As it happened: Nationals declare net zero not in national interest; Liberals mull dumping net zero; Afghanistan rocked by deadly earthquake

Thanks for joining us this afternoon. Here’s what we covered:

• The Liberals are reportedly weighing up whether to abandon their commitment to net zero emissions in Australia by 2050, after the National Party pulled its support for this measure over the weekend. This afternoon, the Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie argued net zero was not in the national interest.
• A powerful, 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 300 others.
• Optus executives appeared before senators to answer questions about a major Triple Zero outage in September, linked to the deaths of three people. They defended their near-18-hour delay in providing the government key details. Read more from our technology reporter David Swan here.
• In parliament, independent MP Kate Chaney introduced a private member’s bill to stop political parties from harvesting voters’ personal details under the guise of helping them apply for postal ballots during elections.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent much of question time defending the government’s cost-of-living policies following last week’s inflation data.
• And more storms could be on their way to coastal NSW and Queensland, while the latest forecast suggests Victoria is in for a wet Melbourne Cup Day.

Thanks again for joining us, we will be back on tomorrow with continuing live coverage of news in Australia and around the world, as well as our dedicated coverage of the 2025 Melbourne Cup.

The weather will stay windy and showery across south-east Australia for Melbourne Cup Day, the bureau has confirmed,

It follows a band of rain that brought persistent showers to Melbourne this morning, and which now stretches from eastern Victoria, through central New South Wales and to parts of western Queensland.

Senior forecaster Angus Hines said that while the weather would brighten up and become sunny for the northern states on Tuesday, “we will continue to see showers and strong wind across Victoria and Tasmania”.

More wet and stormy weather is set to hit Queensland’s east coast this evening, barely 24 hours after severe storms sent hail pelting down and cut power across the state’s south-east.

Severe thunderstorms are also possible in NSW, for the mid north and north coasts, as well as the central west and entire coast between Newcastle and the Victorian border.

A federal judge in Oregon has barred US President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard to Portland until at least Friday.

She said she “found no credible evidence” that protests in the city had grown out of control before the president federalised the troops.

The city and state sued in September to block the deployment.

It’s the latest development in weeks of legal back-and-forth in Portland, Chicago and other US cities as the Trump administration has moved to federalise and deploy the National Guard to quell protests.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif early on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 260, authorities said, with the death toll likely to rise.

The Afghan Taliban defence ministry said parts of Balkh and Samangan provinces were the most affected, resulting in fatalities among a number of citizens.

Military Rescue and emergency assistance teams reached the area immediately and began operations to rescue people, transport the injured, and assist affected families, it said in a statement.

The earthquake has destroyed part of the holy shrine of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province spokesperson Haji Zaid said, referring to the Blue Mosque.