Senator Linda Reynolds reportedly tells colleagues she will ‘lose her house’ in Brittany Higgins case

Linda Reynolds has reportedly told colleagues she will “lose her house” as she fights a gruelling defamation case against former staffer Brittany Higgins.

Linda Reynolds has told Coalition colleagues she will “lose her house” regardless of the outcome of her defamation case against former staffer Brittany Higgins, Sky has reported, citing an anonymous MP.

The West Australian senator reportedly made the claim in a party room meeting earlier on Tuesday, saying she had to continue the fight for herself and her family.

She did “not want to hurt the Coalition’s election prospects” but she felt “the Labor Party are dogs” and had destroyed her career and that she needed to defend her reputation, Sky reported.

Senator Reynolds’ claim came as former prime minister Scott Morrison was set to give evidence in the Higgins case.

COALITION DEFIANT IN VISA STOUSH

The Opposition has called on the government to refuse visas to anyone who has shown any support for Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Patterson said there was “no more sacred duty” for government than “keeping Australians safe”, criticising the Albanese government for being lax on vetting Palestinians with “rhetorical” support for Hamas.

“If you think violence is an appropriate means to achieve your political objectives, then you’re a supporter of a terrorist organisation,” he said.

Mr Patterson said there was a difference between someone who supports the “respectable cause” of Palestinian self determination and someone who supports Hamas.

Mr Patterson’s remarks followed comments over the weekend by ASIO chief Mike Burgess, who said “rhetorical support” for Hamas was not necessarily a problem if someone does not hold “support for a violent extremism ideology.”

Mr Patterson said it was not the ASIO boss’s job to “set immigration policy”.

KEATING STRIKES BACK AT TAIWAN CRITICISM

Paul Keating has accused former US speaker Nancy Pelosi of “very nearly” bringing the US and China into “military confrontation” after the she criticised the ex-prime minister for calling Taiwan “Chinese real estate”.

Ms Pelosi, a staunch supporter of Taiwan’s self-determination, told the ABC’s 7.30 program that Mr Keating’s remarks were “ridiculous” and “stupid”.

“It is not Chinese real estate, and he should know that Taiwan is Taiwan, and it’s the people of Taiwan who have a democracy there,” she said.

“I don’t know what his connection is to China that he would say such a thing, but it is really not in the in the security interest of the Asia Pacific region for people to talk that way.

“It may be something he believes, but I think he’s wrong.”

Mr Keating, whose support for Beijing has caused him a lot of heat over the years, hit back at Ms Pelosi, calling her historic trip to Taiwan in 2022 a “recklessly indulgent visit”.

He said he represented “the national interests of Australia, not the national interests of the United States nor indeed the interests of Taiwan”.

Former prime minister Paul Keating has been slammed for calling Taiwan ‘Chinese real estate’. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

“I have remarked a number of times that so-called democratic choices by Taiwan are not central or interests vital to Australia any more than say the absence of democratic forms in countries like Cambodia or Laos are vital to Australia,” Mr Keating said.

GREENS SENATOR QUESTIONS META GLITCH

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has gone on a tear against Meta following a nationwide glitch on Monday that prevented people from sharing links from Australian news outlets.

While Meta said the issue, which affected individual users trying to share links on Instagram and Threads, was just an error, the Greens communications spokesperson wrote to the tech giant on Monday, demanding answers.

“Meta should be upfront with the Australian parliament about exactly what happened and why it happened, and what they are going to do in the future to stop this from happening,” she said.

“I fear that this was more than just a technical glitch, that this was a test of if they can stop the sharing of news sites across their platforms. They’ve threatened to do that, and then yesterday, it happened.”

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young demanded extra accountability and transparency from the social media giant. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

She said Meta needed to answer whether the company was just currently not up-to-date with their systems, or come clean on whether they’re “trying to blackmail the Australian parliament and the Australian people”.

“The amount of money these big tech giants suck out of Australian economy and give nothing back is extraordinary. It’s time we tax them properly and fairly, it’s time we held them to account.

“If you want to be part of a community and society, you have to abide by the laws.”

While news outlets were still able to share current affairs content, users who attempted to post links were given a “post failed to upload” prompt”.

The glitch was resolved by Monday afternoon.

The error comes as Meta bans news content in Canada, with concerns a similar exodus could happen on Facebook, Instagram and Threads in Australia.

This follows Meta’s announcement it would not renew agreements with Australian media companies, which forced the media giant to pay organisations for their content.

GREENS CALL FOR SANCTIONS ON ISRAEL

The Greens have attempted to move another motion calling for sanctions against Israel and members of the “extremist Netanyahu government”, sparking ire from Australia’s Jewish community and condemnation from both the government and opposition.

The motion, which Liberal and government parliamentarians were quick to slam, follows the defection of Labor senator Fatima Payman to the crossbench after she crossed the floor on a motion calling to recognise the state of Palestine.

