The Point Live: Labor continues making the Coalition relevant, Australia considers 'next steps' after Israel clears IOF for killing aid workers. As it happened..

It’s all just depressing isn’t it?

We are going to close the blog off now – parliament won’t resume until September, so you won’t hear from us at The Point Live for a bit, but please keep checking back on The Point and The New Daily for your daily dose of analysis, fact checks, explainers and in the New Daily’s case, daily news.

Thank you to everyone who joined along this sitting – we don’t take your trust and support lightly. May we all continue to grow together.

Until next sitting – take care of you.

Ever since it was discovered that David Farley had applied to join the Labor party in 2020, there has been a rumour that Labor might try and bring Farley into the fold, as part of it’s ballast against One Nation.

Now, nothing has been said, or done, or suggests there is any plan afoot. And Labor does have a policy, under Anthony Albanese, of an open door policy for all MPs when it comes to ministers and himself.

But yesterday, Farley sought out Tony Burke for chats after QT and today he sought out Albanese for chats after QT.

Here is how Mike Bowers saw it:

Here is how the last couple of hours looked to Mike Bowers:

Anthony Albanese calls for an end to QT after a dixer on housing.

What did we learn?

The Coalition have nothing. The push to have Matt Keogh removed as minister started with some actual questions, but descended into farce there with Phil Thompson. Michael McCormack is a much more steady set of hands on the issue.

But it took the independents to ask questions of substance – on women and also on Israel’s response to the killing of Zomi Frankcom. That there are so many issues the Coalition won’t touch is part of the reason we have such terrible politics at the moment – and our policy is suffering for it.

Not asked about – the ASIO bill which will strip more rights from all of us.

It’s grim. Very grim.

Alice Grundy

Underlining the urgency of Zali Steggall’s question about keeping women and girls safe is the Sydney Morning Herald’s homepage, which features two stories of rape allegations against boys from private schools. 

Bill Browne

As if Australian politics hadn’t seen enough twists and turns, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the National Party is “hopeful that billionaire Clive Palmer’s alleged dislike of Pauline Hanson will encourage him to pump millions into Coalition coffers”.

That’s the same Clive Palmer who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on minor party campaigns against the Nationals, Liberals and Labor (and won the seat of Fairfax off the Liberals in the 2013 election). Nor did his “alleged dislike” of Pauline Hanson keep the pair from sharing birthday cakes earlier this year.

The SMH reports that “sources in the party” claim Palmer has started donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the National Party.

Yes, that’s the same Liberal–National Coalition that last year stitched up a deal with the Labor Government to cap political donations at $50,000. Conveniently, the donation cap doesn’t come in until next year, something One Nation has also benefited from having received a $1 million plane from one of billionaire Gina Rinehart’s companies.

Spare a thought for a new political party or independent hoping to contest the 2028 federal election. They’ll be strictly capped in how much money they can raise, but be running against major parties that have had two years of uncapped donations, not to mention millions of dollars of taxpayer funding.

Anthony Albanese is asked by Sophie Scamps:

Yesterday, on World Humanitarian Day, the Israel Defence Force announced they would not open a criminal investigation into IDF strikes that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues, or apologise or pay reparations. Former Human Rights Commissioner Chris Sidoti has called on the Australian government to expel the Israeli ambassador, saying he has repeatedly failed Australian citizens. Will the government expel the Israeli ambassador, and what will the government do to ensure justice is served for Zomi and her family?

Albanese in his first comments on this:

The deaths of Zomi Frankcom and her six World Central Kitchen colleagues were a tragedy, and they should not have occurred. 

Israel’s decision to close their investigation without criminal proceedings is an outrage and it falls far short of the accountability that we expect and consistently called for on behalf of Australia.

Since the tragic killings, the Government has consistently made clear our expectation for transparency, and we’ve pressed for full accountability.

We’ve made this clear through numerous representations to the Israeli Government, including from myself and the Foreign Minister.

I personally made this clear in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu and in person to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The Government appointed Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin especially to advise the Government with Israel on their investigation. And last year at the United Nations, Australia and our partners launched the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, which seeks to honour the courage and kindness of Ms Frankcom and her colleagues. Israel’s decision falls far short of the accountability that we expected, despite the admission by Israel that their strikes were the result of serious failures, as confirmed by Special Adviser Binskin.

The Foreign Minister has called in Israel’s Ambassador to Australia to strongly register our views, and Australia’s Ambassador to Israel has done the same.

The Australian Government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Ms Frankcom and her colleagues. As the Foreign Minister has said, we’re consulting with Ms Frankcom’s family before we announce further steps. Ms Frankcom represented the best of Australia. Her courage deserves to be celebrated and her family deserves justice.

Q: My question is to the Prime Minister: a veteran who served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan said, and I quote, “Dealing with Minister Keogh, I think I prefer to deal with the Taliban than that. It much more simple. I signed on to fight enemies of Australia, not fight our own MPs that are supposed to be here representing us.” Prime Minister, how much more evidence is needed before you sack this incompetent minister?

Albanese (after very loud interjections that get Julian Hill booted)

Albanese:

I’m always honoured to meet with veterans and to speak with them. And to listen to them. I think that was an unfortunate quote used by…(the member)

When it comes to the issues that are raised, one of the things that we have done is to continue to operate from the philosophy that our veterans have stepped up for us and we need to step up for them.

That is why, under this Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, we dealt with a range of issues, including an extra $16 billion – $16 billion – to tackle the backlog of veterans’ compensation and rehabilitation claims and to provide – and to provide additional health support.

That is why, as well, we have responded constructively to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide. That is why we engaged constructively.

I met some of the veterans who were here earlier this week, just in the corridor, introduced myself to them. I’ve said I’m happy to meet with them. We, of course, have supported changes, as the minister has said, to ensure that services can actually be delivered in reality rather than just in theory. And we are consulting …

Phil Thompson gets up again, but Albanese has concluded his answer.

Zali Steggall asks:

Last week, the 45th Australian woman was allegedly killed by a man she knew. Two high-profile sexual assault allegations by boys and men, ranging from 14-year-old students to AFL players, are currently under police investigation. And three 17-year-old boys have now been charged over the alleged group sexual assault of a teenaged girl. These are not isolated incidents, they point to a broader culture and problem around respect and keeping women and girls safe. Without telling us what you’ve already done, what else is the Government going to do to keep women and girls safe in Australia?

Steggall and Allegra Spender had tried to get a debate on this today, but in the absence of that, she has asked the PM directly.

He says:

I thank the member for Warringah for her question. And for her engagement on these issues. In every single case of violence, my thoughts are with the women involved.

That includes the cases of sexual violence that, tragically, we have heard about again in the media this week, that are referred to by the member for Warringah.

Every woman and every girl has the right to feel safe, and must be safe at all times – in our workplaces, in our schools, in our sporting clubs, in our homes, and in our communities. And there must be zero tolerance for sexual violence in Australia. Yesterday, sexual consent advocate Chanel Contos sat in this chamber.

As she said, “Sexual assault occurs when the perpetrator’s sense of entitlement to another’s body outweighs their empathy towards that person. Rates of sexual violence in Australia reported to police rose by more than 70% between 2010 and 2024.”

Too often – and we’re hearing it more frequently – both the victim and the perpetrator are under the age of 18. And young people aged between 10 and 17 years’ old make up 39% of victims of sexual assault. 

These events must end. Many members of this Parliament have been involved in the consultation process on the second National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.

And last week I attended a roundtable with the Minister for Social Services, the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, and Ged Kearney, who has particular responsibility on family violence issues as an assistant minister. What I heard there was horrific stories from people on the front line, who are assisting people in times of crisis and trauma, and who are just crying out for this violence to stop.

Next week, I will convene national cabinet again on – I think it’s Wednesday, I think – in the middle of the week, in Sydney. 

One of the issues I’ve put on the agenda there is the response and progress to the issues that have been raised by the special national cabinet that I convened on these issues a couple of years ago.

And making sure that because state governments have primary responsibility in areas such as community services ministers, and in those services of the 500 additional workers that we have funded as part of a commitment I took to the 2022 election, that are making a difference on the ground.

But that took longer than we would like, frankly, for it to be rolled out. We are seeing, tragically as well, I want to hold governments to account that sometimes when the commonwealth provides additional money, that’s… Iseen as an excuse to withdraw funding.

And we heard that last week, and I will raise that very directly with the premiers. That will form the next critical step towards the second National Plan. 

This will be absolutely critical and I encourage the member, and indeed all members – this is something that’s not a party-political issue, this is a human issue, and particularly an issue affecting women and children.

And so I thank the member for her question and I encourage her to engage with the ministers on the development of the Second National Plan.

I know that Minister Plibersek, who has responsibility primarily for driving this agenda, I really see it as one of the big things that we will concentrate on.

I was asked yesterday, now that a whole lot of leg has been passed, “What are you gonna do for…?” I see this is one of the big things, and I encourage you and other members as well to engage, participate. If you’ve got constructive ideas, do so. All of us, of course, have a responsibility as well, not just members of Parliament, but in particular men have a responsibility to engage with our fellow men on these issues.

Matt Grudnoff

There is a lot of hyperventilating that gross debt has just passed $1 trillion. The Coalition in particular is keen to highlight this issue. This is surprising given that the majority of this debt, almost 60% of it, was accumulated during the previous Coalition Government.

But let’s put some context around this number.

First, this is gross debt. Most sensible discussions talk about net debt. Net debt is gross debt minus financial assets. Net debt is a lot lower at about $600 billion.

The second bit of context is to talk about whether Australia’s government’s debt is big or small compared to other similar countries. When we do this, we compare a countries government debt to the size of its economy (GDP).

If we look at all Australian government’s debt, which includes commonwealth, state and local debt, it is 57% of our GDP. The average for advanced (OECD) countries is 109% of GDP. So, Australia’s debt is about half the advanced economies average.

If we look at some other countries, we can see that Australia’s debt is lower than New Zealand (58%), United Kingdom (93%), Canada (107%), and the United States (124%).

At various times some politicians like to get very excited about how big government debt is. But the reality is that Australia’s debt is small and very manageable.

Bill Browne

I’ve just returned from Parliament House where the Human Rights Law Centre, Amnesty International, The Australia Institute and many other groups handed over a 50,000-strong petition calling for a Human Rights Act – as Amy reported earlier today.

Greens, Labor and independent MPs and senators gathered to receive the petition – before the division bells rang and many had to race off to a vote in the House of Representatives.

We know from Amnesty polling research that three in four Australians (75%) support a national Human Rights Act, and on days like these it’s clear why.

Labor and the Coalition are sneaking through heightened powers for ASIO with barely any time for debate – and apparently few or no Labor and Coalition speakers actually prepared to defend the changes, which the Greens say will allow people to be held for secret questioning, without a lawyer, without judicial oversight of warrants.

Meanwhile in Western Australia, the Cook Labor Government has proposed “extraordinary powers” for police to use against those protesting the Land Forces weapons expo in October, including checkpoints, searches without cause and demands for identity documents. They have a separate bill underway that would allow WA Police to deny protest permits “on vague and broad grounds”.

It’s part of a broad protest crackdown across the states and territories in recent years.

There has been a creeping erosion of free speech, protest rights and civil liberties in Australia, against the wishes of Australians who overwhelmingly support – for example – the right to peaceful protest. A Human Rights Act would make it a lot harder for governments to encroach on our rights.

Melissa Price gets a question (it has been awhile)

My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel: This morning, the chair of Women’s Veterans Australia said the minister was delaying the release of a women’s veteran strategy, “I know a strategy with some great recommendations and we’re yet to see that come out of the minister’s office, despite lobbying. Almost a year later, that hasn’t been publicly published. Progress has stalled now, with the strategy sitting with the minister and quite frankly we feel like we’re being gas lit.” Minister, why are you gaslighting female veterans?

Matt Keogh:

One of the issues that has come up over the time that I have been in the portfolio has been the very real concern expressed by many women veterans about making sure that a system that understandably has been designed primarily over the last century to support male members in the Defence Force may be missing areas of support that we need to specifically address because of the unique nature of some of the aspects, impacts of service on our women in service, and our veteran community. As part of that, and recognising that, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has been working, and leading the work, on consulting with our women veterans and women-serving personnel and Defence on developing a Women’s Strategy. That’s really important work and it’s been complex work. And I really want to thank everybody who has engaged in that work because it is really important that we get that right. And that’s been not just… It’s been led by DVA but it’s also been work that’s been coordinated with Defence as well, making sure we’re recognising those special elements within Defence service as well as the veteran community. We’re working through the complexity of that work now so we can deliver…

There are interjections and he decides he has finished his answer.

‘What are you running from?’ comes one of the heckles from the Coalition benches.

Michael McCormack:

My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel: Minister, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide made 122 recommendations. Not one of them, not one, called for this cruel, unjust cap on veterans’ allied healthcare. Minister, who brought forward Labor’s plan to cut three-quarters of a billion dollars from veterans’ allied health support?

Matt Keogh:

The Albanese Government is entirely committed to making sure that we’re implementing the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, and that’s why we acted so swiftly after that report was handed down in September of 2024, to provide the Government’s response in December of 2024. That’s why we acted quickly to legislate the establishment of the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission, which is what the royal commission said was the most important recommendation that it made, and it was up and running by September of last year. We continue to do that work on implementing the royal commission’s recommendations. 

One of the things that this measure delivers on is increasing the fees that are going to be paid to allied health service professionals across Australia, recognising the real need that has been spoken about for so long by those providers and by the veteran community.

And that was something that was highlighted in recommendation 71, and that’s what we are about delivering, by improving access for our veteran community.

Michael McCormack:

My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel: RSL Australia President, former Western Australian Labor minister and decorated military veteran Peter Tindley said, “Veterans and their families will rightly question a Budget that gives with one hand while taking with the other. RSL Australia opposes the cap and is calling for it to be withdrawn.” Can the minister name a single ex-service organisation, just one, which supports his plan to cap access to allied health services for Australian veterans, Australian heroes?

Matt Keogh:

I thank the member for his question. And I have engaged extensively with RSL around this, and their feedback in making sure – and as I spoke to them on the day when we delivered the Budget around our commitment to engage with the veteran community around how our allied health measures would operate.

And what we have always been very clear about is that this be measure is about increasing access to allied health by making sure there are more allied health professionals providing services, and that it’s about making it easier for veterans to be able to access those services by removing the treatment cycle, having to continually go back to doctors to get further reports, in order to go backwards to be able to get back to allied health services.

And that when it came to the threshold that we were putting in place instead, for a much smaller proportion of veterans, that we would always ensure that there was continuity of access and that we would engage with all of the veteran community in relation to how we made sure that we maintained that good access so that….(there is a point of order and he is asked to conclude his answer)

As I was saying, we always said it was important that we would engage, and are engaging, and I have been engaging and will continue to engage, with the veteran community,

Anthony Albanese takes a dixer on AI and raises the Pope:

Today I met with Professor Brian Smith about the need for Australia to provide global leadership when it comes to artificial intelligence. AI is here, it is changing the way that we work, how we function, how we live our lives, and that change is something that we must shape together in our national interest. We do that by engaging with the future of artificial intelligence and how it’s rolled out, and that is what the development of Australian Standards for AI is about. We do need to encourage more and deeper discussions about AI and its impact, not just as a Parliament but as a society. Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI was a significant contribution to this debate.

He reminded us that technology is not neutral, it takes on the character of those who create, define, and use it. People are not data points to be reduced to economic entities.

They must be recognised as individuals with inherent dignity and humanity. And that, of course, includes recognising that flaws are what make us human. We must reject the idea that human weaknesses are problems to be engineered away. Honest communication promotes social cohesion. This is one of the contexts for our News Bargaining Incentive and for our support for journalism.

Social cohesion can be undermined…the fact is that social cohesion can be undermined if we can’t recognise what is real and what is not real through AI. This is a real issue which we on this side of the House take seriously. Humanity has shared rights and obligations.

And whilst AI can bring significant economic benefits that we need to harness, it can’t be allowed to remove human interaction. 

And this is a challenge for our entire society, and that’s why we’re establishing a Parliamentary Select Committee on AI today, to further this discussion and engagement.

It will be chaired by the member for Maribyrnong with Senator Duniam as the deputy chair. 

And I encourage all members to engage constructively in this serious process, as well as people outside the Parliament. This is a challenge that should be beyond ideology or politics, and we need to engage as a society in these issues. 

Because in 10 years’ time, the way that we work, the way that we function, the way we engage with each other will be very different. And that is why this is an issue which Australia, I believe very firmly, can provide global leadership on. And I invite all members of Parliament to engage in this process.

One Nation MP David Farley gets the next non-goverment question – and its in the same realm as the Coalition, which is either a coincidence, or Hanson’s chief of staff, former Morrison advisor Chris Taylor can’t shake off old habits, or they are colluding.

Q: My question is to the Treasurer: Treasurer, the assumptions in your May Budget proved wildly, wildly wrong. Wrong on rents, wrong on house prices, and wrong about start-ups. Treasurer, with as it your intention to crash the house prices, drive rents higher, and defer investment? Or simply did you fail to understand what your own Budget policies would do?I give the call to the Treasurer.

Chalmers:

And thank you to the honourable member, not just for the question but for making it really clear that One Nation doesn’t support a fair go for first-home buyers in the housing… We suspected that, and now we know for sure, Mr Speaker, that every time that One Nation is asked to side with people who battle in this country, they typically side against them. It’s a very welcome reminder from One Nation that there is effectively no difference between One Nation, the Liberals, and the Nationals when it comes to preserving a status quo which has locked too many Australians, and particularly young Australians, out of housing for too long. So, I appreciate – I appreciate the honourable member’s question in that regard. We already know that One Nation doesn’t support the current arrangements for super. We already know they don’t support wage increases for workers. Their leader has made that clear. And now we know they don’t support first-home buyers either. 

There is a point of order which Farley messes up, because he hasn’t done one before, so he gets schooled on that.

Chalmers continues:

The point that I’m making in relation to housing policy, which is what the honourable member asked me about, is that any combination or coalition of One Nation, Liberals, or Nationals after the next election would mean a housing market which is less fair for first-home buyers and for young people.

It would mean a tax on superannuation, and it would mean a tax on wages as well, Mr Speaker. And that’s because whether it’s One Nation, the Liberals or the Nationals, they don’t support first-home buyers, they don’t support superannuation because they don’t support working people. They only pretend to, Mr Speaker. Now, when it comes to the assumptions in the Budget, the assumptions from the Treasury in the Budget are over the next couple of years and not over the first couple of months, Mr Speaker.

That’s the first point. The second point is be very careful about the way that numbers about rents have been used, particularly in recent days, Mr Speaker.

Thirdly, when it comes to house prices – and that was part of the honourable member’s question – in the last decade, we’ve seen, I think, at least seven occasions where house prices have come off a bit. Now, I don’t remember those opposite making a big deal out of the other six. 

They should know that, when it comes to the housing market or auction clearance rates or rents, there are a whole number of issues playing out in those markets, and we know that because we saw some softening in the market before the Budget as well, Mr Speaker.

And so I genuinely, genuinely welcome – I’m extremely grateful for the honourable member’s question so that I can point out those facts to him.

Tim Wilson aka Berries and Cream is pretty sure he is having a good day:

My question is to the Treasurer: Since 2022, Labor has spent over $400 billion in higher revenue from inflation and resource profits that could be paying down debt. Every minute Australians pay over $52,000 in interest on Labor’s trillion-dollar debt. Only the Coalition has a plan to fix the economy and protect our way of life. Why won’t the Government support the Future Generations Fund, where 80 cents in every dollar of resource revenue would pay down the debt and build our future?

There are pamphlets and Milton Dick warns against props. Also, they are talking about austerity there, which has done nothing but usher in fascism and authoritarism in even faster.

Jim Chalmers:

My favourite part of that was the really embarrassed looks of the poor backbenchers who had to wave around the little pamphlet, the little pamphlet that contains substantially bigger deficits and much more debt, Mr Speaker. I pick up… I pick up where the Prime Minister left off, and remind those opposite that Moody’s this week, and S&P Global not that long ago, pointed to Australia’s low debt ratios compared to our peers as a reason to reaffirm Australia’s AAA credit rating. And we have one of the three strongest budgets in the G20, Mr Speaker.

Now, debt is a share of the economy, is less than half the US, less than half Canada, less than half UK, less ethane — less than a quarter of Japan. Now, the really important point to make here, Mr Speaker, and I hope they’re listening, is that most of Australia’s gross debt today was racked up between 2013 and 2022 by those opposite.

The overwhelming majority of the dollars in gross debt in the Budget was racked up by those opposite, Mr Speaker. In fact, gross debt is $200 billion lower this year than the trajectory that we inherited from those opposite, and that means, instead of paying $35 billion this year in interest costs, Mr Speaker, we’ll be paying $28 billion. $7 billion less interest under this Government than under the last Budget of those opposite.

There are points of order, but you get the picture.

Just finding it a little difficult to go from speaking about Zomi Frankcom and Israel’s response, and the ASIO bill and the NDIS and every other failure of our democracy this week….to whatever it is the Coalition has decided is the most important thing in the world – the national debt.

I’ll regroup and then pick up normal operations in just a moment.

Greg Jericho

As the opposition and One Nation continue to ask truly dumb questions that are so wide ranging it mean the PM and Treasurer can talk about whatever they want, the topic of debt is still getting a run.

Jim Chalmers has given a bit of a summary of where Australia’s debt lies compared to other nations. This is from the IMF, and let;s be honest, Australia is not in anyway over indebted.

Q: Under Labor, Australians have suffered lower real wages, higher unemployment, 15 interest rate rises, a housing crisis, the market smashed, all-time record business insolvencies, record levels of immigration, and today a trillion dollars of debt. Prime Minister, how much is Labor’s debt costing Australians every minute?

Albanese treats it as a dixer.

We rush straight from that to QT, where Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese are speaking about the death of 18-year-old Lily Hooper, whose body has been found in bushland, eight days after she went missing.

Her car had been found at a national park parking lot, where she had planned to go hiking.

Taylor:

We can only imagine what Lily’s family is going through right now. Such news would be a nightmare for any parent, and we grieve for Lily’s wider family and friends too. Lily loved bush walking, and that only compounds the tragedy of her death. I want to thank all of those who helped search for and locate Lily. Hundreds of police, fire and emergency services, ADF personnel, and volunteers. Any parent who reads this news will hug their children tighter tonight. When they do, they will spare a thought and a prayer for Lily’s mother, father, and family, who can’t do the same. We grieve for their most terrible loss.

Albanese:

I join with the Leader of the Opposition with his heartfelt words about the loss of someone from his local community. Lily Cooper has been taken from her family, her community, and our nation far too young. The tragedy of a parent losing a young one, in Lily’s case just 18 years of age, is an unspeakable tragedy. Lily Cooper had so much more to offer the world. Her passing, I have no doubt, will be felt very deeply across Southern Highlands, among her family, her friends, and indeed right across the nation. Our thoughts are, of course, with her family and loved ones on what is an incredibly sad and difficult day. And I join with the Leader of the Opposition in paying tribute and giving thanks to all those volunteers, as well as police … I thank them and emergency services and others, who have joined in this search. This will also be a very traumatic day for them, and our thoughts are with them at this time.

Q: Minister, in his remarks to the media here today, the ambassador said that there were a lot of Israel haters in Australia. What do you make?

Penny Wong:

I don’t speak for the ambassador.

Q: The opposition has said the government should extend the reporting deadline for the anti-Semitism Royal Commission, and that government ministers, including yourself, should appear as witnesses. Are you confident the royal commission can do its job without hearing from the comment?

Wong:

I have confidence in the royal commission. I don’t intend to politicise it.

Q: In your words, how would you describe the status of the bilateral relationship between Israel and Australia?

Penny Wong:

Well, I think we have an Australian humanitarian worker who was killed not on the first strike, but in the context of three separate strikes on a humanitarian convoy. I mean, obviously, this is a difficult time in the relationship. We’ve made our views clear about this issue. We made our views clear about other issues. You’ve seen the Netanyahu government’s response to some of those. I think we are realistic, realistic about that.

Q: In his comments today, the ambassador also suggested that the convoy didn’t properly alert Israeli authorities and was carrying an armed personnel with it. What’s your response?

Wong:

Well, I think not that I’d encourage. I released the Binskin report, and I’d encourage people to look at that in response to some of those. But I think the questions that I outlined at the commencement of this press conference remain unanswered.

Q: So you said you wouldn’t speak next steps before you’ve spoken to the family again.

Wong:

Correct.

Q: Do you have any idea of when you might speak to them again, and when you might announce next steps? And also, you know, the the Greens Party has raised the issue of the company Cellebrite, which is run by former IDF officials contracting with the New South Wales government, contracting with federal government to basically hack cell phones for law enforcement. Do you think there is a possibility that federal contracts with Israel-connected companies or state contracts should be looked at as part of this question?

Wong:

Well, I think that’s a question about sanctions, and I, you know, we have sanctioned Israeli ministers, and I think you’ve seen the response from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government on that. We have sanctioned those engaging in settler violence and some settler entities, and we have done so because we are holding very clearly to a view that we want peace in the Middle East. We want the peace plan implemented, and we believe that two states is required to ensure peace

Q: When he was asked to apologise to the family, he said that word has legal connotations. Can I please get your response to that?

Wong:

I think they deserve an apology.
At least, at least. I think at minimum they deserve an apology. I’ve said that publicly.

I will engage with Mal and the family about this. I’m not going to do that through a press conference.

You know, I’ve tried in all of this to make sure we work with them. Obviously, we they would like things to be very different. They’d like to still have Zomi with them, and they would like a very different process from the one we’ve seen.

Q: The ambassador also said in his comments this decision was the result of a leaving process that you can’t just dismiss scientifically disagreeing with the decision of this leaving process. Do you have confidence in the legal processes?
It sounds like you don’t.

Penny Wong:

Well, I believe we believe the Australian government believes that this decision fails to engage with key questions that have been raised in the Binskin inquiry and subsequently released.
So that is the first point.

The second point, and this is very important, this is not the conclusion of an investigation and a court trial, etc. It is a decision not to proceed with any criminal investigation whatsoever.

So you know, it is a decision not to proceed with any criminal investigation whatsoever.
We want answers to the questions, including those outlined, and we want accountability.

Q: Can I ask, just in terms of the drone strike audio, Hillel Newman, the Israeli ambassador, was asked about this directly at the press club months ago. Yet today he was again saying it’s not up to him. He doesn’t have any more information. It’s something for the Israeli Defense Forces. One of the questions that’s been raised is whether or not you should expel him specifically and ask Israel to send somebody who can actually be someone you work with. Is that being contemplated? And what do you think of his ongoing reticence to actually deal with an issue that he said months ago he would deal with.

Penny Wong:

Well, our position on the drone footage audio is being clear and consistent. We have called for that consistently at a range of levels of government, including by me, in relation to his presence. I deal with Ambassador Hillel as a representative of the government of Israel.

Q: As he was leaving here, the ambassador said, “What does it mean, justice? Do you lynch people in the street?
What does justice look like, or should justice look like for the Frankcom family? And can you explain why you haven’t expelled the ambassador, and so many people are asking you to do that?

Penny Wong:

Well, I don’t want to speak for Mal from Zomi Frankcom’s family. I was with him just a few hours before this news broke, and I respect him greatly and what he’s done in the years in the time since his sister’s passing and the way he secured her legacy, I’ll let leave the family to speak for themselves.

What I would say to you, is, and you’ve probably heard me say it previously, you know, we don’t maintain diplomatic relations as an endorsement of any particular country. We maintain those relationships because they enable us to engage in order to advance Australia’s interests, and that is what we do.

Removing an ambassador would remove our ability to be able to engage, press for Australia’s interests, and on this, you know, relevantly here, to put the views of Australia And Zomi’s Australia, and on an ongoing basis of Zomi’s family to the Israeli government.

Penny Wong:

Today, I called in Ambassador Hillel Newman, the Israeli ambassador to Australia, and I made clear to him Australia’s views that Israel’s decision falls far short of the accountability we expect, and last night Australia’s ambassador to Israel conveyed the same message directly to Israeli authorities, including the office of the foreign minister.

There are still many unanswered questions. These include, even why, even if the first strike was a catastrophic error, two further strikes followed, each two minutes apart.

As Mark Binskin concluded in his public report, these strikes were in violation of Israeli Defense Force standard operating procedures and rules of engagement.
We still have not had a satisfactory explanation of why the strike occurred in a humanitarian fire control zone, and after High Command had directed the brigade commander not to engage the convoy, we have not had a satisfactory explanation regarding the senior brigade officer involved in the strikes being a signatory to a letter to the IDF chief of the general staff calling for aid to be restricted to Gaza.
We have not received the drone audios requested multiple times by the government on behalf of Zomi’s family.

The Australian government does not believe that the removal of two officers from their positions and three officers being reprimanded is sufficient accountability for the deaths of seven people, including an Australian citizen.

And we do not have confidence in the IDF’s military advocate generals process given the many unanswered questions, given the many unanswered questions.

And I would note this follows a case where the former military advocate general was arrested after allegedly acting as a whistleblower and leaking surveillance footage showing Israeli soldiers abusing Palestinian detainees.

I have said many times, and I say it again: democracies seek and accept higher standards.
The Australian government will continue to keep pressing Israel for justice for Zombie and her colleagues, and we will consult with Zomi Frankcom’s family before we announce further steps.

In my meeting with the Israeli ambassador, I also raised the Israeli government’s publication of a tender for the E1 settlement. It is a project which the United Kingdom has described as an unacceptable and destructive act, and Australia agrees with the United Kingdom, and we call for the tender to be retracted, which I communicated to the ambassador.

As I said to him, we do not. We believe there will be no peace for Israelis or Palestinians without a two-state solution

The foreign minister has just stepped up to the podium – she is late, which limits the number of questions she will be asked, as question time starts at 2pm (which is why the press conference has been set for this time – it means she can give her statement, but has an excuse to leave the press conference quickly)

She starts by reiterating what was in her statement overnight after Australia received the news from Israel.

Australia is outraged by the Israelis government’s decision to not pursue any criminal proceedings against those responsible for the killings of Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues.

The Australian government, learned of Israel’s decision late last night, moments before it was announced on World Humanitarian Day, the day we commemorate humanitarian workers lost and celebrate and commend the work of humanitarians everywhere.
We had just launched the Zomi Frankcom humanitarian award, and we didn’t have the opportunity to inform Zombie’s family before Israel’s decision was made public because of the lack of notice.

To learn of these developments in these circumstances was especially insulting and hurtful to Zombie’s loved ones. ones, to humanitarians, and to Australians

Anna Chang

In his contributions to the ASIO bill, while calling other Senators names has always been unparliamentary, remarkably, Senator Nick McKim is asked to withdraw his assertion that the Government is ‘captured by Zionist interests’, but declines to do so citing there being no standing order (rule) that he has actually breached.

Senator McKim: “I mean, it’s pathetic. It’s pathetic, and it’s mostly pathetic from the so-called parties of government in this place, a Labor Party that has completely lost its way, captured by fossil fuel interests, captured by Zionist interests, captured by the Five Eyes security. 

“Mate, you’re captured by Zionist interests as well.”

Chair: “Senator McKim, resume your seat. Senator Patterson.”

Senator Kovacic: “Acting Deputy President, those remarks must be withdrawn. 

Chair: “In which case, feel free to put the point of order..”

Kovacic: “Oh, the point of order is is the disorder of yelling across the chamber. My point of order are the comments made by Senator McKim as to..” 

Chair:“yes, okay. Senator McKim, will you withdraw those comments, please?”

McKim: “I withdraw the comment I made about Senator Patterson… But but what I will say..”

Chair: “No. I don’t think that was quite the point. “

McKim: ” Well, I don’t know what the point was.”

Chair: “Both. It was in relation to what is occurring now in our country, and the comments in relation to Senator Patterson. Senator McKim.”

McKim: “Well, I have withdrawn the comments made in relation to Senator Patterson. I am entitled to say that Zionist interests, but..

Chair: “You are entitled to have an orderly debate in this chamber, and it is my role here to keep that order. There have been wide-ranging comments so far this morning, some of which have been offensive to others. You are entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to continue on this debate, but I will ask you to do it in a respectful and unoffensive fashion, please. If you can withdraw those comments.”

McKim: “Well, I mean, I believe I’ve well, I have withdrawn the comments I made in regards to Senator Patterson. So I’ll leave it there, and I will make the point.”

Chair: “So please resume your seat, Senator McKim. I feel like you are completely missing the point intentionally… Senator Paterson”

Senator Paterson: “Thanks, Chair. In the abundance of being helpful to assist Senator McKim so he has the time to reflect on this, of a royal commission right now into anti-Semitism, standing up in this chamber and accusing other people of being captured by ‘Zionist interests’ is a dangerous and reckless thing to do. I encourage him, in the spirit of good debate in this chamber, to reflect on the consequences of language like that.”

Chair: “This is this is not a further debate. Now, I am conscious that you have time left and you have a right to continue your contribution. For the orderly conduct of this chamber, I would ask you to consider withdrawing those comments so that we can proceed.”

Senator McKim: “Well, if I might just address the point of order, then, Chair Deputy President, if you’re going to make such a ruling, I’m not certain what standing order Senator Paterson is alleging that I’ve breached good judgment. I’m not aware of that being part of the standing orders. I’m happy to reflect on what Senator Paterson has asked me to reflect on.”

Greg Jericho

Just a quick post (yes I am procrastinating a bit) – yesterday the ABS released the latest “Livestock products” figures. These detail how many an how much meat has been slaughtered. (Yeah they do kind of bring out the vegan feelings).

For me what is interesting is the change in what is produced. Beef remains number 1, but chicken, which back when I grew up was less popular than lamb and mutton and on par with pork, now accounts for around 30% of our meat produce:

So if you think you eat more chicken now than you did 20 or 30 years ago, you’re not alone.

Zomi Frankcom’s family want an independent investigation into the death of their loved one. Asked how that would work, Mehreen Farqui says:

Well, Labor had so many options when Israeli forces murdered Zomi Frankcom and her six colleagues. We could have had an independent inquiry.

The government could have referred this to the ICC. The government could have sanctioned Israel. The government at that time could have expelled the Israeli ambassador and held the state of Israel to account.

None of this happened.

The referral to the ICC is something the family and World Central Kitchen has called for for some time, and that is what should happen. This matter should be referred to the highest criminal court, and that is where justice will be brought to.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has also responded to the announcement from Israel it will not be proceeding with any further investigation into its military killing aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, in a 2024 strike against clearly marked aid vehicles, who had cooperated with the military over their route and activities.

Faruqi:

I’m angry. I’m really angry, and I am devastated. This is how an apartheid, genocidal state of Israel works every time. This is a state that has a track record of committing war crimes without any consequences.

This is a state that has been committing a genocide on Palestinians for three years with impunity. Just in 2025, almost 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza. Palestinians are being killed every single day, despite this so-called ceasefire. Zomi and her six colleagues were hunted and murdered by Israeli forces.

There is no doubt.

There is no doubt that this is a war crime. I have been appalled, appalled by the comments just a few minutes ago made by the Israeli ambassador just outside Parliament.

How dare the Israeli ambassador stand outside our parliament and say every loss of innocent life is a tragedy when Israel has killed Tenss of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent Palestinians, including at least 20,000 innocent children. It is absolutely shameful that the Albanese government and Minister Wong are entertaining a version of events that has been proposed by the Israeli government.

It is absolutely shameful when Minister Wong had her meeting this morning with the Israeli ambassador, the only thing she should have said to him was goodbye and expel him.

That was the only thing. She can have as much outrage as possible, but words do not cut it. Words do not cut it.

Israel was never going to take responsibility and accountability for killing Zomi Frankcom. We had warned the Albanese government of this from the start. It was up to the Albanese government to force accountability and to force justice for Zomi Frankcom and her family.

The Albanese government has completely failed in their duty to do this.

The minister, the foreign minister, can say that the Albanese government is outraged, but that is completely meaningless. Completely meaningless when they fail. When they fail to expel the ambassador. When they still continue on with supplying weapons to Israel.

When they have taken no action to end the genocide.

When they cannot even call and acknowledge a genocide. A genocide.

The Albanese government has failed Zomi and aid workers, who are the best, who are the best of us. Their care, their compassion, their courage, and their commitment to humanity in such unimaginable suffering, is is what we should think about at this moment. But the Albanese government has failed in every single count over the last two and a half years.

Luke Slawomirski

As the cars on Australia’s roads continue to bulge, a new study has found that – you’ll never believe this – cleaner city is good for children’s health!

A recent study followed more than 3,000 children in central London and Luton for five years, beginning before London introduced its Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in 2019. The ULEZ is a traffic pollution charge designed to clean up the city’s toxic air. Vehicles that don’t meet strict emission standards must pay a daily fee of £12.50 to drive within the zone, which means fewer people do.

The study compared children who benefitted from the new clean-air policy with children in Luton, a city without any such restrictions on vehicle traffic.

At the start, children in London had worse lung function. Their adjusted forced expiratory volume – the amount of air they can blow out in one second – was 38 mL lower than children in Luton. But, over the next four years, their lungs grew faster: by an additional 10 mL a year. By the end of the study, the gap had disappeared.

The proportion of children in London with clinically impaired lung function also fell by five percentage points, compared to a more modest fall of two percentage points in Luton.

Nitrogen dioxide (the pollutant most closely linked to vehicle exhaust) also fell much faster in London.

Australia Institute research shows that transport is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (accounting for 18% of Australia’s total emissions). And our light duty vehicle fleet (mostly passenger vehicles) is among the least fuel efficient in the world. This type of pollution is among the easiest to abate through better incentives and emission standards.

Reducing car emissions can not only reduce fuel costs and protect the environment, this new study suggests that it can also benefit children’s physical development.

Anna Chang

We’ve heard from Greens Senators David Shoebridge, Steph Hodgins-May and now Mehreen Faruqi on the ASIO bill.

This is one of the bills in the guillotine, and so the only speakers prepared to debate this bill seem to be only the Greens Senators. I guess Labor and the Coalition think this legislation… speaks for itself?

Let’s have a look at what Senator Faruqi had to say about this bill:

“Community members, civil society, and legal experts share the Greens’ opposition to the major parties’ continued efforts in this legislation to undermine our democracy and our civil liberties…

“These two parties, the Coalition and the Labor Party were not satisfied by screwing over millions of people this week. They want to tighten the screws even further…

“What we have before us are amendments that lock in and expand the worst, the worst of the extraordinary Howard-era laws that allow ASIO to force someone who isn’t accused of any crime to immediately submit to secret questioning for up to 40 hours. 

“If you’re lucky, you’re allowed a lawyer during questioning, but ASIO can get approval to strip you of that that very basic right too…

“If you do get a lawyer, these powers will still hamstring them. 

“ASIO can redact their copy of the original warrant, prevent them asking questions, or boot them from the interrogation altogether. This is the gravity. This is the gravity of what this legislation is going to do. 

“And how much time do we have, Senator Shoebridge? One hour. We’ve got one hour, one hour to debate this, and both the two the two sides are very quiet on this because they just want to push it through. 

“And all this, all this without any judicial oversight of the warrant issues, just the rubber stamp of whichever of Australia’s notoriously compliant Labor or Liberal Attorneys-General happens to be in Government, and on the ASIO director’s speed dial at that particular time. 

“It’s clear these powers should never have existed in the first place, they should never have existed. 

