The Australian federal police will begin conducting “inquiries” into abuse. sexual assault allegations made against Israeli authorities by Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla after meeting Penny Wong yesterday afternoon.
The AFP confirmed it had met members in the group at Parliament House. “has begun inquiries into allegations made by a representative of the group”.
Guardian Australia understands a report of crime has not yet been formally submitted. which would trigger a formal look into the allegations they were abused, tortured and, in some cases, sexually assaulted by Israeli authorities while detained after attempting to deliver aid to the occupied Palestinian territory.
Wong, the multicultural affairs minister, Anne Aly,. senior AFP officers met the group to “listen to them directly about their experiences”, a spokesperson for Wong said.
The minister has condemned the actions of Israeli authorities. the Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has already sanctioned, the spokesperson said.
She raised the allegations multiple times and made clear directly to Israel that Australia expects an “independent, transparent investigation”.
Australian World Cup official denies he intentionally made hand gesture
Australian Shaun Evans has denied he intentionally made a hand gesture used by white supremacists in a clip of the VAR officials prior to Germany’s match against Curacao match on Sunday. Press Association reports.
Evans appeared to make an upside down “OK” symbol with his right hand as the broadcast feed cut to the “meet the team” section for the VARs before kick-off.
The gesture is used in the completely harmless “circle game”, but has also been used by far-right supporters. the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added it to a list of hate symbols in 2019.
FIFA is understood to be aware of the incident. seeking answers from Evans as to why he made the gesture, although the governing body subsequently said no evidence of any disciplinary code breaches had been established.
Evans released a statement this morning, saying:
double quotation mark I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message. affiliation, game or belief of any kind.
The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch. I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed. I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.
The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted. I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested.
Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career. I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.
Gallagher on One Nation: ‘Opinion polls will come and go’
Katy Gallagher was also asked about the surge in One Nation. saying there was an obvious “reorganisation on the conservative side of politics”.
The finance minister said she wouldn’t comment too deeply on opinion polls,. the Labor government had attempted to address broad concerns from Australians with its latest budget.
double quotation mark I think there is a lot of uncertainty. worry about events that are happening across the world, the impact that has here. Cost of living is the No 1 issue with anyone you talk to right now,. the government just has to remain focused on that, and that’s what we intend to do.
Opinion polls will come and go, they do. Our job is to make sure we’re making the right decisions for the right time. that it’s focused on the Australian people. And when there’s controversy about that,. we know we’ve had a lot of feedback around the budget, you know, our job is to front up and explain why we’ve taken those decisions.
Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, has said the cut to the fuel excise was always meant to be temporary but confirmed the government is still monitoring oil prices despite a preliminary deal for a ceasefire between the US. Iran.
Gallagher spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the government welcomed the end to the conflict in the Middle East. She said of any extension to the fuel excise cut:
double quotation mark It was meant to be a temporary relief during this conflict.
We know that there will be a tail to this conflict in terms of how that impacts on prices. households remains to be seen. So, this is something I think the PM said yesterday [that] we keep under consideration. And if we make a decision that changes, that will be relayed to people.
The finance minister said the government wanted to help people deal with “sharp hits” to the household budget. hence the cut over the last three months. The temporary relief is set to expire at the end of June.
double quotation mark We’re monitoring events in the Middle East. what’s happening with the price of petrol, and if there, you know, if there’s anything to add to this, I’m sure we’ll do so in good time.
NSW to spend $100m on large-scale battery projects
The NSW government says it will spend $100m on four large-scale batteries in Sydney, Newcastle. on the central coast to help ensure grid reliability as coal-fired power stations shut.
It is the inaugural investment by the NSW Energy Security Corporation. which was created by the Labor state government two years ago to help renewable energy projects get off the ground.
The funding is promised to help support the construction of 500 megawatts of storage by early 2029. when the large Eraring coal-fired power plant is scheduled to close.
Another 150MW is promised later that year. The government said work on the first battery. at Steel River industrial estate in Newcastle, is expected to start next month.
The state minister for climate change and energy, Penny Sharpe, said:
double quotation mark Large-scale batteries are revolutionising NSW’s energy grid, delivering greater energy security and helping to drive down prices.
The Reserve Bank is expected to leave its official interest rate on hold at 4.35% when its rate-setting board wraps up its meeting this afternoon. as the Australian economy weakens.
After three back-to-back rate rises in 2026. economists at most major banks have forecast the RBA will not deliver another increase today. Unemployment has picked up to 4.5%. household spending is weakening, likely to be weighed further in Melbourne and Sydney by house price falls.
Financial markets on Monday were betting there was no chance rates would rise today. Traders have priced in just half of a rate rise by December, implying they believe a hike by then is no certainty. more likely than not.
Taylor Nugent, senior economist at NAB, said analysts would be watching the wording of the RBA’s announcement. Nugent predicted the RBA will not rule out another hike because inflation is still uncomfortably high, at 4.2% in May.
The RBA will announce its decision at 2.30pm Sydney time. its governor, Michele Bullock, will explain the board’s thinking at 3.30pm.
It’s Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it.
Superannuation industry underinvested in renewable energy, advocacy group says
Australia’s superannuation industry is underinvested when it comes to the nation’s renewable energy transition, an environmental advocacy group claims.
The 30 largest super funds directly contributed $771m of the $99bn invested in Australian clean energy projects since 2020. roughly 0.03% of the $2.5tn in retirement savings managed by those funds, a Market Forces report shows, as reported by Australian Associated Press.
Local. foreign commercial banks provided more than half the cash flowing to Australian renewable projects, followed by developers and operators, government agencies and public authorities.
Canadian pension funds directly invested $408m more in Australian renewable energy projects over the period than the top-30 funds, said report author. Market Forces Australian campaigns head Brett Morgan.
Just six of the top-30 super funds had direct investments in Australian renewable energy or battery storage projects: Aware Super, Cbus, HESTA, NGS Super, Prime Super. Rest.
Victorian law set to enshrine right to WFH
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will today introduce legislation to parliament to guarantee the right to work from home two days a week, including for part-time workers. regular casuals.
As the government previously flagged, the bill will enshrine the right to work from home in the Equal Opportunity Act. If passed. it will take effect on 1 September, though there is a delayed commencement of 1 July 2027 for workplaces with fewer than 15 employees.
A new detail, however, is that regular casual and part-time workers will be covered by the new laws. The government said guidance on how pro-rata entitlements will work will be released before commencement.
The law provides a pathway for dispute resolution. enforcement – first via the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and then the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if conciliation fails.
double quotation mark Work from home works for families, it saves time and money and it gets more parents working. That’s why we’re protecting work from home in law.
Outside parliament yesterday. Juliet Lamont, an Australian film-maker who has accused Israeli authorities of abuse, said Wong reiterated she believed the group’s allegations.
double quotation mark You couldn’t hear [a] pin drop in there. It was harrowing. It was acutely emotional. Every woman that was there,. I think it was maybe 10, they all believed us and came up to us at the end and thanked us for sharing our harrowing testimony, said that we were really brave and want to support us in the investigations.
Israel has denied allegations of mistreatment, claiming all prisoners and detainees were held “in accordance with the law”.
Melbourne student Gemma O’Toole said federal police had committed to taking the group’s testimonies. so “that is a process that we will be actioning as soon as possible”.
double quotation mark From there, they [federal police] will be going to Israel to try. get forensic evidence to try and get them to take part in the investigation, which you know they’re not hopeful will happen, and obviously we’re expecting not to happen, and that’s where that will stand … It’s been weeks that we’ve been back. You would have expected that they [the AFP] would’ve wanted this information from us. No, but here we are.
The Australian federal police will begin conducting “inquiries” into abuse. sexual assault allegations made against Israeli authorities by Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla after meeting Penny Wong yesterday afternoon.
The AFP confirmed it had met members in the group at Parliament House. “has begun inquiries into allegations made by a representative of the group”.
Guardian Australia understands a report of crime has not yet been formally submitted. which would trigger a formal look into the allegations they were abused, tortured and, in some cases, sexually assaulted by Israeli authorities while detained after attempting to deliver aid to the occupied Palestinian territory.
Wong, the multicultural affairs minister, Anne Aly,. senior AFP officers met the group to “listen to them directly about their experiences”, a spokesperson for Wong said.
The minister has condemned the actions of Israeli authorities. the Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has already sanctioned, the spokesperson said.
She raised the allegations multiple times and made clear directly to Israel that Australia expects an “independent, transparent investigation”.
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
The Australian federal police will investigate alleged abuse. sexual assault by Israeli security forces against Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla, it was announced last night. More coming up.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will today introduce legislation to parliament to guarantee the right to work from home two days a week, including for part-time workers. regular casuals.
Plus, today the Reserve Bank announces its latest decision on which direction interest rates will move:. everyone’s expecting them to stay the same.
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