What we learned; Tuesday 17 February
We’ll leave the blog there for today. Thanks for staying with us. Here were the day’s top stories:
Angus Taylor has unveiled his new shadow cabinet. View the list of appointments here.
Taylor also said it was “time to move on” from comments about Indian migrants by the newly promoted Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and denied knowledge of a leaked Sussan Ley-era immigration policy.
The health minister, Mark Butler, has approved a 4.41% increase for health insurance premiums.
Police aircraft and a cadaver dog have failed to find new evidence in the renewed search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont.
The federal court dismissed a landmark greenwashing case against Santos.
The RBA’s board meeting minutes revealed more rate hikes are not a sure bet.
The “teal” independent contesting the Farrer byelection received a $60,000 donation boost.
An announcement on high-speed rail plans could be on the way after Anthony Albanese said it “absolutely makes sense”.
Updated
Measles alert for Byron Bay area
Authorities are warning someone infectious with the measles has visited several locations in the Byron Bay area.
The Northern NSW local health district is warning people to be alert for symptoms of the highly infectious disease after the person visited local businesses and public areas between Monday 9 and Friday 13 February.
There is now an increased risk of measles in NSW, with 18 cases confirmed in the state since the new year. Most cases have been brought in from travellers who contracted measles in another country but have not led to local transmission.
Experts warn local transmission could occur if the disease takes off in a community where vaccination rates are low and people are not protected against the disease.
The Richmond Valley (near Byron Bay) has persistently been among the areas with Australia’s lowest vaccination rates.
Updated
Bushfire breaks out in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley
A bushfire is blazing in central Victoria, south of Seymour along the Goulburn River.
The fire started today near the Goulburn Valley Highway south of Trawool and had grown to cover more than 50 hectares earlier this afternoon, according to the State Control Centre spokesperson David Nugent.
Emergency warnings have been issued for Kerrisdale, Tallarook and Trawool, with residents urged to take shelter immediately.
Warnings to leave immediately have been also issued for residents of Strath Creek and Reedy Creek.
Nugent said emergency services were on alert:
We are very wary of the south-west wind chains that will come later this afternoon. Over the next few hours we will expect that fire to continue to burn in that steep terrain and then the change will move the winds around to the south-west and create additional challenges for us.
Updated
Police dog and aircraft unsuccessful in new Gus Lamont search
A cadaver dog and police aircraft joined the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont today, but no new evidence was uncovered.
After Gus disappeared on 27 September last year from his family property, there have been successive waves of searches. At first he was thought to have wandered off, but in a shock announcement earlier this month, South Australian police declared it a major crime and said they had identified a suspect who lived with Gus.
On Monday, they began a new search at the family sheep station, Oak Park station, about 300km inland from Adelaide.
This afternoon, SA police said in a statement that members of Task Force Horizon had finished two days of searching for evidence:
The search covered numerous buildings and structures at Oak Park Station and at several locations adjoining the property.
Today’s searches involved Polair and a cadaver dog from interstate to assist in locating human remains. Unfortunately, no evidence was located during the intensive searches.
Task Force Horizon detectives have not ruled out returning to Oak Park Station as the investigation continues.
Also on Monday, a 75-year-old was arrested in the area and charged with firearm offences, which police said were not related to the search for Gus. They were bailed to appear in court on 6 May.
Updated
Health minister approves 4.41% increase for health insurance premiums
The government has approved private health insurers to raise their premium by an average of 4.41% from 1 April 2026.
The health minister, Mark Butler, says the approval follows multiple requests asking insurers to resubmit their premiums.
The increase – higher than last year’s 3.73% rise – reflects the rising costs of providing medical and hospital services, which rose 5% last financial year, as well as increasing wage bills and securing the viability of private hospitals, Butler said.
The Government understands the pressure health insurance premium changes put on Australians and decisions about private health insurance premiums must put consumers first.
This premium round has been guided by my commitment to maintain the value of private health insurance for Australians, while making sure the sector plays its part in supporting private hospitals facing rising costs and significant challenges.
Updated
And here are the remaining shadow minister appointments:
Tim Wilson: shadow treasurer
Pat Conaghan: shadow assistant treasurer and shadow minister for financial services
Aaron Violi: shadow minister for the digital economy, cyber security and science, technology and innovation
Andrew Hastie: shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability and deputy leader in the House of Representatives
Dan Tehan: shadow minister for energy and emissions reduction and manager of opposition business
Susan McDonald: shadow minister for resources and northern Australia
Jonno Duniam: shadow minister for home affairs and immigration
James Paterson: shadow minister for defence
Darren Chester: shadow minister for veterans’ affairs
Phillip Thompson: shadow minister for defence industry and defence personnel
James McGrath: shadow special minister of state, shadow minister for urban infrastructure, cities and Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Tony Pasin: shadow minister for scrutiny of government waste and accountability
Ted O’Brien: shadow minister for foreign affairs
Kevin Hogan: shadow minister for trade, investment and tourism
Bridget McKenzie: shadow minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development
Anne Webster: shadow minister for regional development, local government and territories and for regional communications
Julian Leeser: shadow minister for education
Matt O’Sullivan: shadow minister for choice in childcare and early learning and for child protection and the prevention of family violence
Angie Bell: shadow minister for youth and arts
Sarah Henderson: shadow minister for communications and digital safety
Updated
Full list of Coalition shadow minister appointments
Here is the full list of shadow ministers in Angus Taylor’s new Coalition frontbench, part 1:
Angus Taylor: opposition leader
Jane Hume: deputy leader of the opposition, shadow minister for employment, industrial relations, productivity and deregulation
Claire Chandler: shadow minister for finance, government services and the public service
Melissa McIntosh: shadow minister for women and for families and social services
Julian Leeser: shadow minister for Indigenous Australians
David Littleproud: shadow minister for agriculture
Andrew Bragg: shadow minister for environment and for housing and homelessness
Ross Cadell: shadow minister for water, fisheries and forestry and emergency management
Tony Pasin: shadow minister assisting for fisheries and forestry
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price: shadow minister for skills and training and for small business
Michaelia Cash: shadow attorney general and leader of the opposition in the Senate
Anne Ruston: shadow minister for health and aged care and deputy leader of the opposition in the Senate
Melissa McIntosh: shadow minister for the NDIS
Angie Bell: shadow minister for sport
Updated
Taylor ‘knows many good Muslims’
Angus Taylor has declined to offer a view on Pauline Hanson’s recent claims about Muslims.
