The Point Live: Liberal leadership challenge firming, protesters condemn police response at Sydney rally

So supporters of Sussan Ley are now trying to force Angus Taylor to reveal whether or not he has the numbers for a leadership challenge, by forcing him to petition for a spill. This is an old tactic that has backfired quite spectacularly in the past, including for Malcolm Turnbull (who called a spill, which revealed he only had half the party room support, forcing the spill that then brought in Scott Morrison)

Liberal senator Maria Kovacic has told Afternoon Briefing that the party room “needs those individuals to be very transparent about why they want a spill”

If we’re being accountable, put your name to it. Enough is enough.”

That’ll fix it.

Senator Susan McDonald isn’t happy about the labelling of “alternate proteins” today.

In the Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, she’s just accused the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of “pandering to the alternate meat protein crowd”. This followed a line of questioning relating to the labelling of non-meat protein products, and the government’s consultation of the Alternative Proteins Council.

This comes after the Food Standards Australia New Zealand concluded that consumers could, in fact, accurately identify plant based products.

NSW police have charged nine of the 27 people who were arrested at yesterday’s protest, aged between 19 and 67 for basically not following police directions. Further charges are expected to be laid against others in the coming days.

At the same time, police are now urging protesters not to protest outside the Surry Hills police precinct.

That protest, which is aimed at police brutality, is scheduled for 5.30pm.

Zali Steggall says she is very worried about social cohesion:

I worry about events like last night. I think many in our community are deeply traumatised by the visions we see coming out of the US of disproportionate use of force and especially around immigration.

And we’ve just had a matter of public importance debate in the House where highly racist, defamatory, dangerous rhetoric was engaged in, and highly damaging to our social cohesion as a country.

And that’s what I’m afraid of. I see the rise of One Nation.

I could see Barnaby Joyce was dying to step up and try and add a bit of fuel to this fire and a bit of populist rhetoric to blame migrants and immigration.

That is really dangerous language. It’s not based on facts when it comes to some of the problems we have around housing and people feist feeling hard done by.

But it’s really dangerous.

Zali Steggall has appeared on Afternoon Briefing where she has addressed criticism from Liberal senator Andrew Bragg over her comments defending people’s right to protest and criticising the police brutality.

Steggall says:

I think the Liberal Party and people like Andrew Bragg and in particular someone like Tony Abbott, whose comments in the media today are deeply offensive

…He’s made comments around use of force on our protesters and how we should consider people exercising democratic rights to protest because they are views that don’t align with him.

I think they are highly offensive comments he has made in the media but he and I have certainly disagreed on many things. 

But I think the Liberal Party and people like Andrew Bragg have lost their moral compass in terms of the line between trying to politically point-score against the Government, stand up for human rights and international law, stand up for all of our Australian communities, including Jewish Australian communities, and they, I think, have lost their moral compass.

Hugh Marks gets some information that says that Linda Reynolds and Fiona Brown are not mentioned in the Silenced documentary. Sarah Henderson says this doesn’t mean they are not still implicated.

The hearing goes on a break.

Sarah Hanson-Young asked about a recent statement from ASIO about the ABC’s Four Corners’ program. Hugh Marks said that:

They wrote to me. They didn’t seek to call me or contact me. They did get my email address wrong.

Hanson-Young clarifies that ASIO got the ABC’s managing-directors email wrong in a complaint about detail.

He says yes, they did and there have been no further reports from ASIO.

Hanson-Young:

I think it says, says more about ASIO, if they can’t even get the email address of the managing director of the ABC right, how closely they’re looking at detail?

The crossbench are not taking Col Boyce’s abuse in the chamber lying down. Boyce was made to withdraw his comment “rip her apart” which was directed towards Elizabeth Watson-Brown after she asked about the police brutality at last night’s Sydney protest. Kate Chaney immediately asked for a direction from the Speaker and Boyce was made to withdraw and Milton Dick later gave a warning to the whole chamber over it.

Independent MP Nicolette Boele said it was completely unacceptable behaviour:

I’ve just come from the Chamber, where I heard Colin Boyce – one-time National Party leadership aspirant – yell “rip her apart” about a fellow female Crossbencher.

When this is tolerated in Parliament, it tells girls and women watching exactly what they can expect if they speak up or seek leadership: hostility, aggression, and abuse.

Members of Parliament should set the standard, not sink below it.”

Sarah Henderson wants every single document possible on the documentary Silenced.

She does not believe that the film’s subject would be of interest to viewers if it is making false claims about Linda Reynolds and Fiona Brown.

Sarah Hanson-Young points out that Ten and Higgins did win a defamation case against Bruce Lehrmann.

Henderson says she is not talking about that.

I just want to make it clear I am not in any way reflecting on the terrible incident that happened in this place, I have great empathy for Ms Higgins in relation to the findings of the court in relation to the sexual assault, but I do not, I am disgusted that two innocent women being the former WA Senator Linda Reynolds and her former chief of staff Fiona Brown, were improperly implicated in covering up this crime, I say, or alleged crime, because it is there is further, a further appeal underway in relation to Justice Lee’s finding, which is Before the High Court, but putting that to one side, I am disgusted by the false allegations which have destroyed the lives of these two women for the last four years.

Hugh Marks says he’ll find what information he can.

One Nation senator Tyron Whitten wants to know about the show, Behind the News, which is a news program for tweens.

Whitten says he has had complaints from constituents that it showed a program about the Trump ICE raids and protests and that children were scared by what they saw.
Whitten’s problem doesn’t seem to be with what is happening or the “nuances of those sort of interactions” and it is “beyond their years to understand what is actually going on” but that children have been shown what is actually happening.

He says children have been scared by what they saw. He then gets confused because he says that when he remembers watching BTN it was “more topical” (can you get more topical than what the US is doing right now?) and adds “I don’t remember fully, but I would suggest there was a lot of Australian content, and it was, it was a good way for to have exposure to grown up topics that you wouldn’t normally have” which sounds exactly what BTN did?

I remember being shown a segment on race riots in the US when I was a kid – and it helped explain what I had already seen on the news.

Whitten thinks there are “some topics we should shield young, impressionable minds from” and Hugh Marks says of course – but we live in an age where children are exposed to these issues, no matter what.

Whitten says some of the children involved are his grandchildren and they are not exposed to it. But they are not wrapped in cotton wool. But some topics are not spoken about in front of children (like state violence, apparently) and while Whitten isn’t against the program, he thinks that parents should be able to talk to their children about ‘these issues’ in “a more balanced way” (there is no suggestion the program is not balanced)

Marks says he’ll look at the program.

Sarah Henderson is back about Silenced.

Hugh Marks:

I can just assure you that I will ensure that the program that I make sure that the program has gone through all appropriate editorial reviews before broadcast. Again, I haven’t seen the script.

I’ve only heard of the treatment it is the program is about a number of women around the world of which Brittany Higgins is one, again, I understand it deals with important issues and so it’s an it’s an appropriate program for us to be acquiring and broadcasting, and we will make sure that we ensure that all appropriate editorial reviews have been conducted.

Henderson asks if that includes legal checks. Marks says that is normal.

Conservative Liberal senator (and former ABC journalist from 100 years ago – don’t worry, if you didn’t know, she will tell you!) Sarah Henderson has the first question and it is on the ABC’s involvement in the film Silenced, which is based on the book by human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.

The ABC has the acquisition rights for Australia. The film is based on Robinson’s book on how defamation laws are weaponised to silence people, particularly women. Brittany Higgins is one of the cases used.

Henderson wants to know what involvement the ABC had (minimal) and whether the ABC funding was used to fly Higgins and her husband to Sundance for the film’s first screening (unlikely).

Henderson is upset because she doesn’t believe that Higgins was silenced and refers to the civil court cases which Linda Reynolds won and Henderson said exonerated Reynolds and Fiona Brown as her proof. She wants to know whether the ABC has considered “what has been claimed” because it “appears from what has been published there are erroneous claims” in relation to Reynolds and Brown.

Henderson says Reynolds has told her the documentary makers have refused to show Reynolds the script or give her a copy of the film.

Sarah Henderson-Young has interjected to say that it is “pretty low” to go after a rape victim and Henderson says she is not doing that.

Hugh Marks, the ABC boss, says the ABC will carry out all its processes and the program would be reviewed before it was aired, in the normal way.

Senator Pocock is again grilling ACMA about a report that it delayed releasing the media release announcing that Commonwealth Bank was being fined $7.5m for spam until after the Banks’ AGM.

The ACMA’s Jeremy Fenton said the decision was taken after “several conversations” with Comm Bank and the decision was made due “to a range of factors including other priorities on the ACMA agenda” But that also “CBA made the request”.

Senator Pocock calls this “ludicrous” given CBA is one of the biggest companies in Australia “this is the biggest fish [ACMA] has landed as a regulator”.

According to the ACMA chair they consulted Comm Bank and they said they delayed the realised due to the “availability of CBA senior management on the day of the release”. Senator Hanson=Young called out “Who cares? That’s their problem!”

Senator Pocock wonders why as the regulator surely ACMA should have thought this seems “a fishy” request and that surely Comm Bank shareholders deserved to know before the Comm Bank AGM.

AMCA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin “accepts the criticism” and has “taken on board the criticism” which Senator Pocock suggests seems to mean not much at all.

Senator Pocock argues it “reflects terribly on the ACMA”.

O’Loughlin says ACMA will review their processes.

Australia’s top Muslim clerics have slammed the “heavy-handed” tactics of police disbanding a prayer group at a major protest that turned violent.

Videos shared on social media showed a group of Muslim men and women praying near Town Hall in Sydney’s city centre before being pulled from their knees and taken away by police.

Another viral video shows a man, separate to the prayer group, with raised hands being repeatedly punched in the stomach by officers.

He was among the thousands who gathered for a massive demonstration against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia on Monday evening.

Many protesters have taken to social media to say they were assaulted and pepper-sprayed.

The president of the Australian National Imams Council said the violent actions of police officers while worshippers were in the middle of evening prayers was unwarranted.

“We are appalled and outraged … the conduct of the NSW Police represents a breach of religious sanctity,” Shadi Asuleiman told reporters on Tuesday.

“It is deeply distressing, unacceptable and not reflective of the Australia that we know, the values we claim to uphold.”

Special envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik said he “unequivocally condemned” the police actions, describing it as a “very dark night”.

“This behaviour was unprovoked and unacceptable,” he said.

Mr Malik said he spoke with many eyewitnesses, who reported police punching and grabbing the worshippers, throwing them onto the concrete and using pepper spray.

“There cannot be any justification for this demeaning, aggressive and humiliating behaviour,” he said.

The Lebanese Muslim Association squarely blamed NSW Premier Chris Minns for emboldening the police and called for an immediate apology.

Mr Minns said the full context needed to be taken into account as he defended relations between authorities and the Muslim community.

“NSW Police have had a strong and co-operative relationship with Sydney’s Islamic and Arabic community, going back decades,” he said.

“The circumstances facing NSW Police was incredibly difficult. It was in effect in the middle of a riot.”

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, who is Muslim, rejected the premier’s defence and called for him to investigate the actions of police officers.

“We have known that we are second-class citizens in this country for a very long time,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

“Now everyone can see that Muslims are not just gaslighted, they are not just scapegoated, but they are actually assaulted by the very people who are supposed to protect us.”

Question time ends – it was very low energy today. Not a lot of vibration in the house. Partly because the government wants to avoid speaking on the Herzog visit and the police response to the protest as much as possible, and partly because the Liberal party is openly talking about ditching its leader, so there is not a lot of collaboration going on there.

