News live: Albanese says Australia hasn’t been ‘uncritical of Israel’; YouTube hits back over social media ban

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Diaz was joined by Barry Berih, the lead plaintiff in a class action against the government over the redevelopment. The supreme court dismissed the case in April but Berih’s lawyers at Inner Melbourne Community Legal are appealing the decision.

Asked by Greens MP Aiv Puglielli how the redevelopment had affected his family, who have lived in 33 Alfred Street for more than 25 years, he said:

Mentally … I don’t know when I will be going … It’s discrimination from the government … there’s no words to describe it.

Berih told the inquiry a few weeks ago he received a notice that pre-demolition works were to begin while residents were still living in the buildings:

I think [they are] trying to scare us, and mentally and physically. Trying to straight away, sign the papers and try to relocate straight away … trying to force us to leave straight away.

Representatives from Inner Melbourne Community legal have also appeared before the inquiry this morning, while community leaders and residents will be up after the lunch break.

Residents of the 44 high-rise public housing towers set to be demolished by the Victorian government allege they are being targeted due to their race, a parliamentary inquiry into the redevelopment has heard.

The legislative council’s legal and social issues committee is holding a public hearing at the Djerring Flemington Hub, which is just metres from the first three occupied towers slated for demolition: 12 Holland Street in Flemington and 33 Alfred Street and 120 Racecourse Road in North Melbourne. Two unoccupied red brick towers in Carlton are also part of the first stage of the redevelopment.

Among witnesses is Ilo Diaz from the Moonee Valley Legal Service who was asked by Greens MP, Anasina Gray-Barberio, whether there were “racial elements” to the redevelopment program. Here’s their exchange:

Gray-Barberio: In your statement, you quoted [a public housing tower resident] Jamila saying,” I feel like they don’t like us”. Do you interpret racialised aspects of this statement and racial elements in this project?

Diaz: “Broadly, yes, I think it’d be hard to not. When you’re in this community, and I’ve been working closely with this community for over 10 years … it’s hard not to make that link, whether it’s conscious or subconscious in terms of the government’s actions but this community has been under scrutiny from the state for since the racial discrimination case in 2006.

Diaz is referring to a case involving six young African men who lived in the towers that alleged between 2005 and 2009, Victoria officers breached the Racial Discrimination Act by stopping and searching them for no other reason than their ethnicity. Victoria police settled the case outside of court in 2013.

He also told the inquiry residents were under the impression they only have two offers for relocation “then they will be evicted”. Asked by Gray-Barberio who was telling them this, Diaz replied:

Where are they actually drawing these conclusions from, I’m unsure. In some cases, I think it’s coming from relocation officers themselves. This is from testimonies from residents to me, and I think in some other instances, it’s through emails from Homes Victoria.

eSafety commissioner: We don’t take action unless there’s an Australian experiencing ‘hurt and harm at a considerable level’

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said no bill is perfect and that technology moves far too quickly to cover all possible outcomes. But she said the body was acting to help protect those most vulnerable, telling the Press Club:

No bill is going to be created that doesn’t have flaws or doesn’t anticipate technology moving 20 times faster. Probably 20 million times faster than any legislation can.

I see what we’re doing as protecting Australian voices online because it is those who are most vulnerable that tend to be targeted online and we don’t take action unless there’s an Australian on the other end that’s experiencing hurt and harm at a considerable level.

She said the eSafety commissioner abided by transparency and accountability requirements, and decisions could be challenged in many avenues.

eSafety commissioner: Any platform that says they’re absolutely safe is ‘spinning words’

Inman Grant responded to YouTube’s criticism, reported earlier in the blog, after she urged the Albanese government to rethink its decision to carve out the platform from the new rules for those under 16. She said:

When the decision was made by the previous Albanese government they didn’t have the benefit of our insights, of our youth research, of the insights that we gained through our basic online safety expectations transparent reports, our regulatory insights and reports.

I think any platform that says they’re absolutely safe is absolutely spinning words.

Read more here:

eSafety commissioner says ban not meant to ‘cut off kids from their digital lifelines’

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has said the under-16s social media ban was not mean to inhibit kids’ abilities to “connect, communicate and explore online”. She told the Press Club:

Our implementation of this legislation is not designed to cut off kids from their digital lifelines or inhibit their ability to connect, communicate and explore. Far from it. There will be no penalties for those underage children who gain access to an age-restricted social media platform, or their parents or carers who may enable this early access.

The responsibility lies with the platforms themselves and there’s heavy penalties for companies who fail to take reasonable steps to prevent underage account holders on to their services.

Here are the NSW budget 2025 winners and losers

Property developers are the big winners in the New South Wales government’s 2025 budget, while injured workers’ insurance is in the spotlight as Labor fights to bring down spending.

The premier, Chris Minns, and the treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, have found room for a handful of big-spending items but are leaving much of the state’s cost-of-living support to expire.

Here are the winners and losers from Tuesday’s state budget:

YouTube unhappy after eSafety commissioner calls for it to be included in under-16s social media ban

YouTube is unhappy about the eSafety commissioner calling for the video platform to be included in the under-16s social media ban, claiming its service was about entertainment – not primarily for social interactions.

Rachel Lord, YouTube’s public policy and government relations manager, claimed: “eSafety’s advice ignores Australian families, teachers, broad community sentiment and the government’s own decision.”

As we reported earlier, Julie Inman Grant has recommended the government amend its draft rules to include YouTube – owned by Alphabet – in the ban, which the Albanese government had previously decided against. The commissioner is now speaking at the Press Club.

In a response, YouTube said it had been a leader in building age-appropriate products and responding to threats, and denied it had ever changed policies to negatively impact younger users.

YouTube said it had removed more than 192,000 videos for violating its hate and abuse policies in the first quarter of 2025 alone. According to YouTube, the service is about video distribution and watching content, not about social interactions. The platform has designed age-appropriate products specifically for young children, which do not allow comments.

Lord said the government should not change course.

“The Social Media Minimum Age Act was considered and agreed to by the Australian parliament under the understanding that YouTube would be exempt, and that young Australians would continue to have access to YouTube,” she said.

eSafety’s advice goes against the government’s own commitment, its own research on community sentiment, independent research and the view of key stakeholders in this debate, including the 36 Months campaign that spurred this legislation.

Today’s position from the eSafety commissioner represents inconsistent and contradictory advice, having previously flagged concerns the ban ‘may limit young people’s access to critical support’. We urge the government to follow through on the public commitment it made to ensure young Australians can continue to access enriching content on YouTube.

PM says Australia supported US strikes but hasn’t been ‘uncritical of Israel’

The prime minister said Australia supported the US strikes on Iran but said it remained concerned about Israel’s actions in Gaza. Albanese said:

We haven’t been uncritical of Israel. We, for example, continue to call for support for aid to go into Gaza.

Albanese says Australia wants to see ceasefire implemented

The prime minister is speaking to Sky News after the US president, Donald Trump, claimed there was a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran. Albanese said:

What we want to see is the ceasefire announced by President Trump implemented. We do want to see dialogue and diplomacy replace any escalation.

The prime minister rejected criticism that the government was slow to respond to the US strikes in Iran, saying he runs a “considered, orderly government”.

We were very clear for some period of time that Iran could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. We called for Iran to come to the table to ensure that the United States wouldn’t have to take the action that they did.

Virgin Australia returns to ASX

Virgin Australia returned to the ASX at midday, five years after it was rescued from administration by private equity giant Bain Capital.

The country’s second-largest airline collapsed early during the Covid pandemic and is marking its relisting with flight deals until Friday.

Bain paid $3.5bn for Virgin, and following the initial public offering, which raised $685m and reduced the firm’s stake in Virgin to 39.4%, from 70%.

Qatar Airways recently bought into Virgin and will keep a 23% share of the company’s stock.

The $2.90 per share IPO gives Virgin Australia a market value of $2.3bn at the time of listing.

Transport minister says travellers should ‘seek updates from their airlines’ in light of Middle East conflict

Catherine King says Australian travellers should seek advice from their airlines in light of events in the Middle East.

In a statement, the infrastructure and transport minister said:

The Australian government is engaging with Australian airlines and is monitoring the situation closely.

Qantas and Virgin have advised of flight changes on account of airspace closures.

She said the government advised Australian travellers “to seek updates from their airlines”.

Bob Katter says defence fleet should be moved north ‘unless we are going to be battling the penguins of Antarctica’

Bob Katter has brought penguins into geopolitics, saying that Australia’s defence fleet should be moved to Queensland and needs a hundred armed ships, at a “bare minimum”, to act as a deterrent to threats “in the north”.

The Kennedy MP said that he had last week spoken with the deputy PM, Richard Marles, to push for the new amphibious army fleet to be moved to Cairns, rather than be based in Australia’s south.

“Unless we are going to be battling the penguins of Antarctica, maybe we should cast our eyes north to where the threat is more likely,” Katter said.

He said Australia had a “minuscule” air force and that its navy had “no serious armaments”.

He added:

A hundred ships. That’s your bare minimum. A hundred vessels loaded with serious missile systems and effective delivery mechanisms.

That’s what we need: a missile shield at sea, backed by onshore mobile artillery and a real guerrilla army on land.

Aukus vital to ‘deter Chinese aggression’, US lawmakers say, as Trump urged to recommit to submarine deal

The Aukus pact is vital to “deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region”, Republican and Democrat lawmakers in the US have told the Pentagon, urging the US to recommit to the nuclear submarine deal with Australia and the UK.

The Trump administration announced this month it would undertake a 30-day review of the Aukus agreement – the deal struck in 2021 that would see US nuclear submarines sold to Australia and new-design nuclear-powered Aukus submarines built in the UK and Australia.

A letter addressed to the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, signed by five Republican and Democrat lawmakers, urged the Pentagon to back Aukus, despite growing concerns over laggard shipbuilding in both the US and UK. The letter reads in part:

This is a defense alliance that is overwhelmingly in the best interest of all three Aukus nations, as well as the entire Indo-Pacific region.

Read more here: