique Ryan in 2022. He still lives in the electorate. The analysis argues Kooyong is winnable for the Liberals next time, as One Nation preferences would likely favour the Liberal candidate. It also questions whether Frydenberg's combative style and comments on Covid spending would help or hurt his appeal to voters.
Badgerys Creek MP Tanya Davies will not contest the 2027 State Election, a decision she announced on Thursday afternoon. She said her time in Parliament had been an honour and a deep privilege. The decision leaves the Liberal Party without a candidate in three local seats, with none confirmed for Penrith or Londonderry, five months before the election. Davies first won the seat of Mulgoa from Labor in 2011 and was returned at three later elections. She did not say what prompted her decision.
Dumped Liberal candidate Grant Hutchinson has sent a legal letter demanding he be reinstated for Croydon at the Victorian election. His lawyers claim the party's decision to remove him breached its constitution. The letter says he was not given a right of reply and rejects claims he failed to disclose legal proceedings with his former law firm. Hutchinson was replaced by Toby Wooldridge at a recent meeting. The party has not commented, and opposition leader Jess Wilson said the matter was one for the Liberal Party.
Liberal MP Ray Williams has announced he will not contest the 2027 NSW state election. He told parliament the decision came with a heavy personal toll. Williams said he would do it all again, and that whistleblowers are often shunned. In 2022, his late-night parliamentary speech alleged that senior Liberal figures were paid by property developer Jean Nassif to install favourable councillors on Hills Shire Council. The speech launched a years-long Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into the party, developers and local government.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the federal opposition has lost touch with the free market beliefs of the Liberal Party. His comments follow a fresh dispute over a trade agreement with the European Union. Liberal senior Tim Wilson said on Saturday the proposed deal does not serve the national interest, and he called for better terms for businesses and farmers. Under the agreement struck in March, tariffs on European goods would be removed, along with many Australian exports to the EU. Bowen said the government would still work to pass the deal through the Senate.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the federal opposition has lost touch with the free market beliefs of the Liberal Party. His comments follow a fresh dispute over a trade agreement with the European Union. Liberal senior Tim Wilson said on Saturday the proposed deal does not serve the national interest, and he called for better terms for businesses and farmers. Under the agreement struck in March, tariffs on European goods would be removed, along with many Australian exports to the EU. Bowen said the government would still work to pass the deal through the Senate.
A podcast episode titled Back to Back Barries examines whether Josh Frydenberg can rescue the Liberal Party. The episode sits within a run of Australian political coverage, including commentary on Labor's difficult week, speculation about Frydenberg's possible return to politics, and the Coalition's immigration policy. Related items cover debate over whether emissions from overseas fossil fuel use should be counted, and questions about whether Australia could reverse migration. The source material is largely a set of linked headlines and promotional blurbs rather than detailed reporting on Frydenberg's plans.
Exclusive Brethren leader Bruce Hales has denied any involvement or knowledge of thousands of church members volunteering for the Liberal party at the 2025 election. Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee, he said he did not plan, coordinate, direct or fund such activities. His son, Gareth Hales, said the church was not acting as a body in the campaign, and that the volunteers were acting as private citizens and business group members. Committee members clashed during the hearing, with accusations of religious persecution and a protection racket.
The spiritual leader of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has denied coordinating a pro-Liberal campaign in the 2025 federal election. Bruce Hales told a parliamentary committee he did not direct, fund or coordinate such activities. His son, Gareth Hales, admitted meeting far-right figures accused of intimidating MPs, describing the meetings as brief. Several politicians have alleged church members intimidated rival candidates and campaigners. Coalition members described the questioning as a witch hunt.
Bruce Hales, senior elder of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, is expected to tell an inquiry on Friday that he was not involved in the 2025 federal election campaign. He denies that church members were directed to campaign for the Liberal Party, and says he has no authority over members' political choices. Hales also denies recording an audio message that was raised at earlier hearings. The church has repeatedly said its members volunteered of their own accord. The inquiry is examining claims of interference in the election.
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Tasmanian Liberal senator Jonno Duniam used his valedictory speech to urge the Coalition not to wave the white flag against One Nation. He said the party should return to its core values and explain why they are better than the alternative. In the same week, Labor's plan to scale back a private health insurance rebate for Australians aged 65 and over ran into opposition from the Coalition, the Greens and independent Jacqui Lambie. The Senate voted to have the bill struck off the agenda, and Health Minister Mark Butler then reintroduced it unchanged.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson says the Liberal Party would repeal the state's First Nations treaty if it wins government. Victoria signed the treaty last November, which the state describes as Australia's first such agreement with First Nations peoples. The agreement sets out a new framework for the relationship between First Nations Victorians and the state government. Other countries, including Canada and New Zealand, have previously signed treaties with their Indigenous peoples, unlike Australia until now.
Speculation is growing that former treasurer Josh Frydenberg may seek a return to federal parliament, after he declined to rule it out during a media tour promoting his book, A Grateful Son. Some commentators see him as a possible asset for a Coalition struggling in the polls, with a record-low primary vote and pressure from both the right and the teal independents. Others question whether he would offer a real solution to those problems, or whether he would accept a backbench or frontbench role under Angus Taylor. Frydenberg privately reportedly tells people he is unlikely to return.
The Victorian Liberal Party has disendorsed Grant Hutchinson as its candidate for the marginal seat of Croydon in Melbourne's east. Opposition leader Jess Wilson said new information had come to light about a civil case he is involved in, and that it was no longer appropriate for him to stand. Toby Wooldridge will replace him in the November 28 poll. Wilson said the party's vetting processes are rigorous. Some Liberal sources described the change as a captain's pick, and the party holds the seat by 1.4 per cent.
Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he will not decide until 2027 whether to run again for the inner-Melbourne seat of Kooyong. He lost the seat to teal independent Monique Ryan in 2022. Frydenberg said personal factors, including young children, will shape his decision. He made the comments while launching his autobiography, A Grateful Son, in Sydney, with former Prime Minister John Howard in attendance. Labor and One Nation have both used the timing to question the leadership of Liberal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
