Category Archives: Australian foreign policy

Australia news live: Bondi beach reopens after tar-ball pollution; tornado warning for Victoria

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Waverley council says no remaining evidence of the debris could be found at Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches. Follow today’s news live

Max Chandler-Mather continued, and told ABC News Breakfast:

I would argue in this instance in the context of one of the worst housing crises we have seen in generations … now is precisely the time where we need more than tinkering around the edges and we need substantial change.

There is a building consensus we need to scrap these tax handouts. Increasingly the biggest barrier is a prime minister [who has just] gone through multiple days of scandal for buying another property and being a property investor.

So I think there’s a real moment here the government should seize to make real substantial change to the lives of hundreds of thousands of renters, and the bottom line is the Greens are ready and willing to work with Labor to do it.

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Australia news live: Queensland LNP candidate alleges he was assaulted; Sydney Harbour Bridge closed after fatal crash

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New polling from the Australia Institute shows that Australians view the supermarkets as “public enemy No 1” in the cost of living crisis.

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work surveyed 1,014 voters, and 83% said supermarkets deserve some blame – or a great deal of blame – for the soaring cost of living.

Australians are pointing the finger squarely at supermarkets as public enemy No 1 in the cost-of-living crisis … More people blame supermarkets for the cost-of-living crunch than governments or banks.

The public’s appetite for increased supermarket competition is unmistakable. Nearly two-thirds of voters see it as crucial for alleviating cost-of-living pressures … There’s likely to be political rewards for taking actions that increase supermarket competition.

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Rio Tinto praised for ‘breaking ranks’ to back revamp of environment laws – as it happened

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Queensland leaders to lock horns again in election debate

After their deputies traded blows, the Queensland premier and opposition leader are set to face off again ahead of the state election, AAP reports.

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Australia news live: Hanson-Young calls for investigation of live music ticketing allegations; culprit flees botched ram raid with arm on fire

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The federal government has announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranian individuals it says is “contributing to Iran’s missile program.”

A statement from the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Iran’s missile program “poses a material threat to regional and international security”, with the 1 October attack on Israel a “dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war.”

Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilising actions.

We’re holding ministers accountable when the premier of Tasmania refused to. This project – for people who don’t know – is $500m over budget, five years delayed.

It’s a completely debacle. Someone needed to take responsibility. The premier [was] saying he wouldn’t do that, the parliament decided it would act and, at the last moment, the deputy premier resigned.

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Alleged Pinochet agent turned Bondi nanny Adriana Rivas launches last-ditch appeal to block extradition to Chile

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Rivas, who is accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper, launches challenge in the federal court

A former Bondi nanny and cleaner accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper for Pinochet’s military dictatorship in the 1970s has launched a last-ditch legal appeal to avoid extradition.

Adriana Rivas, 70, has been in prison in Australia since 2019, when she was arrested on an extradition request from Chile – seeking her for trial on seven counts of aggravated kidnapping relating to the disappearance, and presumed murder, of seven members of Chile’s communist party who disappeared in 1976.

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Ramos-Horta says $74bn Timor Sea gas project could begin within months if Australia signs treaty

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Timor-Leste president’s trip comes amid mounting pressure for Labor to finalise an agreement

The $74bn Greater Sunrise gas project, which has been decades in the making, could be under way by the end of the year, the Timor-Leste president, José Ramos-Horta, said.

But he also said the pipeline and accompanying processing work must go to his nation, not Darwin.

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Australia politics live: Dutton attacks Albanese for including calls for ceasefire and de-escalation in motion reflecting on 7 October

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So what’s that ARC research project on islands actually about, anyway?

A blog watcher has taken the trouble to look up the research project that has Liberal MP James Stevens all hot and bothered, Archipelagic Connections in Australian and Pacific Literature:

Australia is often defined as an isolated island-continent, ‘girt by sea’. This project aims to challenge this protectionist myth by analysing literary and historical connections between different geographical sites that have been represented as enclosed in Australian history.

It expects to offer new interpretations of interconnected narratives of Aboriginal Australian, South Sea Islander and migrant enclosure in Australian literature.

The project also contributes to national strategic initiatives into the ‘truth telling’ on Australia’s past relations to Aboriginal Australians and the study of environmental change in islands and archipelagos.

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More than half of Australians approve of Albanese government’s response to Israel-Gaza war, poll finds

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Of 1,139 people surveyed in the Guardian Essential poll, younger voters more likely to say Australia’s response is too supportive of Israel

About 56% of Australians are satisfied with the federal government’s response to the Israel-Gaza war, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

As federal politicians paused to mark the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks and the Israeli military response, the poll showed a five-point jump in satisfaction with the Labor government’s stance since the question was last asked in August.

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‘You need to go’: up to 500 Australians prepare for evacuation from Lebanon amid government warnings

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Two charter flights are expected to fly out of Beirut on Saturday as list of people seeking to leave grows

Up to 500 Australians and their close relatives are due to be boarded on to two charter flights out of Beirut on Saturday, amid increased government efforts to expatriate citizens after Israel’s ground incursion into Lebanon’s south.

The first flight was expected to fly out of the Lebanese capital and land in Cyprus at about 11.30am local time (6.30pm AEST). From there, two Qantas flights can take passengers to Sydney on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Australia news live: PM introduces Tu Le as Labor challenger for western Sydney seat of Fowler

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A joint police statement warns “there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year” in the lead-up to protests planned for the 7 October anniversary.

