Australian news and politics live: AEC politely declines Zoe Daniel’s request for full Goldstein recount

Australian hospital group owner Healthscope has been forced into receivership with two of the big four banks stepping in to help keep the doors of 37 hospitals open.

Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank have both agreed to contribute funding to allow the facilities to continue operatiing with the CBA stumping up a reported $100 million.

The Northern Beaches Hospital is one of the newest facilities in the Healthscope portfolio and has been the centre of a swirling storm of accusations around it’s status.

Receivers, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford have been appointed, as the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac who are reportedly owed over $1.6 billion by the company, try to ensure the hospital operations continue.

The Prime Minister will host his new-look Cabinet in WA next week, signalling the importance of the State just a month since he was returned to government.

Anthony Albanese described the trip west as an “important opportunity” while addressing his first Cabinet meeting in Canberra on Monday.

“Next week, the Cabinet will go to Perth, Western Australia. Again, a reminder of the importance that we place on the whole nation, not just the East Coast. That will be an important opportunity,” he said.

Mr Albanese said while his ministry and departments had been getting across their briefs in the past few weeks since their emphatic election victory, it was time to get “back down to work”.

He said despite distractions, like the Coalition’s messy start-stop split this week, he wanted his team focused on delivering on election commitments.

It included their housing, cheaper childcare, and clean energy pledges.

“We should be focused on them and what their concerns are, and that’s the platform that we have to implement, the one we’re elected on.

“So we’re down, back down to work again. I know that people have been working.”

Parliament will return on July 22.

An Australian man could be facing the death penalty after reportedly being arrested in Bali over an alleged attempt to import 1.5kg of cocaine into Indonesia.

The Australian, who has not yet been named, was reportedly arrested in Canggu on Thursday after he allegedly accepted delivery of the large quantity of drugs, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Indonesia has a zero-tolerance approach to drug-related offences, and has enforced its strict policy in the past with harsh penalties, including for Australian Schapelle Corby and the infamous Bali Nine.

It is understood that police intercepted an alleged importation attempt from Thailand prior to delivery.

Police are then said to have operated a controlled delivery with the alleged importer, apprehending the Australian man with the alleged drugs.

Australians are deeply worried about their cancer risk, with many believing the nation’s health system is unprepared for the expected rise in cases.

More than 4.5 million new cancer cases are projected to be diagnosed in Australia before 2044, according to research from the peak independent authority, Cancer Council Australia.

A survey of more than 1500 Australians found almost half believed the nation’s health system was unprepared for this rise in cases.

More than 70 per cent said they were concerned about developing cancer in their lifetime.

Young Australians were particularly worried, with 80 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 saying they were concerned about their cancer risk.

Read the full story here.

Zoe Daniel’s request for a full recount of votes in the seat of Goldstein has been politely declined by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The AEC says it will however, commence a partial recount on Wednesday to finally determine a definitive winner in the Federal election hotspot.

“The direction to conduct a partial recount has been made on the basis of advice from the National Election Manager to the Electoral Commissioner that in order to ensure the greatest level of confidence in the final result and the utmost integrity in the counting process, there should be a re-examination of all first preference ballot papers for Tim Wilson and Zoe Daniel, as well as all informal votes,” The AEC said in a statement on Monday.

“The recount request submitted by Independent candidate Zoe Daniel was carefully considered and was instructive but not determinative, and her request for a full recount has not been granted.

“The recount being undertaken will be limited to an examination of all first preference ballot papers for Tim Wilson and for Zoe Daniel, as well as all informal ballot papers.

“The AEC is not undertaking a full recount, which would include repeating the just completed distribution of preferences.

“We are satisfied that there was a very high degree of rigor throughout the distribution of preferences process.

“This is, in part, the role and purpose of the distribution of preferences process - showing it doing its job as a thorough, closely scrutinised preference distribution and check.”

Beijing’s top diplomat in Canberra has criticised the Australian Government’s efforts to return the Port of Darwin to domestic ownership, arguing against penalising the Chinese company.

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed his Government was working on a plan to force the sale of the strategically located Port from Chinese company Landbridge Group on national security grounds.