That’s a view I know was shared on record by many Labor members in this place before they decided that they preferred the admiration of national security hawks and warmongers over protecting the democratic rights and civil liberties of ordinary citizens.”

Ben Carroll has announced his royal commission into the construction industry and he wants everyone to know about it.

Here is his statement:

Royal Commission into Victoria’s Construction Industry

The first thing I did as Premier was call a Royal Commission into crime and misconduct in Victoria’s construction industry.

I did that because Victorians deserve the truth. They deserve to know how organised crime found its way onto our building sites, who allowed it to happen, and how we make sure it never happens again. Nothing less than a Royal Commission, with full coercive powers and public hearings, will get us there.

Today I am announcing how that Commission will work.

A Commissioner of the highest standing

I have appointed the Honourable Chris Kourakis AC as Royal Commissioner.

He is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, served on that Court for over 18 years, is a former Solicitor-General, and is a Companion of the Order of Australia.

He is a jurist of unquestioned integrity, with impartiality and an unwavering fidelity to the rule of law and he has a single motivation: to ensure the law serves the community.

I chose someone independent, rigorous and fearless. The best in Australia. Because that is what this job demands.

Terms of reference that go where the evidence leads

The terms of reference are broad and expansive. Nothing is off limits.

They cover the conduct of the CFMEU, construction companies, labour hire firms, consortia and criminal actors on Victoria’s major projects. And they cover the role of government; the executive, government departments and delivery agencies in overseeing the projects.

Critically, the terms of reference make it a matter for the Commissioner to decide whose actions and whose knowledge are relevant to the matters under investigation.

Not the government. Not me. The Commissioner. If he wants to hear from Ministers, former Ministers, senior officials, union leaders or company executives, he has the power to call them.

Resourced to do the job, and to do it quickly

The Commission will be funded with a budget of up to $50 million and I have asked it to report within 12 months. Victorians should not have to wait years for answers, and I will not allow this to be an exercise that runs into the never-never. It will be thorough and it will be timely.

Uncovering misconduct and stopping it happening again

The Commission’s role is to uncover misconduct and to make recommendations that prevent it from happening in the future. It will follow the money, examine the systems that were exploited, and tell us plainly what went wrong and what must change. My government will act on what it finds.

Consequences, not just findings

I want to be clear and direct with Victorians about something. A Royal Commission does not have the power to charge or prosecute anyone. It can compel evidence and make findings, but it cannot put people before a court.

That is why we are establishing an Office of the Special Prosecutor: a dedicated, embedded resource working alongside the Commission, so that when wrongdoing is uncovered, it is investigated and it is pursued, and people face consequences.

We will legislate to create the Office of the Special Prosecutor to ensure it has access to all the information and evidence it needs to do its job. Findings will not sit on a shelf. They will be acted on.

I will appoint the Special Prosecutor once the office is created in statute in September. I will be taking advice from the Commissioner on that appointment, and we will legislate for the Special Prosecutor to have their own prosecution powers.

Additional powers for IBAC

Today I’m also announcing that we’re fast-tracking changes to expand IBAC’s jurisdiction. Legislation is now being drafted to give IBAC follow the money powers and expand the definition of corrupt conduct.

A new direction

I called this Royal Commission on my first day as Premier. I am appointing an independent Commissioner, giving him the powers, the scope, the money and the time to get to the truth, and backing it up with a prosecutor to make sure the truth has consequences.

Jim Chalmers has thoughts about the $1 trillion ridiculousness:

No amount of hyperventilating from the Liberal Party today will change the fact that debt is $200 billion lower this year than what they left us.

Under the Liberals and Nationals gross debt would have crossed the trillion dollar mark three years ago.

If the Coalition had been in power today, gross debt this year would already be approaching $1.2 trillion.

The Government’s responsible economic management has got debt down from what we inherited from the Coalition, and Australia is avoiding more than $70 billion in interest.

The international ratings agencies, Moody’s and S&P Global have this month both reaffirmed Australia’s AAA credit rating, noting Australia’s low debt levels.

Our responsible economic management has delivered one of the three strongest budgets in the G20 and much lower debt to GDP than any major advanced economy.

The Liberals took to the last election a policy for higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debt and that’s why they can’t be taken seriously today or any day.

Angus Taylor spoke to Melbourne radio 3AW this morning (where he was not asked about Israel and Zomi Frankcom) so he could talk about debt, which is also all they will talk about in question time.

While he was not asked (and presumably wouldn’t answer anyway) about Israel’s decision not to proceed with criminal charges against IOF members who targeted aid vehicles, which were clearly marked, and had gone through the processes of telling the military their plans to deliver aid to Palestinians who were (and are) being starved by Israel’s military assault, he did have some thoughts about immigration and tobacco excise.

BOne of the main ways though in recent years the economy has grown has simply been through high immigration. Like, if you look at economic growth per head of population, it’s hardly growing at all, and I think you’ve pledged to cut immigration, so will that make growing the economy harder?

Taylor:

No, because the key is to grow GDP per person, grow the economy per person, and you are right. So, since Labor’s been in power, we have seen no increase in GDP per person. All the increase, the whole lot has come from population growth, mostly immigration. And that is the wrong type of growth. Now, how do you beat that? You’ve got to have businesses investing. When small businesses invest, they’re not just investing in their business, they’re investing in the community and in the country, and we all benefit from that. That’s how incomes go up. That’s how productivity and competitiveness improves. That’s how prosperity and wealth is created for all of us. And so that’s what we need to see, Tom, and that’s how you grow the economy.

Sadly, what we’ve seen under Labor is their growth has come mostly through immigration, all of it through population growth. 550,000 people in a year, when we’ve barely got above 200,000 before that. That is just insane. It is completely unsustainable. We’re a great immigrant nation, but not those numbers. They were too high, the standards were too low, and we can grow and pay down our debt without growing it that way.

Do we have to factcheck this again for you?

Q: Okay, finally, speaking of taxes, would you pledge to lower the excise on tobacco if elected because it seems to me it’s the greatest public failing we have right now is we are taxing a legal product that virtually no one buys, as a result channelling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of profits to illegal gangs. In Canada, 30 years ago, they had exactly the same problem, exactly the same, and they cut the taxes on cigarettes and that put the gangs out of business. So, would you lower the federal excise on tobacco?

Taylor:

Well, Tom, we need to put the criminal gangs out of business and the excise has become too high and has been funding, effectively, or illegal tobacco has been funding criminal gangs and you’re seeing the sharp end of that in Victoria. You really are. We’re seeing it every day with fire bombings and our local members in those areas keep giving me reports of this. So, it is too high. We’ll have more to say about this in the near future. We’ve got a team working on it including Mary Aldred, a wonderful Victorian, who has seen this in her community. So, it must be fixed. We need to put these criminal gangs out of business. This really matters to Victoria, but it really matters to the entire nation.

Israeli ambassador Hillel Newman has concluded his meeting with Penny Wong. He has told media he has not been expelled.

The SMH reports Newman defended the investigation which led to Israel concluding it would not bring criminal proceedings against the IOF members who killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleague and Palestinian support workers.

Not every operational failure means that there’s criminal liability,” the SMH and Age reports Newman as saying.

One has to respect international bodies that work according to law and evidence and come to a conclusion.

One cannot judge a conclusion and say it’s [incorrect] or unjustified just because it doesn’t tally with what I want.”

Wong will hold a press conference in about an hour.

David Richardson

Yesterday the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, Andrew Hauser, gave his “fireside chat”. He was asked whether, instead of cruel increases in interest rates, we might use temporary increases in super contributions to reduce purchasing power and slow demand in the economy.

The question assumed the Reserve Bank is correct in its diagnosis of excess demand driving inflation. Even within that framework Hauser’s answer is interesting.

First Hauser seemed to show no inkling that the suggestion was exactly what then Treasurer, Paul Keating, did in the late 1980s when, in part to curb the economic boom and increase savings, he raised the guaranteed super contribution. 

Second Hauser made it clear he did not welcome anything apart from monetary policy in the fight against inflation. In relation to fiscal policy in general he said

“when you make a change to taxes, say you cut the tax rate for a period, it’s bloody hard to get it back up. When you increase spending it’s very hard to take it back down again.”  

This is an interesting comment given that Hauser would be well aware that the government had done exactly that with the cut in fuel excise which just ended. Other examples included the Queensland Government returning coal revenues in the form of cheap public transport and other cost of living measures.

Specifically on a temporary increase in superannuation contributions, Hauser said “Households could still adjust. They could say, well, since I’m saving more in my superannuation fund I’ll save less elsewhere.”

He is clutching at straws. For every household thinking like that there would be a large number decades from accessing their super but who are trying to save now for a new car, home deposit, next Christmas or whatever. What came over though was Hauser’s hostility to any anti-inflationary policy that did not involve the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy.

This is not necessarily endorsing super guarantees as an anti-inflation mechanism but there are certainly alternatives to the havoc of interest rate increases. Following the 1970s many OECD countries introduced prices and incomes policies to address inflation. Australia has taken limited initiatives with measures to counter the price gouging evident in supermarket pricing behaviour. And yes, more could be done along many fronts to address inflation rather than leaving it to the mono-instrumental approach using interest rates.

Anna Chang

A flurry of inquiry updates, as the time for voting on notices of motion has just finished in the Senate.

Senator Barbara Pocock has also gotten up an inquiry into social housing, with a reporting date of 1 March 2027. 

With such a drawn out timeframe, it looks like they are gearing for a long Spring and Summer of public hearings around the country on the importance and impact of social housing (as they should!)

The terms of reference is as follows:

The role of social housing in Australia, including public and community housing, with particular reference to:

• the economic and social benefits of investment in social housing, including its impact on housing access, affordability, renting, homelessness and housing security;
• historical levels of investment in social housing, and public housing in particular, including the reasons for its decline as a share of Australia’s housing stock;
• the case for establishing a target for social housing as a proportion of Australia’s housing stock, including consideration of what an appropriate target may be;
• the impact of current Commonwealth and state and territory government investment in social housing, including through the Housing Australia Future Fund and the Social Housing Accelerator, in view of the current scale of need;
• the role of modern methods of design and construction in building more social homes and creating communities with a high quality of life;
• the benefits of a steady pipeline of social housing investment for the development of Australia’s modern construction industry;
• opportunities for further investment in public and community housing, including consideration of direct public spending along with different delivery and investment models in Australia and internationally;
• appropriate governance and administrative arrangements to deliver social housing at a scale to meet current and future need;
• the efficacy of rent to buy schemes; and
• any other related matters.

A number of other proposed inquiries were negatived or withdrawn, including a bit of an odd one on AI from Senator Antic (with the Coalition’s ‘reasonable’ procedural tactics and inquiries usually falling to Senator Bragg) and Senator Sean Bell (One Nation Senator for NSW and party whip) which went to a division on fuel and fertiliser security.

David Shoebridge has been on this for awhile – and it has come to pass – Parliament, under a deal by Labor, One Nation and the Coalition, have guillotined ASIO’s coercive powers, while attention was on other legislation.

ASIO now has a “politically motivated violence” trigger, which, as we know from the recent ruling from New South Wales supreme court justice Desmond Fagan into the case of Mohommed Farhat can be abused.

Who do we think those new coercive powers will be aimed against, huh? 2003 Anthony Albanese had reservations, but Albanese has distanced himself from his past self in all sorts of ways, so they may as well be different people.

Anyways, under these laws, a child can be detained and questioned with no lawyer. If you refuse to answer questions, you can go to jail for five years. If you let someone know you were questioned by ASIO, you can be locked up. So you can be hauled in and interrogated without being suspected or charged with a crime, and locked up if you tell someone about it, or don’t answer questions.

And they don’t want anyone hearing about it. GOOD TIMES AUSTRALIA.

Greg Jericho

Because everything always has to be about interest rates, let’s get it out of the way – these figures are what the RBA wants, and they pretty much will kill off the (already meagre) chances of a rate rise when the RBA meets next month.

Now onto the numbers: first off, while there was a rise in unemployment from 4.4% to 4.5%, it was a very near thing.

The actual rise was from 4.43% (rounded down to 4.4%) to 4.46% (rounded up to 4.5%).

That’s why in the data release the ABS reports that the change in the unemployment rate was actually 0.0%pts.

But what we can see is that over this year, unemployment has been rising from 4.1% to 4.5% and in trend terms (which is basically a bit of a rolling 13 months weighted average) from 4.3% to 4.5%

Overall employment fell 15,800 with the bulk hitting men aged 25-34:

Monthly figures can jump around a bit, so the annual growth figures give a bit more clarity – generally pretty stable with men’s employment recently picking up more strongly than that for women:

There was a nice drop in underemployment – down from 6.45% to 6.36%, all of which means the “underutilisation rate” which combines unemployment and underemployment fell from 10.9% to 10.8%.

My favorite measure of the health of the labour force is the amount of hour worked in the month per adult population. Here we are seeing a return to the pre-pandemic level of around 86 hours:

None of this suggest a “tight” labour market that the RBA is so afraid of – especially when coupled with yesterday’s wage figures showing private sector wage growth is slowing.

No rate rise to come next month, and tbh no reason for any more rate rises at all.

As Penny Wong meets with Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Oxfam Australia has released a statement welcoming the government’s reaction to the decision by Israel to close its investigation into the killing of Zomi Frankcom and her aid worker colleagues:

Aid workers must be protected, and when they are killed, there must be a credible, independent process to establish accountability. 

Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Jennifer Tierney said accountability for the killing of Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues is essential, and that humanitarian workers must be protected under international law. 

“Zomi Frankcom was killed while doing what humanitarian workers do every day: delivering lifesaving assistance to Palestinians facing unimaginable suffering. Her death is a devastating reminder of the risks humanitarian workers are taking to reach people in desperate need. 

“But Zomi and her colleagues are not the only people paying the price. The killing of humanitarian workers is happening amid a much larger humanitarian catastrophe, with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed or injured and millions facing hunger, displacement and the destruction of essential services. 

“The decision not to pursue criminal proceedings, despite acknowledged failures in procedures, identification and decision-making, raises profound concerns about accountability and the protection of humanitarian workers. 

“Humanitarian workers cannot be treated as acceptable casualties of war. International humanitarian law exists to protect civilians, aid workers and the delivery of lifesaving assistance — and those protections must mean something in practice. 

“The Australian Government is right to demand accountability for Zomi and her colleagues. We urge Australia to continue pressing for a credible and independent process that can deliver answers and justice for Zomi’s family, while using its influence to push for the protection of Palestinians and humanitarian workers in Gaza. 

“The killing of humanitarian workers must never become normalised. Every aid worker killed is also a reminder of the devastating human cost of this conflict and the urgent need to protect Palestinian lives.” 

Tim Wilson just tried to suspend standing orders to talk about the $1 trillion in debt marlakey, which is something he is very excited, but for all the reasons Grogs’ has already pointed out – don’t matter.

Also missing – the Coalition is responsible for much of the debt.

Jim Chalmers was trying to get out ahead of this this week by spruiking the affirmation of Australia’s AAA credit rating, but honestly, this doesn’t matter. The world is on fire. Maybe we could leave the neoliberalism at the door for just a moment, huh?

Sometimes, it turns out that pressure works.

The Greens chaired an inquiry into the aged care and slammed the proposal to get rid of this entry level program which was one of the foundations of supporting older people who wanted to remain at home. Aged care minister Sam Rae is currently jostling with Matt Keogh (veteran affairs) for most under siege minister at this stage, and after the Four Corners episode looking at the difficulties for people navigating home care packages, the pressure from the Greens and other independents, including Monique Ryan who was on this very early, the government has backed down.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Greens Spokesperson for Older People said:

The CHSP is an integral part of the aged care system. Labor’s plan to collapse it into its struggling Support at Home program was reckless and dangerous, as the Greens inquiry showed.

I’ve always said that the CHSP should be retained, and that’s a position backed up by providers, advocates and the thousands of older people I’ve heard from who are desperate to keep the in-community supports they’ve always relied on.

The government’s delay on this announcement has not come without cost, leaving older people and providers in the lurch for far too long, forcing some of them to leave the system entirely for fear of losing their block funding.

This cannot be a set-and-forget measure, the government must use this extra two years of guaranteed funding to engage in genuine codesign with advocates and the sector to figure out what CHSP will look like going forward.

If the government is serious about making CHSP work, it needs to not only continue the program, but deliver the funding that has been sorely needed for far too long.”

Luke Slawomirski

A new study suggests that how much sugar we consume at the very start of life may affect our health half a century later.

To show the effects of sugar on our health, the researchers looked at what happened after the abrupt end of rationing in Britain in September 1953 after 11 years. Until then, sugar intake was tightly restricted. Once rationing ended, average consumption almost doubled, from about 41 grams to 80 grams a day (while consumption of most other foods was unchanged).

That created two otherwise similar groups: people whose first 1,000 days (from conception to around age two) occurred under rationing, and those born just afterwards.

Using data on almost 65,000 people, the researchers found striking differences decades later. Those exposed to rationing had substantially lower rates of five cancers – around 69% lower for liver cancer, 52% for prostate cancer, 41% for lung cancer, 40% for rectal cancer, and 36%for breast cancer.

The study also offers a clue as to why the differences were so stark . Even much later in life (around the age of 50) people exposed to rationing early in life still consumed less sugar and had healthier, more varied diets.

They also exhibited about 2.2 fewer years of biological ageing, as well as lower levels inflammatory markers that are linked to a range of health conditions.

Caution is needed. This was a natural experiment not a randomised trial, and case numbers were small for some cancers. The UK Biobank – the source of the data – also has a known healthy-volunteer bias, meaning the people who donate their tissue and data for these in their studies are more likely to be healthier than average (although the authors used statistical methods to account for this phenomenon).

Nevertheless, the results add to growing evidence that nutrition in early life leaves a very long shadow.

Given Australians are among the most obese people in the world, policies to reduce added sugar in infant foods looks less like nanny-state meddling and more like an investment with considerable a payoff.

Anara Watson

A whistleblower has accused social media giant Meta of taking a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to the safety of children on its platforms.

A former Meta safety engineer, Arturo Béjar was in the witness stand for two days. The landmark trial brought by a bipartisan group of 29 US states has heard that Meta knew of the harm caused to children on its platforms. The group claims that Meta intentionally created products designed to be addictive, attracting young users and exposing them to harm.

According to Megan O’Neill, Californian deputy attorney-general, these platforms “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data, and then hide the truth from the public”.

The jury heard that Meta’s recommendations pushed violent, graphic content, and content from sexual predators. Béjar said that he repeatedly raised the issue, but that executives did little to resolve it.

Béjar also raised those concerns with Mark Zuckerberg himself. An email from 2021 that was tendered as evidence shows that Béjar warned of repeated reports of harmful content and its adverse effects on teenagers’ wellbeing on Facebook and Instagram.

In his time in the stand, Béjar also detailed his research into the experience of teens on Instagram. Through surveys, he found that while 51% of users said they’d had bad or harmful experiences within the previous seven days, just 0.02% of complaints from those users resulted in the content being taken down.

That research was apparently also shared with Meta executives.

Meta denies all allegations.

Louise Morris

Assistant Climate Minister Josh Wilson has introduced a Bill with the catchy title of the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026. It has landed in the middle of the public submission phase for the Safeguard Mechanism review.

This ‘safe’ sounding legislation is Australia’s flagship climate policy which currently lets the country’s biggest polluters buy unlimited offsets to keep polluting, instead of cutting their own emissions, while still able to report on the books that they are on track for the emission reduction targets. Some may call it greenwashing.

The Bill would loosen the rules around how the Commonwealth buys Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), giving big polluters more “flexible” purchasing arrangements. It also opens the door to considering “non-carbon benefits” in what is meant to be a carbon market for emissions trading. What counts as a non-carbon benefit will be worth watching closely when the Bill reaches debate in the House and then the Senate.

The Bill would also replace the existing “least cost” principle for ACCU purchasing with a vaguer “value for money” standard. It’s the same logic on display in the Pilbara, where BHP has significantly delayed and scaled back its fleet-wide electric truck rollout and related renewable energy projects, pushing full deployment into the 2030s. Apparently it was better value for money for them to keep burning diesel and lean on the ability to buy dodgy carbon offsets than to follow through on the real decarbonisation plan.

These changes arrive as the government also pushes a new type of ACCU sourced from public native forests, adding yet more low-cost and low integrity carbon credits to an already oversupplied, under-scrutinised offsets market. This could be one of those test cases for what is a “non-carbon benefit” being written into the new ACCU scheme.  On 15 September, the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) method comes before the Senate for a disallowance vote put forward by the Nationals. If the INFM survives the disallowance vote, public native forests will be turned into carbon offset projects, feeding into the Safeguard Mechanism and handing the nation’s 200 biggest polluters yet another cheap, low integrity way to keep polluting.

The Greens got their inquiry up – there is a precedent in the senate to basically let inquiries proceed, because they have no bearing on legislation.

But still – someone is looking at it.

The inquiry will consider the Greens’ bill which extends super to all workers under 18. It removes the existing legislative exemption that allows regulations to exclude employees under 18 from superannuation guarantee coverage and repeals the associated regulatory provisions that currently deny superannuation to many young workers.

The majority of young people under 18 (93%) work fewer than 30 hours a week because of their school and study commitments, meaning they miss out on super. Young people shouldn’t be penalised for going to school or studying.

Labor’s national platform promises to deliver on super for all workers. Yet they vote against it in parliament. They are hypocrites.

The Greens have vowed to continue to fight for super for under 18s and this inquiry does that.  

The Senate inquiry will report by 17th November 2026.

A petition is being put forward to the parliament calling for a human rights act and for human rights to be put at the centre of all Australian laws. Which, you know, should be a given – but that’s not how we do things in neoliberal societies!

The Human Rights Law Centre and Amnesty International Australia have organised the petition, which is also supported by 184 organisations.

Over 50,000 people are calling on the Albanese Government to put human rights protections at the heart of Australian laws, with a petition for a Human Rights Act being handed to a cross-section of Labor, Greens and independent Federal MPs and Senators at Parliament House today

The evidence from Victoria, Queensland and the ACT show that Human Rights Acts improve people’s lives every day. Examples include preventing single mothers fleeing domestic violence from being forcibly evicted, helping people with disability access support services, and supporting children to access education. 

An Australian Human Rights Act would provide a clear set of enforceable human rights protections so that federal government decisions and policies centre people. An Act would enshrine the common values of respect, dignity, equality and justice into Australian laws, and it would give people a tool to challenge injustice when their rights are violated.   

The petition presentation comes after a renewed push for an Act by Andrew Wilkie MP and seconded by Dr Helen Haines MP in May. In May 2024, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry called for an Australian Human Rights Act.  

Greg Jericho

The ABS reports (our analysis will follow)

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 per cent in July, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “In July, we recorded a 16,000 person fall in employment, whilst the number of unemployed people rose by 4,000.”

“The majority of the fall in employment came from males, which fell by 11,000 people. There were 10,000 fewer males employed part-time, and 1,000 fewer in full-time employment in July.

“Female employment recorded a smaller fall of 5,000, with females employed part-time falling by 22,000 but full-time rising by 17,000.”

The employment-to-population ratio and the participation rate both fell 0.2 percentage points, to 63.9 per cent and 66.9 per cent respectively.

The underemployment rate was 6.4 per cent in July.

Hours worked down 0.6 per cent in July

“There were 12 million less hours worked this month, with those employed full-time working 7 million less hours, and those employed part-time working 5 million less hours”, Mr Crick said.

New South Wales and Western Australia were the main drivers of this fall, both down 8 million hours.

Trend unemployment rate rises marginally to 4.5 per cent

Trend employment grew by 0.2 per cent while hours worked fell by 0.1 per cent in July.

The trend underemployment rate rose marginally to 6.4 per cent in July, while the underutilisation rate grew by 0.1 percentage points to 10.8 per cent.

The Community Strong Independents (yes, that is still the name) have released this statement on why they tried to force a debate in the parliament on the number of women killed in Australia:

Over the past fortnight, Australians have been confronted by shocking reports of violence against women. 

In response, Community Strong MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender MP have joined forces in Parliament to demand urgent action on Australia’s crisis of femicide, family and domestic violence and sexual violence.

Steggall moved, and Spender seconded, a suspension of standing orders to allow the House to immediately consider a motion calling for stronger national action to protect women and children and address systemic failures.

The Community Strong MPs called for clear accountability mechanisms to track the hundreds of recommendations produced by reviews and inquiries over the last several years. They also called for the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission to be empowered, enabling it to compel information and to play a formal role in monitoring implementation and funding.

The motion comes as Australian women face an escalating crisis. Australian Femicide Watch records 45 women and 19 children killed by violence this year. In Brisbane on August 12, a 27-year-old Brisbane woman was killed after reportedly seeking police assistance days earlier.

The motion also acknowledges two high-profile sexual assault allegations currently being investigated by police. While due process and the presumption of innocence must be respected, the Members said these cases demonstrate why allegations of sexual violence must be taken seriously and addressed in a way that prioritises victim safety and wellbeing.

Zali Steggall MP said:

“Women are angry, frightened and exhausted. We cannot keep responding to violence against women with condolences after another woman is killed and then move on. Institutions cannot minimise these serious allegations or seek to first protect their own reputations.”

“It is particularly alarming that sexual assaults and violence by boys is reportedly on the rise. The need for institutional accountability and positive male role models has never been more important.”

“We have had inquiry after inquiry, with too many recommendations left sitting on the shelf. When women seek help and are still killed, we must ask if systems are actually working. The answer is clearly: no.”

“That’s why I’m calling on the government to empower the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner or establish a royal commission into femicide and domestic and family violence.”

Allegra Spender MP said:

This week has highlighted the crisis of domestic violence, family violence, and sexual violence in our country.

Over the years there have been countless reviews and inquiries – informed by the expert evidence and experience, and the testimony of victim survivors. These reports have delivered close to one thousand valuable recommendations, but we won’t see real progress until we give the Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Commission the power and responsibility to access the information they need from all levels of government to monitor, track and measure the implementation and effectiveness of those recommendations.

As Domestic and Family Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin has said, “We have political will across all governments. We have a national focus through National Cabinet. We now need a razor-sharp focus on coordinated, accountable and agile delivery.”

Greg Jericho

You can almost guarantee that the opposition is going to ask about the story that is in both The Australian and the AFR today: namely that the government’s gross debt level is about to hit $1tn.

Now yes that is a big number. But this is not unexpected – the Budget forecast it would happen.

It’s also rather meaningless.

Nothing happens when government debt hits $1tn that doesn’t happen when it hits $999bn. But it is a nice round number and so the media and conservative talking heads can use it and make it sound worse than it is.

If you look at the dollar amount of debt that is forecast to be reached this year, you will see it is more than $100bn more than what the level of debt was in the last year of the LNP govt in 2021-22.

This will be what the opposition focusses on.

But nominal dollars ignores inflation and the size of the economy.

The government will focus of debt as a percent of GDP. This gives a much more honest sense of what is happening, and they will note that it is actually lower than debt was in the last year of the Morrison government.

All of this though is a bit pointless. There is no suggestion that economic growth is being hit due to this level of growth. Back in the days of the GFC a couple economists tried to suggest government debt was linked to slow growth, but they had a bit of trouble with excel that showed their findings were… well wrong.

One problem though is interest rates (or bond “yield”) paid by the government have risen over the past 4 years:

That means the cost of repaying the debt has risen

And that will where the fight probably turns to – what is the government going to do about interest repayments now being higher than they have been since 2000-01?

They could answer that they will better tax gas companies. But I doubt that will be the response.

Alice Grundy

While ICAC is busy in NSW with Operation Rosny focusing on NSW Catholic Schools, as we covered earlier, a new report has been tabled in the Tasmanian parliament following an inquiry into discrimination and bullying in schools. 

The report found that:

Catholic Education Tasmania has discriminated against staff on the basis of sexual orientation and marital status. Prima facie, discrimination against such protected attributes contravenes the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act 1998. However, Catholic Education Tasmania asserts it is compliant with the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984. This assertion has been contested in evidence provided to the Committee but has not been determined in a court of law.

The ABC reports that a former deputy principal appeared at the inquiry saying that he was stood down from his position at a Catholic secondary school after he informed the school of his de facto relationship. 

A transgender student at a Catholic school told the inquiry that the bullying she experienced made high school her “worst years”.

Australia, unlike many some other countries in the developed world, gives government money to independent and Catholic schools. Meanwhile, our school system is the most expensive for families in the OECD as Australia Institute research has shown These schools have legislated exemptions from anti-discrimination laws and have a record of firing staff who either come out as LGBTQIA+ or having relationships outside of wedlock. 

One of the recommendations from the Tasmanian report is to “review the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 and include a focus on obligations and duties to prevent and prohibit discrimination and bullying in Tasmanian schools.”

Surely it’s time for similar reviews around the country. 

Hillel Newman, the Israeli ambassador to Australia, who was called in to explain Israel’s decision not to pursue charges against IOF members who killed aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom in April 2024, despite admissions procedures were not followed ahead of the strike on the clearly marked vehicles, has entered the parliament.

Penny Wong has called a press conference for 1.40, which is just ahead of question time, and deliberately timed to limit questions about the forthcoming meeting.

Also introduced into the parliament this morning is this bill, which lays out the new carbon credits scheme.

Not going to lie – it doesn’t look great.

You can not capitalism your way out of the climate crisis (for which capitalism is to blame) and the science underpinning what we need to do is pretty simple – not offset emissions, but stop them.

Anyways, there will be THOUGHTS on this as the morning progresses. Stay tuned.

The House has voted to established a new joint committee (so across the parliament) into AI, after Tony Burke put forward the motion.

It’s terms of references has been listed as:

(1)a Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence be appointed to inquire into and report on:

(a)the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI) to lift Australia’s resilience, productivity growth, economic competitiveness, and living standards;

(b)the opportunities for the benefits of AI to be spread across Australia’s suburbs and regions;

(c)the opportunities of AI and robotics to drive research and innovation, new industries and business, and export opportunities, including in sectors of Australian comparative advantage such as agriculture, resources, health and medical research, advanced manufacturing, financial services and defence industry;

(d)the rate and extent of AI adoption across the Australian economy, and the barriers to adoption, faced by small and medium businesses and family businesses;

(e)the opportunities for Australian sovereign AI capability, including the measures required to build, retain and commercialise domestic capability, grow research and development, and attract and retain investment and talent;

(f)the importance of data sovereignty, and the opportunities presented by narrow, domain-specific AI models trained on Australian data in areas of Australian sectoral expertise;

(g)the workforce and skills implications of AI, including the adequacy of Australia’s education system, job creation and displacement, and the effects on the quality and security of jobs;

(h)the adoption of AI by Commonwealth departments and agencies to improve services for Australians, and the transparency and accountability measures that apply to AI use;

(i)the adequacy of Australia’s existing laws and regulatory frameworks as they apply to AI and whether there are any gaps that warrant reform;

(j)the interaction of AI with existing intellectual property and copyright laws, including the use of Australian creative, cultural and media content in the training of AI models;

(k)the risks and harms arising from AI, including fraud and scams, deepfakes and risks to the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable Australians;

(l)the national security and cyber security opportunities to protect Australians, as well as the foreign interference risks, associated with AI, including the security and resilience of supply chains and of systems supporting critical infrastructure;

(m)the implications of emerging AI capability for Australia’s national security and strategic resilience, including the ability of regulators, the Australian AI Safety Institute and the intelligence and security community to identify and respond to emerging risks; and

(n)any other related matters;

(2)the committee present its final report by no later than 30 November 2026;

(3)the committee consist of twelve members, three Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips, two Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips, one Member to be nominated by any minority group or independent Member, three Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, two Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and one Senator to be nominated by any minority group or independent Senator;

(4)every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(5)the members of the committee hold office as a joint select committee until the committee’s final report is presented or the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time, whichever is the earlier;

(6)the committee elect:

(a)a Government member as its chair; and

(b)an Opposition member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant;

(7)at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting;

(8)in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, shall have a casting vote;

(9)three members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House;

(10)the committee:

(a)have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of three or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine or conduct public hearings; and

(b)appoint the chair of each subcommittee who shall have a casting vote only;

(11)at any time when the chair of a subcommittee is not present at a meeting of the subcommittee, the members of the subcommittee present shall elect another member of that subcommittee to act as chair at that meeting;

(12)two members of a subcommittee constitute a quorum of that subcommittee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House;

(13)members of the committee who are not members of a subcommittee may participate in the proceedings of that subcommittee but shall not vote, move any motion or be counted for the purpose of a quorum;

(14)the committee or any subcommittee have power to:

(a)call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced;

(b)conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit;

(c)sit in public or in private;

(d)report from time to time; and

(e)adjourn from time to time and sit during any adjournment of the Senate or the House of Representatives;

(15)the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders; and

(16)a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and requesting that it concur and take action accordingly.

Zali Steggall moved to suspend standing orders today, to debate this motion:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Warringah from moving the following motion immediately—That the House:

(1)notes that:

(a)femicide, family and domestic violence, and sexual violence, are at crisis point in Australia;

(b)Australian Femicide Watch records 45 women and 19 children killed by violence this year;

(c)the 27-year-old Brisbane woman killed on 12 August had reportedly sought police assistance days earlier and had a temporary domestic violence order in place;

(d)the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, in its 16 June report, found the police response to the fatal assault of Lindy Lucena inadequate, identified systemic failures and made eight recommendations, with no formal NSW Police response yet published;

(e)two high-profile allegations of sexual assault matters are currently being investigated by police and while due process and the presumption of innocence must be respected, these instances are not isolated and allegations must be taken seriously by all institutions, in a way which prioritises victim safety and wellbeing;

(f)research links disrespectful attitudes towards women with violence against women;

(g)Australian women feel angry about violence against women, institutional failures and a culture that leaves women and girls feeling and being unsafe; and

(h)governments have failed to implement a multitude of recommendations arising from numerous reviews and inquiries into domestic and family violence conducted in recent years;

(2)calls on the Government to acknowledge that violence against women remains a national crisis despite government efforts to date, and:

(a)empower the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner to compel information and more consistent public reporting, and to examine the failure of governments to implement previous inquiry recommendations; or

(b)establish a Royal Commission into femicide and domestic and family violence to examine, among other matters, whether police, courts and services have adequate powers, systems and information-sharing arrangements; and

(3)further calls on the Government to:

(a)establish a national domestic violence offender register, including appropriately safeguarded disclosure;

(b)work through National Cabinet to strengthen bail, sentencing and protection-order enforcement, improve monitoring of high-risk offenders, and properly fund frontline services and safe housing; and

(c)affirm that responses to sexual violence allegations must use accurate language, avoid minimisation, and centre the safety, dignity and wellbeing of alleged victims, not institutional reputation or sporting prospects.

It was supported by Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps.

The question was “put and negatived” which means the debate motion did not move forward.

Anna Chang

The Senate has now moved to Government Business, and is kicking off the day with the News Bargaining Incentive package of bills.

This is what LINA (Local and Independent News Association) had to say about this legislation:

“There are already some important improvements in the policy design based on consultation over the past year; a 20% loading for small, regional and diverse publishers, and a 5% funding carve-out for publishers earning under $150,000. 

“However, LINA has been striving to achieve legislation that delivers the best possible outcome for independent publishers. This would mean amendments to expand the proposed grant program and require platforms to make 12.5% of deals with a consortium of small publishers.”

When the bargaining code was first introduced, Australia Institute research found job ads for journalists increased dramatically.

Polling also showed that a majority of Australians wanted social media companies to prioritise journalism from news sites and limit the spread of misinformation.

And Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, was a strong proponent of the News Bargaining Code when introduced by the Coalition Government, and has warned that AI will continue “stealing information” from legacy media with a “real risk of a deterioration of the overall information ecosystem.”

The Government ought to listen to LINA and expand news organisations currently included to include more small, local and independent news outlets, and not just the big mainstream media players.

Anna Chang

Former Minister for Superannuation, Coalition Senator Jane Humeis now discussing Barbara Pocock’s Superannuation for Young People Bill, and voicing her enthusiasm for it to go to committee (ie. a Senate Inquiry) and why it was so important when the Coalition made super changes in its time in Government, which I have to admit, is kind of funny.

“My concern with this bill is that the intention is very, very good, but if you legislate an entitlement, you might also inadvertently, at the same time, take away an opportunity. 

“I do think this is worth fleshing out, though, and I would hope that the Greens’ political party would take this bill to a committee so that it can be fleshed out in more detail. 

“Now, the Coalition believes that our superannuation system needs to be flexible, it needs to be fair, it needs to be transparent, and it needs to be worked out in the best interest of all Australians. 

“When I was Minister for Superannuation, one of the most important reforms that we delivered was abolishing the $450 monthly threshold. 

“Now we did that with the support of the Greens, for which I was very grateful. 

“That included many low-paid workers, excluded many low-paid workers from compulsory superannuation. I wanted to point out what that $450 threshold was, because I think it’s such an arbitrary number; people don’t really understand it. But $450 was the limit below which, if you got paid less than $450 a month. Your employer didn’t have to pay you superannuation, and it had been part of the superannuation system since the year dot. 

“Since, as Labor liked to say, they invented superannuation. They put that in as a deliberate design feature of the superannuation system. They said, if you are a low-paid earner, you don’t have to be paid superannuation. 

“Now they did that because they understood that small businesses, in particular, that had people on casual employment basis, maybe had somebody one day a week, were going to find the complexity of paying superannuation for those low-paid workers so onerous that they wouldn’t employ them in the first place. That’s why it was there. 

“Now, unfortunately, it sat there as part of the superannuation system for years and years and years, overlooked by Labor when they were in Government. 

“It took a Coalition Government to overturn that rule to make sure that low-paid workers were paid the appropriate level of superannuation. 

“Now, that wasn’t a small deal, and we fleshed that one out at committee. And the reason why we fleshed it out at committee was because small businesses were rightly concerned, still concerned, that that even that small change were going to push them to the brink. 

“Now it didn’t, and I’m very pleased and very proud of that reform. It’s something that I hang my hat on. That experience taught me that when we change the rules around superannuation, we need to be we need to be mindful of what the consequences might be. This is not a dissimilar reform, and why we need to carefully consider the bill…”

The Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who was the first woman AFL commissioner released a statement in response to the sexual assault allegations facing Sydney Swans players. The club, after originally choosing to express disappointment that ‘players have found themselves in this situation‘ (as if you ever just ‘find’ yourself in those sort of situations) has now stood down the players for the rest of the season.

Mostyn said she was “shocked and troubled by the allegation of sexual assault against Swans players stemming from the weekend in Melbourne”,” Ms Mostyn said.” and “at times like this, we are reminded to never take for granted the need for constant vigilance for respectful treatment of women everywhere; across clubs, the AFL, sport, and the community generally.”

The most important thing in moments like this is to fully accept responsibility, be accountable and take appropriate action.

My thoughts remain with the alleged sexual assault victim, and I hope she is very well supported. I am also devastated for the women of the Swans, whether they are players, staff, fans and everyone involved in the club and women across the industry who have been hurt by this incident.

Sadly, the lack of respect for women across the country remains an issue for us all to be concerned about, particularly in sport. We must all, men and women, constantly strive for respect for everyone, to educate our youngest players and fans, and that responsibility to educate is held by so many; administrators, leaders and players of the sport, all of whom shape culture.

I note Australia still has appalling statistics when it comes to domestic and sexual violence against women.”

