The winner of the Liberal leadership could be handed a poisoned chalice as they are tasked with resurrecting the party from its post-election ashes.

Liberal politicians will choose their next leader on Tuesday after Australians handed them a bruising election defeat that decimated their ranks and took out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Deputy leader Sussan Ley will face off against shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, while senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has teamed up with Mr Taylor in a bid to become his second-in-command.

There is no reason to assume whoever takes the job won’t last until the next election, and the absence of a deep bench could bode well for them, Australian National University politics lecturer Jill Sheppard said.

But leading the coalition when it holds less than half as many seats as Labor is a tough ask, and there is a reason other contenders such as Dan Tehan and Andrew Hastie were quick to rule themselves out.

“It does feel like a bit of a poisoned chalice,” Dr Sheppard told AAP.

“Usually, they at least pretend to want to run for a few days.

“The most important day-one job is to keep the party united, and that’s not going to be easy when there’s a lot of recriminations to be had.”

About 50 Liberal politicians are expected to vote on the party’s future, including recently returned MP Tim Wilson, who also considered throwing his hat in the ring.

Moderates have urged the Liberals to abandon culture wars and return to the centre but Dr Sheppard warned that might not solve the party’s problems.

Coming up with policies that stuck closer to the centre could make it harder for the Liberals to differentiate themselves from Labor, she said.

Some of the coalition’s lost votes likely bled to hard-right parties such as One Nation, which could spark internal debates about the importance of “culture wars” to some constituents.

However, it is unclear whether the next leader will be able to change the Liberal Party’s ideological direction.

“You’re still dealing with the same party room,” Dr Sheppard said.

“What we’ve seen with both Dutton and (Prime Minister Anthony) Albanese is that you can come from quite extreme parts of your party, but in order to maintain the leadership, you have to sit somewhere around the centre.

“To an extent, it doesn’t matter who is leader – the parties are pretty strong and they will constrain their leader.”

The vote will be the first time Senator Price has stepped into the Liberal party room after she defected from the Nationals to join Mr Taylor’s ticket.

The Nationals re-elected David Littleproud as their leader on Monday following a challenge from conservative senator Matt Canavan.

Harnessing the benefits of diversity and inclusion within Australian workplaces amid global pushback could boost company profits and improve conditions.

That’s the verdict of the chief executive of UN Women Australia, which will launch a pioneering leadership network on Tuesday to help address the gender and diversity gap.

Diversity and inclusion programs have come under attack overseas, including in the US, where President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end what he has described as “discrimination programs”.

However, a group of leaders in Australia is instead looking to reap the benefits.

“We see an absolute willingness by Australian companies and organisations to really face into what it means to be an Australian entity – we have a culture of a fair go,” UN Women Australia’s Simone Clarke said.

“I’m confident, based on the conversations that I have on a regular basis with our partners, there is an absolute undeniability that people value diversity in the workplace – that there is an opportunity to it.”

The leadership network unites influential leaders from industries across Australia to foster collaboration and share evidence-based strategies to tackle persistent gender inequality.

Australian women currently earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns – an average annual difference of $28,425, Workplace Gender Equality Agency data shows.

And despite progress across employers, 79 per cent of workplaces still have gender pay gaps outside the five per cent range.

That’s where the leadership network comes in. 

It aims to bring UN Women’s global insights to Australian workplaces, companies and academia to better understand gender inequality and its impacts on profitability and pay gaps.

“By having a broad cross-sector network, we hope to lift the capability of a range of actors in this space,” Ms Clarke said.

Companies with higher proportions of female board members or senior executives are 27 per cent more likely to financially outperform those with lower proportions, according to UN Women Australia. 

Those with diverse executives are 21 per cent more likely to experience above-average profitability. 

Ms Clarke rejected characterisations of diversity in the workplace as “men versus women”.

“It’s really about balancing out the playing field, but also providing diverse views, because we know in that diversity, we see better results,” she said.

