Australia news live: Coalition divided over energy policy, Ruston admits; Albanese expected to meet Zelenskyy in Rome
Key events
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the 13-year prison sentence handed to an Australian man on the charge of fighting in Ukraine as a “mercenary” as an “outrage”. The PM was speaking in Rome overnight where he said the government would continue to advocate for Oscar Jenkins.
Albanese is representing Australia at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass and is expected to hold talks with other leaders, with the war in Ukraine on the agenda, as well as trade. He is expected to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though told reporters on Saturday a time had not yet been locked in, according to the ABC.
The Victorian government has pledged free public transport for under-18s from 1 January next year, allowing children to register for a special youth Myki card. The government says more than one million children and their families will benefit from the $318m program.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …