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TRANSCRIPT:
- Israel and the US continue to strike targets as Iran appoints a new leader;
- Australia sending additional crisis consular support to the Middle East;
- Renowned sports commentator Dennis Cometti has died.
The Federal Opposition has offered bipartisan support to repatriating Australians stranded in the Middle East.
But Opposition leader Angus Taylor says the government itself should be doing everything it can to bring people home.
"There's citizens who are very concerned about the situation, who are in those places and their families here in Australia and the government should be doing absolutely everything it can to help get those people back and we will support any measures, sensible measures to achieve that."
An Emirates flight is en route to Sydney from Dubai with estimates that about 24,000 Australians remain stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia is deploying an additional six consular crisis response teams to the region, reiterating her belief that commercial flights remain the best option.
"Obviously we are looking at other contingencies. But the reason we are focusing on commercial options is that the numbers of people in the region means that the quickest way we can get people home safely is via commercial means."
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Reports from Iran say Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's second son has been elected to replace his father as Iran's supreme leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei was initially presumed dead during Saturday's strike.
Meanwhile Israeli and US forces have pounded targets across Iran, prompting Iranian retaliatory strikes around the Gulf as the conflict spreads to Lebanon, rattling global markets and sending oil prices sharply higher.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for rapid de-escalation in the Middle East, urging all parties—including the US and Israel—to respect international rules of engagement.
The conflict has spread rapidly, with Iranian retaliation hitting forcing diplomatic shutdowns across the region.
Mr Carney says the US and Israel's use of force appeared inconsistent with international law.
"It's for others more expert than me non-lawyer - certainly non international lawyer - who are more expert to make that determination and that said, well Canada was not asked to participate, you know, that we were not informed in advance we were not asked to participate. Prima facie it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law."
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An eight-year-old girl from the Gold Coast has died after her snowmobile overturned during a family ski holiday in Japan.
Tour company Hakuba Lion Adventure says Chloe Jeffries was trapped under the vehicle on an uphill curve at Hakuba Village in Nagano and was airlifted to hospital, but could not be revived.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed they are providing consular assistance to the family.
Chloe's death marks the fourth Australian killed at Japanese ski resorts this season, following fatalities in snowboarding and skiing accidents.
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The latest GDP figures are out - and they show Australia's economy has grown at the fastest rate in three years.
The central bank had expected the nation's gross domestic product to expand 2.3 per cent over 2025, but the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the economy grew by 2.6 per cent over the year, the fastest annual growth rate since March 2023.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it's the strongest showing of any major advanced economy.
"Per capita growth is the strongest in more than three years. It's the strongest GDP growth in almost three years but it's the composition of that growth that we find especially encouraging. There's more growth in business investment, dwelling investment, market sector productivity and consumption but consumption came in a bit weaker than was expected."
Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson however says the figures show there's too much government spending.
"Public sector demand is more than double private sector demand in the December quarter. It's now abundantly clear that Australia's standards of living are declining under this government. Pyro Jim keeps pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire and that is why standards of living are declining. Wages are going backwards, while the cost at supermarkets continues to rise."
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To sport,
Renowned sports commentator Dennis Cometti has died at the age of 76.
Cometti's distinguished career spanned more than half a century across a range of sports but he was best known for his work as an AFL commentator, where his dulcet tones and quick wit made him a household name.
'Cometti-isms' such as "centimetre perfect" and "went in optimistically, came out misty-optically" became part of the footy lexicon - as did this turn of phrase from the 2010 AFL grand final.
"He came up behind him like a librarian. He never heard him."
