Australia news live: Albanese to meet Apple’s Tim Cook in US after social media reform; Burke defends immigration policy | Australia news
Labor ‘worked through all the policy issues’ on immigration, Burke says
Caitlin Cassidy
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has defended the time Labor has taken to release its immigration plan and laid blame with the Coalition, who he believed “might have more of an appetite for legislation”.
Burke appeared on ABC’s 7.30 program after releasing the plan was released on Thursday, and was asked “what took you so long” given he was meant to speak at the National Press Club six weeks ago.
He said the Labor party had spent time “working through all the policy issues”, and navigating the visa system was complex.
Every part of the economy is affected by immigration these days for Australia, and so … dealing with the challenges we’ve got with housing supply, which is not immigration’s fault, but immigration needs to be part of the answer, to do that in a way that has the softest landing for the economy is something you’ve got to get right.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, told 7.30 that the Coalition had “laid out what we needed as preconditions in order to be able to work with the government and they couldn’t meet the preconditions”.
The numbers are too high and what we’ve seen from the government today is no cut to the numbers … We are a great immigrant nation. Make no mistake about it. But immigration needs to be capped based on the housing supply, the infrastructure, the services we have, and that has not been the case in recent years.
Key events
The NSW opposition said the state Labor government’s new drug-driving laws would “[make] NSW roads less safe and [put] more lives at risk”, claiming the science on impairment from THC levels was not settled.
Mark Coure, shadow minister for roads, said the government had “pushed ahead with the legislation despite the absence of a scientifically agreed test for cannabis impairment and has refused to release any evidence underpinning its approach”.
He continued:
Drivers deserve laws that are fair, clear and based on science. Police deserve laws that are workable and properly drafted. Patients deserve clarity about how their prescribed medication may affect their legal position.
NSW Labor government legislation to allow drivers with a prescription for medicinal cannabis to drive with traces of the drug in their system has passed through parliament last night.
The legislation alters laws that saw drivers with traces of THC in their system immediately lose their licence for three months, instead allowing drivers who register under the new scheme to drive provided the THC in their blood is below a threshold of 50 ng/ml, they have a valid prescription, and undergo an online education program about cannabis and safe driving.
In a statement today, the government said roadside drug testing would continue and there would be no changes to the roadside drug testing process carried out by police.
Registered patients who exceeded the THC threshold would be issued with warnings for the first two instances, while a third in two years would result in penalties, including a $722 fine and a minimum three-month licence suspension.
Minister for Roads and Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said:
These reforms balance road safety with the need for a new system for patients who rely on this legally prescribed medication, without the fear of being treated like a criminal … From now on, eligible medicinal cannabis patients, who are not impaired, will have a clearer system, more opportunities for education, and a chance to adjust their behaviour before facing penalties.
Amanda Rishworth defends Labor’s cuts to migration
Federal employment minister Amanda Rishworth has said she “[doesn’t] accept the premise” of the argument that Labor’s proposed cuts to migration would threaten food security and affect the cost of living.
She told ABC News this morning that “there will still be access to backpackers”, saying that under the proposed scheme they would be required in their second and third year to work in regional areas, and that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) would still be running.
Rishworth said:
I’d encourage farmers to have a look at that [PALM] scheme, because there is opportunity. But more broadly, when it comes to migration, it is about taking a response that ensures that we have integrity in the system, that we have compliance in the system.
Ben Doherty
Asia Group chairman hopes for return of globally engaged America
Kurt Campbell, chairman of the Asia Group and formerly the national security coordinator for the Indo-Pacific in the Biden administration, told a US thinktank that US willingness to work with allies “occasionally is lost” but that he hoped for a return to a more globally engaged America.
The CSIS event marked five years since the announcement of the Aukus pact between the US, UK and Australia.
I believe that this enduring quality of American diplomacy will see a brighter day again.
I would simply say that the idea that we will enhance our security by withdrawing from allies and partners is deeply, profoundly misguided. And we have many historical examples of moments of American retrenchment. In almost every case that has led to degrees of global calamity. And so I’m all for opportunities to work constructively with allies and partners.
Campbell said while the US had partnerships with other nations that were strong and durable “they come, frankly, from a tradition of a degree of paternalism”.
On the part of the United States, we’ve got to clear out some of those hurdles that make cooperation with the United States that much more difficult. And it means approaching some of these partnerships with a much higher degree of humility.
Under Pillar One of the proposed Aukus agreement – a multi-decade deal slated to cost Australia $368bn to the mid-2050s – Australia will buy three “in-service” Virginia-class nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines from the US, beginning in 2032.
