More transparency needed on exports to Israel after Greens ‘exploited’ information vacuum, Labor says

Defence industry minister says ‘social division and damage’ led government to rethink position on releasing information

The Albanese government has conceded it was forced to release more details about defence exports to Israel by a growing awareness that an information vacuum was being “exploited” and allowing misinformation to spread.

The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said the “level of social division and damage to our community has caused us to rethink the level of transparency needed”.

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Australia only granted defence export permits to Israel for repair of equipment since conflict, estimates told

Eight permits have been approved since 7 October, officials say, but only for items that have to be repaired in Israel and returned to Australia

The Australian government has granted eight permits to send defence-related equipment to Israel since the Gaza conflict erupted, but said they related to items requiring repair by Israeli manufacturers before being returned.

After facing months of criticism from the Greens over the issue, the government has given its most detailed account yet of Israel-bound equipment.

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Australia politics live: RBA governor still confident economy will slow without stalling; no-confidence vote for embattled Townsville mayor

Council passes unanimous motion of no-confidence in its mayor Troy Thompson. Follow the day’s news live

Australia’s existing submarines won’t get Tomohawk missile upgrades

Australia’s existing Collins-class submarines will not be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of work to extend their life before the Aukus submarines come into service.

For instance, we will consider whether tomahawk missiles can be fitted to the Collins-class submarines.”

The government has also received advice from Defence, in consultation with the United States, that adding Tomahawk cruise missile capability to the Collins class submarines is not viable and does not represent value for money.

The Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines Australia will receive in the early 2030s will come with the Tomahawk as standard equipment. Tomahawk cruise missiles will also be used by Navy’s Hobart class destroyers and the government has agreed in-principle to fit the Hunter class frigates with Tomahawks, subject to a feasibility study. [end quote]

NDS agrees with the government that managing the sustainability of the NDIS is critical — the community expects no less. We need fundamental and systemic reform, and that must be accompanied by proper resourcing for sector transformation.

The system is broken. Training, supervision and retaining highly skilled practitioners to provide quality care is essential, but not adequately covered in the current funding model.”

A continuation of previous workforce trends showing that workforce issues in the disability sector have become entrenched.

The disability sector continues to rely heavily on casual disability support workers, who have a very high turnover.

The biggest variation this year was a in proportion of permanent employees who work full time – with the number of full-time employees growing by 10%, the highest in close to a decade.

Conversely, part-time employment dropped to 70% this year. The increase may be related to the current cost-of-living crisis.

Turnover continued the upward trend growing to 24% this year, while permanent staff turnover jumped to 16%, the highest it has been since this survey began. These figures represent a churn of almost 16,500 individual employees leaving their jobs and over 19,000 new appointments over a one-year period.

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Negative drug tests recorded for personnel who packed Jack Fitzgibbon parachute before deadly jump

Defence says it carries out random drug testing on an ongoing basis and investigations into Fitzgibbon’s death continue

All defence personnel involved in packing and checking Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon’s parachute before his tragic death had tested negative for prohibited substances, the Australian defence force says.

On Sunday the ABC reported six unidentified soldiers serving at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Richmond had “failed comprehensive drug screening in mid-February and early March” and were facing potential expulsion from the ADF.

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Defence All-hours Support Line (ASL) – 1800 628 036

Defence Member and Family Support – 1800 624 608

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling – 1800 011 046

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Australia news live: Queensland poised to limit K’gari visits amid wave of dingo attacks; Electric Fields crash out of Eurovision semi

The number of tourists on K’gari could soon be capped on the busiest days of the year. Follow today’s news live

CFMEU welcomes funding of 15,000 fee-free construction Tafe places in budget

The CFMEU has welcomed a funding boost for apprenticeships and traineeships in the upcoming budget.

This investment will mean more apprentices and trainees will get the training they need to build critical housing and infrastructure that Australia desperately needs …

There’s an often-overlooked distinction between apprenticeships and traineeships but thankfully the government recognises the importance of both – that’s critical to addressing construction skills gaps.

If they don’t mobilise this government into real action I just don’t know what will. Half of all threatened species becoming extinct is an intolerable outcome.

Report after report has shown the terrible decline of biodiversity in NSW, and the Ken Henry review of biodiversity laws gave the government very clear recommendations on how to slow and reverse this trend, but the government still hasn’t responded after seven months.

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Canberra accuses Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares dangerously close to Australian helicopter

Defence minister Richard Marles says protests made to Beijing over ‘unacceptable’ altercation that forced pilot on UN mission to avoid being hit

The federal government has accused a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares dangerously close to an Australian helicopter on a United Nations mission in international waters.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, branded the incident “unacceptable”.

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David McBride: commonwealth prosecutors seek jail sentence for Australian defence whistleblower

Former army lawyer asks for leniency on basis of ‘exemplary character’ after pleading guilty to leaking secret defence documents to media

The commonwealth wants to see army whistleblower David McBride in jail for more than two years for his role in leaking secret defence documents on the Afghanistan war to the media, a court has heard.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, a decade after McBride first began secretly taking classified documents from the Australian defence force where he worked as an army lawyer, the commonwealth’s counsel, Trish McDonald, said McBride’s actions amounted to “egregious conduct” and affected how defence conducted some operations as well as Australia’s relations with allies.

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Synergy360 boss drops defamation case against Nine – as it happened

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‘Lower the temperature’ on protests at university campuses, education minister says

The education minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities, and whether they should be allowed to continue for as long as students are willing to man them.

There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, that’s part of being a democracy. What there’s no place for is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination and certainly no place [for] antisemitism or Islamophobia – whether it’s on our university campuses or anywhere else in the country.

What I’d say is that we’ve just got to lower the temperature. You know, what’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart. We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media, or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.

There’ll be a lot of people who will still be able to work at the same time as they’re doing [placements]. But there are people who can’t [and] this will provide that bit of extra help to pay the bills, put food on the table, pay for transport, sometimes the relocation costs that come with prac.

The commonwealth government hasn’t done this before. This is the first time that this has happened. It’s happened in the in response to calls from students – both teaching students and nursing students and social work students – across the country, and it’s come out of the work for the universities accord team that heard loud and clear that there is placement poverty in this country.

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Australia pledges $100m in military assistance to Ukraine as Richard Marles visits

Deputy prime minister says Australia remains committed to Ukraine’s war effort as it struggles to hold back Russian advances

The Australian government has announced a new $100m assistance package for Ukraine, which includes munitions and military equipment, during a visit to the country by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles.

Australia’s package will include $50m in military assistance, including $30m towards uncrewed aerial systems, and $15m towards other high-priority equipment such as combat helmets, rigid hull inflatable boats, boots, fire masks and generators.

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Lost luggage leaves New Zealand’s band without instruments for Anzac Day at Gallipoli

Bags went missing in Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms for defence force musicians

Australia’s and New Zealand’s defence forces are once again coming together at Gallipoli – this time to ensure New Zealand’s military band can play on.

The band’s luggage was among thousands of bags lost during last week’s Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms ahead of the 25 April dawn service in Turkey.

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Australia needs a plan for war to ‘focus the national mind’, Michael Pezzullo says

Former secretary of the home affairs department recommends preparation of a ‘war book’ to allocate roles in the event of conflict

Australia needs a comprehensive national plan for war – a “war book” – to coordinate civil and military roles and “focus the national mind” on the possibility of future conflict, the former secretary of the home affairs department Mike Pezzullo has said.

In a speech to an invitation-only security seminar last week, Pezzullo said Australian leaders needed to resurrect a practice adopted in the 1930s and prepare “a war book” which clearly allocated roles and responsibilities in the event of a conflict.

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Australia plans for a ‘less certain’ future in Asia — one where the US may not remain the dominant force

The US talks of Aukus as ‘binding’ the allies for decades to come, but Richard Marles says Australia must become more ‘self-reliant’

Australia’s defence overhaul has accelerated some projects and cut others and has already prompted a plea from China to abandon a “cold war mentality”.

But as the dust settles on a plan to increase overall military spending, the Albanese government has also sent some significant signals on how it sees the future of the Indo-Pacific region – and these aren’t exactly how Australia’s top security ally, the US, might see things.

