As it happened: Labor to unveil budget plan to shockproof economy; Trump officials text journalist secret war details

Annual motor shows around Australia shut down in the early 2010s due to low attendance and, according to Melbourne Motor Show organiser Craig Phinn, the withdrawal of big brands from the nation.

“A lot of onshore brands left, like Holden, and stopped manufacturing, and the market was very stagnant for a long time so it was hard to put a show together with nothing new,” he said.

“With all the new manufacturers coming into Australia [now], we used that to get them all together.”

Twenty major vehicle manufacturers have committed to show cars at the Melbourne event, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on April 5 and 6, he said, in addition to 80 after-market brands, as well as toy makers Hot Wheels and LEGO.

AAP

“We went to the election in 2022 saying we would have a national environmental protection authority. That legislation passed this house and sat over there ... in the Senate for month after month after month,” Albanese said with a raised voice while pointing over to the doors that lead to the Senate chamber.

Albanese accused crossbenchers of trying to “connect it up” to other issues not related to the legislation, before refusing to vote for it.

“Then, when the legislation was eventually before the Senate, the crossbench ... including Fatima Payman, who was elected as a Labor senator but ratted on the Labor Party to sit on the crossbench, made it clear she would not [vote for the protection authority],” he said.

“Having received under about 0.1 per cent of the vote, said she would oppose that legislation along with other crossbench members ... so be careful what you vote for when you vote independent, because you never know what you will get.”

And that brings an end to the first of three question time sessions this week.

As well as the media outlets, Gatto called out Paterson and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in his demands for retractions and apologies.

Speaking in the Senate on Monday, Paterson said he would not resile from any earlier statements as he blamed the government’s abolishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission for the issues exposed in the Building Bad investigation.

“I note in the last 24 hours that Mr Gatto has had a few things to say about me and the leader of the opposition,” he said.

“All I would say in response to that is that I am not intimidated by Mr Gatto, I will not be retracting any statements I have made about him and I am more determined than ever before to help clean up the building industry and crack down on this criminal enterprise that is the modern CFMEU.”

Paterson also blasted independent MPs including Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel for voting with the government to scrap the ABCC.

“The government was warned that if they voted to abolish the [ABCC] that they would let the CFMEU off the leash, that they would allow the CFMEU to return to and expand their criminal ways and that is exactly what has happened,” he said.

“The member for Kooyong Monique Ryan … the member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel, they voted with the Labor Party to abolish the ABCC and to let the CFMEU off the leash, and the consequences of those votes and the consequences of those decisions were put to air for all Australians to see.”

“I can say very clearly that our broad approach will always be to follow the law and to follow the science,” before calling Dutton’s announcement “reckless”.

This is when manager of opposition business Michael Sukkar gets up to argue that Plibersek’s answer isn’t relevant.

She gets to continue, adding that it would be “very dangerous” for her to make a prejudgement about a project.

When the Coalition interrupts again, Speaker Milton Dick tells Sukkar that Plibersek is being relevant and that he “cannot make her answer the way you would like her to”.

“She may not give you the answer of the timing she is explaining why that is the case.”