Ley is trying to get the Liberals to focus on cost of living, but that horse seems to have bolted. No one is listening.

The Nationals are once again rubbishing renewables in a bid to out One Nation Barnson, but don’t seem to have any idea of how to actually do that.

Happy Tuesday. (Face splatting emoji)

I am deeply concerned about the exchange within the chamber earlier in Question Time today. I have been reflecting on it during Question Time. This simply cannot be that sort of language that we hear and have used in the house or anywhere. I ask all members to reflect on how they engage in proceedings. I want this house to ensure language is moderate and respectful at all times

Melissa McIntosh who has been happily sliding further and further right in her bid to ascend Liberal party ranks happily asks Anthony Albanese the Tim Wilson/Barnaby Joyce question:

A senior member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet, the Minister for Social Services and member for Sydney, today refused to specifically condemn Grace Tame’s conduct at a Sydney rally, where Tame chanted a vile anti-Semitic slur*. Will the Prime Minister today show leadership, disassociate himself from these words and unequivocally condemn this disgusting display of anti-Semitism by the former Australian of the Year**

*The slogan ‘globalise the Intifada’ is not inherently anti-Semitic. It calls for the liberation of Palestinians, and means ‘shake up’ or ‘awakening’ in Arabic.

**Grace Tame was not being anti-Semitic. She was protesting against the invitation of a head of state who has been credibly accused of inciting genocide, and for which the nation he represents has been credibly accused of carrying out a genocide.

Albanese does not take the bait:

I make two comments. I will refer to my previous answer is my first comment. The second is, we need to not continually look for political opportunities from what is a devastating situation, we need to turn the temperature down.

Tony Burke takes a dixer on illegal fishing boats and says:

Illegal foreign fishing is not only an attack and damage to our environment, it is not only an attack and damage to commercial fishing and recreational fishing interests in Australia, it is a straight out attack on our sovereignty.

These waters belong to Australia. That is why in 2023, following increased illegal fishing attempts north-west of the Kimberley, the government announced Operation Leedstrom in December of that year.

What we did in that operation was we brought together a number of government agencies, including the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, AFMA, managed by the Minister for the Environment, as well as the Australian Border Force.

Bringing all of agencies together meant since that point, there was 103 interceptions, 35 boats destroyed, more than tonne of catch seized. Prior to Leedstrom there had never been joint task force of this nature. 

That success saw a response from illegal foreign fishers. Having discovered that the north-west was now being blocked to them they decided to try further east and the MPs here from the Northern Territory then saw attempts in our waters there because of our success in the north-west. As a result of that we launched Operation Luna.

Operation Luna in the waters of the Northern Territory saw us then have 97 interceptions, 33 boats destroyed and more than 20 tonne of catch seized.

The success in Luna means there are now going further east to the Torres Strait and I acknowledge the strong advocacy of the member for Leichhardt in making sure that we have led to the announcement that was made earlier today by Commissioner Gav Reynolds of the Australian Border Force to announce Operation Broadstaff to combat illegal foreign fishing in Queensland and the Torres Strait.

It is led by Border Force, under the leadership of Commissioner Reynolds. Since we came to government, border protection funding has been increased by $600 million. Surveillance flights are now 26% higher than they were in 22/23.

The criminals have tried and failed in the Kimberley. They tried and failed in the Northern Territory. They are now trying in the Torres Strait and they will fail. The message to foreign fishers who want to operate illegally in our waters is simple – the waters you are on belong to Australia, not to you. You risk losing your haul, your equipment, your vessel and your freedom.

For many Australian women and girls, navigating the healthcare system is a nightmare.

Gender bias is everywhere, including at the doctor’s clinic.  Women’s medical complaints are often ignored, dismissed or outright misdiagnosed. A government survey found that 2 out of 3 Australian women experience discrimination in healthcare.

To add to injury, women don’t have equal access to Medicare-subsidised healthcare services.

Take osteoporosis, for example. Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones have less mineral content than normal, making them weaker and more prone to fractures. It mostly affects older people.

Doctors can measure bone density to diagnose osteoporosis using what’s called a DEXA scan. For men, this scan is subsidised by Medicare.

But for women, it’s only subsidised if they have persistently low hormones and are under 45.

This means that women over 45 pay out of pocket for the same diagnostic scan that men can get for free.

This is despite the fact that women are more prone to osteoporosis than men because they lose up to 10% of their bone mass in the decade after menopause. One in two women suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture over their lifetime, and 80% of the deaths caused by osteoporosis are among women.

The scan is again subsidised by Medicare when women turn 70, but for some women, this could mean that the problem is not identified as early as possible.

Women and girls already have to fight to have their medical complaints taken seriously by their doctors. They shouldn’t face additional penalties from Medicare just because they are women.

If the Australian government is serious about improving health outcomes for women and girls, it could start by making sure Medicare subsidies are evenly distributed.

The LNP MP for Flynn, Col Boyce has been fairly quiet since his abusive interjection, because he had a question:

How many thousands of wind turbines and how many millions of solar panels are required to be installed to meet the 82% Renewable Energy Targets your government has said through its expensive and reckless renewable energy-only policy?

Chris Bowen:

I thank the member for the question and given the member denies the science of climate change, I am not sure he is interested in how we get renewable energy given he doesn’t accept the scientific consensus of 99% of scientists across the world. 

I make this point, firstly, we don’t have a renewables-only energy policy. We have a policy to get to 82% of renewables, backed by gas peaking of firming for the rest of it. 82 is not 100.

There is a difference of approach there. 

Secondly, our policies are informed by the experts as is outlined by the integrated systems plan and GenCost which we accept the work of the CSIRO confronting for the member for Flynn and those opposite – we do actually accept the science and work of the CSIRO and the integrated system plan outlines the pathway to 82% renewables and those decisions are made by the private sector and investment to renewable energy and by households when they decide to put solar panels on their roof and a cheaper home battery in their garage as they are doing in big numbers which we welcome and those opposite have a big problem with.

Senator Hanson-Young is now asking ACMA about Australian content on radios and why ACMA did not advocate for strengthened measures to ensure more Australian music in the new code of conduct for radio stations.

The Chair of ACMA cites their internal legal advice that the Australia US Free Trade Agreement prohibited such changes.

Senator Hanson-Young suggests “that’s a big call to make if you think that the US Free Trade Agreement is restricting Australia from doing things that protect our own culture and our own cultural sovereignty. And that there’s carves out in the US free trade agreement specifically for culture.” She asks if ACMA sought “to get that advice checked?”

The Chair says it refers to a scope of hours and timing of 6am to Midnight (for the total of Australian content) and the Aus music industry wanted the time to be between 6am and 6pm. Ms O’Loughlin says that due to the FTA “that was not open to us to agree to”. But that they had written to the Minister for the Arts (Tony Burke) on the matter (about a week ago)

Senator Hanson-Young rightly points out that “this is because of a Free Trade Agreement that the US president has himself trashed?”

After ACMA talking a bit about the very specific provisions relating to timing, Senator Hanson-Young wistfully notes that “It doesn’t seem the United States President gives two hoots about what’s in any of these agreements”.

No one at the ACMA table thought it wise to comment on that.

Sussan Ley is back and trying to look very sombre as she asks about cost of living:

My question is Prime Minister. Parramatta business owner Danielle has said “People are maxed out on their credit cards and they are already skipping meals, sacrificing their own food for their children”. 

Labor’s economic mismanagement is fuelling a cost of living crisis. Prime Minister, why do Australians have to skip meals in a cost of living crisis caused by this government’s reckless spending?

Albanese:

[The question] goes to a constituent in Parramatta. I am sure that there are people in Parramatta like there are in my electorate and in the member for Farrer’s electorate who are under financial strain.

… I hope when they engaged in their incessant talking with something – anything will do – which actually is a solution, but there is no signs of that.

There is actually a lot that the Liberals agree on. They want to increase  income taxes for every Australian taxpayer, we know that.

They want to undermine renewables as the cheapest form of new energy and they want to cut the services that Australians rely upon.

I am not sure, when they speak about spending what it is that they oppose? Do they oppose what the government did in July, which was to cut student debt by 20%?

They said they were against that for three million Australians.

Do they oppose what we did in August when we legislated to protect penalty rates for weekend and overtime pay?

We know they are against that.

In September, when we increased Social Services payments for five million Australians, we can guarantee they would have opposed that. We know they opposed what we did in October when we expanded our 5% deposit plan to every first home buyer which has helped 200,000 Australians get into home.

We know in November when we tripled the bulk billing incentive, that has made a difference and we are on our way to installing more than 200,000 cheaper home batteries and we know they are against that. 

We know whilst from time to time they speak about one urgent care clinic that they support, apparently……I wish I was that good with the fishing rod, Mr Speaker. I really wish I was. But we have got 122 of them open. We promised 50, delivered 87 and we are delivering another 50, of which we are well on the way.

In December, we opened them in Gladstone, the sunny coast, Woden, Burwood, Rouse Hill and Marrickville in particular. On New Year’s Day they opposed the measures we did as well – the cheaper medicines and the 1800 Medicare plan. All they have is complaints, no solutions.

Over in Estimates, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has confirmed that, while the Winter Olympics are on the Anti-Siphoning List (the list of events that should be available on TV for free), the rules don’t mean that there is an obligation to actually broadcast the content.

Senator Jane Hume said:

It is incredibly frustrating to know that somehow Channel 9 is happy to broadcast sports or events where there are no Australians competing, but make Australians pay to watch their own people compete”

But according to ACMA, it seems that:

nothing that Nine is doing is inconsistent with the current framework”

The LNP MP Michelle Landry, who is apparently eyeing off retirement at the next election, according to her colleagues, asks Chris Bowen:

What is the total cost to taxpayers of the Albanese Government’s expensive and reckless renewables-only energy policy?

This is a very stupid question.

Bowen has more tact:

That is a broad question when it comes to renewable energy. The vast majority of investment in renewable energy will come from the private sector. That is a fact. We do have government schemes to support renewable energy, notably the capacity investment scheme which is a very successful scheme. The cost is commercial in confidence.

Commercial in confidence is a relatively recent phenomenon for those opposite because the house has heard me talk before about the previous minister, the member for Hume’s UNGI scheme..

Bowen is told to stay relevant:

I have indicated the capacity investment scheme is commercial in confidence. The underwriting new generation investment scheme masterminded by the member for Hume. When he was asked about the costs? He said “These discussions are commercial in confidence” said the member for Hume  is not unprecedented for government policies and expenditure to be commercial in confidence.

The member for Wannon was responsible for various policies, including the Australian naval infrastructure proprietiery limited supporting ship building infrastructure, when you look at the Budget to find out much that cost, it says “The expenditure for this measure is not available due to commercial in confidence”.

…We have made the point that commercial in confidence is not a new thing, it is not a new principle it is one that is well established. The vast majority of investment in the cheapest form of renewable energy will come from the private sector. That is why we have seen 7.7 gigawatts added to the grid since May 2022, equivalent to the demand in the evening of all of the state of Victoria added since 2022 compared to the 4 gigawatts which left the grid under the previous government and only one gigawatt came on.

Ted O’Brien gets to ask a question and he tries to be very serious about. As an aside – has anyone heard from his NPC voter Jess lately?

