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PM says government united on Middle East crisis
Anthony Albanese has asserted the government remains united in its stance on the Middle Eastern conflict, despite remarks by some cabinet members labelled as “out of line” by the opposition.
Cabinet minister Ed Husic said Palestinians were being “collectively punished for Hamas’ barbarism” in Gaza, with thousands now killed since the terrorist group launched its attack on Israel earlier this month.
Other Labor politicians including Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly have broken ranks to call on Australia to step up its support for Palestinians facing a humanitarian crisis.
But the prime minister said the government was unequivocal in its position in condemning Hamas for its attack on Israel, as well as calling for civilians on both sides of the conflict to be protected.
“Ed Husic and Anne Aly and my entire team voted for a resolution in the parliament,” he told reporters in Perth on Friday.
“The responsibility for what is happening now firmly rests with Hamas and the actions that they have taken.”
Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley has criticised Husic for straying from the government’s position on the violence in the Middle East.
“You don’t get to freelance on government policy, on foreign policy, when you’re a cabinet minister,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.
AAP
ASIC bans ex-PwC partner from providing financial services
By Millie Muroi
The corporate regulator has banned former PwC Australia partner Peter-John Collins from providing financial services or controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business for eight years.
On Friday afternoon, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it found Collins had disclosed confidential information he obtained in his roles as a tax advisor to the Commonwealth Treasury and the Australian Board of Taxation.
Peter Collins, former head of international tax for PwC Australia.
It comes after months of fallout following the news PwC’s involvement in a major tax scandal.
Collins gleaned confidential information while consulting to the government on the architecture of new tax avoidance laws, which he and others in the firm used to advise its corporate and potential clients on how to sidestep the laws it had helped to author.
Accordingly, ASIC said it had found Collins “was not a fit and proper person to provide financial services and that it was in the public interest to prevent him from working in the financial services industry.”
Collins, who was an authorised representative of PwC from 2004 to 2006 and 2013 to 2022, has the right to apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
Political brawl threatens to overshadow PM’s US trip
By David Crowe
A political brawl in the United States is hurting Australian plans to persuade legislators to support the AUKUS pact on nuclear-powered submarines by casting doubt over whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be able to meet senior Congressional leaders next week.
Albanese is due to fly to Washington DC on Sunday to hold talks with US President Joe Biden on the alliance and broader security issues as well as attending a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday night, the first for an Australian leader in four years.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hopes to meet senior Congressional leaders next week.Credit: Fairfax Media
The agenda for the state visit includes stronger cooperation on climate change, critical mineral supplies as well as the sharing of nuclear secrets for the AUKUS plan, which needs Congress to approve changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, to allow the export of US knowledge and technology.
But the upheaval in the US capital, with the Republicans in disarray over whether Jim Jordan of Ohio should become Speaker of the House of Representatives, means there is no authority to approve an address to Congress and limited time for Albanese to meet top leaders.
Read the full story here.
Family speaks out after death of 16-year-old boy in custody
By Hamish Hastie, Holly Thompson and Jesinta Burton
The family of a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy who has died after a self-harm incident in the Unit 18 youth wing of Casuarina Prison in Perth say he was unlawfully locked in his cell day after day.
In a statement, they said the son deserved a future and they want answers.
WA Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia spoke about the death in custody on Friday morning.Credit: Holly Thompson
“To the State Government we say, act now, today, to prevent another young person from needlessly and tragically dying in detention,” they wrote.
“Future commitments, platitudes and unfulfilled promises only inflict more pain.
“To all the children detained in Banksia Hill and Unit 18, we say stay strong, look out for one another.”
The WA Corruption and Crime Commission has launched an investigation into the death of a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy who was found unconscious following a self-harm incident in the Unit 18 youth wing of Casuarina Prison in Perth.
Read the full story here.
ABC announces details of racism review
By Osman Faruqi
Six months after announcing the broadcaster would conduct a review into racism experienced by staff, sparked by treatment of Stan Grant, the ABC’s managing director David Anderson has announced details of how it will be conducted and when it will report.
In an email to ABC staff on Friday afternoon Anderson said that the review would be led by Dr Terri Janke, a Wuthathi, Yadhaighana and Meriam woman and a lawyer.
Janke’s work on the review will begin immediately. It will be open to all current and former ABC staff, with further information on how to participate to be distributed shortly.
The review is expected to report by the end of June, 2024. The findings and recommendations will be made public.
