TRANSCRIPT
- Politicians debate border security after an unauthorised boat arrival in WA
- The Communications Minister to meet with online safety experts in Europe
- Big wins for Liverpool and Arsenal while Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham lose 2-1
Nationals leader David Littleproud has accused the government of boosting business for people smugglers despite no policy shift on the border.
Mr Littleproud says Australia's strict border security laws may still be in place but claims smugglers have been able to use the perception of weak leadership from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
This comes after the reported arrival of a group of over 35 asylum seekers in northern WA believed to have come by boat from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh via Indonesia.
Operation Sovereign Borders commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter has warned the opposition that politicising the issue might undermine border security.
However, David Littleproud told Channel 9's Today program that the damage has already been done.
"These people smugglers have found a product. I mean, the damage was done. You don't get on those boats, you don't sell that product unless you can convince people when you get here that it's going to be okay. And this is where we need to make sure the resources are there for border force to intercept these people because this is dangerous. This is people's lives at risk as well, beyond our borders. This is people putting their lives at risk. But this is all about the makings of the government and the perception that people smugglers are able to sell in these relative countries."
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Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says she will visit the UK and Europe to speak with international regulators ahead of her department's review of the Online Safety Act.
She says the review and her meeting with Australia's allies is in response to rapidly changing advancements such as artificial intelligence technology.
"It's imperative that we act in a way that's cooperative with like-minded countries like the U-K, where we learn what we can and share our learnings about matters such as 'safety by design' and how we can build in requirements for industry to have safer platforms for example. The Online Safety Act in Australia has only came in in 2021, and yet in that time we have seen so many changes. The new harms that are emerging firstly require a diligent review of that."
The Online Safety Act review has been fast-tracked to finish this parliamentary term.
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New Labor modelling shows regional Australians will overwhelmingly benefit from stage three tax cuts with more than eight in 10 bush residents better off under the revamped plan.
Anthony Albanese has announced today that the cuts - which will benefit 13.6 million taxpayers - are expected to boost 86 per cent of the Australian workforce outside of major cities.
His government says some 960,000 taxpayers across regional and rural areas of the state will come out financially in front of where they would have been had Labor not tweaked the stage three package.
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A new registry could make it mandatory for texts to disclose a sender I-D in the latest crackdown on scammers.
With more than half of scams originating from text messages, the government is considering whether a registry should be mandatory for all entities that use a sender I-D to contact Australian consumers.
Sender I-Ds identify to a consumer who has sent the text message.
Scammers often use fraudulent message headers, or sender IDs, to impersonate legitimate brands such as banks, Australia Post, toll providers or government services.
The registry would prevent text messages from using registered brand names unless the originating number matches the approved phone number for the brand.
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Alexei Navalny's team has confirmed the Russian opposition leader died at a remote Arctic penal colony, claiming that he has been murdered.
Navalny's death at age 47 has deprived the Russian opposition of its most well-known and inspiring politician less than a month before an election that will give President Vladimir Putin another six years in power.
Although neither the imprisoned anti-corruption crusader nor other Kremlin critics were in a position to challenge Mr Putin for the presidency, the loss of Mr Navalny was a crushing blow to Russians who had pinned their future hopes on the president's foe.
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Big wins for Liverpool and Arsenal feel even bigger after Manchester City loses ground in the race for the English Premier League title.
Leaders Liverpool won at Brentford 4-1 while Arsenal routed Burnley 5-0 before City were held by Chelsea to 1-1.
For City, Erling Haaland missed a header from close range to finish a frustrating game with nine shots and zero goals, the first time he has had so many shots without success since joining City in 2022.
There is still a lot of football to come, and City have a game in hand, but a rare slip by the defending champions could prove to be a key moment in the league.
