What we learned, Sunday 22 February
Thanks for staying with us for today’s news. We’ll wrap up our live coverage there. The wonderful Nick Visser will be back on the blog tomorrow as we enter the final week of February.
Until then, here were Sunday’s top stories:
Tony Burke revealed the government is preparing to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir. He also described Pauline Hanson’s comments about the Sydney suburb of Lakemba as a national security risk.
Dozens of teenagers went overboard as winds capsized boats in a Hobart race.
Emergency warnings for bushfires in Victoria were issued as firefighters battle the blazes..
Thousands of pharmaceutical poppies with “life-threatening” toxicity have been stolen from a Victorian farm, prompting a public health warning.
The Museum of Chinese in Australia has opened in Sydney after years of challenges and development.
The South Australian Labor party is proposing to give “empty nesters” a massive stamp duty saving of up to $103,000.
Suspicious car fires that could be tied to the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian have prompted police calls for information.
And federal police seized 28kg of cocaine hidden in a luxury bus.
Chinese Australians open museum as division on immigration surges
In the face of challenges to multiculturalism and diversity in Australia, the newly-opened Museum of Chinese in Australia’s chief executive, Peter Cai, said Australians love stories about underdogs.
[Chinese Australians] arrived in this country, they work really hard against the backdrop of the White Australia policy, yet achieved incredible success over the time.
The Haymarket museum will open with an exhibition featuring some of Sydney’s biggest merchant families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but Mr Cai said the museum’s goal was not just to tell the local community’s story.
We want to tell the Chinese Australian story as part of the broader Australian historical development, to feature Chinese Australians as part of Australia’s modern nation-building effort.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly said the museum shone a light on the ambitions, resilience and determination of Chinese migrants, adding:
These are stories worth remembering, because they deepen our understanding of who we are and strengthen the sense of belonging that underpins our multicultural success.
- AAP
Updated
Museum of Chinese in Australia celebrates ‘auspicious’ opening
With lion dancers and a visit from the prime minister, a museum dedicated to the stories of some of Australia’s earliest migrants has marked a start years in the making, AAP reports.
In the heart of Sydney’s Chinatown, the Museum of Chinese in Australia threw open its doors for the first time on Sunday to much fanfare after years of obstacles, revealing its jade-stone entrance.
Since it was handed the keys to the old Haymarket library in 2021, the museum has faced challenges from the Covid19 pandemic to the intricacies of renovating a 1875 heritage building. It will finally welcome visitors from Tuesday.
The museum has opened during lunar new year, in the year of the fire horse, which in Chinese astrology is traditionally linked to a time of significant breakthroughs and drastic change.
Its chief executive, Peter Cai, said:
It’s just a really big moment for a lot of us … It’s such an auspicious time, we’re really hoping we get all the renovations done this year.
Updated
Police warning after eight boats capsize in Hobart
More on the boats overturned in Hobart: police have warned people to wear lifejackets when on the water.
Lifejackets were worn by all of the 54 young sailors participating in a Hobart race, which meant the 25 who went overboard when their boats capsized could be rescued, the acting police commander, Andrew Keane, said. He said in a statement:
The lifejackets helped keep people visible and afloat in challenging wind and water conditions, allowing rescuers to locate and recover them quickly and safely.
Their use greatly reduced the risk of injury or exhaustion and contributed to all participants being brought to shore without harm.
The event organisers had also kept a careful list of participants, allowing police to check that every young sailor had been rescued, Keane told reporters.
Police had been busy rescuing people all along the Derwent River on Sunday, and the event had lessons for the public, Keane said.
It’s vital to let somebody know where you’re going, when you expect to be back, and make sure you have your safety gear. Your lifejacket should be available. It should be serviced. Make sure you don’t drink. Make sure you’ve got your flares and propulsion devices.
Updated
Dozens of teenagers overboard as winds capsize Hobart boat race
Strong winds have capsized boats and sent 25 child sailors overboard during a Hobart race, all of whom have been rescued unharmed, police said.
