Australia politics live: speculation teals may form new party; Gaza flotilla activists arrive home

Teal party speculation ‘not a surprise’ says cabinet minister Mark Butler says he’s not surprised to see speculation that the community teal independents could form a party – with the political spectrum in “flux” right now. Speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast this morning, the health minister says (rather unsurprisingly) that it’s “a matter for them”. There’s speculation this morning that Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall could be leading talks for a grouping of the independents. Independent senator David Pocock yesterday said he was open to a party forming to help counter One Nation. Butler says: double quotation mark They’ve [teal independents] obviously made inroads in particular communities in Australia. They’ll make their own assessment about whether that works for them. There obviously is a lot of flux in the non-Labor parts of politics right now, so to see speculation like that’s perhaps not a surprise. Share Updated at 22.28 BST Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Wong departs for Quad meeting in India Penny Wong will head to India today to meet with foreign ministers from India, Japan and the United States for the third Quad meeting in 18 months. It’s expected energy security will be among the hot topics the four countries discuss amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The foreign minister noted the Quad partnership was “vital” in “uncertain times”. …