Cash accuses PM of ‘double standards’ over trip to UK Labour conference
Cash also reiterated criticisms from the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, that Albanese has spent too much time travelling internationally, including attending the UK Labour conference, saying that the prime minister criticised Scott Morrison for going to a US Republican party event.
You don’t get to have double standards, Mr Albanese. And double standards is what we are now seeing from this prime minister. You are there, in your own words when Scott Morrison was prime minister. You are there as head of the government, not as head of the Labor party, so why don’t you behave like the head of our country instead of turning this into a domestic political exercise.
Cash suggested that the previous Coalition government had a better relationship with the US government and would have been able to secure a more favourable deal on tariffs.
The Coalition senator also described a recent speech by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the United Nations as a “speech of great moral clarity”.
Cash did not respond to questions about whether the position of the Coalition was increasingly isolated as governments have recognised Palestine and put pressure on Israel to end its military operations.
Quoting Marco Rubio, Cash said the US was working directly to get a result for Israelis and Palestinians.
The substance I want to see is president Trump negotiating to get what we all want and that is an end to this war, a return of the hostages and a guarantee of Israel’s security going forward.
Key events
Graham Readfearn
Whale and calf freed after becoming trapped in Queensland shark net
Two humpback whales, a mother and her calf, that became entangled in a shark net off Queensland’s Rainbow Beach yesterday morning have been freed, the Queensland government has confirmed.
Members of the public reported to a hotline that the whales were stuck in the nets at 6am yesterday. A Department of Primary Industries (DPI) spokesperson said the whale calf was released at 11.45am and the mother was freed “shortly after 3pm”.
The DPI deputy director-general, Pauline Jacob, said two scuba divers had slowed the rescue as it began when they made the entanglement worse. She said:
Our teams are the trained experts, and we urge members of the public to please stay away from the nets.
Campaigners at Envoy Foundation, who say the shark nets should be removed during the whales’ east coast migration, said the latest incident was the eighth and ninth whale entanglement in as many days in Queensland.
Calls for change after Qantas refuses to fly British woman with mobility scooter due to its battery
Dr Jurai Darongkamas has travelled all over the world with her mobility scooter and says she never had a problem until she booked a flight with Qantas earlier this year.
The 60-year-old clinical psychologist, who lives in the UK city of Birmingham, flew to Sydney on Thai Airways without a problem but was not allowed to board her connecting Qantas flight to her holiday destination in New Zealand.
At the heart of Darongkamas’s dispute with Qantas is whether her scooter is a mobility aid, as she argues, or a personal electronic device, as the airline insisted during a six-month-long complaints process.
Qantas claims it aims to be the “airline of choice for customers with specific needs”, but Darongkamas says Qantas is the only carrier that hasn’t let her fly with her Topmate ES33 scooter and its 281Wh lithium battery.
She said the experience on the day “hammered home the fact that I am no longer as able as I was … and people can do what they like” and that the complaint process “just compounded the feeling of powerlessness”.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Catie McLeod:
A few snaps from Anthony Albanese’s UK trip to meet King Charles at Balmoral in Scotland.
Lions in dreamland as staggering second half delivers grand final glory to Brisbane
Grand finals shouldn’t end like this: a party masquerading as a football match for at least half an hour. This was supposed to be a tight contest with the AFL’s two best teams, slugging it out in an arm wrestle for the title of the modern era’s best club, a fitting struggle for the final Saturday in September.
But as the Lions kept coming in a staggering second half, there was not just one defining grand final moment. Rather, they came thick and fast, too quickly to fully appreciate. A hallucination of glory, an incomprehensible haze.
There was Will Aschroft with a minute left, holding the ball up with a hand on the right wing, like a conductor with a baton triggering the maroon mass to roar. There was Logan Morris, who ambled with the ball over the boundary line in the forward pocket, before he became absorbed by the Brisbane fans on the fence. They hugged him, patted his head, and didn’t let him go for several seconds. With the lead more than 50, he could have lingered longer.
For more on the grand final result, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Jack Snape:
Clive Palmer to take $13m dispute to Swiss court after Hague tribunal rejects case
Billionaire Clive Palmer will take his legal fight with the Australian government over a $13m bill to Switzerland.
Palmer previously tried to bring the case before The Hague-based permanent court of arbitration, but the tribunal rejected it, ruling it had no jurisdiction over disputes between a national government and its citizens.