Sailors, aged between 10 and 18, were racing between Sandy Bay and Long Point, in Hobart’s inner south, as four local sailing clubs combined for an event on the River Derwent.
At least eight of the 47 boats were blown over by a strong gust of wind, said Tasmania police acting commander, Andrew Keane.
There were gusts of wind up to 95 km/h before 1.20pm in Hobart, with police alerted at 1.22pm. Bystanders and racing club members joined police boats and helicopters in rescue efforts, with the local Derwent sailing squadron giving police access to facilities for a staging post.
Keane said 25 out of 54 young people taking part in the race fell in the water, all wearing lifejackets, police said. Some swam to shore, and the rest were rescued by boat by 2.36pm. Tasmania Ambulance assessed 21 of them and found they were unharmed before sending them home. Keane said:
They were pretty shaken up, obviously considerably wet. Fortunately, the weather was quite warm and they had all the safety gear on that they should have had.
Police had spent much of Sunday afternoon rescuing capsized boats and windsurfers up and down the Derwent, Keane said.
The wind has been strong all afternoon, and that’s been causing quite a bit of trouble out in the Derwent today.
Updated
Australian and UK defence unite to work on nuclear-powered submarine
Over in Western Australia, Australian defence personnel have partnered with their UK counterparts for the first-ever maintenance activity on a UK nuclear-powered submarine in the country.
The HMS Anson will visit for one month, and US and UK forces will undertake joint exercises with Australian defence.
Australian personnel have already assisted with maintenance for US Virginia-class submarines, including USS Vermont when it visited last year and USS Hawaii in 2024.
Celebrating the visit, the defence minister, Richard Marles, said:
Australia’s acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine capability will create jobs, strengthen our local industry and help keep Australians safe. This submarine maintenance period is the latest demonstration of the continued momentum across all three partners to deliver AUKUS.
Updated
Victorian bushfire warnings downgraded
Warnings for a fire blazing near Gaffneys Creek in Victoria have been downgraded from “leave immediately” to “do not return”.
The fire is travelling south-east from Gaffneys Creek along German Spur Track towards Woods Point.
VicEmergency had been urging people in the area of A1 Mine Settlement to leave and has now told those who remain that it is not safe to return due to continuing bushfire and tree hazards.
Those who remain have been urged to stay where they are, avoid bushfire and tree hazards and check they have enough food, drinking water and medication.
The Mansfield-Woods Point Road has been closed along the 47-kilometre stretch between Kevington and Woods Point. VicEmergency has warned drivers not to enter the area.
The fire is still out of control and has burned through 1,100 hectares in the heavily forested areas around the A1 Mine settlement since it started on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, warnings for the still-uncontrolled fire blazing near Trawool in the Goulburn Valley have been replaced with advice to stay informed as the threat eases.
Updated
Hobart boat race sailors rescued after mass capsizing
The Hobart sailors who were thrown overboard when strong winds blew over their boats have been rescued.
As we reported earlier, strong winds overturned a number of boats on the River Derwent. The boats capsized while racing off Long Beach, Sandy Bay, with race participants thrown into the water.
Bystander boats, marine services, the Westpac rescue helicopter and police helped rescue them, police said. All racers and marine rescue efforts on the River Derwent have now been accounted for, police confirmed, working with the race organiser.
None of the participants were injured, with each being assessed by Ambulance Tasmania, police said. The area was still being searched from water and sky as a precaution.
It’s not clear how many participants there were. The Bellerive regatta yesterday recorded about 100 boats with 300 sailors attending, including more than 40 keelboats at the first race. The regatta had a different off-the-beach event scheduled for 1pm today, as well as the Tasmanian Sabre State Championship.
Updated
Thousands of ‘life-threatening’ pharmaceutical poppies stolen from Victorian farm
Thousands of life-threatening toxic poppies have been stolen from a Ballarat farm, prompting a police investigation and public health alert.
Thieves stole about 1,700 poppy plants sometime between 14 and 16 February, police said. Ballarat divisional response unit detectives are investigating.
In Victoria, it is illegal to take, use, sell or grow poppies without a licence from the state government, and entering a poppy crop is prohibited unless accompanied by a licence holder or their employee.
