Live: Voters sent Labor message in WA by-election loss, Wong says

Acting Prime Minister Penny Wong has acknowledged voters sent Labor a message in the recent WA state by-election won by One Nation. Follow all the updates in our live blog. Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:10amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 8:10amLeaders have their own reasons on why they might not have attended PIF: Wong(ABC News: Matt Roberts)A meeting of Pacific Island leaders in Palau got off to a tumultuous start after several leaders decided not to attend.NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters yesterday at the Pacific Islands Forum there were reasons to be "suspicious" about what's driving the leaders' absence given Palau's diplomatic ties to Taiwan.Asked about his remarks and whether they referred to China, Penny Wong declined to be drawn in."I've been very upfront that we are in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific. Second, Australia does regard the Pacific Islands Forum as such a key part of regionalism, so important to ensuring that the Pacific can make decisions for itself about its region," she tells ABC's News Breakfast. "Obviously, leaders make their own decisions about their travel and their range of reasons why some leaders have not been able to attend."On if she'd be disappointed if Solomon Islands PM Matthew Wale was replaced with a pro-China leader, Wong says that is a matter for the people of the Solomon Islands.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:45amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:45amRAAF plane loaded with hygiene and shelter kits to be deployed to NepalPenny Wong also stopped by ABC's News Breakfast, where she was asked if Australia was offering further assistance to Nepal.The acting prime minister says she spoke to her Nepali counterpart, Shisir Khanal, over the weekend and offered further Australian assistance.Australia will send a Royal Australian Air Force plane loaded with shelter kits, hygiene kits and other essential aid items to the region today. "What they wanted was more humanitarian supplies and that's what's being delivered," Wong says.The foreign minister also thanked Australians who have donated about $2 million so far to support search and rescue efforts.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:39amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:39amNumber of missing Australians remains at 43Acting Prime Minister Penny Wong says the government is "working around the clock" to get information on the unaccounted-for Australians after the Nepal-Tibet floods.Forty-three Australians remain missing after the flash floods, with more than 4,400 people still missing on both sides of the border.Australian hiker Michael Keats is one of those unaccounted for. Overnight, his partner shared a tribute to him, saying she believes he's dead.Speaking with Nine, Wong says the government has not received confirmation of his death."We respect the rights of families to make public statements and to deal with this as they see fit. The Australian government has not yet received official confirmation of Mr Keats's passing. He does remain unaccounted for in terms of the information that we have," she says.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:26amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:26amAustralia risks missing out on AI economic boomAustralia will miss the economic benefits of the artificial intelligence boom unless businesses actually use the technology to make bigger changes, Treasury has warned.New advice provided to Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia's current AI uptake was widespread but shallow, with less than 10 per cent of businesses reporting "significant" adoption.The Treasury note said much-feared job losses had not yet materialised, but officials were watching young and entry-level workers overseas for early signs.Officials described AI as the first "credible" accelerant of global economic growth in almost two decades, but found Australia was at risk of failing to capture the benefits of the technology.Chalmers said AI was shaping up to be the "biggest economic transformation in our lifetime" and he was confident Australia could "maximise the economic upside and minimise the risks".Read more of this story at the link below.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:13amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:13amAustralia to support Pacific athletesAustralia will provide $15.6m over four years to support Pacific athletes in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.The cash injection will help athletes and officials from 13 Pacific countries access high-performance training and qualification opportunities to compete at major international sporting events.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who touched down in Palau for the Pacific Islands Forum on Monday evening, said the partnership reflected Australia's commitment to ensure Pacific athletes had every opportunity to compete and succeed."The Pacific is home to incredible sporting talent. This new partnership will contribute to producing the next generation of successful athletes," he said."As we move forward in planning for Brisbane 2032 Australia looks forward to welcoming the best of the best sporting talent from the Pacific and supporting them to go for gold."Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:01amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 7:01amSecret Harbour results are a message for Labor but One Nation is not the solution, says WongForeign Minister Penny Wong was asked on 7.30 about One Nation's victory in WA's Secret Harbour by-election, and what the implications were for the Labor Party."I accept there's a message sent in this by-election for us. I accept that. And I think we understand that. We understand the importance of delivering real change," she told 7.30's Sarah Ferguson.The ​foreign minister said it was a disappointing result and blamed the cost of living crisis for the massive swing away from the ALP in Secret Harbour."Obviously this is a very disappointing result in a state by-election … we all are disappointed by this result," Wong said."I think what we do know is people are doing it tough … and we have to make sure we do deal with some of the very pressing cost-of-living issues that people are talking [about] and are experiencing."But Wong also warned voters that Pauline Hanson did not have all the answers to the problems they were facing."As someone who sits in the Senate with Pauline Hanson, what I would say to you is … there's a lot of anger and a lot of complaints, but really very few solutions."Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 6:58amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 6:58amProperty downturn spreads to 93pc of suburbs in Australia's capital citiesProperty data firm Cotality has released its monthly national Home Value Index (HVI), showing a 0.9 per cent fall in August.This marks the fifth straight month that Australian property prices have slipped.The data also shows the nation's housing downturn has accelerated, with most suburbs recording weaker auction results in the final month of winter.The country's median property value is now 3.6 per cent below the record high in March.Sydney continued to lead the pace of declines, with home values down 1.4 per cent in August to be 7.1 per cent below peak levels recorded in February.Read more at the link below.Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 6:45amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 6:45amGood morning 👋Hello! Welcome to our politics live blog. I'm Courtney Gould from the ABC's Parliament House team, here to guide you through the day.Congratulations for making it through another winter, friends. Can you feel the spring in your step already? So what's on the agenda today? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Palau for the Pacific Islands Forum (more on that shortly from our man on the ground).Because deputy Richard Marles is also out of the country (he's in the US to discuss AI and defence) Penny Wong is our acting prime minister. She's about to do the breakfast television rounds to give an update on the Nepal floods.Grab a cup of coffee and settle it. Let's get blogging.