The statement comes from NSW police, Northern Territory police, the Queensland police service, South Australia police, Victoria police, Western Australia police, Tasmania police and Australian federal police.

Police respect the right to peacefully protest and assemble in Australia, however, there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year.

In Australia, there are offences that prohibit behaviour that incites or advocates violence or hatred based on race and religion, including the display of prohibited symbols in public under these circumstances.

The commission can confirm it carried out operational activity today at Parliament House. This was in relation to an ongoing investigation.

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Australia financially assisting some citizens to leave Lebanon as Israel launches ground incursion

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It is thought there are 15,000 Australians in Lebanon, and plans for an emergency evacuation have been in place for months

The federal government is understood to be financially assisting some Australians in Lebanon to leave the country as part of an escalated bid to expatriate citizens as Israel begins a ground incursion.

Guardian Australia understands Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport – the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon – remains open and both Australian passport and visa holders were being assisted on to flights by diplomatic staff. An estimated 15,000 Australians are in Lebanon.

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Burke accuses Dutton of trying to ‘throw kerosene’ on public debate over Middle East

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Home affairs minister says he will cancel visas of people waving Hezbollah flags at rallies as experts point to nuanced community perspectives on group

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has accused Peter Dutton of seeking to “raise the temperature” of public debate over conflict in the Middle East, after protests on the weekend included some people holding the Hezbollah flag.

The opposition leader on Monday suggested parliament should be recalled to enact new anti-terror laws that would cover such actions, if it was not already illegal.

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Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

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National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

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Protests across Australia as Penny Wong despairs ‘continued retribution’ in Middle East

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Local Jewish and Palestinian groups are preparing to mark one year since the October 7 attacks

As Palestinian and Jewish groups prepare to mark the first anniversary of the events that triggered the current Israel-Gaza conflict, the Australian government has again condemned the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, reiterating demands for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

“We’ve seen so much violence in the Middle East,” the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said on Sunday.

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‘Clear timeline’ for Palestinian statehood needed: Penny Wong escalates language in UN speech

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Penny Wong says she shares frustration of ‘great majority of countries’ about a lack of progress to recognise a Palestinian state

Australia has suggested the world should set “a clear timeline for the international declaration of Palestinian statehood” in a sign of increasing frustration about the stalled peace process.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, will float the idea in a speech to the UN general assembly in New York on Saturday Australian time (Friday US time). Benjamin Netanyahu was also due to address the gathering amid mounting concern about an escalating regional war.

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Israel ‘needs to listen’ to international community, Albanese says as Wong calls for Lebanon and Gaza ceasefires

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‘War has rules – even when confronting terrorists,’ Australia’s foreign affairs minister tells UN security council

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has urged his Israeli counterpart to “listen to the international community” amid fears of an escalating conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, also declared that the world “cannot allow any party to obstruct” peace in the Middle East as she pressed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

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Labor push for vote on help-to-buy bill delayed in Senate – as it happened

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White House marks three years since signing of Aukus agreement

Happy three-year anniversary of the signing of Aukus, to those who observe.

Three years ago, President Biden and our Australian and United Kingdom partners committed to Aukus, an enhanced security partnership that promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.

As this partnership has grown, it has strengthened the security of our allies in the region as well as our own security here at home. Over the past three years, our countries have made significant strides in supporting Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.

That is bad news for Australian solar homes.

To create space for inflexible nuclear power plants ramming energy into the grid, millions of household solar systems will be the first casualty.

Solar power is already being switched off in South Australia when it makes so much free power available that it exceeds electricity demand.

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John Howard weighs in on stoush between NSW and federal Liberals – as it happened

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Assistant treasurer says Elon Musk post is ‘crackpot stuff’

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has said Elon Musk labelling the Australian government as “fascists” is “crackpot stuff”.

And whether it’s the Australian government or any other government around the world, we assert our right to pass laws which will keep Australians safe – safe from scammers, safe from criminals.

And, for the life of me, I can’t see how Elon Musk or anyone else, in the name of free speech, thinks it is OK to have social media platforms publishing scam content, which is robbing Australians of billions of dollars every year. Publishing deepfake material, publishing child pornography. Livestreaming murder scenes. I mean is this what he thinks free speech is all about?

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Labor claims Aukus nuclear waste dumping issue just a Greens scare campaign

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Legislation before Australian parliament covers the way the country’s nuclear-powered submarine program will be regulated

The Albanese government has bowed to pressure to close an Aukus loophole, insisting newly revealed changes will ensure Australia will not become a dumping ground for nuclear waste from US and UK submarines.

The Greens argued the government’s latest amendments did not go far enough and it was becoming increasingly clear the Aukus security pact was “sinking”.

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Australia backs UK decision to curb arms sales to Israel

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Exclusive: Foreign minister Penny Wong says she ‘welcomes’ the British move and Palestinian civilians ‘cannot pay the price’ of defeating Hamas

Australia is coordinating with the UK and other allies to “pressure” Israel to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop the erosion of longstanding norms protecting aid workers.

The Australian government has also explicitly backed the UK’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel, putting it at odds with the US, which is reported to have privately warned Britain against the move.

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