Australia news live: Greens to push for 50c bus and train fares; Frydenberg blames Albanese for antisemitism rise
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it'll be Rafqa Touma to wrap up the week.
The former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has accused Anthony Albanese of failing to set red lines that could not be crossed as antisemitism attacks began ramping up in Australia. The former MP said the prime minister's failure to act had 'emboldened' people to hate. It comes as the investigation into the explosives found in a caravan in Dural along with a list of Jewish targets continues. More coming up.
While one in five women over the age of 15 has been sexually assaulted in their lifetime, almost 90% will not report to police. Of those who do make a report, only a quarter will see their perpetrator charged. These are the statistics behind our latest investigation, Broken Justice, looking at how the legal system fails rape victims. Coming ahead of a report by the law reform commission to be tabled in parliament next week, we also hear from a survivor who explains why the system seems stacked against women who seek justice.
Transparency advocates are urging federal politicians to support the Albanese government's proposed electoral reform changes, warning public trust could be further eroded without it. With the federal parliament preparing to resume for a fortnight next week, the legislation is in doubt.
More coming up – as well as some details on the Greens' new policy for national 50c public transport fares. Share
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Ken Loach protests against UK's Palestine Action terror label
Speaking to media after joining with activists from the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), Loach said the Labour administration was 'in breach of international law' for failing to take steps to prevent a genocide being perpetrated by Israel. Activists around Loach, including his long-time screenwriting partner Paul Laverty, wore T-shirts with the slogan 'Genocide in Palestine time to take action'. The garment led to a man being charged under terror laws in Glasgow in July, and further charges against others have followed for the same reason. Loach said he supported 'everything that's on the T-shirts here and I'm proud to stand with them, I think they're very brave'. Asked why he had joined the protest, The Wind That Shakes The Barley director said: 'We know the genocide that is happening against the Palestinians in Gaza, and now it seems in the West Bank, perpetrated by Israel and colluded in by our government, being that they won't take the action. They should. 'There's a legal responsibility on them under the genocide convention to prevent genocide. They are not doing that. They're in breach of international law. And the ban against Palestine Action is to intimidate anyone who opposes them. 'The suppression of Palestine Action is a legal monstrosity and we have to oppose that ban.' Asked if he was concerned about a terrorism charge if law enforcement deemed he was supporting a proscribed group he said: 'No, I think there are thousands upon thousands of people who are doing the same.' Told of the charges against others for wearing the T-shirt, Loach said he believed there was 'no legality' to the police action. I'm not a lawyer. But to prevent weapons of war being made or being used, it's hardly terrorists, it's anti-terrorist, it's anti-state terrorist, and that is what this government is colluding with,' he said. 'This government is still supplying weapons to Israel. It is trading with Israel. It is giving every moral support to Israel. '[Keir] Starmer has declared himself a Zionist, and we know what that entails. It is the ideology on which Israel is based, that there should be a Jewish state in Palestine. What does that mean? The prioritising of one ethnic group over another, and that's racist to me. 'We are being governed by politicians who seem to have no respect for international law, no moral compass, and the people have to rise against them. It is intolerable.' Laverty, who has been wearing the T-shirt across his appearances at the Edinburgh festivals, added: 'I think we've seen our politicians fail us. The clear obligations under the genocide convention to prevent or to punish and not to collude – Article 3 – they clearly are. 'In the face of that, I think these institutions, generally speaking, have not done enough … Our universities, Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur [for the Occupied Palestinian Territories], has pointed out, Edinburgh in particular is colluding with the apartheid state. 'We see even in our pension funds, we see it in the financial district too, they say it's not significant. That's for the Palestinians to decide. When there is a genocide, there is a clear obligation to prevent it, to stop it and not to collude with it. 'Actually what we've seen again and again is the conscience is on the streets. Many of these people I see around me today, they've been on the streets from day one, from day one. 'So, I think really we have to listen to the streets because the institutions have failed us.' Loach and Laverty were speaking outside an Edinburgh International Film Festival event alongside Rebecca O'Brien, another of their creative partners. Loach said it had been a 'privilege' to attend. 'Festivals like Edinburgh are very important to keep independent cinema alive and to remind us that cinema doesn't have to have an American accent,' he said. 'You can have a Scottish one or an English one or, whatever reflects our culture. 'Cinema is a much bigger medium, a more exciting medium than commercial cinema, and that's the value of festivals like Edinburgh – and Edinburgh's one of the best.' Elsewhere, best-selling Irish author Sally Rooney has also risked the UK Government's anger by speaking out against the proscription of Palestine Action. The Normal People writer said she would continue to use her payments from BBC productions of her work to fund the group.
Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
Family's note pleading for return of dad and three children missing for four yea
The mum and sister of a New Zealand man who kidnapped his three children and has been a fugitive in the wilderness ever since have begged him to come home. Four years ago, Tom Phillips took his children, Ember, nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, from their home after losing a custody battle with his former partner. The children's mother, Catherine, previously said she thought her daughter tried to get a message out to the public during a previous sighting of the four. Until now, Tom's family have remained quiet on the matter. This week, his sister Rozzi and mum Julia spoke out for the first time. In a handwritten letter to her son, mum Julia wrote: 'Tom – I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this. Not considering how much we love you and can support you. 'It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you and see some of your stuff that is still here. Jayda, Maverick, Ember – I love you so much and really miss being part of your lives.' Rozzi told Stuff: 'Every day I wake up and hope that today will be the day that you all come home. There's a lot of love and there's a lot of support, and we're ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through.' Police think Tom and his children have been hiding off-grid in the rural Waikato region, and have offered a £37,000 reward for anyone who has information on them. It's believed Tom has gotten help from other people to remain undetected for this long. The children were last spotted in February this year, by State Highway 4, south of Te Kūiti. Catherine previously expressed her worry that her children are in danger, slamming Philips for 'child endangerment'. Tom failed to appear in court in January 2022 for a charge of causing wasteful deployment of police personnel and resources. He is also wanted over an alleged armed robbery of a bank in Te Kuiti in September 2023. Last year, mum Catherine said in an emotional video: 'They are just innocent children, they do not deserve to be treated this way. They do not deserve the life that is being provided to them right now.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Grainy footage of the three children walking with their father in camouflage gear was released last October when hunters saw them in the thick bush. One of the boys who took the footage recalled: 'I said, 'This is private property', and she was like, 'Yeah… duh'. Then I asked, 'Does anyone know you're on here?' and she said, 'No, just you guys.'' More Trending Mum Catherine is especially worried for her youngest child, Ember, who is asthmatic and requires medical care. 'Many of you say that the children are fine and they are being well looked after,' she previously said. 'How do you know? Have you seen them? Or is it just bush talk? What Thomas is doing is not OK. It is not OK to divide and conquer, to isolate and control.' Police DI Andrew Saunders said: 'Immunity against prosecution will be considered for anyone who has committed an offence in assisting Tom Phillips, if they provide information or evidence which leads to the location and safe return of the children.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Hollyoaks actor Callum Kerr urges 'murdered' mum's friends not to go to stepdad's funeral MORE: Driver admits killing woman, 22, in 140mph Christmas Day crash MORE: Food influencers narrowly escape death after car crashes into restaurant table mid-review
New Statesman
4 hours ago
- New Statesman
Exclusive poll: Labour voters are rallying to Jeremy Corbyn
Photo by. The new left-wing party in the process of being launched by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana might lack a name, a leader, and a policy platform beyond tackling 'the crises in our society with a mass redistribution of wealth and power' and 'campaigning for the only path to peace: a free and independent Palestine'. What it doesn't lack is potential supporters. New polling by Ipsos, seen exclusively by the New Statesman, finds that one in three people who voted Labour in 2024 would consider voting for the new Corbyn-Sultana initiative. That figure rises to nearly half (46 per cent) among 2024 Labour voters who would consider voting for an alliance between this new party and the Greens. The new outfit says that over 700,000 people have already signed up on the 'Your Party' website to register their support. For context, Reform UK made national headlines by claiming to have surpassed the Conservatives' membership numbers by hitting 130,000 members last December. Of course, registering for Your Party is free, while there are fees for becoming actual members of political parties (£35 a year for Reform, £39 for the Conservatives, and £70.50 for Labour at the standard rate). But the scale of interest in the new venture is striking, even when virtually nothing is known about it six weeks after Sultana dramatically announced she was quitting Labour for good to set up some kind of alternative. The potential for a left-wing option for those dismayed by the direction Keir Starmer's government has taken in its first year has long been discussed. In June, before Sultana's announcement, George Eaton reported new polling from More In Common which suggested a 'new Corbyn-led party' would win 10 per cent of the vote. Nearly two months later, Ipsos finds that has doubled: 20 per cent of voters consider themselves very or fairly likely to back the Corbyn-Sultana offering, rising to 33 per cent among voters aged 16-34. (A reminder: under government plans the voting age will be lowered to 16 at the next general election.) The big question mark – other than the party's yet-to-be-determined name – is how it interacts with the Green Party. The Greens are spending the summer engaged in a furious leadership contest, with MP duo Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay facing off against 'eco-populist' London Assembly Member Zack Polanski. (If you missed the debate between Polanski and Ramsay on the New Statesman podcast, check it out and watch the sparks fly.) As Megan Kenyon pointed out, Polanski has argued that 'the Greens should occupy a more progressive, populist space on the left in order to confront the infectious populism of Nigel Farage's Reform. He has called for a wealth tax, a better approach to net zero and a more robust left-wing position on immigration.' In vibe terms, that's very similar to the on offer from Corbyn and Sultana. Is there space on the left of British politics for two rival populist parties? Most pollsters and strategists are sceptical, which is why there has been so much talk of some kind of pact or alliance – informal or otherwise – between the two to avoid splitting the vote. The Ipsos polling finds that, while the public on the whole are unsure on the merits of a pact, there is widespread support among people planning to vote for either option: 70 per cent of people who say they would vote for the new left-wing party (it really needs to decide on a name, if only for the sake of word counts) would back an alliance, as would 60 per cent of Green Party supporters. This isn't surprising: an alliance is the best way of avoiding the left-wing vote being split and wasting a whole load of votes. But given how antagonistic the Green leadership contest has already become, plus how much debate and confusion there is over who will lead the new left-wing party, negotiations for how such a pact might work are unlikely to be smooth. Insurgent populism works best when there is a one big-name charismatic leader (just ask Nigel Farage). Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Nonetheless, almost a third of Brits – 31 per cent – would consider voting for a united ticket. That rises to 51 per cent for voters aged 16-34. 'These figures show that a new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has the potential to shake up British politics,' says Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos. 'A significant number of younger people are at least prepared to consider voting for it and a majority of those aged under 35 say they would consider voting for some kind of alliance between the new party and the Greens. Clear policies around change, the NHS, poverty and wealth taxes could be popular.' That should sharpen minds in Downing Street: however chaotic the launch may have been, and whatever the fate of the last group of high-profile MPs who decided to start their own initiative (farewell, The Independent Group), the appetite for a challenger to the left of Labour is real. Related
