The PM wants to combat One Nation through core Labor values such as education and health, even as his popularity takes a beating

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s new Politics, really newsletter here

At the height of her 1998 re-election fight, Pauline Hanson was challenged to give her honest assessment of John Howard.

Two years on from her firebrand maiden speech, the One Nation leader was contesting the Queensland seat of Blair when she was bailed up by a group of punters at a country race meeting. The men had been drinking and one demanded to know if Howard was “a prick”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s new Politics, really newsletter here

This blog is now closed

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

43 Australians still missing, with concerns growing ‘every day, every hour’ that goes by, Wong says

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says there are still 43 Australian missing after the flooding in Nepal, saying the government holds grave concerns for their safety that only gets worse as the days go by.

This is such a distressing time and I know this is so difficult for the family and friends of those 43 Australians.

Every day, every hour, only increases our concern for those who have not been found and remain missing, and that is many Australians. … You can imagine how many families and friends are traumatised as a consequence.