SBS News in Filipino, Monday 26 May 2025
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Australians mark National Sorry Day
Tensions in the South China Sea, tariffs from the United States, and AI are among the topics to be discussed at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Junior SBS Filipino
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ABC News
29 minutes ago
- ABC News
Scott Morrison receives country's highest honour for leading Australia through crisis
Scott Morrison has credited Australians for their "courage and resilience" in the face of crises, including the Black Summer bushfires and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, as he received the country's highest honour for his leadership. The 30th prime minister has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his "eminent service" to the country and direction of the national COVID response, as part of the King's Birthday honours. Mr Morrison was prime minister for just over three and a half years — between 2018 and 2022 — a period in which he said, "we were hit with pretty much every crisis you can imagine". "From natural disasters to a global pandemic, once in a hundred years, and of course the threats we faced in our region, and a recession caused by that global pandemic," he said in a sit-down interview before his appointment was publicly announced. "Through all of this Australians were just incredible and the one assumption I made is that that's how they would be — their character would pull them through and that's the basis on which we built the policies that helped us to achieve that." The AC is the highest award in the King's Birthday Honour List, designed to recognise achievements "in service to Australia or humanity at large". Former prime ministers are typically appointed, but the time between their service and the recognition varies. Mr Morrison's appointment — three years after he lost the prime ministership — also notes his contributions to international engagement, economic initiatives and national security, particularly through his role in securing the AUKUS agreement. The latter was named by the former prime minister as one of his proudest achievements in office, among other work he said his government undertook to strengthen Australia's sovereignty. "The resilience and sovereignty of the country, whether it was building our resilience against disasters of the future, having dealt with them at the time, our economic resilience, incredibly important, the way we bounced back after COVID was incredible, and we had invested heavily in our small business sector in particular," he said. "It really was about protecting our sovereignty and building that up so we could deal with the significant challenges into the future." Mr Morrison's term coincided with the height of the COVID pandemic, when international and state borders were slammed shut, Australians were locked down in their homes, and thousands of businesses were forced to close. Just months after the emergence of the virus in China, the former Liberal leader made the at-the-time unprecedented call to ban international travellers from entering Australia — a decision that likely staved off the crisis locally but also left many Australians stranded overseas and others separated from friends and family abroad. International borders remained closed for almost two years, only reopening to vaccinated travellers in early 2022 after the Omicron variant had swept the country. During the pandemic, Mr Morrison, along with then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg, also oversaw the creation of the almost $90 billion JobKeeper scheme wage subsidy scheme, one of the largest economic support programs ever introduced. Asked if he had any regrets from that era this week, Mr Morrison said you "don't get everything right, particularly when you face that many challenges". "But I tend not to dwell too much on that, because frankly there was just the next challenge coming the next day," he said. "You do the best job you can on the day and then you shake yourself off the next day and you do it all again." Mr Morrison left parliament at the start of 2024, more than a year after losing the 2022 election to Labor prime minister Anthony Albanese. The end of his prime ministership was mired in scandal, after it emerged he had secretly sworn himself into five additional ministries during the pandemic. This week he described those secret positions as a "latent redundancy that was never active". "These were unusual times and there were many things we did that were unusual," he said. Since retiring from politics, Mr Morrison has continued to advocate internationally for the AUKUS partnership, which he said remains "as strong today as the day it was announced" despite the arrival of the second Trump administration in the United States. He declined to comment on the current direction of the Liberal Party, which suffered one of the worst election defeats on record last month. But on its future, he said the party's principles remain "as important as they ever have been". "And they are ensuring a strong economy, a strong defence force, guaranteeing those services, responsible financial management — all of those things over the last 70 years and more have meant that Australia is in the strong position it is today," he said. "And for most of that time it has been Coalition governments that have been in government." Some 830 Australians — including Hollywood heavyweights, journalists, and community advocates — will be recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours List.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Weekly basis': Lawyer reveals why young people are still carrying knives, despite harsher laws
