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Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Federal parliament's newbies are steppin' out
Politics makes strange bedfellows and the 48th parliament is full of them. After the May election, Canberra will welcome about 40 new politicians including one of its tallest-ever MPs, a former pirate negotiator and a few familiar faces. At more than two metres in height, Matt Smith is a stand-out among Labor's coterie. The former basketball player wrenched the far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt from the coalition for the first time in almost two decades after years spent forging ties with the community during his time with the Cairns Taipans. Mr Smith held the team's record for blocked shots when the Taipans went into administration in 2008. The news broke the players, he says, but locals' efforts to save the team transformed his perception of community. "At the height of the global financial crisis, people dipped into their own pockets to keep the team afloat," he tells AAP. He could have returned to his Victorian roots after retiring from basketball in 2018 but Mr Smith says he now belongs to Cairns. "The Taipans, as we know them now, are a community-funded team because of the never-say-die attitude, because of the passion from far north Queensland," he says. "There is an obligation to give back to everyone who's given so much and this is the best way that I can help and improve the community that I love and that has been so good to me over the last 20 years." The Queensland MP isn't the only new politician with outsized life experience. NSW One Nation senator Warwick Stacey dropped out of high school and headed to southern France where he worked as a handyman and English teacher before joining the British army. He eventually settled into a job as a kidnap and response consultant, advising clients on ways to navigate kidnappings, and even planning and implementing a ransom delivery to Somali pirates. Senator Stacey hopes his past can differentiate him from other politicians, who comparatively have "very little life experience". "(They've) gone from university into the union or into a parliamentarian's office as a staffer and then they put their hand up for a seat," he says. "I'd like to bring my experience." But a few newcomers can lean on their extensive political experience to offer specific insights into their communities. MP for Lyons Rebecca White has already spent 15 years serving voters in Tasmania's parliament and even led the state's Labor opposition for about half her tenure. "I've had a pretty long apprenticeship," she tells AAP. Her federal electorate has the exact same boundaries as her former state seat. But entering parliament as part of Labor's significant lower house majority offers new opportunities. "I've had the privilege of being able to represent my community for a long time in the state parliament but a really large part of that was in opposition, which has been frustrating at times," she says. "There are things we could have done if we were elected to government in Tasmania and we weren't able to progress. "I'm really excited about the opportunity to make change." Goldstein MP Tim Wilson is also no stranger to politics and will return to parliament as the only Liberal to win back their seat from a 'teal' independent at the 2025 election. The contest in the inner-Melbourne seat was so close it took almost a month, and a partial recount, before Mr Wilson was officially declared the victor over independent Zoe Daniel. But the Liberal Party's broader defeat cast a shadow over his win. "I always privately had this fear that I would be the only one who would defeat a teal but I never voiced that publicly," he says. "I had never imagined a scenario where I would be the only one to win a seat, the only liberal in a capital city and one of two in metropolitan Australia. "So despite the excitement, I think that actually hit me with a sense of responsibility." Still, he's not the only newcomer to defeat a well-known politician. Experienced foster carer Sarah Witty beat former Greens leader Adam Bandt and took the seat of Melbourne back to Labor for the first time in 15 years. It was one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 election and while she never expected to win, from her first day on the campaign, the appetite for change was clear. "I knew there was definitely a swing away, I just wasn't sure how far we would go," she says. Parliament will resume on July 22.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Blast kills three Kenyan soldiers on road near Somali border
A blast has killed three Kenyan soldiers patrolling a road in the east of the country near the Somali border, the military said. The al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab said on its website at least two Kenyan soldiers were killed and others wounded in a blast that targeted a convoy in a similar area on Tuesday, but it did not directly claim responsibility. The patrol hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday morning on the road between Sankuri and Kiunga, a coastal town 12km from the Somali border, the army said. "Regrettably, three gallant soldiers succumbed to their injuries. These soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice," the Kenya Defence Forces said in a statement released late on Tuesday. Al Shabaab controls large swathes of southern and central Somalia and frequently makes cross-border attacks on military and civilian targets, which security analysts say are aimed at pressuring Kenya into withdrawing its troops from peacekeeping missions in Somalia.
