Category: Australian News

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is focused on advancing Australia’s security and economic interests – with trade, tourism and Australian jobs a critical part of his visit to China.

That means driving greater and more diverse tourism cooperation between Australia and China – building on our strong people to people links.

China is Australia’s largest tourism market by expenditure, with a total spend of $9.2 billion in the 12 months up to March 2025.  

This represents around a quarter of all short-term international visitor expenditure in Australia for that period.

Chinese tourism is also growing at a faster pace than other international markets, with a 26% increase in visitors in the past 12 months and a total of 860,000 trips to Australia. 

Today Prime Minister Albanese witnessed Tourism Australia and Trip.com Group sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that promotes Australia as a premier tourist destination for Chinese travellers as well as visitors from other key Asian markets.

This partnership will provide a significant boost for Australia’s tourism industry. 

Trip.com Group is one of the world’s largest travel agencies. It commands more than 40% of the Chinese travel market, has a large presence in other parts of Asia and is accessed by more than 300 million travellers worldwide. 

While visiting Trip.com Group’s headquarters in China, Prime Minister Albanese attended the launch of Tourism Australia’s new trailer for the next chapter of its Come and Say G’Day campaign – aimed at inspiring international travellers to book an Australian holiday. 

Prime Minister Albanese

“Not only is Australia’s beef, barley, red wine and rock lobster the best in the world – we’re the best place in the world to come for a holiday.

“Expanding our tourism relationship with China will mean more jobs for Australians and a boost for Australian businesses.”

A NSW Government Koala Translocation project, claimed to promote genetic diversity in south-east NSW has gone horribly wrong with 13 koalas translocated and 7 dead, leading to calls to explain how the project got off the ground, halt all translocations of koalas in NSW and investigate whether any charges for animal cruelty should be laid against those responsible.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson says “What’s happened is deeply disturbing, tragic and cruel. How this even past muster as a Koala “conservation program” is unfathomable, something has gone radically awry and the Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe is staying quiet, but she and Premier Chris Minns must explain.

“This level of experimentation with our endangered koalas is cruel, was a catastrophic failure and should not have happened. The control settings around this translocation experiment were obviously fundamentally flawed and I don’t think the public would find this level of experimentation with our endangered koalas at all acceptable.

“The evidence over many years shows that translocation of koalas is fraught with risk and failure. It is deeply concerning that the Government allowed thirteen healthy koalas to be taken from their habitat in the Upper Nepean State Conservation Area all the way to South East Forest National Park where there are no koalas. Given the outcome, it’s clear they shouldn’t have.

“Koalas are not expendable, any and all translocation programs must be immediately stopped and the ethics and controls around such programs need to be reviewed transparently and publicly. In this case there needs to be an investigation as to whether animal cruelty laws have been breached. It is hard to reconcile that only a few months ago wildlife carer Tracey Dodds was prosecuted for animal cruelty charges for caring for a rescued kangaroo that had to be euthanized.

“It’s a stark and tragic reminder that the only sure way to protect koalas and avoid their current dire trajectory of extinction is to protect them from predation, road strike and disease now, where they currently live and to improve and extend that very habitat.

“It’s deeply distressing and sends a very cynical message that the Government is focussed on high risk and failed koala program effort while it continues to allow the destruction of core koala habitat for development and logging of high quality koala habitat in the forests of the promised Great Koala National Park, with no end in sight.

“The Minns Labor Government promised to protect koalas, but it’s been over 2 years, they haven’t established the Great Koala National Park, changed any laws to better protect koalas, they haven’t even completed the review of the NSW Koala Strategy and the Minister for the Environment is staying quiet about what has happened here.

Today, I am pleased to announce the 34 recipients of this year’s Maitri Grants, Fellowships and Scholarships.

The Maitri (meaning friendship) Grants, administered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations, aims to support greater exchange and collaboration with India across technology, business, education and culture.

Each project will cultivate deeper connections between our two countries, including:

• The Lowy Institute’s first-ever India Chair, which will lift the quality of research and conversations around India’s role as a major power in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Best-practice playbooks by Asialink Business to support collaboration, capability training and the sharing of successful partnership models in cleantech and agtech.
• A world-class exhibition featuring rare artworks by renowned Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
• An incubator of untold narratives from Australia’s South Asian diasporas that will showcase Australian-Indian experience to global screen audiences, led by Bodhi Studios.

The 2024-2025 Maitri Grants also includes 13 Maitri scholarships supporting innovative research across fields such as quantum computing technologies and clean energy solutions and three Maitri fellowships dedicated to exploring opportunities between Australia and India in biomanufacturing, maritime cooperation and digital governance.