The details of how the review will be conducted come after Grant blasted the ABC for failing First Nations staff and people of colour. In August, ABC staff had expressed concern that the review was yet to begin.
Controversial Port of Darwin lease will not be cancelled
By Rachel Clun
The federal government will not cancel a Chinese company’s 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin following a review, which found there was a robust system in place to manage risks to critical infrastructure.
During last year’s election campaign Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blasted the 2015 decision to lease the port to Landbridge for $506 million, and shortly after his election he launched a review into the lease decision.
Landbridge holds a 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin.Credit: Erin Jonasson
There have been several security assessments since the lease of the Port of Darwin, including a review conducted by Defence for the previous Coalition government, which found there were insufficient national security grounds to overturn the lease.
In a statement the government said Labor’s review looked at the findings from previous assessments, and considered whether risk management and mitigation arrangements were suitably protecting the country’s national security interests.
The review conducted by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet found that existing monitoring mechanism were sufficient and would continue and there was a “robust regulatory system in place” to manage critical infrastructure risks, and as a result found that it was not necessary to change or cancel the lease.
“Monitoring of security arrangements around the Port of Darwin will continue,” the statement said. “Australians can have confidence that their safety will not be compromised, while ensuring that Australia remains a competitive destination for foreign investment.”
China building more nuclear weapons, report finds
In international news, a Pentagon report says China is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal and is “almost certainly” learning lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like.
The report, released on Friday, also warns that China may be pursuing a new intercontinental missile system using conventional arms that, if fielded, would allow Beijing “to threaten conventional strikes against targets in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska”.
The Guard of Honour of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army during a flag-raising ceremony at Tian’anmen Square.Credit: Getty
The report comes a month before an expected meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US president Joe Biden on the sidelines of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, AP reported.
The Pentagon report builds on the military’s warning last year that China was already expanding its nuclear force much faster than US officials had predicted, highlighting a broad and accelerating build-up of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass US global power by mid-century.
Read the full story here.
Qantas to put prices up next week
By Amelia McGuire
The price of Qantas flights will increase by 3.5 per cent in seven days due to its increasing fuel bill.
Qantas first flagged a potential hike to airfares last month when it revealed the businesses fuel bill for the first half of 2024 was likely to increase by $200 million to $2.8 billion after a 30 per cent increase to the cost of fuel since May.
At the time, Qantas said it would “look to balance” the increases with the need for affordable travel during a period in which airfares are already more expensive than usual.
Qantas said on Friday the “current tensions in the Middle East and broader economic factors including the weakened Australian dollar,” meant the cost of fuel was unlikely to normalise in the coming months.
It also said the cost of an average flight with Qantas will remain below the 15-year highs recorded at the end of last year.
More Australians flown home from Israel
Almost 100 people have landed in Dubai from Israel on an Australian repatriation flight.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Friday wrote on the X social media platform that a government-arranged flight arrived from Tel Aviv overnight with 99 passengers onboard.
“We are planning an assisted-departure flight from Dubai to Perth tonight,” she said.
“Onward domestic travel is being provided to those passengers by Qantas free of charge.”
The government also helped Australians leave on a commercial Emirates flight from Dubai to Sydney.
Senator Wong said due to “diminishing demand for dedicated assisted-departure flights, we do not have immediate plans for any further flights from Tel Aviv”.
AAP
Australian share market loses steam
By Millie Muroi
The Australian sharemarket continued to lose steam on Friday, following Wall Street’s negative lead as Treasury yields approach a decade high, and as the conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on investors’ minds.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 73.9 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 6907.7 by 12pm as all sectors except energy traded firmly in the red. The dollar remained weak at US63.15¢.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve.Credit: Bloomberg
Gold miners Northern Star (up 1.7 per cent) and Evolution (up 2.2 per cent) were among the few winners after the gold price increased 1 per cent overnight.
The energy sector (up 0.8 per cent) was the only sector treading water, buoyed by Santos, which gained 2.6 per cent, and Woodside (up 0.3 per cent). It comes after Brent Crude oil futures jumped 1.9 per cent overnight.
Meanwhile, healthcare companies (down 1.4 per cent) continued to fall, with CSL losing 1.3 per cent, Ramsay Health Care shedding 1.7 per cent and Fisher & Paykel dropping 2.7 per cent.
Read the latest market update here.
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2023-10-20 04:13:07Z
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