source : the age
Anthony Albanese said it was appropriate for state governments to prepare for the return of the 34 women and children seeking repatriation from Syria in case they made it back to Australian shores.
“If we said that no preparations were being made for if they do come back, that would be the worry,” the prime minister told Karl Stefanovic’s podcast, referring to NSW Premier Chris Minns’ comments yesterday that the state expected about a third of the cohort to settle there.
“Of course, preparations have been made, but the fact is that doesn’t constitute assistance,” he said.
The prime minister said Australians would expect that Australian kids get access to healthcare and education once in the country.
“Now it might be that they decide not to [return], because of charges potentially that will be laid,” he said.
“People are trying to make something more complex than it is. Point one, no [government] assistance for these people. Point two, Australian citizens do have rights. We are acting right up to where the law is, and the law was put in place by the former government.”
The prime minister said he would keep doing the nation’s top job as long as he was enjoying it, and as long as the Australian people would have him.
“I have an incredible privilege of being here,” Anthony Albanese told The Karl Stefanovic Show podcast.
“I didn’t have the ambition that some people have told people at school they’d be prime minister. I just wanted to make a contribution. I was quite enjoying being the infrastructure minister and building things, and that for me was a passion, but I found myself in a position to be Labor leader and to win an election.
“But it’s not something I take for granted. Each and every day is a privilege, and every day I wake up and think, you know, OK, what are we doing today? I work hard, and I never forget where I’ve come from.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a suggestion that by labelling Pauline Hanson’s One Nation as a dark force, he was painting her supporters with the same brush.
“I’m describing Pauline Hanson, and whether you appeal to people’s better instincts, or whether you try to amplify divisions in society,” Albanese told The Karl Stefanovic Show podcast.
He said One Nation did not represent working-class voters because they voted against cost-of-living measures such as enshrining penalty rates on weekends.
“And of course, One Nation’s greatest supporter, [Hanson’s] friend, is [mining billionaire] Gina Rinehart. Last time I looked, [Rinehart is] not a working-class hero, but someone who’s advocated cuts to wages and cuts to working conditions.”
Anthony Albanese has pushed back at a generalisation that all Australians were doing it tough and had “the shits” with him as prime minister.
After Albanese lamented increasing political polarisation, which he said was driven by social media algorithms, podcast host Karl Stefanovic put it to the prime minister that most Australians did not identify with left or right, but “100 per cent identify with having the shits, and they’ve got the shits with you right now”.
“I don’t think that’s right, Karl, for you to use such generalisations,” Albanese said on the live podcast recording.
“People have different views. And you and I are both doing OK. So a lot of people out there, some people are doing it tough. There’s a lot of messaging out there that says everyone is doing it tough.
“I tell you, what would make people do it harder is not maintaining employment, and we’ve made sure that that has occurred. And yeah, these are difficult times. There’s been global inflation, we get that. But you can either identify it and say, people are doing it tough and it’s all terrible, or you can say, yep, we accept that. We’re going to do something about it.”
Anthony Albanese has spoken about where he was when he was first notified of the Bondi attack in Sydney in December, and the rush to Sydney after the gravity of the attack became clear.
“I was here in The Lodge,” the prime minister told Karl Stefanovic in a live recording of the broadcaster’s eponymous new podcast.
“[I got] text messages and then phone calls from my team and from the [Australian Federal Police]. I went into the office, I called a meeting of the National Security Committee immediately that night.”
Albanese said it wasn’t clear at first whether it was a targeted attack or a shootout between two people, but information gradually revealed the extent of the atrocity.
“I did stand up in the Blue Room at Parliament House [on that Sunday], and then came back here [to The Lodge], got changed, got organised, jumped on a plane,” he said.
“We got a curfew exemption into Sydney. I got into Sydney about 1 in the morning … and then we had another briefing really early on the Monday morning, the 15th, about just after six o’clock sometime at the NSW Police headquarters. I did a press conference with Chris Minns, the premier, and then I went down to Bondi police station.”
Albanese said that at Bondi police station he met first responders who had been working through the night.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his letter of support to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession has been received by the UK.
Speaking live on the Karl Stefanovic Show podcast this hour, Albanese said he had been in contact with the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer overnight.
“[The letter] has arrived,” he said. “And I’ve texted with Keir overnight as well to make sure that he knew it was coming, and it’s now in the UK’s hands.
“I really think that Australians out there, including people who are hanging on every word of this podcast, will be disgusted by all of these events and will just think, this is a guy who’s had a life of absolute privilege and quite clearly, there’s been an abuse of that privilege.”
