TRANSCRIPT
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says U-S President Donald Trump's cancelled meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is reasonable due to the crisis in the Middle East, but is still to the detriment of Australia.
The prime minister was set to meet with the U-S president on the sidelines of the G-7 leaders summit in Canada, but Mr Trump has left talks early due to the conflict between Iran and Israel.
Tariffs on Australian exports into the U-S as well as the AUKUS submarine deal were set to be on the agenda of the face-to-face discussions and it would have been the first time the two leaders would speak in person.
Ms Ley says Australia urgently needs assurances from the U-S, and argues Mr Albanese needs to try harder to secure a one-on-one meeting with President Trump.
"We understand the volatility in the Middle East and the circumstances that led to President Trump having to leave early. However, it should not be left for Australia to just seek meetings as important as this on the sidelines of an international summit. So it is to the detriment of Australia that the meeting has not been achieved. There are important issues that we need, as a country in our national interest, to seek reassurance from the U-S about."
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The Greens have criticised the Albanese government for failing to decouple itself from the Trump and Netanyahu governments as Israel's surprise assault on Iran threatens to trigger a region-wide conflict.
On Friday [[13th June]], Israel attacked more than a dozen locations in Iran, damaging military and nuclear sites while also reportedly killing large swathes of civilians.
Since then the two countries have traded heavy missile barrages, with over 220 people reportedly killed in Iran and 24 Israelis killed amid Iran's retaliation.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says many Australians have been caught amid the violence, with around 300 Australians in Israel and 350 in Iran registering a departure request with the government.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge says the federal government must shift its foreign policy.
"Our government has to date chosen the sides of two of the world's largest bullies in the forms of Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. By choosing those sides they've failed to be the voice for peace and de-escalation that millions of Australians want our government to be. For the better part of two years, the Australian Greens have been saying that the Albanese government - together with many other western nations - giving Israel a blank cheque under the guise of self defence risks escalating conflict. We've seen that war escalate into Lebanon, Syria and Yemen and now it's escalated into Iran."
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Police have confirmed human remains found in a national park earlier this month are those of missing teenager Phoebe Bishop, who is believed by police to have been murdered by her two housemates.
The remains were found near the Queensland city of Bundaberg, about an hour from Bundaberg airport where the 17-year-old was last seen on June 6 after booking a trip to see her boyfriend in Western Australia.
The grim discovery came hours after Pheobe's two housemates 34-year-old James Wood and 33-year-old Tanika Bromley were charged with her murder and interfering with a corpse.
The police investigation is ongoing.
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Police have confirmed that the three victims of a daylight shooting at a kebab shop in Western Sydney are in stable conditions.
Police say two masked men walked into M Brothers Kebabs in Auburn yesterday [[16th June]] and fired eight gunshots - injuring three people, including one female employee.
The target of the attack, a 26-year-old gangland figure who was shot in the arm and shoulder, is expected to make a full recovery.
Detective Superintendent Jason Box says it's the fourth assassination attempt he's survived.
"This conflict and this violence is something that we're trying to suppress. There's internal conflict within the organised crime networks for various reasons … it's something why we’re stood up to negate this to try and stop this violence. It's quite obvious how determined they are this is the fourth attempt on this fella."
Since the shooting, Mr Box says New South Wales police Taskforce Falcon has flooded areas of interest, made several arrests and seized firearms.
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Analysts are projecting different scenarios on oil prices, as air attacks between Israel and Iran continue.
So far key oil export infrastructure have been spared.
The initial round of Israeli attacks on Friday [[13 June]] sent oil prices 7 percent higher.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says depending on how long the fighting continues, there could be substantial economic consequences, threatening both inflation and global growth.
London-based global oil expert Dr Mamdouh Salameh told SBS Arabic, Australia may be better positioned than many other countries to weather the volatility.
"Australia has enough great resources of coal as well as LNG. It’s a leader in LNG exports and production and same for coal. These will offset the adverse impact, to some extent, of rising oil prices beyond acceptable levels."
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The World Bank is urging Pacific Island nations to close the gender gap to boost economic growth in the region.
A new report from the global finance institution says less than half of working age women are employed across the Pacific Islands due to outdated laws.
Their economic update for the Pacific also forecast regional growth slowing to 2.6 per cent in 2025, down from 5.5 per cent in 2023.
With 57 per cent or around 500,000 women not in work across the region, the report says boosting female participation to the same level
as men could lift the region's gross domestic product by 22 per cent by increasing household incomes and supporting private sector growth.
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New Matildas coach Joe Montemurro has wasted no time in overhauling his backroom staff ahead of the Asian Cup.
Montemurro officially kicked off his tenure on Monday and on Tuesday announced sweeping changes to his technical and support staff, with four appointments and several departures.
Later this week, he will announce an extended squad for his first games at the helm against Slovenia and Panama in Perth.
Former Central Coast Mariners coach Emily Husband was appointed as an assistant last week and Joe Palatsides, who served as Montemurro's assistant at Lyon, will join her.
