8.01am BST What we learned today, Thursday 9 October That’s all for today. Thanks for joining. Here’s the day’s main news stories: The federal government has welcomed the signing-off of the first phase of the Gaza peace plan and says it urges “all parties to respect the terms of the plan”; The Palestine Action Group has lost its bid in the NSW court of appeal to march to the Sydney Opera House; Australian authorities are preparing for the return of more women and children from former Islamic State caliphates in the Middle East, AAP reports; Defence officials have told Senate estimates the nation has 54 defence export permits for Israel; The resources minister, Madeleine King, has said an east coast gas reservation policy is “totally on the table”; Jailed whistleblower David McBride’s application for his case to be heard in the high court has been dismissed; Google blocked ads for a commonwealth-funded STI awareness campaign, lessening its reach and raising costs, the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, has told Senate estimates; A pro-Palestine student group has said nationwide marches will go ahead over the weekend after Israel and Hamas agreed to the “first phase” of the Gaza peace plan; Tasmania police have failed to locate a 76-year-old bushwalker on the fifth day of searching. We’ll bring you more news tomorrow. Updated at 8.18am BST 7.52am BST Jailed whistleblower loses bid for case to be heard in the high court David McBride’s application for his case to be heard in the high court has been dismissed. The former army lawyer was sentenced to five years and eight months in jail in May 2024 after earlier pleading guilty to three charges for his role in stealing secret defence documents about the Afghanistan war and leaking them to the media. McBride collected mostly secret military information over an 18-month period in 2014 and 2015 and handed it to journalists at the ABC. The material was used as the basis for the public broadcaster’s 2017 investigative series exposing alleged war crimes committed by Australian defence force personnel in Afghanistan titled The Afghan Files. McBride remains in Canberra’s Alexander Maconochie Centre. Read more about his life inside prison here: Related: An hour with David McBride inside his ‘tough’ Canberra prison 7.20am BST Tasmania police fail to locate 76-year-old bushwalker on fifth day of search The search for missing bushwalker in Tasmania’s north-east has continued into a fifth day, Tasmania police says. Peter Willoughby, 76, was last seen about 2km from Hollybank on Sunday afternoon. He walked into heavy bushland and became separated from the people he was with. A statement from Tasmania police says officers will not search the area on Friday due to safety concerns over working in dense bushland during a severe weather event. Tasmania Police Northern District search and rescue inspector Nick Clark said weather conditions were difficult today, with rain, hail and extreme wind gusts: We do of course hope that will be able to find Mr Willoughby, but as each day passes, there are grave concerns for his welfare. Updated at 7.38am BST 6.53am BST ‘Incredibly hopeful’, Bridget McKenzie says of Gaza peace deal Asked about the Gaza peace deal, senator Bridget McKenzie says she’s “incredibly hopeful this is the closest we’ve got to end the war”: It’s also, as I read it, the deradicalisation of Gaza, Hamas finally laying down arms, being no part of a government going forward, hostages being returned. I think that is a really, really positive outcome. We are very close. Updated at 7.06am BST 6.43am BST ‘Disappointing’ to see taxpayer funds used to bail out copper smelter, Bridget McKenzie says Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie is speaking to the ABC. Mckenzie, the Nationals’ Senate leader, is asked about the joint federal and Queensland government bailout of the Glencore Mount Isa copper smelter announced this week. McKenzie says: We’re glad to see the mighty town of Mount Isa live to fight another day. It’s incredibly disappointing though we’ve had to see $600m of taxpayers’ money to bail out yet another foreign-owned entity as they face energy costs through the roof. Updated at 6.56am BST 6.34am BST Good Advice matter before Senate estimates, continued Senator Lidia Thorpe, who has pursued the Good Advice matter in estimates for more than year, asked Wednesday’s Senate hearing why a conflict of interest register tabled by the NLC “doesn’t mention anything about Good Advice, with board members being involved with Good Advice?” The council’s chief executive, Yuseph Deen, responded: The declaration process is obviously self-declared, and I’d imagine the information that you have in your hand may be outdated, and we need to provide an updated register for reference. Thorpe asked Deen if the NLC would “support an independent investigation into the operations of Good Advice?” She said: “Because Good Advice is actually bad advice and bad for country”. Deen responded: I would be just trying to find the right words for it. Should there be issues found with Good Advice or any independent consultancy that deal with matters of Aboriginal land … within the NLC’s jurisdiction, what we would always support is to ensure that traditional owner decision-making is protected. And if that is through a mechanism of an independent investigation, then we would look at the outcome of that investigation. In late June, following formal consultations overseen by the NLC, Beetaloo Energy announced traditional owners had consented to the sale of appraisal gas from its Carpentaria pilot project. In previous statements to Guardian Australia, a spokesperson for Empire said the company had “a long history of respectful engagement with traditional owners over the last decade”. He said it had held more than 30 on-country meetings and continued to consult traditional owners about current and future works. Guardian Australia sent detailed questions to McDonald via email and post before publication of the investigation in June. He declined to respond. You can read the full investigation here: Related: The consulting firm allegedly offering private deals and collecting signatures to smooth way for Empire Energy gas sales Updated at 7.13am BST 6.32am BST Malarndirri McCarthy tells Senate estimates of ‘concern’ over Darwin consulting firm and its gas company client Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy has told a Senate estimates hearing she was concerned about the consulting activities of a little-known Darwin firm called Good Advice and its gas company client Empire Energy following a Guardian Australia investigation. New documents tabled in the federal parliament after a request from Senator Lidia Thorpe show the minister sought to raise her concerns formally via the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) after a major leak of Northern Land Council (NLC) files, correspondence and recordings. In a hearing on Wednesday, Greens leader Larissa Waters said talking points in the tabled documents stated the minister was very concerned about allegations “about third parties using misinformation or deception to influence traditional owners”. Waters asked: “What actions did you take in response to those concerns?” McCarthy confirmed “this was a concern for me” and said she had instructed the NIAA, to “discuss with the Northern Land Council what was occurring” and “I appreciate that those conversations took place”. The documents show the minister sought advice in July on how to raise her concerns formally with the NLC through the NIAA. Good Advice is a Darwin-based consulting firm whose sole director is Greg McDonald, a former NLC resources and energy branch manager. The company was registered in April 2023, shortly after McDonald left the land council, and its work involves helping gas companies navigate their relationships with traditional owners in the Top End. Guardian Australia revealed in June that traditional owners claimed Good Advice promised them private deals and gathered signatures to smooth the way for Empire Energy’s – now known as Beetaloo Energy – sales of appraisal gas from its Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo Basin. The leaked documents also revealed serious concerns among traditional owners and bureaucrats about the lobbying activities of Empire Energy, Good Advice and several members of the NLC’s full council, who were employed as advisers by the consulting firm in an individual capacity. The NLC has previously said councillors were “part-time public officials” who often wore many hats and “are entitled to engage in outside employment opportunities in an individual capacity”. The NLC has previously told the senate that five of its councillors had declared conflicts with Good Advice. More to come. Updated at 6.46am BST 6.22am BST Madeleine King says an east coast gas reserve is ‘totally on the table’ King was asked about a speech BlueScope chief executive Mark Vassella delivered at the National Press Club on Wednesday, where he called for a gas reserve on the east coast. King says it is “totally on the table”: We are wanting to design this with everybody involved, so that comes from the gas industry itself but really importantly the consumers of gas in this country, so that’s industrial users, energy companies, day to day users. Updated at 6.28am BST 6.10am BST Gaza deal ‘truly welcome relief’ for whole Middle East, Madeleine King says The federal resources minister, Madeleine King, is speaking to the ABC. She is asked about the signing-off of the first phase of the Gaza peace plan. She says: It must be