Australia news as it happened: Nationals ditch nuclear power stations; McCormack not planning on rolling Littleproud ‘any time soon’; Calwell, Bradfield races tighten

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Here’s what we covered:

• The Coalition appears to be edging closer towards reforming after the parties’ separation this week. The latest we’ve heard is that the Nationals have dropped their demand that nuclear power stations be a part of the future energy mix, and the Liberals have agreed in principle to Nats leader David Littleproud’s other demands.
• Former deputy PM Michael McCormack gave some ambiguous answers when asked if he was planning to challenge David Littleproud for the leadership of the Nationals following this week’s split. “Not any time soon”, he said, but added he wouldn’t put a red line through his name forever.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers continues to stare down criticism for his plan to double taxes on large superannuation balances from July 1 this year. The latest there is that the Greens are proposing amendments.
• Election results: Independent candidate Nicolette Boele is ahead of Liberal Gisele Kapterian by just four votes in the Sydney seat of Bradfield. In Melbourne’s seat of Calwell, the final two candidates of the four-horse race are expected to be Labor’s Basem Abdo and Independent Carly Moore.
• And the chair of federal arts agency Creative Australia has stepped down, three months after the board’s controversial Israel-Gaza-related sacking of Australia’s appointed representatives to the 2026 Venice Biennale art festival.

Catastrophic flooding at a wildlife sanctuary home to one of Australia’s largest breeding programs for Tasmanian devils has prompted the mass evacuation of the endangered animals.

Aussie Ark, west of Taree in north-eastern NSW, was hit by 400mm of torrential rain in just three days.

Aussie Ark hosts one of Australia’s largest breeding programs for Tasmanian devils in an area of NSW that is now flooded.Credit: Tourism Tasmania

The downpour led to “catastrophic flooding” and caused extensive damage to wildlife fencing and infrastructure, the centre said.

“The flooding has devastated the sanctuary’s infrastructure, inundating enclosures, washing out access roads, and causing widespread damage to critical fencing that keeps endangered wildlife safe.”

Only 25,000 Devils are left in the wild in Tasmania today, according to conservation group Re:wild.

Read our ongoing coverage of the floods here.

AAP

The Liberal and National parties are inching towards reforming the Coalition after Liberal MPs gave Sussan Ley in-principle agreement for most of David Littleproud’s policy demands, but speculation is growing about Littleproud’s future as leader of the regional party.

Ley convened a lively party room meeting this afternoon, at which her MPs gave their leader the authority to strike a deal with the Nationals to create a joint shadow cabinet by the time parliament resumes, days after Littleproud sparked chaos by splitting from the Liberals.

Critically, the Nationals ditched the plan to build seven nuclear power sites, paving the way for a watered-down Coalition policy to merely lift the moratorium and allow for potential private investment into nuclear energy.

Read more here.

Australian shares have finished the week higher, buoyed by a Reserve Bank interest rate cut on Tuesday but with global risks capping investor exuberance.

Today the S&P/ASX200 rose 12.7 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8361.4, as the broader All Ordinaries lifted 16 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 8587.4.

Six of 11 local sectors traded higher today, with banks, energy stocks, real estate and tech companies helping lift the bourse.

AAP

In breaking news, the chair of the federal arts agency Creative Australia, Robert Morgan, has stepped down three months after the board’s controversial sacking of Australia’s appointed representatives to the Venice Biennale.

In February, people protested outside Creative Australia offices after artist Khaled Sabsabi was removed as the Australian representative for 2026 Venice Biennale.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Morgan’s retirement was announced by Arts Minister Tony Burke late today just weeks before an independent review is to publicly report on the process that led to the sacking of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino.

Morgan and Creative Australia chief executive Adrian Collette have borne the brunt of criticism over the board’s decision in February to abruptly cancel the duo’s Biennale invitation.

Read more here.

Australia’s assistant foreign affairs minister has defended the government’s approach to pressuring Israel over its war in Gaza.

Matt Thistlethwaite was asked on ABC News 24 this afternoon, if he would make the same pledge as the UK, France and Canada in threatening to sanction the Jewish state for its renewed strikes and for not allowing sufficient aid into the Strip.

Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite.Credit: Jessica Hromas

“The Albanese government has been pretty strong in our condemnation of the Israel government’s blockading, if you like, and not allowing aid into Gaza,” he said.

“We have said that aid workers must be given access immediately, and we have been very consistent in the message that we have had for the Israeli government... that we want to see a ceasefire – permanent and lasting ceasefire.”

