Live: More than $600k donated to Save the Children in Haines's honour

The cost of delivering Australia's biggest renewable energy project has doubled since the last estimate and is now set to become fully operational a year later than expected, according to a major review.

Snowy Hydro has released its much-anticipated cost reassessment for the Snowy 2.0 hydropower project, revealing it could cost up to $25 billion, with first power expected in early 2029 and the project to be fully operational later that year.

While the Commonwealth-owned company has set a target cost of $22 billion, it is allowing for an additional $3 billion to be spent on the project if required.

Snowy 2.0, which started being built seven years ago, had an initial budget of $2 billion and was originally expected to start operating in 2021.

Those figures were revised as part of a "project reset" three years ago, which projected first power would be delivered in late 2027 and Snowy 2.0 would be fully operational a year later, at a cost of $12 billion.

Read more of this story at the link below. 

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler has rejected the suggestion a list circulated by the prime minister's office about Helen Haines after she called out a $6 million grant to his local golf course was a "dirt sheet".

Butler told Seven such sheets imply "scandalous behaviour" and say things people wouldn't be willing to say publicly.

"I've seen dirt sheets in my time. I don't see how this is a dirt sheet but more particularly I'm not entirely sure why we are having this debate this week of all weeks," Butler says.

He argues lists about election commitments and asks a whole range of MPs made circulated at the time and that he even read some into parliament.

"There was a pretty open debate about commitments that MPs have made in the lead into the election and whether or not there was a relationship that MPs had with organisations that would benefit from that," he says.

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume called on the prime minister to either justify the list or apologise for its existence.

"There is no doubt that his office circulated this file that didn't just list the projects that Helen Haines had requested. They also implied she had some sort of conflict of interest," she says.

Greens leader David Shoebridge has called on the prime minister to explain why his office circulated a so-called "dirt sheet" on Indi MP Helen Haines weeks ago.

The Daily Mail reported the PM's office circulated a document to selected journalists weeks ago about Haines, after she criticised a $6 million grant allocated to a golf club in Anthony Albanese's electorate.

The list included a number of funding requests Haines made on behalf of her electorate.

Albanese didn't deny the existence of the document when asked but insisted it was not a "personal criticism" of the MP.

Shoebridge told Nine he was perplexed that someone in the PM's office thought it was a good decision to pick an integrity fight with Haines.

"If the prime minister has a credible argument about why he was doing it, come out and explain it clearly," he says.

"Helen is a woman of incredible integrity and I don't know who int he prime minister's office thought it was a good idea to have an integrity fight between the Labor Party and Helen Haines.

"Because every single time in that fight, I'll tell you who's going to win - Helen Haines."

Nationals MP Michelle Landry is set to announce her intention to retire from politics on Friday, paving the way for her leader Matt Canavan to switch to the lower house at the next election.

Landry, the Nationals' chief whip, has held the Queensland seat of Capricornia since 2013.

But according to several LNP sources, she has decided to step aside at the next election, which is due in 2028.

Her office said she would make a "significant announcement" on Friday, alongside Canavan.

The Nationals leader holds the number two spot on the LNP senate ticket, behind Liberal James McGrath, but is expected to nominate as the LNP candidate for Capricornia after Landry's statement.

When asked recently if he had any interest in running for the seat, Canavan, who lives in Yeppoon, said he would "do whatever it takes", as the Nationals faced the prospect of a wipe-out from One Nation.

Read the full story from Jane Norman and Aaron Kelly at the link below. 

Independent MP Helen Haines privately lobbied the prime minister for urgent rural health funding just five days before she is alleged to have been mowed down outside her electorate office by a man whose lawyer says is suffering from mental and chronic health conditions.

ABC News understands Haines handed Anthony Albanese an annotated copy of the Forgotten Health Spend: A Report on the Expenditure Deficit in Rural Australia 2026 in a special crossbench catch-up with the prime minister last Wednesday to highlight a growing $2.7 billion expenditure gap between metropolitan and regional areas.

Sources with knowledge of the meeting who spoke with the ABC on the condition of anonymity said the health funding disparity between the cities and bush had been raised.

They said Albanese listened to the array of concerns raised by crossbenchers during the meeting and noted that "a lot of people ask for money".

A spokesperson for Albanese said the prime minister often met with independent members of the crossbench and had done since 2022.

"Members are free to raise any issues and we follow up," they said.

Read more of this exclusive report at the link below.

A Save the Children fundraiser in honour of independent MP Helen Haines has surpassed more than $600,000.

The Indi MP remains in a critical condition after an attack outside her electorate office on Monday afternoon.

Yesterday, Save the Children chief Mat Tinkler said the money would be used to help vulnerable children living in the regions.

Hello friends. Welcome to our politics live blog.

I'm Courtney Gould from the ABC's Parliament House team, here to guide you through the day.

Australians have donated more than $600k towards a fundraiser in Helen Haines's honour after she was attacked on Monday afternoon. She remains in a critical condition in hospital after having both her legs amputated.

We're also expecting Nationals MP Michelle Landry to announce she won't re-contest the next election, paving the way for Matt Canavan to make the switch to the lower house.

Let's get blogging!