Category: Australian News

Family First is worried it may be banned as a “hate group” after the Liberals backed Labor’s antisemitism, hate and extremism laws.

There are plenty of radical activist groups that don’t like our advocacy for women’s and children’s rights or against mass immigration and want us shut down. Now they can claim woolly terms like ‘social, economic and psychological harm’ as justification to launch criminal proceedings against us,” National Director Lyle Shelton said.

The minister has unprecedented powers to abandon due process and shut down organisations at the behest of activists who claim their feelings are hurt.

This is a stake in the heart for free speech and freedom of religion.”

Mr Shelton said he has been pursued through the courts for six years under Australia’s existing regime of deeply flawed “hate speech” laws.

The Liberals voting for yet more ill-defined ‘hate speech’ laws will do little to stop Islamic terror, but it will entrap mainstream Australian groups who speak their minds on things like LGBTIQA+ child gender clinics, Islamic extremism and the traditional definition of marriage.

After some promising signs last week, the Liberals abandoned the fight for freedom of speech and freedom of religion and capitulated in a late-night deal with Australia’s most anti-free speech government.”

Mr Shelton praised the Nationals and One Nation for voting against the new “hate speech” bill.

Mr Shelton welcomed the banning of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a terrorist group banned in many European and even in Islamic countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Groups with links to terrorism have no place in Australia and Family First had long called for its banning here.

Inciting violence is where the line should be drawn when crafting hate speech laws.

Sadly laws against inciting violence were not enforced or strengthened since Muslims and left wing activists started supporting Hamas in the wake of October 7.

Clearly the Albanese Government has used the antisemitism crisis it created to dust off its anti-free speech agenda with the Liberals happy to play the part of useful idiots in the latest clampdown on freedom in Australia.”

Mr Shelton said Family First was standing candidates at the upcoming South Australian, Victorian and NSW elections who will fight to repeal the anti-free speech provisions of state-based “hate speech” laws so freedom can be restored.

ACT Greens Member for Ginninderra, Jo Clay, has expressed concerns following the announcement that the Big Splash site has been repossessed by its Lenders, and called on the ACT Government to immediately step in to save the site.

“It’s really disappointing that the ACT Government didn’t move faster to step in and address this issue. It was clear from the start there were serious issues in relation to the management of the site,” said Ms Clay.

“I’ve lost count of how many times I asked the ACT Government when they would start hard enforcement action, issue fines or consider a lease termination. But instead, the Minister took a backseat and we watched the inevitable slowly unfold.

“Big Splash is an iconic Canberra landmark that this Government has allowed to fall into ruin. That’s simply not good enough, the residents of Belconnen – and indeed broader Canberra – deserve better.

“The Government must now step in to save Big Splash and those conversations need to start today. Government ownership of the site is the safest pathway to ensure the community gets a pool on the site.

“It is imperative that this site be retained as a recreational area and I support the calls from Friends of Big Splash for a 50m pool and waterpark on the site. I’ve also heard good ideas for hydrotherapy and an indoor sports and recreation centre.

“There are many in our community calling for these options as part of a better planned use of the site and we’ve seen architect plans drawn up for such a facility. This is a key opportunity that Government must not miss.

“There’s a huge amount of passion amongst the community, but the current situation means the future of the site is precarious. The government must step in and ensure this site is retained for the good of the community,” said Ms Clay.

The Greens call for federal leadership and funding for more effective shark bite mitigation measures in the wake of four incidents in just three days at NSW beaches. 

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson: 

“The four incidents at NSW beaches in the past three days have ignited public discussion about what creates the perfect storm for shark encounters to spike, and how best to reduce risks to both ocean-goers and marine wildlife. 

“This has again highlighted the urgent need for federal government leadership, starting with establishing a national summit of experts to drive shark risk education campaigns and provide better information and resources to the states.  

“This is something the Greens and shark experts have been calling for governments to implement for years. 