He said the government wanted to see the remaining hostages released as soon as possible, as well as no aid blockages.

“We joined 20 other nations this week in making a strong call for the Israeli government to make sure that aid for people who are in a dire situation is not impeded and gets to those people who need it as quickly as possible.”

Following the UK, France and Canada’s statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused them of siding with Hamas, and Hamas thanked the three countries.

At 5pm Australian-time, The Israeli military said total of 107 aid trucks had entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday (Friday Australian-time).

Former Nationals leader and Riverina MP Michael McCormack was just on ABC News 24, where he was asked about saying he was “ambitious” for Nationals leader David Littleproud in an interview this morning.

If that sounds familiar, this is why.

Here was McCormack’s exchange with host Isobel Roe just now.

Roe: “Are you sounding the death knell there for his leadership [in making that statement]?”

McCormack: “No, no it was tongue in cheek. I’m a student of political history. I just, just answered the question, I am ambitious for David, want the Nationals to be the best they can be. He is our leader and I support him.”

Roe: “You’re the former deputy prime minister, you can’t say something like that without setting off alarm bells. It is surely intentional. What did you mean by that?”

McCormack: “You can’t always be playing straight, I’d just watched Matt Thistlethwaite’s interview, just read off the Labor’s talking points, sometimes you’ve just got to stray a little bit and say a few things that you actually mean and actually mean to say...”

Roe: “So what did you mean by saying that particularly poignant phrase?”

McCormack: “I’m not planning to roll David any time soon.”

Roe then asked if that meant he might run in the future.

McCormack: “You’re not going to put a red line through your name forever.”

Former Nationals leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

He also said he hadn’t spoken to Barnaby Joyce, after Joyce said he would back McCormack if the latter sought Littleproud’s job.

Later McCormack was asked if Littleproud’s leadership was tenable after the week he’s had in taking the Nationals out of the Coalition (negotiations are continuing to restore that relationship).

McCormack’s answer: “Well, the party room will decide that. ” He said he hadn’t heard “any murmurings, you know, [about it] being a spill motion.”

You still only need one hand to count the vote margin in Bradfield, on Sydney’s north shore.

As at 4pm, teal candidate Nicolette Boele leads Liberal Giselle Kapterian by three votes.

Nicolette Boele and Gisele Kapterian are battling for Bradfield.Credit: Michael Howard

In Calwell, northern Melbourne, Independent Carly Moore has moved into second place in the four-horse race between Labor, Liberal and two independents, with 86 per cent of the vote counted.

ABC Election analyst Antony Green was just on ABC News 24, where he was asked about what could happen next in close seats.

Antony Green.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“[In Bradfield] they’re doing the distribution of preferences, the current gap is three or four votes, it is one here, one vote there,” he said.

“Once this count is completed, they will have a final determined margin – and it will be under 100 votes, almost certainly – and then they will do a complete recount, they will count every vote again, including all of the first preferences for Kapterian and Boele.

“In this distribution of preferences, they don’t recount those votes, they only do the distribution of everybody else. The full recount will look at every ballot paper, every informal ballot paper. At the end of the recounts and distribution of preferences after the recount, they will declare a winner.

“Once they have declared a winner that winner can sit in parliament, and it is a matter for the losing candidate to challenge that in the Court of Disputed Returns.”

The question of whether to request a recount is also one being considered by Goldstein teal MP Zoe Daniel, after Tim Wilson was declared the winner earlier this week.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers describes the tax he wants to introduce as “a modest change” to Australia’s $3.9 trillion superannuation sector, but a growing chorus of critics say the plan to increase tax on super balances of more than $3 million will hurt investment and punish younger Australians working towards their nest egg.

One of Labor’s key policies, Chalmers’ super tax changes will be put to the parliament in coming months.

For about one in 200 Australian taxpayers – about 80,000 people with super balances higher than $3 million – there will effectively be a new tax bracket for money they earn on their super.

It will apply from July 1.

Read more from economics writer Millie Muroi here.

The US State Department says it will impose sanctions on Sudan after determining it used chemical weapons in 2024, according to a statement.

Those sanctions will include limits on US exports and US government lines of credit and will take effect around June 6 after public notification.

For the past two years, the Sudanese government and its army have been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which controls about half the country.

The war erupted from a power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule and free elections.

It has since led to 13 million people being displaced – including more than 1200 that have fled to Australia, according to the Refugee Council of Australia – and thousands killed. It remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

With Reuters