The Point Live: Donald Trump calls Anthony Albanese at 2am; PM sends RAAF plane to Middle East; Iranian soccer players granted asylum; first polling from Farrer

Global Human Rights organisation Amnesty International has welcomed the government’s decision to offer humanitarian visas to members of the Iranian women’s football team.

Strategic Campaigner Zaki Haidari says the women face “significant risks” if they return to their homeland after being branded traitors for not singing the Iranian national anthem before one of their Asian Cup matches in Australia.

We welcome this development and Australia’s recognition of the risks faced by these brave players. We also welcome Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s indication this morning that the offer of humanitarian protection could be extended to the entire team. We thank the Australian public and international supporters who have shown solidarity with the Iranian Women’s Soccer Team, offering their support and advocating for them to be welcomed and allowed to remain in Australia.

We celebrate the courage of these women and commend their bravery in peacefully speaking out for their rights. Australia has clear obligations under the Refugee Convention to protect people who have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country. We hope the government continues to uphold these obligations when considering protection for others fleeing persecution and conflict within the region.

Fresh from confirming at Senate Estimates that beer excise raises more revenue than petroleum resource rent tax, Independent ACT Senator David Pocock is expected to launch his motion to set up an inquiry today.

Here it is:

1. That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Why Gas Companies Pay Less for offshore Liquefied Natural Gas than Australians Pay in Beer Excise, be established to inquire into and report on:

a. The amount of Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) paid on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG);

b. Reasons for the low revenue generatedby PRRT paid on LNG;

c. Policies other jurisdictions such as Norway and Qatar have in place that has resulted in much higher revenue being generated through the sale of gas and oil in those jurisdictions;

d. The proposal from the Australian Council of Trade Unions for 25% tax on gas export revenue;

e. The impact on Australian businesses and households of the increase in gas prices since 2016;

f. What could be done with the additional revenue generated by effectively taxing the offshore LNG industry; and

g. Any other related matters.

2. That the committee present its final report by 11 May 2026.

3. That the committee consist of 6 senators, as follows:

a. Two nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

b. Two nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;

c. One crossbench senator; and

d. Senator David Pocock.

4. That:

a. Participating members may be appointed to the committee on the nomination of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or any minority party or endependent senator;

b. Participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee; and
c. A participating member shall be taken to be a member of a committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present.

5. That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

6. That Senator David Pocock chair the committee, and the committee elect as deputy chair a member nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

7. That the deputy chair shall act as chair when the chair is absent from a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant.

8. That the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, may appoint another member of the committee to act as chair during the temporary absence of both the chair and deputy chair at a meeting of the committee.

9. That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

10. That the committee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

11. That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

12. That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Australia’s national security watchdog is weighing whether including the term ‘religion’ in the legal terrorism definition is doing more harm than good, with fears it gives false credibility to extremists.

Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Jake Blight is leaning toward recommending that ideology be defined as a system of beliefs or ideas that relate to how society is or should be and is intended to be shared with others. 

The definition of terrorism hasn’t changed since 2002 after being enacted post 9/11, with questions over whether it is still fit for purpose.

There was no doubt the definition of terrorism would still cover causes like Islamic State even if the religious motivation term was scrapped, Mr Blight said, as he reviews the definition of a terrorist act under the criminal code in hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Part of the review is looking at whether the religious motivation is legally necessary. 

“I have received submissions arguing that by calling something ‘religiously motivated’ we inadvertently give false credibility and reinforce the narrative of those who say that they are doing ‘holy work’ which is above the law of the land,” he said. 

“This gives them authenticity they do not deserve and may push some young vulnerable people towards those views.”

Almost all prosecutions that used the terrorist act definition prior to 2020 were associated with Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and like-minded groups, however there has been a rise of nationalist and racist causes over the past five years, the watchdog said.

While the overall numbers were small, there were more convictions for those linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, Mr Blight noted, saying terrorism laws had to be able to deal equally with all emerging threats.

A terrorist act is currently defined as having an intention to coerce or influence by intimidation an Australian or foreign government, or intimidate the public or a section of the public. 

There must be a motive, which is an intention to advance a political, religious or ideological cause, and specific harms must be applied.

Jewish groups are against carving out the religious motivation term, arguing it would weaken the laws, while ASIO warned changing the definition would make it harder to distinguish terrorism from other forms of politically motivated violence.

“Not clearly communicating such motivations risks introducing ambiguity and confusion,” ASIO said in its submission.

Continuously linking Islam and terrorism “has lent credibility to the false and dangerous notion that Islam itself is a source of violence”, a joint statement submitted by 15 Muslim groups said. 

