Pomp and ceremony were on full display as MPs gathered in Canberra for the opening of federal parliament.

But as formal traditions dating back hundreds of years played out at Parliament House, protests called for action on conflict in the Middle East.

During Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s speech laying out the priorities for the three years ahead, more than a dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators were detained after protesting inside the foyer of parliament, before being removed from the building.

Hundreds of protesters called for sanctions on Israel on the lawns of parliament, with one woman arrested, federal police say.

Traffic around Parliament House was also disrupted by the protests.

As the governor-general read her speech, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi held a silent protest by holding a sign that read: “Gaza is starving. Words won’t feed them. Sanction Israel”.

Ms Mostyn said cost-of-living relief would be high on the agenda for the next term.

“(Voters) re-elected a government that will continue building on the foundation of its first term, upholding the values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity,” the governor-general told the upper house.

“The government will work to repay the trust Australians have placed in it.”

The day began with an ecumenical service at a Wesley Uniting Church, with the prime minister promising to get down to business quickly.

“Every day is an opportunity to deliver for Australians and this week we will have legislation to do that,” he told reporters outside the church.

“We’ll continue to work hard each and every day in the interest of Australians.”

Mr Albanese will command a large majority in his second term as leader, with Labor holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

The size of the majority was on display on the floor of parliament for the first time since the election, with Labor MPs sitting on both sides of the aisle in the lower house.

Across the chamber, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley presides over just 43 lower-house MPs after an election wipeout for the coalition.

“We got smashed at the last election and the number of seats that we now hold is a demonstration that we are at a low point,” Ms Ley said.

“But we’re here to work hard, we’re here to put the interests of the Australian people that we come here to represent front and centre.

“And we know that aspiration connects every single thread of Australian society.”

After a ceremonial welcome to country and smoking ceremony on the forecourt of Parliament House, MPs and senators were sworn in one-by-one at their respective chambers.

Business soon turned to the election of a speaker for the House of Representatives.

Labor MP Milton Dick was re-elected to the role with bipartisan support before being ceremonially dragged to the speaker’s chair by MPs.

The prime minister said Mr Dick would continue to conduct the role with “fairness, with humour and with intellect”.

The returning speaker said it was a “profound honour” to carry on in the position.

“My view is the role of speaker is not one of partisanship, but of stewardship, and it’s my solemn responsibility to ensure that democracy is not only practised here, but it’s strengthened here,” Mr Dick said.

In the Senate, Sue Lines was re-elected as president of the chamber, but not before One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s surprise nomination of political rival David Pocock for the position.

The independent ACT senator declined the nomination.

After Tuesday’s ceremonial opening, formal business begins on Wednesday with legislation including for a 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt for students.

The Reserve Bank has signalled its next interest rate move as it offers further insight into a shock hold call.

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday released minutes from its July 7-8 meeting, in which its “cautious” monetary policy board defied the expectations of traders and economists by leaving the cash rate unchanged at 3.85 per cent.

Despite inflation sitting within the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target band, the economy was tracking stronger and the effects of Donald Trump’s tariffs seemed less devastating than previously feared.

That gave the board scope to wait a little longer for more inflation and jobs data to make sure inflation really was on track to stay at 2.5 per cent sustainably, the minutes said.

“Lowering the cash rate a third time within the space of four meetings would be unlikely to be consistent with the strategy of easing monetary policy in a cautious and gradual manner,” the board found.

In a 6-3 decision, the board judged it more prudent to leave rates on hold, concerned Australia’s relatively tight labour market could push wage costs and prices higher.

The unemployment rate was 4.1 per cent in May, barely changed from a year earlier, while other indicators such as high job vacancies pointed to little movement in the near term, the board noted.

Australia’s sluggish productivity growth rate weighed on the RBA’s mind, as it contributed to faster growth in labour costs.

But the board’s judgment the labour market remained tight was challenged on Thursday when the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the unemployment rate jumped to 4.3 per cent in June, taking the market and seemingly the RBA by surprise.

