Australia news LIVE: Labor to introduce student debt cuts and childcare reform; Albanese urged to go greener; Ozzy Osbourne dead at 76
Latest posts
6.50am
Ghislaine Maxwell to meet justice officials to discuss potential new evidence in Epstein saga
By Michael Koziol
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with her friend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit girls, is set to meet with the US Justice Department to discuss potential new evidence in the sex-trafficking saga.
Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche – formerly President Donald Trump's lawyer – said he had approached Maxwell's counsel to see if she would speak with prosecutors, and anticipated meeting her 'in the coming days'. Maxwell's lawyer David Oscar Markus confirmed the discussions.
The development instantly sparked speculation Trump could pardon Maxwell if she were to provide evidence that did not implicate the president, who is a former friend of Epstein, and whose presence in the so-called Epstein files has long been rumoured.
Trump has come under intense pressure over the Epstein case in the past fortnight, especially from his Make America Great Again base, after the Justice Department and FBI said they would not release any more records from the investigation and the case was effectively closed.
Trump's new submarine chief a critic of Australia
By Michael Koziol
The man leading Donald Trump's push to build more ships and submarines is a critic of Australia who has questioned whether Canberra can be trusted to stick with the AUKUS agreement, and whether it is ready to help the United States take on China.
Jerry Hendrix, a retired navy captain who holds a senior role in the president's Office of Management and Budget, said last year that 'the Australians have been noticeably fickle' about AUKUS and queried if the deal had true bipartisan support.
Meanwhile, with AUKUS under review by the Pentagon, the heads of a US congressional committee on China have written to the Trump administration to defend the agreement, arguing it would 'dramatically enhance' collective efforts to defend against Beijing's aggression.
The letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is the second time in as many months that members of the US Congress from both sides of politics have written to the former Fox News host to defend AUKUS, underlining fears a US review of the pact will recommend major changes.
6.41am
What's making news today
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Hello and welcome to the national news live blog. My name is Daniel Lo Surdo, and I'll be helming our live coverage this morning.
Here's what is making news today:
The Albanese government will set forth on executing the legislative agenda promised to voters when it introduces draft laws to reduce student debt and reform childcare on Wednesday. It follows a day of first speeches and ceremonial pomp in Parliament House as federal politicians convened in Canberra for the first time since Labor's crushing election victory in May.
Albanese is facing one of his first major policy tests after his historic re-election as a business group led by Andrew Forrest's Fortescue has demanded a 75 per cent cut to Australia's emissions, and Labor's hand-picked climate adviser prepares to tell the government what its 2035 target should be.
Ozzy Osbourne has died just weeks after his farewell show, aged 76. The death of the Black Sabbath lead singer has prompted an outpouring of grief from the music industry's biggest names, with Osbourne's family saying the musician was 'surrounded by love' at the time of his passing.
The Australian sharemarket is set to rise again after Wall Street was on track to edge to another all-time high in late trading. It comes as US President Donald Trump extended his verbal attack on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who Trump thinks has kept interest rates too high, labelling Powell a 'numbskull' who will be 'out pretty soon'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Zelenskiy chats with Trump ahead of Putin deadline
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has had a "productive" conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump about ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a US-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until Friday to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that buy its oil, but sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin was unlikely to bow to the ultimatum. Putin retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters. His determination to keep going is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by scepticism that yet more US sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3.5 years of war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin. The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realises that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals take precedence, two of the sources said. Putin's goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and then to talk about a peace agreement, one of the sources said. "If Putin were able to fully occupy those four regions, which he has claimed for Russia, he could claim that his war in Ukraine had reached his objectives," said James Rodgers, author of the forthcoming book The Return of Russia. Zelenskiy said Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the US on the purchase of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements". He had earlier said the deal was worth around $US30 billion ($A46 billion). Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry. Zelenskiy said Kyiv's European partners had so far pledged to buy more than $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in US weapons for Ukraine as part of a new scheme. Sweden, Norway and Denmark will contribute around $US500 million ($A774 million) the three countries said on Tuesday. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the money would be available immediately and that Denmark would be willing to consider additional funding later. "Speed is absolutely critical," he said in a statement.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
US House panel subpoenas Clintons in Epstein probe