Australia sold the port on a 99-year lease in 2015, and Landbridge Group said last month the port was not for sale.

Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian said in a statement on Sunday that Landbridge Group had invested in the port and contributed to the local economy and should not be punished.

“Such an enterprise and project deserves encouragement, not punishment. It is ethically questionable to lease the port when it was unprofitable and then seek to reclaim it once it becomes profitable,” the statement said.

Australian households and small businesses are set to pay more for electricity from July 1, as the energy regulator confirms price hikes driven by a sharp escalation in the cost of maintaining and upgrading the nation’s power networks.

The Nightly’s Jackson Hewett reports that the Australian Energy Regulator benchmark prices for electricity customers in NSW, South East Qld and South Australia will rise between 0.5 per cent and 9.7 per cent, depending on their region.

NSW customers will bear the brunt, with average household price rises of 8.3 to 9.7 per cent, driven primarily by higher wholesale electricity contract costs. NSW small business customers across the east coast will see increases of up to 8.5 per cent.

The other jurisdictions under the Default Market Offer would not be a heavily affected, with price rises of 0.5 to 3.7 per cent in South East Queensland and 2.3 to 3.2 per cent in South Australia, with small business customers facing rises of up to between 0.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

AER chair Clare Savage described it as a “difficult decision” amid persistent cost-of-living pressures.

“Sustained pressures across almost all components of the DMO (Default Market Offer) have driven these price rises,” Ms Savage said, citing wholesale and network increases of up to 11 per cent and retail cost rises of up to 35 per cent in the past year.

Read Jackson’s full story here.

The Nightly’s Latika Bourke says the word “bipartisan” is one that rarely falls from the lips of anyone in the Trump Administration, or a Make America Great Again (MAGA) acolyte in 2025.

But it was the only word that Donald Trump’s freshly minted man in London, Ambassador Warren Stephens, wanted to stress when he stood before a packed room of MPs, Members of the House of Lords, diplomats, cabinet ministers, former Australian Cabinet Ministers and the UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

“I want to emphasise the word bipartisan,” Mr Stephens told the crowd.

“I am sure that you all are aware that bipartisanship is certainly not always the case in American politics these days.

“However, it is when it comes to AUKUS.”

Read Latika M Bourke’s full column here.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says he’s likely not in line for a Shadow Cabinet position if a new Coalition agreement is signed and denied backgrounding against leader David Littleproud.

After a messy week for the National party following a start-stop split of the Coalition, Mr Joyce hadn’t hid his criticism of Mr Littleproud’s judgement to walk away from the partnership before returning to the table with new Liberal leader Sussan Ley.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Mr Joyce admitted he had been in talks with Ms Ley to try to get the Coalition back together last week but ruled out a tilt to roll Mr Littleproud.

He denied there was a joint-ticket for leadership with Michael McCormack to take over after the chaos brought to the party by Mr Littleproud.

“I’m not going for leadership. No one has rung me up for numbers,” he said.

“I’ll support the leader as best I can.

“I don’t think I’m going to be on the front bench. It’s not whether I want to (or not), it’s my choice.

“I’ve got more to give and I’m doing that all the time.”

He also spoke about his thoughts on a net zero target, saying he didn’t support that position and described it as a disaster for everyone.

Thousands of people remain isolated by a massive rain and flooding event that destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged many others, as authorities try to clear the way so communities can clean up.

An estimated 10,000 properties were hit by floods in the Hunter and mid-north coast regions of NSW after a month’s worth of rain fell in a matter of days.

About 12,000 residents across multiple towns were still stranded as of early Monday, and crews have carried out more than 770 rescues amid the flood crisis that has led to five deaths.

Rescuers have faced challenging conditions, including a two-hour paddle to reach two people and their working dogs who were stranded for three days on a remote farm near Kempsey.

Insurers have received more than 3500 claims so far, 80 per cent of which are personal property claims.

“There’s a big clean-up that has to happen, and I do know what that is like,” said NSW Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin, who lives in Lismore which suffered devastating flooding in 2022.

​Read the full story here.​