What we learned, Wednesday 11 March
Thanks for joining us today. We’ll be back tomorrow. Until then, here were today’s top stories.
One of the two women from the Iranian football squad granted a humanitarian visa overnight has changed their mind and decided to go back to Iran, home affairs minister Tony Burke confirmed.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan was elected as the new Nationals leader the day after David Littleproud stood down as leader.
Two Queensland protesters have been arrested for allegedly violating the state’s ban on the phrase “from the river to the sea”.
Foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, confirmed Australian embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week.
The authority that runs Naplan apologised “unreservedly” for a disruption to a “significant number” of schools on its first day, as some students had the standardised test postponed while others did not.
Two former public servants referred to the anti-corruption watchdog by the royal commission into robodebt have been found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct while the former prime minister Scott Morrison has been cleared.
The Sydney fashion designer behind the Katie Perry label has won her epic trademark dispute with US pop star Katy Perry, after a legal battle lasting almost 17 years.
Updated
Consumer group calls for fruit and veggie pricing reforms after discovering weight variations of up to 94%
The Queensland Consumers Association (QCA) has again called for supermarkets to be forced to display per-kilogram pricing on fruits and vegetables after uncovering significant discrepancies between different pieces of produce.
Guardian Australia recently reported several examples of price discrepancies by supermarkets charging fruit and vegetables per item, or “per each”, rather than by weight, leaving shoppers short-changed.
The QCA conducted its own investigation at one of the major supermarkets where it found, for example, that cauliflowers priced at $5.50 each in one supermarket ranged in weight from 400g to 775g – a 94% difference.
This meant the effective price per kilogram ranged from $13.75 for the lightest
cauliflower to $7.10 for the heaviest, the consumer group says.
The QCA found a similar example in continental cucumbers, which were priced at $1.70 each but varied in weight between 235g to 395g – a 68% difference – resulting in effective prices from $7.23 to $4.30 a kilo.
The QCA spokesperson, Ian Jarratt, said:
These variations mean consumers who need to, or if the heaviest pieces have been sold are forced to, select lighter items can end up paying much more per kg than those choosing heavier ones.
Retailers should make it easier for customers to quickly compare prices and value, and ensure consumers are treated fairly.
QCA has urged the government to amend the trade measurement legislation and unit pricing code – which regulate how grocery prices are set – to reduce, or remove, the ability of retailers to price fruit and vegetables only per piece.
The supermarkets have argued that per-item pricing can make it easier for customers to quickly budget for, and choose, the number of items they need.
You can read more here:
Updated
Competition and consumer watchdog to 'urgently' meet with fuel industry players
The competition and consumer watchdog will “urgently” meet with fuel industry players to demand detailed explanations for the dramatic moves in petrol prices since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Anna Brakey, an ACCC commissioner, said in a statement that “we are calling the industry into an emergency meeting to explain their actions during this period of volatility”.
At that meeting we will reiterate our expectations to industry and ask that they explain to the Australian community the reasons behind recent price spikes.
We are also inviting representatives of motoring organisations representing the voice of consumers to be part of these discussions.
The ACCC is starting weekly market updates to give motorists more transparency around pricing behaviour amid a spike in demand as Australians rush to fill up ahead of feared future price rises or even shortages.
Farmers and fishers have warned that fuel shortages are putting their crops and catches at risk, and the regulator said it was also looking at measures that could help ease the diesel distribution areas in regional and rural areas.
Unleaded fuel prices have jumped by 30 cents a litre in major cities like Sydney since the start of the conflict, and by nearly 50 cents in regional centres Newcastle, Toowoomba and Mt Gambier.
Updated
Karvelas asks what Kovacic thinks about Matt Canavan’s belief in assimilation.
The senator says:
I’m a product of multicultural Australia. My parents came here in the 1960s …
The people that come should have values that are aligned with our own, that have the best interests of Australia at heart … obviously not to import hatreds here.
Updated
Kovacic, a first generation Australian, says:
The reality is that we need to have a balanced approach to all of our immigration.
We support the humanitarian visas that were issued to young women. I think that’s an important part of who we are country that we don’t turn people here away when they’re asylum in circumstances like this one.
We have other issues in our country in relation to the sustainability of immigration.
Updated
The assistant defence minister, Peter Khalil, and Maria Kovacic, Liberal senator for New South Wales have joined the show.
They are discussing the Iranian women’s football team.
Karvelas asks Khalil about the “many other women who would like asylum” from Iran.
Khalil says:
Obviously these women, these soccer players, [are] very brave, very courageous. The complexity of their decision, if they stay, it puts at risk their family of imprisonment, torture and worse, execution.
If they go back, same thing that they face as well as their families.
In some senses, these women, because they were actually in Australia playing the tournament, they had the opportunity to take that choice.
There are hundreds of thousands of women who have protested against the Islamic regime over many years, since Mahsa Amini was killed for wearing the veil incorrectly. Schoolgirls, brave, courageous, standing up to the regime, and have been brutally repressed. They killed 36,000 of their own citizens in a couple of days. That’s one estimate, it could be more than that …
Updated
Karvelas asks how confident Leeser is that the Iranian women’s football team are safe, after their location was revealed to the Iranian embassy.
Leeser says:
I’m sure the minister will be trying his best to ensure their safety … there will be no doubt questions in estimates about the exact handling of the women.
I wanted them to be given the opportunity to claim asylum, to be in this country, because what do we know about the Iranian regime?
We know it’s one of the worst human rights abusers in the world.
Updated
Iranian football team’s handlers should have been placed in immigration detention, Liberal MP says
Now Liberal frontbencher Julian Leeser, who represents “an electorate with a high number of Iranian Australians”, is speaking on the ABC.
First, he is asked about whether he is satisfied that one of the Iranian football team members who accepted a humanitarian visa, before changing her mind, was “dealt with properly”.
Leeser says:
By the reports of the minister, that she did [change her mind].
The only thing I asked for that didn’t occur was I felt that some of those handlers should have had their visas cancelled and be put in immigration detention and removed from the country.
I think it’s good that six of the seven women have chosen to stay in Australia. The seventh woman, it is her choice and that’s one of the things that, in Australia, we afford people – the opportunity to make a choice, and she’s chosen to go back.
Updated
Karvelas mentions opinion polls indicating the Nationals are “bleeding” votes to One Nation, asking whether Canavan’s party is “differentiating”.
Canavan says:
I certainly don’t want to introduce elements of race to our political discussion.
Now, what we need to do is, and what the Nationals are best at, is focus on practical things we can do to make Australians’ lives better. And there’s no doubt we’ve been taking far too many people from too many different cultures …
I believe that there is a merit in assimilation, that people who come to this country should be expected to integrate with … our way of life.
Updated
Pauline Hanson ‘can give it but she can’t take it’, Canavan says
Karvelas asks Canavan about Pauline Hanson’s accusation that he had joined “the woke pile-on” (joining the likes of “the ABC, the Guardian and left-wing fact-checkers who started a war against One Nation”.)
Canavan says he hasn’t seen Hanson’s comments:
But maybe Pauline can give it but she can’t take it. I mean, welcome to politics, Pauline.
I don’t think Pauline’s approach is going to be the best for this country. I don’t think over her 30 years in Australian politics she has delivered tangible benefits to the Australian people.
I think sometimes her comments – not just me, Barnaby thinks this as well … her comments on Muslim people were out of line.
My view is that the better approach is to treat all Australians equally.
Updated
Liberals and Nationals now ‘all on the same page’, Canavan says
The new leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, is speaking on ABC’s afternoon briefing.
Host Patricia Karvelas asks what Canavan thinks about Barnaby Joyce saying the party is “essentially a million miles away from where the Liberals are”.
Canavan says:
It’s just factually not true.