Harsher penalties will do little to curb the spike in youth knife crime unless the underlying reasons why they are being carried are addressed, a leading criminal lawyer has declared. Astor Legal principal lawyer Avinash Singh said he deals with people charged with knife offences on a weekly basis, with many also involved in the illegal drug trade. 'We have represented a number of minors accused of carrying knives – generally from lower socio-economic areas carrying knives for self-defence,' Mr Singh told NewsWire. 'Unfortunately, a lot of these young people have been assaulted and/or threatened themselves. 'They feel that reporting the matter to police after the fact will do them little good, particularly if they are seriously injured or even killed,' he said. 'As such, they often feel that they have to carry a knife to protect themselves.' The hard truth then, is that harsher crimes may not reduce offending, or make the community any safer, Mr Singh said. 'While it is understandable that governments and the community demand tougher laws to combat knife crime, this is unlikely to do much to reduce it in my opinion,' he said. 'People who carry knives are unlikely to stop just because of increased penalties. 'Research has found that they stop when they are no longer exposed to an environment where carrying a knife is seen as a necessity,' he said. 'This means addressing these communities by providing resources, programs and funding to prevent the issue – something governments have continuously failed to do.' The Victorian Allan Government announced in May it will be introducing laws to ban the sale and possession of machetes following an alleged spate of machete assaults. From September 1, those carrying a 'controlled weapon' or knife in Victoria will face up to two years imprisonment or a fine of $30,700. 'In Victoria, community safety comes first. We must never let places we meet become places we fear,' Premier Jacinta Allan said. 'I hate these knives, and I will keep introducing as many laws as it takes to get them off our streets, out of our shops and out of our lives.' NSW introduced sweeping knife law reforms in 2024, giving police the right to scan people with handheld electronic metal-detecting wands, as well as increasing the maximum penalty for anyone found guilty of selling a knife to a child under 16. Those found guilty in NSW face four years imprisonment fines up to $4,400. Mr Singh said he feared 'the expanded search powers will disproportionately be used against young people from lower socio-economic areas'. 'This leads to distrust of police and can in fact have the opposite effect – that is, young people keep knives but simply avoid police and are less likely to report crimes'. He said this is already seen in the rising amount of NSW youth caught up in the criminal system following legislation changes and bail reform. 'The strictest knife crime laws at present are in NSW. While the laws have only recently been introduced, there has been a noticeable increase in the courts seeing knife offences,' Mr Singh said. 'This, along with recent Bail Act reforms in NSW, has led to a marked increase in children being refused bail and held in custody, which does nothing to address their behaviour or promote rehabilitation of offenders.'
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff backs ousted federal MP Bridget Archer's political comeback
Ousted rebel MP Bridget Archer has confirmed she will be making a state tilt, with under-pressure Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff backing her for preselection. The announcement comes as Mr Rockliff is expected to call an election within days after the state Labor government, led by Opposition Leader Dean Winter, passed a no-confidence motion in parliament. Mr Rockliff said Ms Archer has 'put her hand up for preselection' for one of the seven state seats of Bass, with the Liberals currently holding three of the electorates. The political comeback comes just weeks after the former Liberal MP for Bass lost her seat to first-time candidate and former basketball coach Jess Teesdale, suffering a 9.4 per cent swing against the Liberal Party. Ms Archer acknowledged the Liberals 'bruising federal election loss', and said she was 'absolutely appalled' by Mr Winter's state parliament 'shenanigans'. '(It's) an utterly disgraceful display of self interest and a grab for power with no credible alternative in place, either, no credible alternative pathway for Tasmania going forward,' she told reporters. 'He has refused to make the parliament work. He declined the opportunity to make this parliament work.' During her six-year stint in federal parliament, Ms Archer earned a reputation for crossing the floor on issues like the social media ban for children under 16s, despite bipartisan support from the Coalition. Asked if she would still cross the floor on issues she feels strongly about, Ms Archer said the hoped she 'would not need to' but admitted that she was 'a strong voice'. 'I am the same person that I have always been. I'm not likely to sit quietly and not have my say,' she said. 'Do I want to go out and fight another election? No, I don't, because also I suspect the people of Tasmania don't want to be going to another election. 'But the reckless and selfish actions of Dean winter and his grab for power have sent us to this situation.' Mr Rockliff also reiterated comments that Mr Winters has 'forced' an election on Tasmanians, just 16 months after the most recent state election, and the fourth state poll in just seven years. While Mr Rockliff could prevent a snap poll if he resigns, he claimed Mr Winter has 'forced an election upon Tasmanians'. While parliament will resume on Tuesday to pass critical supply bills 'I did not want an election. I wanted the parliament to continue in a sensible way, it has been working well by any objective analysis,' he said. 'This is a parliament that was elected back in March 2024 and a parliament that has largely been working well, all but for Dean winters, selfish grab for power.' Federal Tasmanian senator Jonno Duniam has urged the state leadership to have a 'good, long think' over the potential for a sudden election. 'Unless my colleagues are 100 per cent certain that the voters of Tasmania are not going to punish them for sending them to an early election, they should be taking whatever steps are necessary,' he said. 'Going to an election will be a bad outcome.'
