TRANSCRIPT:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with the Chairman of China's National Peoples Congress in Canberra.
Zhao Leji is considered the third most powerful politician in China.
The visit by Chairman Zhao was met with protests and security warnings to MPs during a visit to Parliament House.
But it's also been seen as a further sign that relations between Australia and its largest trading partner are improving.
Australian National University Chinese studies expert Graeme Smith says the trip has raised speculation the Chinese President is preparing to make his own visit.
"The visit of the number three is a pretty good indication. We've already had the number two guy visit, its a pretty good indication that the big guy is going to come here. It's also a different level of diplomacy. I mean if you look at the mentions of Zhao Leji in the People's Daily compared to how often Xi Jinping gets mentioned they're in a totally different league. So really a lot would need to fall in place before Xi Jinping gets into Australia."
.
US negotiator Dan Driscoll is on his way to Ukraine for more talks on a peace plan after the two reached what has been called a common understanding.
US and Ukrainian officials have been trying to narrow the gaps between them over Trump's plan to end Europe's deadliest and most devastating conflict since World War II.
Washington’s 28-point peace plan, presented last week, had earlier caused alarm because it heavily aligned with Russia's demands.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is ready to meet with US President Donald Trump and discuss some of the more "sensitive points" of the proposal.
"Ukraine has the framework developed by our teams in Geneva. That framework is on the table, and we’re ready to move forward together – with the United States of America, with personal engagement of President Trump, and with Europe, with leaders, and with all partners who have the strength and capacity to help."
.
A WARNING THAT THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTRESSING FOR SOME:
A mother who murdered her two children and put their bodies into suitcases in a storage locker has been sentenced to life in prison in New Zealand.
45 year old Hakyung Lee had been found guilty of their deaths earlier this year.
The court had heard that the children were killed in 2018.
Their bodies were not found until 2022, when an unsuspecting family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in an auction.
.
An environment group and traditional owners are taking legal action against the Northern Territory government's Mataranka water allocation plan.
Environment Centre NT and First Nations elders want the Northern Territory Supreme Court to invalidate the decision by Environment Minister Joshua Burgoyne.
The 10-year framework more than doubles the amount of water that can be extracted from an aquifer that feeds the world-famous Mataranka Springs and neighbouring communities.
Traditional Owner Jocelyn James says the impacts of this would be devastating.
"It makes me cry when I go everyday up and down With E- NT...going seeing country like that it makes me cry because we are the Elders. We are Elders now today. I don't know what would be happening afterward."
.
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has been censured for wearing a burqa into Parliament.
The censure is in addition to her being banned from the Senate for seven sitting days.
Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner has Giridharan Sivaraman has told SBS he is worried about the example that this incident sets for others in the community.
He has called for anti-racism training for M-Ps and senators.
"We need support and endorsement of the national anti-racism framework, and one of the specific recommendations in that framework is that politicians can conduct anti-racism training and be held to standards in terms of their behaviour, particularly where the behaviour is racist. I think that is what is necessary."
.
Property research group, Cotality, has called for tax reforms to cool demand in the housing market.
Their latest survey says property prices are far out-pacing income with the median house value now 8.9-times the average salary.
Cotality's Head of Research Eliza Owen says something has to change to improve the situation for both regional and metropolitan markets.
"Home values in Australia and rent values have departed from where incomes are, and that's because of structural differences in our housing market over time that have allowed for higher investment, more equity to be used to purchase housing."