Palmer announced the decision on Sunday via social media, saying he would appeal to Switzerland’s supreme court. The post, titled as a “media release”, said:
Mr Palmer said that he and his legal team would challenge the tribunal’s judgment, ensuring the matter is tested in a forum in which the lawful arguments of his case are properly heard.
He said the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland would be the next step in the journey to achieve justice in the matter, hopeful of the final arbiter taking an opposite view to that of the tribunal.
For more on this story, read the previous reporting here:
Australian defence force says ‘no place’ for extremists despite member’s link to neo-Nazi group
The Australian defence force says it has “no place” for rightwing extremists, despite one of its members remaining in the service for more than eight months after police found he had been involved in a gathering of the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group.
Separately, the 25-year-old Sydney man was charged in August with possessing alleged violent extremist and child abuse material on his mobile phones after being arrested in Holsworthy. He will face court again next month.
The Australian federal police (AFP) charged the man after it received intelligence that he attended an NSN gathering in Marsfield, in Sydney’s north, in late 2024.
Footage of the gathering, seen by Guardian Australia, shows about a dozen men clad in black exercise clothing in a public park. It is believed they had been conducting a “training” session.
“Further inquiries indicated the man may be in possession of the illicit material,” the AFP said in a statement.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Nino Bucci:
Man dies in plane crash on NSW south coast
A man has died after a plane used by a skydiving business crashed at Moruya on the southern New South Wales coast.
NSW police confirmed the death on Saturday after emergency services were called to bushland 2km north of Moruya airport.
The pilot, a 54-year-old man, was the only person on board and died at the scene. Police have secured the area and specialist officers will examine it.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has been informed. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Police and ATSB officials are expected to speak to the media at 1.45pm on Sunday.
We will keep you updated.
Cash accuses PM of ‘double standards’ over trip to UK Labour conference
Cash also reiterated criticisms from the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, that Albanese has spent too much time travelling internationally, including attending the UK Labour conference, saying that the prime minister criticised Scott Morrison for going to a US Republican party event.
You don’t get to have double standards, Mr Albanese. And double standards is what we are now seeing from this prime minister. You are there, in your own words when Scott Morrison was prime minister. You are there as head of the government, not as head of the Labor party, so why don’t you behave like the head of our country instead of turning this into a domestic political exercise.
Cash suggested that the previous Coalition government had a better relationship with the US government and would have been able to secure a more favourable deal on tariffs.
The Coalition senator also described a recent speech by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the United Nations as a “speech of great moral clarity”.
Cash did not respond to questions about whether the position of the Coalition was increasingly isolated as governments have recognised Palestine and put pressure on Israel to end its military operations.
Quoting Marco Rubio, Cash said the US was working directly to get a result for Israelis and Palestinians.
The substance I want to see is president Trump negotiating to get what we all want and that is an end to this war, a return of the hostages and a guarantee of Israel’s security going forward.
‘Albanese has failed Australia’ over ‘little’ relationship with Trump, Michaelia Cash says
Senator Michaelia Cash has continued the Coalition’s attack on Anthony Albanese, accusing the prime minister of not doing enough to engage with the Trump administration and spending too much time this year on international diplomacy.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, Cash compared Albanese’s relationship with Trump to the US president’s one with the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, describing Australia’s current ties with Washington as “little”.
The relationship in Washington is not strong, and because it is not strong, Mr Albanese is not able to pick up the phone like other world leaders are able to do and speak directly to the US president about the impact of his announcements on Australia.
In response to the prime minister’s description of his conversations with the US president as “warm”, Cash said “he has achieved nothing”, saying that “the most he got out” of his interaction with Trump was a selfie.
Mr Albanese has failed Australia. He’s almost embarrassing us on the international stage.
Albanese closes door on republic referendum during his leadership
Krishani Dhanji
Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding another referendum while he’s still prime minister, putting to bed the prospect of a vote to make Australia a republic.
On the ABC’s Insiders program this morning, Albanese said he would hold only one referendum as leader.
I think I’ve made it clear that I wanted to hold one referendum while I was prime minister and we did that.
It’s a step up in language, with the PM having previously left the door open to another referendum in a future term, but without specifying a timeline.
On Friday, Albanese said:
I’ve said very clearly, I have no plans to have a referendum during this term.
Today, Albanese broadened that to the entirety of his leadership.