truly welcome relief for the people of Israel and indeed the whole Middle East. My thoughts are with the families of the hostages … I’m sure Monday can’t come soon enough after what has been a horrific two years. Updated at 6.15am BST 6.06am BST Palestine advocacy group says weekend marches to continue despite Gaza peace deal A pro-Palestine student group says nationwide marches will go ahead over the weekend after Israel and Hamas agreed to the “first phase” of the Gaza peace plan. It comes after New South Wales’ top court today banned a planned pro-Palestine march to the Sydney Opera House scheduled for this weekend. The Sydney organisers, who had proposed marching to the Opera House, said they would change the planned route. Jasmine Duff, Students for Palestine co-convenor, says the global pro-Palestine movement should continue to protest: Israel continues to occupy Gaza, and we must keep fighting for a lasting end to the bombing and starvation beyond this temporary ceasefire.We hope every day for an end to Israel’s bombardment and welcome any second of solace for Palestinians, but we do not trust Israel or Donald Trump. Israel broke both previous ceasefires. The Palestine movement across the world must continue marching, striking, occupying and sailing to push for the genocide to permanently end. Related: Judges prohibit pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House and say protesters risk contempt of court Updated at 6.08am BST 5.45am BST That’s it from me today, thanks for following along on the blog! I’ll leave you with the fabulous Adeshola Ore for the afternoon, and will see you back here bright and early tomorrow. 5.44am BST Tl;dr here’s what you missed in question time The Coalition took a more varied approach to questions today, but tried to push Labor on the situation around six Australians who have returned from Syrian detention camps. Labor fought back and argued the Australian citizens were entitled to their rights, “no more, no less”. Two crossbenchers pushed the government on its controversial proposed changes to freedom of information laws. Two Liberal MPs got kicked out today (the vibe was definitely a bit rowdier than we saw earlier this week), including Andrew Wallace and shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien. Anthony Albanese made public comments during a dixer about progress on the Gaza peace deal. Updated at 5.46am BST 5.23am BST Question time ends with Tony Burke on the Liberal ‘clown show’ After a final dixer where Tony Burke called the entirety of the Liberal party a “clown show” (following Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comments yesterday), question time is over for the day. Here’s a flavour of Burke’s burns: We are never quite sure if the clown show is going to be a scary clown, Pennywise of Stephen King’s It, or whether it will provide Bozo. Updated at 5.37am BST 5.19am BST Independent Helen Haines asks why Labor is ‘expanding cabinet secrecy’ Independent MP Helen Haines takes up the freedom of information fight, and asks the attorney general about the controversial expansion of the cabinet exemption. Why is government expanding cabinet secrecy when the [robodebt] royal commission recommended the exact opposite? Michelle Rowland says the premise of Haines’ question is not correct and that what the government is doing is “clarifying” the cabinet exemptions. In relation to the closing observation made by the [robodebt] royal commission about the cabinet exemption, the government stated that it is critical that the cabinet … is comprehensively informed in all its deliberations because decisions taken by the cabinet are collective, and the principle of collective responsibility requires that ministers should be able to express their views frankly in cabinet meetings, in the expectation they can argue freely in private while maintaining unity in public when those decisions have been reached. And this in turn requires that opinions expressed in the cabinet and cabinet committees, including in documents and any correspondence, are treated as confidential. Updated at 5.21am BST 5.14am BST Sussan Ley pushes Labor on support given to Australians returning from Syria detention camps Opposition leader Sussan Ley accuses Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke of contradicting each other on the support given to Australians who have returned from Syrian detention camps. The government has said it hasn’t supported the six Australians, except for the consular assistance that they’re legally entitled to. This is what Burke said earlier. Albanese starts listing a set of facts, and says again that the government has not provided support but that Australian citizens have legal rights. Ley tries to cut in with a point of order on relevance but Milton Dick says Albanese is being relevant. Albanese continues, and says the AFP is prepared to monitor those who do return. So we have a number of ongoing investigations and matters that relate to Australians who have traveled overseas. I want to provide confidence and assurance that we remain prepared and positioned for any self-managed returns alongside our partner agencies. Updated at 5.24am BST 5.06am BST Anika Wells takes question on local content quotas for streaming services Independent MP Zali Steggall asks Anika Wells (who’s had more of a break during QT today) whether the government will implement Australian local content quotas for streaming services, as promised by Labor in 2019, 2022 and 2025. She says quotas would save 55,000 jobs in Australia. We essentially get a “it’s being worked and we’ll tell you more soon” answer … whenever soon is. Wells says: We agree that local content quotas are very important and our commitment to the Australian industry, both in communications and arts, is important and [we] will continue to do that work and give you an update as we can. Updated at 5.09am BST 5.01am BST Jim Chalmers rejects claim Treasury has modelled a national carbon tax Is the government implementing a nation wide carbon tax? Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer about Treasury department modelling on a marginal abatement incentive. O’Brien says “that is a carbon tax of around $300 a ton. This is over 10 times more expensive than the carbon tax Julia Gillard introduced”. Treasurer Jim Chalmers stands up and looks like he’s having a bit too much fun when he says he’s “pleased” to see O’Brien at the dispatch box after 170 odd QT questions. Chalmers says there’s no economy-wide carbon tax incoming. The Treasury modelling and our policy does not assume an economy wide carbon price in place. Treasury’s report makes that clear because that is not the government’s policy and so the question he has asked is not based on reality … Chalmers then says Treasury modelling shows Australia shouldn’t go down the path of the “cookers” through a “disorderly” renewable transition “which will cost jobs and cost investment.” O’Brien tries to make a point of order on relevance, which Milton Dick doesn’t accept but Chalmers says he’s done with the answer anyway. “Is that it?,” shouts O’Brien, who then promptly gets booted out (the second for the day). Updated at 5.07am BST 4.50am BST Independent Allegra Spender asks about changes to freedom of information To the crossbench, independent MP Allegra Spender asks the government why it’s moving ahead with changes to the freedom of information bill that were advised against by the findings of the robodebt royal commission. The proposed FOI amendments would allow more exemptions for cabinet documents. Albanese says those responsible for robodebt should not be let “off the hook by suggesting bizarrely that somehow reform of a system that is broken, the FOI system, has something to do with support for robodebt”. The robodebt royal commission did not find cabinet processes were the problem. They found ministers acted directly in contravention to the advice they were given. Spender tries to raise a point of order but Milton Dick says the PM is being relevant. Albanese continues: Anyone who wants to be in a party of government … would say the cabinet processes do need, do need to be confident, that’s the law and it always has been the law. Updated at 4.54am BST 4.44am BST Bowen rejects claim rollout will ‘swallow up’ important areas of prime land Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan flings another question to Chris Bowen (it takes two goes, Milton Dick makes him start the question again because there’s too much noise). Tehan puts to Bowen that the renewables rollout will “swallow up important areas of biodiversity and prime agricultural land” to 1.7 times the size of Tasmania, and asks Bowen to provide a map showing the areas at risk. Bowen accuses Tehan of “disinformation”. What the honourable member for Wannon is doing is spreading disinformation. When I see that, I will call that out. Updated at 4.50am BST 4.36am BST Chris Bowen takes question on land needed for renewable energy rollout It’s Chris Bowen’s turn for a question (a real mixed bag of questions today). Nationals leader David Littleproud asks the energy minister exactly how many hectares of Australian land will be needed for Labor’s renewable energy rollout. Bowen says there are a few estimates: The ANU, for example, has estimated 120,000 hectares, or 1,200 square kilometres. In the NSW context, the NSW agriculture commissioner has estimated that it would need 55,000 hectares in NSW, or 0.1% of rural land. Updated at 4.43am BST 4.31am BST Opposition asks how many more people are expected to return from Syrian detention camps Liberal MP Phil Thompson