Australia and India’s relationship is closer and more important than ever. We are deepening cooperation across priority sectors that are vital to both nations’ futures, including in defence, trade, education, and technology.

For the full lists of Maitri Grants:

• 2024-25 Maitri Grants – general recipients
• 2024-25 Maitri Scholars
• 2024-25 Maitri Fellows

The Greens welcome UNESCO including Murujuga on the World Heritage List and hope Labor will now ensure its survival by cancelling the draft approval for the North West Shelf.

Leader of the Australian Greens and First Nations spokesperson, Larissa Waters:

“The Murujuga Cultural Landscape is an awe inspiring illustration of culture and stories beginning tens of thousands of years ago. 

“It truly deserves World Heritage listing, just as it deserves protection from North West Shelf’s acidic emissions so its ancient stories can continue to be told. 

“A word of warning to Minister Watt, the world is now watching. Cancel the draft approval for the North West Shelf and prove Labor is willing to stand up for the oldest art gallery in the world.

“We applaud staunch advocates Raelene Cooper and Save Our Songlines for fighting to ensure Murujuga’s strictest protection from Woodside’s money grab.

“UNESCO had warned that Woodside’s gas plant threatened the longevity of the rock art prior to the listing, but Minister Watt successfully lobbied other nations when he should have simply rejected Woodside’s climate bomb extension in the first place.

“This highlights why World Heritage laws need to be strengthened, and once again shows Labor needs to bolster Australia’s limp environmental laws.”

The Albanese Government is supporting Palau’s renewable energy transition by investing a further $16.4 million to upgrade the country’s electricity network infrastructure.

The upgrade will provide improved network reliability while increasing the amount of renewable energy used in the grid. It builds on Australia’s support for Palau’s first large-scale solar power plant and battery storage facility.

This project, financed by the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, has reduced carbon emissions from diesel generators and supported Palau in reaching its renewable energy targets.

Australia and Palau will today sign a letter of intent to form a bilateral partnership under the Australia-Pacific Partnership for Energy Transition. A renewable energy partnership will provide practical support for Palau’s energy transition priorities, including strengthening Palau’s energy system with technical, planning and policy support, as well as providing skills and training for a renewable energy workforce.

Australia is supporting the region’s transition to renewable energy by sharing climate adaptation technologies, and by financing projects that include solar construction and hydro power refurbishment.

Our region is at the frontline of the climate crisis, the single largest threat to the lives, livelihoods, culture and security of Pacific peoples.

Australia will continue to work with our Pacific partners to safeguard climate resilience in the region.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong:

“Palau, and other Pacific nations, can count on Australia to take meaningful action on climate change – at home and in partnership with the region.

“Ensuring climate security in the Indo-Pacific is vital to sustaining a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

“Australia is supporting Pacific nations’ transition to renewable energy and this investment is another important step in achieving this goal”.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen:

“The Australian-backed solar facility will deliver around 20 per cent of Palau’s annual energy needs.

“We are committed to working with our Pacific neighbours to accelerate the renewable energy transformation and build clean energy industries across our region.

Minister for Defence Industry and Pacific Island Affairs, Pat Conroy:

“Australia listens to the priorities of the Pacific family – and acts on them.

“From backing Palau’s first large-scale solar power plant and battery storage facility to upgrading Palau’s energy grid, Australia’s investment in Palau’s energy transition is an investment in Palau’s future.

“We will continue partnering with our Pacific neighbours to deliver on their priorities.”

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for Anti-Racism and Higher Education has responded to Anthony Albanese’s backing of the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism and continues to call for urgent funding for the implementation of the National Anti-Racism Framework. 

Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“It’s a real shame that rather than urgently funding the full implementation of the National Anti-Racism Framework (NARF) to stamp out all forms of racism, the Prime Minister has backed a plan that will silence and punish voices raised against the genocidal state of Israel.

“It’s been months since the completion of the national anti-racism framework and we haven’t heard a peep from the Prime Minister about fully implementing it, but he has jumped on a Trump-like plan to attack universities and further crack down on their staff and students.

“Conflating criticism of Israel with racism and hate speech is not only wrong, it is downright dangerous.

“The calls to withhold funding from universities are dangerous. We have seen from Trump’s America where this path leads – where student expression is banned, and universities like Harvard are punished for permitting protests against genocide. The report’s call for investigations into ‘foreign funding’ of protests, just echoes Trump’s conspiracy theories used to justify extreme intervention into independent universities.

“Anti-racism work should not have a hierarchy, racism is racism. It is harmful for all those who bear its brunt including First Nations people, Muslims, Jews, and Palestinians.

