Australia news Australia politics live: Coalition MPs cross floor in protest against gambling bill; Greens leader says Labor ‘should hang their heads in shame’ Government MPs agree to more than a dozen amendments made with the Coalition.
Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast LIVE Updated 28s ago Krishani Dhanji Tue 18 Aug 2026 04.59 BSTFirst published on Mon 17 Aug 2026 21.30 BST Share Key events 43m ago Crossbenchers and experts slam gambling changes: ‘You can’t opt-out of the internet’ 55m ago Pat Conaghan and Andrew Wallace cross the floor on gambling bill 1h ago What is the ‘widow tax’ loophole the government and Coalition are teaming up to scrap?
3h ago ‘Widow tax’ negative gearing loophole to be closed immediately amid rush of legislation 3h ago Labor caucus signs off on gambling reform deal with Coalition 3h ago Nationals MP says Labor wasted six months on ‘weak’ gambling reforms 4h ago Liberal MPs consider crossing the floor on gambling reforms 5h ago Gambling amendments coming today 6h ago Tobacco excise increases lead to ‘more mafia’, Joyce says in call for cut 6h ago Federal police to investigate leaked melon-gate memo 7h ago Coalition and Labor expected to sign off on gambling reform deal 7h ago Australia should adopt AI ‘everywhere we can’, Labor minister says 7h ago Labor gambling opt-outs show they 'don't know how the internet works’, Greens say 7h ago Welcome Agreed changes to gambling ad reforms include the creation of a national opt-out register for gambling advertising, making the start time for the three-ad per hour cap 5am from the previous proposal of 6am, and a review after three years.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Agreed changes to gambling ad reforms include the creation of a national opt-out register for gambling advertising, making the start time for the three-ad per hour cap 5am from the previous proposal of 6am, and a review after three years.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP From 55m ago Two Coalition MPs have crossed the floor to protest against the gambling bill and the amendments agreed to by the government and Coalition.
Nationals MP Pat Conaghan is surrounded by independents including Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines, Monique Ryan and Allegra Spender.
Andrew Wallace has also crossed the floor but is sitting alone.
Earlier, Zali Steggall criticised the government for not releasing the full details of the amendment earlier, asking how the crossbench were supposed to vote on them with just a few minutes’ notice.
She, like the other independents, is voting against the bill’s amendments.
The Nationals member for Cowper, Pat Conaghan (third from left) sits with members of the crossbench as he crosses the floor.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Key events 43m ago Crossbenchers and experts slam gambling changes: ‘You can’t opt-out of the internet’ 55m ago Pat Conaghan and Andrew Wallace cross the floor on gambling bill 1h ago What is the ‘widow tax’ loophole the government and Coalition are teaming up to scrap?
3h ago ‘Widow tax’ negative gearing loophole to be closed immediately amid rush of legislation 3h ago Labor caucus signs off on gambling reform deal with Coalition 3h ago Nationals MP says Labor wasted six months on ‘weak’ gambling reforms 4h ago Liberal MPs consider crossing the floor on gambling reforms 5h ago Gambling amendments coming today 6h ago Tobacco excise increases lead to ‘more mafia’, Joyce says in call for cut 6h ago Federal police to investigate leaked melon-gate memo 7h ago Coalition and Labor expected to sign off on gambling reform deal 7h ago Australia should adopt AI ‘everywhere we can’, Labor minister says 7h ago Labor gambling opt-outs show they 'don't know how the internet works’, Greens say 7h ago Welcome Marles hints at talks for Japan to use Australia’s missile ranges for tests The Defence minister, Richard Marles, and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjirō Koizumi, have met in Canberra today and held a short press conference afterward.
Marles says that talks are progressing between the two nations which could see Japan use Australia’s missile ranges over the next decade.
We have agreed to progress a better and enhanced arrangement between Australia and Japan for Japan’s use of our missile ranges over the next decade across a range of missile capabilities, including Japan’s hypersonic missile program.
