Colin Boyce to challenge Nationals leader David Littleproud
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Nationals MP, Colin Boyce, will launch a challenge to overthrow David Littleproud in the fallout to the Coalition’s split.
The Flynn MP said he would move a motion to spill the Nationals leadership at a meeting on Monday, claiming Littleproud was leading the party “over the political cliff” after presiding over a second breakup with the Liberals in eight months.
Boyce said the Nationals were “committing political suicide” by blowing up the Coalition, arguing it would leave the party exposed to a “right-flank onslaught” from One Nation.
I will be moving a spill motion on Monday afternoon in the National party room to give my colleagues an option, because the reality is, if they follow the course they’re on now we are going over the political cliff.
More details to come.
Key events
Inflation climbs to 3.8%
Patrick Commins
Inflation climbed to 3.8% in the year to December, from 3.4% in the month before, as strong underlying price growth added to the chance of a Reserve Bank rate hike on Tuesday.
While the latest headline inflation figures are well above the RBA’s 2-3% target range, they have been temporarily boosted by the rolling expiry of government power bill subsidies.
Removing the more extreme price moves, and the central bank’s preferred quarterly trimmed mean measure lifted to 3.4% through the year, from 3% in the September quarter.
Before the release of this morning’s figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, financial markets were predicting a 60% chance of a rate hike next week.
Climate change having ‘significant impact’ across Australia, McBain says
McBain is finally asked whether climate change is playing a factor in the record temperatures that have hit multiple parts of the country.
She says “I think everyone’s aware that climate change is having a significant impact across our country”.
We are seeing more intense, more frequent natural disasters. Now, not every natural disaster we can put down to climate change, but we are seeing prolonged heatwaves impact a huge part of our country … So no one should be under any illusion that climate change plays no role in this.
I think we all understand and our job is to make sure that we are supporting communities that have been directly impacted, but more broadly, our job is going to be around how we can make our communities more resilient, how we can make our infrastructure more resilient and how we can mitigate against the worst of natural disasters … Local communities are taking this stand because they know climate change is impacting them each and every day now.
Three homes lost overnight in Otways
McBain confirms reports that at least three homes were lost in the Otways overnight in Victoria, in addition to 13,000 structures that have been lost, as well as around 400 homes.
The coordinator general of the National Emergency Management Agency, Brendan Moon, says Australia is in the middle of its high-risk weather season.
We have been in an operational posture now for three weeks, dealing not only with the flooding in north Queensland but also those Victorian fires and the cyclones in Western Australia … We still have two months to go. Our highest fire risk usually occurs during February and March.
Can I please ask people to listen to your emergency management organisations for all those warnings. Prepare yourself for whatever may come.
Jessica Lingard from the Bureau of Meteorology is providing an update.
She says Australia is grappling with a “number of concurrent weather events”, including flooding in north Queensland and fires in Victoria, as well as smoky conditions.
We have seen record-breaking heatwave and elevated fire danger conditions at many locations over the past few days. The highest temperature record for Victoria was set yesterday, where we saw 48.9C recorded at Walpeup and Hopetoun airport. Cooler conditions have started to return to coastal areas in Victoria.
However, we are seeing the heat remaining inland where a number of locations are still remaining at 40 degrees or above, and this will continue for a number of days into the weekend. In terms of the fire danger, we are seeing a continuation of extreme fire danger rating on the grounds in a number of districts in South Australia and Victoria today and also in New South Wales over the coming days, with the prolonged heatwave in those locations.
This risk will start to ease on the weekend, as we see the temperatures start to decrease and the heatwave contract to the north.
Firefighters flown in from New Zealand and Canada
Firefighters have been flown in from overseas to assist with the firefighting response, McBain says, including more than 70 from Canada and 22 from New Zealand.
In addition, the Commonwealth has deployed multiple aerial assets to help Victoria, including the Blackhawk and food ration packs from the ADF.
More than 400 firefighters have been deployed to Victoria from around the nation, McBain says:
The Albanese and Allan governments have so far committed $171m through our disaster recovery funding arrangements to assist communities that have been directly impacted. This includes the establishment of recovery hubs, financial assistance for prolonged power outages, a range of supports for our primary producers, and individuals, businesses and, in particular, councils.
Additionally, Services Australia have now paid out more than $1.3m in our Australian Government disaster assistance payment and our Disaster Recovery Allowance to support individuals who have been directly impacted by those bushfires.