takes the next question, and says federal police revealed in Senate estimates yesterday that they expect more Australians in Syrian detention camps to come back to Australia – so will the government tell the public how many more they expect to return from that cohort, and where will they live? Anthony Albanese gives us this very short answer: The assumption of the question is wrong because the assumption suggests they are coming back to Australia with our support, which they are not. Updated at 4.36am BST 4.28am BST Independent Rebecca Sharkie asks about status of defence estate audit Over to the crossbench, independent MP Rebecca Sharkie asks the defence minister about the status of a defence estate audit, and whether the government can provide assurance on the future of the Woodside army barracks in South Australia. She says the government received the estate audit two years ago but hasn’t released it. Greens senator David Shoebridge was asking defence officials about it in estimates a bit earlier, but they wouldn’t provide any details on what is in the audit – they said it’s with the government, which is considering its findings. Defence minister and deputy PM Richard Marles says there’ll be an update on the audit in the “very near future”. Making sure the defence estate is fit for purpose, in terms of what defence needs are in 2025, is absolutely paramount, making sure it gives us the full basis upon which we can engage in our strategic purpose. Updated at 4.32am BST 4.19am BST Tony Burke says women and children from Syrian detention camp given assistance ‘they were entitled to’ Sussan Ley asks why the government assisted with the passports of six Australian women and children who have arrived in Australia from a Syrian detention camp, when she says the government claimed it provided the group “no assistance”. Tony Burke gets a little riled up by the question and says the government followed the law. If someone is eligible for passport [and] applies to one of our embassies, there is an obligation for them to be provided with. These individuals received what they were entitled to – no more, no more and no less. Burke takes a dig at the opposition, saying they may be the “party of robodebt” but the government had to follow the law. Sussan Ley tries to make a point of order on relevance but Milton Dick isn’t having it, and then kicks out Liberal MP Andrew Wallace under 94a (he initially tries to kick out Sam Birrell, but Wallace confesses the noise came from him). Burke continues, and makes the argument that this isn’t the first cohort of Australians who have returned from the Syrian detention camps – and previous cohorts came while the Coalition was in power. Updated at 4.24am BST 4.13am BST Albanese says Gaza plan ‘a ray of light’ The first dixer of the day goes to Anthony Albanese, on the first stage of the Gaza peace plan being signed off. Albanese and Penny Wong released a statement on the announcement a little earlier. Albanese says he hopes “after decades of conflict and terror that we can break the cycle of violence and build something better”. The past two years [we have seen] dark days but today we see a ray of light. There is growing international momentum to bring peace and security to the Middle East … Updated at 4.16am BST 4.09am BST Labor is asked about bill to establish mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse Onto questions, the opposition has moved on from grilling communications minister Anika Wells and is asking the government why it wouldn’t allow Julian Leeser to introduce his bill to establish mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse offences today. The opposition has said it wants this issue to be bipartisan. The government is arguing the same. Anthony Albanese says the bill should be introduced on Monday during private members bill time (parliament didn’t sit on Monday this week due to the public holiday). Child sexual abuse is abhorrent and is totally unacceptable. All children deserve to grow up safely and free from abuse. I would have thought bills issued should be free from partisan shots, it is not. For new members of the house, private members business is dealt with on Monday. Albanese gives credit to Peter Dutton, who established the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation in 2018. Updated at 4.13am BST 4.05am BST Question time begins with nod to Australian winner of Nobel prize in chemistry It’s question time! Before we get to questions, Anthony Albanese congratulates Australian Nobel prize winner Richard Robson. Robson is one of three scientists being awarded the prize in chemistry, for the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Metal-organic frameworks are a new class of solids being developed into gas and energy storage devices, catalytic reactors and other products. Albanese says: As I understand it this research brings a whole new class of solid matter into existence. The nature of the work of Professor Robson is molecular but the scale of its significance is absolutely enormous. Thanks to this landmark Australian scientific research, Professor Robson’s work really matters, pun intended! Opposition leader Sussan Ley also stands up to congratulate Robson. In this [era] of TikTok and the 30 second sound bites, the fact that Professor Robson has given over 60 years of service only has expertise in chemistry as well worthy of our recognition in this place. Updated at 4.09am BST 3.33am BST Treasury confirms it has modelled amendment to Labor’s superannuation tax hike Treasury officials have confirmed they have modelled at least one change to the Albanese government’s tax hike on superannuation balances over $3m, in the wake of industry business complaints. The department responded to one stakeholder’s suggestion they should be exempt from the proposed tax by modelling the effects of exempting them, according to the revenue group deputy secretary, Diane Brown. Brown could not confirm whether the government had requested that modelling or the department took its own initiative. She told Senate estimates: Stakeholders have raised concerns with us. In order for us to understand it better, we might have done modelling, and this is in order for us to provide good advice to government. The department had done further research into other concerns, finding only a small proportion of superannuation accounts were invested in venture capital or in real property, limiting the tax’s implications for those sectors, according to an assistant secretary, Brendan McKenna. Treasury has not drafted amendments to the government’s bill to double the tax rate on super balances and the government has not asked it to, Brown said. She declined to answer a broader question of whether the government had asked for alternatives to the policy, under repeated questions from the Liberal senator James Paterson. Updated at 3.38am BST 3.32am BST India and Australia sign bilateral defence agreement India’s defence minister is town (for the first time since 2013) to sign a bilateral agreement on … you guessed it … defence. It comes a day after Australia and Singapore signed an enhanced defence cooperation deal. The government says the new bilateral arrangements will include cooperation on submarine rescue and support and a forum for more joint staff talks between the defence forces. Updated at 3.36am BST 3.02am BST McCarthy to follow up Google blocking public health campaign with communications minister Waters asked if the government has a policy on dealing with public health campaigns, not just this one but generally, when Google decides something is adult content in a way that makes the expenditure of commonwealth funds inefficient, and that costs more taxpayer dollars and therefore reaches fewer people. “I don’t think that should just be left up to the people who are doing the work. I think that should be the government’s concern.” Charlton said if the organisation had sought the government’s assistance, they would “absolutely raise that with Google”. At the point that they raised it with us, they were in ongoing discussions with [Google] about the nature of the content and the charging and those things, and they haven’t sought us to specifically intervene, but absolutely we agree that were this to continue to be a problem and to block the effectiveness of the campaign, that would be a role that we could assist with. ... We don’t have a specific policy. It goes to the different social media and search platforms that are always evolving. Malarndirri McCarthy, minister for Indigenous Australians, representing the health minister, Mark Butler, said she will follow this up with the minister, and “will certainly follow that up with the communications minister as well”. Updated at 3.06am BST 2.56am BST Google blocked STI awareness ads as ‘adult content’, health estimates hears Google blocked ads for a commonwealth funded STI awareness campaign, lessening its reach and raising costs, Larissa Waters has told health estimates. The Greens leader said the campaign being run by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance had been shown to be effective, leading people to book screening tests: But what we’ve discovered is that their targeted ads are being blocked by Google as adult content. And then, in November of last year, Google added ‘STI testing’ to its list of sensitive topics, which triggers an automatic review. Now that’s meant that during the nationally funded STI awareness campaigns, ads are being rejected, delays for weeks, costs have risen from $5 to $17 per click until the issue is resolved. It’s interfering with public