Marles also says the first Mogami-class frigate being acquired by Australia from Japan is expected to be in service this decade.
Richard Marles with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjirō Koizumi, before a defence ministers’ meeting at Parliament House today.
The Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has, for the first time, crossed the floor to vote against the gambling reforms agreed to by the Coalition and Labor.
He has already crossed the floor on the amendments, and says he’ll cross the floor to vote against the entire bill.
He tells News24 he wanted to see more block-out periods for gambling ads on broadcast television and stronger action on inducements.
I think that we have this unholy alliance between sport and gambling, where young kids are being preyed upon.
I wanted to see much greater time frames, where there were bans on gambling ads, I wanted to see an hour before, no ads during, an hour afterwards, and not just on live sport but on replayed sport as well.
I wanted to see an opt-in approach for inducements.
And in all good conscience, these reforms don’t go anywhere near enough to correcting those bad elements.
We’re putting too much faith in the hands of the gambling companies.
And quite frankly, they have not demonstrated that they deserve that faith.
We’ve lost the plot, $36bn a year we’re losing.
In pics: The House votes on gambling reforms Nationals member for Cowper Pat Conaghan crosses the floor during a division on the Gambling Reform Bill 2026, surrounded by independent MPs.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Liberal member for Fisher Andrew Wallace crosses the floor to vote against the government and Coalition agreed amendments to the gambling bill.
The Greens called it “cowardly and careless”, while David Pocock has also said it doesn’t go nearly far enough.
“This major party stitch-up will see Australians continue to be bombarded by gambling ads online and hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people exposed to devastating gambling harm,” the Greens said.
Party leader Larissa Waters: Anthony Albanese and the entire Labor party should hang their heads in shame today.
Our prime minister has handed Australian screens over to predatory gambling companies.
The independent MP Andrew Wilkie said it was a “national day of shame”, rubbishing the Liberal-Labor amendments as “minor tweaks and piecemeal”.
It won’t protect children.
It won’t break the nexus between gambling and sport.
It won’t stop the suicides.
The evidence on gambling harm has been overwhelming for years.
We know what works.
We know what the community wants.
We know the recommendations that need to be implemented.
What has been lacking is political courage.
Kate Seselja, co-chair of the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts, said in a statement that the government should instead follow the recommendations of Peta Murphy’s landmark report which called for a full ban on online gambling advertisements.
“The only way to effectively block gambling ads is to ban them in Australia.
This proposal is completely unworkable,” Seselja said of the government’s new proposal for a universal “opt-out” register for ads.
You can’t ‘opt out’ of the internet.
The prime minister’s duty of care is to the people of Australia, not to the gambling, media, or sports industries.
Crossbench members including (L-R) David Pocock, Zali Steggall, Andrew Wilkie, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, Allegra Spender, Andrew Gee and Nicolette Boele addressing the media on the gambling ads reform bill last week.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP McLachlan, Scarr and Conaghan reserve the right to cross the floor on gambling Two Liberal senators and one Nationals MP have reserved the right to cross the floor on the gambling legislation – that is, go against the Coalition’s vote for the changes – arguing the reforms don’t go far enough.
They are senators Andrew McLachlan, Paul Scarr and Pat Conaghan.
Conaghan has made his frustrations over the bill well known in recent days, telling reporters this morning he thought the changes were too “weak”.
He was the deputy chair of the parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy that released the “you win some, you lose more” report.
The House of Representatives is about to begin voting on the amendments agreed to between the Coalition and Labor.
Before the vote, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese speaks: I want to thank the parliament for coming together to deal with this issue and get a result that will work … this legislation concentrates on those who need our help the most, people at most risk of harm.
He says the changes will ban gambling ads being broadcast 15 minutes before sporting games, as well as stop gambling ads on jerseys.
It will allow people who want to opt-out of gambling ads to do so more easily, through a simple gambling ad register.
Ad-stop to back up the previous bet-stop.
