Australia news live: PM condemns Iranian missile attack on Israel, as evacuation flights begin for Australians in Lebanon

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Minns backs move by NSW police to prevent two rallies from going ahead this weekend

The NSW premier Chris Minns says he supports the police’s decision to apply to the supreme court to prevent two rallies from going ahead on 6 and 7 October.

Speaking to reporters earlier this morning, he said:

I want to make it clear, we completely support police’s decision in relation to that application. The reasons are, it’s the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel. Obviously, community anger and concern on the streets is heightened as a result of that anniversary.

It’s also in the middle of the school holidays. The protests and march was scheduled to take place in the evening. It’s a long weekend in Sydney, and the police … [believed] that there was a high prospect of conflict on the streets of Sydney.

Special envoy on antisemitism responds to Iranian missile attack on Israel

Jillian Segal, the special envoy on combatting antisemitism, spoke with ABC RN earlier this morning following the Iranian missile attack on Israel overnight.

Segal said she is “very concerned about what we are seeing on our streets” in Australia, and pointed to the alleged display of Hezbollah flags at a rally last weekend:

I think that was truly shocking for the Jewish community, and should be shocking for the general community, because we must challenge terrorism.

Segal said that if the current legislation isn’t strong enough to address this, “then we need to revise them”. You can read more about this below:

Segal also said she plans to set up a meeting with the special envoy on combatting Islamophobia, Aftab Malik:

I think it’s very important that we work separately with our communities and with the general community, and we work together, because we’re all about reducing antisemitism, reducing hatred, and increasing social cohesion.

And we need to put our heads together and work with the community as a whole, and try and bring about that situation here where what happens in the Middle East does not undermine our social cohesion here in Australia, and I think that’s everyone’s wish.

Queensland premier promises publicly-owned 'people’s' energy provider

Queensland premier Steven Miles would create a publicly-owned “people’s” energy provider in a bid to drive down power prices if his government is re-elected later this month.

The promise comes on day two of the sunshine state’s election campaign with Miles in the north Queensland city of Mackay – a seat held by Labor for more than a century. Miles posted on social media:

The people’s provider will ensure households and businesses reap the benefits of that – not foreign shareholders. We know how important it is to make energy bills cheaper for Queenslanders.

It’s simple – people before profits.

Trudi Mitchell, the CEO of the UN Human Rights Council in Australia, says an estimated one million people have been displaced within Lebanon amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Mitchell described the situation as “terrible for innocent civilians”.

We’re hearing that people are sleeping on the ground and that, in Beirut, there’s thousands of people just looking for shelter right now.

Asked what message UNHCR has for the Australian government – in terms of its role with partner countries in pushing for de-escalation – she said:

Obviously we want a political solution to this situation. Without that, we need support from a humanitarian aid perspective, and we ask that of the government, and we welcome that from the government as well as the Australian general public.

The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to reports that NSW police have applied to the state’s supreme court to prevent two rallies from going ahead on 6 and 7 October.

In a post to social media, Faruqi wrote:

Peaceful protests against Israel’s genocide have been happening weekly for almost a year now. This is silencing dissent.

Albanese declines to call Middle East conflict a ‘war’

Anthony Albanese has declined to describe the rapidly shifting events in the Middle East as a “war”, choosing instead to call it “an escalation of the conflict”.

Asked on ABC Radio in Melbourne why he wouldn’t call it a war, Albanese repeated his description and said:

I don’t want to get into a definitional argument. What you have is a tragedy.

The prime minister said diplomacy “cannot succeed” in an escalating conflict but that must be the ultimate objective.

There does at some point need to be a diplomatic solution here.

On the reported plans for public gatherings over the weekend to mark one year since the 7 October Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Albanese said there should not be “anything that looks like a celebration” because it would cause disharmony and was inappropriate.

He confirmed he would attend a vigil in Melbourne and declined to say whether pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel gatherings, including vigils, should be cancelled, saying those decisions were a matter for police and they had his backing.

Albanese also confirmed that the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, would no longer be travelling to Israel to represent Australia at commemorative events over the weekend, citing the security situation.

‘It’s important we reflect the nation back to itself’

Host Patricia Karvelas asks the ABC’s managing director how lived experience should be incorporated in journalism?

David Anderson said there were “a few absolutes”, including the legislation the ABC operates within – stating that “impartiality and accuracy are absolutely paramount”.

When it comes to people’s personal and lived experience in storytelling, it’s important that we reflect the nation back to itself. It’s important that we – in who we are and what we do – that we [are] a good cross section of the population.