The data bolstered the case of a dissenting rump of three board members, who argued a rate cut was warranted because of downside risks “from a likely slowing in growth abroad and from the subdued pace of GDP growth in Australia”.

“That in turn posed a risk that underlying inflation would moderate somewhat more rapidly than envisaged in the May projections,” the minutes said.

Board members noted some jobs data implied “supply and demand in the labour market were closer to balance”.

Interest rate markets have almost fully priced in a 25 basis point cut to the official cash rate at the August meeting and project it will fall to 3.2 per cent by the end of the year.

Each 25 basis point cut to the cash rate would shave about $90 off monthly repayments on a $600,000 mortgage.

June quarter consumer price index data, due to be released by the ABS on July 30, is “critical” to the RBA’s next rates decision, CBA senior economist Belinda Allen said.

If underlying trimmed mean inflation prints at or below the RBA’s 2.6 per cent forecast, a cut should be assured.

“A shift lower in the annual rate of trimmed mean inflation should be sufficient to see the cash rate lowered in August,” Ms Allen said.

Another factor behind the board’s decision not to cut was the bank’s assessment that threats to the Australian economy from Donald Trump’s tariffs had eased since the previous meeting in May.

In further signs Australia’s idling economy may need a boost, government spending continues to drive the bulk of new project activity, accounting for 80 per cent of new investment in the June quarter, a Deloitte Access Economics report shows.

Protesters have taken to Australia’s political heartland to demand sanctions on Israel as the government condemned the “inhumane killing” of civilians in Gaza.

While politicians revelled in the pageantry that marked the beginning of the parliamentary year, protesters took turns writing messages of support on a Palestinian flag that spanned the width of the Capital Hill lawns.

Opposite Parliament House, a bright yellow banner urged those inside to “sanction Israel now” as hundreds gathered around.

“We’ve witnessed a livestreamed genocide, people getting massacred and slaughtered or experiencing starvation,” protester Sarah Baarini told AAP.

Sanctions would apply pressure on Israel and send a clear message that Australia does not stand for injustice, she said.

The federal government has imposed individual sanctions on some violent Israeli settlers and two far-right ministers within Israel’s government.

Australia has not introduced broader sanctions on Israel, though it has done so for countries like Russia and Myanmar.

Overnight, Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed a joint statement with more than 20 of her global counterparts – not including the United States  – to call for an immediate end to Israel’s violence in Gaza and decry its denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians.

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the statement said.

“We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs.”

Israel rejected the joint statement and claimed it “sends the wrong message to Hamas”.

The statement, which also urged Israel to comply with international law, is one of the strongest made by Australia since Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, according to cabinet minister Tony Burke.

It was welcomed by Palestine’s representatives in Australia and New Zealand, who said it “conveys the international community’s shock and outrage” at the mass killing of civilians and humanitarian crisis.

The amount of food allowed into Gaza is a fraction of what’s required to adequately nourish the population after Israel’s control over aid left more than 500,000 people starving, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

In recent months, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, including those shot by the Israeli military, UN figures found.

Palestinian-Australian cardiologist Muntaser Musameh, who was shot by the Israeli army as a 12-year-old and worked as an intern doctor during the Second Intifada, said the crisis unfolding in Gaza was “unprecedented”.

“I was in agony when I was shot … and even when I had my family around me, it was hard,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“When I look at the children in Gaza nowadays, many of them are the only survivor of their families.”

Though he also ran out of sterile equipment during the mass casualties of the Second Intifada, an uprising by Palestinians against Israeli forces at the turn of the century, his colleagues now working in Gaza face a totally different challenge.

“Everything is scarce and you have to work endless hours without any food or clean drinking water, while not being sure whether your parents or family or siblings are alive,” Dr Musameh said.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 737,000 people between March and July 2025, according to health authorities in Gaza.

Its violence escalated after designated terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Australia’s decision to sign on to the letter was “disappointing” and moral outrage should be directed at Hamas.