Hanson has defended her remarks, which included the question “how can you tell me there are good Muslims”.
Taylor did not share his perspective on the comments when asked.
He instead told reporters:
I know many good Muslims. They’re in my electorate. I’ve got many and we had a wonderful man, Sam Kayal, running for us at Werriwa next to my seat, at the last election, a wonderful Australian who believes deeply in Australian values, and what this country can offer people who come to this country.
But, I say again, people who want to come to this country who don’t share our core beliefs, who don’t believe in our way of life, who want to bring hate and violence from another part of the world will not be welcome.
Updated
Taylor says Liberals need more women to stand for election
Angus Taylor has said the Liberal party needs to “fix the problem” of women not standing for election in the party while ruling out the use of quotas.
Liberal women said they were “incredibly worried” by a potential voter backlash to the ousting of the party’s first female leader. One high-profile member gave up her membership altogether after the NSW division dumped a move to consider gender quotas.
Taylor said he didn’t support quotas but still wanted to see more women join the party and in parliament.
He said:
I know there are so many great Liberal women out there that have been reticent about politics for all sorts of reasons … The job of all of us is to encourage great women to do that. I can understand the reticence in the past but we have to change that, that’s our job and that is how we fix the problem.
His deputy, Jane Hume, was asked whether the Liberals had listened to her recommendations in the review of the 2022 election she co-authored.
Hume said:
I think the entire organisation has. Those recommendations have been adopted, but they’re not easily implemented overnight.
Updated
Taylor says ‘time to move on’ from Price’s comments
Angus Taylor has defended Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and avoided calling for her to apologise for the comments that saw her sacked from the Coalition frontbench last year.
Price has repeatedly refused to apologise for remarks suggesting the federal government’s migration program favoured Indians to win Labor votes.
Taylor defended Price when asked whether Price’s comments would make her new shadow ministry job difficult, saying:
Not at all. Jacinta is passionate about small business, as are all of us … Jacinta understands that and will be out talking to small business people no matter what their background. And I know Jacinta well. She will engage with them, she will connect with them and they will love her because she is an extraordinary Australian and an extraordinary human being.
Asked specifically whether Price should apologise, Taylor said:
Jacinta has made her comments and I think it’s time to move on and focus on the important role she is going to play in small business because we need stronger businesses in this country.
Updated
New shadow cabinet is younger and has more women, says Hume
Jane Hume has said the new shadow cabinet is younger and contains more women than previous shadow ministires.
Angus Taylor’s new economic team, Tim Wilson and Claire Chandler, are relatively young, aged 45 and 35 respectively. When asked if this left the party vulnerable to attack for inexperience, Hume said:
It is a young team and that’s a good reason for that. It’s the next generation that are going to suffer from the debt and the deficits that are going to be left behind by this terrible Labor government. It is Claire and Tim, and Claire and Tim’s kids, that are going to carry the burden.
Hume also said Taylor’s shadow cabinet had a higher number of women than had previous Coalition leaders, which was “really important”.
Updated
Taylor denies knowledge of leaked Ley-era immigration policy
Angus Taylor says “no one has told” him about the origins of a leaked immigration policy, devised by the Liberals under Sussan Ley’s leadership.
Taylor said no immigration policy was taken to shadow cabinet under Ley. He said:
I’m not sure what the source of that plan was, no one has told me. I [will] tell you what my plan will be: to raise standards, reduce numbers and make sure the door is shut to people who do not share the core beliefs of Australians.
He said the party would put forward proposals for reforming Australia’s immigration system “in due time”.
Updated
New Liberal frontbench targets cutting government spending
Angus Taylor and his new economic team have outlined a focus on cutting government spending in their first remarks after the new opposition leader unveiled his frontbench.
Taylor said he would prioritise slowing the rate of government spending growth. He told reporters in Canberra:
Under Labor what we are seeing is an economy not growing in any meaningful way, and government spending that is growing at a rapid rate … I don’tsee any end in sight with that but we will be laying out a pathway to address that.
The new shadow finance minister, Claire Chandler, said:
I believe in a small government that [lives] within its means and spends money wisely because at the end of the day, we have to remember that every dollar the government has is not actually the government’s dollar, it is your dollar.
The new shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, also signalled the party would oppose proposed tax increases, singling out Labor’s consideration of cutting back discounts for property investors on capital gains tax.
Updated
Who is in Angus Taylor’s new frontbench?
Here are some of the appointments Angus Taylor has announced:
Jane Hume: deputy leader, shadow minister for employment relations, productivity and deregulation
Tim Wilson: shadow treasurer
Claire Chandler: shadow minister for finance, government services and the public services.
Tony Pasin: shadow minister for scrutiny of government waste and accountability.
Aaron Violi: shadow minister for digital economies, science and innovation, and cybersecurity.
Dan Tehan: shadow minister for energy, emissions reduction and manager of opposition business in the House of Representatives.
Garth Hamilton: shadow assistant minister for energy security and affordability.
Michaelia Cash: shadow attorney general and leader of the opposition in the Senate.
Jonno Duniam: shadow home affairs.
Dave Sharma: shadow minister for International development.
Melissa McIntosh: shadow minister for families and social services and for the NDIS
Matt O’Sullivan: shadow minister for childcare and early childcare.
Julian Leeser: shadow minister for education and for Indigenous Australians
Andrew Bragg: shadow minister for the environment and for housing and homelessness.
Simon Kennedy: shadow assistant minister to the leader of the opposition.
Updated
Andrew Hastie takes industry, Jacinta Price for small business and skills
Angus Taylor has outlined his new frontbench, including the return of Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to shadow cabinet after their departure under Sussan Ley.
Price will take the portfolios of small business and skills, Taylor told reporters:
Jacinta is absolutely passionate about the role that small businesses play in our communities and our great country and I know she will do an outstanding job.
Andrew Hastie will take the industry portfolio and has been elevated to become the Liberals’ deputy leader in the House of Representatives, given the new deputy, Jane Hume, sits in the Senate. Taylor said:
He will align our economic and security ensuring Australia can make more, and make more of what we need in our country on our land in our He will lead the fight against Labor’s net-zero tax on Australian manufacturing that is causing investment in the country to dry up and the jobs of hard-working Australians to go offshore.
