Is Palau about to accept third-country nationals from the US?
The government of Palau considers a request from the Trump administration to accept third-country nationals seeking asylum in the United States.
Police in Papua New Guinea report destroyed bridges and stolen ballot boxes during a by-election in the country's highlands.
Accommodation concerns ahead of the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Honiara in September.
The history-making Solomon Islands women's soccer team receive a hero's welcome on their return to Honiara after toppling Papua New Guinea in the OFC Nations Cup Final.
And new archaeological research carried out in PNG has revealed women played a bigger role in information sharing than previously thought.
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News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
How Labor Party could still form government in Tasmania despite 'worst ever' election result
Tasmanians are no closer to knowing who will lead the state after Saturday's snap election led to a hung parliament, with neither major party able to form a majority government. The results two days on show Tasmania Labor is still on track for its worst ever electoral performance with the party currently sitting on under 26 per cent of the primary vote with the Liberals on 40 per cent and the Greens capturing 14 per cent of voters first choices. Labor's 2025 state election result is the party's worst electoral performance since 1903. Despite the result, Labor is likely to end up with the same number of MPs as it did in the 2024 election when it achieved 29 per cent of the primary, while the Liberals had 14 seats – short of the 18 to form majority. While Premier Jeremy Rockliff is claiming a mandate for the Liberal Party to continue in power, Labor leader Dean Winter may still work with the Greens and crossbenchers to form a minority government. As the election night results rolled into the Tasmanian tally room, it looked increasingly like Mr Winter's election gamble had backfired. What makes this election outcome different is unlike in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 result, the Labor leader has not refused to attempt to form government with the Greens and independent crossbench. Despite ruling out any formal deal with the Greens, Mr Winter says he has already reached out to a number of independents. The Greens have urged Labor to seek an arrangement with them to form government. It is understood the Labor leader has yet to contact Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff. However for Labor to govern in any capacity, the Greens support in some form will be required. Mr Rockliff who all but declared victory on Saturday night is adamant that he is the one with a mandate to govern. 'I do have a mandate, given we've got the largest number of seats,' the Premier told reporters on Monday. 'For Dean Winter to govern, he'll need to do a deal with the Greens for which he does not have a mandate from the Tasmanian people.' The problem for the Liberals however is that with a likely 14 or possibly 15 seats, they are also well short of the 18 votes needed to command a workable majority on the floor of the 35-seat House of Assembly. Additionally, with the former Jacqui Lambie members all losing their seats, the House will be without conservative leaning independents, with three of the four independents elected opposed to the Macquarie Point stadium. The only crossbench member to support the project is former Labor leader David O Byrne, who said he could work with either side to form government. There could be an additional new member to the crossbench with Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Carlo di Falco a chance to win in Lyons, however a final result is not expected for another week. The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers are opposed to the stadium, meaning one of Mr Rockliff's key commitments would only be delivered with Labor votes, regardless of who forms government. Tasmania Labor's path to power looks less certain but they can count on Greens support in whatever form that comes (Mr Winter says the support would only be accepted without any conditions attached) With a likely 10 seats from Labor and five from the Greens, Mr Winter would then only have to negotiate with three independents, something Mr Winter was unwilling to do just one month ago. Saturday's election was held follow the passage of Labor leader's successful no confidence motion in Premier Rockliff's leadership with Mr Winter citing the botched roll out of new Spirit of Tasmania vessels, the state's growing budget deficit and the controversial Macquarie Point Stadium project as examples of Mr Rockliff's failed leadership. Despite being in a position to put together a minority government as a result of the no confidence motion's passage, Mr Winter chose to decline the opportunity, leaving the state's Governor with no choice but to grant Mr Rockliff's wish to hold the state's second election in just 16 months. Instead of a clear result. Tasmanian voters have returned very similar numbers as the last parliament.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Tasmanian election inspires a feeling of deja vu
