16 News

As part of the Albanese Government’s ongoing work to assist Australians seeking to depart Lebanon, two Government-supported charter flights carrying up to 500 passengers will depart Beirut Airport tomorrow for Larnaca, Cyprus.

This continues the Australian Government’s work with partners and commercial airlines, which has seen seats secured on several flights this week, including a Canadian assisted-departure flight last night which had 41 Australians on board.

Further flights are planned for subsequent days and will be subject to demand.

Operation of the Australian Government-supported charter flights is subject to the airport in Beirut remaining open and other operational constraints.

Onward travel to Australia is being arranged for those landing in Cyprus. Qantas has confirmed two flights from Cyprus to Sydney and we are grateful for their assistance. We are working with other airlines to confirm additional flights.

These flights will be free-of-charge for those eligible Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members with a right of entry to Australia. Vulnerable passengers will be prioritised.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be in contact with registered Australians to facilitate their departure and will continue to provide updates to registered Australians.

Australians in Lebanon who wish to leave should ensure they are registered via DFAT’s Crisis Portal or by calling the Australian Government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305.

Our message to Australians in Lebanon remains – now is the time to leave. Please take the first flight option that is available. There is no guarantee of preferred flights or that these flights will continue.

Media note: Images from last night’s flight are available via DFAT’s Media Library.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke must provide details of the action he is taking against

non-citizens who support terrorist organisations Hezbollah and Hamas.

Minister Burke has said that he would “consider refusing and cancelling visas for anyone who seeks to incite discord in Australia”.

The Australian reports today that a pro-Hezbollah activist who led a Melbourne march waving the Hezbollah flag and who believes Australia is a “tyrannical terrorist regime” is an Iranian national.

Is Minister Burke reviewing this man’s visa status?

How many visas has Minister Burke cancelled because the holder supports a terrorist organisation?

What resources has Minister Burke directed towards identifying and removing non-citizens who sow discord with their abhorrent views?

Minister Burke must do the right thing by all Australians and take strong action against people who import trouble into our peaceful country.

When it comes to national security, Labor cannot afford to fail again.

Because of Labor’s Ministerial Direction 99, violent non-criminals have avoided deportation, including one man who went on to allegedly commit murder.

And one of the criminals that Labor released from immigration detention allegedly bashed and robbed a cancer survivor and grandmother after Labor removed his monitoring conditions.

Today’s decision by Origin Energy to abandon its Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub is the latest in a series of blows to the Albanese Government’s crumbling energy agenda. Following on the heels of Fortescue’s withdrawal from its own green hydrogen plans, this development further exposes Labor’s misguided, all-eggs-in-one-basket renewables-only approach to energy policy.

For all of Albanese’s promises about becoming a ‘green hydrogen superpower,’ it’s becoming abundantly clear that these projects are failing to materialise. Despite billions of taxpayer dollars being poured into green hydrogen initiatives, these projects remain grounded.

The fact that major players like Origin and Fortescue are stepping away from green hydrogen only confirms what we’ve been saying all along: Labor is picking losers, and it’s Australian taxpayers who are left to pick up the tab.

The collapse of these projects is not only a blow to Labor’s renewable energy goals but also jeopardises Australia’s energy security. With green hydrogen off the table in the near-term and looming gas shortfalls, Labor’s inability to secure reliable 24/7 baseload energy puts Australia in a vulnerable position.

The Coalition has consistently taken a sensible, technology-neutral approach to energy and that includes hydrogen. ⁠If hydrogen is to succeed in Australia, we must be colour blind when it comes to low emissions technologies including blue hydrogen (gas) and pink hydrogen (nuclear).

While hydrogen has a place in Australia’s future, no matter how much Bowen evangelises, it is fanciful to think green hydrogen is displacing gas anytime soon.

Labor’s over-reliance on green hydrogen was always going to be risky, and now that risk is being realised. As Origin itself admitted, the hydrogen market is developing more slowly than anticipated, with significant technological and cost hurdles still to be overcome.

Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen’s failure to anticipate these challenges is now putting Australia’s path to net-zero—and our energy security—at serious risk.

This latest failure demonstrates that, once again, the Coalition’s approach is the right one: an ‘all of the above’ technology-agnostic, balanced energy mix that is focused on energy affordability and security for all Australians.

Top lawyers have slammed the Albanese Government’s Misinformation Bill, with the Victorian Bar Association making a scathing submission on Labor’s planned censorship laws.

The leading body representing Victorian barristers has warned that the Government’s Bill would have a “chilling effect” on freedom of speech, especially in sensitive or controversial areas.

According to The Australian, the submission argued that the Bill would result in self-censorship by the platform services:

“The bill’s interference with the self-fulfilment of free expression will occur primarily by the chilling self-censorship it will inevitably bring about in the individual users of the relevant services.”

The Bill would impose huge fines on digital platforms if the Government decides that they have not removed enough of what they consider to be “misinformation”.

The digital platforms will want to avoid those big fines, so they will censor a large amount of free speech of everyday Australians who want to have their say online.

The Coalition will not support Labor’s Misinformation Bill, which is a shocking attack on free speech.

Submissions for a Senate inquiry on Labor’s censorship Bill closed on Monday, with the Government giving Australians barely a week to get their responses in.

The Communications Minister has also flagged that she is going to attempt to ram the Bill through Parliament before the end of the year, providing limited opportunity for people to have their say at Senate committee hearings into the planned legislation.

In a senate inquiry report tabled this afternoon, calls by Australia’s Antisemitism Envoy for a judicial inquiry into campus antisemitism have disappointingly been rejected by government senators.

Shadow Minister for Education, Sarah Henderson, and Senator Paul Scarr have raised serious concerns about the failure to listen to Jillian Segal AO, the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism recently appointed by the Albanese government.

In the Coalition’s dissenting report into the Commission of Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities Bill 2024 (No 2), Senator Henderson said the case to establish a judicial inquiry was overwhelming.

“Given Labor’s failure of leadership on campus antisemitism, the Prime Minister must start listening to his Antisemitism Envoy and major Jewish organisations which strongly support a judicial inquiry,” Senator Henderson said.

“Jewish students should not be forced to choose between their education and their safety.”

“Instead of tackling this antisemitism crisis with moral clarity and courage, Education Minister Jason Clare has been missing in action, allowing hate and division to fester.

In their report, Coalition senators also recommended:

• best-practice antisemitism policies and procedures for universities including fines for non-compliance;
• antisemitism training for university leaders;
• disclosure of all university revenues including agreements with foreign entities;
• the adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism; and
• the proposed independent student ombudsman be supported by an antisemitism expert.

“With the anniversary of the October 7 massacre just days away, the Australian Jewish community is grappling with the ugly spread of antisemitism across all corners of the country. That is why urgent action on campus antisemitism, including financial penalties for universities which fail to comply with student safety policies, is crucial,” Senator Henderson said.

“The proposal by the government-controlled committee for another parliamentary inquiry, without the powers, resources and expertise of a judicial inquiry, is inadequate.

“Similarly, after the distress and harm suffered by Jewish students and staff for almost a year, any suggestion universities should be responsible for reviewing their own policies is untenable.”

The Coalition’s dissenting report can be found on page 59 of the Senate inquiry report, here.