Updated
Taylor demands detail on Australians detained in Syria
Angus Taylor has stood up in Canberra to announce his new Coalition frontbench (which now includes Nationals party members, after the two parties reunited).
Taylor opens his remarks responding to the news overnight that Australian women and children held for years without charge were briefly released from Syrian detention camps. Taylor demanded the federal government make clear its intended approach to the 34 women and children in the group who are wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. He told reporters:
Anthony Albanese’s government needs to come clean with the Australian people … Are any of these Isis-linked individuals coming back to Australia, are passports being processed, or will they be? What specific security assessments have been or will be undertaken? Has government used or even considered using its temporary exclusion order powers?
The government has shared some of that detail, with the home affairs minister “taking advice” on whether he can use those powers to temporarily ban the women and children from returning to Australia. Read more here:
Updated
Taylor announces new frontbench with Tim Wilson named as shadow treasurer
Angus Taylor has named Tim Wilson as his opposition treasury spokesperson, in a new-look shadow cabinet released just days after Sussan Ley was ousted in a leadership coup.
The deputy leader, Jane Hume, has chosen employment and industrial relations as her portfolio, hinting after the spill that she was keen to have a role in the productivity space. Dan Tehan will be the manager of opposition business.
Taylor has rewarded conservatives and brought back allies including Sarah Henderson, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Andrew Hastie to the frontbench. One of the biggest winners from the shuffle is the Tasmanian senator Claire Chandler who will take on the senior shadow finance portfolio once held by Hume in the former parliament.
Key conservative Michaelia Cash will move from shadow foreign affairs to shadow attorney general and James Paterson will take on defence.
Henderson has been given the shadow communications role, Price will be shadow skills and training minister and Hastie the new shadow industry minister.
New entrants into the shadow ministry include Aaron Violi who will take on science, technology and the digital economy, and Simon Kennedy who will be made assistant shadow minister to the opposition leader and assistant finance minister. Hastie ally Garth Hamilton will be assistant energy minister.
Several moderates, and close Ley allies – including Anne Ruston, Alex Hawke and Paul Scarr – were taken off the frontbench.
Updated
BHP hovers at $270bn as copper earnings boom
Major miner BHP is set to end the day with a record market value of close to $270bn after revealing its half-year profits had grown by a third thanks to booming demand for copper.
Australia’s second-biggest company has added $13bn in market value after its half-year financial results were released today. Its share price soared from $50.36 on Monday to an all-time high of $54.20 this morning, and is now trading at $52.95.
The company’s earnings for July to December 2025 were US$15.5bn, 25% higher than the same period in 2024, on BHP’s underlying EBITDA (earnings) measure. Almost US$8bn of that came from the company’s copper operations as growing global demand for the metal pushed earnings up 59%.
Mike Henry, the company’s chief executive, hailed the announcement as a “milestone” for the company which is historically known for its iron ore production.
Iron ore still accounted for US$7.5bn in earnings, up 5%, but demand is not set to grow anywhere near as fast as copper, with BHP predicting Chinese steel production will soon plateau. The company has also been struggling in price negotiation’s with China’s state-run enterprise.
Updated
Police watchdog requests footage of anti-Herzog protest
The police watchdog has asked members of the public for video evidence of police actions from the Sydney rally against the Israeli president last week.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission said it had begun investigating police operations, including “alleged misconduct” against protestors, at Sydney Town Hall on the evening Monday 9 February.
In a statement announcing the new “Operation MAKALU” investigation, the Lecc said:
Members of the public are invited to upload any relevant evidence, such as video footage, photographs or other documentary evidence to assist the Commission’s investigation.
The Lecc has set up this webpage for people to upload material and make complaints related to police operations at the protest.
Updated
Angus Taylor to name shadow frontbench lineup
The new opposition leader, Angus Taylor, will announce his frontbench lineup at 4pm today.
Taylor is expected to reward some of his conservative backers and purge supporters of the former Liberal leader Sussan Ley in his formulation of the new shadow ministry.
Victorian MP Tim Wilson is set to become the shadow treasurer, with deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume expected to have a portfolio focused on productivity and cost of living.
Liberal sources expect Andrew Bragg and James Paterson to have senior roles. Dan Tehan could be named manager of opposition business, as well as taking a senior portfolio. Jonno Duniam could stay in the home affairs portfolio.
Conservatives Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Sarah Henderson and Tony Pasin will all be elevated, along with up-and-coming Liberals including Aaron Violi and Simon Kennedy.
Updated
‘Big hole’ from burst water main in Brisbane
A burst water main has created a massive hole in a major road in Brisbane’s east, AAP reports, disrupting traffic, dozens of households and a local primary school.
Dozens of properties and a nearby school are without water after the major pipe flooded around 11.45am on Monday on Wynnum Road in Tingalpa, disrupting traffic.
Crews on Tuesday were still working hard to repair damage to the arterial road after the local water supply was shut down, revealing a “giant hole”. Almost 50 properties were impacted along with Tingalpa state school.
Portable toilets have been set up at the school and bottled water made available for students, the education department said.
Police were directing traffic on the busy road on Tuesday morning. The cause of the burst pipe was being investigated, local water distributor Urban Utilities said.
Updated
Thanks Nick Visser and hello readers. I’ll be with you for the rest of today’s breaking news.
Updated
That’s all for me, Luca Ittimani will guide you through the afternoon’s news. Take care.
Mother defends son who made antisemitic remark at Sydney rally, day before he is set to be sentenced
The mother of a man charged under NSW hate speech laws after he made an antisemitic comment at an anti-immigration rally in Sydney told a court her son had made a “mistake”, according to an affidavit filed today.
AAP reports Brandan Koschel attended the March for Australia protest alongside hundreds of others winding their way through Sydney’s city centre.
The 34-year-old took the stage at the end of the march and allegedly endorsed neo-Nazi views before being immediately arrested by police.
He has pleaded guilty to intentionally inciting hatred on the grounds of race for his 40-second speech, in which he twice called Jews the “greatest enemy”.
“This was not a mistake,” police prosecutor Adrian Walsh told a magistrate.
Koschel will be sentenced on Wednesday.
Coles tells court its Down Down promotions were ‘fair dinkum’ discounts and did not mislead shoppers
Coles has defended its promotional prices in a high-profile court case brought by the consumer watchdog, arguing that shoppers would understand the supermarket’s well-known “Down Down” promotion to be “fair dinkum”.
The federal court battle between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Coles began this week, testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products.
The legal argument will turn, in part, on what consumers understand Coles’ “Down Down” promotion to be, with the supermarket arguing that an ordinary consumer would perceive the promotion as a general, long-term discount.
John Sheahan KC, representing Coles, said on Tuesday that consumers would accept the promotion as a real drop in price.
“What they would be concerned with when they’re walking down the aisle trying to work out what to buy today for their shopping is whether the claimed discount … was fair dinkum,” Sheahan said.
Read more here:
VicEmergency issues warning to take shelter now after new bushfire north of Melbourne
VicEmergency has urged residents south of the town of Seymour to take shelter now amid a new bushfire that is not yet under control. The fire is about 75km north of Melbourne and is threatening homes and lives.
EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE - Take Shelter Now - Kerrisdale, Tallarook, Trawool
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) February 17, 2026
More details at https://t.co/4csF5StXMQ
You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave. pic.twitter.com/yoCppGaDNG
Officials said residents in areas near Kerrisdale, Tallarook and Trawool should take shelter, saying the fire is traveling southwest from the Goulburn Valley highway.
You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.
Australian writer cleared in Thai defamation case
Malaysia’s telecoms regulator has dropped a defamation case in Thailand against Australian writer Murray Hunter after mediation, the Associated Press reports.
The case has caused concern among free speech advocates because it was seen as a form of cross-border repression. The regulator had already announced it settled with Hunter and also dropped a civil case in Malaysia.
Hunter said he apologised and retracted about 10 Substack posts, while Malaysia unblocked his newsletter. Rights groups had warned that the case suppressed free speech by putting cross-border pressure on critics.
Read more here:
Consumer spending strong, as RBA feared - but not for long?
The Reserve Bank today revealed more about why it hiked interest rates, with strong household spending a key reason. Bank data out today suggests consumers kept buying in January but may be less keen now rates are up.
The RBA was watching the back end of last year, where Australians spent big. JB Hi-Fi revealed yesterday that was across the board, with customers even splashing out on big home appliances.
Spending appears to have kept up, with CBA and now NAB finding consumer spend picked up even further in January, by 0.5% from December. Personal goods accounted for a big part of that, according to NAB, but so did utilities, which have grown more expensive as government energy rebates end.
The RBA’s rate hike could be set to slow that boom. Households’ confidence in the economy fell last week to its lowest level since mid-2024, according to ANZ-Roy Morgan four-week average data released today.
That included a decline in the number of people thinking now is a good time to buy a big household item. ANZ economist Sophia Angala said consumer confience was “very weak”:
Households remain pessimistic in their financial conditions over the next 12 months, and their economic conditions over the next five years, with both subindices at decade lows.
Inflation is ‘too high’, but more rate hikes not a sure bet
Members of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy board agreed that “it was not possible to have a high degree of confidence” on the future path for interest rates, new minutes from the most recent meeting have revealed.
The RBA hiked the cash rate to 3.85% earlier this month after a surprisingly strong pickup in economic activity through the second half of this year pushed inflation “too high”, forcing the central bank to act.
There were several signs that the cash rate at 3.6% was not high enough to bring inflation sustainably back to the 2-3% target range, not least the fact that home lending “had picked up noticeably and now appeared to be growing faster than household incomes”.
“Capacity” was a keyword – mentioned 18 times in the newly released minutes. The RBA has become more concerned that economic demand was proving stronger than expected, even as the supply side was weaker than anticipated.
As Aussies spent more and business ploughed billions into datacentres, price pressures built up and demanded a response.
Regarding inflation, members judged that, while a sizeable portion of the recent increase was likely to wane over time, a reasonable portion reflected underlying inflationary pressures that would be likely to persist without a policy response.
Financial markets this morning were pricing in an 80% chance of another rate hike by the May meeting.
But the language in the minutes is more cautious.
“Members agreed that the prevailing uncertainties meant it was not possible to have a high degree of confidence in any particular path for the cash rate,” as the board members “pointed to risks on both sides of the central projection for inflation”.
Updated
Major retailer forecasts illegal cigarettes could soon dominate market unless excise cut
A major Australian retailer forecasts 90% of cigarettes will be illegally sourced within a few years unless the government reduces the tobacco excise, AAP reports.
Ritchies IGA, which operates 156 supermarkets across Victoria, NSW, and Queensland, suggests the federal government could both repair its budget by billions of dollars and undermine criminal gangs by cutting the tobacco excise.
Tobacco sales across the chain’s stores have plummeted from $300m to $60m in the past four years.
Over the past decade, illicit cigarette prices have increased significantly slower than legal products, at 3.8% compared to 11.3% annually.
This caused the estimated price gap to widen from $11 to $47.
Groovin the Moo announces 2026 return with scaled-back event
Regional music festival Groovin the Moo has announced it will return this year, ending a two-year hiatus following consecutive cancellations.
In a shift from its traditional format of touring regional areas across Australia, the festival will return on 9 May as a single-day, single-stage event held in Lismore, northern New South Wales, on Widjabul/Wia-bal Country.
Organisers said they are “taking the first step” in Lismore, after looking for “the most sustainable way” to bring the festival back to life after a difficult period for the Australian live music industry.
We’re groovin again! Last year we made a promise to find the most sustainable way to bring back Australia’s most-loved regional festival. In 2026, we’re taking the first step in Lismore.
The lineup for the event will be released soon, the festival says.
Palestine advocates back report into university campus racism
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan) says anti-Palestinian racism is “entrenched” in society after a landmark report by the Australian Human Rights Commission found nine in 10 Palestinian students and staff had experienced racism on campus.
The report, released today, found the rates of racism was highest for Palestinian and practicing Jewish respondents, followed by First Nations, Chinese, Jewish (secular), Middle Eastern and Northeast Asian respondents (over 80%).
The executive officer of Apan, Katie Shammas, called on the federal government to back the commissioner’s recommendation it adopt an anti-racism framework in its own polices and practices to lead the way for reform to the university sector.
We are finding students and university staff being accused of ‘blood libel’, being expelled or placed on probation, and having their movements monitored on university campuses.
This only indicates a rampant culture of silencing and erasure of Palestinians and their allies, including members of the Jewish community, something that has also been raised in the AHRC report.
