source : the age
Staying with Wong on the breakfast television circuit this morning, she said on the ABC’s News Breakfast program that Australia had imposed fresh sanctions on Israeli individuals and entities.
The sanctions were imposed yesterday “in response to escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank”, a statement from the minister’s office said.
“We have a very clear position that Israeli settlements are an obstacle to peace and inconsistent with progress towards a two-state solution. You’re right, I have sanctioned in the last 24 hours three individuals and four entities for their actions in the West Bank, including unacceptable violence and activities in relation to Palestinians.
“We have a consistent position. We support two states, and the reason is we see, as do so many others, no road to peace and stability in the Middle East, unless the issue of a Palestinian state is resolved, and there can be peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” she said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the government had no plans to withdraw from AUKUS, as she defended the decision to continue pursuing the security pact amid criticisms from within the Labor Party.
“The government is very clear about why we need AUKUS. This is a capability Australia needs, and unfortunately, we had a capability gap in terms of our submarines because of what happened under the Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison governments, and we are determined to deliver that capability, so it is full steam ahead,” she said on the Today show.
Pressed on internal party tensions over AUKUS after Labor MP Ed Husic said yesterday that the government should “rethink” its participation in the agreement, Wong said parliamentarians were entitled to their own views.
“Ed’s entitled to his views … We’re clear about why this is important for the country, and I think anyone looking at the world in which we live and the region in which we live understands that Australia needs effective military deterrence, of which submarines are a critical part, in order to assure the peace,” Wong said.
The government is still pleased with how the AUKUS agreement is progressing despite unplanned changes to the pact, Health Minister Mark Butler says.
Speaking to Nine’s Today show, he said, “We’re very, very happy with the way in which this project is tracking … The three countries met earlier this week.”
The doubling down follows the revelation Australia will not receive a third new Virginia-class submarine from the US, which was originally promised as part of the deal, but a second-hand vessel instead.
Yesterday, Labor MP Ed Husic said the government needed to “rethink” its participation in AUKUS, and claimed it was not the same deal Australia agreed to back in 2021.
In breaking news out of the US, Acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration was scrapping plans to create a $US1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) fund meant to compensate allies of the Republican president after widespread political backlash and setbacks in the courts.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said.
His comments during a House committee hearing came in response to mounting pressure from Republicans for reassurances that the Justice Department’s plans were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.
The Trump administration had previously defended the fund as an appropriate measure to make up for what officials insist was a weaponised Justice Department during president Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, a claim the Biden administration strongly denied.
Reuters
Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Sally McManus says the 4.75 per cent increase to award and minimum wages will not negatively impact businesses.
“I again say, every year we hear people say this is going to be terrible, and everyone’s going to shut their doors, and they don’t,” she told the Today show this morning.
“When you give people at the bottom pay rises, it does circulate back in the economy … Their wages overall aren’t very large, so when they get an increase, it doesn’t have any knock-on effect to anyone else.”
The Fair Work Commission’s latest increase will see Australia’s minimum wage lift to $26.44 per hour from July 1.
McManus also said unions welcomed the outcome which would ease pressure on the nation’s lowest-paid workers, who were already struggling with the cost of living.
“We are happy, 4.75 is more than inflation, and that’s what you’re always going for, because you want people to get ahead, not get behind … We still don’t know what’s going to happen with inflation, and the war, and everything,” she said this morning.
A rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner will take place on July 24 after the original event in late April was cut short by a gunman allegedly targeting US President Donald Trump and other administration officials.
Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said the organisation would not allow an act of violence to “have the last word” – especially in the year marking America’s 250th anniversary.
“This dinner will not only be an opportunity to carry out our program,” she said. “It will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.”
The decision to reschedule was not automatic, Jiang said, and was made after considering security matters. She said the event would feature significantly enhanced safety measures and access procedures, and details would be shared directly with members later.
Hello and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, June 3. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.
- Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission announced that it would lift minimum and award wages by 4.75 per cent as of July this year. The increase falls short of what was being supported by unions, but higher than the figure put forward by major business groups.
- AUKUS is under renewed scrutiny this week after an announcement from Defence Minister Richard Marles that Australia would not be receiving a third new Virginia-class submarine from the US, which was originally promised as part of the deal, but a second-hand vessel. An independent public inquiry was launched yesterday in federal parliament to investigate the pact’s aims and use of taxpayer dollars. Parliamentarians across the political spectrum have urged the government to rethink its continued participation in the agreement.
- David Farley was sworn in as the member for Farrer yesterday. It marked a historical moment for Pauline Hanson’s party as he became One Nation’s first directly elected lower house member.
- Australia’s data centre boom risks driving up the cost of electricity and derailing emissions targets unless governments force operators and their global tech customers to directly fund new renewable energy projects, a new report from climate advocates warns.
- And Israel called off planned strikes against Lebanon at the request of President Donald Trump, after the US leader reportedly lashed out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a fiery phone call.
