Debate over whether the NBN should remain publicly owned; The Israeli Prime Minister says its airstrikes have killed two Hezbollah members; And in sport, the Penrith Panthers are welcomed home after winning the NRL Grand Final.
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TRANSCRIPT
In this bulletin;
- Debate over whether the NBN should remain publicly owned;
- The Israeli Prime Minister says its airstrikes have killed two Hezbollah members;
- And in sport, the Penrith Panthers are welcomed home after winning the NRL Grand Final.
The Prime Minister says keeping Australia's National Broadband Network publicly owned will ensure the network remains affordable.
A bill to keep the the $51 billion network in public has been introduced to Parliament.
NBN Co's revenue increased by four per cent in 2024, but posted a net loss of $1.4 billion due to ongoing costs of investment in the network.
Mr Albanese says keeping the NBN publicly owned will ensure all Australians have access to affordable high-speed broadband.
"It's about making sure that the National Broadband Network can stay in public hands, not be a for profit provider that would have, by definition, an obligation to its shareholders, not the Australian people, but its shareholders, and therefore obligated to maximize their profits."
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says its airstrikes have killed two successors to Hezbollah's slain leader, without naming them.
"Israel withdrew from Lebanon 25 years ago. But the country that actually conquered Lebanon is not Israel. It's Iran. Iran, which finances and arms Hezbollah to serve Iran's interests at Lebanon's expense...We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah's replacement and the replacement of his replacement. Today, Hezbollah is weaker than it's been for many, many years."
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari says he cannot confirm if Hashem Safieddine was one of the Hezbollah members killed, after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant named him as probably dead.
Earlier, Hezbollah's deputy leader says he supported truce efforts - but did not confirm any recent deaths among its senior commanders.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah, says its military capabilities are still intact and it's replaced all of its senior commanders after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon.
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A Tourette Syndrome support organisation says they are disappointed with remarks made by the Prime Minister mocking the disability.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologised for the remark made during Question Time, when he said 'Have you got Tourettes or something? You just sit there babble, babble, babble', before withdrawing the remark.
He then returned to the chamber to apologise, saying he apologised to all Australians who suffer from this disability, and that he regrets the remark.
Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia President Mandy Maysey says the Prime Minister sets the standard for acceptable language in Australia.
"The more I hear it, the angrier I get, that he could be so insensitive. And whilst he has been forthcoming with kind of an apology, it did seem a little bit hollow. He doesn't refer to Tourette Syndrome by name, he refers to it as 'this disability' which is disappointing. He's happy to use the word Tourettes when he's throwing it as an insult, but he's not confident in using it in an apology."
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And in sport,
The Penrith Panthers have been welcomed with open arms by their community after winning the 2024 NRL Grand Final.
It comes as the Pacific Championship sides have named their squads ahead of the rugby league tournament beginning on 18 October.
The Tonga XIII-Australia games, men's and women's, open the tournament at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Panthers centre Paul Alamoti, who scored the try that sealed Penrith's grand final victory to cap his second season of NRL, is also in the team.
Clive Churchill medal winner Liam Martin says the win is still surreal, days later.
"It hasn't really sunk in, it's just incredible. 3 days later and it's turned out like this it's just amazing. 10 years ago I moved down and could never have dreamed of what's happened, it's amazing."