Anthony Albanese will be sworn in as prime minister for the second time alongside a refreshed ministry, as the mining industry welcomes an environment “reset”.

The ceremony will be conducted by Governor-General Sam Mostyn and will take place at Government House on Tuesday morning.

The prime minister unveiled his new front bench on Monday following Labor’s landslide win at the May 3 election.

Mr Albanese labelled the environment as a significant policy area to his reform agenda, as conservation groups push for nature protection laws.

Murray Watt will move to the environment portfolio from employment and workplace relations, replacing Tanya Plibersek.

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies said Mr Watt’s appointment presented an opportunity to “reset” a portfolio that had confused and frustrated industry.

The Business Council declared it stood ready to help the government ensure environmental protections deliver for both the economy and nature.

Mr Watt’s promotion from agriculture to the environment portfolio was a step in the right direction, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.

“Nature in Australia is under intense pressure and the national nature law is not working,” the foundation’s chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“The Albanese government went to the 2022 election promising thorough reform of the law. That promise remains unfulfilled. It’s time to get on with the job.

“There can be no more delays, caving to lobby groups and carving out industries: the Albanese government must fix Australia’s nature laws in the first year of this term of parliament.”

But long-time environmental warrior and Greens founder Bob Brown said the appointment represented a regression in environmental protection.

“The only good thing coming out of (Mr) Watt’s appointment is that it will create many more jobs in environmental activism,” he said.

Ms Plibersek has been shifted to social services.

The writing had been on the wall after Mr Albanese went over the top of Ms Plibersek to dump environmental laws after lobbying from West Australian stakeholders.

The most senior ministerial positions in the Albanese government’s second term will largely stay the same, although Mark Dreyfus was dumped as attorney-general following factional dealings.

Anne Aly joins cabinet as the nation’s first Muslim female minister.

Dr Aly’s promotion reflects a greater focus on WA after the state helped deliver Labor a second consecutive federal election win.

The timeless elegance of Carla Zampatti seems a solid bet to begin Australian Fashion Week’s new era.

Not-for-profit peak body the Australian Fashion Council is running the event in 2025, having taken hold of the reins after long-time owners IMG pulled out in late 2024.

Sydney’s week of high style kicked off Monday night with the Zampatti opening runway show at the Museum of Contemporary Art forecourt by the harbour.

The new collection marks 60 years since the Carla Zampatti label was founded in 1965.

An icon of the Australian fashion scene, Zampatti died in 2021 at the age of 78.

The brand returned to Fashion Week last year after a four-year break.

The Zampatti show is the first in a reduced schedule of runways, with the number of shows pared back by about a third on 2024.

But there’s been no reduction in ambition: the stated aim of the event is to reconfirm Australia as a global leader in fashion, creativity and innovation.

That’s against a backdrop of fast fashion and a cost-of-living crisis, when many designers choose to promote their collections via Instagram rather than expensive runway shows.

Still, labels making a return to Fashion Week include not only Zampatti, but also Aje, Romance Was Born, Gary Bigeni and Iordanes Spyridon Gogos.

During its two decades under IMG, the event shifted from targeting overseas buyers to attracting the general public, keen to see ready-to-wear collections available for instant purchase.

That division between industry and the merely fashion-enthused is still evident, with industry delegates invited to shows, and fashion pass holders able to access a public area called The Studio instead.

AFC Australian Fashion Week runs until Friday at Carriageworks in Redfern, Sydney.

David Littleproud has retained his position as leader of the Nationals following a challenge over climate policy but has refused to say whether the party remains committed to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The rural party’s MPs and senators on Monday re-elected Mr Littleproud and backed Kevin Hogan as deputy leader.

Queensland senator Matt Canavan failed to garner sufficient support to claim the leadership after positioning himself as “an agent of change” and urging the coalition to dump its net zero commitment.

Asked whether he was willing to stake his leadership on net zero, Mr Littleproud said policies were not determined solely by the leader.