Victoria’s Department of Health warned the stolen poppy plant “heads” were grown for the pharmaceutical industry and were alkaloid poppies, not traditional opioid poppies. The department said in a statement:
[Alkaloid poppies] contain dangerously high concentrations of thebaine and oripavine, with risk of life-threatening toxicity. … Thebaine does not produce pain relief, sedation or euphoria. Thebaine stimulates the nervous system and can lead to seizures, high body temperature, and life-threatening toxicity. Any exposure to thebaine may cause toxicity.
The poppies contained only trace amounts of traditional opioids like morphine and codeine. Naloxone, a medication to respond to opioid overdoses, would not reverse thebaine toxicity, the department warned.
The department said products made from the stolen flowers, such as dried flower heads, ground poppy plant material, or liquid preparations derived from poppy plants, could lead to life-threatening toxicity.
Updated
Liberal spokesperson says good behaviour bonds won’t ‘keep people safe’ from women and children detained in Syria
Continuing with the shadow home affairs minister for a moment, Jonathan Duniam has also suggested a good behaviour bond isn’t enough to keep Australia if any of the 34 women and children stuck in a Syrian detention camp return to the country.
Details of how the lives of the 11 Australian women and 23 children remaining in Roj camp in north-eastern Syria are limited, but the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has offered public assurances that intelligence agencies would flag any risks the group could pose if returned to Australia.
They would not be the first wives, widows and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters to return to Australia. Four women and 11 children returned to Australia in 2022, and eight orphaned children were flown to Australia from Syria in 2019.
However, Duniam said:
It’s terrible for anyone in these camps, but again, bringing people back into Australia with a softly, softly approach, which is the one this government is taking, is not in our national interest. And we know, indeed, with those who have been repatriated, who have faced prosecution in the past, the best we got was a good behaviour bond for 25 months.
These are people that went to Syria to support a death cult. A good behaviour bond does not strike me as a strong response or something that will keep people safe.
Updated
Coalition ‘cannot understand’ why Syrian camp detainees not banned from entering Australia
The shadow home affairs minister, Jonathan Duniam, has questioned why only one of the 34 women and children stuck in a Syrian detention camp has been banned from entering the country for up to two years.
In case you’ve not been keeping up, the group of Australians in Syria’s Roj camp - the wives, widows and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters - are staring down a deadline as authorities look to close the detention camp. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has said he doesn’t want the group to return and the Australian government is not actively helping them.
However, only one woman from the group has been issued a temporary exclusion order, preventing her return to Australia for up to two years. Under law, an Australian citizen has a right to an Australian passport and Burke says, bar the one woman, intelligence agencies haven’t delivered any information to suggest the other 33 pose a threat.
The opposition is ramping up its attacks on Labor over the issue, eager to score a much-needed political win after months of internal turmoil.
In a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Duniam queried why only one woman met the threshold for a temporary ban on entering the country. He said:
I cannot understand for the life of me how it is the case that these people somehow aren’t deemed a risk? ... only one of them gets a temporary travel ban to come back to Australia. This is not the kind of thing that I think does fill Australians with confidence.
Burke said in an interview this morning the agencies have been monitoring the group for some time and he had “complete confidence” intelligence agencies didn’t have any information gaps.
You can read more here:
Boats overturned in Hobart by strong wind gusts on day of regatta
Police are responding after strong winds blew several boats over on the River Derwent near Hobart.
Tasmania police confirmed they were rescuing people after the boats at a sailing event were overturned by a “large gust of wind”. The Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts of up to 95 km/h in Hobart before 1.20pm.
The Westpac rescue helicopter was also attending, with flight tracking showing it took off from Hobart airport before 1.40pm AEDT and is still circling the river and bay.
A police spokesperson said they were not worried about injuries at this stage, but rescue efforts were continuing.
While it is not clear which event was affected, the Bellerive Regatta was scheduled for this weekend, with its “Off The Beach” race at 1pm today.
Updated
Evacuation warning as Victoria bushfire blazes south
Authorities have urged people to leave immediately as a bushfire continues to burn near Gaffneys Creek in Victoria.
