TRANSCRIPT
- The Prime Minister warns politicians against politicising the Israel-Hamas conflict
- Optus reveals a major issue with a routine software upgrade caused last week's mass outage
- A-League's Perth Glory is on the lookout for a new owner after the sale of the club falls through
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned politicians against politicising the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Following Foreign Minister Penny Wong's comments that any pause in Gaza should be agreed to by both parties, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has used Question Time to ask if that is the government's position, while Greens leader Adam Bandt has slammed the government for not calling directly for a ceasefire.
But Mr Albanese says this is not the time to make political attacks.
He says the situation in the Middle East is complex.
"And one that we know is causing great distress for Jewish Australians, for Palestinian Australians, and for people of Islamic faith as well. We know that we have a responsibility to not seek to politicise these matters, but to engage in a principled way going forward."
**
The United Nations refugee agency says it will have to shut down all of its operations in Gaza unless fuel is allowed in to the besieged territory.
The director of the U-N refugee agency for Palestinian refugees ((UNRWA)) has said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the humanitarian operation in Gaza will "grind to a halt" in the next 48 hours without the fuel supplies.
The statement comes after Israel's military says offers to evacuate newborn babies and the placement of 300 litres of fuel at the entrance to the besieged Al-Shifa hosptial had been blocked by Hamas, which Hamas has denied.
UNWRA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai says the possible shutdown of the hospital is an "extremely dramatic" development.
"Al Shifa is an iconic hospital in Gaza. It is always the hospital that continues to function across the wars. Yesterday, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation declared that for the last three days, Al Shifa has not received water and electricity and has stopped operating."
**
Optus says a major issue with a routine software upgrade caused the mass outage impacting millions of customers last week.
In a statement, the company says "changes to routing information" after the upgrade caused the issue, leaving customers without access to the network for a day.
The telco says the scale of the outage meant technicians had to physically reconnect or reboot the system.
Optus says it is committed to learning from its mistakes - adding it will fully cooperate with reviews being undertaken by the Government and the Senate.
**
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been fired from Cabinet and replaced by James Cleverly in a reshuffle announced by Rishi Sunak.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is now stepping into the role of British Foreign Secretary.
But his appointment has raised concerns about accountability in the ministerial portfolio, because he has not been an elected member of Parliament since 2016.
Mr Cameron says he does not believe that will be an issue.
"Well, I will be held to account in the House of Lords where I have to account to for myself and for the Government. And of course, this government, my role in it, all of that will be accountable to the electorate at the general election when it comes. But in the meantime, I want to do everything to strengthen our alliances, to work with our friends, to build those vital partnerships, to make sure our country is secure and prosperous."
**
The upper house has passed a new controversial sea dumping bill that will allow carbon dioxide to be stored under the seabed.
It will allow the export and transportation of carbon across oceans and intends to bring Australia's laws into line with amendments to the London protocol, a global treaty on the prevention of marine pollution.
But environmental groups say the new bill allow for more expansion of the gas industry, with gas companies including Woodside, Inpex and Santos relying on the new legislation to meet the government's climate targets.
Senator Hanson-Young says calls to pass the bill on the basis of its investment opportunities is a disgrace.
"It is very disingenuous to now suggest to Senator Pocock, that this bill is doing anything that would further the expansion, and therefore reduce the transition time frames of other types of technologies. Because, if we're not spending $30 billion on CCS and expanding gas, perhaps industry would be spending $30 billion on actually building the technology that is clean and green."
**
A-League club Perth Glory is on the hunt for new owners after the sale of the club fell through less than a month after it was announced.
Melbourne-based property group Primeland led by chairman Robert Brij and business partner John Nekic were unveiled as the new owners on October 17 - with the sale to be finalised in early November.
Receivers KordaMentha say the deal has been terminated, after the pair failed to meet certain conditions of the deal.
The club says KordaMentha is working to find another buyer.
