Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Christinamio with the
Speaker 1: Front's afternoon headlines. The coalition is done again. National's leader
Speaker 1: David Littlebrowd announced his party was walking away for the
Speaker 1: second time after eight senators quit the shadow cabinet on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night. Little Browd said differing positions on the government's
Speaker 1: new hate speech legislation was behind the split.
Speaker 2: We acted in good fight to get to this position,
Speaker 2: but we could not be forced intoviting for a position.
Speaker 2: The National Party is our own sovereign party and certainly
Speaker 2: cannot force us to vote one mo or.
Speaker 1: Another, the Nationals leader said. Senators Bridget mackenzie, Susan McDonald
Speaker 1: and Ross Caddell, whose resignation from the shadow front bench
Speaker 1: triggered the split, weren't in the wrong when they crossed
Speaker 1: the floor to vote against the amended Hate Speech Bill
Speaker 1: because it didn't go through the usual party room processes.
Speaker 2: This was a rush process. We are talking about national
Speaker 2: security matters with complex legislation, complex legislation that should be
Speaker 2: scrutinized and understood before we're forced to vote on it.
Speaker 2: That was the disappointing fact of it.
Speaker 1: But in her resignation letter to Liberal leader Susan Lee,
Speaker 1: Mackenzie herself acknowledged she'd breached coalition solidarity. Mackenzie shot down
Speaker 1: suggestions National backbencher Matt Canavan is driving from the back seat.
Speaker 3: I can categorically say that Matthew Canavan is not running
Speaker 3: the National Party. The National Party party room this week
Speaker 3: made a very difficult decision to not support the hate
Speaker 3: law bills. We drafted amendments. We were unable to get
Speaker 3: to an agreement with the Liberal Party on what that
Speaker 3: looked like. After all sides acting in good faith and
Speaker 3: doing their very best.
Speaker 1: McDonald said the whole debarcle could have been avoided if
Speaker 1: Lee simply refused the trio's resignations. Little prowd did leave
Speaker 1: the door open to reunification, just not while Susan Lee
Speaker 1: is at the helm. In the meantime, his party will
Speaker 1: keep their distance from the Liberals in Parliament.
Speaker 2: Well, we have sat by ourselves, we will sit and
Speaker 2: we will undertake what we have done.
Speaker 1: The Australian's National editor, Dennis Shanahan writes the turmoil within
Speaker 1: the coalition takes the heat of Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi,
Speaker 1: who's been under pressure for his government's response to the
Speaker 1: December fourteenth terror attack at Bondi Beach. Australians observed a
Speaker 1: national day of mourning for the victims of the Bondai
Speaker 1: terror attack on Thursday. The Prime Minister said, it's a
Speaker 1: time for unity.
Speaker 4: It's an opportunity for us as a nation that wrap
Speaker 4: our arms around the Jewish community today we share their grief,
Speaker 4: a grief with no ending, only a beginning.
Speaker 1: Albanzi will address a memorial service at the Sydney Opera
Speaker 1: House on Thursday night and incouraged Australians once again to
Speaker 1: place a candle in their windows to commemorate the dead.
Speaker 1: A moment of silence will be observed at seven oh
Speaker 1: one pm, while flags on state and government buildings will
Speaker 1: be flown at half mast. In Davos, US President Donald
Speaker 1: Trump walked back his threat to impose additional tariffs on
Speaker 1: several European nations at a meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Speaker 1: Trump said he'd reached an agreement on the framework of
Speaker 1: a future deal that would allow the United States to
Speaker 1: acquire Greenland. Trump says the US needs to take control
Speaker 1: of the Danish territory to curb expansion into the region
Speaker 1: by China or Russia, but European leaders, including America's NATO allies,
Speaker 1: have firmly resisted the move, saying it's unnecessary and dangerous.
Speaker 1: Check out those stories live right now at the Australian
Speaker 1: dot com dot a U and come back to the
Speaker 1: front first thing in the morning.