Q: High inflation hurts all Australians. Whether you are paying a mortgage, renting, running a business or trying to make ends meet. Treasurer, these aren’t my words, these are the words of the Governor of the Reserve Bank who has also said inflation will be “Out of band and above target for six years”. Treasurer, when will inflation come down?

Jim Chalmers:

A couple of things about that question. Last part of the question f you look at the Reserve Bank’s forecast, they have inflation peaking around the middle of this year and then trailing away after that. We will update our own Treasury forecast in the usual way in Budget and that will take into consideration recent developments. 

On the Governor’s views about the impacts of inflation, I share them and that’s why when we came to office and inflation was higher than 6% and roaring on your watch, we took steps to make sure we could inflation lower than when we came to office and now, in recent times, we have seen a tick-up which means inflation is higher than anyone would like.

That is why we are rolling out cost of living help that those opposite oppose. That is why we are cutting taxes, again those opposite said they would repeal those tax cuts. That is why we delivered surpluses and we are demonstrating spending restraint and banking upward revisions to revenue in ways that would be unrecognisable to those opposite who didn’t do any of those things, Mr Speaker.

I am happy to compare my record against our predecessors any day, whether it is on managing the Budget in the most responsible way we can, rolling out cost of living help. If those opposite really cared about inflation and the cost of living, they wouldn’t have run for the best part of a decade a policy of deliberate wage stagnation in our economy.

If they cared about cost of living pressures in our economy, they wouldn’t oppose the cost of living help. If they cared about cost of living pressures, they wouldn’t have gone to the last election with a policy to increase income taxes on every single one of the 14 million tax-paying working people in the Australian economy. 

For that, for this total lack of economic credibility over there, two people are more to blame than any others. The member for Fairfax, who wanted to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to build nuclear reactors which would push energy prices up and, of course, my old mate, the member for Hume who went to the election with a policy for higher income taxes, bigger deficits and more debt. The opposite are in a real pickle because half of the party room supports the member for Hume and the other half have met him.

The other half have met him and they know that when it comes to their lack of economic credibility, the member for Hume is part of the problem not part of the solution. If they flick the switch this week, as they might from the member for Farrer to the member for Hume, that will mean they have less economic credibility not more!

Senator Hanson-Young is taking ACMA to task over the Kyle and Jackie O Show and the new Commercial Radio Code of Practice Review which comes into effect on 1 July 2026 (ACMA had been consulting on the process)

The code was released today. Senator Hanson-Young wants to know is whether the bit in Chapter 2 “During the periods between 8:00am and 9:00am and between 3:00pm and 4:00pm, on school days in the Licensee’s licence area, a Licensee must exercise special care when broadcasting Programs by giving due consideration to the fact 5 that children may be listening to the relevant Program. Where a Licensee’s licence area covers areas in which different time-zones or school dates are observed, the school dates and time-zone for the part of the licence area that contains the largest proportion of the population will apply.” Is about Kyle and Jackie O?

ACMA says that it was a new provision that “CRA had volunteered to put in” and that ACMA “were concerned about it generally” and while it was a “broader consideration”.

Autumn Field the head of ACMA Content says that yeah Kyle and Jackie O are one of the programs that it concerned with.

Senator Hanson-Young wants to know just what exactly “special care” means. It turns out they just need some extra stuff like “warnings”. Senator Hanson-Young points out Kyle and Jackie O had already breached the decency provisions, so what will these new thing do? ACMA notes, yep they breached the decency provisions “multiple times”.

Hanson-Young points out that it doesn’t seem to be any change. ACMA chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, notes that actually the consequences have been increased. And that any future breaches could mean the cancellation of licences but admits that this has never happened, and that when there was a licence condition put on former licensees of Kyle and Jackie O they moved stations so it no longer applied.

Hanson-Young suggests “it sounds like predators in the church being moved around, not held to account”. Ms O’Loughlin replies that she thinks that is a question for the  “new licensees as to why they picked up the program”.

Anthony Albanese:

President Herzog is visiting Australia at invitation of the Governor-General as her equivalent head of state. The Australian Government supports the invitation.

I will be meeting with him later today and with with families of the 15 innocent victims whose lives were tragically cut short on 14 December. 

That is what this visit is about. I would say to everyone, in this chamber and outside, as I have said repeatedly, we need to turn the temperature down.

In this country we need to turn it right down, including in the rhetoric that just took place in that exchange in this chamber. President Herzog is here in Australia to offer sympathy and solidarity to people who are mourning and offer his support to members of Australia’s Jewish community. He has said – to quote him – that his visit is “In the spirit of solidarity, friendship and love”.

Not enough of that anywhere in the world, not the least here in the past couple of months. I know people have different views and very strong views about the Middle East and they’re entitled to express those and they’re entitled to do that in a peaceful way.

The Australian Government does that as well. We have recognised Palestine, we support two states. We have spoken out about the devastation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In addition to condemnation of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7.

We will continue to understand that there is a need this country, as well for some nuance in this debate.

The debate is not advanced by people thinking it’s like a football team, where you have to support 100% one side or the other side. That does not advance peace. There are two roads in the Middle East – one is for Israelis and Palestinians to walk the path towards a settlement which does require, in the Australian Government’s view very strongly, a two state solution. In order to do that you need to engage constructively with Israelis and Palestinians. That is one path. The other path is that a powerful state, the state of Israel, is in a position which we have seen for seven decades and the Palestinians remain an oppressed people.

I believe very strongly that we need to engage with both Israelis and Palestinians as we go forward.

I’ve consistently said that every life matters, whether Israeli or Palestinian and the violence that we saw last night was devastating. All Australians would have found those scenes very confronting.

I note that the New South Wales police have said they will examine the footage which was taken place last night, including, I note that many people who saw the footage, particularly of the people who were praying, and then action was taken will want to know all of the circumstances around that. I will allow the police to do their job. 

But I also note that there were systems put in place to make sure, which is pretty sensible frankly, separate where President Herzog was and where the demonstrations were and that people sought to break that, to break that separation and, therefore, to create a circumstance which was not going to be peaceful. That saw what occurred there.

In Australia, we can disagree peacefully and with respect. I will treat President Herzog with respect. I’ve known him for a long period of time. He is someone who you can have a respectful discussion with, whilst examining differences which is there. But he is here primarily to provide comfort for people who not only need it but they deserve it, at this time, and I will not, as a number of the crossbenchers have suggested, walk away from my support for his presence.

It is appropriate that he be here at this time and it is appropriate that people understand the context which is there.

A community which is hurting, a community that is reaching out and just asking for some understanding. I’ve said before, and I will say it again to conclude, we need to turn the temperature down and the Greens political party need to be a part of turning that temperature down rather than up. 

Australians want the killing to stop, they want innocent lives to be protected, whether they be Israeli or Palestinian and the other thing that they want is for conflict to not be brought here. That is overwhelmingly what they want, that is the government’s position and we will continue to advocate for it.

Greens MP Elizabeth-Watson gets up to ask about the police brutality and is shouted down by the Coalition side of the House.

In response to President Herzog’s visit who was found by a UN commission to have incited genocide. Peaceful protesters were suggested horrific brutality last night by New South Wales Police. Your invitation has…

Michael McCormack yells out “DISGRACE” as he leaves the chamber for interrupting and Col Boyce of the LNP yells ‘rip her apart’ for which Kate Chaney has to stand up and intervene whether that is something that is allowed to stand.

Boyce withdraws.

Watson-Brown:

…In response to President Herzog’s visit when was found by a UN commission to have incited genocide, peaceful protesters were subjected to horrific brutality by the New South Wales Police. Your invitation has undermined unity and social cohesion in this country. Will this police violence and at the very least send President Herzog home?

Sussan Ley opens with the Coalition’s statement on the very weak penalty given to those found responsible for poisoning Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles during a trip to Laos.

As a mother I was devastated to see the fathers of Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles front the media today following revelations that those responsible for the deaths of their girls have received fines of just $185. The families had to learn this from a British victim’s family. Government officials have apologised today. What action will the Prime Minister now take to seek justice for these beautiful girls?

Albanese:

I thank the member for her question. All our hearts go out to the loved ones and friends of Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones. Like so many young Australians do, they set off overseas together for fun and adventure to expand their horizons in the world. What occurred is an absolute tragedy. They should be with us today looking back on a trip full of happy memories made together. Instead their loved ones are still mourning a devastating loss. The events of the past 24 hours have added to the heart break of their families. The Department Foreign Affairs and Trade has apologised unreservedly for their failure to ensure that the families were informed and that is an entirely appropriate thing for them to do.

The Foreign Minister’s made it clear to her counterpart in Laos that Australia expects full accountability and the charges should reflect the devastating seriousness of this incident. The six lives that were lost, including Holly and Bianca’s and we will continue to engage Laos authorities on these cases and everything we and ban can’s families at this distressing time.

Over in Estimates, the Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee are onto the SA Algal Bloom.

Senator Anne Ruston asked whether the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry had plans to create a framework to respond to these kinds of events in the future. She said:

“The flat-footedness of the SA government was quite something, and to now see the premier saying that it doesn’t basically exist is very concerning”

ACMA is now up before estimates and it begins with Senator Pocock asking about this article in the ABC which suggested “Gambling giant Sportsbet pressured the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) into “watering down” an enforcement announcement, according to new documents released to the ABC. “

Senator Pocock wants to know if Sportsbet got ACMA to change their words in a media release.

The Chair of ACMA, Nerida O’Loughlin, passes this onto another colleague despite, as Senator Pocock argues, it concerning her “direct quotes”. Senator Pocock is not happy about this, thinking that the chair should be able to talk about it herself.

The Executive Director of Unsolicited Communication and Scams notes that ACMA did provide Sportsbet with a draft of its media release and that Sportsbet suggested that the release (which did not go through ACMA’s legal services) was making a specific statement that attributed a “direct line to harms to consumers”. Sportsbet wanted that quote taken out because it argued ACMA did not find a specific or direct line of harm to consumers.

ACAM then admitted it was “changed slightly” to a more “general statement”.

Senator Pocock is not impressed and points out that Former Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy said “The reason Sportsbet didn’t want those sentences in there was because it magnified the harm of what they had done, but it magnified the harm correctly.”

Ms O’Loghlin says she believes the original media release did not provide an “accurate reflection of the harm” and that ACMA is actually required by law to consult with the company in question.

This morning a lot of right-wing reactionaries in politics and the media (well if you can call the Daily Mail, media) have been calling for Grace Tame to be stripped of her Australian of the Year Award because she led chants at the NSW protest yesterday using the phrase “Globalise the intifada”

As ever, the hypocrites are out and about.

Tim Wilson is now back in parliament, but he was once on the Human Rights Commission. At that time he said “”We should have a contest of ideas on in public debate, and bad ideas and opinions which are derogatory to others should be heard and mocked and ridiculed rather than shut down.”

But hey, that was then, now there is grubby politics to be done. This morning Sky News reports he described Ms Tame’s chant as “resolutely” inflammatory and said she must “answer” for her actions. 

He was quoted saying “If you side with that agenda, you are saying you want the genocide of the Jewish people”

That is absolute crap, but let’s be honest, Wilson has never been a fan of protesting and his championing of free speech has a long history of being a façade.

Back during the Occupy Wall Street protests, he tweeted as he walked past the Melbourne protest that water cannons should be unleashed.

I guess suggesting violence on a group of people is ok, so long as they are not people who agree with you.

The next question is on the protesters having broken the law – because they wanted to march to the NSW parliament (in the opposite direction to where Isaac Herzog was attending) and whether the protesters should have gone to a different area entirely.

