The Point Live: Latest inflation data to be released; Andrew Hastie praised for standing up to One Nation. As it happens

Alice Grundy

This week there have been two (quite different) stories of private religious schools facing very public problems. 

In the AFR this morning, there are questions whether Edmund Rice Education Australia, which operates dozens of schools, may be drawn into the collapse of the Christian Brothers. The Christian Brothers may face bankruptcy since they have to pay compensation to thousands of victims of clerical abuse. 

On Monday the editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald followed on from an investigation in that paper about serious allegations against the Redeemer Baptist school. 

As the editorial says, 

“This case highlights a reality of Australia’s schooling system, that independent schools in Australia, the vast majority of which are religious, are at liberty within certain constraints to espouse the values of their religion which in NSW schools ranges from mainstream faiths to Scientology, and still receive public funding.

…

Many have argued against funding for private schools for many years, or called for greater transparency over their use of public money, but there is no political appetite to act.”

Jane Caro’s recent Vantage Point essay, Rich Kid Poor Kid, The battle for public education takes up this very conversation both explaining how Australia reached this point and discusses some ideas for turning things around. 

David Crowe from the SMH and Age has reported on Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie’s London speech to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (a group started in 2023 originally funded by the owner of the rightwing British broadcaster, GB News with the aim of restoring ‘traditional western values’ – whatever that means) where she has proclaimed universities which teach history should have their funding cut.

She didn’t put it that way – she called it ‘white guilt’. As Crowe reported:

 McKenzie blamed universities for spreading ideologies to teachers that were then passed on to young students.

“If a student teacher spends four years being grounded in white guilt, victimhood, climate catastrophism or even antisemitism, that is what gets passed on behind the closed doors of a classroom,” she said.

“But Australia’s literacy and numeracy scores have been sliding for years, and the education industry responds by questioning whether the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] has got its methodology right.”

AAP

Israeli authorities ‌and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the occupied West Bank, an independent UN inquiry says.

The ‌report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and ‌Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Around 30 per cent of those killed in the Gaza war were children, the report found.

A previous report by the commission in September found Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu incited these acts – accusations that Israel called scandalous.

Israel’s mission in Geneva said Israel rejected what it called the Commission’s “second defamatory advocacy report”.

“Israel dismisses this libelous sham,” it said in a statement, adding “every child deserves protection” and asserting that the report ignored “the brutal tactics of Hamas”.

The UN commission said Palestinian children were deliberately ‌targeted and killed ‌during the war, including after a ⁠ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. It said this was a key element establishing genocidal intent by Israeli authorities and ​security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.

“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, in a statement accompanying the report.

The report found the proportion of children killed was higher than in previous conflicts. Between October 7, 2023 and October 7, 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed, around 30 per cent of the overall death toll.

By comparison, in hostilities in Gaza in 2008-2009 and 2014, children made up approximately 24 per cent of conflict-related fatalities, the report said.

Israeli ⁠forces continued to use high-payload munitions and weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated residential areas despite mounting ‌child casualties, the ​commission said.

“This indicates that such attacks, which killed children in such high numbers, were intentional,” it said.

The commission said it believed children were targeted collectively because the Israeli security forces considered the ​civilian population as ‌a whole to be associated with Hamas and other armed groups.

A rebuttal shared by Israel’s mission in Geneva said Israel “consistently strives to minimise harm to children even in situations ​of conflict” and that Israel rejected the suggestion it deliberately targets children “in the strongest terms”.

Muralidhar said by targeting children, Israel was undermining the capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.

Conditions imposed by Israel in Gaza, including widespread attacks, repeated displacement and starvation caused by the blockade of aid, food and ​medicine, severely ​harmed children’s health and development, resulting in preventable deaths and trauma, the report ​said.

Israel’s rebuttal said the report failed to mention Israel’s role in facilitating vaccinations and the entry of medical staff, and the establishment of field hospitals. It accused Hamas of systematically diverting humanitarian aid and fuel for hospitals. Hamas has rejected such accusations.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Commission found a sharp increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian children and documented evidence of torture, including sexual and gender-based violence, during mass arrests and detention.

It said Palestinian ​children, particularly boys, were subjected to systematic mistreatment in detention, including forced stripping, beatings and food deprivation.

The commission concluded the treatment constituted the crimes against humanity of torture and ​other inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious injury.

