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TRANSCRIPT
- The prime minister urges calm ahead of a national address on the government's response to war in the Middle East
- Calls for Australia to improve migrant skills recognition to boost productivity
- Cricket Australia's men's contract list for 2026-27 season unveiled
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the contents of his Address to the Nation will be consistent with the government's current approach to the war in the Middle East and its impacts on Australia.
The national address is set to take place at 7pm Eastern Daylight time, broadcast live across TV and radio networks. It is expected to include an outline of the government's response to the war.
Speaking in parliament, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor asked the Prime Minister what has changed to prompt the address.
Mr Albanese says the day-to-day impacts the conflict is having on Australians remains his government's primary concern.
"The Deputy Liberal leader in the House of Representatives said this, and this will be consistent with what I will say tonight. This is where every Australian has to just keep calm and carry on, do what they can to look after themselves and their neighbours. We've got a lot of oil and gas and other precious commodities trapped in the Persian Gulf behind the Strait of Hormuz. So until the war is resolved, we're going to feel supply pressures."
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The former Treasury Secretary and the CEO of Settlement Services International are calling for Australia to make overseas skills recognition faster, fairer and more affordable to boost the country's productivity.
In a joint-address to the National Press Club, Martin Parkinson and Violet Roumeliotis say new economic modeling reveals more than 250,000 permanent migrants are working below their skill level, when they could be filling critical shortages in licensed professions.
The pair say improving processes relating to the recognition migrant's skills and qualifications would lift productivity and contribute to creating cohesive, resilient communities.
Mr Parkinson says they're calling for the establishment of a new independent commissioner for skills and qualifications recognition to ensure a more consistent approach across states and territories.
"It would identify system barriers and proposed solutions while never reducing Australia's rightly high standards. It would turn a patchwork of individual assessing bodies into a system with shared objectives that work in the public interest to ensure an adequate supply of talent to address the nation's school shortages."
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A national report has found discrimination against transgender people is still widespread across institutions, including in healthcare, housing, education and employment.
The report - by the Australian Human Rights Commission - makes 19 recommendations, including the introduction of consistent legislation across Australian state and territories to protect LGBTIQA+ people and their associates from vilification, incitement of hatred and threats of physical harm.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody, says hate speech online targeting transgender people has grown since the 2017 postal survey on same-sex marriage, driven by anti-rights movements funded overseas.
"Often if there is hate speech being used online, it can increase people's safety risks. And we know that they experience violence at a higher rate than other people within the community. We need to make sure that everyone can enjoy human rights in our society."
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An expedition to a marine park east of the Great Barrier Reef has uncovered more than 110 new species of marine life.
The species were found in waters in the Coral Sea marine park, Australia’s largest marine protected area.
Scientists from the CSIRO embarked on a 35-day voyage that set sail from Brisbane last October.
During that trip they found species including: brittlestars, crabs, sea anemones and sponges.
Scientists say the total number of new species found could exceed 200, as more are identified.
CSIRO voyage chief scientist Dr Will White says these new discoveries will help better inform strategies to protect the globally significant ecosystem.
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To sport and in cricket, the full 21-player men's contract list for the 2026-27 season has been unveiled.
The list includes Test newcomers Brendan Doggett and Jake Weatherald, as well as Michael Neser and Todd Murphy.
Names excluded from the list include: Jhye Richardson, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis, Marcus Harris, and David Warner.
The new contracts are the first with an average value that will top more than $1 million, following the annual 2 per cent increase under the deal signed between Cricket Australia and the players' union in 2023.
And that's the latest from the SBS Newsroom.