Moving the motion, Greens senator Jordon Steele-John accused Labor of running “interference for Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right ministers”.

“Labor still refuses to do anything more than issuing the weakest of statements while shielding members of Netanyahu’s extremist government from consequence,” he said.

“It has been over 300 days since the State of Israel started its bombing campaign in Gaza, yet Labor has continued to refuse to apply sanctions to a single member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government. That needs to change.”

Labor senator Katy Gallagher accused the Greens of moving the motion “for their own gain”.

Greens senator Jordan Steele-John said the Albanese government was ‘shielding’ the Israeli government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

She said the government had already condemned the deaths of innocent civilians and remained steadfast in calling for a ceasefire.

“Let’s be clear about what this suspension from the Greens is all about, which is for Australia to cut diplomatic ties with Israel,” she said.

“They are trying to reproduce the conflict here for their own gain, as other members of this government have drawn to the public’s attention, despite all the warnings about the cost to our community from taking this approach.”

Liberal senator Claire Chandler also condemned the motion, calling it “yet another piece of … grandstanding by the Greens for their own political purposes”.

“Because what we have here today is the suspension to the motion that doesn’t mention Hamas,” Senator Chandler said.

“It doesn’t mention the Islamic Republic Iran and its terrorist network, and it doesn’t call for hostages to be released.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the Greens’ motion was “a typically low act from a low political party”.

He noted the motion came on a Jewish holy day mourning the destruction of Jewish temples in Jerusalem.

“Of course, the Greens will be oblivious to the fact that they have sided with Israel’s oppressors on such a day because their cultural sensitivities do not extend to Jewish people,” Mr Ryvchin said.

ASIO last week raised the terror threat level from possible to probable citing deteriorating social cohesion.

The intelligence agency said that while the conflict in Gaza did not prompt the decision, it was contributing to heating up political discourse in Australia.

‘BETRAYAL:’ BACKLASH OVER GAMBLING AD PLAN

The Albanese government has faced fresh backlash over its plans to tighten gambling advertising rules following comments by senior minister Bill Shorten.

Pressed on Q&A on Monday night, Mr Shorten said some of Australia’s free-to-air media needed ad revenue from gambling companies “just to stay afloat.”

“Some of you might say, ‘well, bugger them, just don’t worry, we don’t need free-to-air media’ … but free-to-air media is in diabolic trouble,” he said.

“That’s the discussion we’re not having.”

Social media was to blame for the “diabolic trouble” facing free-to-air media, Mr Shorten aid, calling out Facebook particularly for not paying Australian media.

Mr Shorten’s comments come amid reports the government is poised to propose caps on televised ads in its Bill despite calls from all sides of politics for an all-out ban.

Commenting on the government’s reported plan, ACT senator David Pocock slammed the balancing act as “a betrayal of Australians”.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says supporting the media should not come at the cost of ‘families that are being torn apart because of gambling’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who announced her party’s own Bill to push for a total ban on televised gambling ads, also criticised the government, saying she knew “media across the country is in trouble” and that there “is a struggle with the big social media giants”.

“But it shouldn’t be vulnerable children and those families that are being torn apart because of gambling that are forced to carry the cost,” she said.

Independent Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel said Mr Shorten had “got it wrong”.

“I love sport and I also value the media but our first responsibility is to protect people, especially our children, from an avalanche of gambling ads, not to protect the gambling and the media companies and the sporting codes,” she shared in a video on X.

Labor minister Bill Shorten told #qanda on the ABC that Australians will keep seeing gambling ads because the big media companies need the cash.

Sorry Bill, we are not having it. pic.twitter.com/zT7woXe1fT

— Zoe Daniel MP (she/her) (@zdaniel) August 12, 2024

She said ensuring the profitability of media companies and supporting journalism was a “separate conversation”, but gambling ads were causing “untold harm to our communities and creating a new generation of gamblers.

“No more excuses Bill, it’s time to show some courage and to stand up to these powerful interests and to do what Australians want and do what our communities want and that is to ban all gambling ads now,” she said.

‘ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE’ IN AUKUS

Australia should have “absolute confidence” in the AUKUS pact, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said, brushing off concerns about new off ramps for the US and UK.

Under a revised agreement tabled in parliament on Monday, Washington and London could withdraw from the deal with just one year’s notice if they deem it threatens the production of their own nuclear-powered submarines.

“We should have absolute confidence in the ability to deliver on this program, and we should never take a backwards step from that ambition,” Senator Birmingham said.

“We gotta be charging ahead with it, and we have to be looking at it in the same type of time frame as the depth of that alliance that has been before us.”

Originally published as Senator Linda Reynolds reportedly tells colleagues she will ‘lose her house’ in Brittany Higgins case