What you need to know today
Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of national news this Monday, November 9. Here’s what is making headlines today.
- Trust in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has plummeted, new polling by this masthead has found, as just 20 per cent of voters say they trust the country’s leader. Voters blaming the Albanese government and its latest budget for the cost-of-living crisis, with 42 per cent holding Labor responsible.
- The Albanese government has abandoned the sale of Victoria Barracks in Sydney, removing its most high-profile defence asset from its attempt to claw back $3 billion in taxpayer money. The colonial-era military headquarters will remain in government hands but will no longer be used as an active ADF facility.
- And former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot said he would work to form a wide government as quickly as possible, but his path to power was uncertain following a deadlocked election that failed to dislodge his rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The October 27 election left both Eisenkot and Netanyahu short of the majority required to form government.
Lunchtime wrap
Good afternoon. Thanks for reading our national blog helmed by Emily Kaine. My name is Nicole Precel, and I’ll guide you through our coverage for the rest of the day.
Here’s what you need to know this afternoon.
- Trust in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has plummeted, new polling by this masthead has found, as just 20 per cent of voters say they trust the country’s leader. Voters are blaming the Albanese government and its latest budget for the cost-of-living crisis, with 42 per cent holding Labor responsible.
- Former Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been appointed to the council of the Australian War Memorial.
- US President Donald Trump said he was highly unlikely to order fresh attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress, CNN reported.
- The Albanese government has abandoned the sale of Victoria Barracks in Sydney. The colonial-era military headquarters will remain in government hands but will no longer be used as an active ADF facility.
- Beau Lamarre-Condon’s criminal trial is underway in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney. Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Jesse Baird, 26, a former TV presenter, and Luke Davies, 29, a Qantas flight attendant, in Paddington on February 19, 2024. His case is that he acted in self-defence, the 15-person jury has been told. You can follow our live coverage here.
Virtual walk: How the tower boom will transform Melbourne
On a tree-lined Brighton street lies a vacant quarter-acre block at the front line of a radical planning shake-up sweeping dozens of Melbourne suburbs.
A proposal to build a six-storey apartment building wedged between two double-storey family homes on the Lindsay Street land would have been unthinkable earlier this year.
But that was before the state government legislated its vision for Melbourne to grow upwards instead of outwards, allowing buildings up to 20 storeys tall near public transport in 60 suburbs.
Locals opposed to the Lindsay Street plan are calling it “six storeys of madness”. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has vowed to scrap the activity centre program if the Coalition wins the election later this month, and hand back control to local councils.
Trump says he was ‘only kidding’ about UFC’s Dana White as press secretary
US President Donald Trump said he was joking when he offered the job of White House Press Secretary to UFC chief Dana White.
Trump’s comments to reporters in Florida before heading back to Washington resolved a 24-hour mystery over whether the president was serious when he asked White in a social media post on Saturday to “please take the job”.
“I was only kidding,” Trump said on Sunday (US time). “But it was an example of something where I was kidding, and then people said, you know, that’s actually a pretty good idea.”
Trump has been signalling that he plans to stand up to Democrats after the party won control of both chambers of Congress last week, notably by tapping Stephen Miller – the main architect of his hard-line immigration policies – as his new chief of staff.
Investigative journalist says Victorian Premier will regret calling royal commission by Friday
Investigative journalist at The Age Nick McKenzie says the royal commission into the construction sector will start by looking into allegations that then-construction minister Jacinta Allan intervened in a level crossing rail project.
“They’re picking the most significant issue, significant site, and why?” McKenzie told 3AW.
“Because this all goes to Jacinta Allan’s office: what the former premier knew, did and what she got up to.
“This will be the event that seals the election result, if the evidence that should come out … because it’ll make clear what everybody in this state has suspected for years now,” McKenzie said.
Dutton appointed to Australian War Memorial Council
Former opposition leader Peter Dutton has been appointed to the council of the Australian War Memorial. As defence minister under Scott Morrison in 2021, Dutton moved early in his tenure to overrule a recommendation by the chief of the defence force, General Angus Campbell, to strip the meritorious unit citation from about 3000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013.
