Thanks for staying with us today. We’ll leave our live coverage of the day’s news there for this evening. Here were Thursday’s top stories:
A man is facing up to 10 years in prison after being charged over alleged threats after Perth airport was shut down over an unattended backpack.
Perth airport’s Terminal 1 was closed for almost two hours yesterday afternoon as police investigated a reported unattended bag.
The Australian federal police have now revealed their officers received a report of a man entering the international terminal and allegedly making threats towards the safety of the airport.
Police allege the 57-year-old was related to the backpack, left unattended outside the terminal. Officers established an exclusion zone and the backpack was declared safe by the Western Australia police bomb response unit before the airport resumed operations, the AFP said.
WA police located and arrested the man in Perth’s CBD later that evening before being transferred to AFP custody, the AFP said. He was charged with one count of threatening to destroy, damage or endanger the safety of a commonwealth aerodrome and was set to appear before Perth magistrates court this afternoon.
Australia’s share market has fallen for a third straight session as the US and Iran escalate their respective blockades of global shipping routes, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 50.2 points on Thursday, down 0.57%, to 8,793.4 as the broader All Ordinaries dipped 50.2 points, or 0.55%, to 9,024.2.
Energy was the only sector to end the session higher, soaring more than 2% on the back of rising oil prices.
The heavyweight financials and raw materials sectors each dropped nearly 1% as investor confidence deteriorated.
The Australian dollar was buying 71.55 US cents, down from 71.73 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm, as fading risk sentiment bolstered safe-haven greenback demand.
A former Queensland Labor minister has denied claims she threatened to tear up a developer’s contract for a major project if he did not cooperate with a rogue union, AAP reports.
Grace Grace has come under fire from Queensland’s Liberal National government after the allegation was made at the state’s CFMEU probe.
It’s alleged Grace, the former industrial relations minister, threatened to terminate the contract relating to a $1.6bn Toowoomba bypass project in 2018 if the developer did not work with the union.
Grace on Thursday responded to the claims aired at Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU, telling reporters:
I deny the allegations … I will let the commission continue with its processes and all the evidence from this issue will come out at the appropriate time.
Jose Sanchez – a former Acciona project director for the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing – made the allegation at the inquiry, saying Grace was “aggressive”. Asked if Sanchez was lying, Grace said:
I am saying I deny the allegations.
Queensland police have conceded there’s an “unknown risk” standard-issue pistols could malfunction in the field after the discovery of a major fault with the weapons.
A fault was discovered in their Glock pistols during routine testing, which could cause them to fire twice when discharged. All 15,000 in service will be recalled and re-tested.
Deputy commissioner Chris Stream said it’s possible some weapons used in the field have the fault, but it would be only a problem “only if the weapon is used”, adding:
If an officer had to use a weapon currently and discharge that weapon, there is an unknown risk currently, in terms of the weapon – an untested weapon, I should say – discharging multiple rounds.
So there’s not a wider threat to members of the community, or in fact, the safety of the officers using that weapon.
The weapon has been used since 1999 and Stream said it’s possible the fault has occurred in the field in its two-decade service history.
The fault has been discovered in just three, older model, weapons so far. Queensland police continues to purchase the Glock, taking delivery as recently as last year.
It’s unknown how long or how much fixing the weapons will cost, Stream said.
The Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) has welcomed a $200m donation from Gina Rinehart’s company to buy housing for homeless Australian veterans.
Hancock Prospecting said the money would be directly spent on “acquiring suitable accommodation to help Australia’s more than 6,000 homeless veterans to get a roof over their head”, in a statement today.
The company said suitable buildings around the country were being assessed for purchase and conversion into housing, focusing on hotels, motels and apartment blocks that could be “rapidly repurposed without the years of approvals and delays associated with new construction”.
Rinehart has previously put money towards a Perth veteran housing complex as well as RSL, Soldier On, the Commando Welfare Trust, Legacy and the legal defence of former special forces personnel through the SAS Resources Fund.
RSL Australia said it was at this stage not involved in the allocation or distribution of the funds. Its national president, Peter Tinley, welcomed the announcement. He said:
It is an incredibly generous donation that will be welcomed by the veteran community. It should assist many of Australia’s 6,000 homeless veterans to put a roof over their heads. …
The contribution from Mrs Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting is very welcome. It will help significantly and hopefully, will focus increased national attention of removing this inequity.
Anthony Albanese says Donald Trump is still invited to Australia regardless of the US president’s local unpopularity.
The prime minister said he had spoken to Trump at one point over the course of the US-Israel war on Iran and the Australian government was in “regular contact” with the Trump administration.
He told the ABC:
I had the conversation during this conflict with President Trump. It was a good conversation, it was a constructive conversation, as all of mine have been with him.
Asked whether his invitation for Trump to visit Australia was still open despite the president’s unpopularity, Albanese said:
Of course it is open … He knows where Australia is. An American president would always be welcome in Australia, including President Trump. President Trump would always be welcome here, as would any American president.
Albanese also said he could still see the war ending soon, amid news of Trump extending the US ceasefire with Iran. He said:
I just hope it is as soon as possible.
We have called for de-escalation
… I am absolutely happy with [the ceasefire extension and] anything that is about de-escalation, because quite clearly what I want to see is an end to the human impact of course that it’s having as well, but the economic impact.
Australia’s fuel only secure for four- to six-week windows, PM says
Australians will only know whether they have secure fuel supply four weeks out at a time, the prime minister has said.
Anthony Albanese says companies are working on a four-to-six week timeframe to book contracts for fuel imports. He told the ABC:
At this point in time, things are going as good as they could have expected to go, but we live in uncertain times.
