The Prime Minister says it's disrespectful to expect the next steps toward reconciliation only days after the referendum; Pressure for a humanitarian corridor to allow Australians trapped in Gaza to flee the violence; Cricket to feature in the 2028 Olympics.
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
- The Prime Minister says it's disrespectful to expect the next steps toward reconciliation only days after the referendum
- Pressure for a humanitarian corridor to allow Australians trapped in Gaza to flee the violence
- Cricket to feature in the 2028 Olympics
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is not respectful to First Nations people to expect the next steps toward reconciliation to be formulated within days of the result of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
He hit back at claims from Opposition leader Peter Dutton that the referendum was a vanity project for the Prime Minister, saying it disregarded the decades of work of Indigenous Australian advocates.
New analysis released today from the Australian Electoral Commission seems to vindicate the government's insistence that the Voice referendum was what First Nations communities wanted.
The data shows that - of the 10 polling booth catchment areas at the referendum with the highest Indigenous population - nine of them returned a 'yes' vote.
Mr Albanese says his government remains commited to reconcilliation efforts but it is too soon to detail these plans.
"The Uluru statement from the heart was developed over decades, the expectation that the next step should be developed over days, is not respectful. And it’s not one that I will engage in. We will continue to show respect. We’ll take the time to do that. Our commitment to listening to Indigenous Australians is undiminished. Our commitment to closing the gap is undiminished."
—-
Palestinians are calling for more international attention to an unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip with air strikes from Israeli forces killing over 2800 people according to Gaza's health ministry and a ground offensive looming.
This comes amid retaliation efforts from Israeli forces following attacks by Hamas militants which killed 1400 people in Israel.
The United Nations says over one million people have now been displaced in Gaza and warn that the likely Israeli ground offensive in the coming days could make the situation for civilians much worse.
The borders into Gaza controlled by Egypt and Israel remain closed.
Alaa Shatila, a youth activist for ActionAid Palestine who lives in the centre of Gaza City but is stuck in Egypt, says her and her friend have been watching the events unfold in horror.
"We can't go back to Gaza. Everything is really horrible. We are just watching the news day and night and we are so terrified and so nervous, so worried. We don't know what will happen in the future. Everything is mysterious. Everything is unknown. We just feel very frustrated. And where is the international community where are the human rights defenders? Where's the world? Why do they not see us? Why do they not listen to our voice?"
The significant escalation in violence is the latest in a long-standing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
—
A leading advocate for press freedom says the Australian public should be concerned by laws that impede on the ability of journalists to hold powerful institutions to account and protect their sources.
Peter Greste was working as a correspondent in Egypt when he was arrested and imprisoned on charges of terrorism in 2015.
He says the Egyptian government had used national security legislation to come after journalists it didn't like.
His organisation, the Alliance for Journalist Freedom, published a white paper in 2019 over fears Australia was heading in the same direction.
The paper says journalist's data were being leaked due to intrustive police investigations and confidential sources were being dangerously exposed to prosecution.
He says his organisation is proposing a media freedom act that work in a similar way to human rights legislation in Queensland, the ACT, and Victoria.
"There, the laws do three very simple things. First, they compel Parliament to always consider human rights whenever they're passing new legislation; they say the courts must always interpret existing legislation in ways that are consistent with human rights; and that civil servants must act in ways that support human rights. Now if we replace the words "human rights" with "media freedom" then I think we're close to a solution that would have profound implications for the relationship between government and the media - and through them, with the people that both are supposed to serve."
—-
And in sport,
Cricket officials hope the sport's return to the Olympics can be the saving grace the international game needs to fend off the threat of losing players to full-time franchise deals.
Confirmed on Monday as one of five new sports for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, cricket will mark its first fully fledged appearance at an Olympic event, lined up alongside flag football, baseball, lacrosse and squash.