“The Albanese government’s decision to blame Israel for Hamas’s disruption of the flow of aid is appalling,” she said.

Israel enforced a complete embargo on humanitarian aid and medical supplies for almost three months after a ceasefire deal broke down earlier in 2025.

Aid has since been throttled at the border, with all entry points into Gaza controlled by Israel.

The letter also condemns Hamas’ continued detention of hostages and notes that a negotiated ceasefire “offers the best hope of bringing them home”.

Through church services, smoking ceremonies and ceremonial dragging of MPs, the 48th federal parliament has been opened in a flurry of pomp and ceremony.

Veteran MPs and fresh-faced senators gathered in Canberra on Tuesday for the formal opening of parliament before official business could get under way.

The day began with an ecumenical service at a Wesley Uniting Church, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promising to get down to business quickly.

“Every day is an opportunity to deliver for Australians and this week we will have legislation to do that,” he told reporters outside the church.

“We’ll continue to work hard each and every day in the interest of Australians.”

Mr Albanese will command a large majority in his second term as leader, with Labor holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

The size of the majority was on display on the floor of parliament for the first time since the election, with Labor MPs now sitting on both sides of the aisle in the lower house.

Across the chamber, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will preside over just 43 lower-house MPs after an election wipeout for the coalition.

“We got smashed at the last election and the number of seats that we now hold is a demonstration that we are at a low point,” Ms Ley said.

“But we’re here to work hard, we’re here to put the interests of the Australian people that we come here to represent front and centre.

“And we know that aspiration connects every single threat of Australian society.”

After a ceremonial Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony on the forecourt of Parliament House, MPs and senators were one-by-one sworn in at their respective chambers.

Business soon turned to the election of a speaker for the House of Representatives.

Labor MP Milton Dick was re-elected to the role with bipartisan support before he was ceremonially dragged to the speaker’s chair by MPs.

The prime minister said Mr Dick would continue to conduct the role with “fairness, with humour and with intellect”.

The returning speaker said it was a “profound honour” to carry on in the position.

“My view is the role of speaker is not one of partisanship, but of stewardship, and it’s my solemn responsibility to ensure that democracy is not only practiced here, but it’s strengthened here,” Mr Dick said.

In the Senate, Sue Lines was re-elected as president of the chamber, but not before One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s surprise nomination of political rival David Pocock for the position.

The independent ACT senator declined the nomination.

Later, Governor-General Sam Mostyn will deliver a speech in the Senate outlining the priorities of the term, followed by a ceremonial 19-gun salute.

Legislation due to be introduced in the first week of parliament includes a 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt for university students, penalty rate protections and increased safety measures at childcare centres.

The coalition is still reviewing many of the policies it took to the election, but the opposition has flagged it is likely to support the student debt reduction measures, along with childcare protection laws.

The Greens, who hold the balance of power in the upper house, are set to introduce a private senators bill to reform Australia’s main environment laws.

Politicians have marked the beginning of a new era as the 48th federal parliament is set to start.

Veteran MPs and fresh-faced senators alike sat shoulder to shoulder marked on the pews of the Wesley Uniting Church as they marked the opening of the parliamentary year in Canberra on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hoped for the health and wellbeing of all Australians during the church service, and remarked on the tradition as a “wonderful way” to start the term.

“Everyday is an opportunity to deliver for Australians and this week we will have legislation to do that,” he told reporters outside the church.

“We’ll continue to work hard each and every day in the interest of Australians.”

Mr Albanese’s second term as prime minister will see him wield an even larger parliamentary majority, with Labor holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

Across the chamber, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will preside over just 43 lower house MPs after an election wipeout for the coalition.

“We got smashed at the last election and the number of seats that we now hold is a demonstration that we are at a low point,” she told reporters after the service.

“But we’re here to work hard, we’re here to put the interests of the Australian people that we come here to represent front and centre.

“And we know that aspiration connects every single threat of Australian society.”

The ceremonial proceedings continued as politicians arrived at Capital Hill for a welcome to country and smoking ceremony.

