As it happened: US beef ban lifted after Trump demands; Morrison tells US Congress Australia ‘going to sleep’ on China threat; top court makes key climate ruling

Thank you for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end our coverage today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live coverage.

Here’s a look at today’s biggest stories:

• The government has lifted its ban on importing US beef in a move it claims is unrelated to pressure from the White House over tariffs. But the Trump administration is congratulating itself on securing a major trade breakthrough. Coalition MPs and farmers’ groups demanded to see what evidence the government used to overturn the ban importing the beef, saying biosecurity had to take precedence over trade negotiations with the US. National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke has backed calls for a scientific inquiry into the decision.
• New allegations of cross-border underworld criminal links to the CFMEU will be investigated under an expansion of the Queensland inquiry into the union, after new reporting in this masthead. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie confirmed terms of reference will be broadened to hear from alleged criminals, union officials, developers and others in an announcement this morning.
• Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy has criticised One Nation parliamentarians for turning their backs during a Welcome to Country ceremony in the Senate this week. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson responded by saying the non-Indigenous Australians wanted equal acknowledgment, and she was being disenfranchised when told “this is not your land”.

• A historic international court ruling could open the door to Australia being sued by its Pacific neighbours over inaction on climate change. The International Court of Justice at The Hague in the Netherlands has stated countries have an obligation to prevent climate change harm and redress damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Nationals MP Michael McCormack says he has not spoken to the leader of his party since speaking out against the Coalition’s net zero goal and appearing to undermine his superior.

McCormack lent his support to a private member’s bill by fellow MP and former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce that seeks to scrap net zero commitments. Joyce is an internal rival of Nationals leader David Littleproud.

Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack last year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Asked about his leader’s reaction to this on Sky News, McCormack said: “I’ve not spoken to David.

“I’ve been busy enough. I’ve been busy talking to locals, hearing their concerns, looking them in the eye and seeing their anguish and concern.

“Being in Parliament House, it does restrict you because there’s a lot of things to do … but no, I’ve not spoken to David.”

McCormack said on Wednesday he was not undermining Littleproud’s leadership. Littleproud has said getting to net zero by 2050 is impossible.

A passenger plane carrying about 50 people has crashed in Russia’s far east and initial information suggests there are no survivors, Russia emergency services say.

The burning fuselage of the Antonov An-24 plane, which was from the Soviet era and was nearly 50 years old, was spotted on the ground by a helicopter prompting rescue crews to rush to the scene.

Unverified video, shot from a helicopter and posted on social media, appeared to show that the plane had come down in a densely forested area.

The plane was operated by Siberia-based airline Angara. It was en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk to Tynda. It dropped off radar screens while approaching Tynda, a remote town in the Amur region bordering China.

There were 43 passengers, including five children, and six crew members on board, according to preliminary data, regional governor Vasily Orlov said.

The emergencies ministry put the number of people on board somewhat lower, at about 40.

Debris from the plane was found on a hill about 15 kilometres from Tynda, the Interfax news agency quoted emergency service officials as saying.

“During the search operation, an Mi-8 helicopter belonging to Rossaviatsiya discovered the fuselage of the aircraft, which was on fire,” emergency services official Yuliya Petina wrote on Telegram.

“Rescuers continue to make their way to the scene of the accident.”

Authorities have announced an investigation into the crash.

Reuters

The government is open to placing more sanctions on Israel, Minister for Small Business Anne Aly has said.

Asked if Labor would go further than its current sanctions – which apply to two far-right Israeli ministers – Aly said the party’s position was clear.

“We are not averse to sanctions, we are not averse to doing more, we’ve said that,” she told the ABC.

Labor minister Anne Aly. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Liberal Party is continuing to associate with a failed candidate who is “manifestly unsuitable for public office” and has integrity issues, Labor MP Julian Hill said.

Liberal candidate for Bruce Zahid Safi, who was defeated comfortably by Hill, was embroiled in scandal throughout his campaign, including having his NDIS business referred to the industry watchdog for investigation.

Labor MP Julian Hill Credit: Eamon Gallagher

“After all of this, you would think that a functional political party would have dumped a candidate like Mr Safi,” Hill said in a speech to parliament last night. “But nope. They didn’t just tolerate him, as the scandals kept unfolding they were falling over each other to embrace him.”

On the ABC this afternoon, Hill said that Safi was still appearing in the social media of senior opposition figures.

“This is the modern Liberal Party,” Hill said.

Several Australian women allegedly forced to submit to invasive strip searches at Doha’s Hamad airport have been given the go-ahead to sue Qatar Airways.