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Labor announces $50bn boost to defence spending as it flags non-citizens may serve in ADF

Albanese government says overhaul will ensure military can project power further from Australian shores

Australia is pouring an extra $50bn into defence spending over the next 10 years, as part of an overhaul that the federal government says will ensure the military can project power further from its shores.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has also flagged plans to recruit non-citizens to serve in the Australian defence force to address workforce shortages.

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Australian War Memorial kept ministers in the dark on contracts for $550m redevelopment, audit finds

In two cases, contracts were split to avoid triggering $1m threshold for ministerial approval, the Australian National Audit Office says

The Australian War Memorial kept ministers in the dark on key details of its controversial $550m redevelopment and failed to manage conflicts of interest, a new audit report has found.

The Australian National Audit Office said the AWM’s advice to ministers lacked “transparency [and] accuracy”, while “in two instances contracts were split” to avoid triggering the $1m threshold for ministerial approval.

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Mona loses Ladies Lounge anti-discrimination case with ‘persons who do not identify as ladies’ to be allowed entry – as it happened

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A search will resume this morning for a woman who went missing while bushwalking at Belmore Falls in New South Wales.

Just after 1pm on Sunday, emergency services were called to Belmore Falls near Robertson after reports a woman had slipped and fallen down a cliff. An extensive search was initiated, but the 20-year-old was not located and the search was suspended at dusk.

We’ve got large multinationals in the supermarket ring who aren’t captured. So I’d like to see this expanded over time.

Woolworths, I think, makes a good point, and that is the code to be extended should be expanded to cover rivals Amazon, Costco and even Chemist Warehouse.

We’ll have more to say on that in coming weeks and months.

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PM says transparency around aid worker’s death ‘in Israel’s interest’ – as it happened

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PM ‘absolutely’ confident supermarket review will reduce prices for consumers

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC News Radio, also weighing in on Craig Emerson’s supermarket review.

Including the Senate review … we’ve already announced our funding of Choice, the consumer organisation, to do quarterly price monitoring, ensuring that consumers know where the best deal is available and using that use of information to drive that competition through the system.

We’ve only got a few supermarkets in Australia and it does concentrate a lot of market power in the hands of the retailers, [so] heavy fines might be the way to go. I certainly wouldn’t stand in the way of that.

And I know many people, particularly in one of the richest cities in the world in Sydney, are doing it incredibly tough when you’ve got the dual hits of both interest rate rises and high inflation.

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US shipyards up to three years behind schedule on submarines as concerns grow for Aukus pact

Greens senator David Shoebridge says review of shipbuilding program ‘adds to the growing list of reasons why Aukus is likely to fall over’

US shipyards are running up to three years late in building new Virginia-class submarines, despite suggestions from a senior US diplomat that the Aukus pact with Australia will help deter Beijing from seizing Taiwan.

Australia is relying on a US promise to sell it at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the 2030s, prior to Australian-made boats starting to enter into service in the 2040s.

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‘Poison portal’: US and UK could send nuclear waste to Australia under Aukus, inquiry told

Labor describes claims as ‘fear-mongering’ and says government would not accept waste from other nations

Australia could become a “poison portal” for international radioactive waste under the Aukus deal, a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear safety legislation has heard.

New laws to establish a safety framework for Australia’s planned nuclear-powered submarines could also allow the US and UK to send waste here, while both of those countries are struggling to deal with their own waste, as no long-term, high-level waste facilities have been created.

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How do Australian police taskforces get strange names like Tromperie?

In NSW, you can blame a computer which generates names at random, while in the Northern Territory ‘generic categories’ deliver operations named after rivers and battleships

New South Wales police last week arrested 15 people as part of Strikeforce Wessex – an investigation into alleged organised criminal networks operating “dial-a-dealer” schemes.

But what does Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Great Britain, have to do with drug dealing and mobile phones across Sydney?

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LGBTQI+ intolerance prevalent among Australian air force chaplains, inquiry told

Military chief says review into chaplaincy found ‘unacceptable views about minority groups, women, LGBTQI+ persons’

Some religious chaplains in the air force hold “unacceptable views about minority groups, women [and] LGBTQI+ persons”, posing a mental health risk to members, the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has heard.

And part of a review commissioned by the defence department into the air force chaplaincy unit – quietly tabled as evidence to the royal commission – found tension between theology and values, “notably in relation to gender and LGBTI inclusion”.

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