Police find missing member of group who reached remote Western Australia coast by boat

Search was conducted in difficult terrain near Mitchell Plateau as Coalition presses government over ‘third boat since November’

A man has been found in “relatively good condition” after becoming separated from a group of people who reached a remote pocket of the Kimberley coastline in Western Australia by boat.

A source confirmed to Guardian Australia that nine individuals had broached Australia’s mainland but did not confirm what nation they had arrived from.

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Labor ministers warned over expanded use of AI in immigration and biosecurity decisions

Senate committee queries new regulations that mean decisions normally made by ministers and officials are now automated

The federal government’s increasing use of computers to make decisions is raising alarm – including from its own ranks – with a bipartisan committee warning automation could jeopardise important safeguards that human discretion provides.

Urging the government to heed the findings of the robodebt royal commission and the commonwealth ombudsman’s artificial intelligence guidelines, a Senate committee has queried moves by the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, and the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, to expand the use of automated decision-making in immigration and biosecurity.

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Labor’s deportation bill could be used to blacklist entire countries’ citizens from obtaining visas to Australia

Greens attack the legislation, now the subject of a Senate inquiry, as a ‘Trump-style travel ban’

Entire countries could be blacklisted from obtaining visas to Australia under proposed legislation that has been described by migrant groups as “appalling” and by the Greens as a “Trump-style travel ban”.

The legislation – that will now be subject to a six-week Senate inquiry – could affect applicants from Russia, Iran, Iraq and South Sudan, as well as other countries unnamed by the government, that refuse to accept the forcible return of their nationals.

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Palestinian groups ‘relieved’ after Australia reverses visa cancellations for people fleeing Gaza

Some visas reinstated after further security checks but Amnesty urges government to provide clarity on vetting processes

Palestinian groups and refugee advocates say they are “so relieved” that the federal government has reversed visa cancellations for people fleeing Gaza, after several were stranded on their way out last week.

Some of the visas have been reinstated after further security checks, but advocates have urged the government to provide further clarity on the vetting processes, to give assurance to other Palestinians with Australian visas who manage to get out of Gaza.

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Australia politics live: flight chaos across country after air traffic controller no-shows, Senate told; Linda Reynolds announces retirement

Airservices Australia were grilled in Senate estimates after nationwide flight disruptions due to the missing staff. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton says Liberals will bin ‘right to disconnect’ if they win next election

Switching gears now – Peter Dutton has vowed to scrap the “right to disconnect” if the Liberal party wins the next election. Last week, Dutton told Sky News:

If you think it’s OK to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country.

And as the Reserve Bank governor pointed out, if you don’t address it you’ll see interest rates continue to climb or you’ll see them stay higher for longer.

We’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback from people who say - yeah, it’s not right that I should be on call 24/7 when I’m not getting paid for it.

And Peter Dutton wants you electronically bound to your boss, and having to answer calls 24/7, even if you’re not getting paid for it.

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Seven of the immigration detainees released in Australia were convicted of murder or attempted murder

Home affairs department also reveals 24 former detainees have been charged with visa rule breaches or state offences since their release

The revelation that seven of 149 people released from immigration detention were convicted of murder or attempted murder has reignited a political firestorm around the government’s handling of the NZYQ high court case.

The home affairs department revealed on Monday that 24 of the people released as a result of the high court’s ruling have already been charged for visa condition breaches or state offences and 36 are not required to wear ankle bracelets.

72 convicted for assault and violent offending, kidnapping, armed robbery

37 for sexually based offending, including child sex offending

16 for domestic violence and stalking

13 for serious drug offending

Seven for murder and attempted murder;

Fewer than five for people smuggling, crimes of serious international concern; and

Fewer than five with “low level or no criminality”

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Australia paid companies linked to suspected drug and weapons smuggling to run offshore detention, review finds

Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil says scathing report shows offshore processing ‘used as a slush fund by suspected criminals’

Contractors suspected of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking were handed multimillion dollar contracts due to a lack of due diligence in the administration of Australia’s offshore detention regime, a scathing report has found.