The Liberal party last year decided overwhelmingly to dump net zero, to return our country to a more sensible use of our energy.
Things are tough for the Australian people, but the good news is we have everything at our fingertips to solve these problems
We are blessed with enormous amounts of energy and now the Liberals and Nationals are all on the same page to do that. I’m looking forward to working with Angus [Taylor].
Updated
Second protester arrested in Queensland
A second protester has been arrested for allegedly violating Queensland’s ban on the phrase “from the river to the sea”.
Witnesses say the second person was placed under arrest at the end of the march, in King George Square, seemingly for wearing a shirt which said “from the river to the sea”.
An organiser was arrested at the start of the rally for allegedly saying the phrase.
Updated
Queensland protester arrested for allegedly saying ‘from the river to the sea’
A protester has been arrested in Queensland for allegedly saying “from the river to the sea” at a rally at Brisbane parliament.
Queensland parliament voted to ban the phrase, and also “globalise the intifada”, last week. The bill went into effect today.
Liam Harry led the small rally outside Queensland parliament as part of the students strike movement. There was a large police presence, including the PSRT, the state riot squad.
He allegedly spoke the phrase at the end of a speech, which he said was done for educational purposes.
Updated
That’s all from me today, thanks for following along on another very busy day!
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Ima Caldwell to take you through the afternoon.
Updated
TL,DR: here’s what happened in question time
Fuel was again the focus of the day from the Coalition, pressuring the government to do more to address shortages in regional areas.
The government took things a step further today in their criticism of the Coalition, accusing them of “undermining the national interest” by escalating concerns.
Chris Bowen also said the ACCC will be handing down greater penalties for those who exploit the fuel supply chain issues.
Tony Burke told the House one of the two women from the Iranian football squad granted a humanitarian visa overnight has changed their mind and decided to go back to Iran.
Ed Husic was the first to be kicked out of question time today for a jab at Tim Wilson on his Billy Joel rendition last week. Later on in QT Liberal MP Phil Thompson was also booted by Milton Dick.
Updated
Question time ends
With a final dixer to Anthony Albanese, where he manages to compare the leadership changes in the Coalition to the reality tv show Married at First Sight (he’s used that one before), the PM then calls time on QT.
Just one more for the week!
Updated
LNP MP Garth Hamilton is next and says fuel supplier Transwest has said it has zero petrol supply at Newcastle and Brisbane and warns, “Once our servos run out of petrol, that is it, there is no more”. Hamilton asks if the government can assure Transwest that there are no fuel shortages.
Bowen says he can “certainly assure” Transwest and the House that fuel supplies are secure and more fuel is coming to Australia every day.
I can assure Transwest and the member for Groom that 18 vessels have arrived this month to unload fuel and crude oil in Australia. Thirty-three more are on the water and scheduled for the rest of the month.
He says again that demand is skyrocketing which is the basis of the problem, not supply.
Updated
Katter asks about cleaner fuel availability in Australia
Back to the crossbench and Bob Katter asks the government if it will increase the availability of ethanol in fuel as the conflict in the Middle East escalates. Ethanol is a biofuel, and Katter points out that Brazil and India have rapidly increased supply of high ethanol petrol blends.
Jim Chalmers says the government is investing in low carbon liquid fuels, and also shoring up broader fuel security in Australia.
We have taken a number of steps including trying to rebuild and build our own local supply capacity when it comes to low carbon liquid fuels F other steps are required, we will consider them in the and build our own local supply capacity when it comes to low carbon liquid fuels F other steps are required, we will consider them in the usual responsible way.
Katter tries to make a point of order but is shut down by Milton Dick who says he can’t stand up just because he doesn’t like the answer.
Updated
Pat Conroy questioned on strait of Hormuz closure
Shadow industry minister, Andrew Hastie, is up next and asks the acting defence minister, Pat Conroy, how long he expects the military effort to take to reopen the strait of Hormuz. He adds that 20% of the world’s oil flows through the strait as well as gas and alumina.
Conroy says that question is best put to others, including “President Trump, the rulers of Iran and the prime minister of Israel.”
He’s effectively asking me to predict when the conflict between Iran and the States and Israel will end.
On the issue of potential interruptions to Australian supplies that flow through the Strait, Conroy says the government has “doubled the fuel holdings for the Australian defence force.”
And the latest advice from the chief of defence force is that our fuel supplies to the ADF including from the Middle East are uninterrupted.
So, instead of scaremongering, they should ask constructive questions of the people who have responsibility for the interruptions.
Updated
‘Patently absurd’ to say there isn’t a fuel supply problem: Joyce
Over to the crossbench and it’s One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce who now says that it’s “patently absurd” to say that there’s not a fuel shortage issue in the regions and asks how quickly the government can meet with independent distributors and the ACCC to fix the issue.
The treasurer Jim Chalmers says he doesn’t need Joyce’s help to consult with the ACCC and that they’ve been talking constantly.
He says the government has just announced increased penalties that the consumer watchdog can now use for unscrupulous players taking advantage of the fuel panic.
We are taking additional action to help consumers get a fair go at the with more scrutiny and surveillance of the fuel sector, bigger penalties for misconduct and action to shore up fuel supply.
Joyce tries to make a point of order, but that doesn’t fly with Milton Dick. Chalmers adds that Bowen has also been meeting with independent suppliers.
Embassies and consulate in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Tel Aviv physically closed
Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week.
Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”.
She continued:
The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.
More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a regional conflict and grounding thousands of international flights.
Wong criticised Nationals senators for “winding up people and stoking fear” to panic buy fuel.
The senator said:
Petrol companies are telling us that fuel stock continues to arrive as expected and on time but there has been a large change in the pattern of demand and that is having an effect on the supply, particularly in regional communities. We have seen jerry cans coming off the shelves at Bunnings and lines at the pump.
Updated
Coalition keeps up the pressure on Bowen on fuel shortages
Staying on fuel supply issues, Liberal MP Tom Venning says some in the town of Kwinana have been blocked from getting fuel, and asks when they will be able to access it.
Chris Bowen gets up again and quotes a statement by the Australian Institute of Petroleum which said, “Over the last week, members have been hit by a sudden rush to buy fuel. In some suppliers have customers buying four times their usual volume of fuel.”
The opposition tries to make a point of order but before Dan Tehan can say anything Milton Dick tells him to sit down.
Bowen again warns the opposition not to use an international crisis as a political opportunity.
Updated
Bowen says increased penalties in place for exploiting fuel supply shortages
Nationals MP Alison Penfold is next – focusing again on fuel shortages – and says a family in her electorate who run two timber mills and a fleet of freight trucks have seen their daily fuel costs increase by $7800 in one week.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says again that he acknowledges the supply chain pressures being felt in regional areas, but that it’s a demand issue not a supply issue, and warns “we’ve been very clear that no-one in the fuel supply chain should seek business or economic benefit out of that.”
Today the Treasurer and I have worked very closely together with the ACCC to ensure that ACCC penalties are increased … if anyone is trying to exploit that situation for their own financial gain.
Opposition ‘undermining national interest’ in asking about fuel shortages
Liberal MP, Melissa Price, gets the next question and asks about fuel shortages facing regional communities.
Chris Bowen is back at the dispatch box and says that the “responsible truth” is to tell Australians that Australia’s fuel supply is secure.
Bowen concedes that some regions are facing supply chain issues, but that it’s from an increase in demand rather than a dip in supply.
When honourable members opposite question Australia’s supply, our fuel supply is secure, they are undermining the national interest. Our fuel supply is secure. You are trying to make it worse.
The opposition tries to make another point of order, but once again it goes nowhere, and Milton Dick tells Bowen to stay relevant.