The fire is still out of control and has burned through 1,100 hectares in the heavily forested areas around the A1 Mine settlement since it started on Thursday night.
It is travelling south-east from Gaffneys Creek along German Spur Track towards Woods Point. VicEmergency has urged people in the area to leave by travelling south through Woods Point:
Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious until proven otherwise and are investigating its causes after reports of ignition points were found.
Updated
‘Humid and unstable airmass’ to bring rain, flooding and thunderstorms across Australia’s east coast
Heavy rain and floods are expected to sweep central and southern Australia, with thunderstorms forecast for parts of every state and territory on Sunday.
Much of South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria are facing a drenching, while storms could also hit Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned.
Queensland, SA and the NT have already endured a rainy weekend, with one remote community facing its biggest downpour in a decade, thanks to a strengthening tropical low.
The BoM warned that parts of those states could face flooding, blocked roads and rising rivers from Sunday until at least Wednesday, as the weather system connects to a cold front pulling moisture south. Its warning reads:
[This] will combine with a very humid and unstable airmass to produce widespread heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over the north of [SA].
Read the whole story here:
Updated
Sydney’s Museum of Chinese in Australia – in pictures
Some photos from the opening of Sydney’s new Museum of Chinese in Australia have come through. Here’s what the event looked like.
The prime minister met lion dancers performing at the event. You can read about the incredible effort dancers put in for lunar new year in this beautiful piece from Isabella Lee:
Updated
Thanks Natasha May and hello readers. I’ll take you through the rest of Sunday’s breaking news.
This is where I’ll hand over to my colleague Luca Ittimani, who’ll see you through the rest of the afternoon.
Updated
Melbourne’s Chinatown to receive $100k as part of multicultural business grants
Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the city’s Chinatown will also receive a boost, after the Victorian government announced $100,000 to support the area’s businesses.
Natalie Suleyman, the minister for small business, said the grant to the Melbourne Chinatown Business Association would be used to develop a website and app to promote all businesses in the area.
It will include business profiles, interactive maps, event information and exclusive promotions.
This funding is part of the Labor state government’s $17m “Supporting our Multicultural Traders and Precincts initiative”.
Updated
Challenging racism more important than ever, PM says
Albanese said challenging racism was more important than ever as multiculturalism was “under challenge from some”.
And as we enter the Year of the Horse, people right across Australia are celebrating Chinese New Year.
What was once a preserve of those with Chinese heritage [has] beautifully burst its banks and proudly taken its place on our Australian calendar.
And at a time where multiculturalism and our diversity [is] under challenge from some, pretending that we can go to an Australia that, if it ever was, certainly isn’t the case now.People who don’t acknowledge that, with the exception of First Nations people, we are all either migrants or descendants of migrants, who cover this country to make a better life for themselves, but also for their children and generations to come.
We need to challenge that very directly when racism raises its hand.
But we also need to challenge it by our actions, by our deeds, by the positive messages, such as what this shows right here with this museum.So I want to thank everyone who kept believing in the museum project here.
Updated
PM recalls Christmas lunches at museum’s Chinatown location
Albanese nodded to how his own family traditions were tied to the museum’s location in Sydney’s Chinatown:
One of the things that I well recall growing up, as it was just myself and my mother at home – and when you’ve got just two people at Christmas, a Christian celebration, of course, then it’s not a big group – there’s no point having a big turkey.
So what we did was to come to one of the outlets down here, and we had duck and pork barbecue was our Christmas meal, every single year.
And that way, as well, whoever dropped in and everyone was welcome at our place – that was a part of the benefit that we had.
Updated
Museum of Chinese in Australia opens in Sydney
The Museum of Chinese in Australia has officially opened in Sydney’s Haymarket, with the prime minister lauding its important role in telling “the story about that long and extraordinary history of the connection between Chinese Australians as contributors to our nation”.
In his speech opening the museum earlier today, Anthony Albanese acknowledged the attendance of the minister for social services and member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, as well as the member for Reid, Sally Sitou, the member for Banks, Zhi Soon and the member for Barton, Ash Ambihaipahar.
