Australia news LIVE: Polling shows Labor vote drops to new low; Coalition rift emerges over Dutton’s nuclear plans

Turning to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who says he doesn’t see how divestiture would work in Australia when he was questioned about the supermarket inquiry this morning.

Speaking on ABC Tropical North, before heading to Papua New Guinea, Albanese was questioned about prices Australians were paying for their groceries.

He said mandating a supermarket code of conduct was one step forward to provide transparency to shoppers and farmers.

“Transparency is really important. I think a mandating of the code of conduct is something that the government is is looking towards,” Albanese said.

But he didn’t agree with calls for divestiture powers, which would see supermarkets forced to sell stores if they get too big.

“It has surprised me that the [Nationals] have proposed such a measure,” Albanese said.

The prime minister said it could potentially work in urban areas, but not necessarily in regional areas with limited options.

“The cost of moving things around as a scale is big enough to ensure that that will occur there’ll be competition but in the regions I can’t see how divestiture would work in practice.”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has been questioned about the drop in support for Labor, with exclusive polling showing voters have cut Labor’s primary vote from 32 to 30 per cent over the past month.

The poll carried out for this masthead, also showed 55 per cent of voters would struggle to pay for a major expense because their finances are stretched so thin.

Plibersek acknowledged on Seven’s Sunrise that people were doing it tough.

“But people have also got to remember that under the previous government, Barnaby [Joyce’s] mob said that they want to keep wages lower,” she told the program.

“They said low wages are a deliberate design feature of our economic architect pure. We are turning that around with higher wage, with people earning more and keeping more of what they earn, and other cost of living measures to help out people.”

But former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who was also on the program, said people were fed up with Labor.

“There are people who just say, ‘I am over it, I don’t want to listen to him any more’ because while you bang on about intermittent power and solar factories and … climate change and you lost people when you started talking about the Voice and the social change of Australia, people say ‘you are not focussed on me’,” he said.

Australians have cut their support for the federal government as they feel the financial damage from rising prices and higher interest rates, lifting the Coalition on a wave of discontent over grocery costs and energy bills.

An exclusive survey shows 55 per cent of voters say they would struggle to pay for a major expense because their finances are stretched so thin, which sharpens the political row over the best way to help in the May 14 federal budget.

Voters have cut Labor’s primary vote from 32 to 30 per cent over the past month, below the level of the party’s historically low vote at the 2022 election. Support for the Coalition increased from 35 to 36 per cent over the same period.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has kept his personal lead over Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, ahead by 41 to 32 per cent respectively as preferred prime minister.

The Resolve Political Monitor, conducted for this masthead by Resolve Strategic, confirms the pressure on households in a series of results on the gloomier outlook for the nation, heightened concern about grocery costs and support for action in the budget.

Catch up on the full story here.

The Liberals and the Nationals are at odds over the selection of six sites for proposed nuclear facilities, delaying the release of the Coalition’s signature energy blueprint.

Nationals MPs told this masthead that leader David Littleproud said at the most recent party room meeting he would not allow the Liberals to dictate the placement of facilities, several of which are likely to be in electorates held by the regional party.

While refusing to comment directly on party room discussions, Littleproud emphasised the need for caution, striking a different tone to last year when he welcomed a plant in his seat.

“The last thing we want to do is make announcements before we have done the legwork,” he said, adding he remained open to a site in his electorate.

Here’s the full story. 

Israeli leaders harshly criticised an expected decision by the US to impose sanctions on a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israeli military.

The decision, expected as soon as Monday (US time), would mark the first time the US has ever imposed sanctions on a unit inside the Israeli military and further strains relations between the two allies, which have grown increasingly tense during Israel’s war in Gaza.

While US officials declined to identify the sanctioned unit, Israeli leaders and local media identified it as Netzah Yehuda — an infantry battalion founded roughly a quarter of a century ago to incorporate ultra-Orthodox men into the military. Many religious men receive exemptions from what is supposed to be compulsory service.

Israeli leaders condemned the decision as unfair, especially at a time when Israel is at war, and vowed to oppose it.

“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF, I will fight it with all my might,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Continue reading about the move here, from AP.

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