“I call on the Prime Minister to drop the double standards, end this trip into authoritarianism and get serious about tackling all racism.

“It feels like we’re living in a fever dream, where Labor and Liberal are so focused on covering up Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people that they’re are determined to stop and stifle criticism and condemnation of these atrocious actions — all in the name of a thinly veiled effort to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.”

Greens MP Sue Higginson has renewed calls for reform of NSW Police after two police officers pleaded guilty to assaulting, capsicum spraying and kicking a naked, mentally unwell 48-year-old woman in Western Sydney.

Last year, the NSW Government noted but refused to implement a recommendation from the Greens-led inquiry into Equity, accessibility and appropriate delivery of outpatient and community mental health care in New South Wales, which called for the improvement of mandatory comprehensive mental health training currently provided to police officers in consultation with consumers and carers.

Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said “This case is horrifying and involved police officers taunting a naked and mentally ill woman and bragging about violently assaulting her to their friends. What will it take for the Premier Chris Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley to accept that there is a serious cultural problem within the NSW police.

A mentally ill woman has been assaulted because NSW police stubbornly continue to send police officers to attend to mental health crises. It is clear from this incident that police are continuing to endanger the community when they are called to respond to people experiencing mental health issues.

We know that misogyny, racism, victim-blaming and bigotry is rife throughout the NSW Police force and it’s violating the people the state should be protecting. The people of NSW should not have to wait for the outcome of the current cultural review that is underway for the Government to act to change toxic police culture.

The Greens-led mental health inquiry made clear recommendations to the NSW government for police reform and investment in mental health supports. If the government fails to implement these recommendations, cases like these will only become more frequent.

If the Premier and the Police Minister do not act to ensure mental health professionals attend mental health crises, rather than police, we will see this happen all over again and the blame will squarely be at the feet of NSW Labor.

Communities are in danger precisely because of Labor’s failure to invest in evidence-based supports for mental health and their failure to confront cultural problems within the NSW police.”

The Greens welcome UNESCO including Murujuga on the World Heritage List and hope Labor will now ensure its survival by cancelling the draft approval for the North West Shelf.

Leader of the Australian Greens and First Nations spokesperson, Larissa Waters:

“The Murujuga Cultural Landscape is an awe inspiring illustration of culture and stories beginning tens of thousands of years ago. 

“It truly deserves World Heritage listing, just as it deserves protection from North West Shelf’s acidic emissions so its ancient stories can continue to be told. 

“A word of warning to Minister Watt, the world is now watching. Cancel the draft approval for the North West Shelf and prove Labor is willing to stand up for the oldest art gallery in the world.

“We applaud staunch advocates Raelene Cooper and Save Our Songlines for fighting to ensure Murujuga’s strictest protection from Woodside’s money grab.

“UNESCO had warned that Woodside’s gas plant threatened the longevity of the rock art prior to the listing, but Minister Watt successfully lobbied other nations when he should have simply rejected Woodside’s climate bomb extension in the first place.

“This highlights why World Heritage laws need to be strengthened, and once again shows Labor needs to bolster Australia’s limp environmental laws.”

The Coalition has welcomed the Special Envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism but expressed its deep disappointment at the Government’s lack of leadership on what has been a significant national issue since October 2023.

We note that when the Prime Minister was asked directly if he would commit to implementing the plan in full he refused to do so. Despite being willing to launch the plan today it is not clear which measures the Albanese Government supports and which it does not. Australians deserve some clarity on this.

Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley said the report confirms what Jewish Australians have been telling us for months, that antisemitism has surged to crisis levels while the Prime Minister has refused to show national leadership.

“The Coalition welcomes the work of the Special Envoy, but it should not fall to one individual to shoulder this fight against hate. The Government must show leadership. The Prime Minister must act,” the Leader of the Opposition said.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and re-affirm our commitment to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s 15-point action plan. That’s the benchmark against which the Prime Minister should be judged.

“This report shows antisemitism is not just a problem of security or law enforcement. It’s a cultural and societal cancer that needs attention through our schools, universities, media, and even the arts.”

The report is described as a ‘policy-oriented framework for government and the Australian community’, and details 49 key actions necessary to combat antisemitism. However, it appears that only three of those actions would be led by the government: the removal of deductible gift recipient status from charities promoting antisemitism, changes to funding agreements for festivals and cultural institutions, and the potential establishment of judicial inquiry.

Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser said the report exposes a lack of commitment from the Government.

“This is a work plan for the Special Envoy not a commitment by the Albanese Government,” Mr Lesser said.

