source : the age
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of national and world news this Monday, October 19. Here’s what is making headlines.
Good evening,
We are starting our live coverage again to take in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference which is expected to begin just after 7pm.
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has accused Pauline Hanson of double standards after she dismissed Jacqui Lambie’s anger over a cartoon mocking her health, pointing to Hanson’s condemnation of a satirical skit involving Gina Rinehart aired months ago.
The One Nation leader told the independent senator to “have a laugh” on Monday after Lambie accused her party of “stirring up hatred” after it published a cartoon making light of her vaginal prolapse.
Hastie told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing the response showed Hanson’s hypocrisy while describing the cartoon as “cheap, nasty and vulgar”.
“She [Hanson] cried a river for Gina Rinehart when the ABC had a satirical skit played on one of your programs and demanded it be taken down,” he said.
Israeli police said on Monday they had arrested eight suspects as part of an investigation into violent incidents in the West Bank over the weekend, including attacks on an American photojournalist and European diplomats in separate incidents.
The police did not identify the suspects.
Masked Israeli settlers were filmed on Friday assaulting Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was covering a Palestinian olive harvest.
European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked on Saturday by settlers in another incident.
Reuters
Trade Minister Don Farrell says he is confident the government has enough support from the Liberals to pass a proposed Australia-EU trade agreement after the Coalition signalled it was split over the deal.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan refused to support a free trade deal in an opinion piece published by The Australian, urging Liberals to oppose it after arguing it was bad for dairy farmers and the steel industry.
Appearing on News24 earlier, Farrell said steel made up a relatively small portion of Australia’s exports.
He said the deal, which consists of 27 new trade agreements, would help generate cheese and dairy sales in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Scandinavian nations.
Greens leader David Shoebridge says it was his understanding Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John agreed to take leave after the WA senator accused him of pressuring him to step aside over allegations of inappropriate conduct against women.
In a lengthy social media post yesterday, Steele-John claimed Shoebridge had pressured him to take leave from the party while insisting that he had not agreed to take leave while an investigation was ongoing.
Steele-John also accused factions within the party of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons after this masthead revealed a history of allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him dating as far back as 2016.
In a statement released on Monday, a spokesperson for Shoebridge said the party leader was under the impression that Steele-John had agreed to go on leave.
Four Canadian soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded when a fire tore through a military base in Alberta during a training exercise, defence and government officials said.
As many as 39 people are receiving hospital care following the blaze at CFB Wainwright, including 19 in critical condition, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters on Sunday in Edmonton.
A battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry was participating in an exercise when the fire broke out around 4pm Calgary time on Saturday, said Major-General Wade Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division.
The blaze was about one kilometre away and “not expected to move anywhere near that range” but swept into the training area, he said. There were high winds in the region.
Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman has called a Grattan Institute proposal to increase the GST to raise money to cut income taxes and increase welfare payments a “terrible idea”, warning it could increase grocery bills and fuel prices for everyday people.
In a report released on Monday, the independent think tank proposed increasing the GST from 10 to 15 per cent, and expanding the GST base to cover all food, to cut income taxes for lower and middle incomes and increase welfare payments.
Appearing on News24 earlier, Gorman said he refused to support the idea claiming it would impose additional costs on hardworking Australians.
“It is definitely a terrible idea in the middle of the cost-of-living pressures that people are experiencing, and, just one example, this would increase the price of fuel by an additional 24 cents a litre – what a terrible idea,” Gorman said.
The Minns government will intervene to give a Hunter Valley coal mine a licence to dig up millions of tonnes more each year despite a seismic High Court ruling that found its approval was invalid because it had failed to reckon with emissions from Australian coal burnt overseas.
Premier Chris Minns announced on Monday that the NSW government would step in to give MACH Energy legislated approval to increase production at the Mount Pleasant coal mine to 16.5 million tonnes a year, from its current limit of 12.5 million tonnes, until 2032.
Minns said the decision came after MACH Energy told the government it was preparing to sack half its workforce – about 400 people – before Christmas if its approval was not expanded.
In return for boosting the mine’s annual production limit, the government said the company had agreed to sign a jobs guarantee that would establish a legal obligation to maintain staffing levels.
The Royal Australian Navy’s Ghost Shark submarines will now be able to deploy sea mines, torpedoes, supplies and equipment for special forces, the federal government has announced.
The Albanese government is spending almost $2 billion on a fleet of uncrewed submarines called Ghost Sharks to compete with China’s military build-up.
The autonomous submarine can operate for up to 10 days at a depth of up to 6000 metres, allowing it to conduct missions too difficult or dangerous for crewed vessels.
Speaking at a press conference in Sydney on Monday, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the new capabilities would grant the submarine the ability to deploy 12 sea mines at any one time and release swarms of flying drones for aerial strikes.
“The Ghost Shark now has teeth – and will have the ability to inflict damage on any potential adversary,” Conroy said.