The US House Oversight Committee on Tuesday subpoenaed former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for testimony on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to letters posted on its website. The Clintons were among multiple former Democratic and Republican government officials -- as well as the Justice Department -- targeted by investigators in a major escalation of the controversy surrounding the investigation into the disgraced financier, who died in 2019 awaiting trial for sex trafficking. The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent after the Justice Department angered Trump supporters -- many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up -- when it confirmed last month that he had died by suicide and that his case was effectively closed. The department also said Epstein had no secret "client list" -- rebuffing conspiracy theories held by Trump's far-right supporters about supposedly high-level Democratic complicity. Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in the Republican-led Congress -- with some support from majority lawmakers -- have also been seeking a floor vote to force their release. "By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003," Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer wrote to former president Clinton. "During one of these trips, you were even pictured receiving a 'massage' from one of Mr. Epstein's victims. The White House has been seeking to redirect public attention from uproar over its handling of the affair with a series of headline-grabbing announcements including baselsss claims that former president Barack Obama headed a "treasonous conspiracy" against Trump. Epstein was a financier and friend to numerous high-profile people -- for years, including Trump -- who was convicted of sex crimes and then imprisoned pending trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls. His 2019 prison cell death supercharged a conspiracy theory long promoted by many Trump supporters that Epstein had run an international pedophile ring and that elites wanted to make sure he never revealed their secrets. After Trump returned to power in January, his administration promised to release Epstein case files. - Past relationship - Several of Trump's most effective promoters over the years -- including new FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino -- made careers of fanning the rumors about Epstein. But when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on July 7 that she had nothing to release, Republicans were furious -- and Trump has attempted to control the scandal ever since. Yet it has dominated headlines through the summer, showing just how hard it is for 79-year-old Trump to maintain his usual mastery of driving news agendas -- even within his fervently loyal "MAGA" base. Things got even more complicated for him after a Wall Street Journal report that Trump had written a lewd birthday letter to Epstein in 2003. Trump denies this and has sued the Journal. The Journal then dropped a separate story, saying Bondi had informed Trump in May that his name appeared several times in the Epstein files, even if there was no indication of wrongdoing. The president recently raised further questions about his past relationship with Epstein when he told reporters he fell out with his former friend after Epstein "stole" female employees from the spa at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Other officials targeted by the panel include former FBI director James Comey, former special counsel Robert Mueller and ex-attorney generals Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales. Their depositions will take place between mid-August and mid-October. Comer also issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for records related to Epstein -- including its communications with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden and his officials. Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his alleged crimes -- although her cooperation is considered unlikely. ft/mlm
7NEWS
3 hours ago
- 7NEWS
House Oversight Committee subpoenas Justice Department for Jeffrey Epstein files, high-profile former officials for depositions
The House Oversight Committee has issued nearly a dozen subpoenas to the Justice Department and high-profile Democratic and Republican figures for files and information related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a major move that comes as many congressional Republicans call for more transparency around the case. The subpoena to the Justice Department calls for it to provide Congress any Epstein files in its possession, with victims' names redacted. It also calls for communications between former Biden administration officials and the Justice Department related to the case. Additionally, 10 individuals subpoenaed for closed-door depositions between August and October are: Former Attorneys General Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales; former FBI Director James Comey; former special counsel Robert Mueller III; former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton. The Republican-led panel subpoenaed the six former attorneys general and two former FBI directors to speak with them about their time leading the DOJ and FBI that coincided with the then-ongoing criminal investigation into Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell. CNN is reaching out to those subpoenaed. Demands for more information on Epstein have roiled Capitol Hill in recent weeks. The subpoena amounts to a show of defiance by some Republicans against House Speaker Mike Johnson — who has attempted to tamp down congressional efforts to push for the release of the so-called Epstein files, instead arguing President Donald Trump's administration should have time to act on the issue. The panel has separately subpoenaed Maxwell for a deposition — though it recently agreed to delay her testimony until after the US Supreme Court weighs her pending appeal of her conviction. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022 for carrying out a years-long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. She has asked the Supreme Court to take up her appeal and overturn her sex-trafficking conviction. House Oversight Chair James Comer issued the subpoenas Tuesday after three Republicans joined with Democrats in a subcommittee vote late last month to release the files. As pressure has mounted, Johnson shut the door on the possibility of a House vote on releasing information on Epstein before the August recess and moved to send lawmakers home early after it became clear that the issue was not going to fade away. Johnson has said that he supports transparency and has argued that the Trump administration should be granted space to handle the matter before Congress intervenes, pointing to the Trump administration's push to unseal grand jury materials related to the case.