Stefanovic said: “I think he’s a feral pig. He’s a disgusting, disgusting human.”
A New Zealand man has been arrested in Perth after Australian Border Force officers allegedly caught him in possession of videos of “multiple overseas terrorist incidents” including “violent killings” on his phone.
The 24-year-old man was stopped for a baggage search in the Perth Airport yesterday after arriving on an overseas flight. During that search, ABF officers allegedly found suspicious materials, and alerted the Australian Federal Police.
A joint police force, involving AFP, as well as the WA Police and ASIO, began an investigation, with a review of the man’s phone leading to the identification of data accessed online that “allegedly constitutes violent extremist material, including videos of violent killings overseas”.
The AFP said the killings were linked to “varying ideologies”. A property in Perth was then searched, and a computer was seized.
The New Zealand man has been charged with one count of possessing or controlling violent extremist material, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He is due to appear in court today.
The AFP said investigations are ongoing.
“There is no place in Australian society for violent or extremist content, which terrorist organisations use as a tool to radicalise members of the community, particularly young or vulnerable people,” AFP Commander Nick Read said.
“Our top priority is to keep Australians safe from anyone who seeks to do them harm.”
If you suspect someone is being radicalised online or in person, call the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.
For anonymous reporting, visit the Crime Stoppers website or call 1800 333 000.
The deputy leaer of the Greens has taken aim at Prime Minster Anthony Albanese after he wrote to the UK arguing the former Prince Andrew should be removed from the line of succession.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi said Albanese’s letter was “not leadership”.
“It is a humiliating reminder that Australia is still shackled to a corrupt and crumbling royal family,” she said.
“Rather than pleading with a foreign government to clean up its messes, Australia should be cutting ties altogether and choosing its own head of state.”
Faruqi said the former prince was the product of a “rotten institution built on inherited privilege, secrecy and impunity”.
“Australia needs to confront the bigger truth that the monarchy is an outdated, unaccountable institution built on colonial violence and stolen wealth. The latest horrific scandal is not an aberration. It is a symptom of a broken system that is not fit to represent us,” she said.
“You cannot polish a rotten crown. The time for a republic is now. Instead of writing letters, Albanese should begin the process of constitutional change, led by First Nations voices.”
South Australia’s algal bloom has spread north up the Yorke Peninsula, turning waters a sickly brownish-green colour and suffocating southern sand octopus, rays and other marine life.
There are now fears it could spread further north into the Spencer Gulf towards South Australia’s annual aggregation of giant cuttlefish, which is due to take place off the coast of Whyalla from May.
The annual event is the only known mass gathering of giant cuttlefish – which can weigh as much as 10 kilograms – in the world, and is billed as one of the most spectacular natural events in the Australian marine environment.
The natural wonder attracts photographers, divers and researchers from around the world, drawn to the beauty of the colour-changing cuttlefish, which are dubbed “chameleons of the sea”.
Great Southern Reef Foundation co-founder Stefan Andrews on Monday surveyed water off the coast of Port Victoria, a town located in the middle part of the Spencer Gulf, and recorded water visibility of less than one metre in parts.
He said he saw multiple marine species, including octopus, starfish and abalone, dead and dying.
Read more from climate and environment reporter Bianca Hall here.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says news of an endometriosis doctor accused of performing unnecessary surgery on women over a number of years “sickened him”, but has thanked the women who came forward with their stories for their bravery.
Allegations against gynaecologist Dr Simon Gordon have been referred to the Victorian healthcare watchdog, as well as police after former patients came forward.
This masthead this month revealed Gordon was under investigation by the national medical regulator over allegations he performed unnecessary endometriosis surgeries on women, including removing their ovaries and uterus, despite no clinical evidence justifying the procedures.
Gordon, who retired from the Epworth late last year and surrendered his medical registration last month, denies the allegations.
“Even though I knew some of what was coming, it still sickened me to the stomach,” Butler said of the news in a video posted on X.
“I want to thank the doctors who bravely spoke out about one of their colleagues. They shouldn’t feel scared for speaking out about poor quality of care.
“But most of all, we should all thank the brave young women who told their stories, their deeply distressing stories of trauma. They did that in the hope that talking about this would mean that other young women in the future might not experience what they experienced.”
Butler said he was “glad” Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan had referred the matter to police.
“We owe it to those young women to bring any wrongdoing to justice, but we also owe it to those young women to learn the lessons, and do everything we can to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