Bowen finishes with another swipe to the Coalition:
When faced with an international crisis, it is not an economic opportunity, a business opportunity and nor a political opportunity. [There is] a responsibility to work together, government and industry and where possible, government and opposition and as I said, if the opposition has a construction suggestion, I will listen to it.
Updated
Bowen questioned by crossbench on fuel supplies
Independent MP for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie gets the call next from the crossbench and asks the energy minister what the government is doing to shore up fuel supplies and stabilise supply chains in regional communities.
Minister Chris Bowen says Sharkie is right that pressures on domestic supply chains are increasing:
I can tell the honourable member that demand in the Adelaide terminal increased 139% which is putting pressure on supply chains.
Bowen says the government is working closely with the consumer watchdog to increase penalties, watch for price spikes and ensure supplies are going to regional areas.
Updated
Home affairs minister says one Iranian footballer has changed her mind on asylum
Tony Burke, during a dixer, has given an update to the House and said one of the two Iranian squad members provided with a humanitarian visa changed her mind and contacted the Iranian embassy.
The home affairs minister said he was advised shortly after 10am this morning that she had spoken to some of the teammates who had left, but that in contacting the embassy, gave away the team’s location to the embassy.
Burke says as soon as he was advised, the government and department then arranged for the rest of the team to be moved safely, and he says that’s been “dealt with”.
In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel. So, we respect the context in which she has made that decision.
Unfortunately, in making that decision, she had been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and get collected … As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was.
Updated
‘Sing a song!’ Ed Husic gets kicked out
Before shadow treasurer Tim Wilson can even begin his question, former frontbencher Ed Husic shouts out “sing a song” (referring to his rendition of Billy Joel’s “we didn’t start the fire”).
Milton Dick, as we all know, does not love it when interjections are made before or while questions are asked and promptly tells him to leave the chamber. “Seriously?!” shouts Husic as he leaves.
Back to Wilson, he asks the prime minister if he will apologise to struggling mortgage holders as they face another two rate rises this year.
Jim Chalmers takes the call and says Wilson has nerve asking about the interest rates when a few days into his gig he “called for the end of the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate.” (you can read more about that here).
So if he wants to ask me about interest rates, then he should fess up and tell the Australian people he wants higher interest rates and higher unemployment at the same time.
The opposition tries to make a point of order (the second one so far) but they don’t get anywhere.
Chalmers continues and says the conflict in the Middle East makes the fight against inflation harder, but the work by the government is being done.
Updated
It’s question time
Angus Taylor starts says the government has been caught unprepared for fuel and energy shortages, as the country faces rising inflation. Taylor asks if the government will concede that Australia’s living standards have dropped.
Anthony Albanese immediately replies, “the Leader of the Opposition appears to want completely dismiss the fact that there is a war going on.”
I would have thought the last few months might have taught the Liberal Party and Coalition that trying to turn everything into a political opportunity doesn’t end well.
Dan Tehan tries to make a point of order on relevance, saying “this is serious”, which leads the Labor benches to erupt with laughter.
Yesterday Milton Dick threatened to revoke the opposition’s ability to make points of order if they were too “frivolous”.
Albanese accuses the opposition of trying to whip up panic.
Right now it is a fact that we have as much fuel coming through our ports as we did before the war began, as simple as that. For the Opposition to whip up panic about this does not serve Australians, it only lets people off who want to rip people off at this time.
Updated
NACC findings ‘should not have taken this long’: Haines
Independent MP Helen Haines has also welcomed the national anti-corruption commission’s findings but says the fact that it took a second investigation to make the findings against six individuals highlights the “importance of scrutiny and transparency in the work of the NACC.”
Haines, who has been a longstanding advocate for an independent federal anti-corruption commission, says these findings may never have come out without sustained public pressure for the NACC to do more.
It should not have taken this long. The fact a second investigation was required highlights the importance of scrutiny and transparency in the work of the NACC.
The Commission itself has acknowledged that the threshold for public hearings - the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test - is not clearly defined, and that is a problem. These are difficult issues, and they go to the heart of public trust in our integrity institutions.
For anyone wondering where Haines is this week – she hasn’t been in the chamber – she’s put out a statement she’s been given medical advice to stay home.
In a statement on social media she wrote:
Over the past month I’ve been managing an illness which has interrupted my usually busy schedule. On medical advice, I’m not attending parliament this week – the first sitting week I’ve missed since being elected.
Updated
Taylor congratulates Canavan on leadership win
Angus Taylor has responded to the Nats’ leadership ballot this morning, congratulating Matt Canavan and his deputy, Darren Chester, saying he knows the “conviction” the pair will bring for the Australians they represent.
In a statement, Taylor says Canavan and Chester will provide “strong leadership” for the Nationals.
The partnership between the Nationals and Liberals has always been built on shared values and a deep belief in the Australian way of life.
Under former leader, David Littleproud, the Liberals and Nationals split twice.
Architects of Robodebt have walked away ‘scot-free’ say Greens
The Greens have welcomed corruption findings by the national anti-corruption commission against two individuals from the Robodebt investigation, but say no government ministers have been held responsible, and the “political and bureaucratic architects of the scheme have walked away scot-free”.
The minor party says the announcement will still be cold comfort for victims of the scheme, and are urging the government to implement recommendations from the royal commission that it had agreed to in-principle.
That includes:
Reinstating the six-year limit of recovery of debts
Establishing a duty of care for the Department of Social Services that prioritises the needs of social security recipients while administering the law
Restricting the kinds of decisions which can be made or automated without human oversight
Better protection for people experiencing hardship from receiving compliance notices.
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne says not holding the government to account is “why nothing changes”.
There may be some small satisfaction found in the fact that two staff were found to have acted corruptly, but the architects of Robodebt are still sitting pretty.
No government minister has been held accountable, which means no government has been held accountable. If the political class knows they can get away with something as appalling as this, they will keep trying it on.
Updated
NSW Greens question state attorney general on alleged assault and racial abuse case
Returning to budget estimates, Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson asks Daley about Palestinian Australians Shamikh and Majed Badra, who were allegedly assaulted and racially abused on a train after an anti-immigration march last year. As Guardian Australia reported, 46-year-old Nicholas Haskal was charged and pleaded guilty to common assault after police chose not to bring speech charges.
Last month, the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, advised estimates that hate speech charges were not brought by police because comments identified “did not disclose a prejudice against the victims due to their ethnicity or race”.
Today, Higginson says:
How is that it that a political slogan could be ... potentially criminalised as hate speech, but actual hate speech against Palestinians Australians is not hate?
Daley, who says the comments allegedly made to the Badras have “no place in Australia”, declines to comment on Catley’s advice, saying the operation of the law is a matter for police.
Updated
No timeline on potential ‘globalise the intifada’ ban in NSW
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, has declined to share the government’s position on banning the phrase “globalise the intifada”, which has now been outlawed in Queensland.
The premier, Chris Minns, signalled his intention to ban the contested phrase following the Bondi attack, but sent the issue to a parliamentary inquiry so that legislation could be introduced when parliament returned from the summer break last month.
The inquiry, which the opposition has described as “rushed” and having a predetermined outcome, recommended banning the contested phrase when it is used to incite hatred, harassment, intimidation or violence.
Asked whether he thinks the phrase should be criminalised at budget estimates today, Daley says the government will respond to the recommendations “in due course”:
But I have to say, look, I accept in good faith what many people in the Jewish community have said to me, and I have a significant Jewish community in my electorate ... that the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’ can be upsetting and could cause fear into the minds and hearts of people in the Jewish community.
Clive Palmer to send junk mail to ‘every Australian’
Brace yourself – Clive Palmer has threatened to run the biggest political ad campaign ever seen, including posting a copy of his election manifesto to every house in the nation.