“A Greens-led Senate inquiry into shark mitigation found the issue requires a nationally coordinated approach and the federal government needs to show leadership in striking the right balance between reducing the risk of shark encounters and conserving nature.

“The Senate inquiry recommended governments help keep ocean-goers safe by supercharging investment in modern-day alternatives to outdated and ineffective shark nets and lethal drumlines. This includes investing in public education, shark shield personal deterrent devices, shark spotter programs, eco-shark barriers, and bite-proof wetsuits.

“Resorting to lethal shark mitigation measures, such as nets and drumlines, is a lazy and ineffective approach – and evidence now shows these measures may attract sharks to beaches, where they can feed on captured marine wildlife.

“Palming off responsibility for shark bite mitigation to the states is a cop-out given many sharks and other marine creatures killed in lethal shark control programs are federally protected species.

“If we want to transition from lethal shark control programs that don’t work, to more effective and sophisticated approaches that protect marine wildlife and ocean-goers, the federal government has an important role to play.

“For the last decade successive federal governments have shown no leadership on this critical matter of public interest – and it’s time for that to change.”

Today’s announcement that Eraring power station will continue operating beyond its scheduled closure until 2029 is a disaster for NSW and Australia’s climate targets.

Greens NSW MLC and spokesperson for Energy, Abigail Boyd, has condemned the decision by Origin Energy to again extend the life of all of Eraring power station’s generators to 2029.

Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW energy spokesperson:

“Today’s decision by Origin Energy to again extend the life of Eraring power station is a direct product of government failure by the NSW Labor government. The government’s lack of ambition and urgency, resulting in the decision to extend Eraring from 2025 to 2027, sent a go slow signal to the market, and this 2029 decision will compound this dangerous failure.

“Keeping any coal power station open longer is a cost-of-living and human health disaster. Not to mention the devastating climate impacts it will cause. This is the reality under a Minns Labor government that simply doesn’t take our climate and environmental responsibilities seriously.

“The prolonged operation of an ageing coal fired power fleet, as well as gas peaking, is the worst thing that can happen to the power bills of energy consumers in this state. These companies keep operating because they want to extract every available dollar in price gouged profits from energy consumers from their ageing and polluting assets.

“If Eraring Power Station is extended for a further two years at full production of 16twh, will contribute to taking us upwards of 50% further away from our legislated emissions reduction targets each year of operation, or around 3.5% of our total emissions budget.

“Despite persistent warnings that NSW is already not on track to achieve our legislated climate targets, the NSW Labor government has been continuing on a business as usual trajectory. Recent policy decisions by the NSW Labor government are actively contrary to our energy security and emissions reduction targets.

“There are enough renewables and power lines on track to be delivered in time to replace Eraring in 2027, but new increased demand imperils system security requirements.

“Origin Energy, in their market announcement, directly referenced risks to system security highlighted by AEMO in its recently released Transition Plan for System Security. That report identified the unmitigated growth in new data centre developments as a key transition risk – large data centres are projected to rapidly become major loads on the system, with over 10 GW lodged connection enquiries (some single data centres exceeding 1 GW) in New South Wales by the end of 2024-25.

“AEMO have said new large inverter based loads, in particular data centres, present system security risks including through power system oscillations, sudden load loss or ramping, transient stability, and increased inertia requirements. But it is these project the NSW Labor government is seeking to expedite, with 23 massive projects in the works under a new fast tracked assessment process.

“Having pushed the NSW Labor government in recent budget estimates hearings, answers I received today to my questions on the impact of data centre developments on NSW climate and environment confirm the NSW Government is pursuing a dramatic ramping up on data centre developments in the stunning absence of any plans or guardrails.

“These decisions are the epitome of the rudderless NSW Minns Labor government, with no vision or plan for the safety, prosperity and wellbeing of the people of NSW.”