He said at the time that “my judgment was that we shouldn’t be punishing the 99 per cent for the sins of the 1 per cent,” in the wake of the release of the Brereton report into war crimes in Afghanistan.
“Mr Dutton served in Australia’s Parliament for two decades and, as Minister for Defence, he drove major reforms focused on national security and military readiness,” a statement from Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said. “In his post parliamentary life he remains passionate about strengthening Australia’s values, institutions and national interests.”
His appointment to the council, which overseas all the memorial’s responsibilities, follows an appointment to the board of the Queensland Investment Corporation in April. He left political office in May 2025, after he lost his seat in the federal election.
Polls indicate Angus Taylor ‘cutting through’ to public: Littleproud
Nationals MP and former leader David Littleproud says fresh polling by this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor shows Opposition Leader Angus Taylor is “cutting through” to the Australian public.
While 34 per cent of voters said Albanese was doing a good or very good job, 56 per cent said he was doing a poor or very poor job.
In contrast, 42 per cent of voters said Taylor was doing a good or very good job, while only 33 per cent said his performance was bad or very bad.
“I think Angus Taylor stands for something, and he in his very first speech made it very clear he wanted to restore our standard of living, protect our way of life, and now what he’s he’s articulating is the detail behind that about the how, and I think that is what people are looking for,” Littleproud told News24 this morning.
“I think over time, as we’re closer to the election, as people put the ruler against Angus Taylor and Albanese, they’ll see on our side, a man in Angus Taylor of integrity, and on the other, a prime minister that hasn’t told them the truth.”
Trump says he is unlikely to order Iran attack if talks progress
US President Donald Trump said he was highly unlikely to order fresh attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress, CNN reported.
“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” CNN cited Trump as saying in a phone interview on Sunday (US time).
“The answer is, highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary.”
CNN did not specify exactly what it had asked Trump, who also said the US had identified potential infrastructure targets. These included 38 bridges “that we can knock down in literally one hour,” he said.
PM acknowledges ‘pressures’ on Australian families
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters this morning that he “accepted completely” the pressures Australian households were under after fresh polling by this masthead found just 20 per cent of voters say they trust the PM.
Speaking during a press conference in Canberra, Albanese said:
“I accept and my government accepts completely that there are pressures on Australian families. We accept that as well that we need to find savings in the budget, that’s why we have done things like made changes to the NDIS, made sensible savings where they’ve been available to us in each and every economic statement.”
Voters are squarely blaming the Albanese government and its latest budget for the cost-of-living crisis, with 42 per cent holding Labor responsible.
McCormack: Government’s abandonment of Victoria Barracks plan ‘embarrassing’
Nationals MP Michael McCormack has labelled the government’s backflip on the planned sell-off of Victoria Barracks in Sydney “embarrassing” but necessary.
“It’s a necessary backdown, but it’s an embarrassing one,” the opposition spokesman for veterans’ affairs told ABC’s Radio National this morning.
He said the government should not focus budget cuts on defence.
“This is all just a hit on our veterans … You don’t take cuts to defence. You don’t take cuts to veterans.
“It shouldn’t be happening, and particularly, it shouldn’t be happening just to prop up Labor as it hurtles well and truly over a trillion dollars of debt.”
‘Hard yes’: Hegseth impeachment backed by Democratic leader Jeffries
Washington: House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries backs impeaching US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, saying he’s a “hard yes” on a measure that may be introduced as soon as this week.
“The so-called secretary of defence has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” Jeffries said on Sunday (US time). House Democrats plan to discuss the potential resolution on Tuesday when they convene for the first time since winning both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, he said.
The effort to oust the Pentagon chief has gained steam on both sides of the aisle since the midterm elections, as the Iran war Hegseth championed helped lead to a broad defeat for Republicans on November 3.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
