A key legal group critical of harsh new security measures for immigration detainees; Australian divers hurt in a run-in with a Chinese warship; The Socceroos announce a donation to support humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- A key legal group critical of harsh new security measures for immigration detainees;
- Australian divers hurt in a run-in with a Chinese warship;
- The Socceroos announce a donation to support humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza.
The Law Council of Australia says new laws that impose strict visa conditions on convicted criminals being released from indefinite immigration detention are "disproportionate" to the risks they pose.
Mandatory electronic monitoring and curfews, as well as mandatory minimum jail terms for people who breach their conditions, are among the new rules that take effect from today.
But Law Council President Luke Murphy has told SBS immigrants with convictions should be treated no differently to Australian criminals who are released every year after serving their sentence.
"That is a fundamental that needs to be understood in this discussion. And there is to the Law Council's knowledge, no evidence that a serious convicted offender without citizenship is more likely to re-offend than one with citizenship."
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The federal government has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions against eight individuals in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the eight include members of Hamas, as well as operatives and financial facilitators.
A currency exchange owned by one individual is also included in the measures.
Australia imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions against Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the federal government, as an organisation in 2001.
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Australian naval divers have reportedly been injured after a run-in with a Chinese warship.
The divers were part of the crew of the HMAS Toowoomba which was in international waters off Japan when its propellers became entangled in fishing nets.
It's understood that a Chinese destroyer kept approaching the Toowoomba and then operated its hull-mounted sonar, despite being advised the divers were in the water.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has described the conduct of the Chinese ship as "unsafe and unprofessional".
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Anthony Albanese says the leaders of the United States and China have "smoothed over" recent tensions during their meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco.
The Prime Minister says he saw "warm discussions" between U-S President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping after Biden had called his Chinese counterpart a dictator when responding to media questions.
Anthony Albanese says it's "positive news" for the region that the pair were able to talk about the "specific issues" between the two superpowers.
The PM is now on his way home to Australia - but before departing has defended his attendance in response to criticism from Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who says he should have stayed in Australia to deal with pressing domestic issues.
"This is about our national economy and our national interest and national jobs. And the opportunity to be with the leaders of 21 economies that represent 75 per cent of our trade. I just say to Peter Dutton, if you want to be the alternative prime minister of Australia, you need something more than just opportunism, and comments like that."
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An alleged hit and run incident has left the teenage son of South Australia's police commissioner with an irreversible brain injury.
Eighteen year old Charlie Stevens is on life support after being run down in Goolwa, about 90 kilometres south of Adelaide.
South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas says the thoughts of all South Australians are with Commissioner Grant Stevens and his family.
"They are good people. We all too often find ourselves desperately wishing that bad things don't happen to good people, but too often that is the case, and this is clearly an example of it."
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The Socceroos have announced they will be donating a portion of their next World Cup qualifier match fees to support humanitarian aid relief in Gaza.
The players' union, Professional Footballers Australia, says a percentage would be directed towards Oxfam's humanitarian efforts in Gaza, via the PFA's Footballers' Trust.
The move is a player-led effort with Football Australia matching the players' donation.
But coach Graham Arnold says the squad also remains focused on the importance of winning the game, despite its special circumstances.
"It's horrific what's going on over there at the moment. But I don't think we have any control over that. What we do have control over is our performance and playing against Palestine and going out and getting the job done for Australia."
