Category Archives: Australia news

Morrison says world should not get ‘suckered into’ Gaza ceasefire – as it happened

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Paterson: ceasefire in Gaza would ‘just allow Hamas to regroup’

Turning to the Israel-Hamas war, Liberal senator James Paterson is asked for his view on calls for a ceasefire.

[It would] just allow Hamas to regroup, it would allow them to continue to hold more than 200 hostages, and it would allow them to again prepare for another attack on Israel.

And the truth is that neither the people of Gaza, the Palestinian people, nor the people of Israel, will be safe as long as Hamas is in power in Gaza. And so their removal is a legitimate military objective which Israel is proceeding with. Having said that, it is of course important for Israel and the IDF to do what they can to minimise civilian casualties.

I think it’s important that the prime minister raises the full range of issues in the bilateral relationship with Xi Jinping, including the foreign interference and espionage in our democracy but also the ongoing detention of an Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun, the ongoing unjustified sanctions against the Australian economy and many other challenges.

I think they (China) certainly do pose national security challenges to Australia in terms of foreign interference and espionage, in terms of cyber attacks in terms of intellectual property theft, but also in terms of malign conduct that they’re engaging in the South China Sea …

In my view, it would be absurd to admit as a member of one of the highest standard agreements in the world, a country which until recently had engaged in up to $20bn of economic sanctions against the bilateral free trade agreement. If the Chinese government is not able to abide by the standards it voluntarily agreed to enter into under the Australian free trade agreement, why should we expect that they will behave any differently in the future?

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Daylesford pub crash: Victorian community reels over deaths of two children and three adults

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Police say a nine-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, along with two of their parents, are among the five killed

It was one of Daylesford’s busiest weekends. Tourists were taking advantage of a Victorian public holiday on Tuesday to flock to the town for a four-day long weekend.

One of the town’s most popular pubs, the Royal Daylesford Hotel, had families gathered in its beer garden, toasting the sunset and enjoying a relatively warm Sunday in November.

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Pacific Islands Forum: four leaders fail to attend as China-US rivalry takes centre stage

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The US has been racing to reopen embassies and deepen links with Pacific countries in wake of Solomon Islands security pact with China

The leaders of three Melanesian countries are missing the region’s most important annual political gathering, dealing a blow to attempts by Pacific island countries to project unity at a time of rising geopolitical rivalry.

Officials confirmed the prime ministers of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea would not be travelling to the Cook Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) meeting running from Monday to Friday.

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‘The Uluru statement stands’: key yes campaigners to keep working towards Indigenous voice

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Referendum ‘shifted Australia in the right direction’ despite failure in vote, one advocate says, as Indigenous leaders privately debate next steps

Key campaigners for the Indigenous voice referendum say their support for the Uluru statement from the heart still stands and they will keep working towards a voice to parliament, with the official yes organisation to continue advocating for First Nations issues.

Despite the failure of the 14 October vote, yes campaigner Thomas Mayo said the referendum and campaign had “shifted Australia in the right direction”. The federal Labor government is still considering its next agenda in Indigenous affairs policy, but architects of the yes campaign say they will continue calling for truth, treaty and voice policies.

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Australian food industry ‘hijacks’ strategies designed to tackle public health crises, conference hears

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Experts in public health say that commercial interests engage in practices harmful to health and the environment

It’s a “risky business” for the government to work with the food industry to tackle health crises like obesity, an international public health conference has been told, with effective food packaging labels already jeopardised.

Dr Dori Patay, a researcher with the Menzies Centre in Sydney, said despite ample evidence of the harmful influence of the food industry on health policy, governments increasingly regard the food industry as “partners” in addressing chronic diseases.

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Tired of waiting for a Queensland EPA, conservation group launches own ‘enforcement arm’

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The Queensland Conservation Council says new entity will take ‘proactive actions’ to ensure state’s environmental laws are enforced

Queensland’s peak conservation group says it will launch a new “enforcement arm”, amid frustration at stalled government promises to establish an independent environmental regulator.