Politicians were due to be sworn in from mid-morning before some of Labor’s freshman MPs deliver their first speeches to the House of Representatives later in the day.

Legislation set for the first week of parliament includes a 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt for university students, penalty rate protections and increased safety measures at childcare centres.

The coalition is still reviewing many of the policies it took to the election, but the opposition has flagged it is likely to support the student debt reduction measures, along with childcare protection laws.

Meanwhile, the Greens, who hold the balance of power in the upper house are set to introduce a private senators bill to reform Australia’s main environment laws.

Labor will likely have an easier time implementing its agenda, given its significant majority, but political lecturer at the Australian National University Jill Sheppard said the expanded government benches would also bring challenges.

“The pitfall for the government is less so hubris because they still have to negotiate with a pretty boisterous Senate,” she told AAP.

“The bigger issue for Labor is wrangling the 94 members of their caucus, and that’s going to be a real challenge.

“It may be a blessing to have a relatively clean slate after the election but it’s also a curse that everyone will want to have a say in what direction they go.”

Australia has decried Israel’s “drip feeding of aid and inhumane killing” of civilians in Gaza as pro-Palestine protesters rally in the nation’s capital on the first day of parliament.

A joint statement signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and more than 20 of her global counterparts – barring the US – calls for an immediate end to Israel’s violence in the strip and condemns the denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians.

It also calls for the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on aid to allow humanitarian groups to do their work.

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the joint statement said.

“We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.

“Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

The amount of food allowed into Gaza is just a fraction of what’s required to adequately nourish the population.

Israel’s control over aid has left more than 500,000 people starving, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

“Gaza’s hunger crisis has reached new levels of desperation,” it posted on X.

In recent months, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid – including those shot by the Israeli military – according to the country signatories of the joint statement.

On Sunday Israel killed at least 67 Palestinians in northern Gaza while they were waiting for UN aid trucks.

The joint statement comes as pro-Palestine supporters rally in Australia’s capital on Tuesday for the first sitting day of parliament since the May federal election.

The group will call on the government to sanction Israel and “end its support and complicity in genocide”.

Inside Parliament House, Greens Senator David Shoebridge will table a petition signed by more than 2500 Australian healthcare workers calling on the government to take action and end Israel’s violence, blockade and weaponisation of aid in Gaza.

“Every signature on this letter is a voice refusing to be silent in the face of this genocide,” petition organiser and pharmacist Yossra Abouelfadl said.

“We cannot stand by while our colleagues in Gaza are killed, hospitals are targeted and patients are denied basic medical care.

“Enough words, enough statements, it’s time for action.”

The violence erupted after the designated terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1200 people and taking 251 hostages.

The Israeli government’s blockade and military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 737,000 between March and July, according to Gazan health authorities.

Opposition frontbencher Jonathon Duniam said Israel had a “right to self defence” and said Australia signing the joint statement was not the right approach.

“There is more to this issue than this letter portrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter,” he told Sky News.

“It’s unacceptable that a conflict continues, but again, this conflict probably would come to an end if Hamas released the hostages.”

While some of the hostages have been released, others have died and about 50 are believed to still be in captivity – although Israel believes about half of those are dead.

Israel has rejected the joint statement and claimed it is “disconnected from reality”.

“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation,” Israel foreign affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a statement.

The statement also condemns the continued detention of hostages and notes that a negotiated ceasefire “offers the best hope of bringing them home”.

The Trump administration is more concerned with the quality of trade agreements than their timing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said ahead of an August 1 deadline for nations to secure trade deals or face steep tariffs.

“We’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals,” Bessent told US broadcaster CNBC.

Asked whether the deadline could be extended for countries engaged in productive talks with Washington, Bessent said US President Donald Trump would decide.

“We’ll see what the president wants to do. But again, if we somehow boomerang back to the August 1 tariff, I would think that a higher tariff level will put more pressure on those countries to come with better agreements,” he said.

Trump has upended the global economy with a trade war that has targeted most US trading partners, but his administration has fallen far short of its plan to clinch deals with dozens of countries. 

Negotiations with India, the European Union, Japan, and others have proven more trying than expected. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump could discuss trade when he meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the White House on Tuesday.

She said the Trump administration remained engaged with nations around the world and could announce more trade deals or send more letters notifying countries of the tariff rate they faced before August 1, but gave no details.

Leavitt’s comments came as European Union diplomats said they were exploring a broader set of possible counter-measures against the US, given fading prospects for an acceptable trade agreement with Washington.

An increasing number of EU members, including Germany, are now considering using “anti-coercion” measures that would let the bloc target US services or curb access to public tenders in the absence of a deal, diplomats said.

“The negotiations over the level of tariffs are currently very intense,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told a press conference. “The Americans are quite clearly not willing to agree to a symmetrical tariff arrangement.”

On China, Bessent said there would be “talks in the very near future”.

“I think trade is in a good place, and I think, now we can start talking about other things. The Chinese, unfortunately … are very large purchasers of sanctioned Iranian oil, sanctioned Russian oil,” he said.

“We could also discuss the elephant in the room, which is this great rebalancing that the Chinese need to do.” US officials have long complained about China’s overcapacity in various manufacturing sectors, including steel.

Bessent told CNBC he would encourage Europe to follow the United States if it implements secondary tariffs on Russia.

The Treasury chief, who returned from a visit to Japan on Sunday, said the administration was less concerned with the Asian nation’s domestic politics than with getting the best deal for Americans. 

Japan’s chief tariff negotiator departed for trade talks in Washington on Monday morning, his eighth visit in three months, after the ruling coalition of Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba suffered a bruising defeat in upper house elections shaped in part by voter frustration over US tariffs.

Indian trade negotiators returned to New Delhi after almost a week of talks in Washington, but officials were losing hope of signing an interim trade deal before the August 1 deadline, government sources said. 

The Reserve Bank is set to reveal why it resisted an interest rate cut, despite signs of easing inflation and sluggish economic growth.

Australia’s central bank shocked markets and disappointed borrowers earlier in July when it opted to keep the cash rate on hold at 3.85 per cent, defying expectations of a 25 basis point cut.

The RBA will on Tuesday release the minutes of its last board meeting, potentially offering a glimpse of what lies ahead for its next decision on August 12.

Weaker-than-expected jobs data has narrowed expectations of an interest rate cut next month, after unemployment rose from 4.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent in June, despite economists’ expectations of a steady print.

The employment figures were released on Thursday and could render the minutes slightly outdated, and a greater focus will be on RBA governor Michele Bullock’s speech at Sydney’s Anika Foundation on Thursday.

Interest rate markets have almost fully priced-in a 25 basis point cut to the official cash rate at the August meeting, and project the rate will fall to 3.2 per cent by the end of the year.

Each 25 basis point cut to the cash rate would shave roughly $90 off monthly repayments on a $600,000 mortgage.

In further signs Australia’s idling economy may need a boost, government spending continues to drive the bulk of new project activity, accounting for 80 per cent of new investment in the June quarter, a Deloitte Access Economics report shows.

The overall project pipeline continued to grow but state budgets suggest a transition to more cautious spending, the report found, with a focus on completing existing projects over announcing new ones.

While infrastructure spending helped economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments now face higher debt levels, rising interest costs and project budget overruns, Deloitte associate director and lead author Sheraan Underwood said.

“Australia’s infrastructure boom isn’t over,” he said.

“But with governments under growing fiscal pressure, stronger private sector investment will be key to supporting the next phase of economic growth.”

A crowded caucus, an unruly upper house and a coalition with a confidence problem: welcome to the 48th parliament.

Tuesday will mark the official opening of the new parliament, with pomp and ceremony to take place before MPs get down to business.

Anthony Albanese’s second term as prime minister will see him wield an even larger parliamentary majority, with Labor holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

Opposition counterpart Sussan Ley will preside over just 43 lower house MPs after an election wipeout for the coalition.

