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TRANSCRIPT
- Australia's acting prime minister dismisses suggestions the country lacks the capability to send warships to Iran
- Fallout over the arrest of former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith
- Andrew Redmayne to play his 300th A-League game in on the New South Wales Central Coast
The head of the Australian Defence Force has pushed back on suggestions Australia has not sent a Navy ship to the Middle East because of its ageing fleet.
Admiral David Johnston says he's confident Australia has the capacity to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it's more a question of priorities.
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott is criticising the decision, saying Australia is betraying its values by not sending troops to Iran.
The opposition and some defence analysts have suggested Australia has not sent a ship because it doesn't have the capacity to do so ... but acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has told Channel 9 capacity is not the issue.
"Well, I'm not going to speculate on exactly what we would do because it's impossible to do that without having those conversations in full and it's hard to do that without knowing what those conditions will be in other words, whether this temporary cease fire becomes a permanent cease fire and that's really the circumstances that we're we're facing right now."
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Energy Minister Chris Bowen says despite some encouraging developments in the Middle East, there remains a long way to go to ensure fuel security.
Providing a daily update on Australia's fuel supplies, Mr Bowen says progress is being made to ensure service stations across the country remain stocked.
He also provided further details on a deal with Australia's two refineries to allow them to buy extra shipments of oil.
The agreement follows laws rushed through federal parliament allowing the government to underwrite the cost of fuel imports.
Mr Bowen says given the elevated risk and cost to companies, they need to be given flexibility.
"A ship becomes available for sale, maybe in Korea or Malaysia, and companies have two or three hours to decide whether to buy it. We want them to have the flexibility to go and get that fuel for Australia and for Australians. I think the events in the last 24 hours have shown that this arrangement is even more important, because the oil price is moving around so much, right. So, therefore, it's a riskier proposition for the oil companies, to be fair to them, to go and buy that fuel."
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Opposition leader Angus Taylor is demanding answers from the government over the public arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith, citing reports the former SAS solder was willing to hand himself in.
Mr Roberts-Smith was arrested and charged with five counts of war crimes.
The 47-year-old had his first hearing on Wednesday and the matter is expected to return to court in early June.
According to reports from the Daily Telegraph this morning, the Victoria Cross recipient had written to authorities multiple times offering to hand himself in before the arrest.
Angus Taylor has told reporters in Tasmania the government needs to clarify if they had a role in this.
"It was very public arrest, and it was done in front of his kids. Now there are reports today that he offered to hand himself in, in advance of that occurring. There are questions here for the government. What did they know about this? Was the government informed about this? And were they part of supporting that decision to make that very very public arrest?"
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Australia's former children's commissioner says the federal government must step in when children are being harmed in a state or territory criminal justice system.
Speaking at a Senate inquiry, Anne Hollands, says youth crime is predictable and preventable and a punitive approach is not the answer.
States and territories have introduced harsher measures to target youth crime, including lowering the age of criminal responsibility and removing the principle of detention as a last resort.
Ms Hollands says Australia is going backwards on the human rights of children.
"Decades of international evidence shows that our current harsh punitive policies that are locking up more children, these approaches have not worked to prevent crime by children anywhere in the world. In fact, the younger that a child gets pulled into the justice system, the more likely it is that they will go on to commit more serious crimes and that's because crime by children is a symptom of their unmet needs, and underlying issues that we are failing to address."
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Chinese President Xi Jinping says people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and the future of relations lies in the hands of the Chinese people.
In a rare meeting with Taiwanese opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, President Xi says China is willing to strengthen dialogue with various political parties on the foundation of opposing Taiwanese independence.
China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 20-16 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims to the island.
Ms Cheng is the opposition party's first leader to visit China in a decade, and says she hopes to sow the "seeds of peace" during her trip.
Her visit has sparked debate in Taiwan with critics accusing her of being too pro-Beijing.
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Veteran goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne is celebrating a major milestone tonight, playing his 300th A-League game in Gosford.
He's playing for the Mariners, the club where he made his A-League debut in 2008.
The team needs to beat the Brisbane Roar in Gosford to have any hope of making the finals.
Redmayne has confirmed he intends to play on next season, telling NBN News, he still has more to give.
"A full kind of 360 moment to be back here playing 300 that is for sure. Probably didn't feel like it was going to happen. My body feels great. I feel like I can play at high level. The day to days are still kind of enjoyable for me."