Israel’s ⁠rebuttal said the report’s findings on the West Bank omitted context on the “constant terrorist threat” that it said Israeli security forces ​were responding to.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

After Pauline Hanson questioned whether paid maternity leave should exist (which she later narrowed to businesses shouldn’t have to pay employees maternity leave, but left it open for government payments) Labor has been really pushing its paid paternity leave extension. Really pushing it. The latest change will come into effect next week and will increase the number of paid weeks to 26, which is backed by the government. The full entitlement is worth about $30,000.

Here’s Labor’s latest sell:

The changes that come into effect on 1 July mean:

• More time – parents welcoming a new baby or adopting a child will be able to access up to 26 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, giving families more precious time at home with their newest member.
   
• More money – parents receiving Paid Parental Leave will receive a higher rate of payment from 1 July, increasing to $1,004.70 per week. Parents have also received superannuation on their Paid Parental Leave since 1 July last year.
   
• More people eligible – annual income limits for Paid Parental Leave will rise, with the individual income limit increasing to $186,487 and the family income limit increasing to $386,525.

Anthony Albanese, Katy Gallagher and Tanya Plibersek all got billing on the press release (in that order) but here is what Plibersek who oversees the portfolio had to say:

Labor’s changes to Paid Parental Leave mean working parents get more time off and more money when they welcome a new arrival into their family.

It was a Labor Government that introduced Paid Parental Leave in this country, and now it’s the Albanese Labor Government expanding it to six months of leave.

Skye Predavec

This morning, four US states are holding primaries to select candidates for the upcoming midterm elections in November. While there are some notable contests in all of them, New York has several fiercely contested primaries with major implications for the future of the state’s politics.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who captured international attention with successive upset victories last year, has endorsed three fellow socialists for the House of Representatives – Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier.

Mamdani has campaigned extensively with all three, including in a viral Knicks-themed commercial after the first game of the NBA finals. Victory, or defeat, for Lander, Valdez and Chevalier will show just how far the mayor’s influence goes.

Their races will also be closely watched for what they say about the future of the Democratic Party – all three are socialist, pro-Palestine and fiercely anti-Trump voices who would represent a more progressive direction for America’s oldest political force.

Opinion polls suggest Lander will get an easy win, while Valdez and Chevalier’s races remain tight. But of course, the only poll that really matters is election day, and results should flow in quickly after voting closes at 11am Australian Eastern Time (9pm in New York, 9am in WA and 10:30am in SA/NT).

The War Memorial extension was opened by Anthony Albanese overnight, with every living member of the Australian Victoria Cross invited to attend. Late yesterday it was announced that alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, would not be attending, despite his bail conditions having been altered to allow for travel to Canberra for the event.

The redevelopment has been costed at $550m and includes the memorial’s atrium and Anzac Hall, a gallery that focuses mainly on Australia’s commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations.

Mike Bowers was on hand for the event:

Hello and welcome back to The Point Live where we have made it to Wednesday of the sitting week. Just.

It’s CPI day, so we will get the latest inflation figures from the ABS. Most economists are expecting to see a rise. That matters in these days where the RBA seems to look for any reason at all to raise interest rates to try and ward off price rises the average consumer can not control. The last rate rise was basically in anticipation of increased spending that might occur once inflation eases, so who knows what the RBA will do with today’s data (which is a month behind).

Anyways.

In other news, renegade Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has been praised by Labor MPs, including Clare O’Neil, for urging his colleagues to push back against One Nation in the Coalition party room meeting.

Hastie told the meeting that he has had to increase security in his home, after One Nation supporters and Ben Roberts Smith supporters took umbrage at his testimony against BRS in a civil trial. But Hastie also urged his party to push back against One Nation, saying he would ‘rather be taken out in a box’ then “bend the knee” to Pauline Hanson led party.

O’Neil, who has been pushing Labor to take a harder stance, praised Hastie on her social media.

Yesterday, Liberal leader Angus Taylor was unable to say whether or not he supported multiculturalism when he was asked. Multiple times. It gave Labor a bit of an oomft in QT, where the government was able to take charge of the session, making Taylor’s multiple failures to state a position on multiculturalism it’s key point. Taylor just rabbited on about ‘Australian values’ but it remains unclear what they are.

There will be more fun and games today no doubt. The fuel excise change (which extends the excise cut, at a reduced rate for another month) passed the House late yesterday and will head to the senate today, and there are other bits and bobs from the budget Labor wants through.

But mostly, the main game is the cost of living, and how to handle One Nation. We’ll be keeping an eye on all of that as it happens. Along with at least five coffees this morning. A migraine hangover meant I only got about three hours sleep, which is not ideal, but then you all make it worth it.

So ready to jump into the fray?

Let’s do it.