Gulf Insider
3 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
US Has Launched Over 50 Airstrikes In Somalia In 2025
US Africa Command has announced that it launched two separate airstrikes in Somalia on Sunday, as the Trump administration is continuing to bomb the country at a record pace, an air war that is receiving virtually no coverage in US media. AFRICOM said that the strikes targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia's northeastern Puntland region, to the southeast of the port city of Bossaso. The command offered no further details, as it has stopped sharing estimates of casualties or assessments of potential civilian harm. AFRICOM confirmed to in an email that the latest attack marked the 51st US airstrike in Somalia of the year, putting the Trump administration on track to easily break the annual record, which President Trump set at 63 in 2019. is also seeking details on casualties from AFRICOM, but so far hasn't received a figure. The US has been backing local Puntland forces against ISIS in battles in the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland's Bari region. Puntland Counter-Terrorism Operations announced on Sunday — the day the US launched two airstrikes — that it was conducting a 'clearance operation' against ISIS remnants in the mountains and said the area being targeted was 'last used by terrorists as a hideout with their foreign women and children.' Puntland's forces announced a new military operation on June 30 against ISIS-affiliated militants, and since then, the US has launched at least four airstrikes in the area. The ISIS affiliate in Somalia started in 2015 as an offshoot of al-Shabaab, a group the US has also been bombing in southern and central Somalia. In the war against al-Shabaab, the US is backing the Mogadishu-based Federal Government, which controls little territory inside Somalia's internationally recognized borders. Somali media reported on Tuesday that government forces killed 15 al-Shabaab fighters in the central Hiraan region, an operation that was supported by 'international partners,' likely a reference to US AFRICOM. Al-Shabaab has been making significant gains against the government and reportedly captured a town in the Hiraan region on Monday. Fighting has also been ongoing in the southern Jubaland region, where the US carried out multiple airstrikes from June 27 to June 30 to support a battle that the government claimed killed 50 al-Shabaab fighters. Al-Shabaab's offensive has been successful enough that US officials recently discussed the possibility of Mogadishu falling to the militant group. The New York Times reported on April 10 that State Department officials suggested closing down the US embassy in Mogadishu and evacuating most US personnel due to the threat. But other officials, including Sebastian Gorka, the top counterterrorism official on the National Security Council, called for the US to escalate in Somalia and double down on its policy of propping up the government, and they appear to have won the internal debate. Hawks who favor continued intervention in Somalia portray al-Shabaab as a major threat to the US due to its size and al-Qaeda affiliation, but it's widely believed the group does not have ambitions outside of Somalia. Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that toppled the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of Muslim groups that briefly held power in Mogadishu after ousting CIA-backed warlords. Al-Shabaab was the radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union. The group's first recorded attack was in 2007, and it wasn't until 2012 that al-Shabaab pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda. Also read: Military Aircraft's Mysterious Crash Sparks UFO Speculation In U.S. Airspace
Hans India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
82 suspects arrested in Ethiopia over Islamic State-related terror attacks
Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) said that it has apprehended 82 suspects who were allegedly plotting terrorist operations in various parts of the East African country. In a statement, the NISS said that the arrest of the suspects, who have alleged links with the terrorist group the Islamic State (IS), stems from an extensive intelligence investigation into the Somali wing of the IS. The terrorist group has been attempting to expand its operational footprint into Ethiopia and neighbouring countries. According to the statement, NISS has been closely monitoring the group's cross-border infiltration strategies and its efforts to establish sleeper cells in Ethiopia, Xinhua news agency reported. "Following the compilation of actionable intelligence and corroborating evidence, 82 operatives -- trained by the IS in Puntland and clandestinely deployed across Ethiopia -- were identified and apprehended in a coordinated operation conducted in collaboration with the Ethiopian Federal Police and regional security forces," the statement added. NISS confirmed that the suspects maintained direct links with the terrorist organisation and were engaged in receiving logistical, financial, and operational support. The statement further said that the IS has been exploiting religious institutions and symbols as a cover for its operations to disseminate extremist ideology, recruit vulnerable individuals, and destabilise communities. Earlier this year, Ethiopian and Kenyan intelligence agencies had launched a joint military operation aimed at dismantling a militant group along their common border areas, NISS said in a statement. The primary objective of the joint operation was to dismantle 'Shene', also known as the Oromo Liberation Army, a militant group designated as a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government, thereby enhancing regional stability along the border, the statement said. Specifically, the operation aimed to counter activities related to terrorism, contraband trade and the trafficking of people and arms. NISS said joint security forces from Ethiopia and Kenya were actively conducting operations in designated camps of the group within their respective border territories to neutralise its influence and promote peace in the Horn of Africa region.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Islamic State group
NAIROBI: More than 80 suspected members of the Islamic State group have been arrested across Ethiopia, state media said, claiming they intended to carry out a 'terror mission'. The 82 individuals were trained in neighbouring Somali Puntland region, according to state outlet Fana Media Corporation, which cited a statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). Ethiopia shares a long border with Somalia, which for months has been experiencing a resurgence of attacks by the Islamist Al-Shabaab group. Fana said late Tuesday the suspected Islamic State group members were 'identified and arrested', but did not give any further details. The suspects 'had been recruited for a terror mission', Fana said, noting the arrests took place in several regions across the country, including capital Addis Ababa. Somalia and Ethiopia have had tense relations for months after Addis Ababa announced an agreement with the breakaway Somaliland region last year, angering Mogadishu and raising fears of regional destabilisation. Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia have since normalised. Ethiopia is part of the African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) combating the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia. The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of the groups resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation. – AFP
