Australia news live: police investigate vandalism of Josh Burns’ St Kilda office; Peter Dutton to unveil nuclear plans | Australia news

Victoria police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the vandalisation and damage done to federal MP Josh Burn’s office in St Kilda overnight.

They said at least 5 people were seen near the Labor member’s office at around 3.20am. The group smashed windows and painted walls and slogans at the premises. Small fires then occurred in telecommunication pits at the front of the building.

The group then ran from the scene.

Burns himself released a statement saying it was a “politically motivated attack.”

Last night, my St Kilda office was damaged in a politically motivated attack.

I’ve been in contact with the federal police and am awaiting further advice.

My team won’t be at the office this morning, or until we’re told it is safe to do so, but we’re here to help our community and can be contacted by email.

A crime scene is currently in place with Barkly Street shut in both directions.

Daniel Hurst

Australia cautiouns China over of ‘deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour’ in South China Sea

The Australian government has accused China of escalating its “deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour” in the South China Sea.

The strongly worded statement was issued last night, shortly after the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, flew out of Perth at the end of a four-day visit to Australia.

The statement said the Australian government “expresses its grave concern at, and stands by the Philippines in its response to, the dangerous and illegal actions by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew taking part in a routine mission” within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Monday.

The statement, published on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website, said the Chinese vessels “engaged in dangerous manoeuvres and illegal conduct, including the ramming of Philippine vessels, resulting in injury to crew and damage to Philippine vessels”. It said:

This is an escalation in a pattern of deeply concerning and destabilising behaviour by China. This conduct endangers peace and security in the region, threatens lives and livelihoods, and creates risks of miscalculation and escalation.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Monday that he and Li discussed military-to-military communication between Australia and China to reduce the risk of dangerous incidents.

Coalition party room meeting to discuss nuclear policy

Amy Remeikis

Good morning from Canberra where the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is expected to announce the Coalition’s nuclear policy after months of speculation.

In March, Dutton raised the prospect of releasing the nuclear policy in his May budget in reply speech. In May, it became “June-July”.

But the announcement, expected later today took most of his party room by surprise when speculation began mounting it was coming imminently late yesterday.

A snap shadow cabinet meeting was called for Tuesday night, with Coalition MPs informed late Tuesday afternoon of an impromptu joint party room teleconference meeting for 8.30am on Wednesday.

It is expected the nuclear policy, the detail of which has been tightly held by the Coalition leadership, will be laid out for the party room before it is formally announced.

Dutton has previously said he would be announcing six or seven areas with existing end-of-life coal-fired power stations as potential sites for nuclear power plants under the Coalition’s plan.

Yesterday, backbench MPs spoken to by the Guardian were questioning how much research had gone into the nuclear plan, given the very specific geographical requirements for nuclear plants – which includes easy access to large bodies of water and positions away from fault lines.

It was all still speculative late last night, but the sites named as potential nuclear picks were Queensland’s Gladstone, Callide, Stanwell or Tarong plants, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie in Western Australia, Mt Piper and the Hunter in NSW and potentially the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.

We should all find out very soon what is going on.

Mostafa Rachwani

Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the day’s news.

Welcome

Martin Farrer

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got some of the top overnight stories for you to get started before we move on to the mains.

The biggest story of the day in Canberra promises to be the long-awaited unveiling of the details of the Coalition’s nuclear plan with a party room meeting called for 8.30 this morning in the wake of snap shadow cabinet meeting last night. Peter Dutton is then expected to announce the details later.

We reported this morning that Queensland is emerging as a potential future nuclear capital under the Coalition’s plans, with six or seven sites expected to be named as potential locations for nuclear reactors. More coming up.

The Australian government has issued a strongly worded statement accusing China of “destabilising” behaviour in the South China Sea. It expressed “grave concern”about what it called “dangerous and illegal actions by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew taking part in a routine mission” within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Monday.

It came as the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, completed a four-day visit to Australia which was overshadowed by efforts of Chinese officials to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei during an event with Li inside Parliament House. The Australian government has formally complained to the Chinese embassy over what it called the “ham-fisted” attempts to block Cheng. More coming up.