Australia news live: cries of ‘shame’ as Coalition opposes apology to First Peoples in Victorian parliament; RBA interest rates decision due

The state opposition called for a division on the apology motion, meaning each vote had to be counted before it passed the lower house. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKevin Hogan says no one ‘gobsmacked’ by Barnaby Joyce’s decision to join One NationKevin Hogan, the deputy leader of the Nationals, compared Barnaby Joyce to Mark Latham after the former said yesterday he would join One Nation.The only other person I can think of that has left who has been a previous leader of a political party and joined One Nation is Mark Latham. And Barnaby Joyce joins those ranks as having been a previous leader of a party and joining One Nation. But I’ll leave others to make their judgment about that.Barnaby has said this: he doesn’t want to be on the backbench. He doesn’t like where he sits. So I don’t think there was much that could have been done to stop that.David [Littleproud] was always saying publicly and privately to Barnaby that the door was open for him to return. And obviously, he’s very disappointed that he left. So, look, I think it was always going to be a tough call. And I think no one is, you know, gobsmacked that he’s made the decision yesterday. Continue reading...