ELLEN COULTER, REPORTER: It's deja vu for Tasmanians after another election. VOX POP: We were saying it was Groundhog Day VOX POP 2: It was Groundhog Day. We thought it was probably going to happen. VOX POP: A silly election that we didn't need to have. VOX POP 2: An election we didn't need to have. VOX POP: It feels pretty much exactly the same as it did last week, and like we'll probably get a pretty similar, yeah, it's going to look like exactly the same. Nothing really changed, which is disappointing but yeah. ELLEN COULTER: Little more than a year after they delivered a minority Liberal government, Tasmanians were sent to polls again, when the Premier lost the confidence of the House. And as votes were counted on Saturday, Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff once again claimed victory. JEREMY ROCKLIFF, TASMANIAN PREMIER: I intend to visit the Governor and ask her to recommission my government so we can get on with the job for Tasmania. ELLEN COULTER: But it's not that clear cut. The Liberals have secured at least 14 seats. Labor has nine and will probably get to 10. The Greens are on five and independents four. Three seats are still in doubt. That means no one has the 18 seats needed for a majority. Those numbers might sound familiar. That's because at the party level at least they're a carbon copy of the make-up of Tasmanian Parliament as we headed into this election. It turns out when you only have 16 months between polls, voters deliver a fairly similar result. The Premier is waiting until counting finishes to go to the Governor. In the meantime, he needs to shore up support from crossbenchers. JEREMY ROCKLIFF: Those conversations have been good, at a very high level of course. I've congratulated all on their personal support within the community and look forward to further conversations over the course of the next week or two. ELLEN COULTER: Labor kickstarted the chain of events that led to this election with its no confidence motion in the Premier. CASEY BRIGGS, ABC CHIEF ELECTIONS ANALYST: It's a gamble that doesn't seem to have paid off. Tasmanian Labor's gone backwards on primary votes, they've seen a swing against them of about 3 per cent. It hasn't meant that they've lost seats, but it has delivered them their worst primary vote share ever in state Labor history. ELLEN COULTER: Despite that result, Labor leader Dean Winter has been making his own calls in the hope he might be able to govern. DEAN WINTER, TAS. LABOR LEADER (Sunday): We've opened a line of discussion with the crossbench, and we'll make sure that they understand where we stand but we're not going to be horse-trading on policy. ASSOC. PROF. KATE CROWLEY, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA: If they can cobble together a power sharing arrangement that reaches a majority on the floor of the House, then what they're doing is creating an arrangement that represents the majority of the voters' intentions and so that is entirely legitimate. But I think that the public would be shocked because the trend of the vote is away from Labor. ELLEN COULTER: Tasmanians have delivered a progressive crossbench, including two independents who previously voted no confidence in the Premier. So far, no independents have said who they'd give support to in this parliament. One-time Labor leader, now independent David O'Byrne gave Mr Rockliff support in the previous term. DAVID O'BYRNE, INDEPENDENT: Let's see the dust settle but I'm more than open to working with both sides of the House to ensure that we actually get parliament working and we get out of people's lives and stop having constant elections. ELLEN COULTER: At the federal poll in May, independent Peter George gave minister Julie Collins a run for her money. With an army of grassroots and high-profile supporters, he easily got the votes to be elected to state parliament on the weekend. PETER GEORGE, INDEPENDENT: Whoever can come up with the best proposition that will be of real benefit to Tasmania, I will work with them. But I don't plan to sign an agreement, because frankly with those old parties, the agreement is only worth what it is until they tear it up and the truth is both of those parties will tear up any agreement as soon as it's no longer convenient to them. ELLEN COULTER: The Liberals don't want to work with the Greens and Dean Winter has promised not to govern with the Greens. DEAN WINTER: I've been clear with Tasmanians before this election that I won't be doing any deals with the Greens and I'm not going to change that. ELLEN COULTER: Kate Crowley is an expert on minority government and green politics. She says Dean Winter will need more than the support of the independents. KATE CROWLEY: Everyone knows that he needs to talk to the Greens. He can't get anywhere without talking to the Greens. ELLEN COULTER: A potential sticking point in negotiations could be plans for a contentious new AFL stadium. While both major parties support the stadium, the Greens don't and nor do three of the four independents elected so far. PETER GEORGE: The truth of the matter is, the stadium is not necessary, it's unwanted, quite clearly because I've been elected and that's one of the policies that I've been elected on, or positions. ELLEN COULTER: While the weekend's result might seem odd to the rest of the country, this sort of election purgatory isn't unusual for Tasmania's electoral system. CASEY BRIGGS: The Hare-Clark system delivers seats to parties you know roughly in proportion to the share of the vote that they get. Now it used to be the case that the major parties would get vote share numbers in the 40s, but that's been declining now for some time. We're seeing the same trend in Tasmania that we're seeing nationally. But under the Hare-Clark system, it sort of exaggerates the effect that you get. It sees minority governments become even more likely. ELLEN COULTER: Something the major parties might need to get used to. KATE CROWLEY: I think they really need to start thinking more about schooling themselves into how to build coalitions. And honestly, there's so much experience around the country now in doing coalitions. So there's a lot of lesson learning that can go on there. You can form stable coalitions with partners that you don't see eye to eye on.
SBS Australia
9 hours ago
- SBS Australia
NITV Radio News 21/07/2025
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he supports a greater role for the federal government in childcare. An investigation is underway after a motorbike rider died in New South Wales after hitting a pole while being pursued by police. In Tasmania, state Labor leader Dean Winter says he has begun discussions with the cross-benchers about possible power-sharing arrangements, following Saturday's election result. That and more on NITV Radio.