Larissa Waters says:

It is not illegal to protest. And those protesters were peaceful, and they were marching in peace, and they sought to march. They sought to exit a very small area in which they had been confined by lines of police with horses they were seeking to exit peacefully, and rather than defuse the situation, the police instead began assaulting them, and that led to further danger.

We’ve now got people in hospital who would have happily peacefully marched, had they been allowed to exit through that small pathway that they were seeking to do? The Premier, the Prime Minister and the police bear full responsibility for what happened here, and the violence that we saw was not violence from protesters, it was violence from police.

Mehreen Faruqi, who was at the protest, said she is still shaken by what she witnessed:

I’m still completely shaken by what happened last night. I haven’t had a wink of sleep, and neither has my family, because Muslims in this country, for a very long time have been treated as second rate citizens, the double standards that are used for Muslims and their religion are completely different to how other people of religion are treated.

Muslims haven’t felt safe in this country for some time now. Let’s not all forget what happened in Christchurch and that this country did nothing, nothing about it, so we don’t feel safe. And the Prime Minister, and Premier Minns, don’t seemed to be actually concerned about that at all. So, yes, we don’t feel safe

Because this is Australian politics, there has been more condemnation of Grace Tame and her speech at the protest rally, calling for accountability in a genocide, then there is of a genocide and the police brutality against peaceful protesters.

Barnaby Joyce and Tim Wilson are among those calling for Tame to have her Australian of the Year award taken from her.

Larissa Waters first questions are about Tame:

Well, the gender dynamics of that call are pretty apparent, aren’t they, two extreme conservative men who have a terrible track record of standing up for women’s rights anyway, now calling for a brave Australian Grace tame who has every fiber of her being defined as a social justice warrior, speaking out and speaking for so many people, calling out a genocide and calling out the invitation made by our prime minister to invite a war criminal to our shores.

And this is the response that she gets. That is the message that people like Barnaby Joyce take from Grace Tame’s powerful message. They think Grace Tame is the problem here. Have a look at what is happening in Gaza, in the West Bank, around the world, that is where the blame needs to be laid. A genocide is unfolding, and people in this country are aware of that, and hundreds of thousands of people are part of the world’s biggest movement for peace. And if Barnaby Joyce thinks that Grace Tame is the problem, that says a lot more about Barnaby Joyce than it does about Grace Tame.

The follow up question is that it wasn’t about gender, but the use of the chat Tame was using ‘globalise the Intifada’

Waters says:

I think Grace Tame is an incredibly powerful advocate on this issue and so many others. And I am proud of her, and she deserves every accolade that she’s received as a great Australian. And I think the emphasis needs to be on the police brutality that was exacted upon peaceful ordinary Australians, on on men preying on innocent civilians calling for peace globally, they were assaulted. They were punched. That is where the focus needs to be.

Larissa Waters and the Greens have held a press conference on the police violence peaceful protesters were subjected to in Sydney overnight:

Tens of thousands of people sent a clear message to Labor they should never have invited the head of a state committing a genocide to our shores.

The footage coming out of Sydney last night is absolutely horrific. Peaceful protesters being assaulted, being punched, men in prayer, being pulled up off the ground as they pray and thrown aside by police is appalling.

This is state sanctioned violence. You’ve now got more chance of being arrested for being a peaceful protester than you do for inviting a genocide.

Premier Minns and the Prime Minister bear the responsibility for creating the conditions that has led to this appalling police violence.

This violence now needs to be independently investigated. Those protest rights must be restored and respected, and President Herzog should not set foot anywhere near Federal Parliament when he’s here in Canberra tomorrow to the hundreds of thousands of people who have marched for peace, who have called out a genocide and called on our nation to do better, we stand with you. Please don’t be silenced. We will not be silenced. We will keep speaking out against a genocide.

This from AAP is truly terrfying. Donald Trump’s name is mentioned in the Epstein files more often than Harry Potter is mentioned across seven books – but if he grants one of the architects of it all clemency, she’ll say he’s innocent.

Truly diabolical. As always, solidarity with all the victims.

Ghislaine Maxwell has indicated that if President Donald Trump grants her clemency, she’s willing to testify he did nothing wrong in regard to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

The former girlfriend of Epstein invoked her right to silence on Monday while appearing before US House lawmakers but her lawyers said she would speak in exchange for clemency.

The House Oversight Committee had wanted Maxwell to answer questions during a video call to the federal prison camp in Texas where she’s serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, but she invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions that would be self-incriminating.

Maxwell has come under new scrutiny as lawmakers try to investigate how Epstein, a well-connected financier, was able to sexually abuse underage girls for years.

Amid a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse that has spilled into the highest levels of businesses and governments around the globe, lawmakers are searching for anyone who was connected to Epstein and may have facilitated his abuse.

So far, the revelations have shown how both Trump and former president Bill Clinton spent time with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, but they have not been credibly accused of wrongdoing.

Dressed in a brown, prison-issued shirt and sitting at a conference table, Maxwell repeatedly said she was invoking “my Fifth Amendment right to silence,” video later released by the committee showed.

During the closed-door deposition, Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus said in a statement to the committee that “Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump”.

He added that both Trump and Clinton “are innocent of any wrongdoing” but that “Ms Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation”.

Democrats said that was a brazen effort by Maxwell to have Trump end her prison sentence.

“It’s very clear she’s campaigning for clemency,” said Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat.

Asked about Maxwell’s appeal, the White House pointed to previous remarks from the president that indicated the prospect of a pardon was not on his radar.

Maxwell has also been seeking to have her conviction overturned, arguing that she was wrongfully convicted.

The Supreme Court rejected her appeal last year, but in December she requested that a federal judge in New York consider what her lawyers describe as “substantial new evidence” that her trial was spoiled by constitutional violations.

Maxwell’s lawyer cited that petition as he told lawmakers she would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights.

Family members of the late Virginia Giuffre, one of the most outspoken victims of Epstein, also released a letter to Maxwell making it clear they did not consider her “a bystander” to Epstein’s abuse.

“You were a central, deliberate actor in a system built to find children, isolate them, groom them, and deliver them to abuse,” Sky and Amanda Roberts wrote in the letter addressed to Maxwell.

Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a low-security prison camp in Texas last summer after she participated in two-days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Meanwhile, several lawmakers visited a Justice Department office in Washington Monday to look through unredacted versions of the files on Epstein that the department has released to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.

As part of an arrangement with the Justice Department, lawmakers were given access to the over three million released files in a reading room with four computers. Lawmakers can only make handwritten notes.

with PA

Ok, so we don’t have long until QT now. I am going to ferret around and see what has been happening and get back to you. But go and have a break and another coffee (if needed – I am on number four)

We are about to get into ABC estimates too, so strap in for that.

Greg Jericho

Today Tony Abbott has come out on Twitter to praise the NSW police:

He suggests that “these ratbags [protestors] are against Australia as much as they’re against Israel.”

Oddly however his twitter account is totally silent on the recent reports that Israel has bulldozed parts of the Gaza War Cemetery, where around 250 Australian soldiers are buried.

It might seem nitpicking to mention this, but Abbott for six years was a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial.

I suspect that had Hamas done such a thing his anger would be loud and long. Or maybe Abbott does not believe destroying the graves of Australian soldiers is being against Australia?

In the Finance and Public Admin committee, the current APSC commissioner, Dr Gordon de Brouwer was asked about his statements on Robodebt,

He notes that “I did refer to Robodebt as a disgrace” and says his work as commissioner has been trying to reverse the behaviours that led to that.

He points to the changes that ensure “accepting that senior officials are responsible for their conduct” and not only they are responsible at the time but that “you bear responsibility over time for that”

He suggests that the APSC has attempted to “create open cultures” and reinforce a culture where “every public servant has responsibility… and agency”. His line is that the public service should be about “excellence in delivery and excellence in ethics” and he refers to Robodebt and the APSC’s  “very clear rejection of that behaviour”

He later suggests that there were consequences for the senior public servants involved – though he admits this might not be as big as many would have liked, but that it was done by law – including the use of protected information.  

He notes that if someone chooses to resign from the Public Service the APSC is pretty much limited by law in their ability to do anything, which means that there really is no real consequence for future employment outside the APS.

While there is a pretty clear shift in outlook by the APS from the Robodebt horrors, but as our research has noted the Albanese government is failing to be as transparent as it should be.

• Only 21% of 2023-24 FOI requests were granted in full compared to 81% in 2006-07.
• Whereas the average request once took 13 hours to determine (2006-07), it now takes 51 hours (2023-24). In other words, the Albanese government employs four public servants to do what only took one public servant under the Howard government.
• If the Albanese government achieved the Howard government’s cost-per-FOI-request ratio, taxpayers would save $61 million per year.

The Sydney Morning Herald has been jumping on the bandwagon with people who have been complaining that government spending is too high, growing too quickly and is the prime mover generating inflation. The Opposition in particular have been trying to enlist the support of the Reserve Bank Governor, Michele Bullock.

She has now conceded that public spending, combined with private spending, added to an increase in aggregate demand in the economy (well less conceded as explained the bleeding obvious to LNP senators)

Ms Bullock may have had good reason to be coy on the role of the public sector. The latest Statement on Monetary Policy shows the Reserve Bank’s estimate of the contribution to economic growth from public and private demand and net exports. It says: “The contribution of public demand growth to GDP has decreased over the past year”. But there is more to it than that.

The following graph is a screenshot of the Reserve Bank’s Statement on Monetary Policy.

The Reserve Bank graph shows that public demand (shown in red) tends to be around a quarter of the contribution to economic growth. That is about the same as the public sector’s share in the economy so nothing unusual about that.

The other thing about the graph is that the public sector’s contribution to growth tends to be higher when total growth (black line) is low. We can see that over the course of 2024-25 but the last quarter shown is the September 2025 quarter when private demand has taken over and public demand is a very low share of the total contribution to growth. This is the story the Treasurer Jim Chalmers has focused on.

What this illustrates quite clearly is that as contributions from the private sector contract the public sector takes over.

A lot of that happens automatically as lower economic growth triggers higher welfare payments, especially on unemployment benefits, and also triggers lower tax collections as private incomes contract. This is known as “automatic stabilisers” – and basically work to stop a slowing economy go into a recession. What it also does is increase budget deficits, which is a sing that the govt is providing economic stimulus to the economy.

Meantime the Financial Review today reported that the Reserve Bank has forecast low economic growth into the future and said: “The Reserve Bank of Australia has forecast the worst medium-term economic growth ever, which economists warn will erode Australians’ living standards and put more pressure on the federal government’s deteriorating budget.”

That is a reference to the Statement’s forecasts which have economic growth slowing right down to just 1.6% and unemployment going up to 4.6% (from 4.1% now). All the other indicators forecast by the Reserve Bank are abysmal as well.

We may well ask why interest rates were increased last week given this outlook. But given that it is important that the government do everything it can to maintain aggregate demand as high as possible this is certainly not the time for a public sector austerity program which is what the Opposition and financial press seem to be calling for.

We face the outlook of a very sluggish economy that needs a hefty boost.

Communications minister Anika Wells says she has asked for any further action she can take to regulate Roblox after reports children were being exploited and groomed on the platform, as well as requested the game’s PG classification be reviewed.

The Liberals have issued a rare statement on substance:

The Prime Minister should immediately summon the Laotian Ambassador for a formal explanation following revelations that those responsible for the deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles by ethanol poisoning have only received fines of just AUD$185. 