Continuing extreme weather means another ‘dangerous day’, minister warns
The minister for emergency management, Kristy McBain, is providing an update on extreme weather from Australia’s national control centre in Canberra.
She says a number of “very dangerous bushfires” continue to burn in Victoria, particularly in the Otways region, amid “very challenging conditions”. Around 22,000 homes are without power today due to the extreme weather and fires.
Today is another dangerous day … We know severe to extreme conditions continue to affect parts of Australia. We know some areas continue to exceed 48 degrees.
These conditions pose significant health risks and they pose, obviously, significant risk for our bushfire impacted communities. It is really important to stay hydrated and avoid excessive heat exposure and check on vulnerable members of your community. As we said, heatwave conditions, combined with the dry and gusty winds, continue to create a significant risk across multiple states.
ABC to replace Q&A with new forum program
Amanda Meade
The ABC has announced a replacement of sorts for its now-axed Q&A program, as signalled by its managing director, Hugh Marks, last year.
The new program is an occasional series called the ABC National Forum, “bringing together ordinary citizens, community leaders, experts and policymakers to discuss topical issues of national significance”.
The first forum, in March, is about Jewish Australians and will include a live studio audience. It will be hosted by David Speers.
Josh Taylor
Apple advises users to update old iPhone software for emergencies
Apple has put out an alert to Australians using iPhones between iPhone SE and 6 and iPhone 12 to update their software to ensure they can still call triple zero in an emergency.
Following last year’s Optus triple-zero outage and the inquiry that followed, there were a number of older phones that were identified as having issues. This was largely focused on Samsung devices that were unable to dial triple zero on another network when their mobile network was unavailable, but the issue was found to also affect some Apple devices after the 3G network shutdown.
Apple has advised people with the following devices to ensure their software is up to date.
-
iPhone SE (1st generation)
-
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
-
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
-
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus
-
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
-
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
-
iPhone X
-
iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
-
iPhone XR
-
iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
-
iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
-
Apple Watch SE 2
-
Apple Watch Series 6
-
Apple Watch Series 7
-
Apple Watch Series 8
-
Apple Watch Series 9
-
Apple Watch Series 10
-
Apple Watch Ultra
-
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Aussie dollar jumps above US70 cents
Patrick Commins
The Australian dollar has jumped above US70 cents this morning for the first time in nearly two years.
The currency has surged by nearly US10 cents since almost dropping below US60 cents in April last year.
That low was after Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement sent global financial markets into a tailspin.
As we’ve written, the Aussie has been the best performing major currency in 2026, but a lot of this is a story of a weakening greenback.
This morning’s milestone for the Aussie was achieved after a reporter asked Trump if he thought the value of the dollar had “declined too much”.
“No, I think it’s great. I think the value of the dollar – look at the business we’re doing. The dollar’s doing great,” he said.
Win Thin, the chief economist at the Bahamas-based Bank of Nassau, told Bloomberg that the president’s comment “invited another round of selling” and paved the way for more weakness in the world’s most important currency.
Many in the Trump cabinet want a weaker dollar in order to make exports more competitive. They’re taking a calculated risk. A weaker currency can be nice until things get disorderly.
Hoodoo Gurus ‘disgusted’ by use of their hit song at March for Australia rally
Australian rock band, Hoodoo Gurus, have told One Nation “don’t play our music” after their hit What’s My Scene was reportedly played as Pauline Hanson took to the stage at an anti-immigration March for Australia rally in Brisbane on Monday.
In a post on their Instagram, the band said they were “disgusted” to hear that one of their songs was played by the political party.
Like most Australians, we have always been appalled by Pauline Hanson and the toxic nonsense she spouts. This is our message to her and her followers: don’t play our music, don’t listen to our band, do not pass go! We want nothing to do with you.
Last week, former Men at Work frontman, Colin Hay, disavowed the use of the band’s 80s anthem Down Under by Australian anti-immigration protesters, saying the song “does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia”.
Carlisle River fire in Victoria grows to the same size as entire city of Paris
Circling back to the out-of-control fire continuing to burn at Carlisle River, and according to VicEmergency, it is now over 11,000 hectares (110 sq/km).
Thats about the same size as the city of Paris.
The fire at Carlisle River is not yet under control. It spread past containment lines on Tuesday evening during the south-westerly wind change. The fire activity has since slowed overnight.