Albanese said it was important Australians understood the contribution that people of Chinese descent had made “here in Australia over a long period of time”.
There are Chinese Australians in every aspect of Australian life, something that enriches our country and something that is part of the reason why we need to tell the story about that long and extraordinary history of the connection between Chinese Australians as contributors to our nation.
… The truest power of this museum is that it shines a light on individuals like Gordon Mar and families like Simpson-Lee, who can be overshadowed in the telling of our history.
Yet theirs are all important stories. Stories of contribution, of ambition and aspiration, of energy and hard work. The sheer determination to realise a dream and to make a difference.
And whether it’s in hospitality, business, commerce, medicine, science or culture, this is all the stuff of nation building, and that is what undermined my underpins the spirit of the Museum of Chinese in Australia.The very real and important idea that these stories are not just worth remembering because they remind us of what we have and enjoy as Australians didn’t just happen of its own accord.
He also nodded to the $2.6m the re-elected Labour government provided for the completion of this museum, as well as the generosity of the three Pang sisters, who donated $4m.
Updated
Road deaths keep rising, peak body warns
Crash fatalities have risen by nearly 20% sine 2021, representing a failure in the national strategy aiming to halve deaths, the nation’s peak motoring body is warning.
The 12-month road toll has risen for the 32nd consecutive month, the Australian Automobile Association’s data shows.
In the 12 months to 31 January 2026, the road toll rose nationally by 0.7% to 1,313 fatalities with fatalities rising particularly sharply in NSW (up 17.3%) and Tasmania (up 36.4%). Managing Director Michael Bradley said:
Since the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 began in January 2021, crash fatalities have risen [nationally] by 19.7%.
The strategy aims to halve national road fatalities through the decade to 2030 - but five years in, it has instead delivered an ongoing increase in road deaths, the AAA says.
As the Australian Government is currently reviewing the strategy, association also points out that three of its five headline targets remain unmeasurable. Bradley says:
The starting point to addressing our worsening road toll is gathering hard facts that help us understand what’s causing it to rise in the first place.
The AAA is calling on the Commonwealth to extend its powers to conduct no-blame investigations of transport fatalities beyond aviation, rail, and maritime incidents.
The peak medical body has also called for road safety data to be shared so it can be learned from:
New ‘easy-to-understand’ online vaccination tool reflects children’s individual needs, health expert says
Continuing on from that last post, the health minister, Ryan Park, said vaccination meant kids were less likely to become seriously unwell.
We know that vaccination is the best thing we can do to protect our children from serious diseases like measles. With a recent spike in the community, it is important parents are aware and pro-active with vaccination. Vaccination means kids are less likely to become seriously unwell and less likely to need to visit our hospitals.
The acting director of health protection at NSW Health, Dr Vicky Sheppeard, said:
Delaying vaccines can leave children unprotected during important stages of development, so we are strongly encouraging parents to book their children in at the recommended ages. This is when the vaccination works best.
Even if your child has a runny nose or a mild cold, don’t delay vaccination. Talk to your doctor or nurse to make sure your child is protected as early as possible.
We know that most missed childhood vaccinations in NSW are due to delays from parents who are time poor, overwhelmed or confused from the amount of information out there, so we wanted to create a trustworthy, easy-to-understand tool that reflects their child’s individual needs.
Updated
New customised schedule to support NSW parents with childhood vaccinations
The NSW government has today launched a new online tool that allows parents to create a customised vaccination schedule based on their child’s date of birth.
It will provide personalised guidance and practical reminders to help parents vaccinate their children on time and protect them from serious diseases.
In NSW, more than 90% of children are fully immunised, but 95% coverage is essential for “herd immunity”, where enough people are immune that a disease can’t spread quickly.
The tool was informed by research that found many parents and carers felt uncertain, overwhelmed or unsure where to start when it came to vaccinating their children.
Families can use the tool to automatically add a child’s vaccination dates to their parents’ phone calendar and receive a reminder one week before the vaccination date, along with a calendar entry on their phone for the day the vaccination is due.
