Wong responds to ICC arrest warrants in relation to Gaza war
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has responded to news the ICC has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
In a statement posted to X, Wong said:
Australia respects the independence of the [ICC] and its important role in upholding international law. We have been clear that all parties to the conflict must comply with international humanitarian law.
Civilians must be protected. Hostages must be released. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must reach civilians. Aid workers must be protected to enable their lifesaving work.
Key events
Minns remains hopeful of agreement with Rail, Tram and Bus Union
Chris Minns also spoke about the two-day shutdown of Sydney’s train network – which was averted at the 11th hour yesterday.
He told reporters the government wasn’t doing a “lap of honour” and there is a “long way to go” in sorting things out:
We’re working very hard to get an agreement, and I’m hopeful we can do that in the coming two weeks with the union.
NSW police establishes strike force to investigate anti-Israel graffiti
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is addressing the media in Sydney – first speaking about the anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs earlier this week.
He described the incident as “horrific” and said a strike force had been set up to investigate the matter:
I know that members of the Jewish community since the horrifying terrorist attacks on 7 October have felt unsafe in their own town, and I’m deeply sorry for that.
I also want to make it clear that police have stood up a strike force [and] we are taking these violent criminal acts very seriously … [The] police force is working incredibly hard to track down those who committed this horrifying act.
The full force of the law will be applied against them. None of this will be tolerated in 2024 in Sydney, and no one should feel intimidated or harassed in their own place, in their own town, in their own home.
X owner Elon Musk takes swipe at Australia’s social media age limit
Josh Butler
X owner Elon Musk has taken a shot at Australia’s plan to ban under-16s from social media, using his platform – one of the big tech companies to be included in the new restrictions – to claim the Labor government was trying to “control access to the internet”.
Musk, who has been a constant presence by president-elect Donald Trump’s side since the election, reposted a tweet by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, last night. He wrote:
Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.
Albanese’s tweet, which Musk quoted, read:
TODAY: We’re introducing our bill to make 16 years the minimum age for social media.
Albanese’s tweet has attracted a “community note” on X, a tool on the platform which is meant to address issues of misinformation or missing context, which allows users to add extra information. The community note on Albanese’s tweet reads:
This bill will require identity or age verification for all Australians to use social media, including adults. The government confirmed this is the only way to enforce it.
It is unclear what extra data all Australians will have to submit to social media companies to keep their accounts. The government concedes that complying with the age assurance framework “may require the collection, use and disclosure of additional personal information”.
In a Senate estimates hearing earlier this month, the Greens senator David Shoebridge asked James Chisholm, the deputy secretary of the communications department, if “everybody [would] have to go through an age-verification process”.
“Yes,” Chisholm replied.
Police officer in hospital after allegedly being stabbed during arrest
A NSW police officer is recovering in hospital after allegedly being stabbed during the arrest of a man.
About 12.30am this morning officers were called to Doonside to reports five men were fighting. Officers allegedly saw a hatchback being driven away and began a pursuit – which was terminated after the car hit a power pole.
Three men allegedly ran away and during the arrest of these men, police allege a male constable was stabbed in the chest by a 20-year-old man.
He was treated by paramedics and taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition. The three men – aged 21, 20 and 18 – have been taken to Blacktown Police Station.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation commenced.
Beaumaris football club president pays tribute to Bianca Jones
Continuing from our last post, Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles both played for the Beaumaris football club.
Its president, Nick Heath, just spoke with ABC News Breakfast and said news of Jones’s death has taken everyone’s grief to a new level and “we’re all just trying to cope … at the moment.”
He said Jones’s family are “completely shattered” but it was a silver lining all the family were with her at the time:
They embraced her and said goodbye in a way that the family would have liked to. The family have asked me to convey how grateful they are for the outpouring of love and support … It’s been overwhelming and the family are really feeling the love.
Describing the two best friends, he said Jones and Bowles were part of the “Covid generation” who missed out on their social lives for a couple of years, saving up hard for their dream overseas holiday:
Off they’ve went full of zest for life and quest for adventure … I think that’s why so many people relate to this because it could happen to anybody, and that just really smacks you right between the eyes. These young people deserve some social life and deserved their time in the sun, and now this happens. It’s devastating.
Pearl Jam lead singer pays tribute to methanol poisoning victims
During the Pearl Jam concert in Sydney last night, Eddie Vedder paid tribute to suspected methanol poisoning victims Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles.
Jones has died in a Thai hospital, a week after the Melbourne teenager and her best friend, Bowles, fell ill while travelling in neighbouring Laos. Bowles remains fighting for her life.
