What we learned, Wednesday 4 February
And with that, we’ll shut the blog. I hope you have a great night. We’ll be back tomorrow with more breaking news. Until then, here’s a look at today’s top stories:
It was another sitting day in federal parliament. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, batted away questions about her leadership amid the prospect of a spill by Angus Taylor. Her other major problem – how to reconcile with the Nationals and reunite the Coalition – was also bubbling away, with ongoing conversations about how the two parties can settle their messy divorce.
Former Liberal minister, and moderate, Christopher Pyne, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra, where he said, among other things, that he thought One Nation was in a position to do “relatively well”.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer directly denied claims by rightwing political strategist Steve Bannon that he was behind Palmer’s controversial $60m advertising strategy at the 2019 federal election.
The Victorian MP and former deputy Liberal leader, Sam Groth, announced he would resign from parliament next week “to pursue other opportunities”. He’s leaving seven months earlier than planned, which will trigger a byelection.
The Queensland premier asked for an investigation into how a cardiothoracic surgeon – previously restricted from performing major heart and lung surgery by the New South Wales medical regulator – was appointed to a senior government clinical safety position.
It was announced that the two figures at the centre of the Adelaide festival controversy – Randa Abdel-Fattah and Louise Adler – would headline an alternative to the cancelled Adelaide writers’ week.
Three NSW Labor backbenchers said they would protest Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit in defiance of the premier.
A 27-year-old Melbourne man died at a ski resort in Japan, days after the death of Queensland snowboarder Brooke Day.
And the Clean Energy Council released its rooftop solar and storage report, which found solar battery installations in Australia increased four-fold in the second half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.
Updated
Government’s antisemitism taskforce backs Australian curriculum review
The federal government’s antisemitism taskforce has endorsed a review into the Australian curriculum to embed further Jewish knowledge into school study designs.
The taskforce, chaired by David Gonski, met for the second time on Tuesday alongside the special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal.
They resolved to meet monthly for the remainder of the year and made a string of endorsements, including to review the Australian curriculum and to create a Social Cohesion Hub for early childhood educators, teachers and parents.
Teqsa, the higher education regulator, also confirmed it was writing to vice-chancellors of all of Australia’s universities reminding them of the “need to ensure students’ safety and wellbeing and encouraging stronger responses to any instances of antisemitism and hate”, a communique of the meeting read.
The taskforce will next meet in early March.
Updated