Experts say if parents have any questions around vaccination, it’s more important than ever to have a conversation with a health professional, as vaccine-preventable diseases like measles are circulating in the community as immunisation rates are decreasing.
You can read more about what a recent survey of parents found about their attitudes to vaccination here:
Updated
‘Dire’ signs for Liberals in SA election
The federal Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has conceded next month’s South Australian election will be tough for his party.
The polling coming out of South Australia is very dire, and it’s understandable on some levels, given the circumstances, given the issues with previous opposition leaders at the state level in South Australia.
Premier Malinauskas is one of the most popular state leaders in our country, but I’ve got to pay immense credit and respect to Ashton Hurn for the way in which she has stood up in the most difficult circumstances.
The South Australian election will be held on Saturday, 21 March.
- AAP
Updated
South Australian ‘empty nesters’ to get stamp duty windfall in $70m pledge
The South Australian Labor party is proposing to give “empty nesters” a massive stamp duty saving of more than $100,000 to encourage them to trade their large family homes for smaller dwellings, AAP reports.
The move aims to free up crucial housing stock for growing families.
The total stamp duty abolition would apply to people aged 60 or over buying a smaller, newly built home or off-the-plan apartment worth up to $2m, saving eligible South Australians up to $103,830.
The exemption can only be accessed once.
The state’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced the election pledge this morning, saying if his party was re-elected, the plan would stimulate housing growth and help free up larger homes for families.
Under the scheme, people purchasing a $1m home after selling their larger home would receive a full stamp duty concession worth $48,830. That would increase to $76,330 for a $1.5m home, while a maximum concession of $103,830 would apply to a $2m home.
The announcement comes a day after the government officially entered caretaker mode, with Malinauskas and his deputy, Kyam Maher, visiting Government House on Saturday morning to formally start the state election campaign.
Malinauskas said:
Our plan to abolish stamp duty for downsizers is specifically calibrated to increase housing supply, while also freeing up larger homes for families.
By abolishing stamp duty, we are offering a real incentive to older South Australians to downsize … Under our plan, seniors can save more than $100,000, compared with $15,000 under the Liberals.
Under Labor’s proposed policy, applicants for the stamp duty discount would have to be 60 or older; be buying a new or off-the-plan home to live in that is smaller than their existing home; and selling their existing principal place of residence.
The state’s Liberal leader, Ashton Hurn, used her party’s election campaign launch to announce a policy for over-55 “downsizers” to receive the one-off stamp duty concession of $15,000.
Under the plan, older South Australians moving out of their home would pay less stamp duty when moving into a lesser-value home, with a cap on the concession on properties priced above $1.2m.
Updated
PM cautions politicians on divisive rhetoric
Anthony Albanese has warned politicians against using fear to divide people amid a rise in anti-immigration sentiment in parts of Australia.
In an interview with Sky News aired this morning, the prime minister said it was important leaders worked to bring the community together rather than divide it.
Albanese said:
It’s important that people in positions of authority, including politicians, promote social cohesion … rather than seek to gain political benefit through opportunistically trying to divide people and trying to raise fear.
When asked whether immigration laws should be tightened to limit who enters the country on a visa, he said Australia already had “tight checks”.
This is something that politicians shouldn’t be allowed to say … things that they know isn’t true.
Because they know full well that we have checks on migration in this country and that we have checks on visas.
Updated
Car fires linked to botched kidnapping of grandfather
Police investigating the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian are appealing for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case, AAP reports.
Hopes are fading of finding the 85-year-old alive, who was taken captive more than a week ago when three men stormed his Sydney home and bundled him into an SUV.
NSW detectives are urging the public to come forward with information about two suspicious vehicle fires on Good Street, Westmead, at 11.30pm on Tuesday that may be connected to the case.
Police said the vehicles were partly destroyed.
Detectives said the targeted vehicle was a 2022 Toyota Corolla bearing Victorian registration 1UZ2BU, reported stolen from a Victorian address on 13 January.
Officers searched a derelict property in the semi-rural suburb of Dural on Sydney’s north-west outskirts on Thursday night after identifying it as a makeshift stronghold for the kidnappers.
