Hi there. It's Wednesday, August 10, and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here: A bunch of One Nation websites are being suspended
Here's what you need to know:
- Ahead of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, One Nation has been registering several domain names after Pauline Hanson declared her party would become the face of the "no" campaign last week.
- She said her campaign had acquired and registered 46 domain names in opposition to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a practice known as "cyber-squatting", which can be used to maximise search engine traffic.
- Some of the websites registered by One Nation included voicetoparliament.org.au and ulurustatement.com.au.
- The entity responsible for licensing Australian domains (websites with .au at the end) has told the ABC that they will suspend several of the domains One Nation has registered.
- It's unclear exactly how many of the domains the regulator will take down, but its policy says entities must have a "close and substantial connection" to their registered domain name — simply put, they must match the name they're known by or the service they offer.
- One Nation has not commented, but the party has since registered several new businesses with names matching the domains in question.
We heard a lot about China and Australia's relationship
China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, addressed the National Press Club today, where his country's relationship with Australia and Taiwan was firmly under the microscope.
After his speech, Mr Xiao said Beijing would not compromise on Taiwan and would use "all necessary means" for "a peaceful reunification".
"If every country put their 'One China' policy into practice with sincerity, with no compromise, it is going to guarantee the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
When challenged about when China would conclude its military exercises around the island of Taiwan, Mr Xiao was non-committal.
"There's no room for compromise. How long it's going to last, a proper time? I think there will be an announcement."
Mr Xiao also said the change in Australia's government provided an "opportunity to reset" relations between the two countries, and while recent high-level meetings had been productive, "there's a lot of work to be done".
You can look back at Mr Xiao's address and read analysis from our experts here.
News alerts you might have missed
- Lauren Jackson will make her return to international basketball after being named in the Opals world cup squad.
- The Commonwealth Bank has reported a 9-per-cent profit increase, making a $9.7 billion profit in the past financial year. It will pay shareholders a fully franked final dividend of $2.10 a share.
- The Liberal Party has rejected an invitation from the federal government to attend a national jobs summit in Sydney next month, labelling it "a stunt".
What Australia has been searching for online
- Serena Williams: The tennis great has told Vogue she's planning to retire from the sport after competing in the US Open, which begins later this month.
- COVIDSafe: The $21 million Australian government app is being decommissioned two years after its launch, according to its listings on mobile app stores. The app identified just two COVID-19 cases and 17 close contacts nationally.
- Matthew Guy: The leader of the Victorian opposition's media manager, Lee Anderson, has quit just two days after Mr Guy's new chief of staff was announced, citing "personal reasons". The party's Deputy Leader, Georgie Crozier, says rumours there was a disagreement between the two is false.
One more thing: Arrivederci Domino's
The pizza chain has called time on its franchises in Italy after seven years, according to a Bloomberg report.
Domino's first planned to open 880 stores that would allow it to control about 2 per cent of the Italian pizza market by 2030, with its Italian chief executive, Alessandro Lazzaroni, saying there was an opportunity for the company to capitalise on pizza delivery in the country.
However, it appears the rise of food delivery services during the pandemic took away its planned competitive edge, with its last 29 franchises shutting their doors and no longer accepting orders online.
You're up to date
We'll be back with more news in the morning.
ABC/wires