Labor will likely have an easier time implementing its agenda but political lecturer at the Australian National University Jill Sheppard said the expanded government benches would also bring challenges.

“The pitfall for the government is less so hubris because they still have to negotiate with a pretty boisterous Senate,” she told AAP.

“The bigger issue for Labor is wrangling the 94 members of their caucus, and that’s going to be a real challenge.

“It may be a blessing to have a relatively clean slate after the election but it’s also a curse that everyone will want to have a say in what direction they go.”

MPs and senators will be sworn in at Tuesday’s opening before the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate president are elected.

Legislation set for the first week of parliament includes a 20 per cent reduction in HECS debt for university students, penalty rate protections and increased safety measures at childcare centres.

The coalition is still reviewing many of the policies it took to the election, but the opposition has flagged it is likely to support the student debt reduction measures, along with childcare protection laws.

Ms Ley told parliamentary colleagues on Monday she was prepared to take the fight to the government during the upcoming term.

“That’s what people expect,” she said.

“They want a parliament that understands their lives, what their lives are like, and a government that gets out of the way.

“Our policies are up for review, but our values are not.”

The coalition’s issues were unlikely to go away, Dr Sheppard said.

But there could also be an upside for Ms Ley.

“Even before the election, the Liberals had a confidence problem,” Dr Sheppard said.

“Their frontbench was not very deep, there are individuals who have been promoted above their ability and that’s a huge problem and it’s not something you can fix in a term. 

“(The smaller numbers) are maybe not a bad thing for Sussan Ley in trying to consolidate her leadership.”

Australia’s political leaders have come together in a moving ceremony at the Australian War Memorial ahead of the resumption of parliamentary hostilities.

The new parliament begins on Tuesday, after the prime minister secured a second term in power following his dominant victory at the May election.

Following tradition, members of the government and the opposition attended a Last Post ceremony in the nation’s capital on the eve of the first day of parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley stood next to each other on Monday afternoon as they paid their respects.

The prime minister said the tradition served as a reminder of the cost of war.

Labor is returning after a landslide win that handed the party 94 of the 150 House of Representatives seats.

The opposition is pledging to “come out swinging” despite a crushing loss and uncertainty over its policy platform.

Despite months of poor polling leading up to the campaign, the unexpected scale of the win means the government is the first in almost 60 years not to lose a seat at a federal election.

The prime minister took an agenda to voters that promised further action on cost-of-living pressures after high inflation became the defining issue of his first term.

Addressing the Labor caucus on Monday at Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Albanese called for discipline.

“If we maintain that sense of discipline, sense of purpose, clear idea about why we are here … there is no reason why every single one of you can’t just be returned to the next parliament, but can’t be added to as well,” he said.

The prime minister said the government “must work hard to repay the faith that has been shown in us”.

Mr Albanese laid out Labor’s agenda for the first week of parliament, including introducing legislation to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent and increase safety measures for childcare centres.

As politicians arrived in Canberra, the prime minister braved a winter morning to walk from The Lodge to parliament before official proceedings, arriving alongside his son Nathan.

Ms Ley addressed her joint party room for the first time since the coalition’s election disaster, which cut its numbers to 43 seats.

“Our policies are up for review, but our values are not,” she said.

During the meeting, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce spoke about his opposition to a net-zero emissions target as he proposes to move a private member’s bill to scrap a 2050 goal.

Energy and climate policy remain powder kegs for the coalition as it enters the new term, with the Liberals and Nationals yet to arrive on a position on key issues such as an election pledge to build Commonwealth-backed nuclear power plants.

Ms Ley has batted away questions on the policy area, insisting the coalition is waiting for a post-election review to be completed first.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the coalition was humble and prepared for a tough path back to forming government.

“But we can do one of two things: we can sit in the corner in the fetal position and give up, or we can come out swinging,” he said.

“And I can tell you what we will do is come out swinging.”