Australian troops to be sent to Poland to train Ukrainian soldiers; Former Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley quits the party, alleging a toxic culture; Australia levels its one-day cricket series against Pakistan.
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TRANSCRIPT
In this bulletin:
- Australian troops to be sent to Poland to train Ukrainian soldiers.
- Former Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley quits the party, alleging a toxic culture.
- Australia levels its one-day cricket series against Pakistan.
Australian Defence Force personnel will be sent to Poland in the coming weeks as part of efforts to train Ukrainian soldiers in the ongoing war with Russia.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says the Australian troops will join a Norwegian led operation to teach basic infantry tactics, leadership and military skills.
Australia has been providing similar support through a UK based operation since 2023, but the government now says it makes more sense to train closer to Ukraine.
Speaking at a defence summit, Mr Marles has said Australia's support of Ukraine is crucial for upholding the rules-based world order.
"We will continue to have serving men and women in the Australian Army providing the critical role of training new recruits to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its own terms."
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Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended the recent shift in the AUKUS submarine deal after Ed Husic argued the government should renegotiate.
The Labor backbencher says there has been some disquiet within the Labor caucus about the deal and is calling on the government to reconsider their commitment to the agreement.
Doubts over the defence deal were amplified after a recent announcement that Australia would only be purchasing second hand nuclear powerered submarines from the United States.
But in an appearance this morning on Nine's Today Show, Penny Wong has shut down any suggestion of a vote on the matter.
"Ed's entitled to his views, but 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."
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Former Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley has quit the party altogether, seven months after she also stepped down from the top job.
The Yerrabi Member of the Legislative Assembly says the party has a toxic culture and she can no longer be part of it.
Ms Castley says she’ll sit as an independent after what she describes as 18 months of bullying, intimidation, lies and threats.
Liberal leader Mark Parton has denied the party had a toxic culture but said the organisation had treated bullying concerns.
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Israeli strikes have continued across southern Lebanon, despite a partial ceasefire agreement aimed at reducing tensions with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 10 people have been killed and more than 130 injured, including staff at Jabal Amel Hospital near Tyre.
Israel says it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, while Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Staff at Jabal Amel Hospital say the strike caused major damage, but the hospital will keep operating.
"We hadn't ruled out that the enemy wouldn't do here what they did in Gaza but I pesonally didn't anticipat the intenseive care unit being damaged to this extent."
"This attack only makes us more resilient, we guarantee that hospital will remain open and will fulfil it's humanitarian duty and we will continue to provide medical care no matter what the sacrifices are."
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The Trump administration says it is scrapping its one-point-eight-billion-dollar anti-weaponisation fund.
The plan was designed to compensate people the administration says were harmed by what it alleged was the weaponisation of government under former Democratic president Joe Biden.
The proposal attracted legal challenges and resistance from Democrats, as well as some Republicans in Congress.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche now says the fund will not proceed.
"Well, to the extent there was a fund. And remember, the fund wasn't set up yet. There were no commissioners named. There was no claimants brought anything in front of, there was no claims made yet. So yes, we're not moving forward with the fund."
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Iran and the United States have both launched missile strikes, with each side accusing the other of carrying out attacks in the Gulf region.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it targeted the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with missiles and drones.
The US military says it carried out what it described as self-defence strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in response to attempted attacks by Tehran.
The exchange comes despite ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the conflict between Washington and Tehran.
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A driver who crashed into Sydney's Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park has been charged by police.
Officers allege the 21-year-old French national drove into the landmark in the early hours of this morning.
Police say he has been charged with negligent driving, not reversing safely and driving while unlicensed.
The man is due to appear in court at a later date.
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To sport,
Australia has levelled its one-day international series against Pakistan with a 41-run win in Lahore.
Nathan Ellis took four wickets as Pakistan was bowled out for 190.
Stand-in captain Josh Inglis and Cameron Green also scored half-centuries as Australia posted 231 on a difficult batting wicket.
Inglis says his side felt it had enough runs on the board.
"I think mostly it was around the batting front, I know the guys had some good conversations around training yesterday just around individual method and how they were going to go about it and it was obviously dependant on the wicket and it looked very similar to the other day, so the guys played it really well today there were some good contributions across the board and some good partnerships."