Australians are rightly shocked. Four other tourists, two Danish women, a US tourist and a British woman, also died in this mass poisoning event.

A year ago we learned the Laos Government was refusing Australian Federal Police assistance in the investigation. A year ago Australians were told by the Albanese Government that the matter was in hand. At the time the Leader made the point on Channel 7’s Sunrise.

We now know there has been no meaningful justice for Holly and Bianca, and their families did not learn of these outcomes from their own government but via the British woman’s family.

Australia makes a significant contribution to Laos through our foreign aid program and other development assistance. 

The Albanese Government should  remind the Laotian Government of the important contributions Australian taxpayers make to key programs in Laos in-line with the friendship between our two countries. 

It is in that same spirit of friendship and cooperation that Australians rightly have an expectation of proper justice and accountability for the deaths of two young Australians.

The Albanese Government must also explain the clear failures of consular support and diplomacy in this instance, and why the families of Holly and Bianca were not kept properly informed of these developments.

Holly and Bianca deserve justice, their families deserve answers and Australia should be using every diplomatic lever at its disposal to secure both.

The current APSC commissioner Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM finished his opening statement by getting quite emotional as he announced he would be retiring soon ( a couple years early – which he makes clear is a personal decision because he really wants to enjoy life) and so this would be his last appearance at Estimates.

Dr de Brouwer has been Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy (2013-17) and whole raft of other public service positions. Being sad that he is no longer going to be appearing at Estimates is not something most people would feel, but it is a nice little note that good public servants are good people.

De Brouwer back in 2010 appeared in Wikileaks cables when he was working in PM&C under Kevin Rudd where he wrote in a cable “PM&C foreign policy staff have been run ragged answering the PM’s queries and supporting his interaction with foreign officials”.

The Albanese government’s proposed changes to Freedom of Information laws were roundly criticised by Coalition, Greens, and Independent Senators after an inquiry late last year. But now it seems criticism of Labor’s ‘friendless’ bill is even broader – and the call is coming from inside the house.

Labor has tried to justify its proposed Freedom of Information (FOI) changes with a supposed swarm of FOI requests, clogging up the system and wasting the time of public servants.

This has always been dubious – only 800 more FOI requests were received last year than in 2004, when Howard was PM (and there were 25,000 fewer people in the public service).

But new documents – ironically, released under FOI – have shown Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s own department told her that the ‘swarm’ of FOI requests was anything but.

The chart below comes from a brief provided to Rowland by the Attorney-General’s Department days before she introduced the FOI changes to Parliament and shows that the number of requests processed in 2023-24 was just a fraction of 2016-17, less than a decade earlier.

It’s further proof that increases in processing times for FOI requests aren’t driven by an increase in ‘frivolous’ or ‘vexatious’ requests, as Rowland has claimed, but by the heightened culture of secrecy found in the Albanese Government.

If Labor truly wanted to fix the FOI system, which advocates agree is broken, they could start with getting their own house in order.

Amnesty Australia has come out strongly in condemning the police use of force against peaceful protesters at last night’s rally and called for an “urgent, independent investigation of police conduct”.

The rights to freedom of expression and assembly are protected under international law. As a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Australia has a clear obligation to respect and uphold these fundamental human rights – this includes facilitating people exercising their right to peaceful protest. 

Around 10,000 people gathered in Sydney to protest Herzog’s visit and to demand justice and accountability for the Israeli President who Amnesty, the International Court of Justice and the UN Independent Commission of Enquiry have determined has overseen and directly incited genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, resulting in over 70,000 deaths. At last night’s protest in Sydney, at least 27 people were arrested, and many suffered from and were subjected to extreme and unnecessary police violence.  

Amnesty International Australia is deeply alarmed by reports of police targeting already vulnerable and marginalised communities. First Nations Peoples, Muslim worshippers and leaders, as well as elderly protesters, were among those subjected to police use of force, including the use of pepper spray, police on horseback charging into crowds, and officers boxing protesters in with no avenue to safely disperse before launching attacks. 

Scenes of police officers using excessive force on Muslim worshippers who were peacefully praying are shocking. Amnesty calls for accountability and for the protection of freedom of religion. Protesters who had their hands raised and were clearly surrendering were subjected to punches and disproportionate force. 

Amnesty activists and supporters, including teenagers, sustained injuries after being surrounded by police at Sydney Town Hall and prevented from leaving, before being charged from all sides.  

The excessive use of force by police occurred against the backdrop of rushed protest laws passed by the NSW Parliament. Amnesty warned that these laws risk criminalising peaceful protest and enabling arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, particularly against vulnerable and marginalised communities. The events of last night demonstrate that our fears were well-founded.  

It is party room meeting day, which means the major party MPs have been corralled into a room to hear what the party will be doing this week.
Things in the Liberal party room do not seem to be going well.

After her public intervention on Sky yesterday, Jane Hume was told to keep her comments to the party room. So she did, today asking what it was exactly the party was doing.

Hume is seen as a backer of Angus Taylor, despite holding a more ‘moderate’ place in the Liberal party. Hume and Sussan Ley used to be good friends and would even host parliament girl power drinks for women in media (your scribe did not attend) together, where Ley would run around telling everyone she used to be punk.

But Taylor and Hume worked well together while in the finance portfolio. And when Ley dumped Hume from the senior leadership and shadow frontbench all together, things soured.

But that is not, we are told, why Hume is being so bolshie. She is “fed up like the rest of us” with the constant tooing and froing.

Meanwhile Tasmanian senator Jono (he chose that) Duniam has publicly said it is time for Taylor to either shit or get off the pot and announce whether he is going to do a leadership challenge.

You’ll know if Taylor quits the front bench that it is officially, on.

One of the more common features of Estimates is a lot of back and forth that gets nowhere

Over the past half hour Liberal Senator Jessica Collins has been trying to get information and data from the Office for Women about vulnerable women’s access to the Housing Australia Future Fund.

Senator Katy Gallagher has told Senator Collins that Treasury is the department that runs that program and so she should ask them.

Senator Collins keeps wanting to know the figures and wants the Office for Women to find out.

Senator Gallagher keeps telling her that she can ask Treasury, because it is their job.

Senator Collins tries to get in a line that “What I take from that is we have no assurance from Treasury that the first 4,000 houses… [assume she was going to say have not gone to vulnerable women]”

But Senator Gallagher breaks in to note “Well you haven’t asked Treasury that, they haven’t even appeared yet, so how can you say that?”

So tune in tomorrow when Treasury does appear to see if Senator Collins asks them

Currently the Office for Women and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is up before the Senate Estimates committee

It began with a bit of a discussion about gender pay gaps in male dominated occupations.

One of the things the WGEA has noted is that one of the best ways to reduce gender pay inequality is to increase women’s participation in male dominated jobs.

The reason is that male dominated jobs are much better paid.

For example, of the 1,093 occupation that the ATO records 244 have an average salary above $100,000, and overwhelmingly they are in jobs where men make up the vast majority of employees

110 occupations where men make up more than 80% of the workers have an average salary above $100,000. By contrast just 1 occupation has a higher salary than $100,000 where women make up more than 80% (Directors of nursing)

But also remember that in 95% of all occupations, men have a higher average salary – so it is not just about reducing the pay gap by getting more women mining engineers

This is a pretty extraordinary intervention from Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, who has mostly chosen private and community engagement over public statements in how he has carried out the role. Malik makes the point that the group who were praying, were not in the move-on order zone and had deliberately removed themselves to an area where they were not obstructing access.

Malik rightly calls throwing peacefully praying people “onto the concrete and using pepper spray” “unprovoked and unacceptable” and calls for it to be “condemned unequivocally”.

He wants a public apology and accountability for what happened.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is in Canberra today to talk energy – and he’s also had a few things to say about the modern Liberal party:

For the right wing of the Liberal Party, which now completely control it, energy is a cultural war issue. They would have heard me say years ago, energy policy should be determined by engineering and economics, not ideology and idiocy, but you let ideology and idiocy take over your public discourse, you get where they have gone.

…What we’re talking about is the important things in public life, which is economics, you know, energy policy. How do we, you know, get the right infrastructure, right price in the right places. That’s what they should be talking about.

…This is the inevitable consequence for the Liberal Party of imagining that the goal of politics is to seek the approval of the Sky News audience. Now that may well represent many of the members of their branches, but it does not represent Australia.

Australia is a sensible nation. We are a balanced you know, we are centrists as Australians. We have an electoral system that mediates our political conflict at the center, because of compulsory voting and preferential voting, and if you run off into La La Land, which is where they’ve headed, then, well, then you find yourself running second to fall.

The crossbench have held a press conference calling for Australia to do more to regulate all social media, not just for under 16s.

Here is Allegra Spender talking a bit on that:

Josh Lees continues:

As I said, Chris Minns unleashed this horrific police violence last night, one of the most outrageous lines he’s trying to use today to justify that police brutality if that didn’t happen we in some way pose a threat to the Jewish people in Sydney or the people the Herzog event at the ICC.

This is so dishonest. Chris Minns knows this is a complete lie, because people trying to march were trying to march in the opposite direction of the event taking place.

Chris Minns cannot possibly use as an excuse for the sickening police brutality meted out to us all. There is no for last night whatsoever. Chris Minns seemingly trying to bring a bit Donald Trump’s America to Sydney. That cannot be allowed. We will not stand for it.

We need to stand stand up against this kind of authoritarianism, this crackdown on protesters and unleashing in violence. We have called another rally tonight at the Surry Hills Police Station, to make the point, there needs to be investigation into the police brutality, that all charges against protesters need to be dropped and we need to repeal this raft of anti-protest laws that Chris Minns has passed which led to the police thinking that are above the law, can do whatever they want, brutalise protesters as we saw last night.

Josh Lees from the Palestine Action Group is addressing a media conference which has been called by supporters of last night’s rally to counter some of the claims from Chris Minns and the NSW police.

Lees says:

This was a violent attack on protesters, in order to roll the carpet out for someone who has incited a genocide in Gaza. That is the context here. We all would be aware of many of the brutal stories, of course, the videos that are going around of a man with his hands raised in surrender being pummelled by riot police, another man thrown to the ground, two police kneeling on him, while police repeatedly punch him in the head and the kidneys. We saw the Muslim men kneeling in prayer, [attacked] by police.

There are so many stories coming in.

An old woman, I’m has four cracked ribs from her violent treatment overnight.

I personally witnessed a young woman who was just trying to leave by herself, not as part of a grabbed by the hair, thrown to ground and arrested.

Another, 77-year-old man, was violently arrested, he was punched. suffered serious injuries. He can’t walk properly today. He was then arrested on an assault police charge only to be five hours later, when of course it emerged that charge was completely bogus.

That should be a lesson when it comes to all of these so-called assaults, police charges. We said of course in the lead up to this, that the streets of Sydney should belong to the people of Sydney, not president of a genocidal state.

That is what should have occurred, our peaceful protest should have been allowed, we should are have been allowed to march, that’s what we asked police for continually last night.

Today Bloomberg (a financial reporting service) referred to a report just released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. This report looks at the treatment of the environment by global businesses.

Bloomberg summarises: “Global businesses are undermining the environment even though they rely on nature for key raw materials and critical services such as pollination and water filtration…A focus on growth as measured by the gross domestic product has resulted in significant damage to the natural world”.

Bloomberg continues: “Nature is in decline worldwide, and levels of so-called natural capital — ecosystems and natural resources — have fallen by nearly 40%, the report says. But because markets don’t adequately price or value biodiversity, businesses don’t experience the cost of the damage and often can’t make money from protecting it, meaning there is little incentive to do so.”