health objectives and potentially wasting the commonwealth money, if the ads are only meant to cost $5 per click, and they’ve gone up to $17 because Google’s censoring actually what is a very protective public health campaign. Mandy Charlton, the acting assistant secretary of communicable diseases branch in the department, said they were aware of the issues that have been created by Google in blocking these ads. The alliance had not asked the government to escalate the issue any further, Charlton said. Stephen Bouwhuis, the acting assistant secretary for health protection policy and surveillance, confirmed the alliance had a conversation with Google and resolved the issue. Updated at 3.45am BST 2.45am BST Contempt ruling shows ‘common sense prevailed’, assistant commissioner says NSW’s assistant police commissioner says today’s contempt ruling, determining Palestine Action Group’s planned protest at the Sydney Opera House would be unlawful, was a case of “common sense” prevailing. Peter McKenna told reporters: [It was a] pleasing result for us. It’s good to see that ... common sense prevailed on a public safety issue. When asked about the police reaction to the ruling – the first of its kind – he said: I’m not a lawyer, I’ll say that the court made their own judgments, the highest court in New South Wales ... and we will adhere to that. He also said he did not believe the ruling meant expanded police powers. Updated at 2.48am BST 2.40am BST Ruling won’t undermine cooperation between police and protest organisers, assistant commissioner says Today’s contempt ruling will not undermine cooperation between protest organisers and the authorities, police believe. Assistant commissioner Peter McKenna this morning told reporters he does not expect the ruling to lead to fewer Form 1 applications. Not at all. We still have powers that we can utilise without the Form 1 process. The Form 1, that process actually protects people from committing certain offences. It allows us to work with them. It allows us to keep them safe. I think, by and large, people want to work with the police, and they want to get the outcome they want. They don’t want the conflict, we don’t want the conflict and we want to make sure people are safe. Updated at 2.45am BST 2.38am BST Police warn protesters to stay away from Sydney Opera House Police are urging protesters to stay away from Sydney Opera House on Sunday or face “appropriate action” after a court of appeal ruling found the Palestine Action Group’s proposed protest route, ending at the landmark’s forecourt, would be unlawful. Assistant commissioner Peter McKenna said the police were expecting large numbers to attend the public assembly – its route now running from Hyde Park along George Street to Belmore Park – but that high security would be in place at the Opera House. He told reporters a short time ago: I’ll say to anyone who thinks that they could go to the Opera House still and be a part of any type of demonstration or public assembly, that you will be committing an offence, and appropriate action will be taken by us. Having said that, I understand that the Palestine Action Group have come out and said not to go to the Opera House. They’ve come out and said they are working with police and they will adhere to the court ruling. They’ve also openly said that they will now assist with this new march from Hyde Park to Belmore Park. Updated at 2.41am BST 2.26am BST Minns says he will not light up the Sydney Opera House in Palestinian colours Minns was asked if he would listen to calls from protest organisers to light up the Sydney Opera House sails in the colours of the Palestinian flag. The premier said he would not do so. In these circumstances where the application was made by the [Palestine Action Group] to hold a protest at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, I think you’d agree [it is] the opposite of pulling the community together in these circumstances. While I appreciate people have a right to protest … I want to be conscious of not inflaming the situation. Updated at 2.32am BST 2.18am BST Chris Minns says ruling to block pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House the ‘right decision’ NSW premier Chris Minns says the court of appeal’s ruling to block a planned pro-Palestinian march to the Sydney Opera House was the “right decision”, adding “common sense” had prevailed on the matter. Related: Court prohibits pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House after police raise safety concerns Minns spoke to reporters this morning after the court rejected the Palestine Action Group’s bid to diverge from the normal route of its regular rallies on 12 October, saying he expects organisers to abide by the ruling. We expect all applicants to abide by the court’s decision. I think reasonable people in Sydney would expect the police to uphold this judgment. I know that there’s been many [Palestine Action Group] protests over the last two years, something approaching 100 during that period of time. In fairness, the vast majority of them will have gone off without incident. We’re calling for the organisers to do the same if they elect an alternative route. Minns added that “anyone who breaches the supreme court decision can expect the full force of the law, and that’s how a civil society should operate”. I know it’s easy for everybody to say ‘Oh we don’t like the decision’, but if it went bad on the weekend and 40 or 50 thousand people turned up on a narrow peninsula with no turnaround, then everyone would be pointing fingers at police and the government as to what went wrong. Updated at 2.24am BST 2.05am BST Housing fund faces ‘significant’ challenges, Treasury secretary says Jenny Wilkinson, the federal Treasury secretary, says the Haff has struggled with construction costs and faced delays delivering homes. Wilkinson declined to say how many homes Housing Australia has built, in response to a question from the Coalition’s housing spokesperson, Andrew Bragg, at Senate estimates. She said delivering homes had been made “more challenging” in part due to soaring construction costs in the last five years, when asked about ABC reporting that the fund was facing delays and spending more than $1m per home in some cases, well above average. I don’t think that anyone is denying that this is a significant challenge to meet the government’s commitment around increasing the stock of social and affordable housing, which is what the objective of the Haff is. It always takes time to make agreements, agree contracts with entities like community housing providers, to deliver these houses. Wilkinson defended the agency’s record of delivery, saying it had a “big agenda” that had sometimes been held up by delays in the parliament to passing legislation: Some of the challenges in relation to some of the programs reflect when the legislation was actually passed … There are other projects that have been effectively run and take-up has been relatively strong. Two key housing commitments languished in the parliament for months in the Albanese government’s first term amid negotiations between Labor and the Greens: the Housing Australia future fund and Help to Buy shared equity scheme. Updated at 2.11am BST 2.01am BST Treasury investigated housing agency, secretary confirms The Treasury secretary has confirmed her department investigated the Albanese government’s housing agency. The government’s Housing Australia agency was revamped and had new executives and board members appointed in mid-2023 to deliver programs including the flagship Housing Australia Future Fund (Haff). Jenny Wilkinson, who was this year appointed to run Treasury, said the review was triggered a few months after that, in late 2023, and was undertaken in 2024. She told Senate estimates: I was made aware of that review though only very recently ... Obviously I wasn’t involved in that review at all. The review was focused on organisational challenges including alleged behaviour by senior staff, the Age reported today. Updated at 2.05am BST 2.00am BST Albanese and Wong urge all parties to respect terms of first phase of Gaza peace plan The government has welcomed the signing-off of the first phase of the Gaza peace plan, and says it urges “all parties to respect the terms of the plan”. In a statement, the prime minister and the foreign minister thanked the US president, Donald Trump, and said the government has consistently called for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and the unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza. After more than two years of conflict, hostages held and a devastating loss of civilian life, this is a much needed step towards peace. Australia strongly supports the plan’s commitment to denying Hamas any role in the future governance of Gaza. There is a very long road to recovery in Gaza, securing long term peace and building the Palestinian state. The government also acknowledged the “important role” of Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye. The opposition has also welcomed the development. You can read more details here: Related: ‘First phase’ of ceasefire deal to end war in Gaza agreed by Israel and Hamas Updated at 2.18am BST 1.50am BST Gaza agreement ‘a joyous moment’, Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s Alex Ryvchin says Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, spoke to Sky News a little earlier about the news Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement over the first phase of the Gaza peace plan. He said he was “elated” to hear the news about the agreement and imminent release