Victoria's under-pressure premier says she will not resign; hundreds of thousands of people flee fires in France and Spain; Malaysia to host a Formula One Grand Prix event in October.
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- Victoria's under-pressure premier says she will not resign
- Hundreds of thousands of people flee fires in France and Spain
- Malaysia to host a Formula One Grand Prix event in October
Victoria's Premier, Jacinta Allan, says she won't be resigning from her role, four months out from a state election.
Factional powerbrokers met on Sunday night to discuss Labor's prospects at the election and sources at the meeting have told The Age newspaper that Ms Allan does not have majority support in the caucus.
Cabinet is due to meet today where it is expected she will be offered the chance to resign.
Ms Allan has told her supporters that she doesn't plan on quitting as leader.
The federal government says today's test run of a new national emergency warning system is an opportunity to see what devices don't receive the message - ahead of the rollout in October.
Today at 2pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, a test message will trigger a loud, siren-like sound and vibration lasting approximately 10 seconds on mobile phones - even if they are put on silent or do not disturb.
Turning your phone off or setting it to aeroplane mode are the only ways to not receive the alert.
Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain says the system has been developed to warn Australians about fires, floods, terrorist incidents or health emergencies - and if devices are not receiving the message, it is important to relay that feedback.
"States and territories put in place their own technical assessment last year, which showed that cell broadcast technology is the best technology when it comes to emergency warnings across the country. We are still testing the system though - and we've worked with states and territories to make sure that in this first year, that emergency alert - the previous system is still available whilst we will work through the communication and transition protocols for AusAlert."
Liberal Party frontbencher Andrew Bragg says a potential partnership between the Coalition and One Nation could be an option, ahead of the next federal election in 2028.
A recent poll of more than 9,000 Australians shows growing support for One Nation at the expense of major parties.
The polling projects that if the trend is realised at the federal election, One Nation could win between 53 and 66 seats - still short of the 76 needed to rule as a majority government.
Mr Bragg has told Channel Nine, it is good to keep options open so far from the election.
"If there needs to be a Coalition, we work it out then but we won't be in a Coalition with the unions and the big super funds - and all the other crooks that Labor are in the Coalition with now. We will definitely work out whoever will be interested in a Coalition with us, if that is what the numbers were. Of course, we're not crazy."
Coalition leader Angus Taylor has previously categorically ruled out any alliance with the One Nation party.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended the prime minister's attendance at a mansion that is the subject of an Australian Taxation Office security claim.
Mr Albanese said he was not aware of the money-funnelling concerns surrounding Phillip Dong Fang Lee, the father of the mansion owner, Felix Lee.
Phillip Dong Fang Lee faces allegations of channelling money from China into Australian bank accounts.
Speaking to Channel Seven, Ms Plibersek spruiked the government's political donation laws, which put caps on donations and spending, and introduce near real-time reporting.
She says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done nothing wrong.
"He clarified that he was there, but he did also say, and this is fair, Nat, he's the prime minister. He goes to dinners every night of the week, just about, and he meets with people all the time. It is actually part of the job to hear from business people. You don't know everything about everyone before you walk into these situations, and the guy that you're talking about wasn't at the dinner. It was at his son's place."
More than 330,000 have evacuated their homes across Spain and France as wildfires move towards the outskirts of the historic French city of Bordeaux.
About 220,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in France and more than 115,000 in Spain.
The National Firefighters Federation of France is reporting a giant fire cloud - what's called a "pyrocumulonimbus" - that creates its own winds and emits lightning that can cause more fires.
Police captain Antoine le Querler says officers are going door-to-door in one of the coastal towns hit by the fires.
"The goal of checking all the entry points of a house is, first of all, to confirm there are no signs of a break-in. We also knock on doors to verify that the evacuation went smoothly and that no one—such as someone with health issues who was unable to leave on their own—has been left behind. So, this allows us to ensure that everyone has evacuated and, secondly, that the house hasn't been broken into or targeted by an attempted break."
A new race has been added to the Formula One calendar - with Malaysia to host a race in October.
Malaysia had hosted F1 races at Sepang International Circuit from 1999 to 2017.
It is now hosting a race in October, after the Bahrain Grand Prix was postponed in April due to the US and Israel's war in Iran.
In a statement, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says the collaboration is the result of discussions between the King of Malaysia, King of Bahrain and government officials.
Formula One driver for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team, George Russell, says he is looking forward to the new event.
"To have a race in Malaysia, Sepang will be so so cool. Sepang was actually my favourite track as a kid when I used to play it on the F1 game. I've never driven there, but I feel like I know it really well because I drove it so often, home of Petronas as well - yeah, that'll be awesome."
