Israel vows to resume its Hamas fight with "full force" once the ceasefire ends; Anthony Albanese meets with the families of hostages in Canberra, and in rugby news, the captain of the New Zealand All Blacks challenges the side's selection policy.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Israel vows to resume its Hamas fight with "full force" once the ceasefire ends
- Anthony Albanese meets with the families of hostages in Canberra
- The captain of the New Zealand All Blacks challenges the side's selection policy
Israel has vowed to resume its war with Hamas with “full force” once a humanitarian truce expires.
Chief of Israel's Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi says the military have created the conditions for the release of 76 hostages so far.
There are expected to be two more planned exchanges today of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But the Lieutenant-General says once it is clear no more hostages will be freed and the ceasefire ends, Israel is prepared to continue fighting to "destroy" Hamas.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with family and friends of Israeli hostages in Canberra.
He says their visit is important for the Australian public.
"I'm sorry about the circumstances for your visit here to Australia. But you are very, very welcome here. And I think your raising of these issues will, once again, make sure that it is front of mind for the Australian people, the ongoing suffering and trauma which is occurring."
The meeting follows calls from aid organisations in Australia for the government to support a permanent ceasefire, instead of the extended temporary truce negotiated by Qatar and Egypt.
Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain says the group is advocating for a lasting truce as the only logical solution.
“And the reason we are is because the scale of rebuilding required – just for humanitarian reasons – will need that.”
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The Premier of Western Australia has formally apologised to the state's Indigenous workers whose wages were stolen over almost 40 years.
The Stolen Wages refers to a period where Aboriginal men and women were employed between 1936 and 1972, often for little or no wages.
In the apology, Premier Roger Cook has said legislation and policies that were supposed to protect Aboriginal people resulted in hardship, exploitation and disadvantage.
He has described it as a "shameful part" of WA's history.
"The fact that this mistreatment existed for Aboriginal workers for decades is a blight on the legacy of successive governments. The fact that our laws facilitated these outcomes brings great shame. For that, we are sorry."
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Parliament has approved an amended workplace relations bill overnight but industry groups accuse the government of rushing the process.
The amendments close labour hire loophole measures, add extra guardrails for the Fair Work Commission on gig worker minimum standards, and also clarify the definition of casual workers.
But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it has been "blindsided" by the approval of the bill, which had 81 amendments in total added amid heated debate.
The chamber's chief executive Andrew McKellar has said the amendments were raced through parliament without proper consideration for the extra costs they would impose on businesses.
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Finland is to close its border with Russia after accusing the government of funnelling migrants to Finland in retaliation for its increased defence cooperation with the United States.
Russia has denied deliberately orchestrating an unusually large flow of asylum seekers as a response to Finland joining NATO earlier this year, due to the war in Ukraine, after decades of non-alignment.
The Finnish Border Guard says around 900 asylum seekers have entered Finland from Russia in November, an increase from less than one per day previously.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says the two-week closure of all but one of its border posts to travellers from Russia is a "necessary and proportionate measure".
"Our aim is that the exceptional situation at the eastern border of Finland returns back to normal as soon as possible. We don't accept any attempts to undermine our national security."
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To sport,
In rugby union news, New Zealand captain Sam Cane has said the country's rugby officials should change a policy that prevents those playing their club rugby outside New Zealand from playing for the national team, the All Blacks.
Cane's All Blacks side recently lost the World Cup final to South Africa's national team, the Springboks, who do allow those playing club rugby overseas to still play for them.
He says this shows having players overseas can be managed successfully.
"A lot of the Springboks have shown the ability to play in the Top League One and go back to international rugby fairly quickly and continue playing their best so I think the challenge for us guys who are on the shorter term deals who will be returning in the hope of playing international rugby again is that we play really well here. If we can do that, then maybe that conversation can be had at New Zealand Rugby."
