Australia news live: Angus Taylor says he is not ‘focused’ on a leadership challenge; Melbourne council rejects new McDonald’s

Shadow defence minister asked about rumours he is mulling challenge for Sussan Ley’s top spot. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJohn Howard says the Whitlam episode empowered Australians to better decide the country’s futureRN’s Sally Sara spoke to former prime minister John Howard this morning about his own reflection on Gough Whitlam’s removal. Howard called Whitlam an “outstanding parliamentarian”, and one of the best he ever saw.I think the greatest lesson is that we have a very durable and workable constitution, which ultimately allowed the people of Australia to decide the country’s future.And there wasn’t any doubt that once the Australian people had a clear run at deciding who was going to govern their affairs, what their answer was.For someone like my mum, who’d waited a long, long time, 23 years to see the election of a Labor government, it was seen to