Will Australia follow the UK and France and move towards recognition of Palestine?
However, there's a way to go, with questions of when and how still to be determined. Political editor Jacob Greber with more.
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News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
US envoy meets Israeli hostage families in Tel Aviv
US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, before going into a closed meeting with the families. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed the meeting was underway and videos shared online showed Witkoff arriving as families chanted "Bring them home!" and "We need your help." The visit came one day after Witkoff visited a US-backed aid station in Gaza, to inspect efforts to get food into the devastated Palestinian territory. Yotam Cohen, brother of 21-year-old hostage Nimrod Cohen, told AFP in the square: "The war needs to end. The Israeli government will not end it willingly. It has refused to do so. "The Israeli government must be stopped. For our sakes, for our soldiers' sakes, for our hostages' sakes, for our sons and for the future generations of everybody in the Middle East." After the meeting, the Forum released a statement saying that Witkoff had given them a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages. The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, had been mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that would allow the hostages to be released and humanitarian aid to flow more freely. But talks broke down last month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing domestic pressure to come up with another way to secure the missing hostages, alive and dead. He is also facing international calls to open Gaza's borders to more food aid, after UN and humanitarian agencies warned that more than two million Palestinian civilians are facing starvation. - 'Without rest' - But Israel's top general warned that there would be no respite in fighting in Gaza if the hostages were not released. "I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement. "If not, the combat will continue without rest," he said, during remarks to officers inside Gaza on Friday. Of the 251 people who were kidnapped from Israel during Hamas's attack in October 2023, 49 remain in Gaza, 27 of them dead, according to the military. Palestinian armed groups this week released two videos of hostages looking emaciated and weak. Zamir denied that there was widespread starvation in Gaza. "The current campaign of false accusations of intentional starvation is a deliberate, timed, and deceitful attempt to accuse the IDF (Israeli military), a moral army, of war crimes," he said. "The ones responsible for the killing and suffering of the residents in the Gaza Strip is Hamas." Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. A total of 898 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, according to the military. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,332 people, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN. - Civilian deaths - Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 21 people in the territory on Saturday. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said two people were killed and another 26 injured after an Israeli strike on a central Gaza area where Palestinians had gathered before a food distribution point run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). He added that Saturday's bombings mostly targeted the areas near the southern city of Khan Yunis and Gaza City in the north. Witkoff visited another GHF site for five hours on Friday, promising that Trump would come up with a plan to better feed civilians. Adnan Abu Hasna, of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told AFP that the agency had "approximately 6,000 trucks ready for the Gaza Strip, but the crossings are closed by political decision. There are five land crossings into the Strip through which 1,000 trucks can enter daily." The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories on Friday said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27, most of them by the Israeli military. Israel's military insist that soldiers never deliberately target civilians and accuses Hamas fighters of looting UN and humanitarian aid trucks.
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
A 'really important initiative' or 'complete overreach': New WFH plan draws mixed reactions
With new Australian-first rules suggested, working from home might soon be a legal right for Victorians. Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Thursday that she would introduce legislation in 2026 legally enshrining the right to work from home for two days a week. Allan said she expected the plan to face some criticism but said many Victorians stood to benefit from the changes, which will cover all employees who can "reasonably" do their job from home. "Bosses who think being seen at a desk is more important than a parent getting home for dinner with their kids, if they want to look their workers in the eye and tell them their time with their families doesn't count, they know where my government stands," Allan said. "We won't stand by while workers — especially women, single mums, carers — get punished for needing balance in their lives." Details are yet to be worked through but Allan signalled the changes could come into effect under Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act, as private workplaces are regulated by federal laws. Issues such as the definition of remote work, who can do it, how it would affect part-time workers and the types of businesses to which the law would apply, will be figured out through a consultation process. 'Complete overreach' Peak business bodies have criticised the plan, with Committee for Melbourne CEO Scott Veenker calling it a "complete overreach". "It's another regulatory burden or requirement that just makes the cost of doing business too hard," he said, adding that his group "hadn't been consulted with prior to the announcement". "The reality is that we want to actually have an environment where businesses can thrive and flourish, and they don't need more regulation and more legislation to prevent them [from] doing that." Veenker said the state government's new plan will make "members both small and large" of the business advocacy group ask if they should "continue trading in Victoria". "We know that businesses will move their staff and their resources accordingly, and we don't want Victoria to be seen as a place that's too hard to do business," he said. "They should be arrangements that are really done in conjunction with staff and the employers, rather than the state government trying to put their nose into this. "We want the state government to be looking at how we should be focusing on economic growth and enabling businesses to prosper." The Committee for Melbourne, which merged with the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce in 2024, describes itself as being founded "to champion key initiatives to stimulate the economy and civic development, which put Melbourne on a pathway to become one of the world's most liveable cities". 'A really good initiative' However, several people SBS News talked to on the streets of Melbourne said they supported the proposal. One young woman said it was "a really good initiative". "I think working from home allows people to have a bit more of better work-lifestyle balance, therefore making them happy — happy to be at work when it is time to be at work, [and] happy to be at home," she said. Another woman SBS News spoke to said the ability to work from home "just makes life so much easier". Source: SBS News A middle-aged man said he currently had an arrangement to work one day a fortnight at home and would "certainly be keen for that to be made a legal thing to do more". A young man who works from home said: "going to [the] office necessarily doesn't mean full productivity, so that's something people have to consider," he said. Several experts recently told SBS News that working from home breaks down barriers to gender equality in the workplace and is necessary for modern families, especially those who face significant commutes to work. LISTEN TO More than one in three Australian employees typically work from home, but that figure rises to 60 per cent among managers and those in professional services, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS also says 43 per cent of those who work from home do overtime, compared to one quarter of those who do not. State Opposition signals possible support Allan — whose announcement coincided with the Victorian Labor Party meeting for its annual conference — has promised to introduce the law in 2026, prior to the state election. Polls indicate Labor is on track to win a fourth term but the November 2026 poll will be the first as premier for Allan, who lags Opposition leader Brad Battin as preferred state leader. On Saturday, Battin indicated he might support the proposal. "We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity and personal choice," he said. The federal Opposition's proposal to eliminate remote work for public servants was partly blamed for its poor performance in the May federal election, even though it abandoned the policy before voting day. During the campaign, former Opposition leader Peter Dutton apologised after admitting that the proposal to end work-from-home arrangements for public servants was a "mistake". The plan was immediately framed by Labor and Greens parliamentarians as being a regressive move for women's working rights. — With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press
SBS Australia
7 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Garma 2025: Minister for Indigenous Australians, Sentaor Malarndirri McCarthy
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Sentaor Malarndirri McCarthy sat down with NITV's John Paul Janke at 25th Garma Festival, following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's keynote address.