The NSW Forestry Corporation has been issued two new fines, totalling $60,000, by the Environment Protection Authority for failing to comply with a clean-up notice in Mogo State Forest.

The EPA has charged that the Forestry Corporation did not construct creek crossings in compliance with best practice and that an ongoing risk to downstream water quality is being caused by the Corporation’s failure to conduct remediation works.

Greens MP, Solicitor and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said:

“The Forestry Corporation has once again ignored their environmental protection obligations and failed to comply with an order by the EPA, this has now cost the NSW community $60,000 in fines and has allowed water pollution to continue as a result of shoddy work and logging,”

“The criminal track record of the Forestry Corporation is shocking, with unlawful logging and fines essentially built into their business model. It’s one thing to claim to ‘make mistakes’ while logging, something that has caused significant environmental harm and cost NSW hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in this case – the Forestry Corporation just flat out failed to respond to an instruction from the EPA. This is maladministration at its worst,”

“Destructive, costly, and profitless logging in public native forests is not just about the loss of habitat and the increase in fire risk, every living system that is connected to the forest is negatively impacted too. This includes the headwaters of our coastal rivers and estuaries,”

“The Minns Labor Government must recognise that the Forestry Corporation is misusing our public resources and is not fit to be allowed to continue. Our environment and our community deserve to have accountable, regenerative and best practice management of our forests, not this current state of affairs where a publicly owned company wrecks the environment and ignores its legal obligations,”

“There will be more and more crimes committed by the Forestry Corporation as the damage they have done to our forests continues. Their failed industry has harmed their own product so much so that they are now increasingly desperate to log trees in more and more irresponsible ways. It has to end,” Ms Higginson said.

The Greens have issued a stark warning about rushed Coalition amendments to Labor’s anti-association legislation. The changes represent an unprecedented expansion of political power to ban organisations and criminalise speech based on vague standards like “ridicule” and “contempt”. 

Amendments agreed to in secret between the Coalition and Labor have only made the laws more dangerous, greatly expanding their reach well beyond legitimate efforts to end violence, promote safety and reduce political and social division.

Sen. Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Deputy Leader and Antiracism spokesperson:

“The sham process that the government has undertaken on this bill is as appalling as the bill itself, and this last minute deal with the Coalition makes a terrible bill even more divisive and even more dangerous.

“With this bill the government is saying that they care about some communities but not others, and they have thrown muslims and migrants under the bus.

“This terrible deal between Labor and the Coalition will have a chilling effect on political debate, protest, civil rights, and people speaking up about civil rights abuses across the world. The Greens will vehemently and strongly oppose this bill.”

Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Spokesperson for Justice: 

“Coalition amendments expand the reach of Labor’s already dangerous crackdown on speech and political expression in unprecedented ways. Far from narrowing these laws, these changes expand the law to expressly cover conduct that falls far short of violence.

“The rushed changes expand the conduct that can lead to organisations being banned by including references to 7 different State and Territory laws. This raises multiple constitutional issues and significant uncertainty in how the laws apply across the Commonwealth.

“This Labor and Coalition deal may lead to organisations being banned, and people being criminalised across the country, if they ridicule or express contempt for a group or person.

“These laws cover much more than threats of violence, extending to ‘economic, social and psychological harm’ enforced not by courts but by ASIO and the Home Affairs Minister.

“Labor and the Coalition are intending to capture acts and statements done in the past with the retrospective operation of this law. Groups may be captured for actions or words said before these offences were even created.

“What was a rushed process last week has now become a farce. Unprecedented legal changes are being made law without even a cursory review by experts or the community.”

Matilda.

Edith Brutman.

Dan Elkayam.

Boris and Sofia Gurman.

Alexander Kleytman.

Rabbi Yaakov Levitan.

Peter Meagher.

Reuven Morrison.

Marika Pogany.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger.

Adam Smyth.

Boris Tetleroyd.

Tania Tretiak.

Tibor Weitzen.

