Australia is being exploited by an ally that could draw it, however unwillingly, into war with China, experts warn
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“Physical security matters,” said Kevin Rudd, at his axiomatic best before the National Press Club this week.
“Our first responsibility is to secure our people’s future in this most contested region of the world.”
Continue reading...Greens defence spokesman says ‘words are just distractions’ until government takes action
‘Guilt by association’: why seven international aid workers were killed in Israeli airstrike
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The Greens have criticised inflammatory statements from the former Israel Defense Forces officer who ordered the attack which killed Zomi Frankcom, accusing the Albanese government of weakness over its failure to halt military exports and impose new sanctions.
Australian aid worker Frankcom and six of her colleagues were killed in 2024 while bringing food to the people of Gaza. Former IDF reserve colonel Nochi Mendel has said he would do “exactly the same thing” again and that those killed in the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian convoy in Gaza were “not innocent”.
Continue reading...Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live
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Dfat aware of a ‘number’ of Australians in flood zone
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said it is aware of a “number” of Australians in the area affected by the flooding, saying officials stand ready to provide consular assistance.
We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China.
Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.
We are deeply saddened by the devastating flooding in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and surrounding areas.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster. We express our solidarity with the people of Nepal during this difficult time.
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Coalition demands NDIS changes focus on fraud, corruption
Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson also called on the government to focus more on fraud and corruption issues in the NDIS, as the Coalition and Labor negotiate on changes to the disability scheme.
We have people who are awarding either packages to people when they shouldn’t be used, we’re having people taking advantage of the system and we know this is being exposed.
And so as a consequence we’ve seen this massive growth continue to go on and we need to make sure that that’s the focus, not the targeting of the clients. You know, if you go out to voters in Australia, there are a lot of people who are on disability support packages who are very nervous about their future and it’s because of how this government has looked at reforms and they feel like they’re being targeted, not the fraudsters.
We’re not wowsers, we do believe in protecting children, particularly from harm.
Under the government’s proposed bill, it doesn’t limit the capacity to advertise to children and that’s something that I’m concerned about, making sure that we’ve got the measures that are consistent, appropriate, and also reflecting the changing nature of technology
Continue reading...National Foreign Trade Council ‘disappointed’ at move to expand News Bargaining Incentive but Australian experts say government is not going far enough
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A major US trade body has rubbished the Albanese government’s plan to make more big tech platforms pay for Australian journalism, issuing a veiled warning about how Donald Trump may respond to the “deteriorating trend”.
The National Foreign Trade Council said it was “disappointed” at the Australian government’s move to expand its News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) to take in Microsoft’s LinkedIn, amid trade tensions between Washington and Canberra including newly increased tariffs on Australian goods.
Continue reading...Treasurer points to other reforms after Labor members call for ‘fairer return’ from natural resources. Follow today’s news live
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your regular blogger takes the reins.
Jim Chalmers has claimed rightwing political parties will “prey on” voter insecurities about a worsening economy while championing “anti-worker” policies. It comes as markets are now expecting another rate hike by the end of the year. He also continues to push back at rank and file Labor members’ calls for a new tax on gas exports, saying the government had “other priorities” for reform. More coming up.
Continue reading...Treasurer says ‘parties of the sensible centre and the centre-left parties’ face ‘serious economic challenges’. Follow live
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Self-reported domestic violence incidents declining in NSW but deaths and hospitalisations fail to fall
New data shows self-reported domestic violence incidents in New South Wales have declined, but the number of women and children murdered or hospitalised in domestic and family violence incidents over the past eight years has not significantly budged.
The decline in self-reported violence is significant because it reflects underlying levels of violence in the community, not just what is reported to police. It suggests that, despite rising reports of domestic violence to police, domestic violence in the community is not increasing and may be trending down.
There’s a strong perception that violence against women is rising, which is understandable given increases in police-recorded incidents, heightened media attention and greater public awareness.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Penny Wong will deliver speech criticising China’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile
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Penny Wong will warn China that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week.
The foreign affairs minister – who will deliver the address on Thursday in the Philippines, where the 59th Asean foreign minister’s meeting is being held – will also caution world leaders against placing a toll on the strait of Hormuz after both Iran and the US threatened to do amid the protracted conflict.
Continue reading...One Nation MP grilled in 7.30 interview about Pauline Hanson’s podcast interview by far-right activist. Follow today’s news live
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Anthony Albanese has congratulated the new UK Prime Minister Anthony Burnham after the latter took over the job yesterday. The Australian PM posted a note to X, emphasising the strategic allyship:
Congratulations Prime Minister Burnham on your appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Australia and the United Kingdom are longstanding friends, allies and partners, united by shared values and deep ties between our peoples.
Continue reading...One Nation MP says the media should be prepared to interview far-right activist. Follow today’s news live
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Michelle Rowland says mandatory minimum standards for datacentres don’t apply to existing developments
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, told ABC News that mandatory minimum standards for datacentres would apply to new developments, not existing ones.
The scope and the timing of those is something that I think will be properly determined by national cabinet.
This is an issue that not only state governments but local councils have been dealing with as well.
It goes from being this hunched-over ball of fluff at the top of a tree looking down at you, to suddenly spreading out its limbs and flying over your head like a magical flying carpet, or this weird stingray-UFO thing in the sky.
Continue reading...Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of 28-year-old’s murder but remains were never found
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Northern Territory Police have opened evidence boxes to uncover several previously unseen photographs from the investigation of the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio and attempted abduction of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.
Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the infamous outback disappearance.
Continue reading...Indian prime minister wows crowd of 25,000 at Marvel Stadium as he praises role of diaspora in the India-Australia success story
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The throb of the drum beats intensified as the crowd of 25,000 Indian Australians prepared to welcome India’s prime minister back to Melbourne after more than a decade.
As Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese stepped on to the red carpet at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night, twinkling phone lights illuminated the feverish audience as they chanted “Modi, Modi, Modi.”
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Richard Marles said he doubted China tested the long-range weapon yesterday in response to Anthony Albanese being in the Pacific to sign a new defence alliance with Fiji but said Australia remained deeply concerned by the development. He told ABC News:
At the end of the day, what we’re seeing here is a long-range missile test from China, which China itself has said is nuclear-capable … This is China demonstrating a much greater range in terms of being able to deploy a nuclear weapon.
And ultimately what that is, is deeply destabilising.
Our fundamental issue in relation to China is that we have seen a very dramatic military buildup by China without that strategic reassurance [to our neighbours].
There really isn’t an explanation as to why they are building the capabilities that they are and that is fundamentally destabilising.
I think the system is handling the matter as it should … I think it’s appropriate that the legal process takes its course.
Continue reading...Mike Burgess’s annual threat assessment warns social media is ‘amplifying’ an erosion of trust in institutions, promoting discord and heightening polarisation
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An Australian citizen working as a senior intelligence officer for Iran “orchestrated” a firebombing in Bondi, the country’s top spy has revealed, while a former Australian resident in Iraq directed the attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
The homegrown ties to Australia’s “summer of antisemitism” are contained in a wide-ranging speech given by Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (Asio) director general, Mike Burgess, on Wednesday night, in which he said the “hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all the violent extremist cohorts have in common”.
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Tram passengers in Melbourne will be able to pay for their trip using a bank card, smartphone or smartwatch from today.
The long awaited expansion of tap-and-go payments follows a staged roll out to the city’s train network and main regional routes. Buses are expected to follow.
From today, you can step off a train and straight on to a tram using the same phone, watch or bank card.
Four in five tap and go trips are already being made with a phone or smartwatch – showing more Victorians are leaving the wallet at home.
The potential for this virus to kill wildlife in significant numbers means it could be particularly catastrophic for threatened species.
We are talking about possible extinctions, alongside severe impacts to common birds like our beloved pelicans and black swans.
This is a genuine wildlife emergency and it must be treated as such with emergency funding to increase efforts to protect wildlife populations.
Continue reading...Foreign affairs minister says her position is to ‘always believe women’ when sexual assault allegations are made
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The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says she believes the Australian women who have alleged they were sexually assaulted and beaten by Israeli soldiers after being detained as part of a humanitarian flotilla attempting to bring aid to Gaza.
Appearing at Senate estimates, Wong said the treatment of the Australian women was “unacceptable”, and the allegations they had subsequently made were “distressing”.
Continue reading...Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only secondhand Aukus submarines from US
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The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels.
The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables.
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Jim Chalmers says the opposition’s policy to index tax brackets would cost the budget a quarter of a trillion dollars over ten years, while claiming that the government is returning bracket creep to taxpayers.
It’s a slightly tricky position, as Angus Taylor argues that Labor is “betraying” itself because the high figure is actually how much the government is keeping and spending through bracket creep ever year.
This is a Government that returns bracket creep when it is responsible to do that.
That [policy] would cost tens of billions of dollars in extra debt interest, because he’s got these uncosted, unfunded, tax announcements that he [Taylor] made in his Budget reply, which was all about trying to stave off One Nation.”
What Angus Taylor is proposing to do is to pump the most money into the economy when inflation is already at its highest.
“This betrays the fact that the government plans to raise income tax rates to the tune of $35 billion This says more about their plan than our plan ...
If Labor’s saying that they plan to raise income taxes to the tune of $250 billion in the next 10 years ... [if] that is their tax hike, that’s their planned income tax increases.”
Continue reading...Australian pop star performs song Eclipse in second semi-final before Sunday’s final. Follow today’s news live
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Advocates for migrants last night accused Angus Taylor of using his budget reply speech to “chase votes with dog whistles, fear and division”.
Taylor claimed that migrants were coming to Australia and claiming benefits before they were becoming citizens, a situation which he said Australians did not accept.
The Coalition’s dangerous decision to return to its harmful, failed refugee policies of the past shows what a mess they are in. They have no new policy ideas. Temporary protection visas have harmed countless people and kept many families apart for over a decade. So many are still trying to recover.
Taylor’s comments tonight are inflammatory and desperate. The fact that he feels the need to dog-whistle about mass deportations of so-called ‘overstayers’, many of whom are actually trapped in a massively blown-out court and tribunal system created through years of Coalition underfunding, shows they are far more interested in stoking fear than delivering serious policy solutions.
The language in tonight’s address misleads the nation by claiming that migrants are arriving and immediately accessing welfare payments, which is a blatant lie. In reality most of the restrictions he’s talking about already exist and there are lengthy wait periods for welfare payments.
The Coalition knows all this and is deliberately misleading Australians about how the welfare system already operates in order to whip up fear and division.
If I may answer - it will be below 200,000. There’s no doubt about that.
And then the right mix will depend on the circumstances of the time. What is clear, what is clear, is that the number of students in this country has been at record levels.
Continue reading...Prof Abbas Rajabifard of the University of Melbourne says he was listed as a co-author of research with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator in recent peace talks, without his knowledge
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A University of Melbourne academic has denied collaborating on research with the speaker of Iran’s parliament – who has been leading Tehran’s peace negotiations with the US – saying he was named as an author on a journal article without his knowledge.
On Monday Guardian Australia revealed that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator, had built extensive ties to Australia over the past decade, including links to a University of Melbourne engineering research centre.
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