Australia politics live: defence industry minister to spruik Labor’s ‘progressive patriotism’ as audits reveal waste

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45m ago

Progressive patriotism underpinning defence strategy: Conroy

Tom McIlroy

The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, says strong national defence and a strong industry to provide the equipment required for protecting Australia is part of the government’s “progressive patriotism”.

Conroy will address the National Press Club in Canberra today, making the case that Labor, and not the Coalition, is the true party of defence and national security.

The speech will coincide with the release of the 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy and details of the government’s defence reform process. Already it has been reported that Conroy will point to nearly $30bn in wasteful spending on ­defence projects. An audit found the ­average cost of a small sample of projects increased by nearly 40%, or $29bn, before contracts were finalised.

Conroy will say.

Progressive patriotism, in the eyes of the Albanese government – and the great labour movement – is confidence in, and celebration of, what our national project has built

It is confidence in how it is evolving, and confidence in the future. Strong defence of our country – including the need to invest in our defence industry, people and systems – is a critical part of understanding what Australian progressive patriotism looks like today.

Building our defence industry, delivering the capabilities we need, is an investment in our country and offers the further dividend of deterrence to protect what our great national project has built.

We will bring you more on the speech at lunchtime today.

Key events

45m ago

Progressive patriotism underpinning defence strategy: Conroy

1h ago

Welcome

$2m in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela

The government has announced it will send $2m in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela, after it was struck by earthquakes last month.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says the full scale of the tragedy is still emerging, and the death told, which is already in the thousands, is expected to increase in coming days.

The funding, the government says, will be delivered through partners including the Red Cross and UN and will be contributed alongside other nations including the US and the UK, to provide emergency food, shelter, water, hygiene and psychosocial support.

In a statement, Wong said:

Our thoughts are with the people of Venezuela, the Australian-Venezuelan community, and all those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. Australia’s humanitarian assistance will support access to food, shelter, medical care and other essential services.

Krishani Dhanji

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you. Thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.

It’s the final sitting day of the week, but after a big Midwinter Ball last night there might be a few wearier-than-usual eyes gracing the chambers (and the press gallery corridors).

The main legislative game for the government today will be gambling – with its reforms being introduced to the House today. They currently don’t have anyone to pass it through the Senate, but yesterday the opposition suggested they were working with Labor and hoping to “get the balance right”. The Greens have also suggested they could be in talks with the Coalition to try and force Labor’s hand into making the bill stronger. We’ll see how that shakes out today.

Let’s get cracking!

Best dressed at Canberra’s Midwinter’s Ball

It was Canberra’s night of nights last night with the staging of the press gallery’s Midwinter’s Ball.

As is customary, the political classes got dressed up in their best outfits and headed out where photographers were on hand to record their fashion efforts for posterity.

The glamorous gathering took place under the critical eye of our own Caitlin Cassidy, who judged Labor’s Anne Aly to be best on ground among the women. Aly posted to social media that she actually crocheted her own dress!

Tanya Plibersek’s husband Michael Coutts-Trotter took out Caitlin’s award for the men with his defiantly non-black jacket.

Check out our gallery here:

Taiwanese man charged over people-smuggling operation

A Taiwanese man has been charged over a failed people-smuggling operation that left campers startled when they saw a boat carrying foreign nationals land on a remote beach, Australian Associated Press reports.

The newly arrived group stunned holidaymakers when they were spotted on a far north Queensland beach before visiting a local bakery and being apprehended near a pub, the Cook MP, David Kempton, said.

About 12 people – believed to Chinese – arrived by boat at a remote camping spot before travelling to nearby Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula early on Tuesday.

A 34-year-old Taiwanese national was arrested in a supermarket car park at Weipa on Tuesday after a report of suspicious activity in the area.

Police have since charged the man with one count of aggravated offence of people-smuggling involving at least five people.

He was remanded in custody after facing the Cairns magistrates court on yesterday before his next appearance today.

The man faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if found guilty.

Another man, 30, was also detained by police pending further inquiries.

Progressive patriotism underpinning defence strategy: Conroy

Tom McIlroy

The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, says strong national defence and a strong industry to provide the equipment required for protecting Australia is part of the government’s “progressive patriotism”.

Conroy will address the National Press Club in Canberra today, making the case that Labor, and not the Coalition, is the true party of defence and national security.

The speech will coincide with the release of the 2026 Defence Industry Development Strategy and details of the government’s defence reform process. Already it has been reported that Conroy will point to nearly $30bn in wasteful spending on ­defence projects. An audit found the ­average cost of a small sample of projects increased by nearly 40%, or $29bn, before contracts were finalised.

Conroy will say.

Progressive patriotism, in the eyes of the Albanese government – and the great labour movement – is confidence in, and celebration of, what our national project has built

It is confidence in how it is evolving, and confidence in the future. Strong defence of our country – including the need to invest in our defence industry, people and systems – is a critical part of understanding what Australian progressive patriotism looks like today.

Building our defence industry, delivering the capabilities we need, is an investment in our country and offers the further dividend of deterrence to protect what our great national project has built.

We will bring you more on the speech at lunchtime today.

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.

We’ll wrap up some of the overnight news before Krishani’s on deck, and also bring you a preview of today’s press club speech from the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy.

He’s arguing that Labor, these days, is the natural party for defence thanks to an ideal he describes as “progressive patriotism”. More on this soon.