So what we intend to do is sort of better clarify when people can bring in their personal, lived experience that doesn’t impede their obligations with regard to impartiality.

Anderson said there are good examples of this over time, and there are “some not great examples of where this has attempted to happen, and we failed and failed around editorial standards.”

So this is why we accept that we can clarify this. We could do that better to provide better guidance for people. And I have to say, internally, the ABC people are asking for it.

ABC managing director says he reached out to Stan Grant ahead of racism review’s release

The managing director of the ABC, David Anderson, spoke with ABC RN this morning after the release of the independent racism review yesterday.

Asked if the review was triggered by the resignation of prominent First Nations journalist Stan Grant, Anderson said it was a “combination of things” but “that was certainly one of them”.

Anderson said he has reached out to Grant, and said:

I don’t want to focus on that too much. I think that I’ve got a great deal of respect for Stan. I simply told Stan, this was coming.

What I’m looking to do through media I’ve done yesterday and today is really focus on the report itself, on the findings of that report, the 120 people that gave their testimony to this, that described the racism that they have experienced … [and] concentrate on those recommendations.

Here’s a look at the national weather forecast across Australia’s capital cities today, thanks to the Bureau of Meteorology:

Albanese condemns Iranian missile attack on Israel

Anthony Albanese says that the Australian government condemns Iran’s missile attack on Israel. In a post to X, the prime minister wrote:

This is an extremely dangerous escalation – Australia and the global community have been clear in our calls for de-escalation. Further hostilities put civilians at risk.

We are monitoring the situation closely and encourage Australians in Israel to follow the advice of local authorities.

One in three Australians throwing unwanted clothes in rubbish, survey finds

Most Australians are confused about what to do with their unwanted clothes, leading about a third to throw their closet clutter in the rubbish, according to the first national survey of clothing use and disposal habits.

The RMIT-led survey of 3,080 Australians found 84% of people owned garments they hadn’t worn in the past year, including a third who hadn’t touched more than half of their wardrobe.

The survey’s lead author, Dr Alice Payne, said the results revealed consumers were confused about how to responsibly discard clothing.

Continue reading below:

Shadow foreign minister on Iranian attacks on Israel

The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, has issued the following statement on social media following the Iranian attacks on Israel overnight:

Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, including Hamas, Hezbollah [and] Houthis, has inflicted great suffering on many. We condemn Iran’s attacks on Israel via proxy [and] their direct strikes.

Australia must support Israel’s right to self defence, including the removal of such threats.

Government secures more seats for Australians to leave Lebanon on Thursday

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the government is working to help Australians who want to leave Lebanon, “including with partners such as Canada and the UK.”

She said a number of Australians were assisted onto commercial flights on Monday and overnight, and additional seats have been secured for flights on Thursday.

We are working to access more flights over coming days.

DFAT is contacting registered Australians with updates. Australians in Lebanon who wish to leave should ensure they are registered via DFAT’s crisis portal.

Sanctions slapped on three Russian cyber criminals

Three Russians from the cybercrime group Evil Corp have been slapped with fresh sanctions and travel bans by the federal government, AAP reports.

The senior officials from the group, which has carried out ransomware attacks across the United States and Europe, will be banned from entering Australia under the penalties.

The sanctions on Maksim Viktorovich Yakubets, Igor Olegovich Turashev and Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov will make it an offence for people to provide or deal with assets belonging to the Russians.

The Russian cyber criminal gang have been accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars around the world in hacking efforts.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, said the sanctions would help to deter other cyber attacks:

These sanctions are only possible because of the efforts of our domestic and international partner agencies who work tirelessly to disrupt cybercriminals and protect Australians from ransomware.

Watt: ‘We don’t think it’s acceptable for anyone to celebrate the October 7 terrorist attack’

Murray Watt was also asked about the move from NSW police to try to stop a pro-Palestine protest planned for 7 October, and whether he thinks this is appropriate.

The employment minister said protest permits are “always going to be a matter for state governments and state police”.

But what I can make clear is that we don’t think it’s acceptable for anyone to celebrate the October 7 terrorist attack, whether that be on seventh of October in a few days time or any other date. It was an appalling terrorist incident cost many lives… the worst loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust. I don’t think that’s a cause for anyone to celebrate.

Amal Naser, spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group, yesterday said protesters are intending to “defending our right to protest and are determined to continue standing for justice for Palestine and Lebanon.”