From the early 2040s, Australia expects to deploy a new, larger Aukus-class submarine. The new class will be designed in the UK, and the first boat built for the Royal Navy. Australia will then build Aukus submarines – except for their nuclear reactors – in South Australia.
But the proposed deal has faced consistent criticism over laggard shipbuilding rates in both the US and UK, and over Australia’s sovereign control of the boats: whether Australian submarines would be expected to join any potential US conflict in Australia’s region.
‘Sovereignty, prosperity and peace are not a given’: Penny Wong
Anthony Albanese will head to New York to lead Australia’s delegation at the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week, to promote Australia’s commitment to multilateralism and meet international partners.
The prime minister will also deliver Australia’s National Statement, which will share Australia’s values and priorities at the event, which is the largest annual gathering of world leaders.
The government named digital safety, climate change, security and peace among its priorities at the UN general assembly. In a statement, Albanese said:
Australia’s prosperity and security depend on a strong global system, where nations work together, agreed rules are respected, and co-operation delivers shared benefit
It’s expected several bilateral meetings with world leaders will also take place on the sidelines of the summit as Australia ramps up its bid for a seat on the UN’s Security Council.
Australia is bidding to become one of the 10 non-permanent members of the 15-seat council during 2029 and 2030. A vote for the spot isn’t due to take place until 2028, but lobbying efforts will intensify during the general assembly. Australia last held a seat on the Security Council in 2013 and 2014.
In a statement, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said “sovereignty, prosperity and peace are not a gift or a given.”
From building coalitions for the protection of aid workers and the rules countries like Australia rely on for our security and prosperity, to advocating for a better UN system fit for these uncertain times.
– With AAP
Albanese to meet Apple boss after social media reform
Anthony Albanese will today fly to the United States to visit the Apple headquarters in California just weeks after the government released sweeping reform that was designed to keep children safe online.
The prime minister will meet with Tim Cook, Apple’s executive chair of the board of directors, to discuss Apple’s new parental controls for children – which the government characterised as “in part inspired by Australia’s groundbreaking reform”.
The tech executive issued an open invitation to the prime minister to visit Apple’s California headquarters after a phone call between the pair in June.
It comes after Labor introduced its digital duty of care reform, including new laws that require platforms to protect children from online harms including content that glorifies eating disorders, misogyny, crime or stunts, and abuse or bullying. It’s also almost a year on from Australia’s world-first ban on under 16s from using social media.
In a statement, Albanese said he was “proud that Australia is setting the world standard for digital safety”.
Britain’s Aukus chief says adversaries’ hatred of deal shows its success
Ben Doherty
One of the markers of the success of the Aukus nuclear submarine deal is how much it is opposed by potential adversaries, Britain’s Aukus chief has told a Washington DC thinktank.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the UK prime minister’s special representative on Aukus, told an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies: “our adversaries hate Aukus”.
They really hate it. And in a sense, the way in which you can judge whether or not it is doing the things that you want it to do is how much people who don’t necessarily share our value systems and our objectives are objecting to it.
Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Greg Moriarty – secretary of the defence department when the Aukus deal was struck in 2021 – concurred, saying China had “made clear it’s very unhappy with Aukus”.
It believes that – or it’s said as much, I’m not sure if it believes it – that it’s destabilising the region. I think when you look at the way in which China is putting additional nuclear-powered submarines, additional nuclear armed submarines, it’s building its submarine capability and its nuclear missile capability at such a pace, these Australian boats are not destabilising the region. We are seeking to balance in the region and … the growth of PLA nuclear powered submarine capabilities is very profound.
Labor ‘worked through all the policy issues’ on immigration, Burke says
Caitlin Cassidy
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has defended the time Labor has taken to release its immigration plan and laid blame with the Coalition, who he believed “might have more of an appetite for legislation”.
Burke appeared on ABC’s 7.30 program after releasing the plan was released on Thursday, and was asked “what took you so long” given he was meant to speak at the National Press Club six weeks ago.
He said the Labor party had spent time “working through all the policy issues”, and navigating the visa system was complex.
Every part of the economy is affected by immigration these days for Australia, and so … dealing with the challenges we’ve got with housing supply, which is not immigration’s fault, but immigration needs to be part of the answer, to do that in a way that has the softest landing for the economy is something you’ve got to get right.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, told 7.30 that the Coalition had “laid out what we needed as preconditions in order to be able to work with the government and they couldn’t meet the preconditions”.
The numbers are too high and what we’ve seen from the government today is no cut to the numbers … We are a great immigrant nation. Make no mistake about it. But immigration needs to be capped based on the housing supply, the infrastructure, the services we have, and that has not been the case in recent years.
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Stephanie Convery with the main action.
The woman believed to be the mother of a newborn baby found dead in a bin in Sydney last month has been arrested. More coming up.