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has seized on the findings of the inquiry to claim that the now opposition leader, Peter Dutton, oversaw “an offshore processing regime being used as a slush fund by suspected criminals” when he was the responsible minister.

A company whose owners were suspected, through the ownership of another company, of seeking to circumvent US sanctions against Iran, and with extensive suspicious money movements suggesting money laundering, bribery and other criminal activity;

Companies under investigation by the Australian federal police (AFP)

A company whose chief executive was being investigated for possible drugs and arms smuggling into Australia, “although, at the time it would have been unrealistic to have expected those responsible for contract and procurement to be aware of this”; and

An enterprise suspected of corruption.

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Australia news live: Shannon Fentiman announces tilt at Queensland Labor leadership

Follow the day’s news live

Palaszczuk made decision ‘in the interest of the state’, Swan says

ALP national secretary Wayne Swan has spoken to ABC RN about Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s resignation announcement yesterday.

That’s always ever present for any leader at any time but I think she made the decision in the interest of the state and I think in her own interest as well.

I think people are sensibly discussing what the options are and if one candidate has a pretty clear majority then I think it would be unlikely that you’d see a battle, because it would simply be very difficult for the government over a period of time when they need to re-establish a leader in the job.

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Jet trip followed guidelines, minister’s office says – as it happened

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Australians increasingly relying on credit cards as cost-of-living pressures rise

A survey from comparison site Finder has found an increasing number of Australians are turning to credit cards amid the rising cost of living.

Mounting pressure on households is seeing Aussies borrowing money to keep afloat.

Used responsibly, credit cards can be a great tool for earning rewards such as frequent flyer points and building your credit history.

But relying too heavily on them could cause you to go into a debt spiral which can be hard to bounce back from.

It symbolises the balance between utility and respect for the environment, mirroring our approach to space exploration.

It’s time for Australian science to take the next leap all the way up into space, like our roos do back home. Naming the new lunar rover ‘Roo-ver’ will reflect the Aussie spirit as we launch into this new endeavour.

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Immigration detention: Labor to rush through emergency legislation after high court ruling

Home affairs minister says it’s ‘garbage’ that legislation could completely reverse high court decision that led to 81 leaving immigration detention

Labor is set to rush through emergency legislation this week to deal with the fallout of the high court’s decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.

The move follows demands by the Coalition that parliament “should not rise” until legislation is passed, upping pressure on the government by demanding a response even before the high court gives its full reasons.

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Labor to prioritise new asylum seeker claims as part of $160m package to tackle backlog

Shift to ‘last in, first out’ processing aims to break the business model of those making unmeritorious claims, immigration minister says

The Albanese government will attempt to turn the tables on people making unmeritorious asylum claims by shifting to a “last in, first out” application processing system.

The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, will announce a $160m package to tackle the backlog of asylum claims, including $54m to prioritise processing new claims, an attempt to break the business model of those suggesting junk claims as a means to remain in Australia.

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Business lobby rejects Coalition’s ‘disingenuous’ claims Labor pursuing big Australia policy

Business Council of Australia wants migration to be more business-friendly and rejects concerns of a surge in arrivals

Big business has sided with the Albanese government by rejecting the “misconception” that migration is higher than normal and the “disingenuous” claim by the Coalition that Labor is pursuing a big Australia policy.

In a report titled Migration Makes Australia Stronger, to be released on Thursday, the Business Council of Australia calls for reforms to make migration more business-friendly and rejects concerns about a surge in arrivals after Covid border closures were lifted.

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Labor launches inquiry into home affairs procurement after ‘serious issues’ with Nauru contracts

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says revelations about contracts with company linked to a foreign bribery case ‘merit detailed and thorough examination’

Labor has announced an independent review of the management of regional processing procurement by the Department of Home Affairs after revelations it granted contracts to a company linked to the subject of a bribery investigation.

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, announced the inquiry citing “serious issues” with the governance of offshore processing contracts which she said “merit detailed and thorough examination”.

