TRANSCRIPT
- The Governor-General opens Australia's 48th parliament in an address to both chambers...
- Protesters crash the parliamentary party with calls for more action against Israel...
- In AFL, The Western Bulldogs sign a deal to keep their superstar captain for another four years.
The Governor-General opens Australia's 48th parliament in an address to both chambers
Protesters crash the parliamentary party with calls for more action against Israel
The Western Bulldogs sign a deal to keep their superstar captain for another four years.
Governor General Sam Mostyn has officially opened the 48th Federal Parliament, urging respect in an address to politicians of both chambers.
The ceremonial opening has included church services, smoking ceremonies and the ceremonial dragging of M-Ps.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will command a large parliamentary majority in his second term as leader, with Labor holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.
Across the chamber, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley will preside over just 43 lower-house MPs after an election wipeout for the Coalition.
Ms Mostyn says she encourages all politicians to treat each other with care and compassion.
"Care for each other, care for those who do the caring for others, care for our continent and our extraordinary environment and beautiful riches, care for civics and institutions which I know the speaker and I share a great passion for and will continue to do work on. And care for the way we speak to each other and debate the very tough issues of our time without anger or judgement or hate but always with respect."
Hundreds of protesters have demonstrated outside the opening ceremonies of the new Parliament, calling for an end to ties with Israel and more action in support of Palestinians.
Independent Senator Fatima Payman says if politicians claim to support human rights they should join the protest on the parliamentary lawns.
"It wasn't a difficult decision to choose between whether I want to be there as part of a ceremonial procession where people are patting themselves on the back when there's a genocide going on and protesters are outside. It's a shame that we don't have more politicians out here. If they claim to uphold human rights and dignity and justice for all they should be out here, not patting themselves on the back inside."
The Israeli government categorically denies they are committing genocidal acts in Gaza.
The protest comes as the Australian government signed onto a joint statement with 27 other countries condemning Israel's killing of civilian aid-seekers in Gaza and calling for an immediate end to the Israeli assault.
Sarah Schwartz, Executive Officer of the Jewish Council of Australia says it's a positive move but it's time for real action.
"We're at the stage now, almost two years in, where there actually needs to be sanctions against the state of Israel and thinking about how we can disentangle our relationship from both the U-S and Israel who are engaged in committing these flagrant breaches of international law."
A coroner has determined the death of a woman in Western Sydney over a decade ago was a targeted homicide, as the search for the killer continues.
41-year-old Indian-Australian mother Prabha Arun Kumar was brutally stabbed to death while walking home through Parramatta Park in March 2015.
CCTV footage shows Ms Kumar had been on the phone to her husband, who was in India at the time, leading up to and during the attack.
While police don't believe her husband was in Australia, they say they haven't ruled out that he may have arranged her murder.
Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil has handed the case back to detectives after a two-day inquest found a targeted killing was the most likely cause of Ms Kumar's death.
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi [[Dway-hee]] says the investigation continues.
"We believe this was a targeted attack and we're quite confident we can rule out the motive of robbery. We want to identify who the person who stabbed Prabha, we have not been able to achieve that. We also want to identify who may have contracted or requested that person to conduct that stabbing."
Police have offered a $1 million reward to anyone in Australia or abroad for any new leads that result in the arrest and conviction of the killer.
Police have siezed a new haul of black market cigarettes as tough new laws are set to allow for on-the-spot shutdowns of shops selling illicit tobacco and fines of $1.5 million in New South Wales.
Police say 46 million cigarettes, worth more than $30 million, were seized from four containers at the New South Wales border in June and July.
The seizure coincides with Premier Chris Minns vowing to dismantle a ballooning black market of cheap cigarettes which has been linked to gang violence, robberies and firebombings.
He wants to strengthen laws to enable health ministry officials to immediately close down businesses selling illicit tobacco for up to four weeks.
In AFL,
The Western Bulldogs have finalised a four-year deal that keeps superstar Marcus Bontempelli at the Whitten Oval until the end of the 2029 season.
The Dogs captain, who was the highest-profile player in the AFL coming out-of-contract, is going nowhere now after signing the new four-year deal.
Confirmation of the news comes a night after Bontempelli was named the club's second-greatest ever player, only behind the legendary Ted Whitten.
The 29-year-old has played 253 games for the Bulldogs after being taken with pick four in the 2013 draft.
