Australia news as it happened: Angus Taylor to challenge Sussan Ley for Liberal Party leadership tomorrow; Israeli President arrives in Melbourne

If you are just catching up on the Liberal leadership challenge, here’s everything that has happened this morning after challenger Angus Taylor resigned from the shadow cabinet last night.

The morning kicked off with the resignation of Phil Thompson from the shadow NDIS portfolio. Along with his resignation letter, he and Senator Jess Collins requested a special party room meeting from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. The meeting, in which the leadership would be voted on, has been scheduled for 9am tomorrow morning.

Taylor believes he has the numbers to win the leadership.

Shortly after Thompson’s resignation, Angus Taylor declared he was challenging for the leadership through an Instagram post. Ley then put up her own social media post saying she offered “a better future”.

Throughout the course of the day there have been a series of resignations from the frontbench by Taylor backers. The most high-profile resignations have come from home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam and former finance spokesperson James Paterson. They were joined by senators Matt O’Sullivan and Claire Chandler. A number of MPs including Ben Small and Sarah Henderson have backed Taylor’s challenge.

There is also a race for the deputy leadership, currently held by shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien, with Victorian senator Jane Hume emerging as a frontrunner.

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage. We will be back tomorrow with the latest news, ahead of the 9am Liberal party room meeting where Angus Taylor is expected to challenge Sussan Ley’s Opposition leadership.

To conclude, here’s a look back at some of the day’s major stories:

• Liberal leadership challenger Angus Taylor released an Instagram video in which he formally declared he is running for the party leadership. The video depicts Taylor in a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, standing in a paddock, with dramatic music playing in the background. After his resignation yesterday, Taylor did not say he was challenging for the leadership. He posted the video this morning shortly after Liberal MPs Phil Thompson and Jess Collins delivered a request to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley for the party leadership to be spilled.
• A special meeting of the Liberal party room has been scheduled for 9am tomorrow, in which Angus Taylor will challenge Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership of the party.
• Eight MPs followed Taylor in resigning from the front bench. They are James Paterson, Jonno Duniam, Claire Chandler, Phil Thompson, Matt O’Sullivan, James McGrath, Michaelia Cash and Dan Tehan.

• A small stand-off unfolded outside Government House in Melbourne between heavily armed police and a group of about 25 protesters, who heckled from the side of the road as Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived. Herzog touched down in Melbourne this morning, where he was whisked past protesters in a motorcade straight from the airport about midday, and through the gates of Government House. He met with Governor Margaret Gardner and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan for lunch before attending a Jewish community event this afternoon. This evening, thousands of protesters gathered to march against Herzog’s visit to Australia.

• Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, angrily pushed back at accusations from a Coalition senator that she is gaslighting Australians. Bullock, usually calm and reserved during parliamentary hearings, became angry after Nationals’ senator Matt Canavan used different measures of wage growth to suggest the governor was at odds with experience of most Australians.

• And overseas, Canadian police identified the person who carried out a school massacre as an 18-year-old with mental health issues, but did not give a motive for one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history. The killer, who police named as Jesse Van Rootselaar, died by suicide after the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in the Pacific province of British Columbia. Police also revised the death toll down to nine from the initially reported 10, including Van Rootselaar.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Isabel McMillan signing off.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s supporters are rapidly losing hope as key figures swing Angus Taylor’s way ahead of tomorrow’s leadership spill.

We are now at eight MPs who have followed Taylor in resigning from the shadow frontbench, including James McGrath who voted for Ley when she and Taylor went head-to-head for the leadership following last year’s election wipeout. Ley won by four votes, but there has since been a series of departures and her lead has narrowed to just one.

Both camps have been saying tomorrow’s vote will be close, but momentum has shifted in the past 24 hours and the most likely outcome at present is that Taylor will win.

And then there were eight.

Dan Tehan, the opposition’s energy spokesman who saw off a teal challenger in the Victorian seat of Wannon, just resigned from the frontbench as well.

Opposition Senate leader Michaelia Cash has quit Sussan Ley’s frontbench.

Cash is the seventh MP to follow Angus Taylor in resigning, upping the pressure on Ley ahead of a leadership spill tomorrow.

Cash, James Paterson and Jonno Duniam are significant losses for Ley because they were in her senior leadership group.