Palmer, the United Australia party boss, will run for the Queensland seat of Fadden – currently held by Liberal MP Cameron Caldwell. The UAP will also run candidates in every seat in the country.
Palmer said his election pamphlet, called “the New Deal” – copying the name of the famous plan of Democratic US president Franklin D Roosevelt – would be mailed to every household in Australia.
Asked if his campaign would include the normal banners, billboards and text messages that have characterised previous UAP campaigns, Palmer replied: “it’ll be everything you can think of”.
Palmer’s election promises include a proposal to double the health budget and increase pensions by 30%. In his press conference today, Palmer didn’t say exactly how that would be paid for, but advertisements run in national newspapers indicate the UAP would seek to abolish the net zero transition, which he claimed would save more than one trillion dollars.
Palmer, the serial election candidate, was an MP from 2013 to 2016. In recent years, despite pumping tens of millions of dollars into his political parties, only one senator – Ralph Babet – has been successful under a Palmer banner.
Palmer’s vehicle at the last election, the Trumpet of Patriots, attracted just 1.91% of the lower house vote nationally.
Updated
Steggall slams government on migration bill
The government has passed its migration bill that will block some temporary visa holders from arriving in Australia, including from Iran as the conflict escalates in the Middle East, but independents are scathing of the legislation.
Several independents tried to push for amendments to the bill in the House – but failed.
Independent MP, Zali Steggall, has taken umbrage particularly with the government’s reasoning that the bill won’t impact people on humanitarian visas.
She says that’s an “obfuscation” of the reality for people trying to flee their country, and the bill will shut of one of the few “practical pathways vulnerable people have to reach safely and have their claims properly assessed”.
The government’s attempt to downplay this legislation by saying it only affects people such as tourists or those travelling here on business on temporary visas is an attempt to conceal the true effect of these changes.
In reality, many people who later seek humanitarian protection in Australia first arrive on temporary visas. That is simply how the system works. People fleeing conflict or sudden instability often can’t access humanitarian pathways from overseas and instead travel on whatever lawful visa they can obtain.
She says she’s disappointed Labor MPs representing multicultural and migrant communities have voted in favour of the bill.
Updated
SA One Nation candidate blasted by state’s commissioner for Aboriginal children
Campaign videos circulating on social media appearing to show a South Australian candidate for One Nation “mocking and demeaning” Aboriginal language have been labelled “harmful” by the state’s lead government advocate for First Nations children.
Cory Bernardi, One Nation’s lead candidate for the upcoming state election on 21 March, has appeared in two videos on Facebook since mid February, describing the dual naming of Kaurna language at landmark sites in Adelaide as “empty symbolism” and saying it was “trying to erase our history”.
Bernardi has been criticised by Kaurna elders for both videos which have more than 50,000 likes on Facebook, and did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia.
On Wednesday, SA Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, Kaurna man Dale Agius posted a statement on Facebook, saying it was “deeply disappointing”, and that it created “division”.
Posts that use tactics to intentionally mock or belittle Aboriginal culture are harmful. They create division in the broader community and cause hurt to our communities.
For Aboriginal children, young people and communities, language is not something to mock. Language is identity. It carries our history, our knowledge and our deep connection to this country.
Dual naming of traditional place names support reconciliation, help preserve Aboriginal languages, and assist all Australians to be included in the history of the land we share. Respect for culture, language and country should never be up for ridicule, it should be something we all learn and celebrate together.”
Schools can resume Naplan testing after ‘issues resolved’
Schools have been told they can resume Naplan testing more than an hour after a widespread technological issue disrupted students across the nation sitting the online tests.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) said the issue “has now been resolved” and schools had been told they could resume the tests:
Naplan testing has now resumed following a widespread issue earlier this morning, which affected students being able to log on to the online platform to complete their assessments.
We apologise for the disruption to students and schools, and thank them for their patience ... We continue to monitor the platform to ensure students are able to complete their assessments without further issues.
Read more here:
Updated
50% of First Nations people experience racism in the workplace
More than half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed by the University of Technology Sydney’s Jumbunna Institute and the Centre for Indigenous People and Work experience racism in the workplace.
Researchers spoke to 1,100 First Nations employees. The results of that survey, in a report released today titled Gari Yala, found that the most frequent issues experienced by Indigenous people in the workplace were inappropriate race-based comments and assumptions, racist jokes, slurs, and a lack of cultural safety.
Forty percent of participants reported that they sometimes, often or always heard racial or ethnic slurs or jokes about Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people in their workplace. The report authors estimated that at the current rate of change, it would take “118 years for Indigenous people to experience workplaces free of racial slurs”.
Director of CIPW, Prof. Nareen Young, said the findings were distressing but echoed similar findings from a report conducted in 2020, continuing:
Although, there has been some progress since our first report in 2020, racism and lack of cultural safety remain widespread.
The report also examined the cultural load experienced by First Nations employees, many of whom reported doing unpaid or unrecognised labour in their workplace that was not part of their formal role. Half of all surveyed employees said they did at least one hour or more per week of unpaid cultural work, while one in three said they did three or more hours of unpaid cultural work – amounting to an extra three weeks of unpaid work per year.
It also found that 41% of those surveyed also reported that they often, or sometimes, felt ignored or not taken seriously by their boss; and that many workplaces failed to have anti-racism measures in place.
Claude chatbot owner to open Sydney office
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI chatbot, has announced it will open its first Australian office in Sydney.
The company will hire staff in Sydney to “deepen our engagement with Australian institutions”, Anthropic said on Monday, with the executive team visiting at the end of March to meet customers and policy makers.
Chris Ciauri, managing director of international for Anthropic, said:
Establishing a local presence will help us to develop strong partnerships in ANZ and ensure Claude is built with respect for the unique goals, opportunities, and challenges of the region.
Anthropic already works with Australian businesses including Canva, Quantium and CommBank, and Australia ranks 4th in the world for Claude usage, relative to population.
Anthropic said it is looking to expand its compute capacity in Australia, and is exploring adding capacity through local datacentre providers.
On Tuesday, Anthropic filed two lawsuits against the US Department of Defense, alleging that the government’s decision to label the company a “supply chain risk” was unlawful and violated its first amendment rights. It followed a fight between Anthropic and the Trump administration over safeguards over the military’s potential use of AI for mass domestic surveillance or full-autonomous lethal weapons.
Read more here:
NSW attorney general not surprised by successful challenge to protest law
Returning to NSW budget estimates, the attorney general, Michael Daley, says he was not surprised by a successful constitutional challenge against controversial anti-protest laws he presented to parliament after a spate of antisemitic attacks.
In October last year, the supreme court ruled laws rushed through parliament in February 2025 giving police move-on powers for protests in or near places of worship impermissibly burdened the freedom of political communication. The court heard one of the pretexts for the bill was not a religious event, but a protest outside the Great Synagogue where a member of the Israel Defense Forces was speaking.
Asked if he was surprised by the successful challenge, Daley says: “No.” Asked if he deliberately presented legislation to parliament which he thought might be unconstitutional, he says:
No, I think, as has been said by a great many ministers, indeed the premier and other ministers at state and federal level, when you’re presented with emergencies of this type, and you have to craft a legislative response that’s novel and that some people think might wander into infringing on people’s freedoms and rights, that sometimes there is an inherent risk that that legislation might be ruled to be unconstitutional or the like, and all you can do is craft it in the safest way possible, taking into consideration the advice that you give.
The government has since amended the law to give police move-on powers when people harass, block, intimidate or threaten people entering or leaving a place of worship.
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Clive Palmer running for federal parliament – again
Serial election candidate Clive Palmer says he will run for the federal seat of Fadden at the next federal election, pledging his United Australia Party would field candidates in every seat nationwide.