Nearly 80 scientists and industry expertsspent three years working on the report, which is designed to inform investment decisions and national policies.

The present report fits in with other work, according to the State of Finance for Nature report by the United Nations, companies and governments still favor investments that are likely to harm nature rather than help it. This report found government and business spent $7.3 trillion on “nature-negative” activities compared to $220 billion on nature-friendly investments in 2023.

That is a ratio of 33 to 1 in favour of global spending on harmful activities. 

The report can be found here.

Here is the whole exchange the PM had on Hobart FM radio Triple M about the protests. Albanese defends the approach his government has taken to everything at the end of the interview, in a way that should be taken note of.

Q: The time since the Bondi attack, Prime Minister, has been particularly difficult for a number of parts of our community, particularly the Jewish community. The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has been invited here to share the grief with some of that community. Was he the right man to invite to help share that grief?
 
Albanese:

He was because he’s the Head of State. He’s the equivalent of the Governor-General. And when the Jewish community asked for their Head of State to visit, I think it is appropriate that people be allowed to mourn and to do so respectfully. Now, people will have different views about the Middle East and we have been critical and have received some criticism of the Israeli government. But we do need to be able to have people express any views peacefully in an appropriate way. And this visit is an important opportunity for President Herzog to stand with Jewish Australians and remember those innocent lives lost on December 14th. Later this afternoon I will be with President Herzog visiting families who’ve lost loved ones and people surely should be able to respect that whilst maintaining whatever position it is that they have on the Middle East. I think that Australians want two things, they don’t want conflict brought here, they want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here.
 

Q: How does it make you feel to see law enforcement and protesters clashing on the streets like they did in Sydney yesterday?
 
Albanese: 

Oh look, I’m devastated by it. These are really scenes that I think shouldn’t be taking place. People should be able to express their views peacefully. But the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march, to go a particular route, and to ensure that this was done peacefully. But the causes are not advanced by these sort of scenes. Indeed, they’re undermined.
 

Q: Prime Minister, it feels like Australia is on the cusp of tipping point with world events happening around. We see it in the US, the violent protests that we’ve seen over there, ICE agents, things like that. Are we heading down that path too?
 
Albanese: 

We live in a really turbulent world, and we live in society that increasingly there’s a number of reasons for it. There’s increased polarisation, there is increased shouting rather than talking and discussing respectfully and in a reasonable way. And there’s got to be less capitals and exclamation marks behind every statement and more reasoned discussion. Social media, of course, pushes people with the algorithms towards more extreme positions. There are people who say things online who would never say it to your face, ever. And this is something that we need to have a discussion of. My government is an orderly, considered government.

We have proper processes in place and often there are demands for us to do things yesterday and too much anger and not enough reason.
 

In policy land, the online gaming platform Roblox is in the government spotlight for not doing enough to stop child grooming and exploitation on their site. The eSafety Commissioner says she is very worried about ongoing reports of the platform failing to protect children and the commitments and measures it made when the social media ban was put in place would be tested.

Anika Wells will be speaking on this later today, but the prime minister was asked about it this morning and told Hobart FM radio Triple M:

Well this is disturbing news and the Minister has written to them seeking an urgent meeting on what they’re doing to keep their users safe from online predators. We also have the eSafety Commissioner is seeking her advice on what powers and tools can be ramped up to protect kids on this platform. This is world leading legislation that we have passed and are implementing for the social media ban. And Roblox made some commitments, they said they would be keeping people safe and quite clearly there is an issue here, because the safety of children online is non-negotiable. We want kids to be able to be kids, we don’t want kids being exposed to graphic content on Roblox or anything else.

New analysis from The Australia Institute shows that over 80% of the economic benefit from the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme goes to Australia, the wealthiest country in the Pacific region, while about 18% is left for workers from some of Australia’s poorest neighbours to take home. This means Australia makes more than four times as much off the back of PALM workers as the rest of the region.

The PALM scheme is a ‘guestworker’ program that allows people from nine Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste to work in low-waged occupations across rural and regional Australia. There are currently more than 31,000 PALM workers in Australia.

The Australia Institute’s analysis is based on information published in 2022 by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. If the Australian Government published more information about where the money from the scheme goes, then all involved would have a clearer picture of who gets what. But, given that the number of participants in the scheme has tripled since 2022, it is likely that the gulf in benefits between Australia and its Pacific neighbours has grown.

The PALM scheme is often touted as a “win-win” because Australian businesses get a ready supply of willing workers, while people from the Pacific and Timor-Leste get a chance to earn Australian dollars. But if most of the money stays in Australian then the Australian Government’s claims that the PALM Scheme has positive developmental and diplomatic benefits look dubious, and this could have serious implications for the partnerships Australia is wants to forge with “our Pacific family.”

You can hear stories from the Pacific Islanders who have worked in Australia under the scheme in the four-part Australia Institute podcast PALMed Off.

Asked again about how damaging the chant ‘globalise the Intifada’ is (Intifada is the Arabic word for uprising or shake off, and while some Israeli people believe the chant is calling for an end to Israel and is a threat to Jewish people more broadly, Palestinian and anti-genocide supporters say it is a historical call to shake off oppression and a call for equality) Zali Steggall still doesn’t bite.

(People should realise by now that lawyers are not someone you are going to shake off from their argument or point of view easily)

Steggall:

I don’t dispute that it is damaging, but what I am really disappointed that at no point am I hearing anything in relation to what is to happen to the Palestinian people. We are seeing today, the announcement that the Israeli government has fairly further passed laws to legalise taking occupied territories. You can’t disconnect this issue. You can not disconnect this issue.

She is cut off again and told she lives in Australia, in Sydney where 15 people were murdered and asked ‘why isn’t that priority’.

Steggall:

Why are we having the leader of a foreign state here causing social disruption and impacting our social cohesion?

If we are Australians first and foremost, inviting the head of another state that has highly foreseeable consequences on our social cohesion is something the Prime Minister should have taken much greater care in considering.

Independent MP Zali Steggall was asked about the protests in Sydney last night and says:

I think this situation was entirely foreseeable, and I do lay the blame squarely at the Prime Minister and in part to Chris Minns. We know emotions are high as a result of the terror attack to Bondi, the Hamas attack of October 7, but also the huge amount of civilians and innocent lives that have been killed in Gaza and Palestinian lives.

Steggall is interrupted but pushes back.

I feel strongly, if I may, finish that this last this was entirely foreseeable that we would have unrest. It is essential that protesters respect the law, but in instances where you have police excessive force used that also must be investigated

Interrupted again (the interviewer wants Steggall to criticise Grace Tame for her chant of ‘globalise the Intifada’ but Steggall doesn’t bite)

Let me finish again. It is entirely foreseeable that Jewish Australians feel strongly and feel incredibly vulnerable in this situation, but Palestinian Australians are also feeling incredibly angry and hurt at the continued killing of innocent civilian lives. We cannot. I’m sorry you cannot disconnect the actions of the State of Israel, and President Herzog is the president of that state…

Interrupted again, on the same point, Steggall still doesn’t bite.

We have freedom of speech in Australia. She is entitled to express her views.

Asked about the hate speech laws, Steggall, a lawyer knows how to push back:

We do and those hate speech laws go to if you are in urging or encouraging harm to be brought upon Australians, that is what the hate speech, speech is.

I don’t agree with what is being chanted, but I also respect that this is a very complex issue…. and I think the Prime Minister bears the blame of this situation.

This was entirely foreseeable, and that’s why I wrote to him, asking him to reconsider and to really clarify – it was entirely foreseeable, considering the last two years and the issues and the damage this has done to social cohesion, that events like last night were going to happen.

One of the things about Senate Estimates is that they often only get a mention when things get shouty or stupid.

But they are a pretty important process of our democracy, and from my own experience back as a public servant they involved a lot of work providing briefings on everything going on in the Department.

Right now in the Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee the National Emergency Management Agency is being asked about disaster payments – specifically the Queensland floods.

Queensland LNP senator Susan McDonald is talking about the mental health package and the current difficulties for people to apply to it and her wanting a pro-active package of $75,000 delivered in times of such crisis.

She has been pretty passionate about the need for a proactive payment.

Would that we had the same passion in her party (and others) arguing about the reasons for the rise in floods, fires and other natural disasters.

As American democracy teeters, the Australian government is trying to pretend everything is just fine.

On this episode of After America, Ben Doherty, Guardian Australia senior reporter covering international affairs, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the mass layoffs at the Washington Post, the lack of transparency around the AUKUS submarine deal, and why the Australian government still has its head in the sand over Trump.

Skye Predavec
Researcher

Queensland will be left with “the weakest gun laws in Australia”, according to gun control advocate Stephen Bendle in The Guardian.

That’s because they’ve avoided following the lead of other states and territories in further restricting the types and number of guns that people can own, instead pursuing narrower changes, including around mandatory minimum sentences for firearm offences.

So what were they supposed to sign up to?

Following the Bondi massacre in December, the National Cabinet of state, territory and federal governments agreed to the most significant reforms to Australia’s firearm laws since 1996. These included commitments to: 

• Limit the number of firearms to be held by any one individual 
• Limit open-ended firearms licencing, and the types of guns that are legal 
• Make Australian citizenship a condition of holding a firearm license 
• Accelerate work on the National Firearms Register 

When the Federal Parliament was called back early in January, they passed the Commonwealth’s end of these changes, including restricting the importation of rapidly reloading rifles and shotguns like those used at Bondi, setting up mechanisms for background checks, and establishing the infrastructure for a new national buyback program. 

But most firearm laws are the responsibility of states and territories, which is why Queensland can refuse to implement reforms similar to those made in NSW and the ACT, despite agreeing to strengthen gun laws back in December.

Skye Predavec
Researcher

Yesterday, less than two years after they unexpectedly won the Northern Territory seat of Nightcliff, Australia’s Kat McNamara has retired from the NT Legislative Assembly, citing health issues.

McNamara, whose middle name is literally ‘Danger’ was the first Green to be elected to NT parliament, defeating former chief minister Natasha Fyles. They were also Australia’s first, and only, non-binary politician.

With McNamara’s exit, Australia’s political gender balance becomes even more male-dominated. Of the 846 politicians in Australian state, territory, and federal parliaments, 461 are men, and 384 are women (as shown in the graph below).

With Angus Taylor expected to challenge Sussan Ley for the leadership following the Liberal party continuing to lose voters to One Nation, it is worth having a look at who One Nation is attracting.

Bill Browne
Director, Democracy & Accountability Program

Around the world, the supporters of “populist” right-wing political parties often skew male. In the US, one in three women support President Donald Trump but almost one in two men do (34% vs 47%). Thirty percent of men support Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, compared to 22% of women.

But as Evan Schwarten of DemosAU writes today on The Point, recent polling shows women are about as likely to vote for One Nation as men are: 24% of women and 25% of men in DemosAU’s latest polling research and 25% for women and men in the latest YouGov. Fox and Hedgehog does have a gap, with men at 23% and women at 19%.

European far-right parties led by women, like Marine Le Pen in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy, also buck the trend – winning votes from women in the same or slightly higher numbers as votes from men.

Does Pauline Hanson heading One Nation help explain the party’s lack of a gender gap? And what are the implications if she hands over the leadership this term, for example to Barnaby Joyce?  