Investigators believe the Toyota Corolla is linked to the crime scene at the Dural address, which may be linked to the kidnapping.
Read more about the case here:
Updated
Burke calls Pauline Hanson’s Lakemba comments a national security risk
Asked about Pauline Hanson’s inflammatory comments about Muslims and the Lakemba night markets within his electorate, Burke said:
I was back in Lakemba on Friday night for the Lakemba night market during Ramadan, and a whole lot of people remembered last time Pauline Hanson went to Lakemba. She turned up with a TV crew from one of the commercial stations, expecting to be greeted with anger from people. They showed her hospitality; they were glad she was there. Some of the women gave her a hug. Really blew her mind. And afterwards, the security guard she turned up with stayed in the area and had a kebab.
I think what is happening here, is part of Pauline Hanson’s frustration with Lakemba is that it didn’t give her what she wanted. This is a generous community. There’s a whole lot of hospitality there and a group of people who sadly are used to being demonised.
But let me say this: It’s not just the cruelty of it, there’s a national security angle here as well. We’ve had a big national discussion about when antisemitism becomes normalised, it is more likely you get antisemitic violence, as we saw in Brisbane over the last night.
That is the same for any form of bigotry, including Islamophobia. I just say to people: don’t pretend to care about national security and then make it harder for our agencies and more likely that violence will occur.
Updated
Government preparing to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir
Burke is asked if there is progress on banning Hizb ut-Tahrir as part of the new hate groups laws passed last month.
He says bans were wanted for two main groups before the laws were passed, including a since-disbanded neo-Nazi group and Hizb ut-Tahrir, “which is an organisation I’ve been fighting since my first term in parliament”.
Asio have now provided the advice that that organisation meets the threshold that Asio requires for them to be able to be banned. So the next stage is the department prepares a brief for a minister, that brief is the second threshold that has to be determined, and then, after that, presuming that that’s determined, then the leader of the opposition is advised and the attorney-general has to sign off on it.
… But the first stage on the process of a prohibited group listing happening, for Hizb ut-Tahrir is now complete. The Asio advice is in. This is the first time we have been able to ban – potentially – a group which falls short of a terrorist listing. It says you don’t have to be specifically calling for violence, but you do have to be acting in way that increases the risk of communal violence or politically motivated violence.
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Coalition didn’t ‘stop their passports at the critical moment’, Burke says
Burke emphasises “we are not the people who are holding them there.”
They’re being held there by Kurdish authorities. They are not being allowed over a border by Syrian authorities. They went there against what the Australian government wanted. The government at the time was the Coalition.
They didn’t have an attempt to stop their passports at the critical moment, which could have caused the protection that we all now wish had happened. And that is why they are there. This is not a situation where you’re showing the images where someone is there because Australia has put them there.
Updated
No legislative power to stop Australian citizens entering country, Burke says
Asked by Insiders host David Speers if they don’t pose a threat to Australia, Burke replies:
On the information that we have, the best way to protect Australians has not involved any further temporary exclusion orders.
Speers goes on to ask Burke if he is actively trying to stop them, and he responds:
We are actively making sure we do nothing to help them. Nothing to help them at all.
Speers:
Nothing to stop them?
Burke:
Other than a temporary exclusion order, there isn’t a legislative power to stop an Australian citizen from entering Australia. Effectively, that question goes to are we breaking the law and the answer is no.
Updated
Burke says government's information on Australians detained in Syria ‘very strong’
Burke stresses the women are “not a coherent cohort”.
I can give the complete confidence to community [that] we know the different individuals; we know the state of mind and the effective ideology of different individuals – they are not a coherent cohort. That is why the person where a temporary exclusion order has been issued is in a different category to other members of that group.
… our information is very strong. That’s how you can single one person from the others.
Updated
Coalition ‘plain wrong’ over passport rights of Australians in Syria, Tony Burke tells Insiders
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says the coalition is “just plain wrong” on the passport rights of Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp.
On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children – the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters – left from al-Roj camp, in north-eastern Syria, after being released by Kurdish authorities for their expected repatriation to Australia.