“I don’t make captain’s calls,” he told reporters.

“I draw on the experience of those in that party room to be able to determine the policies that we take forward.”

Quizzed about whether the party had decided on the target, Mr Littleproud said the Nationals would work through the issue.

“We’re going to review all our policies, and we’ll do that in a calm, methodical way … to make sure we understand the implications of any decisions we make,” he said.

The coalition took a plan to the election to replace the nation’s ageing coal-fired power stations with nuclear reactors.

Mr Littleproud said the fundamentals of nuclear energy had not changed despite the coalition’s election defeat.

“You cannot run an economy of the industrial scale the size of Australia on an all-renewables approach,” he said.

The Nationals’ leadership positions are spilled after every federal election.

A fresh deputy was needed after the party’s former second-in-command Perin Davey lost her Senate seat on May 3.

Senator Davey was still able to vote as she remains a senator – and part of the party room – until July 1.

Bridget McKenzie will lead the minor party in the Senate.

Nationals MP and former leader Michael McCormack earlier backed Mr Littleproud but said the open contest would help clear the air.

Gippsland MP Darren Chester also backed Mr Littleproud and said the party should stick with its nuclear energy policy.

“My position is … we should be doing the work we’ve intended to do, which was have a two-and-a-half-year critical assessment of the seven sites, and to see what’s possible with nuclear in Australia,” he told ABC News.

MPs Colin Boyce and Llew O’Brien, both staunchly opposed to climate targets, backed Senator Canavan ahead of the vote.

The Nationals had one less person in their party room meeting after Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price moved to the Liberal party room.

The Liberals will choose a party leader on Tuesday.

The United States and China have agreed a deal to slash reciprocal tariffs for now as the world’s two biggest economies seek to end a trade war that has disrupted the global outlook and set financial markets on edge.

Speaking after talks with Chinese officials in Geneva, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Monday the two sides had agreed on a 90-day pause on measures and that tariffs would come down by more than 100 percentage points to 10 per cent.

“Both countries represented their national interest very well,” Bessent said. 

“We both have an interest in balanced trade, the US will continue moving towards that.”

Bessent was speaking alongside US trade representative Jamieson Greer after the weekend talks in which both sides had hailed progress on narrowing differences.

The Geneva meetings were the first face-to-face interactions between senior US and Chinese economic officials since President Donald Trump returned to power and launched a global tariff blitz, imposing particularly hefty duties on China.

Since taking office in January, Trump has hiked the tariffs paid by US importers for goods from China to 145 per cent, as well as those he imposed on many Chinese goods during his first term and the duties levied by the Biden administration.

China hit back by putting export curbs on some rare earth elements, vital for US manufacturers of weapons and electronic consumer goods, and raising tariffs on US goods to 125 per cent.

The tariff dispute brought nearly $US600 billion ($A933 billion) in two-way trade to a standstill, disrupting supply chains, sparking fears of stagflation and triggering some lay-offs.

Financial markets have been looking out for signs of a thaw in the trade war and Wall Street stock futures climbed and the dollar firmed against safe haven peers on Monday as the talks boosted hopes a global recession might be avoided.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has retained his position after fending off a challenge over climate change.

The Nationals’ 20-member party room on Monday re-elected Mr Littleproud and backed Kevin Hogan as deputy leader.

Queensland senator Matt Canavan had challenged Mr Littleproud for the leadership despite the rural party holding most of its seats at the election.

Positioning himself as “an agent of change”, Senator Canavan had urged the coalition to dump its “ridiculous” net-zero emissions by 2050 target.

“It’s a great honour to lead our great party,” Mr Littleproud said after being re-elected.

“I’m proud of our achievements over the last three years … where I think we set the policy agenda.”

The Nationals’ leadership positions are spilled after every federal election.

A fresh deputy was needed after the party’s former second-in-command Perin Davey lost her seat on May 3.

