Three men arrested after violent Islamophobic attack in Melbourne | Evening News Bulletin 12 January 2026

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Anthony Albanese announces return of parliament next week; Three men arrested after violent Islamophobic attack in Melbourne; And in tennis, Iga Swiatek warns rivals as she bids to underline her status in women's tennis.


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In this bulletin;
  • Anthony Albanese announces return of parliament next week;
  • Three men arrested after violent Islamophobic attack in Melbourne;
  • And in tennis, Iga Swiatek warns rivals as she bids to underline her status in women's tennis.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Parliament will return next Monday and Tuesday.

Politicians will return to Canberra early next week to introduce hate speech laws promised after the Bondi terror attack.

Mr Albanese says there will also be a condolence motion for the 15 people killed during the Bondi attack.

He says the government will brief the opposition on the hate speech legislation this afternoon, and the bill will be publicly released tomorrow.

"It will be publicly released tomorrow, and Greens members and crossbench members will be able to access a full briefing as well from tomorrow on the legislation. The legislation will then be debated on Tuesday in the House of Representatives. We intend to have that legislation pass the house before Question time."



The Australian National Imams Council has condemned a vicious Islamophobic attack on a Muslim religious leader and his wife in Victoria.

Police say the pair were driving when they were racially abused, with attackers boxing in their vehicle before hurling objects, getting out of the car and assaulting the Imam while threatening his wife.

The victim, a 47-year-old man, is recovering after being punched in the face during the incident.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says she is appalled by the attack.

"It was a terrible hateful attack, and there is no place for Islamophobia, no place for this sort of hate, anywhere in Victoria. Now, Victoria Police are investigating and will let that run its course, but i want to say very clearly to the Muslim community, but particularly to Muslim women, that i will fight and support your right, every single day to live freely in this state."

The trio of men have since been arrested.



Social media company Meta has taken aim at Australia's social media age ban, arguing it fails to increase the safety and wellbeing of young Australians.

Meta, which owns Instagram, says it wants the government to engage with companies to "find a better way forward", such as incentivising the industry to raise standards for providing safer algorithms.

Since the ban was enforced, the tech giant says it has taken down over 330,000 Instagram accounts and over 173,000 Facebook accounts it believed belonged to users under 16.

If companies fail to take 'reasonable steps' to remove under-16s, they face fines of up to $49.5 million.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce told Seven's Sunrise the platforms are not the issue but rather the content people post on them.

"You've got to ban them using GROK to do nude images and sort of degrading images of people and say if you do that we're going to fine you but you can't sort of say we're going to ban X, that's wrong and that'll do more more social harm than social good."



A landmark case which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya is set to open at the International Court of Justice today.

This will be the first genocide case heard by the ICJ in full in over a decade, with the outcome expected to have repercussions beyond Myanmar.

Myanmar's armed forces launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson.

Myanmar denies it has committed genocide.

Nicholas Koumjian, head of the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, says the case will likely set critical precedents for how genocide is defined and can be proven.



To tennis now...

Iga Swiatek has warned her rivals "it's all good" as the Pole bids to underline her status as the pre-eminent force in women's tennis.

The six-time major winner will enter the Open on the back of successive losses to Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic and concerns over her fitness after leaving the court for treatment during Sunday night's defeat.

After adding the Wimbledon crown to her growing collection last year, Swiatek will enter the Australian Open with the chance to join the sport's most exclusive club as a career grand slam winner.

Headed by Margaret Court and featuring legends like Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Billie-Jean King, it is a 105-year-old club of just 10 members.

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