Australia news live: Hanson defends UK ‘fact-finding’ trip; Qantas tops airline punctuality table | Australia news

Alliance with One Nation ‘not our plan’, Angus Taylor says

Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the Coalition doesn’t believe Pauline Hanson’s One Nation can be the party of government, describing it as a “one-person show”.

Taylor spoke to ABC News Breakfast, saying the opposition was focused on getting rid of the Labor government, but wasn’t interested in “some kind of coalition or alliance” with One Nation. He said:

We are working to get rid of the Labor government, that’s our focus. Our focus isn’t on some kind of coalition or alliance. Our focus is on getting rid of a rotten Labor government. I want us to be in government in our own right.

That is not our plan. Our plan is to get rid of the government.

Wong says world really wants ceasefire to hold

Wong said she believes the ceasefire deal in the Middle East is “certainly fraying around the edges” amid strikes between the US and Iran.

The foreign affairs minister said:

The world really is looking to this ceasefire to hold, to firm up. The world wants to see an end to this conflict, not just for the peoples of the region but because of the effect on the global economy, on energy marketers, and on the hip pocket of so many people around the world, including Australians.

Wong went on to say the government had done a lot of work to ensure the fuel supply remains stable, as well as stocks of fertiliser:

We worked hard with the countries of the region to diversify supply and to assure supply, and the government will keep doing that.

Wong says Telstra let Australians down

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Telstra had “let the Australian community down” after its outages this week, including trouble with the triple-zero network.

Wong spoke to ABC News Breakfast, maintaining a full investigation would be completed by the media and communications authority.

She said:

I think I speak for everyone: you know, we do expect, particularly our triple-zero network, to remain functional.

The fact that there were outages on that network is of deep concern to the community, as well as to the government, and Telstra should be accountable for that.

The Victorian government has announced it will reimburse passengers who incurred additional costs during disruptions to the state’s regional rail services caused by the Telstra outage.

In a statement last night, the premier, Jacinta Allan, said the government would pay back affected passengers and expected “Telstra to match it, dollar for dollar”.

The state government has also committed to funding two days of free travel on V/Line.

Allan said it was “completely unacceptable that so many Victorians were stuck without an essential service for so long”.

“Telstra should compensate Victorians and help make sure it never happens again … Australians have endured too many major outages – and it’s always country people who bear the brunt,” she said.

Trains across the state are now returning to service and triple zero is continuing to conduct welfare checks.

Good morning, and happy Friday – Nick Visser here to take over and round out the week. Let’s get to it.

Hanson says Taylor should go ‘after the real enemy, Labor’

Overnight, Pauline Hanson also posted in Angus Taylor’s direction, suggesting to the Liberal leader that his attack on her yesterday was a mistake and that he should be going after “the real enemy, Labor”.

She said:

Angus Taylor has today come out attacking One Nation instead of going after the real enemy, Labor.

Angus has played right into the hands of Anthony Albanese. While the Liberal leader is telling voters how bad One Nation is, he’s quietly adopting One Nation policies.

Stop running scared and desperate, Angus. My priority remains focused on getting this country back on track.

Qantas is the world’s most punctual major airline, according to the latest data.

Each month OAG compiles global on-time performance for airlines, based on actual gate arrival times. Flights that arrive within 15 minutes of the schedule are considered on-time.

By this measure, Qantas topped the league table of “major” airlines in June, with 87.16% of flights arriving on time, just ahead of South America’s Avianca.

Among “large” airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines topped the table at 92.41%, with Virgin Australia at number 18 on 80.12%.

Pauline Hanson has posted an update on social media about what she calls a “fact-finding” mission to the UK to find out what has gone “so wrong” with the country.

She sat down for an interview for the podcast of far-right British activist Tommy Robinson, whom she called a “brave man … who has always had the best interest of his nation at heart”.

After a long list of what she claims is wrong with the UK, including “cities where most women wear burkas”, Hanson says:

No thanks. That’s not what I want for Australia. Each day I’ll bring you a sneak peak of my visit before putting out a long format video once I’m home.

Robinson posted on his YouTube channel a clip from a car showing him and Hanson “about to take a walk through my town” of Luton, adding “let’s see what happens”.

Hanson also met Rupert Lowe, the leader of the far-right Restore Britain party, who split from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Lowe tweeted “we certainly share many of the same objectives”.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.

Pauline Hanson has posted an update on social media about what she calls a “fact-finding” mission to the UK to find out what has gone “so wrong” with the country, and defending her meeting with far-right activist Tommy Robinson. More coming up.

The Victorian government has announced it will reimburse passengers who incurred additional costs during disruptions to the state’s regional rail services caused by the Telstra outage.

And new data finds Qantas is the world’s most punctual major airline.