Greens renew calls to scrap controversial antisemitism report cards after release of racism at universities report
The Greens have accused the federal government of “cherry picking” types of racism after the race discrimination commissioner’s report found particularly high levels of anti-Palestinian racism alongside anti-Jewish racism in its report into universities.
The report made 47 recommendations, including embedding anti-racism into governance, curriculum, training, leadership, staffing and student support.
The deputy Greens leader and anti-racism spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said the report laid bare a “terrifying truth”:
Racism is not an exception in our universities, it is the rule, and it is harming students and staff across racial and religious groups … The promise of education is being poisoned by racism.
The prime minister must urgently adopt the report’s systemic whole-of-racism reforms and scrap the sham one-sided antisemitism report cards, which have been roundly criticised. Cherrypicking one type of racism over others does nothing to dismantle structural racism embedded in policy and practice. It only entrenches the systems of discrimination we should be dismantling.
The Albanese government has been gaslighting and dismissing anti-Palestinian racism for the last two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but with Palestinian respondents experiencing the highest levels of racism the government can no longer refuse to accept this reality.
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Bulldogs ‘deeply shocked’ after former player Matt Utai shot in Greenacre
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs say they are “deeply shocked and saddened” following news that former player Matt Utai is in hospital after being shot multiple times in Sydney’s west.
In a statement this morning a club spokesperson said Utai “is a beloved part of the Bulldogs family”.
He played 127 first-grade games for the club and was instrumental in the 2004 Premiership.
Our thoughts are with Matt and his family during this extremely difficult time. We are hoping and praying for his full recovery.
The Club also asks that the privacy of Matt and his family be respected at this time.
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Teal gets $60,000 Farrer byelection boost
The teal candidate for Farrer, Michelle Milthorpe, has received a big donation to start her campaign in the upcoming byelection.
Milthorpe ran second to Sussan Ley in last May’s federal election, and is set to run to replace the former opposition leader when she formally quits parliament in the coming weeks. The Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are all expected to run in the rural NSW seat as well.
Milthorpe has received a $60,000 campaign donation from the Regional Voices Fund. The fund gives money to support regional independent candidates and has links to Climate 200.
Timing for the byelection will be set by the speaker once Ley resigns the seat.
Updated
Findings of racism study are ‘deeply troubling’, Universities Australia says
Universities Australia (UA) says it “stands ready” to work with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) after the release of today’s report, which found racism was systemic on university campuses.
In a statement, the peak body said the accounts shared by almost 80,000 staff and students through its survey were “deeply troubling”.
Behind each response is a person who did not feel safe or respected in a place where they should have. To everyone who shared their story, we acknowledge both what you experienced and the courage it takes to speak about it.
UA backed the report’s calls for a national working group to develop a coordinated action plan for the sector, to help “translate its findings into consistent standards, stronger accountability and measurable progress across all institutions”.
Universities Australia stands ready to work constructively with the AHRC and the government to ensure this work begins without delay and delivers meaningful, transparent change.
Victoria premier rejects call for royal commission into CFMEU
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, also rejected the opposition’s calls for a royal commission into the allegations contained in the Watson report. She said:
We’ve had a royal commission in this country that went into this industry, that went for years, that didn’t result in any outcomes, and clearly didn’t address the issues. The calls from, particularly the Liberal party here in Victoria, for [a royal commission] is not about this matter. It’s all about clawing back workers’ wages.
Allan again refuted Geoffrey Watson’s claim corruption in the union cost taxpayers $15bn. More on that claim here:
The premier said the figure was redacted from Watson’s final report by the CFMEU’s administrator, Mark Irving, as it was “untested” and “not properly founded”. She said Irving had the “responsibility and authority under federal legislation” to test the claim – not the state government.
She said:
I’m going to support the work of the federal administrator because his work is just so critically important … In the areas that I am responsible for, the Victorian government [is] taking action – supporting the work of Victorian police, passing legislation to both strengthen the labour hire regulations and also passing legislation to strengthen Victoria police’s powers around dealing with organised crime.
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Victoria premier has no plans to introduce follow the money laws
Earlier this morning, the premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference at Footscray Hospital, which opens tomorrow morning.
While there, she faced a barrage of questions related to the allegations of corruption in the CFMEU Victorian branch.
Asked whether she would give the state’s anti-corruption watchdog “follow the money” powers, as dubbed by the Greens, to allow them to investigate corrupt conduct by third parties and private subcontractors connected to government funding, Allan responded:
I’ve got no announcements to make regarding [the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission] Ibac today.
She said allegations detailed in a report by corruption fighter Geoffrey Watson SC were able to be investigated by Victoria police. Allan said:
The allegations that have been raised go to alleged criminal behaviour, and that includes alleged criminal corrupt behaviour, and as we have seen, Victoria Police have the tools and the powers as the independent investigative agency to respond to this matter. They are doing so - Taskforce Hawk has laid 70 charges against 15 individuals.
Opposition calls for Labor to use powers to stop women from returning to Australia from Syria
The opposition has formally called on Labor to use temporary exclusion orders to stop a group of Australian citizens from returning to Australia from Syria.
A group of 34 women and children who are the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters had attempted to move to safety this week. The group were held for years without charge, but were forced to return to a detention camp in Syria after being released by Kurdish forces.
Liberal senator Jonno Duniam, expected to take a senior role in Angus Taylor’s new frontbench line up this week, called on the government to take strong action against the group.
“One avenue available to the government to stop these people from returning to Australia is a temporary exclusion order [TEO] – which is expressly provided so a government can protect its people,” he said.
These are people who have been part of a group that want to attack our way of life and are a very serious risk to our society.
TEOs allow the home affairs minister to legally prevent citizens from re-entering Australia for up to two years, if they are deemed a security risk.
They can cover minors aged 14-17, as well as adults, but require an Asio threat assessment.
One person dead, two in critical condition after stabbing in Merrylands
One person is dead and two others are in critical condition after a stabbing in Sydney’s west this morning.
NSW police said emergency services were called to Merrylands about 10am. Officers on scene were told a man had allegedly stabbed multiple people before leaving the area on foot.
Paramedics treated three people on scene for serious injuries, including the person who died. The two others were taken to an area hospital in critical condition.
Police arrested a man later this morning, who has been taken to Granville police station. No charges have been filed. A crime scene has been established and an investigation is ongoing.
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Race discrimination commissioner says racism ‘pervasive’ across university sector
The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, said the findings of the study were deeply troubling and universities were falling short of their duty of care to students and staff.
Racism at university is not confined to isolated incidents or individual behaviour – it is systemic. Racism is pervasive across the sector, affecting many groups in serious ways … The attack on Camp Sovereignty, the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi and the recent alleged attempted bombing targeting First Peoples on 26 January in Perth – these are the horrifying outcomes when racism in our society isn’t addressed.
The report made 47 recommendations for the federal government and universities, including a national framework for anti-racism in tertiary education, better accountability and a more diverse leadership and workforce.
Only 11 universities were found to have advanced, standalone anti‐racism strategies.
Sivaraman said the report showed the “critical importance” of the federal government endorsing and funding key recommendations of the National Anti-Racism Framework, which the commission delivered in November 2024.
We cannot wait any longer as racism continues to impact the lives of many in visceral ways.
Racism is ‘systemic’ at Australia’s universities, report finds
Racism is “systemic” at Australia’s universities, the race discrimination commissioner says, with a landmark report finding seven in 10 respondents have experienced indirect racism, rising to nine in 10 Palestinian and Jewish students and staff.
The Australian Human Rights Commission’s national study was commissioned in 2024 to investigate the prevalence and impact of racism at universities for the first time. The federal government received the report in December but it was not publicly released until Tuesday.
Of the 76,000 students and staff that were surveyed as part of the study, 70% had experienced indirect racism, including hearing or seeing racist behaviour directed at their community. Some 15% had experienced direct racism at university.
The rates were highest for religious Jewish and Palestinian respondents (over 90%), followed by First Nations, Chinese, Jewish (secular), Middle Eastern and Northeast Asian respondents (over 80%).
At the same time, just 6% of people who experienced direct racism make a complaint to their university, with many citing fear of consequences and low trust in university complaints systems.
Prime minister says government has ‘no sympathy’ for anyone with links to Islamic State fighters
Albanese spoke more about the 34 women and children with links to dead or jailed Islamic State fighters who were sent back to a Syrian detention camp this morning.
Earlier this morning he said the government would not assist with repatriation efforts. He added to ABC Radio Melbourne:
We have no sympathy, frankly, for people who travelled overseas in order to participate in what was an attempt to establish a caliphate to undermine and destroy our way of life.
It’s unfortunate that children are impacted by this as well. But we are not providing any support. And if anyone does manage to find their way back to Australia, then they’ll face the full force of the law if any laws have been broken.
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Lanyon again calls for release of 85-year-old mistakenly kidnapped: ‘this incident is disgraceful’
Lanyon was asked about the current status of missing 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian. He said:
This incident is disgraceful.
It is clearly a case of mistaken identity and it shows the disregard that those involved in organised crime have for individuals. The fact Mr Baghsarian has been taken and not returned at this stage, despite the fact we have been very clear that you have the wrong person.
Can I ask that you show some respect, show dignity and ensure Mr Baghsarian is returned to his family.
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Lanyon says restrictions worked ‘very well’, but time to get community back to ‘what is normal’
Lanyon said the recent protests had “very little” role in the decision to end the restriction on public assemblies, but said they were in place during Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit earlier this month because he had “significant concerns about the safety of the community” at the time.
He said:
I am satisfied that conditions that led to the extension last time do not exist now …
There was significant animosity towards that head of state. There was a need for a police force to ensure we provide protection to that head of state. There were large events that were planned around the visit of that head of state. We didn’t want there to be conflict between protesters and the head of state.
He added the restrictions had worked “very well”, but it was now time to get the community “back to what is normal”.
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NSW restriction on public assemblies ends
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the public assembly restriction declaration has ended after it lapsed earlier this morning.
Lanyon said at a press conference:
Whilst the public assembly restriction declaration has been lifted today, I want the community to consider … this is still a time for calm. It is two months out from the worst terror incident we have had in New South Wales.
Lanyon said he would continue to work closely with organisers to ensure public safety “sits alongside” public assembly.
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Albanese teases announcement on high speed rail, says it ‘absolutely makes sense’
Back to the prime minister, who spoke to ABC News earlier this morning. Albanese was asked about the future of high speed rail in the country, saying the government would have an announcement on the matter “in a couple of weeks’ time”.
He added:
It won’t be open while I’m prime minister. But we’ll have an announcement in a couple of weeks’ time.
I think that it absolutely makes sense. We have a small population for a relatively big nation, an island continent. We are the only inhabited continent on earth that doesn’t have high-speed rail. And certainly Newcastle to Sydney to Canberra to Melbourne makes absolute sense.
It’s where most of our population is, along that corridor. What makes it financially viable is the economic development along the route as well.
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Police concerned about ‘brazen’ nature of Greenacre shooting
Police said there is no ongoing threat to the community, but said they remain concerned about an attack taking place in the early morning.
We are concerned about this brazen attack. It is a brazen ambush of this male person who, from my understanding, was heading to his vehicle to go to work.
Hart said the victim lived at home with his wife and a number of children. He said he believes some family members were inside the house at the time of the shooting.
Police have appealed for information from the community after the attack.
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Police say shooting in Sydney’s west this morning believed to be a ‘targeted attack’
NSW police are providing an update after NRL star Matt Utai was shot in a public shooting in Sydney’s west early this morning.
Supt Rodney Hart said the man, 44, had suffered a number of gunshot wounds, including a shot to the lower leg and to the upper shoulder/chest area. Police would not confirm Utai is the victim of the shooting, but said:
I want to reassure the community that we strongly believe that this is a targeted attack. I know throughout the media this morning a certain high-profile person’s name has been put out as the victim. Unfortunately, at this time I cannot confirm who that victim is.
The reason for that is that person is a victim of a violent shooting. He is currently undergoing surgery in hospital and our main focus at this moment, not only is to identify who is involved in this but to ensure he and his family are safe.
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Federal court dismisses landmark greenwashing case against Santos
A world-first greenwashing case brought by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility against gas company Santos has been dismissed by the federal court.
The case, launched by the shareholder advocacy organisation in 2021, challenged the veracity of Santos’s net zero plan and claims by the company that it was a producer of “clean” energy.