Senator Davey was still able to vote as she remains a senator – and part of the partyroom – until July 1.

Bridget McKenzie will lead the minor party in the Senate.

Nationals MP and former leader Michael McCormack earlier backed Mr Littleproud, but said the open contest would help clear the air.

Fellow MP Darren Chester also backed Mr Littleproud, saying a case for change hadn’t been made.

“David has done a good job to move us closer to the sensible centre of Australian politics, which is where most of the voters are,” he said.

MPs Colin Boyce and Llew O’Brien backed Senator Canavan ahead of the vote, with both staunchly opposed to climate targets.

The Nationals had one less person in their partyroom meeting after Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price moved to the Liberal party room.

The Liberals will choose a party leader on Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese has dumped Tanya Plibersek from her environment portfolio as part of a shake-up of his ministry.

The prime minister played down internal divisions following Labor’s landslide election victory as he promoted close ally Tim Ayres to cabinet and elevated Anne Aly from the outer ministry.

Ms Plibersek, who has a frosty relationship with Mr Albanese despite being one of Labor’s most senior women, has been shifted to social services.

The writing had been on the wall after Mr Albanese went over the top of Ms Plibersek to dump environmental laws after lobbying from West Australian stakeholders.

Michelle Rowland becomes the attorney-general after Mark Dreyfus was knifed by his right faction in a power play by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

Murray Watt takes over as environment minister, with Amanda Rishworth assuming the employment and workplace relations portfolio.

“Murray is an outstanding performer as a minister. I regard the environment as a really central portfolio,” Mr Albanese said.

He retained his frontline team of Defence Minister Mr Marles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

Other ministers keeping their portfolios include Malarndirri McCarthy (Indigenous Australians), Tony Burke (home affairs), Mark Butler (health), Chris Bowen (energy), Jason Clare (education) and Clare O’Neil (housing).

Madeleine King kept resources, Catherine King infrastructure, Pat Conroy defence industry and Pacific affairs and Julie Collins agriculture.

Anika Wells takes on the communications portfolio alongside sport, meaning she will take carriage of the contentious gambling advertising restriction policy Labor shelved before the election. 

Dr Aly’s promotion reflects a greater focus on WA after the state helped deliver Labor government for the second consecutive federal election.

She is the sole Muslim MP in the senior leadership team after Ed Husic also fell victim to internal warfare, branding Mr Marles a “factional assassin” on the way out.

Senator Ayres took Mr Husic’s science and industry portfolios, while Jess Walsh (early childhood education), Daniel Mulino (assistant treasurer) and Sam Rae (aged care and seniors) also entered the 30-person ministry.

The ministry will be sworn in at Government House on Tuesday.

The refreshed leadership team will sink its teeth into Labor’s second-term policy agenda with parliament set to resume in July.

Legislation cutting student debt by 20 per cent shapes as the first cab off the rank.

Mr Husic’s demotion has been criticised by Muslim community groups and Labor luminary and former prime minister Paul Keating.

Mr Albanese defended not intervening, saying Labor’s caucus processes were not new.

Ministry appointments are based on faction and state proportions.

“That is the system that is there,” Mr Albanese said.

“It’s one that Ed and others have supported for a long period of time.”

A uranium miner looks set to drop its Federal Court challenge to a government decision not to renew the controversial Jabiluka mineral lease. 

A hearing of the case was vacated on Monday after the court was told Energy Resources of Australia was the subject of a compulsory share acquisition, making it wholly owned by Rio Tinto.

The mining giant has previously indicated it was not interested in mining at the site, one of the world’s largest and richest uranium deposits.

The site was under lease to ERA which also operated the adjacent defunct Ranger uranium mine next to Kakadu National Park, near Jabiru, 300km east of Darwin.

In July 2024, the Northern Territory’s then Labor mining minister Mark Monaghan refused to extend the lease after receiving advice from federal Labor Resources Minister Madeleine King.