Palmer has threatened to run “the largest” campaign ever seen in Australia. The mining magnate has regularly poured $100m into election campaigns, but has failed to yield any major electoral success – only having one senator, Ralph Babet, elected in 2022 and no candidates in 2025.
Palmer is giving a press conference now and we’ll bring you more from that soon.
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NSW attorney general won’t say if cabinet ignored own advice about protest policing
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, has refused to say if the government ignored the advice of its own national security expert before passing controversial laws restricting protests after the Bondi Beach terror attack.
Leaked documents have revealed the NSW cabinet office national security executive director, Alexandra Caples, provided advice the week after the Bondi attack on tackling incitement to violence and hatred, warning that heavy-handed policing might alienate communities and could even “increase the risk of radicalisation”.
After the attack, the government rushed through controversial public assembly restriction declaration laws giving the police power to drastically limit protests, now subject to a constitutional challenge. The laws were in place during last month’s protest against the visit by Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, which saw several protesters charged with public order offences, and has prompted an independent investigation into alleged police brutality.
In a heated exchange at NSW budget estimates this morning, Daley was asked by Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson about the advice provided to cabinet. He says he won’t publicly discuss “what advice may or may not have been given to cabinet”, but goes on to say:
I can’t, for the life of me, see how the premier saying to the people of NSW, I want this summer to be a summer of peace and not a summer of protest, please turn down the temperature, please be respectful, please don’t come into the city or to Bondi in big numbers and congregate and protest … I can’t see how anyone in passing laws that mirror those objectives and sentiments … someone would say that’s going to contribute to radicalisation.
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‘I’ve got a different job to do as leader’: Canavan
Matt Canavan is a senator who has crossed the floor against the Coalition multiple times from the backbench, and spoken out – a freedom he won’t be afforded as Nationals leader.
A reporter asks how he’ll balance being outspoken with his leadership role.
Canavan says he now has a different job, and backs his previous actions.
I’ve got a different job to do as leader, and I’ll commit myself to do that. Number one, though, the National party has been back for months now, we, a few months ago, resolved to dump this crazy idea that we get to net zero emissions by 2050 and look here. So I stood against that. I stood by my convictions. But we are back now fighting for the use of Australian resources, fighting for a lower cost of living for Australians.
On that campaign against net zero, Canavan is asked about the people particularly in cities who are concerned about climate change and the environment.
Canavan says the focus should be on lowering energy prices, and points out that he too has solar panels, as my excellent colleague Sarah Martin reported on this week.
Did you see the news? Greg, I have solar panels. Who’s from the Guardian here? They’ve reported that the other day.
I will focus on and fight for what is right in terms of the substance of your question. All I stood for, all I’ve argued for which we’re all doing right now as a Nationals and Liberal team is that we use all of our god given resources for the benefit of the Australian people.
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Canavan says ‘humbling’ to be elected Nationals leader
Matt Canavan is addressing reporters, having just been elected the leader of the Nationals after a ballot this morning.
The Queensland senator is flanked by his entire party room, and thanks David Littleproud for his service to the party.
Canavan gives us a bit of a forward sizzle on his priorities.
It’s extremely humbling to be elected the leader of this great party … It’s been a tough time, and I know more than anyone else how tough it can be in this game. But David has left everything out on the paddock.
We need to have more Australian everything. We need to manifest a hyper Australia, we need to go hyper Australia for our country, we need more Australian babies. We need more Australian humour, more Australian jokes. We need more Australian barbecues, sometimes often fuelled by fossil fuels. We need more Australian everything. We don’t need to look overseas for our solutions.
He thanks his new deputy leader, Darren Chester and says Bridget McKenzie, who also put her hat in the ring, will remain leader of the party in the Senate.
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Pop star Katy Perry loses trademark battle with Australian designer Katie Perry
Leaving federal politics for a moment, US pop star Katy Perry, born Katheryn Hudson, lost her legal battle to trademark merchandise sold in Australia under her stage name.
A high court decision today concludes a long-running dispute that escalated when Sydney designer Katie Taylor, who was born Katie Perry and sold clothes under her birth name, sued the singer in October 2019.
In a majority decision, the high court found the designer’s mark – registered in 2008 – was not likely to cause confusion regardless of the singer’s reputation at the time, and was not in breach of the trademark laws.
The designer won in the first instance in 2023, with the federal court finding the singer’s label, Kitty Purry, had engaged in trademark infringement during her 2014 Australian tour.
Hudson had applied – by way of a cross-claim – for the designer’s trademark to be cancelled, alleging that she had already had a big enough reputation in Australia in 2008 that meant Taylor’s label would be “likely to deceive or cause confusion”.
However, the designer lost on appeal in 2024, when three appeal judges unanimously overturned the original findings and upheld Hudson’s cross-claim, ordering that Taylor’s trademark be deregistered.
Today, the high court overturned the appeal judges’ decision and awarded costs to Taylor.
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Government’s migration bill passes the House
The government has quickly gotten it’s migration bill through the House this morning with the support of the Coalition.
Crossbenchers tried to move amendments to the bill, but they weren’t supported by the government or opposition.
The migration bill will now go to the Senate where it will also be able to pass through fairly quickly with Coalition numbers.
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‘Virtually no moderates left in the Liberal party’: Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull also told the Climate Action Week Sydney event that he would be “amazed” if the Liberal party didn’t do a preference deal with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in a bid to hold the seat vacated by former leader Sussan Ley, but it would be “poisonous for Liberal candidates in city electorates” if it did.
He said there were “virtually no moderates left in the Liberal party”.
Reflecting on the party’s shift to the right since losing its once-safe urban seats in 2022, and the right-wing media’s push for it to move away from the centre, he said: “These guys have got a death wish.”
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Turnbull says he’d like to see Allegra Spender as treasurer
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised the teal independent MPs as “some of the smartest people that have ever gone into the federal parliament” and said her would like to see them as part of a government – and Allegra Spender as treasurer.
Speaking at a Climate Action Week Sydney event, Turnbull said of the community independents supported by the Climate 200 fundraising organisation that “there isn’t one of them whose inclusion into any cabinet I have been a member of would not materially increase the average intellect of the room”.
Here’s my concern: I want to see Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender … Kate Chaney, any and all of them, I want to see them on the frontbench. I want to see Allegra Spender talking about tax as the treasurer of Australia, not simply as a brilliant independent …
That’s the challenge that awaits us. How does the community independent movement, how does the great centrist, progressive sort of political movement that you’ve got, how does that form an alternative and then, ultimately, a government?
Turnbull said he was not saying the independents “must form a party, or something like that”.
I’m just saying to you [that you are] ultimately putting some of the smartest people that have ever gone into the federal parliament into the federal parliament. And I would love to see them on the frontbench.
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Students told to ‘pause’ Naplan tests after widespread tech problem
Primary and secondary students have been told to “pause” Naplan testing after widespread technology issues with its online platform.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, the Australian, Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) said it was “aware of a widespread issue affecting students being able to log on to the online platform to complete their Naplan assessments”.
This issue is being urgently investigated by our technology provider, Education Services Australia, who run the platform. Schools have been advised to pause testing while this is being investigated.
Acara said schools were being provided with support and advice to minimise impacts on students. About 1.4 million students are expected to complete this year’s Naplan tests, which transitioned online in 2022.
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Nationals elect Matt Canavan to replace Littleproud as leader
Matt Canavan will be the new leader of the Nationals, following David Littleproud’s decision to resign yesterday afternoon.
Nationals MP for Gippsland Darren Chester is elected the deputy.
Nationals whip Michelle Landry announced the results – but doesn’t tell us the vote numbers.
She says:
I think it’s important we’ve got strong leadership in our party and we thank David Littleproud for the amazing job that he’s done. A mighty battle coming up ahead of us, we’ve got two years to get ourselves up in the polls.
