Australia news headlines as it happened: Albanese condemns new Trump tariffs; Ukraine drones destroy 41 Russian aircraft; Piastri wins Spanish GP

Greens WA senator Dorinda Cox has joined Labor in a shock defection.

“I am very, very grateful for this opportunity and I want to thank the Labor team for welcoming me,” Cox said at a press conference alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Perth on Monday afternoon.

WA senator Dorinda Cox has defected.Credit: Joe Armao

Cox said she spoke to new Greens leader Larissa Waters just 90 minutes before she publicly announced her decision, which she said had been made since the recent election. Her Senate term extends to 2028, meaning she was not up for election last month.

“Well, I think it’s been over a period of time that I’ve considered this. It hasn’t, as I said, been a decision that I’ve made lightly,” Cox said.

That’s a wrap on the live national news blog for today. Keep reading the site for updates on WA senator Dorinda Cox’s shock defection the Albanese Labor government, on the trial of Erin Patterson and other news. We will have more for you in the next live news coverage.

Greens WA senator Dorinda Cox has joined Labor in a shock defection.

“I am very, very grateful for this opportunity and I want to thank the Labor team for welcoming me,” Cox said at a press conference alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Perth on Monday afternoon.

WA senator Dorinda Cox has defected.Credit: Joe Armao

Cox said she spoke to new Greens leader Larissa Waters just 90 minutes before she publicly announced her decision, which she said had been made since the recent election. Her Senate term extends to 2028, meaning she was not up for election last month.

“Well, I think it’s been over a period of time that I’ve considered this. It hasn’t, as I said, been a decision that I’ve made lightly,” Cox said.

Australia is being urged to mandate the use of local steel in projects to protect the nation’s workers and industry from Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has announced a plan to double levies on foreign steel from 25 per cent to 50 per cent in coming days.

Australian goods exported to the US are already subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff.

The steel works in Port Kembla, NSW, where a union leader is calling for steel quotas.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Australia must adopt strong domestic protections, says union secretary Arthur Rorris, whose South Coast Labour Council includes workers from BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks.

“If we don’t mandate the use of our steel for our own uses, we will become the path of least resistance for the glut of global steel,” he said.

“If you don’t defend your own markets, others will take them.”

Labor could not just talk about a future made in Australia but had to provide the funds to back it, Rorris said.

He said the government needed to understand the transactional nature of the Trump administration and use whatever leverage it had to get a better deal.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers in February said quotas for Australian steel were under consideration.

Australian Steel Association chief executive David Buchanan said he was yet to see dumping of cheap foreign steel into Australia.

“We do have a very strong system to protect the industry from dumped materials,” he told ABC radio.

Buchanan said the US president’s decision would not have a major impact on Australian industry, but would result in increased prices for American consumers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese branded the move an act of “economic self-harm” and is expected to sit down with the American leader on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada later in June.

Trump’s deepening trade war is considered destabilising to the framework that has benefited middle powers such as Australia.

Announcing the steel and aluminium tariffs earlier this year, Trump committed to imposing them “without exceptions or exemptions” in a bid to help shield domestic industries in the US.

Australian shares are trading lower as a series of bleak headlines boosts risk sentiment and sends jitters through equity markets.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 22.8 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 8411.9 on Monday as the broader All Ordinaries lost 24.5 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8635.8.

The fall followed multiple escalations in global risk, including the US and China accusing each other of breaking tariff agreements, Ukrainian drone strikes deep within Russian territory and reports that Iran has boosted its weapons-grade uranium production.

Energy stocks led eight of 11 local sectors lower, shedding 1.1 per cent despite a lift in oil prices, while the gloomy outlook weighed on the iron ore price and large-cap miners.

The Australian dollar is buying US64.60¢, up from US64.23¢ at 5pm on Friday.

Returning to federal politics, consensus is growing that Bradfield could be headed back to the polls for a byelection as a recount continues for the once blue-ribbon seat on Sydney’s north shore.

When the initial count concluded, Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian was up by just eight votes, and the Australian Electoral Commission ordered a recount.

More than four weeks after election day, only a few votes separate the Liberal hopeful and teal independent Nicolette Boele. The Australian Electoral Commission says the recount is expected to conclude this week.

As Alexandra Smith and Matthew Wade report, election analysts predict the final margin will be so tight the result could be declared void by the Court of Disputed Returns, meaning Bradfield voters will have to go back to the ballot box.

Back at home, Australians have been conned out of $119 million in just the first four months of the year, with phishing scammers reeling in increasingly big catches.

New National Anti-Scam Centre data reveals that although the overall number of scams has dropped by almost a quarter, losses have jumped by 28 per cent compared with the same time last year.