Every Australian state or territory – except Queensland – has an independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Greens stage Senate walkout over Labor’s Israel-Hamas war response

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Mehreen Faruqi leads boycott of question time to protest against claimed Albanese government inaction over conflict in Gaza

The Greens have stormed out of Senate question time to protest what they say is Albanese government inaction over the conflict in Gaza.

The Greens deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, led the boycott declaring that Labor’s “weasel words are not going to stop war crimes” by Israel and shouting “free, free Palestine” with her fist raised.

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Albanese to echo Whitlam as he prays for a good harvest in Xi talks

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The prime minister will visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Monday morning before a significant meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping

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Fifty years ago, Gough Whitlam visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing as part of an historic visit to China to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic.

Whitlam’s visit to the Beijing landmark produced an iconic image. In the photograph, the newly elected Australian prime minister is captured with his ear to the circular Echo Wall in the world heritage site. In the background, the Australian prime minister is watched by Stephen Fitzgerald, Australia’s first ambassador to China.

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Legal action attempts to force Australia to reveal if arms exports are supporting Israel assault on Gaza

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Palestinian human rights groups allege Israel may be using Australian technology in serious human rights abuses

Palestinian human rights groups have launched a landmark legal bid to determine whether Australian-made weapons and ammunition are being sent to Israeli forces amid its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The three groups, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the latter two of which are based in Gaza, say transparency over who is supplying weaponry and ammunition is crucial as the besieged strip faces its fourth week of bombardments by the Israeli military.

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Victoria pub crash: five killed as car ploughs into beer garden in Daylesford

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Police said the accident, which left two children dead, happened just after 6pm at a pub on Vincent Street, reportedly the Royal Daylesford Hotel

Five people including two children have died when a car crashed into the beer garden of a pub in Daylesford in rural Victoria.

Just after 6pm on Sunday a white BMW SUV mounted the kerb and hit patrons on the Vincent Street pub’s front lawn, police said.

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Greens threaten Brisbane landlords with huge rates rises if they increase rents

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Greens unveil policy designed to freeze rents at January 2023 levels in battle for Brisbane city council

The Greens say they would introduce an effective rent freeze across Brisbane by enacting massive land rates increases for any property investors who increase the rent.

The announcement on Monday will be a centrepiece of the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council, a city where nearly four in 10 homes are occupied by renters.

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If interest rates rise again, it may be because inflation fears lost their anchor to reality

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The issue of ‘consumer expectations’ of inflation is hotly debated by economists, and might be a key factor in the Reserve Bank’s decision

If the Reserve Bank lifts interest rates on Tuesday, governor Michele Bullock may well cite the need to keep consumers’ expectations of inflation “anchored”.

But it’s not a simple task to determine what those expectations are and whether they are anchored to reality.

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Revealed: Home Affairs paying to access controversial tool tracking mobile phone movements

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Agency has had access to Locate X since at least 2021, documents show, amid questions about use of data that may contain people’s sensitive information

Home Affairs has paid an American intelligence company to access Locate X, a controversial tool that can track the movement of smartphones.

The agency has had access to the product since at least 2021, according to correspondence between Home Affairs and Babel Street obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information (FOI) laws.

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Centrelink to get 3,000 new staff in bid to deal with helpline and payment delays

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Funding boost of $228m aims to return workers to frontline roles after millions of calls went unanswered

Centrelink call centres will get an additional 3,000 staff as part of an immediate $228m funding boost to speed up claim payments after complaints of blown-out call wait times.

More than 800 workers have already been recruited, with the remaining 2,200 to be employed in centres across capital cities and regional New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the government services minister, Bill Shorten, announced on Sunday night.

