Key Points
- Prime Minister defends decision after ambassador said Australia had “disgusted” US
- Australia to implement major reform to working with children check laws
- Essendon’s Jayden Nguyen makes history as he prepares to face St Kilda
The Prime Minister has given an impassioned defence of his decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, after comments by the United States Ambassador to Israel.
Overnight, the US Ambassador to Israel said the Trump Administration was disgusted by Australia's decision, saying the Federal Government did not tell the United States before the public announcement.
Federal MP Mark Butler has denied the US was not consulted.
The Prime Minister has told A-B-C radio Australians had been disgusted by the actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023 - and that it was an emotive issue, to see children starving in Gaza.
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Attorneys general of all states, territories and the Federal Government have agreed to sign off on significant law reform to improve child safety.
The laws around working with children's checks, in particular, have been identified as having gaps that have allowed suspected child abusers to find employment in institutions including daycare centres.
Australia’s Attorney-General Michelle Rowland announced a National Continuous Checking Capability, which would ensure changes to criminal history are captured and shared in real time.
"A significant body of work has occurred in the lead-up to today's meeting. It has meant that my department, for example, has established a specific taskforce to ensure that there is proper liason between the states and territories."
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Tasmania is preparing to use new methods to fight a potential outbreak of a bacterial disease that is deadly to salmon and spreads in warmer weather.
Experts are warning p-salmonis - which was the cause of a mass fish kill in the state last summer - must be dealt with quickly - but Tasmania's Primary Industries Minister Gavin Pearce says there is no current outbreak.
Mr Pearce has consulted with government, experts, and the local industry, to consider new treatments to combat p-salmonis.
Concerns have been raised this week that a currently used antibiotic is no longer effective.
"If you haven't got medication on board, ready to go, should a likely increase happen, then we could see a mass mortality event. We could, not probably, but we could. I want to prevent that; I want to get ahead of that curve."
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New South Wales Police detectives have charged a 54-year-old man after seizing drugs worth $17 million from a laboratory in Sydney’s inner west.
On Wednesday morning, detectives from Taskforce Falcon executed a search warrant at a house in Lidcombe, where they found $59,000 cash.
Police then located a clandestine laboratory at another Lidcombe property where they seized 28 kilograms of methylamphetamine, estimated to have a street value of $17 million.
Yesterday, police arrested the man in Lidcombe and charged him with multiple offences related to manufacturing and supplying a commercial quantity of drugs.
He was refused bail and will appear before Burwood Local Court on October 15.
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A new state of the art fire station is set to be built in the New South Wales town of Lithgow, west of the Blue Mountains, as part of a 100-million-dollar investment in frontline emergency services in regional New South Wales.
The new station will accommodate up to 35 firefighters and deliver upgraded facilities including modern training facilities.
Construction on the new fire station is expected to start next year.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says facilities like this should encourage young people to strongly consider becoming firefighters.
"This is a wonderful, wonderful profession. You'd be serving your local community; it is endlessly interesting. Each day is different to the one before and there is a great group of people that you'd join up."
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier hosted a reception in the garden at Number 10 Downing Street to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ day.
At the reception, which took place after Starmer had met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the British Prime Minister said “we must never forget” the sacrifices made during World War 2.
"We must never forget what that gave us, what that gave our country, what that gave the world in terms of the freedoms and the values that we fight for. And of course, those values are still contested here. I sat on this terrace this very morning with President Zelenskiy, who is fighting for the same values as we were fighting for."
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To sport now and in AFL, Jayden Nguyen's rise to Essendon's starting side has made him the first player of Vietnamese descent in the league.
The 19-year-old plays against St Kilda tonight after debuting against the Sydney Swans earlier this month.
Nguyen's family was watching in the stands - and they'll be backing him tonight.
He says he is proud to be Vietnamese and to represent his community.
"Growing up in Melbourne, obviously there were challenges with footy, obviously it's a pretty Australian-dominated sport. So representatively at local level, there weren't a lot of Asian children running around."