During last night’s show, Vedder told the crowd of about 50,000:
The sense of travel, adventure, gusto, verve, and to hear the story about these two young girls in Laos … I guess their drinks were spiked or something, absolutely fucking senseless.
But the one young woman, Bianca Jones, she has passed. Her friend, Holly Bowles, is hanging [on] and we send her the best and we’re thinking about the parents.
Wong responds to ICC arrest warrants in relation to Gaza war
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has responded to news the ICC has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
In a statement posted to X, Wong said:
Australia respects the independence of the [ICC] and its important role in upholding international law. We have been clear that all parties to the conflict must comply with international humanitarian law.
Civilians must be protected. Hostages must be released. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must reach civilians. Aid workers must be protected to enable their lifesaving work.
Regional NSW no longer reprieve for Sydneysiders facing skyrocketing rents: new report
A new report shows that regional NSW is no longer a reprieve for Sydneysiders looking to escape skyrocketing rents in the city, as affordability hits record lows in the regions.
The tenth annual National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning rental affordability index shows the average rental household in regional NSW is paying almost 30% of the gross income of $89,977, if renting at the median rate.
Single jobseekers are facing extremely unaffordable rents, with 69% of their income going towards rent. Single part-time workers on parent benefits are also facing extremely unaffordable rents, sacrificing 56% of their income to rent.
The CEO of Shelter NSW, John Engeler, said the regional rental market is “spiraling out of control” with people across the state “struggling to afford to keep a roof over their head”.
The regions used to be seen as an affordable alternative for Sydneysiders to escape to when city rents became unaffordable. But this is not the case, especially for regional residents on local wages. This is not sustainable and will only get worse as these regional populations grow.
The greatest affordability decline in regional NSW was seen along coastal areas like Tweed Heads, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, as well as inland areas such as Orange and Dubbo.
David Colemon on future of gambling ads
David Coleman was asked if he thinks there is any chance the government will bring its gambling reforms to parliament before the end of the year? He was it wasn’t “looking very likely”.
Remarkably, when [communications minister Michelle Rowland was] asked if the government was going to use legislation to do whatever it’s going to do on gambling, the minister said she didn’t know, and no decisions have been made. And given that there’s four parliamentary sitting days [left], you think if you’re going to introduce legislation, you’d at least know [the form the] regulation would take. So it’s not looking likely.
Coleman said the prime minister was “scared” that “whatever he announces on gambling advertising is going to upset people, so he’s taking the weak option and basically doing nothing”.
So the position he’s taken is do nothing, and that has very real consequences. And it’s well past time that action was taken.
Is the Coalition willing to get ahead of Labor and push for a full ban on gambling ads? Coleman did not answer directly, saying it would wait for the government to announce “a policy that we can respond to”.
We’ve got a policy that we put in place already in relation to large sport. The next step is for the government of Australia to have an opinion on this issue.
Opposition communications spokesperson responds to Guardian report on Kyle and Jackie O
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, gave a wide-ranging interview to ABC RN just earlier – where he touched on Guardian Australia’s reports on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Asked about some of the vulgar language, and whether this is appropriate to air while children are listening, Coleman said:
I think it’s a very fair issue to raise … I haven’t seen the specific examples that you’re referring to … but certainly Acma should be using the powers that it has, and I can understand why people would be concerned about that.
Tink accuses government of ‘rushing to finish homework’ in final sitting days
Kylea Tink was asked a question about changes to the Future Fund, and spoke about the amount of legislation the government is trying to pass, with just four sitting days left this year:
We are in the final two sitting weeks of this year and I can pretty much guarantee from this point on it will either be about the government rushing to finish its homework, so stuff we should have seen months ago being forced through, while on the other hand it will be all about cheap political point-scoring.
Tink said she doesn’t think the Future Fund is “the biggest issue in the country at the moment”, pointing to her concerns over the government’s electoral reforms.
This legislation was provided to me in draft form on Sunday, it was introduced into the House on Monday, and by Wednesday it was through the House. There was literally no debate on this bill other than for people like myself.
Independent MP accuses government of ‘chasing votes’ with social media age ban bill
Teal MP Kylea Tink spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier about the government’s proposed age limit for social media, with the bill introduced to parliament yesterday.
Tink accused the government of “chasing votes” with the bill and said:
[We] have so much evidence showing the harm that gambling advertising is doing to our nation, and yet the government has done nothing there. And we have no evidence showing that this will work in terms of protecting our kids … so it’s very hard to not be cynical about this legislation.
I absolutely agree we have to do something in this area, but surely the solution is to introduce legislation that places the onus of care on the platforms themselves to make sure they are providing content that is suitable for our young kids, rather than saying to our young kids, ‘You are banned and you cannot go on to it’.
