Australian news and politics live: Andrew Hastie in Parliament with copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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You can read the latest edition of The Nightly below:

Photographer Gary Ramage has captured plenty of colour from today’s shenanigans at Parliament House.

Here are some of the best.

Question Time is always full of loud rhetoric and noisy posturing, from ministers, questioners and hecklers.

But today, the loudest message is coming from someone who has so far been mute: Andrew Hastie.

The Canning MP might have pulled out of the leadership jostling within the right faction of the Liberals, but he’s not beyond making mischief.

Today, an ostentatiously large copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu is sitting on top of his desk in the chamber.

The book by an ancient Chinese military tactician is one of the oldest and most influential texts on strategy, and is widely admired and used across fields, including politics and business as well as military.

Clive Palmer has faced questions about the revelations that MAGA powerbroker Steve Bannon informed Jeffrey Epstein that he’d told the billionaire to run anti-China and climate change ads during the 2019 election campaign.

“I got a call at three in the morning, I was asleep, I was dreaming about Tony Abbott … and I woke up and it was Steve Bannon,” Mr Palmer said.

Mr Bannon went on to tell him he was doing a great job with the “shifty Shorten” ads that were already running against the then Labor leader Bill Shorten.

“He said, ‘I think it’s fantastic. If you need any help, give me a call.’ I said, ‘Okay, thanks very much’,” Mr Palmer recalled.

He insisted he never heard from Mr Bannon again, nor had he ever interacted with Mr Epstein.

Asked why Mr Bannon would claim credit, he said perhaps the American was trying to increase his influence with Mr Epstein.

“I think politicians and people associated with politics lie regularly,” Mr Palmer said.

The Nationals have responded to Sussan Ley’s proposal for how the Coalition could reform, but still draws the line at her demand that three shadow ministers who crossed the floor be barred from the shadow cabinet for six months.

Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack said it was important the parties reunite, saying they were better together, but wouldn’t be drawn on what was in the response.

“This is going to now be a matter between the two leaders of the two parties,” he told reporters.

But multiple sources on both sides said the positions are hardening and the likelihood of a reunion in the near future is slipping away.

One Liberal put it at “zero per cent”.

Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie said it was pretty clear where everyone’s red lines were.

“I’m not going to continue to commentate on what it should be confidential discussions between party leaders,” she said.

There is considerable anger in the Nationals that details of Ms Ley’s offer were given to media very quickly after being put to Mr Littleproud.

Former minister of defence Christopher Pyne predicts that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party will continue to rise in popularity, something that may not see a major shift in the House of Representatives.

“The One Nation party of today is not like the One Nation party of 25 years ago. I think a lot of people still look at it through that prism,” Mr Pyne told The Nightly’s Andrew Greene.

“It’s changed a lot over the years. Pauline Hanson, Senator Hanson, has been around politics since 1996.

“She has gained a great deal of experience over that time in how to, you know, appeal to the voters of Australia. So, we are seeing a stabilisation of One Nation.

“They’ve quite a lot of representation now in state upper houses, and I think that will continue.”

Mr Pyne said he believes the Coalition will “right the ship”, amid their current chaos, saying it was “hard to say” what would happen at the next Federal election.

Clive Palmer has given a wide-ranging press conference ostensibly to announce that sometime within the next 90 days, he’ll lodge a High Court challenge to the election funding laws that restrict donations and campaign spending.

He also announced in passing that he’s working to re-register the United Australia Party as a formal party with the electoral commission (you may recall that he had to take up with the Trumpet of Patriots because he’d deregistered the UAP in the last electoral cycle).

Beyond that, he had multiple sledges at Sussan Ley – she “could not make an impression on a cushion” – and the Liberals, who he labelled a “dead brand in Australia” and “a party full of wankers”.

The billionaire said he’s been talking with Nationals about what might happen to them and the future of the Coalition as Ms Ley and David Littleproud see whether they can reunite their parties.

However, he insisted those talks hadn’t yet canvassed the possibility of him funding the Nationals if the party remains split from the Liberals.

Mr Palmer and UAP senator Ralph Babet were evasive on repeated questions about whether they would formally join forces with the Nationals.

A golf course adjacent to a secretive facility used to train spies and special forces will be sold off under a $3 billion plan to divest dozens of defence properties across Australia, including the historic Victoria Barracks sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed the government will sell off either wholly or in part 67 military sites as recommended by a sweeping audit of the department’s real estate portfolio.

Proceeds from the sale of 35,000 hectares worth of defence property, including islands, golf courses and office blocks, will be put towards acquiring new military equipment and upgrades of essential bases.

Read more.

The House of Representatives is dealing with a bill to freeze excise on draught beer for two years – an uncontroversial topic, you would have thought, but in fact there’s been a string of votes on amendments, and Bob Katter claims it will kill the bush pub and Australia’s soul.

This unlikely topic has also been caught up in the Coalition chaos and Liberal leadership tension.

Five Liberals, including Andrew Hastie, sided with the Nationals on an attempt to expand the excise freeze to spirits, while the rest of their party colleagues abstained.

Mr Hastie, Ben Small, Tony Pasin, Terry Young and Tom Venning joined the Nationals and some independents for the vote.

The Opposition Leader said that the Coalition, which split up after Labor was able to push through new hate speech laws in response to the Bondi terror attack, can get back together “this week”.

It is the second time since Ms Ley was appointed Liberal Leader that the Nationals, under Leader David Littleproud, have left the Coalition.

“David and I had constructive discussions on Monday night, and I expect to speak to him again today,” Ms Ley told ABC News Breakfast.

“The Coalition can reform this week, but under certain conditions, and those conditions are overwhelmingly supported by the majority of my party room.”

The Nationals are tipped to hold firm in the Coalition breakup, potentially causing further headaches for Ms Ley.