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Spender says tax capital more, workers less
Independent MP Allegra Spender says our tax system is “no longer fit for purpose”, as she releases a reform plan that would tax the owners of capital more and deliver tax relief for working Australians.
Spender’s plan would cut the lowest marginal tax rate from 16% to 13%, and chop 2.5 percentage points of the other marginal rates.
To pay for the tax breaks: the capital gains tax discount would be cut from 50% to 30%; negative gearing would be offset against other investment earnings rather than wages income; there would be a minimum 27.5% tax rate on all investment income; and super earnings thresholds would be linked more closely with income tax thresholds.
“The current tax system is exacerbating intergenerational inequity,” Spender said.
The teal MP will use a National Press Club address today to highlight the inequities of a system using a full-time worker on the median salary of $100,000 a year.
Earned as a salary you pay $23,000 in tax, split through a family trust you pay $13,000, earn it as capital gain you pay $7,000, and earn it from your super balance in retirement, you pay no tax at all.
Does it really make sense that the tax burden falls most heavily on younger people struggling to get established – who are likely also paying rent, saving for a deposit, raising children, and paying down HELP debts?
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Scott Morrison cleared of serious corrupt conduct over robodebt scandal
Former prime minister, Scott Morrison, was one of the six people robodebt royal commissioner, Catherine Holmes, referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The final report, released this morning, found two officials – Mark Withnell and Serena Wilson – had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
The report found the other four, however, did not. The other four names referred to the Nacc included Morrison, Kathryn Campbell, Annette Musolino and Catherine Halbert.
Morrison’s failure to realise the bureaucratic advice was misleading, the report found, was due to both the social services and human services departments failing to advise him and other ministers that new laws were needed.
Campbell was one of two named by the Australia Public Service Commission in 2024 after it found 12 public servants, including Campbell and former department head Renée Leon, breached the code of conduct 97 times during their involvement in the robodebt program.
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Government promises to release sealed chapter of robodebt royal commission report
The government has acknowledged the release of the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s findings and has promised to release the sealed chapter of the robodebt royal commission final report.
When presenting the final report, the commissioner Catherine Holmes had recommended an additional chapter “remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution”.
In a statement, the government has said now that the anti-corruption commission’s investigation is complete, along with other investigation processes following the royal commission, the government will table the sealed chapter.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, thanked the Nacc for undertaking the work:
The illegal robodebt scheme was a betrayal of everyday Australians, resulting in human tragedy and untold misery.
The royal commission was clear in its findings, and we must work to ensure this can never occur again.
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Nacc publishes report on robodebt, finds two individuals engaged in serious corrupt conduct
Two of the robodebt six have been found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct, while the other four did not engage in corrupt conduct, an independent National Anti-Corruption Commission report has found.
The findings relate to the development, approval and implementation of the robodebt scheme in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The commission named former human services department official Mark Withnell had intentionally misled Department of Social Services officers during the preparation of a cabinet submission in 2015.
The former social services deputy secretary Serena Wilson was found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct by intentionally misleading the Commonwealth Ombudsman during an investigation in 2017.
The Nacc’s deputy commissioner, Kylie Kilgour, said publishing the report “provides transparency as to how those conclusions were reached”.
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In pictures: the Nationals walk into party room for leadership vote
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Greens attempt to suspend standing order in Senate
Over in the Senate, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi attempted to suspend the standing orders over a motion to note the “dangerous normalisation and escalation of anti-Muslim hate in political rhetoric, media commentary and public discourse”.
The motion comes as we near the seventh anniversary of the Christchurch mosque massacre, which is also recognised as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
Faruqi said:
The use of language and rhetoric to distort, diminish, dehumanise and demonise us has only escalated. The prime minister will happily turn up at Ramadan festivals and markets and use us as video props for his performative solidarity. But ... when it comes to standing unequivocally against Islamophobia, taking action to protect Muslims, acting in urgency, there is absolutely no movement.
The Labor senator, Murray Watt, stood up afterwards to say:
Well, yet again, we see the Greens political party focus on launching political attacks over their political enemies over social cohesion. This motion that has been tabled by senator Faruqi was first circulated minutes before we began today, demonstrating that the Greens political party had no intention of working with anyone else in this chamber to seek agreement. This government strongly resists and opposes Islamophobia, and I encourage anyone to look at the government’s record to see the evidence of that ... If the Greens political party want, in future, to seek to work with us, rather than dump a motion on us just before we begin, we’d be happy to discuss with them.
The motion was ultimately voted down by the major parties and the Senate moved on.
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Nationals meet to vote on new leader
The Nationals are walking into their party room to decide on a new leader.
So far, deputy leader Kevin Hogan, and senators Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan have put their hat in the ring.
David Littleproud, who resigned as leader yesterday saying he was “buggered”, walks into the room alone. As does McKenzie.
The meeting starts at 10am.
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House of Representatives begins voting on migration bill amendments
Over in the House this morning, the crossbench are moving multiple amendments to the government’s migration bill.
So far they don’t have the support of the government or the Coalition.
The Coalition met with the government to discuss the bill this morning, and will support it.
Tony Burke was asked this morning why the government is moving so quickly to get this legislation through, after introducing it yesterday and calling a snap Senate inquiry hearing. He said:
The moment you announce this sort of legislation is there, you get a potential behavioural change, you get a potential window where people say, well, if I was going to come for a permanent reason, better get in there quickly. And so you can actually create the opposite problem if legislation goes slowly, and I’ve been grateful to the opposition for the conversations quietly we’ve been able to have while we made a decision.
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Iranian women’s football team arrives in Kuala Lumpur
After their departure from Sydney airport, the Iranian women’s football team have been spotted at Kuala Lumpur airport on their way back to Iran.
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Queensland electorates to be stripped of Aboriginal names in draft redistribution
Two Queensland electorates would be abolished, and 19 renamed under a draft redistribution plan released by the state’s independent commission yesterday.
Several electorates would be stripped of Aboriginal names, including Maiwar (to become Indooroopilly) and Oodgeroo (to become Cleveland). The electorate of Cook, named after Capt James Cook, will retain the name.
The Queensland redistribution commission said it would “resume the longstanding practice of naming electorates after geographical places”, and “rename electorates which were named after persons or have geographical place names that lack voter recognition or are no longer suitable”.
Bancroft would become Deception Bay, Miller Annerley, Bonney Labrador, Nicklin Nambour, Bundamba Redbank, Ninderry Coolum, Chatsworth Carindale, Oodgeroo Cleveland, Coomera Pimpama, Scenic Rim Beaudesert, Cooper Ashgrove, Theodore Oxenford, Jordan Greenbank, Toohey Eight Mile Plains, Macalister Beenleigh, Traeger Flinders, Maiwar Indooroopilly, Waterford Marsden and McConnel would become Brisbane Central
New electorates are proposed to be created; Caboolture north of Brisbane and Springfield in the city’s south.
The north Queensland electorate of Hill, held by the Katters’ Australian Party, would be abolished, absorbed into three neighbouring electorates, and the Labor-held southern Brisbane seat of Stretton would be amalgamated into Algester and Eight Mile Plains.
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7,000 Iranians not in Australia hold visitor visas
Tony Burke has been forced to defend the government’s decision to introduce legislation that would block people from Iran coming to Australia on tourist visas during the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.
He says there are currently 7,000 visitor visas held by Iranians that “are not currently here”. The bill would allow the government to temporarily block them from arriving.
The bill was introduced on the same day that five Iranian women’s football players were granted humanitarian visas.
Burke says that the government does currently have the power to cancel visas but only on an individual basis, and says, “I want the decisions about who comes here permanently to be deliberate decisions made by the Australian government, not an accident of who was coming here for a holiday.”