of the hostages: This is a joyous moment. It’s something the Jewish community has been praying for and hoping for. Ryvchin said the remaining 20 living hostages could begin a process of healing once released. He was also asked about the Palestine Action Group losing its bid in the NSW court of appeal this morning to march to the Sydney Opera House on the weekend. He said while there is a right to protest “no right is unlimited”: These protesters, both through what they say and do at these protests but also the frequency, the intention, to deliberately take over national landmarks and insinuate themselves into our streets and public places, the fact that it’s happening week and week at the public expense. Finally a line has been drawn. We’re very pleased with it and we’re pleased for our fellow Australians. They’ll be able to access the Opera House on that day. Updated at 1.58am BST 1.42am BST More than 10,000 antisemitic posts from X users in Australia in 11 months, anti-hate group says The Center for Countering Digital Hate has found nearly 10,000 antisemitic posts from X users that have their location set to Australia between February 2024 and January 2025, as part of a report that says antisemitism is thriving on Elon Musk‘s platform. The analysis, made with the assistance of OpenAI’s GPT-4o, found antisemitic conspiracy theories were normalised on the platform, with X not taking action on posts that violated its own policies. Globally, the centre found 679,000 posts violating X’s antisemitism policies, with 193m views in the 11 months the report covers. Only 1% of the posts had a community note. In analysis provided exclusively for Guardian Australia on Australian users, there were 9,293 posts that were viewed at least 1.8m times and received 39,258 likes. The majority of the Australian posts (61%) contained conspiracy theories about Jewish power, satanic tropes and holocaust denial, the centre told Guardian Australia. The analysis found 29% contained anti-Jewish character attacks, dehumanising rhetoric and violent speech. In July, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, cited X as a platform she believed was combatting antisemitism on its platform using AI. The office of the special envoy did not respond to requests for comment. X was approached for comment. Updated at 1.52am BST 1.26am BST Australian Gaza flotilla activist vows to return despite ‘humiliations’ in detention Juliet Lamont was freezing in the back of a prison van that had been driving through the desert for hours – no idea where she was going, listening to the roar of military aircraft – when she saw the sign. The van windows were blacked out and she was afraid she would be struck if she looked around but, craning her head and peering through a crack, she could read it. Some of the blue and white signs were in Hebrew, others Arabic. This one was in English. Later, as soon as she had access to a pen, the Australian documentary maker would scribble it down, as best as she could recall, upon a serviette. “The eternal state never forgets and will pursue its enemies till the end”. Those were the words fluttering upon a banner in the Negev desert that Lamont read as she entered Ketziot prison in Israel. Lamont, an Australian activist on the Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israel, says she was beaten, groped and verbally abused by Israeli prison guards Read more about Gamont’s experience in detention here: Related: ‘The enemy of Israel’: Australian Gaza flotilla activist vows to return despite ‘humiliations’ in detention Updated at 1.29am BST 1.10am BST What’s the state of play in bird of the year 2025? Here’s a bit of a positive palate cleanser! The Tawny frogmouth has emerged as an early favourite as we enter day four of the bird of the year contest. As of the close of voting last night, the muppet-like frogmouth had increased its lead over Baudin’s black cockatoo, surging ahead by 1,372 votes: Interactive Bird of the year update Baudin’s black cockatoo has been the runner-up in all three rounds so far, likely benefiting from a strong environmentalist vote – a trend we have seen in previous polls, with the Black-throated finch, under threat from the expansion of the Adani Carmichael coalmine, winning in 2019, and the critically endangered Swift parrot winning in 2023. However, the presence of two cockatoos in the top ten may result in a split vote for cockatoo enthusiasts, and hand victory to the Tawny frogmouth – which came second in both 2019 and 2023. The frogmouth is also benefiting from a strong social media campaign and an endorsement from no less than the federal environment minister, Murray Watt. So far in the competition people have cast over 100,000 votes. Updated at 1.18am BST 1.04am BST Liberals say ‘now is not the time for protest’ as deal marks ‘hopeful first step’ towards peace Further to that last post, Liberal leader Sussan Ley and shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash say agreement over the first phase of the Gaza peace plan should “inspire hope” in Australia and across the globe. In a statement, they say the Coalition has stood by the US and Israel throughout the conflict. Today marks a hopeful first step toward the release of hostages held for over two years, the end of this war, and the beginning of enduring peace. They also say that now is not the time for protest. Updated at 1.09am BST 1.00am BST Coalition ‘cautiously optimistic’ on first phase of Gaza plan The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, says he is cautiously optimistic at news that the first phase of the Donald Trump-led ceasefire plan for the Middle East is advancing. Israel and Hamas have agreed to release hostages and prisoners as part of the deal. “It’s obviously good news,” he said at Parliament House: But today is a day, obviously, where I’m thinking about those people who’ve lost lives and families who’ve lost loved ones in the conflict. There will be people, if the plan proceeds, who will be reunited with their loved ones, but there will also be people who will mourn because those loved ones have been killed in the Middle East conflict. The Liberal senator and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma tells ABC News he’s “very pleased” at the news and believes it’s an important first step. I don’t think we can be 100% confident until we actually see the hostage exchange undertaken, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but I think the parties that are involved in this and especially and I credit here Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye, and the United States, for all the work they’ve been doing – they have a big interest in this succeeding and I think it would be very difficult for either party, but especially Hamas to renege on this agreement now. Updated at 1.09am BST 12.57am BST Health regulator received 188 complaints against professionals since Gaza war Back in health estimates, Senator Andrew Bragg is asking officials from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) how many complaints they have had in relation to medical professionals engaging in antisemitism. Justin Untersteiner, the CEO of Ahpra, responded: We have no tolerance for discrimination in the health system, whether that be against any form of discrimination in relation to the conflict in Gaza that we’re seeing at the moment, we’ve received 188 notifications since October 2023 that relate to 95 different practitioners. Of those 95 practitioners, Untersteiner said “about half of those relate to some form of complaint about antisemitism, and about half of those relate to complaints about Islamophobia”. When we look at the makeup of those matters, many of the complaints, or the notifications as we refer to them, relate to some kind of social media activity. And of those, many of those do relate to a complaint that someone has reposted some kind of news article, for instance, so it could be an ABC article or something like that …. in many of those cases, we wouldn’t see those as a case where we need to take particular action. Two cases are awaiting a tribunal, which Jamie Orchard, an Aphra general counsel, said relate to social media posts: “They might relate to antisemitism, they might relate to Islamophobia … type posts.” Related: Australian doctors subjected to vexatious complaints over social media posts on Gaza, GP peak body says Updated at 12.59am BST 12.56am BST Senate told Australia has 54 defence export permits for Israel Australia currently has 54 defence export permits for Israel, defence officials have revealed at Senate estimates this morning. Deputy secretary of strategy, Hugh Jeffrey said 22 permits with Israel have been granted since 7 October 2023, of which five have expired. The remaining existing permits were issued before the conflict. The defence minister or their delegate can grant the export permit. Jeffrey clarifies that the granting of a permit “does not equate to an export: It simply provides an Australian company the ability to make an export should it have a commercial buyer overseas… having a permit… does not equate to the export of a weapon. Jeffrey says the defence department keeps permits under review, and will reassess “open” permits under contemporaneous criteria. Defence minister Richard Marles (who has said repeatedly that Australia does not export weapons to Israel) directed defence official to scrutinise the 66 permits that were issued prior to 7 October. Jeffrey says 37 of those reviewed were deemed needing no further action, while six permits are still being scrutinised by officials. Others have lapsed or