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Senator says she has been ‘excluded’ from writing pamphlet – as it happened

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Patricia Karvelas challenges Littleproud’s Covid reasoning behind the Murray-Darling Basin delays on ABC RN this morning.

“This isn’t a new problem … Your government was in power when a 2019 Productivity Commission report warned that there had been limited progress returning the water to the environment,” she says. “Why didn’t you change course?”

This is a very technical piece of legislation … The 450 is additional to the 2,750 gigalitres of water in the plan, the Productivity Commission looked at the 450 gigalitres, there’s only been 2 gigalitres recovered on the 450 …

Because the neutrality test on social and economic impact on rural communities have not been passed to get more water back out of it – that’s a test the Labor government put in place, that we adhere to that the states agreed to.

He [is] going down a path that’s divided the country and meant that the attention has been taken away from managing people’s cost-of-living crisis, and focused on trying to win a referendum in which he has overreached in conflating a voice with constitutional recognition.

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Australia’s post-pandemic surge in net overseas migration temporary, federal budget predicts

Most of the increase is attributed to the return of overseas students, skilled temporary visa holders and working holidaymakers

Australia’s surge in net overseas migration, forecast to be 400,000 in 2022–23, is a catchup from the pandemic and is expected to be temporary, the budget papers reveal.

The forecast for 2024–25 is 260,000, broadly in line with the long-term historical average of 235,000.

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Australia’s ‘broken’ migration system leaves 1.8m workers ‘permanently temporary’, review finds

Labor urged to ditch skills lists, allow more workers in caring occupations and tackle long wait times for family visas

Australia’s “broken” migration system encourages 1.8 million guest workers to be “permanently temporary” due to strict caps on permanent migration, a landmark review has found.

The migration review, to be released on Thursday by the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, calls for “major reform”, warning that fixing Australia’s migration system “cannot be achieved by further tinkering and incrementalism”.

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Strict new security rules for Adelaide nuclear submarine-building facility in bid to protect military secrets

Operators of Osborne naval shipyard ordered to guard against ‘deliberate or accidental manipulation’ of critical components

The Australian government has imposed strict new security rules at the Adelaide site where nuclear-powered submarines will be built, moving to reassure allies that sensitive military secrets will be protected.

The new rules require four operators at the Osborne naval shipyard, including those building the Hunter-class frigates and offshore patrol vessels, to guard against espionage and foreign interference.

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Nearly 20,000 refugees to get same rights as other permanent residents after being kept ‘in limbo’

Labor clears way for temporary protection and safe haven visa holders to apply for permanency

Nearly 20,000 refugees will soon be able to apply for permanency, giving them the same rights as permanent residents after being kept “in limbo”.

The changes – hailed by refugee advocates as “a victory of unity and compassion over division and fear” – were part a Labor election promise. They mean that about 19,000 temporary protection and safe haven enterprise visa holders will be eligible to apply for a permanent resolution of status visa.

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Labor urged to keep ‘golden ticket’ investor visa primarily used by Chinese migrants

Immigration expert says the policy amounts to selling a visa ‘very cheaply’ without a good return on investment

The Australia China Business Council has urged Labor to retain the “golden ticket” significant investor visa after the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, signalled it could be axed.

The council made the call in a submission to the home affairs department’s migration review, which has also reignited debate between business and unions about the level of migration and raising the pay floor for temporary skilled migrants.

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‘Foreign actors’ may have fanned rightwing extremism during Covid to sway election, Liberal MP says

Exclusive: Andrew Wallace urges colleagues to be ‘mindful’ of possibility but says he has no hard evidence

The deputy chair of parliament’s intelligence committee has suggested “foreign state actors” may have stoked anti-vaxxer and rightwing extremism sentiment in Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic in a bid to influence the outcome of the May federal election.

“I’m very mindful of the increase in the fanning of rightwing extremism in the lead-up to the last federal election,” the Coalition MP Andrew Wallace told Guardian Australia.

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