If you sought a visa at a time that your country was not a war zone, and then it becomes a war zone, there are visas out there that in the current context we would not have issued.
For most of the Middle East, there has not actually been enough of a change that it would cause my officials to say what was previously viewed as a temporary visa would no longer be. The fact that it’s a conflict zone doesn’t completely change that equation. Certainly it does with respect to Iran. The number of Iranian visitor visas at the moment is lower than it had been at historic highs. And you would understand, particularly after decisions which [we] took last year, why my department has been more cautious. And there are some people who used to be able to get visitor visas who are no longer able to get them.
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Burke addresses reports one Iranian player tried to refuse getting on plane
Tony Burke confirms there was one person who got on the plane in Sydney later than anyone else, but it was because they were having conversations with their family overseas.
The home affairs minister says he and the department were facilitating the overseas calls but that there was “no pressure” for that person to get on the plane or not.
There was one person where conversations with family were happening, and we weren’t sure which way that person would go. That individual, though, ultimately made their own decision.
There is a lot of work, including me sending messages back and forth from my plane, trying to find the right numbers, and ultimately getting somebody to call the Home Affairs number from overseas so that the conversation could happen. But the people who that individual wanted to talk to were all made available.
Burke says the department made sure that person had complete agency over their decision as they facilitated the phone calls with their family members.
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Burke says some members of Iranian delegation were not offered visas
Tony Burke says the two Iranian women who requested asylum from the government were reunited with the five players who had been granted humanitarian visas.
As Penny Wong said this morning, the other players were also given time individually to meet with department of home affairs representatives, and given the opportunity to seek asylum. But he adds that not everyone in the delegation was given an interview.
Burke says the government worked with security agencies and confirmed anyone with a connection to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were not granted visas.
As the full delegation went through customs and immigration, people were separated, they were given a chance, each player and each member of the team, with the exception of a small number of people, where we had made the decision that we did not want to make a direct offer to them, but all the players remaining and most of the support people were taken into interview rooms without any minders present, simply themselves and the Department of Home Affairs and an interpreter, and they were given a choice in that situation. What we made sure of was there was no rushing, there was no pressure.
There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad they’re no longer in Australia.
Burke says all seven Iranians are now on humanitarian visas, and are on a “resolution of status” pathway where they will be granted permanent visas.
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Two more Iranian football team members granted asylum
Tony Burke is speaking to reporters in Canberra and says two more women (after the five who were granted humanitarian visas yesterday) requested assistance from the government to seek asylum.
Burke says the two women were separated from their minders and the rest of the group and met with federal police in a location attached to Brisbane airport, before the home affairs minister met with them.
Burke says:
When I met with them, I made them the same offer that I had made the five players the night before, and that was that if they wanted to receive a humanitarian visa for Australia, which would have a pathway to a permanent visa … I had the paperwork ready to execute that immediately. They both said that they did. I signed off on that.
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Clive Palmer makes a fresh run for parliament
Not content with funding millions of dollars to not win any seats, billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer is announcing today that he’ll be running for the House of Representatives at the next election.
Get ready to see a fresh bout of big yellow posters near you.
Palmer won the seat of Fairfax in Queensland in 2013 against now shadow foreign affairs minister Ted O’Brien. He won by just 53 votes after a recount (where his scrutineers challenged many of the votes, dragging the recount on for four weeks).
Palmer says he’ll be making the announcement at 11:30am today.
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Wong denies Australia is at war in the Middle East
Jumping back to her interview on RN Breakfast, Sally Sara asks Penny Wong if Australia is now at war, due to its military involvement in the Middle East.
Wong has previously said Australia is supporting the “collective defence” of Gulf nations under attack.
This morning she again highlights the scale of Australians who call the Middle East home.
We are dealing with the requests, including from the UAE. Our first priority is to protect Australians at home and abroad. And we made a decision to respond to the United Arab Emirates for a request for defensive capability. And we were very conscious when we did that, first, that not only are they defending their citizens, but they’re defending our citizens. They’re defending Australians who are in the United Arab Emirates or, in fact, many of the other Gulf countries.
Asked whether Australia’s support for the UAE could make us a target, Wong says Iran has already targeted Australia – after Asio found at least two antisemitic attacks were orchestrated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Iranian regime has never needed provocation. The Iranian regime conducted attacks on Australian soil whilst we still had a diplomatic relationship with them.
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Marles denies Australia involved in offensive action in Iran
Despite an escalation of Australia’s involvement in the Middle East, with the government yesterday announcing it would deploy an E-7A Wedgetail military surveillance aircraft and missiles for the United Arab Emirates, Labor still maintains it’s not involved in attacks.
Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, told 2GB this morning that the UAE has a “close and friendly” relationship with Australia, and the action has been to protect the Gulf nations under attack by Iran.
It is defence, and it’s defensive of the Gulf states … We were very much acting at the request specifically of the United Arab Emirates. It had been under sustained attack by Iran from the moment that this conflict began and yet the UAE has not been a protagonist against Iran at all, and that’s the case for 10 other countries in the region.
Iran has sought to widen this conflict, attack its neighbours simply because it can, and we obviously condemn that in the strongest possible terms.
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Wong defends bill to block temporary visas from Middle East
Moving to ABC RN Breakfast, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, defends the government’s decision to introduce a bill to stop people from some countries travelling to Australia on some temporary visas and seeking to stay permanently because of the Middle East war.
Host, Sally Sara, points out that the bill to block people from countries including Iran was introduced the same day that the government announced it had offered humanitarian visas to the five Iranian football players.
Wong says, “the legislation doesn’t apply to humanitarian visas”.
This is true – the legislation states it doesn’t apply to humanitarian visas and has a few exceptions for people who have dependent children in Australia or who are immediate family of Australian citizens.
But there’s still a question mark over the timing of the announcement. Wong says:
I know that there’s been some political criticism, but it should be based on fact. It’s not legislation which targets humanitarian visas. It’s legislation which enables us to manage temporary visas … We have to work out how we manage our borders in a context of a very large-scale event. There are arrangements within the legislation, I think what [Tony Burke] describes as safeguards, so if people’s entry is genuinely required, we think it’s appropriate they can still come.
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Australia has ‘considered a range of requests’: Wong on Middle East
The foreign minister is walking a tight line as the government faces questions on how long Australia will remain in the Middle East conflict, what action it will take, and whether support for Gulf nations will increase.
Yesterday the prime minister announced the government was sending an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance plane and missiles to the United Arab Emirates in a defensive capacity for Gulf nations facing strikes from Iran.
Penny Wong told journalists in the press gallery corridor earlier that the “initial deployment” of the aircraft, which will have 85 personnel on board, will be for four weeks.
The initial deployment is for four weeks, and obviously we will see what happens as this conflict continues. We hope that the countries of the region can find a way to get to a greater level of stability and calm, obviously, that requires Iran to stop attacking the countries of the region.
Wong and the government have continued to state that the future of the Iranian government is for the Iranian people and that there are no examples of “regime change being able to be successfully and sustainably implemented externally.”
On ABC News Breakfast, Wong is asked if Australia has been asked to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Wong said that the government has received a range of requests:
We’ve considered a range of requests, and the capability we have deployed is the one that we announced yesterday.
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Bridget McKenzie will run for the Nationals leadership
Bridget McKenzie will put her hat in the ring, alongside Matt Canavan and Kevin Hogan, to replace David Littleproud who announced his resignation from the leadership yesterday afternoon.
Littleproud said he would remain in the party, either on the backbench or in the shadow ministry, but said he was “buggered” and wanted to spend more time with his family.
In a statement on Instagram, McKenzie confirmed her intention, and thanked people for the “wave of support I have received from across the country overnight.”
The Nationals have long been the strong voice of regional Australians and if successful I commit to working every day, using all my experience, energy and drive to secure the future of our great country.