The lease renewal was rejected partially due to federal government plans to absorb Jabiluka into Kakadu.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time the government decision meant “there will never be mining at Jabiluka,” home to some of the oldest rock art in the world.

The decision was a major win for the Mirrar traditional owners and environmental groups but prompted ERA to take legal action in the Federal Court.

ERA sued Ms King, Mr Monaghan, the federal and NT governments as well as the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust and the Northern Land Council.

Justice Geoffrey Kennett on Monday heard from ERA barrister Richard Lancaster SC that the four-day hearing should be vacated as a compulsory acquisition of ERA shares had been arranged. 

The acquisition by North Limited would mean “ERA would be indirectly wholly owned by Rio Tinto”, the court was told.

“The affairs of ERA would be susceptible to control by Rio Tinto in accordance with its stated intentions which relevantly include repeated statements of a disinclination to carry out mining at Jabiluka,” Mr Lancaster said.

The judge heard that respondents to the court action, including the federal government and traditional owners, had held discussions with the mining company and supported the move to vacate the hearings.     

“ERA considers there are good prospects that the proceedings can be resolved by the agreement of all parties in, but not before early June,” Mr Lancaster said.

That allowed time for ERA shareholders to lodge any objections. 

Justice Kennett vacated the proceedings and ordered that a case management hearing should be held before June 9, with costs reserved. 

In its 2023 annual report, ERA said there were no plans to develop the Jabiluka area into a uranium mine, saying it could not do so without the approval of the traditional owners.

It has said its priority would be to rehabilitate the Ranger mine, which comes at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.

The next leader of the Liberals has been urged to fight for Australians and to forgo ideological or culture wars.

Liberals deputy leader Sussan Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor are vying for the top spot, with Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price joining forces with Mr Taylor in a tilt for deputy leader.

As the party tries to rebuild after its worst election defeat since World War II, ex-NSW Liberal president Jason Falinski has called on MPs to rethink their priorities.

“I don’t think we need to focus on left or right,” Mr Falinski told ABC radio on Monday.

“I don’t think Australians think along that sort of ideological spectrum.

“What we need to focus on is helping Australians get ahead.”

Mr Falinski used to hold the Sydney seat of Mackellar but came under scrutiny during the 2022 federal election after he attended an event with controversial Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves, who once claimed transgender children were being “surgically mutilated and sterilised”.

Both lost their respective battles in those seats during an election that arguably marked the start of the Liberal Party’s downward trajectory.

The former politician urged Liberals to move away from the culture wars over societal issues.

“You can’t say we want government out of the boardroom, just so we can put it in the bedroom,” he said.

“When the Liberal Party is framing its policies in terms of the so-called culture wars, we’re losing votes, we’re splintering our electorate coalition.

“When we are framing issues in terms of economic policy, we’re bringing our electoral coalition together.

NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma warned that whoever wins the leadership can’t allow the party to break into warring left-right camps.

“They’re both honest about the scale of the challenge we face and they’re both committed,” he said of the two main contenders.

“It’s important to make a collegiate approach after this leadership ballot – there are not enough of us to break apart into warring camps.

“We need to all pull in the same direction.”

Senator Sharma also said the outside leadership contender, Victorian Tim Wilson, hadn’t been in touch with him but he was aware of the support being given to Mr Wilson by Mr Falinski.

Mr Wilson has claimed victory in the Melbourne seat of Goldstein over independent Zoe Daniel, although she is yet to concede.

“Tim is a fighter, and I think our supporters – any supporters of any political party after the loss that we’ve just had – want someone who’s going to fight,” Mr Falinski said.

“But it’s not really a pay-in to Tim Wilson.

“Whoever the next leader is has to embody that fighting spirit if we’re going to get ahead.”

The Liberals will elect the new opposition leader on Tuesday, while the National Party will go to a leadership vote on Monday.

The Labor government is likely to have at least 92 seats in the lower house, and the coalition 40, out of 150 spots. Some eight seats are still in doubt.