Senator's brutal ABC interview as Liberals look for new leader, Barnaby Joyce reveals cancer diagnosis, fisherman's life-saving move

Yahoo

04-05-2025

Hello and welcome to Yahoo's live news blog this Monday. The dust is settling after a disastrous election defeat for the Liberals and things are heating up as the party looks for a new leader after Peter Dutton lost his seat. One frontrunner is Angus Taylor, but one Liberal Senator has delivered a damning assessment of his suitability.
Clive Palmer says he will be walking away from politics after throwing millions at a failed campaign for the Trumpet of Patriots. He's also addressed the text message drama that left Australians infuriated over the last few weeks.
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has announced he has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery today.
Follow along as we bring you regular updates throughout the day.
After a disastrous night for the Liberals on Saturday night, the knives are well and truly out.
For the second straight federal election, the party lost more senior members who held metropolitan seats, leaving less options, and less talent, to choose from as it picks a new leader.
NSW Senator Hollie Hughes admitted 'a complete lack of policy and economic narrative' from her team leading up the election was to blame for their disastrous night.
One of the front runners to take over the leadership will no doubt be the shadow treasurer Angus Taylor – but not if Hughes can help it.
When asked if he is capable of leading the party on ABC's Radio National this morning, she said: 'Not in my view.
'I have concerns about his capability.
'I don't know what he's been doing for three years?' she continued in a remarkable spray. 'There was no tax policy, no economic narrative.'
The pair do have a history, which she alluded to, but the senator said a 'huge number' of her colleagues shared her doubts about his ability to unite and capably lead the party.
'His efforts to get rid of people like me in his leadership ambitions means that I'm still in the party room until June 30 and get to vote for the next leader, so it may not work out too well for him,' she said.
As the party licks its wounds, members past and present have lamented how it lost its way.
Former Coalition finance minister Simon Birmingham wrote in a blog post on LinkedIn that 'the brand of conservatism projected is clearly perceived as too harsh and out of touch' and that it had lost its sense of classic liberalism.
'Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us: the nasty party.'
Clive Palmer has admitted he is now 'too old for politics' following the Trumpet of Patriots failed election campaign.
The billionaire spent millions on a mass advertising campaign, however, the minor party failed to pick up a single lower house seat and is looking unlikely to pick up any seats in the Senate.
The party only picked up 1.85 per cent of the primary vote, with One Nation outperforming it on 6.17 per cent, the Australian Electoral Commission said.
Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that 'he was not really disappointed with the outcome', and said the Trumpet of the Patriots might not return in three years' time.
'I'm 71 and I'm getting too old for politics,' he said.
'I'd rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that's why I've donated $5m to Foodbank.'
Voters across the country shared frustration over the party's mass text campaign.
The party sent out over 17 million texts and had received over 10,000 complaints as a result, he said.
However, Mr Cliver said he didn't believe it impacted their results.
'Ten thousand is pretty minimal compared to 17 million and the people who were complaining were not going to vote for us anyway,' he said.
Read more from NCA NewsWire here.
So who are the favourites to be the Liberals' next leader?
Well if the bookmakers are anything to go by, it's a four-horse race.
Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie is the favourite, according to Sportsbet. He is the youngest of the four at 42 and reservations have been raised of his experience, meaning it may be his time comes later on.
He's ahead of Angus Taylor, who has come in for a fair bit of criticism from within the party after fronting the economic policy during what was repeatedly dubbed the cost-of-living election.
Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan is next up after holding several key portfolios in the Morrison government.
And finally Sussan Ley, the Liberal's deputy leader. Senator Hollie Hughes told the ABC this morning she believes having a female in the top spot could help "change the narrative around the party".
Police in Sydney say one decision from a fisherman who was washed into the ocean on Sundaymost likely saved his life.
With authorities across Australia increasingly concerned about the choices of anglers near rough waters, police in Sydney's Sutherland Shire hailed one key safety measure one man decided on before he was swept off rocks near Kurnell and swept 200 metre off shore.
"Fortunately the angler was wearing a life jacket," police said.
"This incident highlights the unpredictable nature of the ocean and the need to remain vigilant around it. Also, the fact that wearing a life jacket when in and around the ocean can save your life."
The man was pulled from the ocean after about 10 minutes by NSW Water Police and was taken to hospital for further assessments.
Federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has been praised for being "very brave" after revealing he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer.
The one-time deputy prime minister, who comfortably won his regional NSW seat of New England in Saturday's election, revealed his diagnosis on Sunday.
Joyce, 58, received the diagnosis following a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.
The test came back with an elevated result and a subsequent MRI and biopsy revealed he had prostate cancer.
Joyce, who will have the surgery on Monday, told Seven's Sunrise program he kept his diagnosis quiet until after the election.
"I waited until obviously after the election - I didn't want a big circus going on," he said.