The so-called “widow tax” is an unintended consequence of the government’s changes to negative gearing, which the government and Coalition are now working to scrap.
Under the reforms announced in the May budget, negative gearing on established homes bought after budget night was restricted, while properties bought before 12 May were protected under grandfathering arrangements.
However, the new laws would apply to a person who inherited their partner’s share of a property after their death or as part of a divorce settlement – that is, they would lose the grandfathered negative gearing arrangements – leading to the loophole being dubbed a “widow tax”.
As a result, Labor has proposed amendments to prevent a partner whose spouse has died, or someone who has inherited a property, from being on the hook for the new tax treatment.
The government had already agreed to close the loophole in future legislation.
But the opposition demanded it act more quickly in return for support on other bills.
If you’re sitting in Parliament House right now I hope you like the sound of bells … Because there are about 50 million amendments to the government’s NDIS legislation.
Before we can even get to the substantive amendments to the bill, there are a bunch of amendments to the motion for the “second reading” of the bill.
The second reading is where the bill as a whole is debated, and second reading amendments basically allow other parties to protest parts of the legislation or criticise the government before the formal debate begins.
For example, the opposition has put forward a second reading amendment, noting that the government was previously “unable to achieve” the target NDIS growth rate of 8% and subsequently “failed” to achieve a second growth rate target of 5-6%.
Senator Lidia Thorpe’s amendment to the second reading states that there was inadequate consultation on the bill with First Nations people and that the bill “will disproportionately and severely harm and breach the human rights of First People with disability”.
After that there are so far 23 amendments to the bill itself listed from the Greens and David Pocock – and more could well be added later.
Government pushes for Senate to vote on NDIS today Over in the Senate, the government is moving to guillotine debate on four key bills to get them through this week.
Labor is proposing to debate and vote on the NDIS reforms tonight then bring on the widow tax legislation first thing tomorrow morning.
The government agreed to the Coalition’s demand to immediately bring on the “widow tax” debate in exchange for support on the NDIS bill.
Labor is proposing for the gambling bill to also be debated and voted on tomorrow, after it passes the House of Representatives tonight.
On Thursday, the Senate will debate and then vote on the news bargaining incentive bill which also has been negotiated with the Coalition.
All of this means is that there’ll be a hard out time on all debate for the Senate to then vote on each of those bills and all the amendments.
The Greens, David Pocock and One Nation are voting against the guillotine motion.
Clive Palmer changing party name, once again Clive Palmer wants to change the name of his political party, again.
Documents published by the Australian Electoral Commission reveal an application to change the name of the United Australia Party to Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.
The party logo is also mooted for a change.
It currently features a map of Australia inside a circle, with the words “United Australia Party” at the top and “save Australia” underneath; the new proposal is to change that to read “Clive Palmer’s” at the top and “United Australia Party” below.
The AEC, as part of normal processes, is notifying of the change and taking feedback until mid-September.
Opposition pushes for Bondi royal commission extension over ‘unfinished business’ Liberal MPs are seeking to suspend standing orders in federal parliament to call on the government to extend the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.
Launched in the wake of the Bondi beach shootings in December, the royal commission has entered its final block of hearings with its final report due to be presented to the government by 14 December.
Julian Leeser, one of the highest-profile Jewish members of parliament, has told the House of Representatives the commission’s 12-month timetable has imposed “severe constraints” on its capacity to investigate the causes, perpetrators and enablers of antisemitism in Australia.
He believes many significant voices will be left unheard on the current timeline, including leaders of arts and cultural institutions, public service chiefs, university bosses, protest organisations and the Australian Human Rights Commission.
“The royal commission is, for many Australians, the only chance we will have as a nation to properly expose and address the antisemitism that has become so prevalent in this country and which diminishes us all,” Leeser said.
But it is a royal commission that finishes in a matter of days, and as it stands, it is a royal commission with unfinished business.
The window to debate the issue is closing.
These issues deserve to be heard, and urgently.
The government is expected to vote it down.
Coalition MP Julian Leeser.