amended. Officials say that means there are 54 permits that are in effect. Updated at 1.22am BST 12.54am BST Judge should not have found Patterson would spend ‘years’ in solitary confinement, DPP argues The Victorian DPP is appealing Erin Patterson’s sentence because the judge who handed it down erred in finding she was likely to spend “years to come” in solitary confinement. According to the notice of appeal released by the supreme court on Thursday, the DPP is appealing Patterson’s sentence of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years, saying it is ‘manifestly inadequate’. Patterson was sentenced on 8 September over the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of the latter’s husband, Ian Wilkinson. According to the notice: The sentencing judge erred in finding that there was a ‘substantial chance’ the respondent would be held in ‘solitary confinement for years to come’ when such a finding was not open on the evidence, and that finding infected his assessment of the respondent’s likely future conditions in custody and his decision to fix a non-parole period. The DPP argue that the sentence imposed on Patterson is manifestly inadequate, in that: It was inappropriate for the sentencing judge to fix a non-parole period; or the non-parole period of 33 years is manifestly inadequate. Patterson has indicated she will appeal her conviction, but her appeal is yet to be filed. Updated at 12.58am BST 12.35am BST Racial discrimination claim against SBS broadcaster from Zionist federation will go to trial Mary Kostakidis has had a partial win in her bid to challenge a racial discrimination claim against her, but the case brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia will still go to trial. The former SBS broadcaster asked the federal court to strike out the “embarrassing” racial discrimination claim on the grounds it fails to identify which race, ethnicity or nationality was offended by her social media posts about Israel. In the South Australian federal court today Justice Stephen McDonald ruled on her interlocutory application and said some of her submissions have force and some raise issues that can appropriately be addressed at trial. The chief executive of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, has been ordered to file an amended statement of claim after parts of it were struck out by the court. Kostakidis has been accused by the ZFA of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024. Updated at 12.40am BST 12.25am BST Allan says union walkout will have no impact on west gate tunnel project Jacinta Allan’s press conference at the west gate tunnel (see earlier post here) comes just a day after construction union workers walked off the job. Sources said the workers halted work citing safety concerns, but also walked off other sites due to dispute with its developer John Holland in South Australia. Allan says the issue was resolved and has no impact on the tunnel opening in December: The matter was resolved between the contractors and the unions, and it’s had no impact on the delivery of the project. Asked whether she was concerned about the CFMEU’s influence on whether project the project is opening in December, Allan she isn’t. This project is going to open before the end of the year, as it’s been committed to by the contractors and Transurban, in line with the agreement that was struck back in 2021 and I know from talking to so many of the workers, regardless of the union that represents [them], that those workers are so goddamn proud of what they’ve built here, and they should be. They should be because they’ve worked through all conditions. They’ve worked day and night to deliver something that is investing in the future of our great city and state. Updated at 12.28am BST 12.06am BST Shadow health minister accuses Medicare campaign of ‘mirror-imaging’ Labor’s election campaign Over in health estimates, the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, is asking questions about what she says “looks awfully like the department was replicating the government’s election campaign” on its website. Ruston said as the government was going into caretaker mode, the department of health’s website featured a “strengthening Medicare” campaign “which quite coincidentally also happened to be the government’s campaign slogan in relation to their health policy promotion.” Rachel Balmanno, a deputy secretary, said it was “part of the regular website update process. It would probably be to do with the timing of the [Medicare] 40th anniversary and where we were at in terms of any live campaign activity.” Ruston continued: This looks to me, very, very like the department was mirror-imaging what the government was doing during an election campaign. Your promotional activity looks exactly the same as the government’s election campaign material, and you changed it at the same time that the government went into election campaign mode. This looks to me very much like the department has actually been either actively or coerced or asked to make your departmental communications reflect what the government that was doing. Now I’m not saying you did. I’m just saying that that’s what it looks like here. Balmanno said, “the department ran a campaign that went through all the usual clearance processes … that’s the campaign that was run when the election started, as with all of our campaigns, the campaign material was removed from all channels.” Ruston has requested that the department provide documentations around the development approval for the campaign. Updated at 12.22am BST 12.03am BST Coalition fails to introduce child sexual abuse bill … for now The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, tried to move a motion to suspend standing orders to introduce its bill for mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse crimes. The government argues that the bill is already scheduled to be introduced at a separate time. Private members’ bills (of which this is one) are introduced and debated on Mondays in the parliamentary sitting calendar. A few crossbenchers, including Allegra Spender and Andrew Wilkie, voted with the Coalition to bring on the introduction of the bill. The next sitting Monday is 27 October. Updated at 12.21am BST 11.42pm BST Court prohibits pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House The Palestine Action Group has lost its bid in the NSW court of appeal to march to the Sydney Opera House. Last week, the group, alongside Jews Against Occupation, announced a plan to diverge from the normal route of its near-weekly rallies over the past two years and march from Hyde Park to the Sydney Opera House on 12 October to mark two years since 7 October and call for “an end to genocide in Gaza”. But on Friday the NSW police announced it would knock back the group’s application to march to the Opera House, citing safety concerns such as crowd crush over limited exit points from the forecourt. The group fought the police’s decision in the court of appeal on Wednesday before chief justice of NSW Andrew Bell, Justice Ian Harrison, and Justice Stephen Free. You can read the full story here: Related: Court prohibits pro-Palestine march to Sydney Opera House after police raise safety concerns Updated at 11.45pm BST 11.38pm BST Vic premier announces west gate tunnel will open in December We’re on day five of what I’ve decided to call infrastructure week in Victoria, with the premier, Jacinta Allan, holding a press conference on the new elevated Footscray Road, on which she says major construction is now complete. The 1.5km stretch of road forms part of works of the West Gate Tunnel, which she has announced will open in December. Allan says: The importance of this elevated structure is it provides motorists with a direct connection into the new tunnels that are being built as part of the west gate tunnel project and a direct connection also into the city … It’s [also] a way of separating out even further that local truck traffic that wants to access that big and important container port that is the Port of Melbourne, from the commuter traffic that wants to move through and around the city, and that’s why we’ve built the west gate tunnel. After announcing yesterday there would be free public transport over the summer weekends to mark the opening of the metro tunnel, she says she has written to road tolling companies “encouraging them to follow the government’s lead, to provide some summer support for motorists”. The minister for transport infrastructure, Gabrielle Williams, says: I’ve in recent days been talking a lot about the city loop and how she served us well over a very long period of time. Well, the west gate bridge has served us very well over a very long period of time too. But it’s time that she had a bit of help, and that’s what this project has been all about. Updated at 11.42pm BST 11.23pm BST Super payment and parental leave bills introduced to the house There are a few bills being introduced to the house this morning. Jim Chalmers has just introduced two bills to guarantee superannuation payments, that would force employers to pay super at the same time as their salary and wages. It would also update penalties and charges for late or missed payments. The changes will take place from 1 July next year. Chalmers says: In a typical unpaid super case, for a 35-year-old, recovering their super leaves their retirement balance more than $30,000 better off in today’s dollars. While most employers do the right thing, some disreputable ones are exploiting their employees. Following the treasurer, the workplace minister, Amanda