“Fighting the tidal wave of antisemitism cannot be left to the Envoy alone, it needs the Prime Minister’s commitment, not just to hear the Envoy’s advocacy, but to action her policies.

“The Jewish community is telling us that Australia now leads the world in fire-bombings and other violent attacks on Jews. In such an environment we want to see the prime minister leading the fight on antisemitism and being accountable for the outcome. It’s time his actions matched his words.”

Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Andrew Hastie said the plan made clear that there is an antisemitism crisis gripping Australia which demands a whole-of-government response.

“The Jewish community is under siege, and the time for half-measures is over. This demands the full weight of the Commonwealth’s resolve, starting with the Prime Minister”, Mr Hastie said.

“Attacks on our Jewish community strike at the very heart of our democracy. If we want to remain a safe, united, and free country, we need a coordinated national response that defends Australian values in every sphere of our society”.

Shadow Minister for Education Senator Jonno Duniam said that it should not take a report for the Prime Minister to have offered serious action to combat antisemitism at our universities.

“Australian universities have been a breeding ground for antisemitism and the Federal Government’s inaction to seriously address this crisis is a stain on our society. Their delayed action has left many students on our campuses feeling unsafe. It should not have gotten to this point, but the Coalition will work constructively in the interests of protecting all Australians, including Jewish Australians.”

Shadow Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Senator Paul Scarr said every community has a right to live in Australia in peace, safety and harmony – free from fear and vilification.

“It goes to the very heart of what it means to be Australian. Now is the time for action. This is not just a political imperative. It is a moral obligation. This is about protecting our Australian way of life. Protecting what it means to be Australian”

The report highlights the stark divide between those over 35 and those under 35 in their attitudes to antisemitism, and the role of online platforms in driving antisemitic attitudes.

Landslip repairs are underway at two more sites on Cambewarra Mountain this week, with teams also preparing to start work on the last remaining landslip site on Brown Mountain. The Australian and NSW Governments are funding these repairs through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA). 

Since severe weather impacted the area in 2022, 37 landslip sites have been repaired on Moss Vale Road between Cambewarra Village and Fitzroy Falls, with 13 sites still to go. 

Transport for NSW has engaged specialist contractors to carry out slope stabilisation work beginning Sunday 6 July at two sites on the southern side of Cambewarra Mountain on Moss Vale Road. 

The Cambewarra Mountain work will involve four weeks of repairs at a site one kilometre north of Barfield Road.  Workers then move slightly south in early August to the second site, around 750 metres north of Barfield Road.  

On Brown Mountain, a series of natural disasters in 2022 and 2023 caused landslip damage at nine separate sites.

Work on the final site, located about 2.7 kilometres west of the Brown Mountain Power Station, will start in the coming months. Work is to be carried out in two stages. Transport will keep the community informed ahead of work starting.

The work on both mountains will involve clearing debris and vegetation, drilling long steel rods (known as soil nails) into the slope, applying heavy-duty mesh or spraying concrete (known as shotcrete) and improving drainage. 

Federal Minister for Regional Development Kristy McBain said:

“With $2.8 million in joint funding from the Australian and NSW Governments, we’re making sure these essential landslip repairs on Cambewarra Mountain and Brown Mountain can get underway and keep communities connected and safe.

“This builds on the $1.7 million worth of works on Brown Mountain that are almost finished, and follows a huge effort last year to get Moss Vale Road fully reopened for the first time since those severe weather events hit back in early 2022.”

NSW Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said:

“When repairs at these latest two sites are complete, it will bring the total to 39 of 50 landslip sites repaired across Moss Vale Road between Cambewarra Village and Fitzroy Falls since the 2022 storm events. We will continue to update the community on repairs for the remaining sites.  

“I thank the crews who have undertaken this specialist repair work with great efficiency in a short time. I also thank motorists for their patience while this essential work has been completed.”

NSW Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin said:

“This is a great example of what can happen when governments work together. Recovery is hard work and takes time, but we are getting on with this vital repair work and making repairs to roads an absolute priority.

“One of the best things we can do in recovery is to make sure that communities have the essential public infrastructure that they need, and we’re making good progress here.”

Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips said:

“This repair work at Cambewarra is very welcome. Keeping the network in good shape has been challenging due to the weather and I am delighted to see action being taken quickly to undertake important repairs.”

State Member for Bega Michael Holland said: 

“It’s encouraging to see we are nearing the final stage of landslip repairs on Brown Mountain following the significant weather events of 2022 and 2023.

We understand these works have been disruptive, and I thank the community—especially local motorists—for their continued patience as we prioritise safety and long-term resilience in our transport network.”