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TRANSCRIPT:
- Concerns over an immigration debate as the Liberals mull a new policy...
- Eleven killed in new US strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats...
- Australia to play Mexico in May ahead of the football World Cup.
The Coalition says it could be some time before it announces a revamped immigration policy.
Newly appointed opposition defence spokesman James Paterson says the policy under Angus Taylor will need to go through party processes before its release.
But Federal Minister Anne Aly says she is concerned the debate around immigration while the policy is being developed could become hurtful for multicultural Australians, as Pauline Hanson's anti-immigration party surges in opinion polls, and with the return of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to the opposition frontbench.
She has told SBS Punjabi that Ms Price's appointment could be taken as an 'endorsement' of Ms Price's previous comments about Indian Australians.
"Words matter. And that as leaders in our communities - and as political leaders - we have a responsibility to ensure that we speak words in ways that are responsible and do not cause further friction, and do not cause hurt towards particular communities."
A man brandishing a shotgun has been arrested near Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan says the man was intercepted after being seen running from his car toward the U.S. Capitol building that will host the State of the Union speech next week.
The Chief says it remains unclear whether members of Congress were the target.
But he says it is clear the 18 year old was well prepared.
Eleven people have died in a new series of strikes on boats the United States maintains were involved in drug smuggling.
The US Southern Command says it targeted three vessels along known smuggling routes, hitting two vessels carrying four people each in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and a third boat with three people in the Caribbean Sea.
President Donald Trump has said the US is in armed conflict with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs.
Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The Prime Minister says he has not changed his mind about the return to Australia of a group of women and children from a Syrian refugee camp.
Former Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has told Channel 7 that the Department of Foreign Affairs cannot refuse to issue them new Australian passports, but Anthony Albanese says that is all the government is legally required to do.
UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Saul argues it would be irresponsible to stop Australian citizens from returning home, saying they are vulnerable in the Syrian camps and would be more easily supervised on home soil.
The PM however has described them as people who chose to go overseas to align themselves with a brutal, reactionary ideology, and must accept the consequences of their actions.
"We will implement the law to its fullest capacity that we can. We want to make sure that Australians are kept safe."
An inquiry has begun today at the New South Wales parliament into a proposed law to combat right wing extremism.
The state government introduced the crime amendment bill after a neo-Nazi protest outside state Parliament in November last year, in the hopes it would address what it said was an increase in displays of hate.
Professor Julian Drugan is the co-convenor of the AVERT research group at Macquarie University.
He has told the inquiry the landscape around extremism is complex and requires a layered response from government.
"Academics and policymakers have looked at it through the prism of terrorism and terrorism issues. These groups and violent extremists such as active shooters are part of a much broader social problem and series of social issues - that are Australian and also international - and are being driven by trends including online extremism and movements."
To sport and in football news,
Mexico will play a warm up match against Australia on May 30 ahead of the World Cup.
Mexico will face the Socceroos at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, eight days after they play Ghana in a home game.
The Socceroos last played Mexico in September 2023 and finished with a 2-all draw.
