Australia news as it happened: Hanson formally censured, suspended for seven days by Senate after burqa stunt; Senators slam government’s secret Nauru deal

Thanks for joining us and following the national news live blog. Here’s what we covered today:

• The Senate passed a censure motion after One Nation’s Pauline Hanson entered the chambers on Monday wearing a burqa, suspending her from the Senate for seven days. It came after senators of many political backgrounds condemned the stunt. Meanwhile, Hanson said at a press conference that the censure “doesn’t worry me, not at all” and argued she was entitled to wear the burqa.
• US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will negotiate the remainder of a peace deal for Ukraine following initial talks between their top advisers.
• New Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson vowed to comprehensively reform the state’s property tax system, which could include overhauling stamp duty. She said a Liberal government, if elected, would prioritise medium density housing in both established suburbs and new areas.
• A total fire ban has been issued for Sydney, the Illawarra and Hunter on Wednesday, while residents in western NSW are facing the first catastrophic fire warning issued in the state for over two years.
• Tasmania’s credit rating was sharply downgraded by one of the world’s largest credit agencies, Moody’s, which warned the Rockliff government that it faces a tough period to rebuild the state’s finances.

We’ll be back tomorrow with continuing live coverage of news in Australia and around the world.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has signalled he is still on track to cut a deal with the Greens, which would enable him to enact Labor’s proposed nature law reforms in the Senate.

Watt offered a significant sweetener to the Greens on the weekend, committing to deliver on one of their major asks to apply for the first time for national laws to the native forest logging industry. However, Labor’s proposed three-year rollout is far too slow for the Greens.

Watt told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that he was willing to compromise.

“There is a halfway point. We are open to some change but won’t make it so quick that there is a disorderly process,” he said.

“We don’t agree on that [timing] at the moment, they want it shorter than what we think is reasonable and possible, but that’s one of the items we are talking about.”

The Sydney Morning Herald’s editor, Bevan Shields, has stepped down after four years, with chief reporter Jordan Baker appointed as the next editor to take on the role in 2026.

Shields, a former federal editor for both the Herald and The Age, informed staff on Tuesday afternoon, saying the job had been the honour of his life and that he would now focus on his health and wellbeing, as well as the next chapter in his career.

He will return to the Herald’s newsroom in 2026 in a senior writing role.

Baker’s appointment was confirmed by executive editor Luke McIlveen, who praised her as a linchpin of the Herald newsroom.

“Jordan will formally take up the role early in the New Year,” McIlveen said. “While Bevan takes an extended period of leave from the newsroom over summer, our excellent deputy editors, Nick Ralston and Liam Phelan, will support me in leading the newsroom through this transition period.”

Read the full story here. 

Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has vowed to comprehensively reform the state’s property tax system, which could include overhauling stamp duty, but warned it would not be an easy fix.

Speaking at a Property Council of Australia event, Wilson said the phrase – “anywhere but Melbourne” (or ABN) – was now a common refrain among the property industry and investors.

Wilson said a Liberal government would prioritise medium-density housing, like townhouses and small apartment blocks, looking at both established suburbs and new ones on the city fringe.

“This government has drawn some circles on a map and said you’re going to live in this circle in a high rise and that’s it,” she said.

“When I talk to Victorians I don’t get the sense that they want to all live in apartments.

“I actually want to provide a choice.”

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has come to question time prepared after the government was peppered with queries about his role as COP negotiator in his absence yesterday.

Bowen has repeatedly turned Coalition questions about the COP role and energy prices back onto the opposition, suggesting they were climate change deniers.

“It is unimaginable those opposite would have been elected to such a position because you have to believe in climate change to be president of the climate change negotiations,” Bowen said.

Asked again when power prices would come down, Bowen said he suspected Opposition Leader Sussan Ley knew renewables were the cheapest form of new energy, but “has to appease the climate-denying, far-right of the party for her to hold onto her job”.