The five women, who cannot be legally named, were among hundreds of women alleged to have been forcibly removed from aircraft by armed guards at Doha on October 2, 2020, as officials searched for the mother of a newborn found in a bathroom at the terminal.

Many of the women allege they were forced to have non-consensual intimate physical examinations.

Many allege they were forced to have non-consensual gynaecological or intimate physical examinations.

One passenger was forced to undergo a strip search while holding her five-month-old son, the lawsuit claims.

Another, who is elderly and legally blind, was directed out of the aircraft but was not subject to a search.

The women, three of whom were allegedly subjected to invasive searches, launched legal action against Qatar Airways, the airport operator and the government-owned Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

After an initial ruling had barred them from pursuing the airline and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Court ruled on Thursday that the suit against Qatar Airways and the airport operator could continue.

The women’s lawyer, Damian Sturzaker, said his clients were relieved with ruling after “a very long and stressful struggle to bring this to court”.

“Unfortunately, the case against the state of Qatar was unsuccessful. However, this has always been an issue against the airline,” he said outside court.

AAP

Greens leader Larissa Waters has raised concerns over Australia’s beef market being flooded with meat of an inferior biosecurity standard, after the government announced the ban on US beef would be lifted.

“The Greens are concerned about the biosecurity implications of our local market being flooded with cheap imported beef of less rigorous biosecurity standards than homegrown beef,” Waters told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Greens leader Larissa Waters. Credit: Penny Stephens

“If folk are going to be buying beef, we recommend they should buy Australian,” she said.

Waters said she hoped the decision had not been made by the government in the hope of getting a carve out on US tariffs.

“It is very convenient timing that we have caved in on this right when we are trying to avoid a different kind of beef with Donald Trump. I hope that this decision process hasn’t been influenced by our desire to kiss Donald Trump’s ...” Waters said, trailing off at the end.

Australia’s largest private hospital operator has said it will close 17 of its 20 psychology clinics, further limiting access to mental health services across the country.

Ramsay Health Care said the clinics would be closed by the end of August to create a “more flexible and sustainable model” of mental health care.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Mark Butler said patients would still have access to the psychology services they needed.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Ramsay, the country’s largest single provider of psychology services, said there would be no change to inpatient mental health services at its facilities.

“We are working closely with our psychologists to ensure every client is supported and has continuity of care,” the company said in a statement.

A spokesperson for federal Health Minister Mark Butler said Ramsay’s intention was to transition to virtual clinics, “not to cease outpatient psychology services altogether”.

“Importantly, it is our understanding that patients will still have access to the psychology services they need through virtual care,” the spokesperson said.

Five clinics in metropolitan NSW would close, along with four in Melbourne, six in Queensland and two in Western Australia, the ABC reported.

Clinics in Cairns, Charlestown in NSW and Joondalup in WA will remain open.

With AAP

New reports on the health of Australia’s largest river system are a wake-up call despite plans to return environmental water showing positive signs, an expert has said.

The Murray Darling Basin Plan has recovered 2135 gigalitres of annual water entitlements to the environment, but declining native fish populations, water-quality issues and dry flood plains persist, Basin Authority assessments show.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt hailed the plan for encouraging native fish and waterbird breeding, and flushing more than 4 million tonnes of salt from the Murray River, but said more needed to be done.

“The hard work of communities, farmers and governments to restore water use in the basin to a sustainable level is paying off,” Mr Watt said.

Australian National University professor Jamie Pittock said the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s assessments amounted to state and federal governments marking their own homework.

“These reports should be a wake-up call for the federal government,” Pittock said.

“Murray Watt has a great opportunity to look at this with fresh eyes and to assess whether the available funding matches the ambition.”

AAP

Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy has criticised One Nation parliamentarians for turning their backs during a Welcome to Country ceremony in the Senate this week.

“This week … we’ve seen deliberate acts of disrespect in the Senate from One Nations senators,” she said.

Malarndirri McCarthy speaks to a dancer at a smoking ceremony this week in Canberra. Credit: Getty Images

McCarthy said the senators were not required to attend the ceremony, and had not done it in the past, but attended “purely to make an incredibly childish stunt and an incredibly hurtful one”.

“Whether it is for attention, for clickbaits, whether it is to cause offence, whether it is to stoke division, these senators have made a deliberate decision to disrespect First Nations Australians.”

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson responded by saying the non-Indigenous Australians wanted equal acknowledgment and she was being disenfranchised when told “this is not your land”.

Greens leader Larissa Waters said it was “a bit rich” to be lectured on division by Hanson.