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‘There are developments this morning’: Chalmers on Iranian football team
We’re getting a slightly bigger forward sizzle from the treasurer on how many people from the Iranian women’s football team have sought asylum in Australia.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will speak later this morning at about 9am.
The Guardian understands seven team members have now sought asylum in Australia, including the five players granted visas yesterday. It is unclear if the additional two team members have been granted visas at this time.
Chalmers confirms that there have been more discussions this morning:
There are developments this morning that I’m reluctant to go into because Tony Burke, the minister, will be up later this morning to give people a proper sense of that … It is a tribute to their bravery and to the work of the officials and the ministers that we’ve been able to issue those five visas already. As I understand it, there are more discussions this morning and Tony Burke will have more to say about that later in the day.
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Australian economy not ‘immune’ to global volatility: Chalmers
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the budget will not be immune to global volatility, but maintains that the economy is well placed to handle the uncertainty.
Speaking to ABC AM this morning, Chalmers is getting ready to hand down a budget in two months and one day (but who’s counting). He says inflation, productivity, and global uncertainty are three things the budget will have to take into account – and two of those things are directly impacted by the war in the Middle East.
We’re seeing a lot of volatility play out on these global markets … We won’t be immune from that. We’re not complacent about it, but we’re also really well placed in Australia to deal with what’s coming at us from around the world.
Clearly, we had an inflation challenge in our economy already and this risks making it worse. That’s clear. And we’ve been upfront about that.
Host, Melissa Clarke, asks Chalmers whether the volatility could also see a rise in Australia’s gas prices, giving the budget a windfall, as occurred after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Chalmers says that “remains to be seen” and will in part depend on how long the conflict goes on.
We wouldn’t necessarily bank a big change in revenue for those companies until we would understand better how long this thing will drag out.
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Wong won’t confirm reports more Iranian football team members have sought asylum
The government is keeping mum on reports of two more members of the Iranian women’s football team seeking asylum in Australia.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is doing the media rounds this morning, and tells the Today Show she’ll leave any updates to the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, who will hold a press conference later this morning.
Wong says the women were given the opportunity to speak with department officials alone, without their minders. She describes images of the remainder of the Iranian team getting on the bus to leave as “very confronting”.
Asked whether she’s concerned about their welfare and what will happen to those who are returning to Iran, Wong says:
I am reluctant to add to speculation about the response when they get home, because obviously we I’m concerned for their safety. We know this regime has engaged in brutal treatment of women and girls but of its citizens, and we’ve seen that over the years, which is why the government put so much effort into making sure that people did get given the choice, and as I said, they were offered an opportunity, and had the opportunity, I should say, to talk to Australian officials alone.
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Government reassures fuel supply in ‘excess’ in Australia
Labor is facing pressure from the opposition over panic buying and some fuel shortages being felt across the country, while it tries to reassure the public there is enough supply.
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, and shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, were sparring on Sunrise this morning.
O’Neil said Australians should feel confident, and again (for the billionth time) tells everyone to stop panic buying.
We have an excess of fuel in the country that’s in excess of the legal requirement. The reason that we are seeing issues [across the] country is because people are buying more fuel than they need. We are managing this on a daily basis, and people should feel confident in our system of fuel security as a country and buy what they need.
And we will work through these issues with petrol stations around the country.
Cash said it wasn’t good enough to blame families and farmers for the shortages, and said the government should be doing more to address supply shortfalls.
It’s everybody else’s fault. Let’s blame mum and dad Australia, let’s [blame] farmers. Let’s blame the small businesses, let’s blame the truckies. How about the government actually start governing?
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More than 3,000 Australians return from Middle East
As of this morning, 3,003 Australians have arrived back home from the Middle East on 21 flights since 4 March.
There are currently two flights on en route to Melbourne and Sydney and there are three additional flights scheduled to depart from the region today:
EK406 from Dubai to Melbourne
EK412 from Dubai to Sydney
QR988 From Doha to Melbourne
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Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you ahead of another big sitting day, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
As conflict in the Middle East and members of the Iranian women’s football team seeking asylum in Australia remain the focus of the morning, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, will be doing the media rounds.
The government says more than 3,000 Australians have now arrived back home from the Middle East as limited flights – we’ll bring you more on that shortly.
I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours, let’s get cracking!
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Naplan tests to roll out today
Around 1.4m students are set to sit down for Naplan tests today, the annual national assessment loved by statisticians and loathed by many education experts
Naplan measures how students in years 3, 5, 6 and 9 are progressing in literacy and numeracy, with this year marking the second cycle since the test was brought forward from May to March with new proficiency levels.
The head of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara), Stephen Gniel, said his organisation had worked with the Islamic Schools Association of Australia, as the test window coincides with Ramadan, to help schools and teachers support affected students.
We’re encouraging schools to schedule their tests as soon as possible in the test window and to run Naplan tests first thing in the morning to ensure fasting students’ energy levels are at their highest.
Gniel assured students that there was no need to study for the tests.
The best preparation that kids can do is make sure they go to school regularly ... This is about knowing where each student is up to.
Schools and education authorities will receive preliminary results early in term 2, with full results to be published in early August.
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Two more Iranians seek asylum in Australia after football team flies out – reports
Two more members of the Iranian women’s football team have reportedly sought asylum in Australia after competing in the Women’s Asian Cup tournament.
According to multiple reports, a plane left Sydney airport on Tuesday night local time for Malaysia with players and staff, ending a dramatic two days during which five players were granted asylum after refusing to return home.
That number rose to seven on Tuesday night, according to several media outlets, when two more members of the group decided to remain in Australia.
Reports said the squad left Sydney at 10.43pm local time on Malaysia Airlines flight MH140 bound for Kulala Lumpur but it was not clear what route they would take back to Iran after that because the country’s airspace is closed due to the Middle East conflict.
Full story here:
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NSW public health system experiencing record demand, data shows
NSW public hospital and ambulance services saw “record numbers” of emergency department attendances, admitted patient episodes and ambulance responses, latest government data shows.
The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) today released its latest quarterly report for public health services in NSW from October to December 2025. The numbers showed despite this unprecedented demand across the system, “performance remained stable in key areas”, according to BHI chief executive, adjunct Prof Heiko Spallek said.
The 820,009 attendances at emergency departments was the highest since BHI began reporting in 2010, with an increase in presentations for more urgent conditions and fewer patients presenting with less urgent conditions.
The percentage of patients starting their treatment on time (66.3%) was relatively stable compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the report found.
A record number of patients (79,004) left emergency departments without, or before completing, treatment – up by 10,846 (15.9%) from the same quarter a year earlier.
Ambulance services also saw the highest number of calls and incidents since 2010, and while the number of ambulance responses was relatively stable (up 0.6%) compared with the same quarter a year earlier, it was also a record high, the BHI found.
The number of patients admitted during the quarter (518,436) was the highest of any October to December quarter since 2010.
The average length of stay for overnight non-acute episodes (such as rehabilitation, geriatric evaluation and management) was 19.3 days – the highest of any October to December quarter.
The number of elective surgeries (58,922) was up 7.2%, with more surgeries performed across all urgency categories.
At the end of December 2025, there were 92,812 patients on the waiting list, down 7.4% from the same time a year earlier. Of those patients, 3,845 had waited longer than clinically recommended, down 43.8% from the same time in 2024.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with breaking overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will be steering the news ship.
It looks like another busy start for Tony Burke this morning amid reports that two more Iranian female footballers sought asylum in Australia last night rather than fly home with the rest of the squad. More coming up.
And public hospital and ambulance services in New South Wales saw “record numbers” of emergency department attendances, admitted patient episodes and ambulance responses in the last quarter of last year, figures show. More details shortly.
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