Anika Wells was asked about Mostyn comments and said:

I’m pleased – she was the first AFL female commissioner. She’s been a previous Sydney Swans board member, I believe, and it’s something that she has long worked on and advocated for before she became the Governor General. And she became the Governor General because she’s an eminent Australian who cares about important issues and and standing up for what’s right when it matters. I was glad that she added her voice to it. I’ve tried to do that today, and I think it’s incumbent upon everybody.

I thought the AFL CEO statement was good. I think everyone could do more. It’s an important conversation, and that’s why I said, what must come first is women’s safety and dignity, and women’s wellbeing before an immediate discussion about how this impacts finals.

The Trump administration is having a bit of a cry over the News Media Bargaining Code, because it gets very sad when tech companies are made to pay anything or have any responsibility. Wells is asked about this with this question:

On news bargaining, there’s calls out of the US for the Trump administration to commence a review into the reforms that are passing the Parliament today. Are you confident if that happens, what happens if that happens?

Wells:

Well, the Prime Minister has had a very good relationship with President Trump. They spoke again last week. I have been working with the consular general, we’ve got the new ambassador arriving, I’m happy to engage with him about all this. Australia has long signalled news bargaining as a priority of our government, and indeed, the government before our government. Because we believe in a free press and it needs to be viable.

And when you think about the threats to democracy that we have, not just in Australia, but across the globe, that’s more important than ever. We’re proud to stand by it.

Anna Chang

The Senate has kicked off the day with Private Senators’ Time (debating Private Senators’ Bills), and are debating Greens Senator Barbara Pocock’s bill to allow young people to be paid superannuation.

Currently under 18s are only paid superannuation if they work more than 30 hours a week.

And as we know, due to compound interest, it’s these early investment dollars which are the most crucial.

Senator Jordon Steele-John is currently saying it as it is:

“In Australia, under the law as we currently have it, if you are under the age of 18, and yet don’t work more than 30 hours a week, so you work below 30 hours a week, you don’t have to be paid super by your corporate employer. 

“That’s cooked. That’s wrong. That’s so wrong. 

“Let’s be really clear: 530,000 young workers who are below the age of 18 work less than 30 hours a week, and so they are not entitled to super in Australia right now. 

“What will this mean for them? What does it actually look like? It looks like about $411 million that they will not receive in their superannuations because of this law, setting them back significantly in terms of their savings and security for the rest of their life, this makes me so angry. 

“We have had politicians in this debate contributing to this discussion, and when asked about this issue, when young people, young workers, have said this isn’t fair. This isn’t odd. Where’s our fair go? 

“The response of certain Liberal MPs has been to say, ‘well, if we pay workers under the age of 18 superannuation, what’s next? Super for cats and dogs?’ 

“What a shameful, disgusting response to what is effectively legalized wage and retirement theft in this country…“

We’re hearing that the Government may force this Bill to a vote (unusual move for a Private Senators’ Bill that isn’t from their own party) to stop it from being able to be sent to inquiry.

Why wouldn’t they want Barbara Pocock’s bill to go to inquiry?

Well, you may recall that Barbara Pocock’s previous attempt to restore super for young people was scuppered by the Government in the last sitting period, despite the SDA supporting the move.

And since then, a resolution was passed at ALP Conference to support and fix this problem for young workers.

So any Senate Inquiry could get awkward.

Zali Steggall has just released this statement:

More than two years after Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom was killed alongside six World Central Kitchen colleagues, Israel has cleared the personnel involved of criminal wrongdoing.

This is a serious failure of accountability and an insult to Zomi’s family, Australian humanitarian workers and international humanitarian law.

Israel’s own investigation found the strike resulted from misidentification and serious failures in IDF procedures. Yet no one faces criminal responsibility.

It is also extraordinary that Australia reportedly learned of the decision only moments before Israel announced it publicly, on World Humanitarian Day.

The Australian Government’s Binskin review identified serious shortcomings in Israel’s response. In March, I raised the case in Question Time and, with Zomi’s brother Mal, met the Prime Minister. I also wrote to Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman seeking answers. Those questions remain. 

It is unacceptable that Israel has not released the full UAV footage and audio of the attack. I call on the Albanese government to support an independent International Criminal Court investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Zomi and the other World Central Kitchen workers, including whether any conduct constituted a war crime.

Zomi’s family has waited more than two years for answers. This matter is not closed.

As communications minister, Anika Wells has been given the job of selling the gambling advertising reforms, which are the ‘least possible’ the government could do. It passed it with the Coalition who are also fine with doing the least possible – a reminder that the government chooses not to take the more progressive pathway through the senate, because it doesn’t want to. This is what it wants to do.

Wells:

After extensive consultation and negotiation, the Albanese government has delivered historic reforms to tackle gambling harm. Some people wanted more, others wanted less, but mostly Australians wanted action. And with its passage through the Parliament last night, that is what we have delivered: an extensive package of measures that will stop the saturation of gambling ads on TV, on radio, and online.

It will put real distance between the sports that Australians love and the gambling products that are promoted alongside them. It will crack down on illegal operators and harmful online products. Take action on predatory inducements, and it will strengthen protections for those most at risk of gambling harm.

As sports minister, I want kids to fall in love with the game, not with the odds. And children should be able to know the players and follow their team and celebrate a goal without gambling being an inextricable part of that.

Angus Blackman

Australians have been dudded by the gas industry. It’s past time governments admitted it.

Dr Richard Denniss, Australia Institute co-CEO and author of More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss why Australia gives away gas to multinational corporations and why similarly dud deals could happen with Big Tech and other industries if we don’t learn lessons from the past.

Listen now on our website or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Morgan Harrington

Over half a million batteries have now been installed as part of the Albanese Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries scheme. 

Media reports and Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan are casting a shadow over the scheme, drawing attention to the shoddy work of some dodgy battery installation companies.

There are certainly reasons to want to tighten up quality and safety in the system, for instance inspections from the Clean Energy Regulator found that while less than 1% of batteries installed under the program were deemed unsafe, just over 60% were “substandard”.

However, this should not be used as an excuse to cut-back on the roll-out of batteries themselves, which have already pushed down electricity bills.

Perhaps the longer term risk of the current scheme is that people could be left behind by a transition which, in just a year, has reshaped the way Australia’s energy grid works.

Schemes like this one help homeowners buy batteries through subsidies, but some people can’t afford one even with a subsidy (not to mention renters). 

Research shows that more batteries have been installed in postcodes with high socio-economic status. The authors argue that, “rather than entrench energy inequity, household programs could be designed differently with the aim of more equitable support.”

Similar schemes in other parts of the world are designed to avoid this kind of problem. For example the state of California has a policy enabling low income earners to get solar panels installed at no cost.

Yesterday in the senate, a new inquiry was established, looking at the gaps in women’s health. Labor senators Emma McBride, Marielle Smith and Rebecca White were behind the push and announced the inquiry this morning.

Labor senator Marielle Smith moved the motion to establish the committee, which will have “a strong focus on women’s health issues including fertility, postpartum healthcare and women’s pain.”

It was established on the same day independent senator Jacqui Lambie shared her vaginal prolapse story, which she says is a result of an injury she received while in the Army. Lambie was highlighting not only the long waits for women who suffer what can be a life altering and limiting issue – and often leads to bladder issues as well – but the fight women veterans have to get it addressed by the DVA.

This committee will hold public hearings across the nation, and will ask women to share their experiences.

Josh Bornstein

In the midst of a crisis, KPMG is looking at significant staff cuts. KPMG should instead commence restructuring the firm so as to split its audit and consulting businesses from one another. Such a restructuring would be a much smarter move because it would give its clients and the community at large greater confidence that the conflicts of interest baked into its business were now being addressed.

Berries and Cream is out and about (for those new to the blog, this is a reference to the Starburst commercial with the Berries and Cream lad – watch it and tell me you don’t see Tim Wilson) and it’s an exciting day for the shadow treasurer because he has a PAMPHLET.

We all know he loves a shiny pamphlet and he gets to wave this one around while talking about debt (for which his party is mostly responsible for, having been in government for a majority of time, and also, it doesn’t matter because this is a rich country and no one is foreclosing on Australia).

Wilson:

We have had our national debt pass the $1 trillion mark, and what we know is that more debt is being used to stoke inflation, increase interest rates, and increase the price at the supermarket. That’s why when Australians go to the supermarket, they’re paying more and they’re getting less, and it’s directly connected to Commonwealth debt, how much the government is borrowing, and directly then translates to government spending. The government wants to absolve themselves of responsibility of the national debt.

They want to absolve themselves of their responsibility. They’ve received a $400 billion windfall. which, if they had have paid down debt, been prudent and responsible, that Australia’s position would be substantially better off. Simple reality is this government is addicted to spending, it’s addicted to inflation, and it’s constantly focused on how it spends that spending, and goes on, stokes the economy, stokes the inflation.

Then they go and tax the inflation, and they spend the inflation in a vicious cycle, which is why Australians are falling further and further behind

Look how proud he is today! So much sparkle and glee in those eyes!

Alice Grundy

A few weeks ago Tony Abbott told the Sydney Morning Herald:

“I’m surprised that ICAC has allowed itself to be caught up in an internal party squabble that involves no conceivable ‘corruption’ in the sense of people gaining an unfair advantage for themselves, especially this close to a state election.”

Time will tell whether his assessment was fair or not. 

There were some interesting moments yesterday. Dallas McInerney, who has stood aside as CEO of NSW Catholic Schools during ICAC’s Operation Rosny, was asked about his decision to do a factory reset on his phone and why it was “safer” to do briefings with consulting firm JPG Advisory verbally. 

Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC asked McInerney about a text message from one Reformer figure to another which read: “you know how I’m good to you and help you, and give you your filthy schools money”.

Penny Wong has called a press conference for 1.40pm, which means that it will be right before QT and gives her an opportunity to limit questions and the timing of the press conference, with the excuse she has to get to the chamber.

This is a ploy a lot of politicians use when they need to talk about something but don’t want to talk about it for long.

Announcing it this early in the day is unusual though – that means her office has been inundated with requests and questions about her meeting with the Israeli ambassador and is trying to answer everyone at once.

The e-Safety Regulator has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Roblox, the popular block building game universe, that it will put “robust measures designed to protect children from grooming, sexual exploitation and abuse” in place.

From the statement:

eSafety accepted the undertaking following concerns that Roblox was not meeting its obligations under the Online Safety ActExternal link’s codes and standardsExternal link, including allegedly failing to have sufficient measures in place to prevent contact between adults and children under 16.

The Relevant Electronic Services (RES) StandardExternal link which covers online gaming platforms like Roblox, also requires children’s accounts to be set to private by default and to provide accessible reporting mechanisms that notify users of complaint outcomes.

eSafety has engaged extensively with Roblox over the past two years over compliance with these obligations, prompting the company last year to announce a range of measures aimed at improving safety for children on its service.

However, testing by eSafetyExternal link earlier this year identified gaps in Roblox’s safety systems which eSafety considered continued to put children at risk, including allowing contact between children and adult strangers. The testing found:

• adults could send connection requests to young Australian children without parental or carer consent; 
• children and adults could view and respond to one another’s posts on forums outside game environments without parental or carer consent; 
• children’s connections were visible to anyone on the Roblox platform;
• children’s profiles and biographies, including account names, number and names of connections, avatar images, and non-sensitive biographical information such as their interests were visible to anyone on the Roblox platform, with no option to restrict the visibility of this information.

Although Roblox believes it is meeting its obligations under the Online Safety Act, the platform has committed to implementing a range of additional measures, including:

• preventing adults from contacting unknown children without parental consent
• strengthening the account settings of children’s accounts so they are private by default
• accessible reporting mechanisms that notify users of complaint outcomes 
• engaging an independent third-party auditor to assess the effectiveness of its safety measures, including the deployment of its age-estimation measures.

Roblox will have three months to implement the changes. If they breach the undertaking, eSafety may apply to the Federal Court for an order directing Roblox to comply and any other order the Court considers appropriate. 

Asked if the Greens should have compromised more on the gambling and NDIS legislation, (and let’s be clear, there was no compromise that would have made the government happy unless it was a full capitulation) Larissa Waters says:

Well, look-it’s a great week to be a gambling corporation, Sally, or a gas corporation because they’ve been let completely off the hook here.

The Labor government chose to work with the Liberals to cut the biggest cut to a support package this century, cutting 241,000 people off the NDIS instead of raising revenue from taxing the gas corporations, and chose to do the weakest possible reform on gambling advertising when they could have chosen to work with the Greens and implement the Murphy gambling ad recommendation reforms, and had a total ban on gambling ads, like 77% of Australians actually want.

They could have chosen to tax the gas corporations with the support of the Greens to raise revenue, so that they didn’t have to cut so many billions out of the backs of disabled people who deserve support.

They’re making choices to prioritise big corporations every time, and this week they’ve done it in spades.

And it’s pretty-it’s absolutely disgusting that these big corporations make donations to the Labor and Liberal parties, and then it seems they get their policy agenda legislated.

Parliament should work for people, not vested interests, and certainly not political donors.

…The government chose to cut the NDIS. The Greens have resisted those cuts, and we have worked alongside the disability community, and we secured an inquiry to expose what this will mean for people. This will mean that kids won’t get the support they need.

They might have to come out of mainstream schools, like a mum that I was talking to on the weekend said. It might mean that parents now need to stop full-time or part-time work so that they can provide that care to their kids themselves. This will have serious human impacts, and this government chose to do that.