Appearing on ABC Insiders, Burke says:
Under Australian law, if you’re a citizen and you apply for a passport, you get a passport. I heard the opposition claim ‘there’s this clause or that clause’. Anything would have to be under Asio advice. Of course, if our intelligence agencies said that [a] different part of the Passports Act had been activated, then we would respond to that, if they had intelligence to that effect. But the claims from the opposition that somehow the standard right for any citizen to have a passport has been suspended here is just plain wrong, and they know that.
The host, David Speers, then tells Burke that the act is “pretty clear that a passport can be denied if someone might prejudice the security of Australia”.
There’s been no advice from Asio that the Passports Act provisions have been activated. There has been advice for one of the people that has come to me that the threshold for a temporary exclusion order has been activated, and I have acted on that and issued the temporary exclusion order. One of my concerns with how the opposition have handled this is they’ve effectively said the minister should be able to make it up. Michaelia Cash did a long media release saying, ‘This is all the minister needs to do’, as though somehow in [the] national security portfolio, you should ignore your national security intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
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Federal police seize 28kg of cocaine hidden in luxury bus
Authorities have found more than 28kg of cocaine on a luxury bus in South Australia, concealed behind the vehicle’s television.
The discovery came after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers intercepted a vessel berthed at Outer Harbor, examining a roll-on/roll-off vessel on Monday 16 February.
A forensic search using technology including videoscopes and detector dogs, identified “several one-kilogram packages of a white powdered substance hidden behind a television inside a luxury bus,” Australian federal police (AFP) said in a statement.
Border force officers referred the detection to the AFP who seized the illicit drugs and commenced their inquiries.
This amount of cocaine, had it reached the Australian community, had an estimated street value of about $9m, with the potential for about 140,000 street-level deals.
AFP Det Acting Supt Simon Lalic said the AFP – together with its state, commonwealth and international law enforcement partners – was committed to disrupting and dismantling organised criminal syndicates threatening Australia. He said:
Criminals are driven by their own greed and profit and will attempt any method to import harmful illicit substance into our country. No matter how creative these criminals attempt to be, our message is clear – we are on to you.
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Be bold in May budget, roundtable guests urge Chalmers
It’s been six months since the treasurer, Jim Chalmers’ productivity roundtable and the economists, business heads and union figures who attended are feeling cautiously optimistic, AAP reports.
The Productivity Commission chair, Danielle Wood, says she hopes the roundtable laid the foundation for broader changes in the budget and beyond.
Dr Chalmers did an “amazing job” of marshalling disparate views, finding consensus in the room and communicating it to the public, according to the ANU Crawford School of Economics and Government research fellow Shiro Armstrong.
The Grattan Institute chief executive, Aruna Sathanapally, says the budget must build on the momentum of the roundtable and lead to proposals to take to the next election.
While declining to be interviewed, Dr Chalmers says via a statement that the budget will be the “main game” for economic reform.
Following Labor’s landslide election win and with the maximum distance until voters return to the polls, the timing of the budget is ripe for genuine reform, says the independent MP Allegra Spender. She says:
If you’re ever going to do something meaningful, this is the budget to do it, because it’s the budget where you can take the greatest risk.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog this Sunday.
The Australian federal police have seized more than 28kg of cocaine hidden behind a television on a luxury bus in South Australia.
Meanwhile, guests of Jim Chalmers’ productivity roundtable are urging the treasurer to be bold in the May budget, acknowledging the government has already taken some important steps.
The Winter Olympics is coming to a close. It’s Australia’s most successful campaign to date, with six medallists. The Moguls champion Cooper Woods and the aerial skiing silver medal winner, Danielle Scott, were selected as the flag bearers for the closing ceremony, to take place in Verona early tomorrow morning.
Parents in NSW will be able to access a new personalised childhood vaccination schedule tool launched today by the state government amid increasing measles cases circulating in the community and decreasing immunisation rates.
Amid heightened immigration tensions in Canberra, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will appear on the ABC’s Insiders.
Let’s get into it!
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