TRANSCRIPT
- The Prime Minister says further steps are being taken to remove guns off the streets after the Bondi attack
- New anti-protest measures in New South Wales face a legal challenge
- In cricket, Australia's squad for the Boxing Day Test announced
The Prime Minister says the government will implement new offences related to gun ownership in Australia.
Anthony Albanese was speaking after a national security meeting - where there was agreement to begin drafting legislation to introduce a gun buyback scheme, and new offences relating to 3D printed firearms.
Work is also being accelerated on the Hate Crimes Database and the National Firearms Register.
Mr Albanese says he has heard the views of the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party, arguing there is no need for changes to firearms laws - but better implementation of the existing laws.
The changes follow the mass shooting at a Jewish festival in Sydney last week that killed 15 people and wounded dozens.
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A legal challenge is being planned against anti-protest measures being introduced in New South Wales, following the Bondi terror attack.
State parliament was recalled for a two-day session to pass a package of legislation - contained in a single bill - limiting protests, targeting hate speech and cracking down on gun ownership.
The bill passed the lower house on Monday night ((22 Dec)) with the support of the New South Wales Liberals and Labor.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley says she expects the bill to pass the upper house by early tomorrow.
A coalition of civil society groups say they are intending to lodge a court challenge in the coming days or weeks.
Palestine Action Group spokesperson Josh Lees says the laws are being pushed through with unseemly haste.
"An outrageous conflating of this horrible antisemitic attack at Bondi with the protest movement more broadly - and with the Palestine protest movement in particular. But of course these laws, if passed, will take away the rights of everyone in New South Wales to gather together as a community - to express their views, to express their opposition to whatever government policies they oppose; to demand change. All the things that have been so crucial to our democracy for so many years."
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Attorney-general Michelle Rowland says she has repaid around $10,000 to cover travel expenses that were ruled to be outside the guidelines for MPs claiming family travel entitlements.
The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority ruled that the time spent on a family holiday in Perth was in breach of guidelines.
The trip took place during a period, which also included at least 10 official engagements in Western Australia in 2023.
Ms Rowland says she self-referred the travel to be audited, so that the matter could be addressed.
She says she took the appropriate steps in seeking advice and ultimately repaying the amount in question.
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Singer-songwriter Chris Rea, famous for hits including "The Road to Hell" and "On The Beach" has died after a short illness at the age of 74.
Rea blended blues influences and soft rock across 25 studio albums.
Born in Middlesbrough in northern England in 1951, he sold more than 30 million albums in a recording career spanning five decades.
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More than 300 Campbell’s Keeled Glass-Snails have been reintroduced into Norfolk Island National Park.
The move is the result of a five-year collaborative effort led by the Australian Museum to restore a species once thought lost on the island as part of Australia’s first snail breeding program at Taronga Zoo Sydney in 2021.
Norfolk Island, located approximately 1,700 kilometres northeast of Sydney, is recognised as one of Australia’s hotspots for land snail diversity, with 62 endemic species recorded.
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In cricket, Australia’s Ashes squad for the Boxing Day Test has been announced.
Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon have been omitted from the lineup, with Todd Murphy and Jhye [[rhymes with 'hi']] Richardson added to the squad.
Lyon has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury that emerged on day five of the Adelaide Test - and which, it has now been confirmed, will require surgery.