It chose that rather than raising revenue from cutting Orca submarines that Donald Trump may or may not give to us, rather than taxing gas corporations who are fleecing Australians, they made this active choice, and they could have chosen otherwise.

So we take no responsibility for their choices. They absolutely own this, and I think Australians are sick of being forgotten by this government. They’re sick of being put last behind sports bet, behind gambling corporations, behind whatever big corporation has donated to the Labor Party, and often also to the Liberal and National parties. They’re sick of corporations running Parliament.

Larissa Waters is asked by the ABC about her opinions on the Israeli decision and says:

Well, it is absolutely outrageous that after two years of investigating, the Israeli authorities have cleared themselves of the doing, despite the deliberate targeting and murder of Australian

Cleared themselves of the undoing, despite the deliberate targeting and murder of Australian aid workers, Amy Frankum and her aid colleagues, and I might add, 500 other aid and humanitarian workers since this genocide began. And I think it’s just very clear that strong words are not enough to deter this sort of conduct, and this means precisely that the Australian government needs to do more than just issue some strongly worded statements. They need to sanction the state of Israel, and they need to make sure that we are not involved in a two-way arms trade, which we are at the moment

Q: Should the Israeli ambassador to Australia be sent home?

Waters:

Look, I think that should be on the table. He’s been saying there’s nothing to see here for ever since this conflict began, but it’s clear that Australian Australians feel like there is a genocide here, and they want more done. And I think the strong words from the minister are. I appreciate that she’s saying them, but I’d like to see some action and some justice for Zomi Frankcom and her family. They’ve been waiting for so long; they’ve had no apology. And our government needs to do more than just be disappointed and say this is an insult. They need to demand that we sanction Israel and that we stop giving them arms and being involved in that two-way arms trade.

A warning was released yesterday about the coming Spring and what that could mean for Australians in bushfire zones (which, lets face it, is all of us these days). Warmer than usual conditions, a dry environment and fuel build up from previous rainfalls could see more risk than usual.

Kristy McBain was warning about that on ABC News Breakfast:

Look, the Australasian fire and emergency services council, AFAC, they released their spring outlook, the data we have shows a heightened risk of bushfire activity across most of the Northern Territory, south-eastern Queensland, north and south-eastern New South Wales, across a huge swathe of north-eastern Tassie and various parts of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

We know in parts of the country it’s been particularly dry. We know there has been a fuel build-up in parts of the country that have experienced rain in particular in the Northern Territory.

So, I think it’s really important that people start to take the actions they may need around their own properties and to that end, we recently funded over $8 million for a national get ready campaign so the states and territories are in the process of rolling out that national get ready campaign, all about providing practical tips about how to make your property safer as we lead into this high risk weather season.

Q: We’ve seen seeing some devastating fires overseas, a devastating fire season. We know we’ve Australian firefighters and equipment over there. Can you give us the latest on that? And when they’ll be due back? I assume they’re back in time for those warmer months now.

McBain:

Australian personnel in France, Canada and the US. We’ve had deployments of over 200 personnel in those areas now. We’ve also got a Black Hawk helicopter and a Bell 340 aircraft in France. We’ll obviously continue to work with our international partners as we always do. And make sure that those personnel come back rested before our own season. And make sure those aircraft will be back as well. But I think it goes to show the importance of having good relationships with international neighbours. When Prime Minister Mark Carney was here earlier in the year, we signed an updated emergency services declaration with Canada. With we’ll continue to share not only intelligence and innovation, but also training of personnel with each other. As we face more increasingly difficult bushfire seasons.

Q: Is this something of a low point in the relationship between Australia and Israel, this incident and and this response from Israel?

Julian Hill:

Well, first point I just want to make, and it’s it’s a linguistic point, but it might be of interest to your listeners. I try very hard to talk when we have a difference about the Israeli government at times, and it does I think at times feed into anti-Semitism.

I try not to conflate the state of Israel, as the world’s only Jewish state, with profound at times disagreements with the actions of the current Israeli government.

So I just want to make that point. Not having a go at you, but it’s something that I’ve reflected on and and try hard on. None of us always get it right, but our difference on this matter is with the Israeli government, and I think we’ll just go around in circles. I’m not going to get ahead of the minister, but I appreciate the genuine public interest, and I think very strong emotions which I share on this right now.

That wasn’t the question though – no one was blaming Jewish people for the outcome of this government decision. It was Julian Hill that brought that up, not the interviewer.

Q: Last time we had the Israeli ambassador Hillel Newman in the studio here talking about this particular issue.One of the points of pushback that he had, he was saying regarding the conduct of Australian troops in Afghanistan, we haven’t had a clear resolution around some of those issues. Is that a fair comparison or complaint when civilians have been involved?

Hill:

Well, I’ll choose my words carefully. As I said, I think democracies are held to a higher standard, and as a former chair of the Defense Committee, for I was appointed to the Ministry a couple of years ago, I think it’s entirely appropriate that allegations of war crimes that affected allegedly a very small minority of those who served with distinction in Afghanistan.

We can’t smear the memories of those who died or those who served, who are back with us with the alleged actions of a few.

But Australia is continuing to pursue those allegations in a proper way. We haven’t just dropped it because it’s all too hard. These are fiendishly difficult things to establish evidence on, particularly in a country with which we have no diplomatic relations right now, but I’m not going to succumb to the the bait to conflate the two.

Labor assistant minister Julian Hill is up next and he is asked about the Zomi Frankcom investigation and says:

It beggars belief, and I’m pleased to see, rightly, that the minister will be calling in the Israeli ambassador. That Australia’s ambassador in Israel will be conveying these views directly to the Israeli government. And as I heard your previous conversation observed, Special Advisor Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, former head of the Australian Defense Force, his report concluded that there were serious failures in following the procedures of the IDF. Democracies are held to a higher standard, and as a fellow democracy, we expect a higher standard of accountability.

So we will not give up pursuing justice. And my thoughts are with Zomi Frankcom’s family, her loved ones, but all humanitarian workers, marking World Humanitarian Day for the work that they do. That kind of service represents the very best of Australia and should be honored.

Q: Separate to this internal investigation by the Israeli military, there was an Australian review conducted by Air Chief Marshal retired Mark Binskin that recommended that Israel apologise and pay reparations to Zomi Frankcom’s family.

The IDF’s internal investigation, this latest investigation, has not recommended that. What do you think of that?

Chris Sidoti:

Well, the review conducted by the Australian appointee was itself a very soft touch. I have to say, the recommendations that were made, apology, reparations, were the very least they could have been expected, and yet the Israeli authorities are not even responding to those. It’s a ridiculous situation. That’s why we need the International Criminal Court conducting the investigations that it’s conducting, and we have to look to the International Criminal Court for justice in these cases.

Q: The Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator Penny Wong, says she’s outraged by the decision of this internal Israeli military investigation, and that the Israeli ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, will be called in. What options are now left for Zomi Frankcoms family and the Australian government?

Sidoti:

Well, so far as the Australian government is concerned, the minister, when she sees the ambassador, should tell him that he’s going home.

I don’t support breaking diplomatic relations with Israel. I don’t support the closing of embassies. But this bloke is clearly an unacceptable representative so far as Australia is concerned, and he should be sent home. He has interfered in Australia’s internal politics.

He has been offensive in dealing with Australian members of the the flotilla that tried to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid, and again, his government now has failed Australian citizens.

So he should be told that he’s going home. The family must continue to advocate on behalf of those that were killed, including their daughter, they’ve been fabulous in how they have taken up this case and refused to allow it to drop.

But I think that they need to act with the support of the Australian government to insist that the recommendations from the Australian Review, apology and reparations, are the very least, that should be done by the Israeli authorities.

But again, it’s through the International Criminal Court that we’re likely to see justice, not through the Israeli courts.

Q: This was not the only IDF finding overnight. It says it’s completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct, troop conduct in Gaza, and made decisions on five prominent cases. The Israeli military has confirmed for the first time that it did open fire on a car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hindra Jab, who was killed along with six relatives in Gaza in 2024. How significant is this development?

Sidoti:

Look, I hesitate in knowing how to answer, it is significant. But Hindra was killed two and a half years ago. There has been no incident in the war in Gaza since October 2023 that has been more widely investigated externally, including by our commission of inquiry, where we found very clearly that the Israeli forces were responsible for the killing of this little girl and members of her family, and who tried to reach her, provide assistance to her and the family.

The organisation Forensic Architecture established by a Jewish Israeli person uses digital evidence extremely well. They counted 335 bullet holes in that family’s vehicle.

Why is it that only now this matter is being referred for criminal investigation, when we have known more about that incident than any other incident in Gaza in the last three years?

Why are they taking so long? The length of time taken, the nature of the internal investigation, the fact that only two of these five very serious, well-documented cases are being referred for criminal investigation, leaves me entirely cynical about any prospect of justice coming out of the internal processes of the Israeli system,

Chris Sidoti, a member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, is speaking with ABC radio RN Breakfast, about the Israeli decisions on whether or not to progress criminal investigations into killings by its military of some Palestinian civilians and aid workers, including six year old Hind Rajab and her family. The little girl was on the phone to rescue workers pleading for help as the sole survivor, after the IOF fired at least 300 shots into the family car, as they were attempting to reach safety under Israeli orders. As ambulances were dispatched to try and rescue her, having received permission from Israeli authorities, they were fired upon again. Two weeks later, the bodies of Hind and her family were found, along with the ambulance crews. Israel admitted its military fired upon the car for the first time, but Israeli investigations into its military very rarely lead to criminal convictions.

Sidoti is asked about Israel’s release of cases overnight and says:

Well, first, it’s actually good to get some findings. The Israeli military constantly announces internal investigations, and then we hear nothing more. At least here, in five cases, they have announced the results of the investigations. But I’ve got to ask, what the hell have they been doing? These cases are years old. The Hind Rajab case, another one of the five occurred two and a half years ago. The world central kitchen killings occurred over two years ago, and only now are we being told that these matters, some of these matters, are going to be referred to criminal investigation. Well, what the hell have they been doing for the last two two and a half years?

There’s there’s no confidence, either in the appropriateness, the thoroughness of the internal investigations, or of any criminal prosecutions that may flow. We don’t know whether it’ll get to the point of criminal prosecution. There’ll be further delay as the criminal investigators do their work, and so justice, if it’s ever going to come, is a long time off.

Everyone knew this was coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier; Israel has declared “no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct” in its investigation over the IOF strike on World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers in April 2024 as they delivered humanitarian aid to a warehouse in Gaza. The group were in clearly marked vehicles and had followed the procedures put in place by Israel.

Australia has released this statement in response:

Australia is outraged the Israeli Government has decided not to pursue criminal proceedings against those responsible for killing Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues.

The Australian Government learned of Israel’s decision late last night, moments before it was announced, on World Humanitarian Day – which is especially insulting to Zomi’s loved ones, humanitarians and all Australians.

Zomi represented the best of Australia. Her courage deserves to be celebrated. Her family deserves justice.

This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect.

This is despite Israel Defense Forces admissions that the IDF strikes on Zomi and her colleagues’ vehicles were the result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making.

This was confirmed by Special Adviser Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin’s report.

Democracies seek and accept higher standards. The Australian Government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues.

I will call in Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman and have directed Australia’s Ambassador to Israel to convey our views directly to Israel as the Australian Government considers next steps.

Hello and good morning and welcome to the final day of the sitting fortnight.

We did it, Joe.

We have made it to the end of this sitting, and despite there having been a five week break between sittings, it feels like we never left.

Penny Wong has called in Isreal’s ambassador to Australia after Israel announced it had cleared its military of wrong doing over the death of Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen aid workers, who were killed by the IOF in April 2024. The IOF launched a strike on the clearly marked aid vehicles, claiming a Hamas identity was among the group. After being pressed into an investigation, it delayed any updates until last night, when it claimed there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The only person who seems shocked by this decision is Penny Wong;

Australia is outraged the Israeli Government has decided not to pursue criminal proceedings against those responsible for killing Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues.

The Australian Government learned of Israel’s decision late last night, moments before it was announced, on World Humanitarian Day – which is especially insulting to Zomi’s loved ones, humanitarians and all Australians.

Zomi represented the best of Australia. Her courage deserves to be celebrated. Her family deserves justice.

This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect.

This is despite Israel Defense Forces admissions that the IDF strikes on Zomi and her colleagues’ vehicles were the result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making.

The NDIS bill passed yesterday evening, so that is done and dusted. Today, the media bargaining code will most likely be finalised and then that is done too. Gambling, again with the Coalition, is also through, with more dissent coming from the Coalition benches then the Labor ones (where publicly there has been none) over the support and the bill itself.

Is any of this a win for the government? Politically, the pundits will say yes, but as we said at the beginning of this parliamentary term, the Coalition would only be as relevant as Labor wanted them to be – because Labor has another pathway in the senate and its actively choosing not to use it. Because that would mean going further than Labor wants to (and in many cases actively following its own platform) and it doesn’t want to do that – it would much rather stick to the Coalition side of things. And so, we get this sort of legislation. Even though voters for the last two elections have said they don’t want the Coalition.

Good times.

We’ll cover off this final day and then we are all free until September.

Ready?

Let me grab coffee number three and we’ll get into it.