So what that means is because the normal contracting time is about four to six weeks, we will know in advance along that sort of timeframe if there is a real reduction in the amount of fuel that will be available …
Next week, we will know where we will be in four to six weeks’ time from that.
After reports the government was considering backing the development of new domestic oil refineries, the prime minister said he was “open to constructive ideas where things add up”. Asked if the government had received any proposals for new refineries, he said:
Well, no, none in any detail. Of course, we have received vibes, if you like, of fuel reserves and increased refinery capacity. But that takes time as well.
I have got to say what we are really concentrating on, on a day-to-day basis, is how we secure that immediate supply that Australia needs.
Asked whether the fuel excise cut could be extended, he said:
We will examine that at an appropriate time.
Arguments for a new gas tax ‘disingenuous’ says PM
The prime minister has described arguments for a new tax on the gas industry as “disingenuous” as rumours swirl the government is uncertain about pursuing the proposal
Asked about the proposal for a new tax on gas exports, Albanese gave no indication of the government’s plans. He told the ABC:
What I do say though, some of the arguments that have been put forward, have been a bit disingenuous and people putting them forward no that’s the case.
He also showed no concern about the gas industry campaigning against any reform:
They of course will advocate for the interests.
Labor’s Ed Husic and the Greens have called for a tax and criticised the oil and gas companies for campaigning against them.
Labor wants parliament to ‘be constructive’ on NDIS cuts
The prime minister has called for parliament to help pass Labor’s NDIS cuts but won’t say whether he’ll negotiate with the Coalition to get it through the senate.
Albanese told the ABC:
I have called Angus Taylor and offered briefings, we will do that. I thank the Parliament should be constructive here, and I hope it is.
Asked if he would negotiate with Taylor on the reforms, Albanese said:
We have done a lot of work and they are aware of what the issues were, … We haven’t had a discussion yet but he has been offered a briefing and I am hopeful that this is a time when the Parliament, just like th Parliament supported the NDIS from its formation, I want to see that same parliament, different people, but make the NDIS sustainable going forward.
Anthony Albanese has provided a bit of detail on who would be eligible for the reformed NDIS: people like his late mother, who he described as “crippled up with rheumatoid arthritis”.
Asked whether his mother, Maryanne Ellery, would have eligible for the NDIS under his government’s new cuts, Albanese said:
Absolutely, because she was permanently incapacitated. She needed the sort of assistance – and had she got that, then the cost of her being in hospital for a long period of time because there wasn’t the sort of support out there in the community to enable her to participate with a quality of life that she deserved, wasn’t there.
What we are about with the NDIS is making sure that Australians with a disability, with that permanent incapacity, are able to get that support.
What the NDIS was never intended to do was to have classrooms where four in 10 kids were on the NDIS.
Albanese demurs on whether NDIS participants will be removed before state supports in place
Anthony Albanese has been unable to guarantee the government will wait until state supports are in place before removing people from the national disability insurance scheme.
Asked on the ABC, he instead said:
We want to make sure that they get the care that they need.
Every single Australian should get the care that they need, but what we shouldn’t have is this system that is growing exponentially, 22% growth, unsustainable, costing more than Medicare and the PBS combined.
The prime minister said he believed Australians wanted to pay for the scheme but it could be “better” under Labor’s reforms.
Australians want to be proud of it. They are happy to pay … I am proud of the NDIS, but it can be better. It needs to go back to its original purpose so that people are at the centre of the NDIS.
It is big reform. Labor will always do the big reforms and the right things and that is what we are doing.
Listen: Mark Butler on the ‘necessary’ cuts to an NDIS ‘under pressure’ – Australian Politics podcast
Mark Butler has conceded Australians may be “uneasy” about cuts to the National disability insurance scheme but insists it will remain one of the best support services “anywhere in the world”.
Listen to the health minister discuss the cuts with Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom McIlroy, on the Full Story podcast:
You can also read more about Butler’s defence of his reforms here:
Men rescued after sailing boat stuck on rocks for three hours
Two men have been rescued after their sailboat was stuck on rocks for about three hours in waters north of Newcastle in New South Wales.
The men, aged 54 and 69, set sail in a 10-metre boat on Wednesday morning and navigated north over the day, through choppy conditions, a police spokesperson said.
They ran aground on underwater rocks at Fingal Island, near Port Stephens, in the evening and issued a mayday call at about 7.30pm, police said.
Marine Rescue and water police crews sped out but couldn’t get close enough to rescue them from the rocks, not helped by the dark, windy conditions and choppy waters, police said.
Rescue helicopters were called in to help, and the men were winched to safety before being airlifted to Williamtown airport. The men were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for minor injuries and hypothermia, police said
Marine rescue crews returned to their marina at about 10.30pm, a spokesperson said.
Microsoft won’t share location, spend or number of new data centres
Earlier we reported Microsoft will spend $25bn investing in its digital infrastructure in Australia (which is code for data centres). We also noted most of that money could end up overseas as data centre money often goes towards importing computer hardware.
We asked Microsoft to clarify how many new data centres it wanted to build (it referenced a 140% increase in its cloud footprint) and how the $25bn would be spent (directly in Australia; on data centres; on importing computer hardware). A spokesperson said:
[Microsoft] can’t provide specifics at this stage as these details are competitive/commercially sensitive.
We also asked Microsoft about its preferred locations and business partners for data centre development. The spokesperson said:
[Microsoft has] 29 sites across 3 [data centre] regions in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.
Our investments are anchored in Australia and are often delivered in collaboration with Australian data centre companies like Airtrunk, CDC and NextDC – they create local construction and engineering jobs, long-term operational roles, and on-shore compute that Australian businesses, governments and researchers rely on every day.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
