Jim Chalmers hints concession on threshold for imports could finally lead to an agreement. Follow the latest updates live
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Two flights from Dubai land in Sydney and Melbourne
A second commercial flight landed in Sydney last night from Dubai and the first made its way to Melbourne from the Middle Eastern hub.
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The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says Australia was not told in advance about the bombing of Iran but won’t say whether intelligence facilities here were used.
“We weren’t told advance. You wouldn’t expect us to be but you would see there’s obviously been a lot of discussion,” she said.
Continue reading...A third family says the Australian government must do more to hold Israel and the Israeli Defence Force to account, including demanding an apology
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The families of dead Australian soldiers whose graves were bulldozed by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza have called for reparations and urged the Albanese government to hold Israel accountable.
Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that the IDF had bulldozed parts of the Gaza War Cemetery – the resting place of Australian, British and Canadian soldiers who served in the first and second world wars.
Continue reading...The trade minister, Don Farrell, says Australia has ‘consistently advocated’ against the ‘unjustified tariffs’, after the US president announced new levies
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Australia will “examine all options” after the US president Donald Trump announced a temporary 15% tariff would apply to US imports from all countries.
The US president’s move came less than 24 hours after the US supreme court overturned his original 10% import tariff. Shortly after the ruling, Trump announced he was reinstating the 10% duties using a different law before raising it again to 15%.
Continue reading...The home affairs minister says the One Nation leader was frustrated with the Muslim community because it ‘didn’t give her what she wanted’. Follow live updates
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Police investigating the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian are appealing for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case, AAP reports.
Hopes are fading of finding the 85-year-old alive, who was taken captive more than a week ago when three men stormed his Sydney home and bundled him into an SUV.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former US secretary of state calls for more demanding steps from Australia as it takes over presidency of next year’s UN climate summit
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Australia’s government, which will preside over the next UN climate summit, should gather the world’s 25 biggest greenhouse gas emitting countries and push them to draw up a roadmap to end the era of fossil fuels, former US secretary of state John Kerry has said.
Only by “hard-nosed” confrontation with fossil fuel producers, and reducing their consumption in major economies, would the world be able to tackle the climate crisis, he said.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former US secretary of state calls for more demanding steps from Australia as it takes over presidency of next year’s UN climate summit
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Australia’s government, which will preside over the next UN climate summit, should gather the world’s 25 biggest greenhouse gas emitting countries and push them to draw up a roadmap to end the era of fossil fuels, former US secretary of state John Kerry has said.
Only by “hard-nosed” confrontation with fossil fuel producers, and reducing their consumption in major economies, would the world be able to tackle the climate crisis, he said.
Continue reading...Liberal party senator calls Department of Parliamentary Services email ‘incredibly concerning’
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Politicians and staff in parts of Parliament House have been urged to turn off their phones, laptops and internet during a visit by Chinese officials, with parliament administrators warning building occupants about interruptions to wifi service.
The shadow cybersecurity minister, Claire Chandler, called the warning “incredibly concerning”, saying the parliament advisory raised worries about threats to sensitive data.
Continue reading...From Scott Morrison’s ‘on-water matters’ to the Albanese government’s MOU with Nauru, successive governments’ attitude to legitimate scrutiny has been one of hostility
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Offshore, secrecy dominates. But it doesn’t stop at the water’s edge.
In February, Australia brokered a new offshore arrangement with Nauru, striking a deal to send members of the so-called NZYQ cohort – non-citizens with criminal histories – to the Pacific island. Australia would give Nauru more than $400m in exchange.
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Total fire ban in parts of New South Wales
While a storm system continues to affect parts of New South Wales’ east, the state’s west faces extreme fire danger.
I expect it will be pretty much what the Nationals have wanted all along because it’s been really clear that they have set the agenda in terms of the energy and climate policy of the Liberal Party.
I’m genuinely concerned and genuinely disappointed that this has happened because we do need to take action on climate change.
I think my a lot of my community will be going ‘Why on earth has the Coalition done this if they are seeking to ever take back seats’ like mine?
Continue reading...Shoebridge accuses Labor of being ‘addicted to secrecy’. Follow today’s news live
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji takes the controls.
Asio chief Mike Burgess gave a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney last night in which he said there were “at least” three countries whose governments were prepared to carry out assassinations on Australian soil. Asked whether it was too alarming, Burgess said that it was “incredibly important” for Australians to understand the dangers the country faced.
Continue reading...US president tells reporters he and Australian PM ‘working on a lot of things together’
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After waiting a long time to meet Donald Trump, Anthony Albanese has now done so twice in 10 days, as his US counterpart talks up cooperation on rare earths and other issues.
Albanese followed last week’s trip to Washington by sitting next to the US president on Wednesday evening at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit dinner in Gyeongju, South Korea.
Continue reading...The warmness shown by the US president was held up as vindication of the PM’s foreign policy acumen, and the nerve he had shown in not begging for an earlier meeting
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Outside the White House cabinet room hangs a painting of Donald Trump flanked by Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, in front of a billowing American flag.
The fan-fiction rendition of three Republican leaders, proudly displayed on a main thoroughfare amid a gallery of other photographs and portraits of Trump, is far from the oddest thing in the home and office of the 47th president. The White House is a homage to gilding and gold, crown moulding daubed in glittering paint, with knick-knacks gaudy and glistening stuffed on to his shelves, a Diet Coke button on his desk, and a new ballroom requiring the partial tear-down of the historic East Wing.
Continue reading...Richard Marles condemns Chinese military after flares let off ‘very close’ to Australian surveillance aircraft over South China Sea
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The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, has condemned the “unsafe and unprofessional” behaviour of the Chinese military, saying a fighter jet released flares close to an Australian surveillance plane over the South China Sea.
Australia’s defence forces expressed “concerns” about the incident in a statement, saying it posed a risk to Royal Australian Air Force personnel and their aircraft. No injuries or damage was sustained as a result of actions.
Continue reading...The prime minister says it is ‘wonderful to be here’ ahead of long-awaited meeting with the president in the Oval Office at the White House
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Anthony Albanese has arrived in the US for a long-awaited meeting with President Donald Trump, where they are expected to discuss the Aukus pact – an agreement a respected Republican has called a “crucial deterrent” in the Indo-Pacific that “keeps [the Chinese president, Xi Jinping] up at night”.
Albanese arrived in Washington DC late on Sunday night local time (Monday afternoon AEDT) ahead of his meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday morning local time (Tuesday morning AEDT). The two men will meet in the Oval Office, followed by a scheduled lunch afterward, according to the White House.
Continue reading...The Liberal leader says the prime minister must extract ‘concrete’ results on Aukus and trade. Follow today’s news live
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Hume: Ley describing Melbourne as Australia’s ‘crime capital’ just ‘explaining what every Victorian already knows’
The federal Liberal senator for Victoria, Jane Hume, was on ABC Radio National a short time ago speaking about crime in the state.
Sussan and the shadow ministry team are putting together our policy agenda as we speak. It is only five months since the last election, but I don’t agree that there is nothing that a federal government cannot do. In fact, there are plenty of things that a federal government can get involved in to help states tackle crime, whether it be working for consistent bail laws across the country.
Continue reading...Treasurer says he spoke to former PM ‘half a dozen’ times before unveiling changes to his plans for superannuation tax concessions. 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 and then Nick Visser will take over.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says he spoke to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating ‘half a dozen times’ last week as he finalised the federal government’s watered-down superannuation tax plan. More coming up.
Continue reading...It’s not yet known if Habib signed waiver as demanded by Israel before being taken to Jordan border on Sunday
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Australian woman Madeleine Habib has been released from an Israeli prison, four days after a ship she captained as part of another Gaza-bound aid flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters.
A source close to Habib said she was released on Sunday morning Israel time, along with other activists from the freedom flotilla, and taken to the Jordan border.
Continue reading...Survey finds 57% of respondents agreed government should impose similar sanctions on Israel as those against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine
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Australians are supportive of placing tough sanctions on Israel and its leaders for their role in attacking Gaza, with a new poll finding more than half of voters agree the federal government should extend sanctions placed on Russia to Israel.
The YouGov poll, commissioned by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and released Monday, shows the majority of Australians want Israel to end its assault on Gaza, with 69% agreeing – 53% “strongly” agreeing – the Netanyahu government’s military campaign should stop. Fourteen per cent disagreed.
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James Paterson says Hastie move to backbench part of Liberals’ ‘debate and contest about ideas’
The sooner the Liberal party can sort out its differences the better but it may take a while after Andrew Hastie’s departure to the back bench, according to one of the rogue MP’s closest colleagues.
But we do have to make sure we go through our processes. We have to make sure we have those debates.
One of the reflections we’ve all had about the last parliamentary term is that there wasn’t enough debate and contest about ideas, that we need to robustly contest policy before we settle on it.
On the back bench, I’ll continue to advocate for things I believe in.
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