TRANSCRIPT:
- Adam Bandt threatens to sue over claims the Greens have incited mideast protests;
- At least four dead in a train crash in the Czech Republic;
- Alex de Minaur says he has no regrets after being eliminated from the French Open.
Tensions between the Greens and major parties have continued to rise, following an often heated session of Parliament on Wednesday when Labor and the Coalition accused them of being complicit in electorate office protests that have seen some blockaded and others vandalised.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has issued a statement that confirms he is threatening to sue Attorney General Mark Dreyfus.
He says it's over what Dreyfus said in an media interview after question time.
"My lawyers have written to the Attorney-General regarding what I consider to be defamatory statements he made about me and the Greens yesterday.... I think that the first law officer of this country should not make utterly unfounded statements and spread disinformation. No politician should do that. I would prefer not to have to pursue these matters legally, and I hope the Attorney will respond in a proper way."
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he recognises Australians are under pressure, and hopes his budget measures will help ease the situation for many households.
But Dr Chalmers has maintained there's no recession on the horizon, and the quarterly accounts this week have told him what was already obvious - which is that Australia's economy is weak, many households are spending more on essentials, and the amount they're able to save is the lowest it's been since the Global Financial Crisis.
"We didn't need the national accounts to tell us that people are under the pump. But that was very clear in the national accounts. Whether it's the household savings ratio, the longer term weakness in consumption, the focus on essentials, the fact that mortgages are eating up a bigger proportion of people's household budget, all of that tells us what we already knew, which is people are under the pump."
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At least four people have been killed and dozens more injured in a collision between two trains in the Czech republic.
Authorities say the crash involved a passenger service and a freight train in Pardubice, part of the country's main rail corridor from Prague to the east.
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The United Nations has repeated its call for urgent action on climate change.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres says advanced economies must lead the way by providing technological and financial support to emerging countries.
He's also criticised the oil and gas industry for spending billions to sow doubt about climate change, while investing just 2.5 per cent of its total capital on clean energy alternatives.
The secretary general has declared the world stands at a moment of truth, because emissions are continuing to rise.
"Our planet is trying to tell us something. But we don't seem to be listening. We are playing Russian roulette with our planet. And we need an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell. And the truth is, we have control of the wheel. The 1.5 degree limit is still just about possible. It means we need to fight harder. Now.”
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A new gas extraction project has been given the go ahead by Victoria's state government, the first to be approved in a decade.
Beach Energy will pipe gas from an offshore gas field near Port Campbell in western Victoria from the end of June.
The project comes amid a government push towards all-electric homes, including a ban on gas in new builds since January 2024.
But Energy and Resources Minister Lily D'Ambrosio says gas has a role to play in Victoria's energy transition.
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It's been confirmed that coronary heart disease remains the most common underlying cause of death in Australia.
That's according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report.
The Institute says dementia is the second biggest killer, followed by hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes.
But the report has also suggested our mortality can be a complicated question, because four in five deaths actually involve more than one cause.
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Australia's role in the D-Day landings of World War Two is being commemorated today, eighty years on.
Governor-General David Hurley and his wife are representing Australia at events in France and the United Kingdom.
Some 3,200 Australian personnel were part of the landings in France on June the 6th, 1944, with at least 14 Australians killed on D-Day itself, and hundreds more throughout the subsequent campaign.
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In tennis news, Alex de Minaur has been eliminated from the French Open, beaten in straight sets by Alexander Zverev in the quarter final.
But he says he has no regrets, and that while he put up "a hell of a fight" he was beaten by a "quality opponent".
"I left my heart out there. I did everything I could. It just wasn't good enough. And you know sometimes on this surface, days like today, conditions like today, I just struggle a little bit more - and yeah, I'm still happy with the way I showed out.”