The ACCR, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, alleged the gas company breached the Corporations Act by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct in its 2020 annual report, a 2020 investor briefing and a 2021 climate change report.
Central to these allegations were three key claims by Santos that the ACCR argued the company lacked reasonable grounds for making: that it was a producer of “clean energy” and that natural gas was a “clean fuel”, that hydrogen produced by Santos with carbon capture and storage was “zero emissions hydrogen” and “clean hydrogen”, and that it had a clear and credible pathway to net zero by 2040.
Justice Brigitte Markovic dismissed the case on all grounds in a brief hearing on Tuesday morning and ordered the applicant to pay Santos’s costs. The reasons for the decision will be published on 23 February.
The case was heard over a 13 days in 2024. The ACCR holds shares in fossil fuel companies such as Santos to try to force them to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
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Former NRL star Matt Utai in hospital after public shooting
Back to the report of a 44-year-old shot in western Sydney this morning: former NRL star Matt Utai is in hospital fighting for life after being shot multiple times, AAP reports.
The 2004 premiership-winning Bulldogs and Wests Tigers winger was shot outside a home in Greenacre, in western Sydney, at around 6am on Tuesday.
Police were told a 44-year-old man was shot outside the home by people inside an SUV, before the vehicle fled. The SUV was then found after being set on fire in Wiley Park, less than a 10-minute drive from where the shooting took place.
Utai, 44, was reportedly shot in the stomach and the leg. He was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Police are set to hold a press conference on the matter around 9.50am.
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The CFMEU has cost Victorian taxpayers $15bn, a corruption fighter claims. How did he reach that figure and what happens next?
The Victorian premier will face mounting pressure in parliament this week over allegations that corruption involving the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union cost taxpayers up to $15bn.
The eye-watering estimate appeared in a redacted section of a report by corruption fighter Geoffrey Watson SC, which was tendered during a Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU last week.
The report centred on the CFMEU’s Victoria and Tasmania branch over the course of two decades, when it allegedly went from a union focused on workers’ rights to a “violent, hateful and greedy rabble” that “cultivated the company of underworld figures” and bikie gangs.
Here’s what to know about the report and the government’s view of it:
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Australia will not assist in repatriating women and children stuck in Syria, PM says
Anthony Albanese said Australia will not facilitate or assist in repatriating 34 women and children in Syria who are the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. The group were held for years without charge, and were recently forced to return to a detention camp in Syria after being released by Kurdish forces.
Albanese was asked about the Australians on ABC this morning, saying:
We won’t repatriate them. And indeed the government was taken to court by one of the non-government organisations saying we had a responsibility and they weren’t successful in that. My mother would have said “If you make your bed, you lie in it”.
These people went overseas supporting Islamic State and went there to provide support for people who basically want a caliphate …
While Australian citizens cannot be blocked from returning on their own, Albanese said he was firm in his stance that the government would not provide assistance to the cohort in Syria, adding:
We have a very firm view that we won’t be providing assistance or repatriation. Of course Australian law applies, and there are obligations that Australian officials have, but we want to make it clear, as we have to the people involved, that if there are any breaches of the law, then they will face the full force of the Australian law.
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Man, 44, seriously injured after public place shooting in Sydney’s west
A man was seriously injured in a public place shooting in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre this morning.
NSW police said emergency services were called to the area in Sydney’s west around 6am amid reports a man had been shot outside a home by the occupants of an SUV before it drove away.
The man, 44, was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to the hospital in a serious condition.
Police were called to the nearby suburb of Wiley Park a short time later after reports of a car fire. They have established a crime scene at both locations and opened an investigation into the matter, which they are treating as linked.
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Albanese predicts One Nation surge may be shortlived amid 'mess' of mutual hatred on political right
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the rise of One Nation has happened before, but past surges in the party’s popularity “all collapsed” after a few years.
Albanese was asked about Pauline Hanson and her party’s beefy poll numbers, but he told ABC News while people were “quite clearly frustrated” across Australia, One Nation may not be a bastion for that angst for long:
We saw it in 1996 when she was elected and 1998 she won double-digit number of seats in Queensland. No one made it to two years, it all collapsed. That’s tended to be what has happened.
We will wait and see what the relationship is between Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce in a couple of years’ time – two very big egos put in one melting pot.
Albanese went on to say One Nation had alway been about “identifying problems” while promoting “division”, adding:
People are frustrated because the Coalition parties are such a mess. The Liberals hate each other and the Nats hate each other and the Liberals hate the Nats and the Nats are leaving to join One Nation.
It really is a bit of a mess on the right wing of politics at the moment. One Nation represent certainty – no solutions, but certainty of identifying problems.
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Total fire ban across much of Victoria today
A total fire ban has been declared across a large stretch of southern Victoria today. The ban applies to the central, north central, south west, west and south Gippsland and Wimmera fire districts amid forecasted hot, dry temperatures.
The Country Fire Authority’s chief officer, Jason Heffernan, said dangerous conditions could lead to a spike in fire danger, saying in a statement:
We’re seeing very dry fuels across large parts of the state, and when that’s paired with low humidity, fires can start easily and spread quickly.
Any spark under these conditions has the potential to turn into something serious, particularly ahead of gusty winds or thunderstorms.
Extreme Fire Danger Rating today, Tuesday 17 February 2026, across multiple areas. For your survival, leave bushfire risk areas.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) February 16, 2026
A Total Fire Ban has also been declared.
More information: https://t.co/8x3jc2xTTi
Stay up to date: https://t.co/XZY9uEcO6X pic.twitter.com/00tDApDRQy
Scientists to track 10,000 moths across Australia, using little more than eyelash glue and confetti-like tags
Researchers and citizen scientists will, for the first time, tag and track 10,000 bogong moths as they travel hundreds of kilometres from the Australian Alps to breeding grounds across the country’s south-east.
The massive moth-tagging project was modelled on Monarch Watch, a citizen science program that has traced the migration of monarch butterflies across North America over decades. Both species undertake long-distance journeys, with butterflies travelling by day and bogong moths by night.
A team of scientists and volunteers will next week travel to Mount Kosciuszko to begin attaching numbered paper tags – each the size of a piece of confetti – to 10,000 moths using eyelash glue.
“It’s low-tech, high-effort tagging, where you put a little sticker on an individual moth and see if you can catch it again,” said Dr Kate Umbers, an associate professor in zoology at Western Sydney University and the managing director of Invertebrates Australia.
