Breakfast Wrap: The new men's health special envoy
Today on the Breakfast Wrap podcast, meet Australia's new Special Envoy for Men's Health, and hear our extended interview with John Bolton, Donald Trump's ex-National Security Advisor.
So this week the Prime Minister's cabinet was officially been sworn in, and complementing the freshly-appointed front-bench are seven 'special envoys'.
Filling the newly-created role of Special Envoy for Men's Health is Dan Repacholi, who is also the returned federal member for Hunter and is a five-time Olympian.
Mr Repacholi says he is determined to shine a light on the unique challenges facing men and boys in Australia right now.
Also on the podcast, John Bolton, the former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, says he is "surprised" at the timing of the president's decision to lift tariffs on Syria.
It comes as the US President's tour of the Gulf states continues.
Earlier, Mr Trump met with the interim Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, marking the first encounter between the two nations' leaders in 25 years.
And, more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are at risk of famine as Israel's blockade on food, shelter, medicine and other aid continues.
Several nations are calling on Israel to allow aid to re-enter the Strip — but what does international law say about the blockade?
Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap
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News.com.au
39 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Australia may boost defence budget if US asks for more ‘capability', minister says
The Albanese government could boost defence spending if the US asks for more Australian 'capability', a senior minister says. Anthony Albanese has resisted Washington's call to lift the defence budget to 3.5 per cent of GDP despite alarm bells over China's military build-up. The Prime Minister has held firm that Australia would first determine its defence needs and then fund them. But all NATO members bar Spain agreed to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP this week, highlighting Australia as an on outlier in the West. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke hinted on Sunday that could change. 'We make decisions on behalf of Australia and on behalf of Australia's national interest,' Mr Burke told Sky News. 'We have mature, decent, respectful conversations with the United States. 'But as I say, the conversation doesn't start with the dollars at our end – it starts with the capability. 'It is true … now that the world is a less stable place than it was, that means the conversations you're having now about capability are different to what you would have had.' Pressed on whether a US request for more capability rather than a flat GDP figure would free up the funds, Mr Burke said it might but that the Albanese government would 'look at it from the perspective of if Australia requires more capability'. 'We look at what capability's required, and that so far has meant, over time, we've been spending more money on defence than happened before Labor came to government.' US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth directly called on Australia to set the 3.5 per cent target in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles earlier this month. It ignited a major debate in Canberra and fuelled criticisms that Australia is ill-prepared to defend itself against an increasingly aggressive China. While the Albanese government has committed record cash for the defence budget, much of it will not kick in until after 2029. With Australia itself predicting a major global conflict by 2034 and some analysts warning of a US-China conflict before 2030, critics have argued the money is not flowing fast enough and instead tied up in longer-term projects at the cost of combat-readiness. Mr Albanese's resistance to Washington's call has also fuelled worries he has mismanaged the relationship with the US. Appearing on Sky after Mr Burke, opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor repeated the Coalition's demand for a 3 per cent target. He said Mr Albanese 'is right' not to base Australia's defence spending on a figure set by another country, but accused the government of not funding the needs set by its landmark defence strategic review. 'It should be based on need, but its own defence strategic review, has laid out where the money needs to be spent and it's not being spent,' Mr Taylor said. 'I mean, this is the point. This government's not even meeting its own goals.' He added that 'recruitment numbers … are way below where they need to be' and that Australia's 'naval surface fleet is not where it needs to be'.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Host of nations, but not US, back Pride Day declaration
The foreign ministries of Canada, Australia, Brazil and a host of European nations have issued statements celebrating LGBTQI rights to coincide with international Pride Day. The United States, which has moved rapidly to dismantle civil rights protections since the election of President Donald Trump, was not among its signatories. The statement, whose backers also include Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Ireland and other nations, said the countries "are speaking and acting as one to champion the rights of LGBTQI people". "At a time when hate speech and hate crimes are on the rise, and in view of efforts to strip LGBTQI people of their rights, we reject all forms of violence, criminalisation, stigmatisation or discrimination, which constitute human rights violations," said the statement, released for international Pride Day on June 28. It was not immediately clear why the United States was absent. Canadian, Australian, Brazilian, Irish and US officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the Pride Day statement and Washington's absence from it. The US, once a champion of gay rights abroad, has reversed course under Trump, whose administration has rapidly dismantled longstanding civil rights protections for LGBTQI people and expelled transgender service members from the military. Defenders of gay rights are concerned the backsliding will embolden anti-gay movements elsewhere, especially in Africa, where it could worsen an already difficult situation for LGBTQI people. Trump's right-wing allies have tapped into anti-LGBTQI sentiment to shore up their political support. In Hungary on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters flouted a law passed in March by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that allows for the ban of Pride marches. The demonstrators swarmed Budapest with rainbow-coloured flags in one of the biggest shows of opposition to the Hungarian leader. "This is about much more, not just about homosexuality ... This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said. "None of us are free until everyone is free," one sign read. Marchers included students, families and people from the countryside who said they had never attended a rally before. Budapest's Erzsebet bridge, built to carry six lanes of traffic, was engulfed with people. The foreign ministries of Canada, Australia, Brazil and a host of European nations have issued statements celebrating LGBTQI rights to coincide with international Pride Day. The United States, which has moved rapidly to dismantle civil rights protections since the election of President Donald Trump, was not among its signatories. The statement, whose backers also include Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Ireland and other nations, said the countries "are speaking and acting as one to champion the rights of LGBTQI people". "At a time when hate speech and hate crimes are on the rise, and in view of efforts to strip LGBTQI people of their rights, we reject all forms of violence, criminalisation, stigmatisation or discrimination, which constitute human rights violations," said the statement, released for international Pride Day on June 28. It was not immediately clear why the United States was absent. Canadian, Australian, Brazilian, Irish and US officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the Pride Day statement and Washington's absence from it. The US, once a champion of gay rights abroad, has reversed course under Trump, whose administration has rapidly dismantled longstanding civil rights protections for LGBTQI people and expelled transgender service members from the military. Defenders of gay rights are concerned the backsliding will embolden anti-gay movements elsewhere, especially in Africa, where it could worsen an already difficult situation for LGBTQI people. Trump's right-wing allies have tapped into anti-LGBTQI sentiment to shore up their political support. In Hungary on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters flouted a law passed in March by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that allows for the ban of Pride marches. The demonstrators swarmed Budapest with rainbow-coloured flags in one of the biggest shows of opposition to the Hungarian leader. "This is about much more, not just about homosexuality ... This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said. "None of us are free until everyone is free," one sign read. Marchers included students, families and people from the countryside who said they had never attended a rally before. Budapest's Erzsebet bridge, built to carry six lanes of traffic, was engulfed with people. The foreign ministries of Canada, Australia, Brazil and a host of European nations have issued statements celebrating LGBTQI rights to coincide with international Pride Day. The United States, which has moved rapidly to dismantle civil rights protections since the election of President Donald Trump, was not among its signatories. The statement, whose backers also include Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Ireland and other nations, said the countries "are speaking and acting as one to champion the rights of LGBTQI people". "At a time when hate speech and hate crimes are on the rise, and in view of efforts to strip LGBTQI people of their rights, we reject all forms of violence, criminalisation, stigmatisation or discrimination, which constitute human rights violations," said the statement, released for international Pride Day on June 28. It was not immediately clear why the United States was absent. Canadian, Australian, Brazilian, Irish and US officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the Pride Day statement and Washington's absence from it. The US, once a champion of gay rights abroad, has reversed course under Trump, whose administration has rapidly dismantled longstanding civil rights protections for LGBTQI people and expelled transgender service members from the military. Defenders of gay rights are concerned the backsliding will embolden anti-gay movements elsewhere, especially in Africa, where it could worsen an already difficult situation for LGBTQI people. Trump's right-wing allies have tapped into anti-LGBTQI sentiment to shore up their political support. In Hungary on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters flouted a law passed in March by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that allows for the ban of Pride marches. The demonstrators swarmed Budapest with rainbow-coloured flags in one of the biggest shows of opposition to the Hungarian leader. "This is about much more, not just about homosexuality ... This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said. "None of us are free until everyone is free," one sign read. Marchers included students, families and people from the countryside who said they had never attended a rally before. Budapest's Erzsebet bridge, built to carry six lanes of traffic, was engulfed with people. The foreign ministries of Canada, Australia, Brazil and a host of European nations have issued statements celebrating LGBTQI rights to coincide with international Pride Day. The United States, which has moved rapidly to dismantle civil rights protections since the election of President Donald Trump, was not among its signatories. The statement, whose backers also include Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Ireland and other nations, said the countries "are speaking and acting as one to champion the rights of LGBTQI people". "At a time when hate speech and hate crimes are on the rise, and in view of efforts to strip LGBTQI people of their rights, we reject all forms of violence, criminalisation, stigmatisation or discrimination, which constitute human rights violations," said the statement, released for international Pride Day on June 28. It was not immediately clear why the United States was absent. Canadian, Australian, Brazilian, Irish and US officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the Pride Day statement and Washington's absence from it. The US, once a champion of gay rights abroad, has reversed course under Trump, whose administration has rapidly dismantled longstanding civil rights protections for LGBTQI people and expelled transgender service members from the military. Defenders of gay rights are concerned the backsliding will embolden anti-gay movements elsewhere, especially in Africa, where it could worsen an already difficult situation for LGBTQI people. Trump's right-wing allies have tapped into anti-LGBTQI sentiment to shore up their political support. In Hungary on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters flouted a law passed in March by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that allows for the ban of Pride marches. The demonstrators swarmed Budapest with rainbow-coloured flags in one of the biggest shows of opposition to the Hungarian leader. "This is about much more, not just about homosexuality ... This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said. "None of us are free until everyone is free," one sign read. Marchers included students, families and people from the countryside who said they had never attended a rally before. Budapest's Erzsebet bridge, built to carry six lanes of traffic, was engulfed with people.
SBS Australia
an hour ago
- SBS Australia
Midday News Bulletin 29 June 2025
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . TRANSCRIPT Home Affairs Minister says the listing of Terrorgram as a terrorist group aims to protect Australians Ukraine accuses Western nations of supplying Russian military with equipment Oscar Piastri to start the Austrian Grand Prix in third position Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says the formal listing of the violent online extremist group Terrorgram as a terrorist group is a necessary action to keep Australians safe. The federal government revealed the formal listing was partly motivated by an incident in June last year, involving an alleged plot to kill a New South Wales Labor M-P. The formal listing makes it an offence for anyone to be a member of, associate with, or support Terrorgram, with a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Mr Burke told Sky News that constant effort is needed to counter the activities of terrorist groups online. "Look, I won't confirm more than the New South Wales attack on Tim Crakanthorp because we have given that one as part of formal reasons for the listings. But I can tell you Australians are much safer in a situation where the moment we know that somebody is part of this group, we can charge them." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Western countries, including the United States, Germany and France, of supplying Russia with military components and equipment. Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, he says experts in Ukraine have identified hundreds of different components contained in Russian drones and missiles. "Unfortunately, even Western countries continue to supply Russia with equipment and critical components. In the past year alone, deliveries of machine tools to Russia's military-industrial complex were recorded from at least 12 countries, including China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the United States." The EU Special Envoy for sanctions, David O'Sullivan, says actions have been taken to stop Russia accessing the latest weapons technology. "I think we have made it more difficult, more complicated and slower for Russia to obtain the kind of technologies that we are seeing here. We have not succeeded in stopping it totally and I'm sorry for that, because I know the suffering of the Ukrainian people. But I believe we have actually been quite successful in pressuring Russia; and we need to maintain that pressure while at the same time holding out the prospect that if Russia behaves correctly, we could have some kind of ceasefire and some kind of sensible negotiation. But for the moment, Russia doesn't seem to want that." The world's leading economies have agreed to a deal sparing the US's largest companies from paying more corporate tax overseas. In a statement, the Group of Seven says there's been agreement to exempt American companies from much of a 2021 deal imposing a 15 per cent global minimum corporate tax. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves says in exchange, they have secured the removal of Section 899 from Donald Trump's major tax bill, which would have imposed additional tax on businesses. She says the removal of the section provides a better environment for G7 nations to take the next steps in tackling aggressive tax planning and avoidance. In Formula One, Oscar Piastri will start the Austrian Grand Prix from third place, while his teammate Lando Norris will be in pole position. Piastri was unable to go for a final flying lap at the end of qualifying, after being forced to slow down due to yellow flags prompted by the actions of Frenchman Pierre Gasly who spun on the track, bouncing through the gravel and onto the grass. The Australian says it was frustrating. "I mean I am pretty disappointed - but on in myself. I didn't get to do my last lap of Q3 because of the yellow flags. So, you know I think pole was going to be a tough battle to win. But the front row was definitely for the taking. It's a shame to have that kind of bring it all undone a bit - but it still could have been worse. So, I will try make sone progress tomorrow."