Mr Speaker, the minute of silence we have just observed echoes with those 15 names.

Fifteen innocent people for whom today should be just another Monday morning.

Another day in this beautiful country they loved, in the embrace of the family and friends they adored.

Another day in busy lives, rich in passion and purpose, defined by hard work and by humour.

Another day devoted to others, serving their community, nourishing their faith.

Another day of school holidays.

Instead, our Parliament comes together in sorrow to offer our nation’s condolences to the people who knew and loved them best.

We welcome all the family members and dear friends and spiritual leaders joining us here.

From the depths of grief, you have summoned remarkable strength.

You have given us a glimpse of who your loved ones were, how much they meant – and how brave they proved themselves to be.

As Rabbi Ulman put it: “the light that each of those souls brought into the world”. 

As we pause in silence to remember them, we recognise that for you an unbearable silence has fallen.

The silence of laughter forever stilled.

Of footsteps in the hallway that will never come.

Of a voice that will never be heard again, except in memories held in broken hearts.

The silence of futures unlived.

The silence of a sorrow beyond words, inflicted by an atrocity beyond comprehension.

On the 14th of December 2025, Chabad of Bondi hosted hundreds of Jewish Australians for the first night of Chanukah.

They gathered at that world-famous spot, a beautiful place at the heart of their community.

And in coming together to celebrate the Chanukah message of hope, resilience and the victory of light over darkness, they were also re-affirming their identity – proud Jews and proud Australians.

From grandparents who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust and made a life and home here in Australia.

To children playing in the summer twilight.

When the gunshots began, some people in the crowd looked up to the sky, to see the fireworks.

Others thought it was balloons popping.

Then the horrific reality descended.

As we join in mourning for the 15 souls whose lives and futures were so cruelly stolen, our hearts also go out to everyone injured and traumatised.

People who will always carry scars from what they suffered and saw on that dark night for our nation.

We say to all of you who have travelled here today and to those watching at home, on your long road to healing, Australia will be by your side.

Mr Speaker, just as our nation came together one week after Bondi to light candles against the darkness, we must continue to raise our voices against the silence.

Because while the massacre at Bondi Beach was cruel and senseless, it was not random.

Jewish Australians were the target.

As we offer our love, sympathy and solidarity to everyone bearing the weight of trauma and loss, we make it clear to every Jewish Australian, you are not alone.

All Australians stand with you.

Australians were with you at Bondi Beach in those unspeakable minutes of violence and terror.

Police officers and first responders, running towards danger to save lives, backed by Hatzolah and Community Health Support.

Adults shielding children they did not know from bullets.

Lifeguards using their boards as stretchers to carry the wounded.

Café staff giving shelter to people fleeing in fear.

And passers-by performing acts of extraordinary bravery.

Mr Speaker, I have asked the Governor General to create a Special Honours List, so all Australians can nominate these heroes of Bondi for formal recognition.

Because the defining and enduring truth of that fateful Sunday is not fear or bloodshed.

It is not the cowardly antisemitic evil of the terrorists.

Nor the murderous perversion of Islam they took as inspiration.

It is the courage and kindness of people risking their own lives to save others. People I have had the opportunity to meet.

Yanky Super.

Gefen Bitton.

Ahmed Al Ahmed.

Constable Scott Dyson and Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert.

And so many more.

I have had the honour to meet with some of these heroes, to express the gratitude and admiration of our whole country.

Their bravery is inspiring and it was instinctive.

They did not need to know the names of the people they faced gunfire to help.

They did not stop to think about faith or nationality.

Their bond was more profound than that.

Their bravery was an act of shared humanity.

And that is the spirit in which Australians have responded, every day since.

Working around the clock in hospitals across Sydney.

Donating blood in record numbers.

Turning that famous foreshore into a sea of beautiful flowers.

Matching their words of love, with deeds of kindness and unity. Mitzvahs.

And in that same spirit, honouring the heroes of Bondi also means standing together against that evil that inflicted this devastation.

Standing together against hatred, standing together against division.

And working together to eradicate antisemitism, wherever it hides, whatever form it assumes and whatever weapons it wields.

Affirming, loudly and clearly, that Jewish Australians have every right to be proud of who you are.

Proud to raise and educate your children in your faith.

Proud to freely participate in the public life of our nation.

And proud that you are not just a part of the Australian story, you have helped to write the Australian story.

In government and the law, in business, education and the arts, on the battlefield and in every field of human endeavour.

Your faith, resilience, wisdom and compassion enrich our national life.

You belong here. You are respected, valued and admired.

As Prime Minister, I give you this solemn promise on behalf of every Australian.

We will not meet your suffering with silence.

We will not leave you in darkness.

We will continue to do everything required to ensure your security, uphold your safety and protect and honour your place here with us, as Australians.

Mr Speaker, amidst our grief for those killed and injured, and our gratitude to those who saved lives.

I know there is disbelief and anger too.

How could there not be?

A Holocaust survivor was gunned down in a nation that had given him refuge from the worst of humanity.

A 10-year-old girl will never have another birthday.

Terrorists, inspired by ISIS, murdered our citizens, on our soil.

In the long days and hard weeks that have followed, so many of us have thought to ourselves and said to each other:

“This doesn’t happen here, not in Australia. It’s not the Australian way.” 

Bondi Beach changed that, forever.

We must face that unforgiving truth and we must learn from it.

And we must channel our anger into meaningful action to ensure an atrocity such as this can never happen again.

That responsibility starts with me, as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister.

It also belongs to each of us here in this chamber as Parliamentarians.

And it is a task for all of us, as Australians, to build social cohesion, to reject division and prejudice in all of its forms.

Mr Speaker, in the great tradition of Jewish Australians serving our nation, Sir Isaac Isaacs was Chief Justice of the High Court and the first Australian-born Governor-General.

And it was the Member for Isaacs who reminded me of the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, ‘the responsibility to repair the world’.

A mighty collective task that begins with individual good deeds, mitzvahs, as Rabbi Ulman and Rabbi Mendel have spoken with me about many times over recent weeks.

Small acts of kindness and care that add up to a better world.

That is central to the Jewish faith and it is at the heart of our Australian character too.

Knowing that our strength comes from caring for each other, respecting each other, looking after each other.

Bringing light into other people’s lives.

And recognising that kindness is an act of courage.

The courage to listen, understand, learn and change.

That is how all of us can help repair and strengthen the fabric of our nation.

How we heal and move forward in a spirit of national unity, where light triumphs over darkness.

It is how we honour the heroes of Bondi.

And ensure that the 15 people we remember and honour today, are never forgotten.

May their memories be a blessing.

The Albanese Government’s world leading social media minimum age law is working, with more than 4.7 million under-16 accounts already deactivated, removed or restricted within days of the law coming into effect on 10 December.

Preliminary analysis from eSafety shows age-restricted social media platforms are making meaningful attempts to prevent under-16s from holding accounts, as required by the new law that began on 10 December.

The preliminary figures were obtained as part of a first tranche of information provided to the eSafety Commissioner.

As Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety will continue to closely monitor platforms to assess their compliance and ensure they are meeting their obligations.

Since the launch of the education campaign on the social media minimum age, the eSafety website has recorded more than one million visits, showing Australians are engaging with the ban and are seeking clear, reliable information about the changes.

Families and young people can find information, resources and advice about the social media minimum age at eSafety’s social media age restrictions hub.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“Our Government has acted to help keep kids safe online.

“It’s encouraging that social media companies are making meaningful effort to comply with laws and keep kids off their platforms.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight. But these early signs show it’s important we’ve acted to make this change.

“We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs.”