Read more here:
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Henderson says migration ‘very important’ but will seek to ban people ‘who hate this country’
Henderson maintained that the Liberal party believes the country’s migration program is “very important”, adding to RN:
We recognise the wonderful contribution that migrants from all parts of the world have played. But the point I’m making is that Australians do not want anyone coming to this country with hate in their hearts.
We are not in the business of bringing people who hate this country into Australia, and we are determined to ensure that doesn’t happen.
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Liberal senator says party will focus on immigration policy ‘in the national interest’
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson said the Liberal party, under its newly minted leader, Angus Taylor, would focus on an immigration policy “in the national interest”.
Henderson spoke to RN Breakfast amid the leaked hardline Liberal immigration plan drafted while Sussan Ley was still leader, calling the document “unverified”:
I know about as much as you do … We understand that we will need to deliver an immigration policy in the best interest of all Australians and Angus and our team will be doing that very very soon.
When asked if Henderson thought civilians from Gaza would be a threat to Australia, the senator said there were “very serious concerns” in the area:
Our concern is that we need to keep Australians safe and protect our way of life.
The bottom line is … Australians must have confidence that they will be safe in their community.
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Barnaby Joyce ‘100%’ supports banning people from specific countries entering Australia
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce said he would support banning migration from specific countries this morning amid controversy over a leaked hardline Liberal immigration plan drafted before Sussan Ley was ousted as the party’s leader last week.
Joyce spoke to Channel Nine’s Today, where he was asked if he’d support the proposal:
Yep, 100%. Because until they get their acts together, we’re not going to try and sort of re-litigate what’s going on in their heads over here …
If there’s an unreasonable risk, you just don’t come from that area. If you want a solution to that, go back to that area and tell them to solve their own problems.
Joyce added that he agrees with One Nation’s leader, Pauline Hanson, saying you can’t “make excuses” and allow people with different ideologies into the country, or risk social cohesion:
I do agree 100% with Pauline: people come into this country completely at odds, completely at odds, and it becomes apparent that it’s generationally at odds with what Australia is …
Those days are over. … Otherwise, what do you see in England? What do you see in France? Just wait. You’ll see it in Sydney. You’ll see it in Melbourne.
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‘Unparalleled’ growth in social homes still not enough: new research
Social housing is growing at a pace “unparalleled since the 1980s”, with new research revealing the number of homes for very low income households set to jump by 55,000 in this decade.
Professors Hal Pawson and Chris Martin from UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre pieced together data from unpublished state and territory construction data with official federal government targets to show 70,000 new social homes are projected to come on stream in the 2020s.
Around 45,000 of these new homes are funded by the states and territories, led by Victoria and Queensland.
Accounting for the 15,000 demolitions and sales anticipated this decade brings the net gain to 55,000 by 2030 – which would be a hefty 13% increase from 2020.
It’s also triple the increase in the social housing stock achieved in the 2010s.
But even this relative success will help to stabilise, rather than lift, the share of social homes at 4% – just above half the OECD average of 7%.
And the gains in social homes this decade is a fraction of the estimated 437,000 households who in 2021 said they were unable to secure social housing.
Pawson also worried that the current federal commitments through the Housing Australia Future Fund (Haff) did not extend beyond 2030.
Even if the federal government has the bottle to continue this level of investment through the Haff, if the states aren’t also able to maintain their remarkably high level of activity, we are going to be falling way, way behind.
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Good morning
Nick Visser here to pick things up this morning. Let’s see what’s in store.
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Refugee Council of Australia says leaked Liberal migration proposal ‘appalling’
The Refugee Council of Australia has condemned a leaked proposal by the Liberal party to ban migrants from regions controlled by declared terrorist groups, describing the plan as an “appalling idea straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook”.
Details of the leaked plan drafted under Sussan Ley emerged on Monday signalling a hardline approach to immigration as the party haemorrhages votes to One Nation.
It would seek to ban migration from 37 specific regions controlled by terrorist groups across 13 countries, including Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, the Philippines and Afghanistan.
In a statement on Monday evening, the Refugee Council described it as an “indiscriminate ban”.
Any person applying to visit or migrate to Australia should have their application considered on its own merits. People who have no links to terrorism and are almost certainly suffering as a result of terrorist acts should not be treated as though they are terrorists themselves.
To apply indiscriminate bans in this way would be little more than blind prejudice, prejudging people based on where they are from rather than who they are. The opposition cannot maintain that it is promoting Australian values and then promote a policy which denies the most basic level of fairness to innocent people with a valid and lawful reason for wishing to visit Australia, including family members of Australian citizens and residents.
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Taylor says leaked immigration plan has ‘no validity’
Following the leak of immigration policy developed under former Liberal leader Sussan Ley on Monday, the new opposition leader, Angus Taylor, said he had not seen the plan, and that it had not been brought to shadow cabinet and it had “no validity”.
The Ley plan proposed to ban migrants from specific regions of 13 countries, and would seek to remove up to 100,000 asylum seekers and people on student visas more quickly from Australia.
On the ABC’s 7.30 program, Taylor said he had not seen the document:
Frankly, I don’t know what the document is. I don’t know where it’s come from, and I don’t know what’s in it.
Taylor said that the plan he would announce would be developed with his soon-to-be-announced shadow cabinet, but would not be drawn on detail beyond the principles he had outlined in his speech after becoming Liberal leader on Friday.
In response to being asked on whether social media would be checked, Taylor said intelligence agencies “need to be looking at this very very closely”, and there would be some regions migrants are coming from “where the risks are high”.
That doesn’t mean you necessarily shut the door on those places, but it does mean you do the work to make sure the people who are coming are not people who are going to threaten our way of life, and bring violence to our country.
Read more here:
And we are also reporting on Taylor being warned not to copy Donald Trump’s hardline border policies:
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the breaking news this morning before Nick Visser takes the reins.
Angus Taylor says he knew nothing about a plan drawn up by ousted Liberal leader Sussan Ley to ban immigration from regions of 13 countries including Gaza and Somalia. However, he has been warned by leading party figures not to mimic Trump-style hardline immigration policies. More to come.
A group of 34 Australian women and children released from a Kurdish-run detention camp in Syria were sent back after falling foul of the government. They had hoped to travel back to Australia but their hopes were dashed and they are now back in the Roj camp.
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