The Insurance Council of Australia said the costs of the bushfires that had burnt through parts of Victoria since earlier this month were estimated to have climbed above $200m, with 3,123 claims made.
Of those, 30% were related to property.
Israeli president to visit Australia early next month alongside delegation
Josh Butler
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, will visit Australia in early February, his spokesperson has said, including meeting victims of the Bondi terror attack and observing efforts to “strengthen Jewish communities”.
Herzog was invited by the Albanese government to visit in the wake of the December antisemitic shooting.
Herzog’s spokesperson said in a statement that he would visit between 8 February and 12 February to visit Jewish communities, and be accompanied by “a solidarity delegation from Israel’s National Institutions, including the chair of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel, and the chair of the Jewish Agency, Maj Gen (res) Doron Almog”.
President Herzog will also be briefed on the activities of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization to strengthen Jewish communities in the country, particularly in light of the recent rise in antisemitism, and will meet with the senior leadership of the Australian Jewish community. The president will meet with bereaved families of the victims of the terror attack, as well as with those injured and their families.
A central part of the visit will be dedicated to official meetings with senior Australian leaders, including the governor general and the prime minister of Australia, as well as with leaders from across the political spectrum. President Herzog will also conduct interviews with the media during the visit.
No specifics of his visits have been announced, with his office saying “further details of the visit schedule will be announced in due course”.
The federal government has been contacted for comment.
Record temperatures forecast to hit western and southern New South Wales and southern Queensland on Wednesday
Still on Hines, the senior meteorologist said a cool change reached Adelaide and Melbourne yesterday evening but didn’t reach northern parts of Victoria and South Australia, that stayed “very hot” into the night.
The change did create erratic fire behaviour and difficult containment conditions across active bushfire areas. In particular, the ongoing fire complex around the Otway Ranges on the southern coast of Victoria was affected. This pushed the fire in a new direction and started blowing smoke towards the Melbourne area. As of 7am on Wednesday morning, there is still an emergency warning in place at this fire ground.
Hines said inland areas of New South Wales and Queensland were expected to continue to have very hot conditions on Wednesday, with possible record temperatures.
There’s a particular focus of the heat on western and southern New South Wales and southern Queensland, where temperatures will be between 8 and 15 degrees above January averages for large parts of these states.
More records may tumble today, with the most likely area for this to occur being the Riverina, Central Tablelands and far west of New South Wales, as well as the far southwest of Queensland.
Some notable temperature forecasts for Wednesday include in New South Wales, 45C in Wagga Wagga, 42C in Canberra, 46C in Griffiths and 48C once again around Ivanhoe, Wilcannia and Tibbuburra in the far west and northwest of the state.
‘Too many records to list’ on Tuesday as temperatures soared in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Angus Hines, says record temperatures were reached throughout “many different locations” in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales during Tuesday’s heatwave.
Renmark in South Australia reached 49.6C, a record temperature for the region and the fourth hottest temperature ever recorded in South Australia.
Records were also reached nearby at Lamero, 48.3C, Loxton 48.2C and Yunta, 47.1C, and southeast at Keith, 47.3C, Narakot, 46C, and Kunawara 45.2C, which reached record January temperatures.
In Victoria, Hopetown and Walpi in the state’s northweat both recorded 48.9C on Tuesday, the all time highest temperatures in Victoria.
Mildura reached a high of 48.6C, also a record.
Hines said “monthly and annual temperature records were extensive across western Victoria throughout the day on Tuesday”.
There were far too many records to list here, but a few other notable temperatures reached were 47.8C in Horsham, 47.7C in Swan Hill, and 45C in Warrnambool.
In New South Wales, the hottest conditions were in the far west of the state, with Fowler’s Gap reaching 49.1C, Wilcannia reaching 48.7C, Ivanhoe 48.4C and Broken Hill 47.8C, all records.
Smoke from Victorian fires drifts to Sydney
If you’re smelling smoke in Sydney this morning, you’re not imagining things.
According to the New South Wales RFS, smoke from several fires burning in Victoria has been pushed back onshore by easterly winds and is currently impacting coastal areas around Sydney.
The good news is that the smoke is expected to clear by mid to late morning.
A total fire ban is in place for the central ranges today, with hot, dry and windy conditions forecast across parts of the state.
Meanwhile in Victoria, an out-of-control bushfire continues to burn at Carlisle River, with a number of communities in the Otway region under evacuation warnings and extreme fire weather forecast for parts of the state on Wednesday.
