School students demand Australia cut ties with Israel at a Melbourne rally; a fifth person arrested after his release from indefinite immigration detention; and in football, more allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled against Luis Rubiales.
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TRANSCRIPT
- School students demand Australia cut ties with Israel at a Melbourne rally.
- A fifth person arrested after his release from indefinite immigration detention.
- More allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled against Luis Rubiales.
Students have again skipped school to attend pro-Palestine rallies, blocking streets across Australian cities.
Hundreds of students have showed up outside Melbourne's Flinders Street Station, calling for Israel to end its siege in Gaza, and for the Australian government to cut all ties with Israel until their demands were met.
Meanwhile hundreds from Sydney's Jewish community have gathered at a vigil for the 138 hostages yet to be released.
The event marked two months since October 7 and coincided with the first night of Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday known as the festival of light.
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The Secretary-General of the United Nations has repeated his calls for the Security Council to take action on what he has called a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.
In a rare move, Antonio Guterres has written to the president of the Council, invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he became U-N Secretary-General in 2017.
The Secretary-General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Mr Guterres has repeatedly expressed grave concerns over the scale of the loss of human lives in Gaza and Israel in a short period of time.
"Article 99 states and I quote that 'the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter, in his opinion, that may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security'. In the letter, which has been shared with you, the Secretary-General urges the members of the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and he appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared."
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A former immigration detainee released into the community after a landmark High Court ruling has become the fifth person in the cohort to be arrested.
The 39-year-old man was taken into custody in Brisbane after police realised a warrant had been issued against him for allegedly breaching his parole conditions, before being placed in immigration detention in 2012.
The Opposition has pressured the Albanese government to apologise to Australians for their handling of the High Court ruling after 148 detainees were released from indefinite immigration detention.
Asked when he was planning to sack Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his government's response.
"After the High Court made the decision that they did, our government has been focused on fixing this. And one of the things that happened on Sunday, Mr Speaker, is we offered a briefing to the opposition on the legal advice. Did they get it on Sunday? Did they do it on Monday? Did they look at the legal advice on Tuesday? Did they look at the legal advice on Wednesday? Or did they look at the legal advice on Thursday? No."
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The disability community has expressed concern about the proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
An independent review of the NDIS has recommended the removal of automatic access to the scheme based on a diagnosis such as autism, in favour of access based on impairments to a participant's daily life.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has said disability support has become unbalanced with "too heavy" a reliance on the NDIS at the expense of an "inclusive, accessible and thriving broader support ecosystem."
But CEO of Autism Awareness Australia Nicole Rogerson has told SBS News she has some reservations.
"What we do know is the government has determined that there are too many children in this scheme, and that for some of those children, they would be better supported outside the NDIS, and hence they're going to shift that cost over to the states. But at the moment, we just don't know whether the states are ready to pick up that ball and run with it. "
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Multiple states are on high alert for bushfires with scorching conditions forecast ahead of the weekend.
Parts of South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT are predicted to face scorching temperatures and potential fire risks today [[Fri 8 Dec]].
The risk is particularly acute for South Australia, which may also have possible electricity outages as equipment is set to disconnect to minimise the risk of sparking a blaze.
Residents have been urged to have a bushfire survival plan in place and to understand what they would do in the event of an emergency.
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To sport, the English Football Association's [[FA]] chairwoman has accused the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, of acting inappropriately towards the players of the English women's team after the Women's World Cup final in Sydney.
In a report to FIFA's disciplinary committee, Debbie Hewitt has said Rubiales touched and stroked the face of England player Laura Coombs and "seemingly forcefully kissed Lucy Bronze on the face" during the post-game award ceremony.
FIFA, who has already imposed a three-year ban from all football-related activities on Rubiales, says Rubiales acted with "a sense of complete impunity".
Rubiales was forced to abandon his post in disgrace after previous accusations from Spanish player Jenni Hermoso, who lleged he kissed her without consent during the celebrations for the World Cup.
