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TRANSCRIPT
The Prime Minister says keeping Australia's National Broadband Network publicly owned will ensure the network remains affordable.
A bill to keep the the $51 billion network in public has been introduced to Parliament.
NBN Co's revenue increased by four per cent in 2024, but posted a net loss of $1.4 billion due to ongoing costs of investment in the network.
Mr Albanese says keeping the NBN publicly owned will ensure all Australians have access to affordable high-speed broadband.
"It's about making sure that the National Broadband Network can stay in public hands, not be a for profit provider that would have, by definition, an obligation to its shareholders, not the Australian people, but its shareholders, and therefore obligated to maximize their profits."
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Senator Fatima Payman has launched the Australia's Voice political party four months after leaving Labor.
The party plans to run Senate candidates in all states, and in a few lower house seats. Senator Payman told SBS News she is considering running a candidate in the Prime Minister's seat of Grayndler.
While candidates have not been locked in, the WA senator revealed that she's been approached by disenfranchised former Labor candidates as well as people from the National party.
Senator Payman says Australia's Voice will be a centrist party focused on a more inclusive Australia.
"This is more than a party. It is a movement for a fairer, more inclusive Australia. Together, we will hold our leaders accountable and ensure that your voice, Australia's Voice, will never be silenced."
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says its airstrikes have killed two successors to Hezbollah's slain leader, without naming them.
"Israel withdrew from Lebanon 25 years ago. But the country that actually conquered Lebanon is not Israel. It's Iran. Iran, which finances and arms Hezbollah to serve Iran's interests at Lebanon's expense...We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah's replacement and the replacement of his replacement. Today, Hezbollah is weaker than it's been for many, many years."
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari says he cannot confirm if Hashem Safieddine was one of the Hezbollah members killed, after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant named him as probably dead.
Earlier, Hezbollah's deputy leader says he supported truce efforts - but did not confirm any recent deaths among its senior commanders.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah, says its military capabilities are still intact and it's replaced all of its senior commanders after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon.
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A Tourette Syndrome support organisation says they are disappointed in remarks made by the Prime Minister mocking the disability.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologised for the remark made during Question Time, when he said 'Have you got Tourettes or something? You just sit there babble, babble, babble.' before withdrawing the remark.
He then returned to the chamber to apologise, saying he apologised to all Australians who suffer from this disability, and that he regrets the remark.
Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia President Mandy Maysey says the Prime Minister sets the standard for acceptable language in Australia.
"The more I hear it, the angrier I get, that he could be so insensitive. And whilst he has been forthcoming with kind of an apology, it did seem a little bit hollow. He doesn't refer to Tourette Syndrome by name, he refers to it as 'this disability' which is disappointing. He's happy to use the word Tourettes when he's throwing it as an insult, but he's not confident in using it in an apology."
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That was SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
