What you need to know today
Welcome to our live coverage of news from around Australia and the world.
Here’s what you need to know this morning.
- Seven women and children, part of a cohort of so-called “ISIS brides”, have returned to Australia at Sydney and Melbourne airports.
- Independent MP Dai Le has criticised a lack of transparency over the returns and where the families will live, worrying about members of her community who had “fled ISIS”.
- Iran has begun restoring internet access after a months-long shutdown as hopes for a diplomatic end to the war continue.
- Australia’s new ambassador to the United States Greg Moriarty has shared a picture from his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Jobseeker services to get first overhaul in 30 years
Australia’s system for helping jobseekers into work will be overhauled for the first time in 30 years as the federal government grapples with the best way to assist the country’s growing number of long-term unemployed people.
Three years after a Labor-led committee said that Australia’s employment services system was like “using a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito”, Workplace Minister Amanda Rishworth will on Wednesday reveal the one-size-fits-all system will split jobseekers into three streams for the first time.
It will separate people who are newly unemployed and already have skills to re-enter the job market, for example, from those who have been unemployed for long periods of time, disconnected from the labour market or face other barriers to employment.
These streams will determine which job-seeking services people can access as well as their mutual obligations – the conditions that jobseekers must meet to keep receiving income support from the government.
Read more: Jobseeker services to get first overhaul in 30 years
What you need to know today
Welcome to our live coverage of news from around Australia and the world.
Here’s what you need to know this morning.
- Seven women and children, part of a cohort of so-called “ISIS brides”, have returned to Australia at Sydney and Melbourne airports.
- Independent MP Dai Le has criticised a lack of transparency over the returns and where the families will live, worrying about members of her community who had “fled ISIS”.
- Iran has begun restoring internet access after a months-long shutdown as hopes for a diplomatic end to the war continue.
- Australia’s new ambassador to the United States Greg Moriarty has shared a picture from his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Australia’s new US ambassador shares photo from meeting with Trump
Australia’s new ambassador to the United States has shared an image of his recent meeting with Donald Trump after presenting his credentials to the US president.
Moriarty, who replaced former prime minister Kevin Rudd as ambassador, is a long-time diplomat and public servant who was most recently the secretary of the Defence Department.
He served as ambassador to Iran from 2005 to 2008, and in that capacity briefed then US president George W. Bush on Iranian politics – a rare event for an Australian diplomat. He was later posted to Jakarta, and was also chief of staff to then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Moriarty presented his credentials to Trump at a White House ceremony overnight, along with 11 other new ambassadors to the US.
In a post sharing an image from the meeting this morning, Moriarty said it was an honour to serve Australia in Washington DC.
“I look forward to working with the Administration to strengthen our relationship,” he wrote.
Iran restores partial internet access after months-long blackout
Iran has started restoring access to the internet – a sign that the longest shutdown of its kind in history is easing amid a diplomatic push to end the war with the US.
Monitoring group NetBlocks said there was a “partial restoration” yesterday after 88 days of near-total blackout on the national network, showing connectivity had risen from close to zero to about 35 per cent of typical levels.
“In line with the esteemed President’s mission and in fulfillment of the government’s promise, the first step towards free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, who chairs the government’s special taskforce for the regulation and governance of cyberspace, said on X.
Iran’s civilian officials have repeatedly called for restrictions, which have crippled businesses across the country, to be eased, but have been overruled by the country’s powerful security establishment.
Western Sydney MP criticises ‘lack of transparency’ on ‘ISIS brides’
Independent MP for the seat of Fowler in western Sydney Dai Le has criticised a lack of information about the return of so-called “ISIS brides”.
“It really concerns me because – obviously, I don’t have the details – the lack of transparency in itself is a problem,” Le told 2GB radio this morning.
“Communities like mine really deserve to know,” she said.
Many people and communities in her electorate, taking in Liverpool, Cabramatta and parts of Fairfield, had “fled ISIS” after losing family members and homes.
“So I hope that they are aware of it because I don’t know anything at all about where they’re going,” Le said.
Nineteen Australian women and children linked to the Islamic State terror group returned to Sydney and Melbourne airports last night. Unlike previously returning cohorts, none have been charged with criminal offences.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