Rishworth, is introducing a bill that would ensure access to employer-funded parental leave if their baby is stillborn or dies in pregnancy. The bill introduces a new principle into the Fair Work act. Unless employers and employees have expressly agreed otherwise, employer funded paid parental leave must not be cancelled because a child is stillborn or dies. It’s been called baby Priya’s bill. When baby Priya died at just 42 days old in 2024, her mother’s pre-approved three months of leave was cancelled by her employer. Updated at 11.29pm BST 11.01pm BST Put the party ‘introspection’ on a deadline, says Leeser The Liberals are somewhat battling to keep the attention on the government, over their internal infighting. It was revealed on Tuesday that one Liberal MP, Mary Aldred, who only just joined the parliament in May, was not too happy about the public sniping taking place. On RN, Julian Leeser is asked if the party risks looking like a “clown show” if the resignations and disunity continue – as said by Liberal backbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (who herself was booted off the frontbench by Ley). Leeser’s not really keen to delve in. After two election losses, it’s reasonable that the political parties have a period of introspection, but that period can’t be particularly long. And I think that Australians want us to focus on the issues that are at hand. Pressed on what he thinks about those within the party who are leaking, Leeser says people need to focus on their actual job. And as to who will replace Andrew Hastie on the frontbench? That’s “a matter entirely for Sussan”. Updated at 12.21am BST 10.51pm BST ‘There’s an epidemic of child sexual abuse’: shadow attorney general The Coalition is pushing for mandatory minimum sentencing for child sexual abuse offences. They’ve cited the case of a Victorian parent who was given a two and a half year sentence – after sexually abusing their five year old daughter on at least 19 occasions. The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, told RN Breakfast this morning Australians are “very concerned” about the level of child abuse in the country. The report of the Australian Centre for Countering Child Exploitation came down recently and it evidenced that there were over 82,000 reports of online child sexual abuse that have been reported to it. That’s an average of 266 reports a day. That’s an epidemic of child sexual abuse. Asked whether the government is considering the bill, Leeser said: I understand that she’s [attorney general Michelle Rowland] open to this legislation. She’s acknowledged that when we passed laws under the Morrison government to put in place mandatory minimums for child sexual offences, they worked. And that’s correct because they saw increases in guilty pleas, they saw increases in people undergoing rehabilitation, but most importantly, they saw increases in sentences. Updated at 11.07pm BST 10.44pm BST Government prepares for return of more Australian citizens from former IS caliphates Australian authorities are preparing for the return of more women and children from former Islamic State caliphates in the Middle East, AAP reports. Two women and four children who are Australian citizens have returned to Australia after smuggling themselves out of Syria to Lebanon, where they were issued Australian passports after passing security checks. The women, who had travelled or were taken to Syria to become partners of ISIS members, and their children, had been living in refugee camps in Syria after the collapse of the terrorist group. It has stirred up a political storm for the Albanese government as the opposition criticises their return, saying it had been kept secret from the public amid community safety concerns. The federal government says they arrived on their own volition and were not assisted or repatriated by Australian authorities. Stephen Nutt, an assistant commissioner at the Australian federal police, said authorities were preparing for the arrival of more people under similar circumstances, but would not confirm how many due to possible fluctuations. Nutt also refused to confirm the location of the six people, saying there were ongoing investigations after their return which were part of the federal police’s management of “Australians of counter-terrorism interest offshore,” he told Senate estimates: I can assure you that we have appropriate investigations, criminal investigations under way in relation to those who require criminal investigation as part of an Australian cohort offshore and their return. Updated at 12.22am BST 10.16pm BST Ley denies leaking Dutton comments on Liberal election review Sussan Ley says she did not leak reported comments by Peter Dutton to the Liberal election review to the media. On Monday Nine papers reported leaked comments by the former Liberal leader criticising Andrew Hastie. One of the reviewers, Nick Minchin, later told the paper Dutton did not directly criticise his shadow ministers. It was later reported Ley told a partyroom meeting on Tuesday that the leak did not come from her. On the Today show this morning, host Karl Stefanovic asked why she felt the need to defend herself when she wasn’t accused of the leak. Ley said: I’ve obviously explained to my party room processes that relate to the review, Karl, and they’ve been takeouts by the media and commentators. As you would expect. I don’t go into those internal conversations or what is discussed, except to say we do have a vigorous debate about the contest of ideas. Vigorous debate indeed. Updated at 10.24pm BST 10.07pm BST Opposition claim Glencore copper bailout is ‘massive failure in economic policy’ The opposition has been critical of the government’s bailout of the Glencore copper smelter, calling it a “massive failure in economic policy”. On News Breakfast, Sussan Ley said the $600m lifeline appears to be a “Band-Aid”. Her shadow finance spokesperson, James Paterson, told Sky News a bit earlier the government should be creating an environment where bailouts aren’t necessary. What would make great financial sense is providing the basic public policy settings that meant that it wasn’t necessary to bail out so many heavy industries and smelters, as this government has now been forced to do. But when your taxes are higher, when your red tape is greater, and when your energy prices in particular, are going through the roof unfortunately, good businesses like this … are becoming unviable. Updated at 10.09pm BST 10.01pm BST Opposition continues attacks over triple-zero outage Opposition leader Sussan Ley has again attacked communications minister Anika Wells over the government’s handling of the Optus outage in September. Continuing her media rounds, she joined ABC News Breakfast, and called for Wells to take more responsibility. We are asking the government what on earth is going on … when lives are on the line, you don’t side with the telcos. You don’t jet off to New York. You don’t cover up your failures. These are three things the communications minister has actually done. The minister has pointed the finger at everyone but the processes that she, as minister, is responsible for. So we are asking the questions of this government because ultimately it’s their responsibility. Yesterday the Coalition unsuccessfully tried to move a motion to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the triple zero system (which was supported by the crossbench) and tried to move amendments to the government’s bill which enshrined a triple zero custodian into law. Updated at 10.03pm BST 9.58pm BST Some experts believe rents could fall under 5% mortage deposit scheme, but others predict increased demand Lower rents will be a bonus consequence of rules allowing first home buyers to get a mortgage with just a 5% deposit, analysts say, even though the policy is likely to push up property prices, AAP reports. The key election promise from Labor was aimed at making it easier for young Australians to get on the property ladder. Allowing more people to buy their own house or unit could also reduce demand for rentals and pressure on rents, Domain’s chief of research and economics, Nicola Powell, said: What that will do is fast-track a lot of tenants transitioning to being homeowners, which should also help ease the demand. But experts warn the decision to remove a barrier to getting a mortgage – saving for a deposit – could increase demand among homebuyers. Treasury modelling suggests cheaper deposits will push up house prices by half a percent over six years, but the insurance council has warned the impact could be as large as 10% in the first year alone. A report from Domain, released on Thursday, also shows the string of rapid rent increases over the past three years has likely come to an end, with rent growth across Australia’s combined capital cities remaining flat for two consecutive quarters. House and apartment rents are at record highs, but they’ve remained mostly steady over the past quarter. Updated at 10.03pm BST 9.53pm BST Will Australia’s east coast get a gas reserve? There have been growing calls for an east coast gas reserve to help combat sky high gas prices, including a push from the Bluescope steel CEO yesterday. RN Breakfast’s host, Sally Sara, asks Ayres whether the government will implement one. Ayres says the energy minister, Chris Bowen, is leading a review of the gas market and there’s a “proper cabinet-style process” under way: We will do a careful piece of work here. In the last term of government, we intervened on gas prices following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the impact that had in global energy markets in order to support, of course, households, but also industry. Gas is absolutely critical for sections of Australian industry … It’s a critical transition fuel to lower Australia’s industrial emissions. And what about the issue of Japanese companies on-selling Australian gas to other Asian nations and the profit they make from that – will the government do something about it? Ayres says he won’t speculate about the government’s approach but they’re “engaged in a process now”. We’re a big exporter of gas, and it’s reasonable that I think for Australian industry and for Australians to say we need to make sure there is sufficient gas for Australian industry. Updated at 9.57pm BST 9.42pm BST Ayres defends government bailout of copper smelter Back in Canberra after a quick visit up to far north Queensland, Tim Ayres says yesterday’s $600m announcement to give the Glencore copper mine a lifeline was to protect a “really important strategic national industry” for Australia. Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, Ayres says the Australian industry has faced a tough global market and unfair trade practices. This is a critical industrial capability for Australia. We have vast reserves of copper ore, and there is global trade imbalances, subsidies in some markets, volatility that is making it an unfair playing field for Australian copper producers in global markets. We need to see that. Asked specifically whether he’s referring to China, Ayres says “it’s certainly not the only market where there is subsidies”. Updated at 11.34pm BST 9.31pm BST ‘I welcome the contest of ideas’: Ley While the opposition is trying to turn up the heat on the government, it’s still facing plenty of volcanic action internally with public and private frustrations aired, and of course the very public quitting of Andrew Hastie from the frontbench. Ley isn’t keen to get into the nitty gritty, after it was revealed yesterday MP Mary Aldred spoke up against the infighting during a Liberal partyroom meeting. Asked about the comments, she says she “will not reflect conversations within our partyroom”. I welcome the contest of ideas. We did suffer a significant defeat at the last election and people are having their say and I welcome that. Updated at 9.39pm BST 9.26pm BST Opposition questions government’s support for Australians who return from Syrian detention camp Sussan Ley is on the media rounds this morning, and also pressing the government over its involvement in the return of the six Australians. There’s a couple of key areas the opposition is pushing this week, this is one and the other big one has been Optus. Ley tells Sunrise “something appears to have been done” by the government to support the repatriation of these women and children, as Labor has repeated lines that no help was provided. In June we were told by the prime minister and his ministers that they did not know anything about this and they had no knowledge. Passports and citizenship papers they don’t create themselves. Something appears to have been done to support the repatriation of these individuals who willingly left our shores to join a death cult… They [Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke] are not confessing to what they knew and what assistance they have provided. When host Nat Barr points out that the government also repatriated women and children from the Syrian detention camps, Ley says “we repatriated orphans, this is very different”. 9.20pm BST Labor under pressure over Australian repatriates from Syrian detention camp The government is still facing heat over the return of six Australians from a Syrian detention camp. The opposition went hard on it at estimates last night, with security agencies revealing home affairs minister Tony Burke’s office was briefed about their intention to return in June. This morning, the cabinet minister Tim Ayres – who’s also doing the media rounds after announcing a joint state and federal bail out of the Glencore copper smelter in Mt Isa – is facing plenty of questions on it. On the Today show, he was at pains to say the government did not provide them any support to return. We have taken the approach as a government not to provide assistance and the job of our security agencies in relation to these people, but also other people who they make an assessment about themselves, is to make sure that we keep Australians safe. Ayres was on a panel with Independent MP Dai Le, who yesterday asked for assurances during question time that the six wouldn’t be resettled in her seat of Fowler in western Sydney, where she represents a large multicultural population. I don’t buy the line that there’s no assistance. I [have] the most multicultural electorate in the country that has large population of Assyrian communities … these communities fled the ISIS regime. And so therefore, if there’s no transparency about where being resettled and I asked [for] guarantees yesterday that they’re not going to be resettled in my area of Fowler … Updated at 9.22pm BST 9.08pm BST Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, for another day of parliamentary shenanigans, and we’ve got plenty to look forward to. Thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started. Estimates (which went a bit wild yesterday with new revelations around the Optus outage) continues so we’ll have eyes on that, but before then Sussan Ley is doing the media rounds this morning trying to push a bill for mandatory minimum sentencing for child sexual offences. The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, when asked about it yesterday said the government was “open” to ideas to combat child abuse. But mandatory minimum sentencing goes against Labor’s platform (despite them voting for mandatory minimum sentencing for terror offences earlier this year). Stick with us, it’s going to be a busy one! 8.59pm BST Man killed in shooting in Sydney's north-west In some non-politics news: a man has been shot dead in Sydney’s north-west in the latest shooting to hit the city, Australian Associated Press reports. Emergency services were called to Riverstone at 6pm last night following reports of a shooting. A man was found with gunshot wounds and died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics. He is yet to be identified. A car was found on fire just a few hundred metres away, raising suspicions that the shooting was a gang-related hit. 8.46pm BST Almost half of total capital gains tax discount went to those earning over $1m in 2022-23 Nearly 50% of the capital gains tax discount went to just 24,000 people who earned over $1m in 2022–23, according to an Oxfam Australia report. On average, each of these individuals gained a staggering $271,000 from the capital gains tax discount on profits from the sale of assets and investments – almost 1,500 times the benefit received by an average worker. If the government scrapped the capital gains discount, it could restore around $22.7bn to the budget per year, the analysis found. Oxfam Australia’s acting chief executive, Chrisanta Muli, said: Our tax system is deepening inequality because it fails to tax wealth. For decades, Australia has been becoming a nation for the wealthy, not workers. Today, billions of dollars in budget revenue is given away to the wealthiest in the form of tax discounts and because our tax system does not effectively tax the super-rich. Instead, it allows them to amass wealth and fund lavish lifestyles through untaxed growth in assets and investments. It’s time we tax income from wealth like wages, and that starts by scrapping the 50% capital gains discount on profits from sales of investments. Updated at 9.00pm BST 8.40pm BST Judges to rule on Sydney Palestine protest Thousands of protesters will discover whether they can rally at Sydney Opera House as a trio of judges rule on the legality of a pro-Palestine demonstration, Australian Associated Press reports. Police challenged the Palestine Action Group’s proposed protest in the NSW court of appeal. Organisers believe Sunday’s march, if approved, will see about 40,000 people wind through Sydney’s city centre to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. But police believe the number could be greater and would cause a safety risk. The judges, who are due to deliver a decision today, also raised concerns over crowd safety during earlier hearings. Comparing the protest to a massive August rally at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where between 90,000 and 300,000 marched in the rain, the chief justice, Andrew Bell, said even more could attend Sunday’s event. He also noted Macquarie Street could become a “narrow funnel” that pushes protesters into a tight space. But the organiser’s barrister, Felicity Graham, said previous unticketed events at the Opera House, like the popular light show Vivid, were managed capably. Read more here: Related: Sydney Opera House pro-Palestine march has ‘disaster written all over it’, senior NSW police officer tells court 8.29pm BST Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will be your guide. A ruling is expected at the NSW appeal court this morning over whether or not a pro-Palestine march can take place in Sydney this weekend. Police have asked for the rally to be banned on public safety grounds. More shortly. And a new study by Oxfam has shown that the benefits of the capital gains tax discount are overwhelmingly enjoyed by the country’s best-off.
High court dismisses former army lawyer David McBride’s application for case to be heard – as it happened
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