Minister for Communications, Anika Wells:

“More than 4.7 million under-16 social media accounts being deactivated because of our world-first social media minimum age law is a huge achievement.

“While it’s early, every account deactivated could mean one extra young person with more free time to build their community and identity offline.

“We know there’s more work to do and the eSafety Commissioner is looking closely at this data to determine what it shows in terms of individual platforms’ compliance.

“We’ve said from the beginning that we weren’t expecting perfection straight away – but early figures are showing this law is making a real, meaningful difference.”

As families struggle with rising back to school costs, the Greens have called on Labor to adopt their $800 back to school payments plan, and bring forward their funding commitments for public education to offer direct cost of living relief to families.

A new study from Finder released on Wednesday found parents are spending thousands of dollars on back to school costs each year, including from ‘voluntary’ fees in public schools. On average, it costs $2,847 to send a child to primary school per year, and $5,310 in secondary school. Almost 1 in 3 families in Finder’s study say they can’t afford back to school costs and will have to go into debt, use last year’s supplies/hand me downs, or they kids will go without.

Around 1 in 6 Australian children are now living in poverty (or more than 950,000 children), according to the 2025 Child Poverty in Australia Report (pg8).

Over the next decade, public schools in Australia will be short-changed by $34 billion in funding, despite the government’s claims of fully funding schools. 

Shortfalls in public funding mean parents continue to pay thousands of dollars in fees and classroom expenses just for their kids to attend public school.

At last year’s federal election, the Greens took a plan for $800 back to school payments made to families at the start of the school year for each child attending a public school, to help meet growing out of pocket costs, and a $6.8 billion plan for full funding to save public schools, funded by making big corporations pay their fare share of tax.

The rising cost of public education and increasing child poverty rates show that existing cost of living support is not enough.

Greens spokesperson for Primary and Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Back to school costs are just getting higher and higher every year because Labor and the Liberals are short-changing public schools by billions and shifting the costs onto parents.”

“Australian families should be able to expect a free public education, instead they have ever-higher fees and charges and extensive back to school shopping lists that can add up to thousands of dollars.”

“With 1 in 3 big corporations paying no tax, and almost a million children in Australia living in poverty, something is seriously wrong.”

“When I was a public school teacher, like so many of my colleagues, I regularly spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to dip into my own salary to give students the resources they need, and I know parents do the same.”

“If Labor wanted to stop families from having to pay thousands in school fees, they would implement full funding of schools now, and help struggling families with $800 direct cash back to school payments as the Greens plan has proposed.”

“Every child deserves a free, world-class public education, and that’s what the Greens are committed to delivering.

New quarterly data today shows ‘a landlord’s market’ where rents are yet again at record highs in nearly every capital city in Australia, with Sydney topping the list at $800 a week.

With rental vacancy rates at record lows, Labor’s policies are incentivising wealthy property investors which push property prices up further, and rents are skyrocketing as a result.

The Greens say rather than fueling the housing crisis, Labor should come up with policies that actually deliver affordable housing.

Greens spokesperson for finance, housing and homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock:

“Record high rents across the country are further proof of a housing crisis out of control. People on low and middle incomes can’t afford to live where they want to or anywhere near where they work.

“Renters are literally paying the price for a landlord’s market. While renters reach the limits of what they can pay, the Government gives tax breaks to wealthy property investors. How is that fair?

“This is a system stacked against younger generations and people who haven’t won the intergenerational housing lottery. 

“For decades, successive governments have turbocharged house prices and driven up rents, putting billions of dollars in the pockets of property investors, property developers and the banks. 

“The Government’s $181 billion tax breaks for wealthy investors – via the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing – are locking out first home buyers and forcing rents to skyrocket. They have failed to build public housing.

“This government needs to treat housing as a human right instead of giving billions of tax breaks to wealthy property investors.

“Labor needs to introduce rent caps and invest directly into building good quality homes and renting them to people who need them at prices they can actually afford.”