But if you need a laugh this morning, the Daily Telegraph socials person seemed to be having a bit of a morning with this tile appearing all too briefly (but not brief enough that our spies didn’t spot it)

Chris Minns has received glowing praise from Tony Abbott for his response to the protesters and protecting police.

Bill Browne
Director, Democracy & Accountability Program

Australia has a proud history of protest – whether it’s dockworkers during World War II blocking exports to fascist Japan or the Vietnam War moratorium marches.

Too often, police have responded with violence.

Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen bussed in police to meet anti-apartheid protesters with violence.

After the 1978 Gay & Lesbian Mardis Gras, protester Peter Murphy was taken to an isolated area and beaten by NSW Police.

NSW Premier Neville Wran was on TV that same night defending the police.

Politicians set the tone by how they talk about protesters and Australians’ democratic right to protest. NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said of pro-Palestine protests in 2023: “I don’t want to see protests on our street at all, from anybody. I don’t think anybody really does.”

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says politicians, not independent judges, should decide which political protests are allowed to happen. 

After pro-Palestine protester Hannah Thomas was allegedly punched by a senior constable last year, Federal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke (who represents a seat in Sydney’s south-west) said protesters should have followed the police direction to move on and “No one is above the law”. But it was the police who exceeded their powers, and the senior constable involved has now been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.

After last night’s protests against the visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, NSW Premier Chris Minns has blamed protesters for injuries to police. When asked about injuries to protesters by police, he said “context is incredibly important”.

Australians have a right to protest peacefully, without being met with violence. When that violence does occur, politicians should have a better explanation than vague appeals to “context”.  

In response to Anthony Albanese’s comments that he was ‘devastated’ by the scenes overnight, Shoebridge says:

The prime minister can say he supports the right to protest, but he’s part of a political movement that has been demonising protesters, seeking to conflate, falsely conflate, hundreds of thousands, millions of Australians who have been demonstrating against the genocide with the hateful violence from two violent men whose ideology has no connection with the Free Palestine movement.

We’ve seen Prime Minister Albanese repeatedly attack protesters using words. 

And now those words have actually delivered violence on the street in the form of police brutality. 

Prime Minister Albanese needs to be held to account for his words and his demonising of protesters,his appalling political demonising of protesters, because his words matter. 

And his words are part of the reason the police felt able to deliver that level of violence on the streets of Sydney.

Prime Minister Albanese should apologise to the people of Australia for inviting that conflict onto thestreets and he should make it clear he should make it clear in his words and his actions that he condemns the violence being delivered by another Labor leader, Chris Minns in Sydney. 

Greens senator David Shoebridge has not held back this morning in criticising Chris Minns and Anthony Albanese after last night’s attacks on protesters.

He told a doorstop (quick press conference) in parliament:

There are two people responsible for the level of violence we saw on the streets of Sydney last night. 

One is Federal Labor Leader Prime Minister Albanese who invited President Herzog to this country knowing full well his complicity in calls for genocide in Gaza. And the second is Labor premier Chris Minns, who actively invited that level of police response, pushing through draconian police powers, demonising protesters and then calling in hundreds and hundreds of police to deliver the violence on the streets of Sydney.

Two Labor leaders, one appalling night of violence in Sydney where peaceful protesters were literally being hunted through the streets of Sydney, by packs of police, kettling in protesters, creating as much chaos as possible.

Police pulling aside people who had their hands up, pulling them to the ground, surrounding them, repeated kidney punches, pushing them to the ground, punching them and restraining them on the ground and then continuing the violence on the ground. 

We saw police coming in, pushing through a crowd of civilians who were seeking to protect people on the ground praying. 

And we saw saw the police shoving aside that screen of civilian protection and then coming in and literally pulling up and arresting people off from the ground whose crime was praying. 

One of my colleagues, a Greens MP, was in that shield of civilians trying to protect people on the ground praying. She was forcefully shoved aside, punched on the chin, pushed to the ground by police. 

We saw an individual on the street having having been arrested, face down on the street, being repeatedly punched by police.

His head being repeatedly pushed against the ground, shoved against the ground, and more police joined in to deliver the violence.

Pepper spray. 

There are images of packs of police charging through the city, looking for people to pull to the ground, totackle to the ground, and to violently arrest. 

Who created that violence on the streets of Sydney last night? 

Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Chris Minns. 

There will be countless civil actions against the New South Wales Police, trying to get some level measurof accountability through the courts for the violence that happened.

But there needs to be political accountability. 

This was an intentional, moment of political theatre for Premier Chris Minns in Sydney. 

This was the inevitable result of the political actions of Prime Minister Albanese. 

And yes, there will be, I am sure, court case after court case and some civil damages claims. 

But there needs to be political accountability because it was an intentional, deliberate and utterly  predictable scene of violence delivered by two Labor leaders. 

Meanwhile….

• 27 protesters were arrested in violent scenes in Sydney last night
• 10 have been charged with assaulting police
• Despite numerous videos showing police punching, pepper spraying and shoving protesters, NSW premier Chris Minns has defended police by claiming the ‘context’ is important
• Anthony Albanese has been ‘devastated’ by the scenes from last night’s protest, but continues to back inviting Israeli president Isaac Herzog
• Minns has criticised protesters for their actions, but says he doesn’t have enough information to criticise police for theirs.
• Minns has defended police for violently breaking up a peaceful Muslim prayer group, again claiming ‘context’
• Protests will continue tonight

NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said there was only one way to describe the actions of NSW police on Monday night: “corporal punishment against a peaceful community.” 

The violence in the streets of Sydney had precisely one cause, an emboldened and thuggish Police response, caused by the inflammatory actions of NSW Premier Chris Minns,” 

I will be referring the actions of the NSW Police to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, to make it clear that the orders to commit violence against the community were wildly inappropriate, and to demand accountability,”

A lawful and peaceful public assembly was set upon with state violence because arbitrary and excessive special powers were granted to the Police, via a rushed regulation made on a Saturday, with no good cause and in defiance our implied constitutional rights to engage in political expression,”

I saw with my own eyes something I had hoped to never see, but the video footage that is spreading across social media is all the evidence that any of us need to see the descent of NSW into a Police State. We saw people of the Muslim faith who were praying set upon, dragged, assaulted and thrown to the ground. We saw dozens of armed police charging at peaceful members of our community,”

Charging horses, chemical weapons, unprovoked assault, and severe police violence. These should never be the tools of law enforcement, and their presence on Sydney streets must be a wake up call to all of us.

Still listening to the Triple M Hobart FM radio interview, Albanese said he will be meeting with Isaac Herzog and families who have lost loved ones in the Bondi attack this afternoon:

Later this afternoon, I will be with President Herzog visiting families who have lost loved ones, and people surely should be able to respect that whilst maintaining whatever position it is that they have on the Middle East, I think that Australians want two things. They don’t want conflict brought here. They want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here.

On the visit itself, Albanese said:

Now people will have different views about the Middle East, and we have been critical, and have received some criticism of the Israeli government, but we do need to be able to have people express any views peacefully in an appropriate way, and this visit is an important opportunity for President Herzog to stand with Jewish Australians and remember those innocent lives lost on December 14.

On the footage of Muslims who were peacefully praying when police violently broke up the gathering, Chris Minns is asked whether they were ‘legitimately’ praying or ‘baiting police’ (!!!!!!!) and says:

Look, look, I think, it’s important to say that New South Wales Police would never, never have [target] the Islamic community. There’s a deep respect and a long standing history of cooperation between New South Wales Police and the Islamic leadership and the Arabic community in Sydney that stretches back a long, a long way.

But context is important.

New South Wales Police were caught in a dynamic situation in the middle of a riot. They don’t want that kind of confrontation. Nobody does in this city. But I’m hopeful that discussions can take place between the Islamic leadership and New South Police. When you’re looking at individual clips, understand the context. New South Wales Police tried everything possible to avoid a conflict last night, starting a week ago, when they asked protest organisers to do it from Hyde Park, not the middle of Town Hall. And as I said earlier, what we can say today that we couldn’t say yesterday for operational reasons is that we had 7000 Jewish mourners in the same city at the same  time.

Those two groups could not cross as damaging damaging as the were on television last night, that would have been far, far worse in Sydney.

Chris Minns has no problems in blaming protesters for injuries he said police sustained:

Several of them are injured. I’ve spoken to the New South Wales Police commissioner this morning. He’s concerned about it. Police are not punching bags.

Obviously, we’re worried about their their their welfare. We ask them as a public, as a civic society, to go into difficult situations, to keep the people of New South Wales safe.

I understand that people are unhappy. 

Some people are unhappy about what happened last night. But the truth of the matter is, a lot of people left that area once directed by police. There was some who were determined to have a conflict with police, and that’s what happened in the end.

But he won’t criticise the police for injuries protesters sustained, or for the use of violence and pepper spray:

Well, look, obviously they’ll be investigated, but I’m not prepared to say that. I mean, I think context is incredibly important. And all of the circumstances where police are affecting an arrest on a protester, are after protests protesters attempted to breach police lines twice.

In response to Labor backbencher Sarah Kaine‘s comments that the police response to protesters was not commensurate, Chris Minns says “she’s wrong” and defends the police before any sort of investigation has been taken into their actions.

He told Nine:

No. She’s wrong. I’m not going to throw police under the bus this morning. This is a situation that’s incredibly combustible. And the circumstances that weren’t shown on the news this morning or on TV last night because protesters breached…what would have happened if [protesters breached] police lines.

I mean, at the end of the day, we had the President of Israel, 7000 mourners, all in the city at the same time. It would have dangerous. As difficult as the scenes were to watch, it would have been infinitely worse if New South Wales Police didn’t do their job last night.

NSW premier Chris Minns has been on a media blitz of his own, defending police and and echoing the line of NSW police that the footage people can see on social media with their own eyes are just individual moments taken out of context.

This was Minns on the Nine network this morning:

NSW police were put in an impossible situation last night. It’s worth remembering they did everything possible to avoid that confrontation, starting last week when they begged protest organisers to have it in Hyde Park, where was safe and a march could take place. I know that some of the scenes on media are short clips, but people have to understand the circumstances where protesters breached police lines and ran amuck in Sydney would have been devastating.

What we can say today that we couldn’t say yesterday is that we had 7000 Jewish mourners in the same city at the same time, and police had to keep those two groups apart.

Anthony Albanese has continued his FM radio blitz for the second day, which included speaking to Triple M radio Hobart this morning.

There he was asked about the protests (which is unusual for a FM radio interview – yesterday all the interviews largely ignored Isaac Herzog’s visit) and he said he was “devastated” by the protests – but not for the reasons others may be.

I’m devastated by it. These are scenes that I think shouldn’t be taking place.

People should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march to go a particular route, and for to ensure that this was done peacefully.

But the causes are not advanced by these sort of scenes…they’re undermined.

The president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Timothy Roberts says NSW premier Chris Minns “has directly contributed to creating an adversarial atmosphere between NSW Police and protestors” and at last night’s protest “we saw the fruit of this failing leadership”.

Instead of allowing the community to exercise their right to assembly and political communication he has taken an increasingly regressive approach to legislation that erodes both.

It speaks to the legacy of Premier Minns and this Labor Government that as the community comes to grips with the footage of wanton violence by NSW Police against peaceful protestors and the needless disruption of religious practices, that we have no assurance that he will stop.

It has been clear that the Premier does not understand the fundamental foundations of both peace and democracy in NSW. The community deserves better than a Premier whose track record indicates that he will not even learn from what we all witnessed tonight. 