In the MAGAverse, it’s white men who are born to rule – at home and abroad.

On this episode of After America, Elizabeth Pancotti from Washington DC-based think tank Groundwork Collaborative joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the State of the Union, Trump’s vile attack on Somali-Americans, and how tariffs are driving up prices in a deeply unequal American economy.

Pictures from Mike Bowers who was up early and photographed this morning’s 7:30am “four-headed” press conference in the Prime Minister’s courtyard at Parliament House.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says – at the request of Gulf nations – Australia will send a RAAF reconnaissance plane to the Middle East to “protect and defend Australians”.

Australia will deploy an E7 wedgetail to the Gulf to help protect and defend Australians and other civilians, the wedgetail will provide Long Range Reconnaissance capability, which will help to protect and secure the airspace above the wedgetail and supporting Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed for an initial four weeks In support of the collective self defence of Gulf nations.

Defence Minister Richard Marles insists this is not an “offensive” operation, saying the plane will leave today.

The expectation is that it will be in the region in the middle of the week and operational by the end of the week. We have also received a request from the UAE to supply advanced, medium range air missiles and ramps, and we will be supplying a number of those to the UAE.

Speaking on radio earlier, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke spoke of the gratitude of the Iranian women’s soccer players granted asylum in Australia.

It was joy. It was relief, and people were very excited about embarking on your life in Australia. I made final confirmation with the Director General of ASIO Mike Burgess to make sure that he was completely comfortable in terms of security clearances for the people who I was about to make the offer to.

Eighteen-year-olds were first entitled to vote in Australian elections in 1974. If you were 18 in 1974, you are about 70 today.  

In your first election, you would have been part of an electorate of about 62,000 other voters.  

At last year’s election, you would have been one of about 121,000 voters in your electorate.  

Over a lifetime of voting, Australians have seen the strength of their vote halve. 

To put it another way, Australians now have to share their local member with twice as many people as they used to.  

Given this, it is not surprising that Australia Institute polling research finds most Australians cannot name their local member, have never called or written to them, and would not feel comfortable approaching them with a problem.  

Larger electorates make politicians more distant and less accountable. In 1974, it could take as little as 2,500 voters changing their minds to make a safe seat marginal. Last year, that number was 4,800.  

To a good candidate with a good campaign, there is no such thing as a safe seat – but larger electorates make it harder for candidates to reach and talk to a large number of voters.  

Luckily, the Albanese government is seriously considering expanding the Parliament. However, they are apparently only contemplating a small change – adding an additional 24 new electorates and an extra two senators per state (12 new senators total). 

Accounting for population growth, that means electorates would go from an average of 121,000 voters in 2025 to about 108,000 voters in 2028. That would leave Australians where they were in 2019 (109,000 voters per MP).  

Everyone benefits from a larger, more representative Parliament, where local members have more time to spend in their local communities and there’s more people to do committee work and interrogate the government.   

An increase in the size of Parliament is long overdue, but a modest increase would leave Australians no better represented than they were six years ago.  

In his early morning press conference, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Iranian women’s soccer team was safe.

Their last match was on the Gold Coast. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has been in Queensland for the past two days.

Anthony Albanese:

They’re safe here, and they should feel at home here. The AFP have had plans in place with Commissioner Krissy Barrett directly involved, and once it was made clear that these women wanted assistance, the Australian police moved them to assist to a safe location where they remain.

Before Donald Trump decided to drag Anthony Albanese out of bed with an overnight phone call, naturally he posted on social media, accusing Australia of a “terrible humanitarian mistake” (and he knows all about those):

According to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, at the time Trump posted this, five of the players had already been granted asylum.

This morning, Burke revealed that offer had been extended to the entire team.

Welcome to another week of The Point Live.

We’re starting on Tuesday after a public holiday in several states and territories yesterday.

The main focus is once again on the Middle East.

The Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Foreign Minister and Energy Ministers spoke at a press conference in the Prime Minister’s courtyard just after 7:30am this morning.

This covered a range of topics, most notably that US President Donald Trump called Anthony Albanese at 2 o’clock this morning (after Trump accused Australia of making a mistake by sending the Iranian women’s soccer team home to Iran).

First of all, Australia has offered (in some cases already granted) asylum to the players.

The Prime Minister has also agreed to send a RAAF E7A Wedgetail plane to the Middle East to “protect and defend Australians”.

Back home, we have the first poll from Farrer, which points to a tight battle between One Nation and the Independent Michelle Milthorpe. One Nation leads on the primary vote, but the Independent is heavily favoured among Labor (which is unlikely to field a candidate) and undecided voters.

Let’s get into it.