ACCC Deputy Commissioner Catriona Lowe said scammers were hitting Australians of all ages.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The biggest increase in losses comes from phishing schemes, which see scammers impersonating government agencies, financial institutions or other agencies. The phishers have netted $13.7 million this year, compared with $4.6 million in the first four months of 2024.

“Scams are affecting Australians of all ages, often beginning with an unprompted or unexpected contact via social media and other digital platforms,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

Social media scams have also increased almost 50 per cent so far this year. Although phone scams have dropped slightly, they still account for the highest overall financial losses with $25.8 million taken in the first four months of 2025.

Turning briefly to world news, voters in Poland have just elected nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki, who was backed by US president Donald Trump during the eastern European nation’s election campaign.

Nawrocki, a conservative historian and former boxer, won 50.9 per cent of the vote, defeating pro-European Union mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski with 49.1 per cent, according to Bloomberg News.

Karol Nawrocki, right, has been elected Poland’s new leader.Credit: Getty Images

In months of campaigning, the nationalist managed to close what had been a formidable lead by Trzaskowski in polls. The ballot is likely to determine whether one of the EU’s fastest-growing economies and one of NATO’s biggest defence spenders remains a reliable partner within the 27-member bloc, which is under mounting pressure from Trump’s tariffs and Russia’s threat to the east.

The narrow margin laid bare the polarisation that has gripped the nation of 37 million, with issues such as migration, abortion and European integration sharply dividing voters.

Nawrocki received help from the White House, having visited Trump briefly in the Oval Office last month. On a visit to Poland last week, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urged Poles to vote for Nawrocki to ensure the country enjoys close ties with Trump.

In Victoria, former opposition leader John Pesutto has three weeks to pay $2.3 million in legal costs he owes colleague Moira Deeming after her lawyers filed a bankruptcy notice requiring him to stump up the cash.

Lawyers for Deeming, a Liberal MP who successfully sued Pesutto for defamation, lodged the notice in the Federal Court on Monday, giving him 21 days to pay the multimillion-dollar order awarded to her.

If he cannot pay and declares bankruptcy, Pesutto would be forced out of his marginal seat of Hawthorn under parliamentary rules making him ineligible to continue as an MP.

John Pesutto has been given three weeks to pay his colleague $2.3 million in defamation costs.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Just a third of the $2.3 million has been raised so far, including $200,000 from online crowdfunding and $500,000 Pesutto has secured privately.

Members of the party’s administrative committee have started discussing a potential bailout for Pesutto, but this is not guaranteed.

In a statement, Pesutto said he would be doing “everything possible” over the next 21 days to pay the amount ordered by the court.

“I will continue performing my work as the member for Hawthorn and I reiterate my wish to do so for as long as the people of my electorate will have me,” he said.

Student groups have reacted angrily over a recommendation that two University of Melbourne students be expelled over an on-campus protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.

University of Melbourne students protest against the war in Gaza last year.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

The Age’s education editor Noel Towell reports a disciplinary committee last week recommended the two students be expelled, and another two suspended, over a sit-in at the university’s Parkville campus in October.

But while the committee has made its recommendation, a final decision will be left to University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Emma Johnston, in her first year in the position.

The proposed action comes after the university backed down on its threats to expel or suspend up to 20 students who helped occupy a campus building in May last year, prompting Students for Palestine co-convenor Bella Beiraghi to label the disciplinary process as a “kangaroo court”.

“It does set a precedent for them to expel and suspend pro-Palestine activists on campus, and one that I think other university administrations would emboldened by,” Beiraghi said.

Good afternoon, I’m Adam Carey, and I’ll be helming the blog for the rest of the afternoon. I thought I’d take a break from federal politics to begin with, and post something sporty.

Barely two months after gaining permanent residency, ex-Russian Daria Kasatkina is Australia’s last remaining hope in the French Open grand slam.

Kasatkina, 28, has been playing the tennis circuit as a neutral athlete since Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing under their national flags in 2022, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Daria Kasatkina, pictured playing in the US last month, now represents Australia after gaining permanent residency in March. Credit: Getty Images

She has been outspoken against the invasion and spoken in defence of LGBTQ+ rights in socially conservative Russia, as this profile by The Age sports writer Scott Spits details.

Tonight she will play former compatriot Mirra Andreeva, the sixth seed, in the fourth round.

“I hate her,” Kasatkina said of her younger and higher ranked opponent before hastily adding that she was “just kidding” in a press conference in Paris on Sunday.

“No honestly, Mirra, she’s a very nice girl and an amazing player.”

Kasatkina, who gained permanent residency in March and is making her maiden grand slam appearance for Australia, is her adopted country’s last singles player standing after Alexei Popyrin, the men’s 25th seed, was eliminated last night.