News and politics live updates: Jim Chalmers downplays growing calls for Australian gas export taxes

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has mocked Barnaby Joyce and his viral interview yelling at a dog.

The State Labor leader used his brief speech opening Labor’s national conference in Adelaide on Thursday to criticise the opposition and call for Labor “not to be complacent”.

“In an erratic world filled with ill-discipline and division, we’ve been reminded this week of that time-honoured political truth: if you can’t govern your dog, you can’t govern a country,” he told the more than 2000 attendees.

He accused Coalition for being “always grounded in grievance, defined by division”.

“And the Libs, who now live in the desperate fear of being accused of Labor light, are now embracing being Hanson-heavy, which leaves us, the Labor Party.

“We know what a professional political party looks like you can see that here today.

“For all the change, for all the confusion within the anti-labor side of politics, our great movement has endured.

“That’s a responsibility worth taking seriously, because we must recognize the current upending of anti-labor forces does bring with it two clear, omnipresent, and undeniable risks for our part.”

Labor’s new national president Kate Ellis has used her first speech after taking the baton from Wayne Swan to declare that the party needs to be “the best version of ourselves” to counter some people who “see politics as a game or as a sport”.

The former Labor frontbencher had shocked many when she announced her resignation in 2017 but has remained in the background of the party before deciding to take on the central role.

“The people in this room are the ones who work to make this country the best version of ourselves, and to do that, we absolutely need to be our best,” she said.

“We need to be our most united, and our most focused, and our most determined to make the decisions that will improve the lives and the opportunities of the Australian people.

“Some see politics as a game or as a sport.

“We know that when others are in government, people hurt, lives are made harder.

“So my focus will be working to ensure that we are at our best and that we are at our most united.

“We must be well organised, well run, and remain the strongest political party in this country.”

Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, marking a significant escalation in its campaign against commercial shipping in the busy maritime corridor.

The Iran-aligned group said the vessels, identified as Encela and Laylia, were targeted after allegedly violating a recently announced Houthi naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.

“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named ENCELA and LAYLIA, for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.

Mr Saree added that a “number of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones” caused fires onboard the ships, which had forced “nearly ten ships… to abandon their routes, and turn back”.

There has been no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or the ships’ operators regarding the extent of any damage.

Read more.

Economic reform, social investment and national security are key priorities listed in a 39-point foreword authored by Anthony Albanese for Labor’s party’s platform.

The foreword, ​which was made public on Thursday morning​, is expected to be moved by the Prime Minister and seconded by his deputy Richard Marles when Labor’s 50th national conference kicks off at 10am.

Among the points the PM has included are greater standards and protections for AI in Australia and guidelines for AI and data centre constructions, operation and management.

“With the right plan, our nation can ensure that the growth and investment and opportunities of AI and data centres strengthen our energy grid without damaging our environment or dividing communities,” he states.

“We will provide the strongest protection for the creative endeavour of our artists, writers, musicians and journalists.”

Mr Albanese also champions the importance of unity to weather an increasingly hostile international environment and ensuring hatred is stamped out on home soil.

“To meet the challenges of a more volatile world, we are investing in our capabilities and our relationships,” he states.

“We are building our sovereignty in defence, including with landmark investments in our defence industry and a new generation of advanced manufacturing jobs.

“At home, we are working to strengthen the social cohesion and national unity that is fundamental to our national security.

“Working together to confront and defeat the evils of antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism.”

Labor’s National Conference will kick off today with a speech by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese where he’ll announce the government’s plan to expand paid prac placement support.

The measure is aimed to help address skills shortages, with eligible students able to receive $338.60 per week.

Ministers Jason Clare and Mark Butler are expected to speak with students who could benefit from it outside the conference later this morning.

In excerpts of the speech seen by The Nightly ahead of the conference starting at 10am local time on Thursday in Adelaide, the PM describes the move as a key cost of living measure and a boost for the health sector.

“Our focus remains squarely on helping with the cost of living, on the practical measures that matter to people and make a positive difference to their lives,” he is expected to say.

“Because that is how we demonstrate to Australians that their hard work will pay off, that their effort is worth it, that they can plan and build for their future.”

A senior member in Anthony Albanese’s government has kept tight-lipped on what Labor knew and when about the status of an Australian ISIS fighter found alive after being thought dead for almost a decade.

Perth-born paediatrician Tareq Kamleh, dubbed “Dr Jihad”, joined the Islamist militant group at its peak last decade.

His family and authorities believed he was killed in the bloody Raqqa siege in Syria in 2017.

However, The Australian revealed this week that he was among 13 Australian men locked up in an Iraqi prison hoping to be repatriated.

The paper also reported on Thursday that Australian officials, including intelligence services, learnt Kamleh was alive in 2022.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is privy to classified briefings as a National Security Committee member, would neither confirm nor deny when asked about it.

Read the full story here.

Labor will unveil a new scholarship in honour of their former strategist Tim Picton who died after an alleged assault outside a Perth nightclub.

Mr Picton’s widow, Priya Brown, will give a speech at the party’s National Conference in Adelaide later today to officially launch the new opportunity.

The scholarship will be targeted at the next generation of Labor campaign leaders to allow them to go on exchanges and other personal development opportunities.

The man accused of punching and killing Mr Picton, Brodie Jake Dewar, is expected to reappear in court next month.

The 20-year-old is accused of attacking Mr Picton, 36, in Northbridge, in Perth’s inner city, in the early hours of December 27.

Mr Picton, who has been lauded as a brilliant political tactician, led the party to a landslide across WA.

Labor MPs, led by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, have charged supporters $1000 to attend their amateur pub gig.

An event page for the performance in Adelaide on Wednesday night by the “Left Right Out” band listed a “supporting partner” price of $1000 for the gig in an undisclosed location.

“Venue details to be provided upon RSVP. Drinks included,” the advertising states.

“Featuring Left Right Out – Federal Parliament’s best (and only) band, led by Minister Tony Burke.”

The gig hosted by Labor’s Louise Miller-Frost MP and Claire Clutterham MP in Adelaide marks a new tradition, after the band also played on the sideline of the 2023 Brisbane conference.

Back then, the parliamentary pub rock band’s performance was hosted in the back room of a Brisbane bottleshop.

Four more tankers have changed course in the Red Sea after Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen threatened the southern route out, highlighting a new risk to global oil supplies from the intensifying war between the US and Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran was not serious about peace talks, and Pakistan, which has been mediating, condemned the disruption to a second critical energy route, where three tankers turned around on Tuesday.

Both Rubio and Pakistan said they still backed the idea of negotiations. The Houthis’ threat on Tuesday to Saudi oil shipments heading south to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait past areas of the coast they control comes on top of Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

Oil prices rose to a near six-week high.

​Read the full story here.​

More than 2000 Labor supporters, delegates, parliamentarians, unions and observers have begun arriving at the Adelaide Convention Centre this morning for the party’s 50th National Conference.

Members have been met with a large police and security presence, including officers on horseback, airport-level bag scans, and barricades amid concerns of protesters.

Several Labor groups have used the opportunity to try to lobby parliamentarians as they walk in the venue to act on their causes, including Labor Environment Action Network (Lean) over the diesel fuel rebate.

The Social Democratic group have even created a bingo card titled the National Left Edition with things like “Factional deal exposed mid-speech” and “lone shout for ‘shame!”.

A gas export tax, protections for workers impacted by artificial intelligence, and reducing gambling harms are shaping up to be key policy fights.

There will also be a string of side events today, including one against the AUKUS pact and pro-gas export levy.