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Albanese offers gentle rebuke over China’s ‘unnecessary barriers to trade’ at Shanghai expo

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Australian prime minister pushes the benefits of ‘rules-based trade’ after a period of unilateral sanctions imposed by China

Anthony Albanese has delivered an implicit rebuke to China for its strong-arm tactics during Beijing’s protracted trade war with Canberra, telling attenders at a trade expo in Shanghai “Australia and China have prospered thanks to the certainty and stability that is made possible by rules-based trade”.

But while politely criticising Beijing’s trade tactics, Australia’s prime minister did not rule out supporting China’s long-held ambition to join a critical regional pact – the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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Australia news live: treasurer denies he is interfering with RBA decisions ahead of tipped interest rate rise

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RBA has left cash rate on hold for four months while warning it might need to keep pushing up interest rates if still-high inflation does not fall. Follow the day’s news updates live

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the prime minister’s official visit to China is not without challenges but is critical to a “prosperous relationship” between the two countries.

It’s the first official visit by a prime minister into China since 2016 and I think it recognises that this - a stable relationship - is in the interests of both countries. Now, we are clear-eyed about the complexities and the challenges of managing this relationship. But we give ourselves the best chance of prospering together if we engage with one another.

And we’ve already seen some of the fruits of that effort - something like 95% of the trade restrictions by dollar value have been lifted. That’s good for our businesses, our exporters, and our workers. And that’s why it’s so important that this engagement has been happening for some time and why it’s so important that this official visit is taking place this week.

I think this is a sort of rapprochement based on realism. As [Katharine Murphy] was saying earlier, from China’s point of view, they haven’t changed their long-term strategic or economic goals. And neither have we changed our strategic allegiances. But it suits both sides for lots of reasons to get the trade relationship flowing again, to get the economic relationship flowing again, and to be talking again. And that’s what this visit is going to achieve.

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Albanese arrives in China for landmark visit, says it’s in ‘our national interest’

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Albanese will meet Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang, on the first visit to China by an Australian prime minister since 2016

Anthony Albanese has declared Australia will “cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, but ... also engage in our national interest” as the prime minister arrived in the People’s Republic for a landmark three day official visit.

Albanese touched down in Shanghai on Saturday evening. After being received at the airport by senior diplomats from both countries, the prime minister went immediately to a banquet hosted by China’s premier Li Qiang to open China’s International Import Expo in downtown Shanghai.

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Consultancy firms paid $40m to review safety of aged care homes did not meet government standards

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KPMG was among the four firms to have had reports rejected, a Senate inquiry heard, putting pressure on abandoning future outsourcing altogether

Four consultancy firms that were paid more than $40m to audit quality and safety in aged care homes have had reports rejected because they did not meet the standard required by the federal government.

The aged care quality and safety commissioner, Janet Anderson, has told a Senate inquiry the firms were “held to account” for their work and that there is an ongoing review about whether to rely on them as heavily in the future.

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Air fares likely to stay stubbornly high as travel-hungry Australians’ tastes change

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Higher prices see the phenomenon of ‘revenge travel’ turn into a willingness to spend more on bigger trips, industry watchers say

International air fares are set to remain stubbornly high throughout the first half of next year, but the preferences of travel-hungry Australians are shifting.

After the broad reopening of borders by mid-2022, international airlines have largely enjoyed bumper profits by operating fewer flights than an average pre-pandemic year, all while Australians’ pent-up demand for travel meant they were able to charge eye-watering amounts for tickets.

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Adelaide man thanks Australian officials for ‘relentless’ effort to get family of four home from Gaza

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Arriving in Adelaide the father of two has thanked everyone who ‘felt their pain’ and praised ‘compassionate’ Dfat staff

The father of a young family that has escaped war-torn Gaza and returned to Adelaide has thanked everyone who “felt their pain”, and praised the “relentless” efforts of Australian diplomats who secured their safety.

The Adelaide family of four travelled to Gaza so the two children, aged seven and 10, could visit their grandparents and family. It was their first visit to Gaza. They arrived two weeks before the conflict began and, according to their lawyer, have been through hell since then.

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