Australians should be deeply concerned about what this means for the future of political freedom in this country. A country that prides itself on fairness and the rule of law, cannot tolerate dissent being crushed and silenced like was attempted tonight”. 

Japanese companies with gas export interests have met with Australian policymakers at least two dozen times in recent years, as an analysis asserts narratives pushed by both countries do not align with global climate goals.

Japanese firms, including INPEX, JERA and Mitsubishi Corporation, have almost $70 billion ($US50 billion) in equity invested in 13 Australian liquefied natural gas export projects, according to research from climate think tank InfluenceMap.

The report’s author Jack Herring was surprised by the scale of their financial stake.

“This serves to link Japanese corporate interests directly to Australia’s gas export economy,” InfluenceMap’s Australian program manager told AAP.

Australia is a major supplier of gas to Japan but in recent years, the importer’s practice of reselling it to other markets – namely Southeast Asia – has come under scrutiny, particularly against the backdrop of warnings Australia might not have enough of the fuel to meet domestic needs.

Roughly 600 to 800 petajoules of Australian gas was onsold to other Asian markets by Japanese companies in 2024, according to Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis estimates – comparable to eastern Australia’s annual domestic gas consumption. 

InfluenceMap says four tactics are being used to keep expanding the fossil fuel industry: investment, lobbying in Australia, government influence in Japan, and public and political “narrative capture”.

At least 24 meetings between Japanese companies and Australian ministers and officials since Labor came to power in 2022 have been identified via freedom of information requests.

Mr Herring said the two-dozen meetings were “the tip of the iceberg” and it was impossible to know the full extent without mandatory ministerial diary disclosures and other transparency reforms.

The report also contained briefs, revealed for the first time, prepared for Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King before an October 2024 visit to Japan that repeatedly emphasised Australia’s commitment to “encouraging targeted investment into new gas projects in Australia”.

Pro-LNG narratives were also tested against scientific guidance for meeting global climate goals set out in the Paris agreement.

Common descriptions of gas as a “transition fuel”, as well as its importance for energy affordability and security, were deemed inconsistent with science-based pathways to stay within the 1.5C warming limit.

Mr Herring said continued investment in the LNG industry could delay decarbonisation in both Australia and the broader region by locking in decades of gas production.

He pointed to a Deloitte report commissioned by the WA Labor government and leaked in 2025 that found gas could “crowd out investments in renewable technologies”.

A spokesperson for Ms King said regular meetings with industry stakeholders were part of the role.

“Japan has been a strong and valued investment partner for Australia’s offshore LNG industry,” the spokesperson said.

A JERA spokesperson said like many businesses in Australia, it regularly engaged with state and federal governments and regulators on the operation and management of the LNG projects it is involved in.

“Australian LNG contributes to Japan’s supplies of reliable and affordable gas while generating valuable jobs and revenue in Australia,” the spokesperson said.

INPEX senior vice president corporate Bill Townsend said the company took a “bi-partisan approach to government engagement” and highlighted the jobs created by the Ichthys LNG project it operates, and its tax contributions.

“We are actively working to support Indo-Pacific energy security, while helping the region to achieve net zero by 2050, as detailed in our INPEX Vision 2035 strategic roadmap,” he said.

The New Daily

Police have defended their actions after officers were filmed punching protesters at a rally against visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended by thousands on Monday afternoon.

Anti-Herzog activists gathered at Sydney Town Hall and there were also protests in capital cities around the country.

One video shared by Greens Senator David Shoebridge shows police repeatedly punching a man who is holding up his hands.

Another video circulating shows police forcibly removing Muslim men who are praying on the street.

Protesters told media outlets that police were “aggressive”, throwing tear gas and “squashing” people who were ringed by officers, with no way to get out.

Police said 27 people were arrested and 10 officers were hurt when the rally erupted in clashes.

NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said the footage on social media was just small snippets that had been “taken out of context”.

He described the protest action as a “rolling melee of violence and unAustralian and unappropriate (sic) behaviour”.

McKenna said officers had been “threatened, jostled and assaulted” and had to enact special powers to move people on.

Police detain demonstrators during the protest at Sydney’s Town Hall. Photo: AAP

Prior to the chaos, the crowd stood peacefully and chanted in between speeches from people like former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Jewish academic Antony Loewenstein, and Amnesty International Australia spokesman Mohamed Duar.

Organisers had hoped to march through the city but a court decision, that upheld the police’s ability to restrict protests, scuppered plans.

As the demonstration drew to an end, the group moved towards the exit, with some trying to leave and others calling on the hundreds of surrounding police to let them march.

Though there was an exit towards the south side of the block where some could trickle out, along most of the square’s mouth, police restricted movement and would not let people march, forcing the large group into a gridlock.

Protesters’ chants soon grew louder and the police presence swelled.

Officers issued a move-on order but many within the immense, densely packed crowd were unclear on directions and the situation quickly devolved.

Police were accused of firing tear gas and using pepper spray. Photo: AAP

Police on foot and on horseback formed a front and rushed at the protesters as they attempted to disperse the group.

Others were seen beating and deploying pepper spray at attendees, and at one point a group of Muslim men leading a prayer were ripped from their knees and taken away by police.

Media, including photographers and those with press passes displayed, were forcibly pushed away from the scene by officers.

The streets were lined with medics kneeling over pepper-sprayed protesters, pouring water into their eyes as they sputtered and hacked up phlegm.

The protest began peacefully. Photo: AAP

“Instead of respecting the right of 50,000 people who turned up to express their outrage against our government celebrating someone accused of inciting genocide, the police resorted to unleashing unseen violent repression,” Palestine Action Group Sydney wrote in a social media post.

Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for assaulting officers.

Protests across other major Australian cities also drew strong attendance as participants spoke out against Israel’s bombardment and starvation of Gaza — which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians — and decried photos of Herzog signing an artillery shell that would be dropped on the occupied territory.

The Israeli president is set to carry on with his Australia tour on Tuesday.

Herzog was invited to Australia by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the Bondi mass shooting in mid-December.

He visited the scene of the terror attack on Monday and is set to attend more community events on Tuesday.

Asked by AAP if he had a message to protesters, he claimed the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” Israel’s existence.

He previously said Palestinians bore collective blame for Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, before later walking back the remarks.

A United Nations Human Rights Council commission of inquiry in September found the statement might reasonably have been interpreted as inciting genocide.

The federal government has said Mr Herzog’s visit would provide comfort to the Jewish community.

-with AAP

Tanya Plibersek says this plan is different as it involves everybody:

The important thing about this plan is it’s not just a Commonwealth government plan. All of the states and territories have signed onto the plan as well. What it says for the states and territories and the systems they run is they need to work better with Aboriginal women and communities, to make sure the systems the states and territories run are also fit for purpose.

And of course, that covers policing, justice, child protection, the day to day delivery of refuges and those front-line services for women, it has responsibility for us to, as a Commonwealth government, to reform ourselves.

Our big investment in recent times has been the leaving violence payment, that has helped over 10,500 people with payments up to $5,000.

But we need to make sure that that program is meeting the needs of Aboriginal women and their families as well. So there’s work in here for all of us. This report is important because it comes after many years of calls for these types of changes. 

And remember, if you need any help or just need a chat, call 13 Yarn or 1800RESPECT

Tanya Plibersek was speaking to the ABC because she is launching the first dedicated national plan to address violence against Indigenous women and children. Of the plan, she says:

This is a very important next step. It’s not to say that there hasn’t been important work going on up to now, in communities right around but this national plan has the support of every state and territory government and the Commonwealth government.

It comes with substantial additional funding. And it charts out how we really reduce the – unacceptable – shockingly high rates of violence against Aboriginal women and children into the future. It says that we need to prioritise delivery of programs that are locally designed, locally staffed, because Aboriginal communities themselves know what works in their communities.

But it also says our big mainstream systems like health, education, policing and justice, need to reform themselves as well. So they are better fit for purpose.

It also comes with over $200 million of additional funding that will make a real difference on the ground as it begins to flow out from 1 July.

That means programs like literally being able to go to an Aboriginal woman who is in a situation of domestic violence and say, how can we help you safely leave?

In a city area that’s hard enough, but if you’re in a tiny remote community and you need to fly in to help someone stay safe, you can imagine how much more complex that work is. It means setting healing programs for adolescent boys, it means working through play groups, connecting young mums to elders to help support them.

As they make some of these really difficult decisions about keeping their families safe. It will make a real difference on the ground. It comes on top of about – almost a doubling of funding for family violence prevention legal services a couple of years ago, it comes on top of $267 million of extra funding in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plan, under national plan on violence against women and their children.

So it’s not there hasn’t been before, there has been really important effort made, this brings that work together and super charges it.

Tanya Plibersek was asked about the protests on ABC TV News Breakfast and said:

Well, we always understood that this visit might be controversial in some quarters. I mean, there’s even parts of the Jewish community who have made clear they didn’t want this visit to proceed. I would ask the Australian community just to take a deep breath and reflect on the reason for the visit. 15 people have been murdered in Australia’s worst domestic terrorist event and there’s a grieving community saying this visit will bring them comfort. 

Surely as Australians we can just take a deep breath and allow brings comfort to some people, they should be allowed that comfort at a time like this.

I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the marches. I think people absolutely have a right to protest in this country, to make their points peacefully. I think the – the protest organisers, when both the police and the courts said to them, yes, you can protest, but you can either do it in a stationary way here in Town Hall, if you want to march, you can march through a different part of the city, should have heeded that advice.

But of course, some of the videos that we’ve seen have been very concerning. And I – I expect they’ll be investigated.

Hello and welcome back to parliament and estimates. There should be a bit more estimates action today, so we will bring you more from those hearings, as well as the House mess, where the focus is on whether or not the Liberals current leader will remain the leader for much longer.

All signs are pointing to it being a matter of when Angus Taylor challenges, not if. But first there is the Coalition election review to get through. The Liberals are pretending they have policies by dressing up slogans in canva and posting them on social media like it might actually convince someone to vote for them. But you know, hire clowns, get a circus.

While the Liberals are flopping to the finish line, there is still the matter of governing.

There were protests in every major centre and region against Israeli president Isaac Herzog visit to Australia, with the biggest in Sydney. Police have been accused of an over the top response to the peaceful gathering, which included violently ‘moving on’ Muslims who were peacefully praying. Videos posted to social media show protesters being chased, and pepper sprayed and punched.

As Deepcut reported:

State Labor backbencher Anthony D’Adam, who was demoted by Minns in 2024 after criticising police treatment of pro-Palestine protesters, said yesterday that he “personally witnessed disgusting and excessive police violence which needs to be investigated”.

“This could have been avoided if police had been allowed to facilitate a peaceful march to the parliament as originally proposed,” D’Adam said.

More protests are planned for the duration of Herzog’s visit, which will include a trip to Canberra as I understand it.

Chris Minns, the NSW premier has not taken a backward step and was at a special dinner function with Herzog as the protest in Sydney was held. Anthony Albanese and federal Labor did their best to avoid any mention of it in the parliament yesterday, until independent MP Sophie Scamps forced some acknowledgement, when she questioned whether sanctions would be applied against Israel for its illegal annexation of the West Bank. Richard Marles ‘noted the timing’ of Scamps’ question and said Herzog was an ‘honoured and welcomed guest’.

We’ll follow what happens there, as well as what comes out of Labor’s response to the economy and the potential for tax reform in the coming budget.

You have Amy Remeikis and my two coffees to guide you through the next little bit. Ready? Me either. But let’s get into it.