"Literally, straight after this ... I'm going ... straight down the road and straight into surgery."
Joyce said he felt fine, before noting that was normal with a disease like prostate cancer.
"You don't feel bad, you go to the toilet a bit more than you should," he added.
Federal Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said Joyce was "very brave" for going public with his diagnosis.
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After a disastrous night for the Liberals on Saturday night, the knives are well and truly out.
For the second straight federal election, the party lost more senior members who held metropolitan seats, leaving less options, and less talent, to choose from as it picks a new leader.
NSW Senator Hollie Hughes admitted 'a complete lack of policy and economic narrative' from her team leading up the election was to blame for their disastrous night.
One of the front runners to take over the leadership will no doubt be the shadow treasurer Angus Taylor – but not if Hughes can help it.
When asked if he is capable of leading the party on ABC's Radio National this morning, she said: 'Not in my view.
'I have concerns about his capability.
'I don't know what he's been doing for three years?' she continued in a remarkable spray. 'There was no tax policy, no economic narrative.'
The pair do have a history, which she alluded to, but the senator said a 'huge number' of her colleagues shared her doubts about his ability to unite and capably lead the party.
'His efforts to get rid of people like me in his leadership ambitions means that I'm still in the party room until June 30 and get to vote for the next leader, so it may not work out too well for him,' she said.
As the party licks its wounds, members past and present have lamented how it lost its way.
Former Coalition finance minister Simon Birmingham wrote in a blog post on LinkedIn that 'the brand of conservatism projected is clearly perceived as too harsh and out of touch' and that it had lost its sense of classic liberalism.
'Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us: the nasty party.'
Clive Palmer has admitted he is now 'too old for politics' following the Trumpet of Patriots failed election campaign.
The billionaire spent millions on a mass advertising campaign, however, the minor party failed to pick up a single lower house seat and is looking unlikely to pick up any seats in the Senate.
The party only picked up 1.85 per cent of the primary vote, with One Nation outperforming it on 6.17 per cent, the Australian Electoral Commission said.
Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that 'he was not really disappointed with the outcome', and said the Trumpet of the Patriots might not return in three years' time.
'I'm 71 and I'm getting too old for politics,' he said.
'I'd rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that's why I've donated $5m to Foodbank.'
Voters across the country shared frustration over the party's mass text campaign.
The party sent out over 17 million texts and had received over 10,000 complaints as a result, he said.
However, Mr Cliver said he didn't believe it impacted their results.
'Ten thousand is pretty minimal compared to 17 million and the people who were complaining were not going to vote for us anyway,' he said.
Read more from NCA NewsWire here.
So who are the favourites to be the Liberals' next leader?
Well if the bookmakers are anything to go by, it's a four-horse race.
Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie is the favourite, according to Sportsbet. He is the youngest of the four at 42 and reservations have been raised of his experience, meaning it may be his time comes later on.
He's ahead of Angus Taylor, who has come in for a fair bit of criticism from within the party after fronting the economic policy during what was repeatedly dubbed the cost-of-living election.
Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan is next up after holding several key portfolios in the Morrison government.
And finally Sussan Ley, the Liberal's deputy leader. Senator Hollie Hughes told the ABC this morning she believes having a female in the top spot could help "change the narrative around the party".
Police in Sydney say one decision from a fisherman who was washed into the ocean on Sundaymost likely saved his life.
With authorities across Australia increasingly concerned about the choices of anglers near rough waters, police in Sydney's Sutherland Shire hailed one key safety measure one man decided on before he was swept off rocks near Kurnell and swept 200 metre off shore.
"Fortunately the angler was wearing a life jacket," police said.
"This incident highlights the unpredictable nature of the ocean and the need to remain vigilant around it. Also, the fact that wearing a life jacket when in and around the ocean can save your life."
The man was pulled from the ocean after about 10 minutes by NSW Water Police and was taken to hospital for further assessments.
Federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has been praised for being "very brave" after revealing he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer.
The one-time deputy prime minister, who comfortably won his regional NSW seat of New England in Saturday's election, revealed his diagnosis on Sunday.
Joyce, 58, received the diagnosis following a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.
The test came back with an elevated result and a subsequent MRI and biopsy revealed he had prostate cancer.
Joyce, who will have the surgery on Monday, told Seven's Sunrise program he kept his diagnosis quiet until after the election.
"I waited until obviously after the election - I didn't want a big circus going on," he said.
"Literally, straight after this ... I'm going ... straight down the road and straight into surgery."
Joyce said he felt fine, before noting that was normal with a disease like prostate cancer.
"You don't feel bad, you go to the toilet a bit more than you should," he added.
Federal Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said Joyce was "very brave" for going public with his diagnosis.