Live: Shoebridge wants Greens members to directly elect party leaders by 2028

Environment Minister Murray Watt has urged new Greens leader David Shoebridge to be constructive with Labor in parliament.

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Thu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:17amThu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:17am

Watt accuses new Greens leader of coming from 'angry, militant' faction

By Joshua Boscaini

Murray Watt has urged new Greens leader David Shoebridge to take a more constructive approach to dealing with Labor in parliament.

Shoebridge defeated fellow NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi and SA senator Sarah Hanson-Young for the party's top job yesterday.

Yesterday, Shoebridge told the media that he wanted his political party to replace Labor.

The environment minister told Channel Seven that Shoebridge comes from the Greens' "angry, militant faction" and urged him to be constructive.

"We certainly hope that Senator Shoebridge can take a more constructive approach to working with the parliament and working with the government than he's shown to date," Watt says.

"I really hope for the Greens sake that it's not a return to the bad old days, where they just wanted to block everything."

Thu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:11amThu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:11am

Watt says spending driving inflation comes from private sector

By Joshua Boscaini

Environment Minister Murray Watt has appeared on Channel Seven with Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie to discuss inflation.

Headline inflation jumped to 4 per cent in August, from 3.5 per cent in July, driven by higher housing costs and automotive fuel prices.

The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday raised interest rates for the fourth time this year to 4.6 per cent.

Watt has defended Labor's efforts to bring Commonwealth spending down and says spending came mostly from the private sector.

"The great bulk of spending that is happening in the economy at the moment is not from government. It's actually coming from the private sector," Watt says.

McKenzie says there is a "deep level of denial and contempt" in Watt's comments about Labor's approach to the budget.

Thu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:04amThu 1 Oct 2026 at 7:04am

Good morning 👋

By Joshua Boscaini

Hello and welcome to our federal politics live blog. It's great to have you join us here early on this Thursday morning!

I'm Josh Boscaini joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra, here and ready to bring you all of today's federal politics news.

In some news just in this morning, the federal and Tasmanian governments have announced a $200 million package for the troubled Bell Bay aluminium smelter.

I have a feeling we're going to hear more about that today! For now, let's get this blog on the road!