As it happened: Labor caves to Coalition’s mandatory sentencing call; Dutton says Trump wants to bring peace to the Middle East

Thank you for reading national news live. This is where we’ll leave our coverage for today.

Here’s a look back at some of the stories we covered:

• The AFP chief has avoided questions about whether he briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on an apparent antisemitic plot in Sydney involving a caravan packed with explosives. Anger has erupted in the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement after Labor MP Helen Polley, who chairs the committee, shut it down after an hour. Greens Senator David Shoebridge requested a 15-minute extension to the scheduled hour of questioning so committee members could grill Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw about the briefing. Kershaw earlier declined to answer questions about the matter.

• Defence Minister Richard Marles says the Australian government expects a thorough investigation into the death of Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, who died after consuming alcohol in Laos last year, but local police are yet to take up an offer for the Australian Federal Police to be involved.

• January 2025 was the warmest January on record, with global temperatures averaging 1.75 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The European Union’s Earth observation program, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said this marked the 18th month in the past 19 months when global temperatures exceeded the 1.5 degrees threshold.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced $8 million in funding for flood-impacted regions. Speaking from Townsville after touring through the flood-impacted regions in Queensland, Albanese said the federal government would continue to provide support, providing up to $1 million from the local government associations, eight of which are impacted by this flooding event.

• A Melbourne man will face court in March after allegedly waving a banned Hezbollah flag during a protest in the CBD. The 34-year-old waved the flag during the protest on September 29, Australian Federal Police said. The federal law under which the man was charged was introduced in January 2024 and carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail.

• Labor faced blowback from some MPs, including teal Monique Ryan, for its backflip to create mandatory sentencing for terror offences. Last night, Labor caved to weeks of Coalition demands to force automatic jail time on terrorists and people displaying Nazi symbols, avoiding a political fight but defying the party’s own policy platform in a major backdown. Ryan said she doesn’t agree with mandatory sentencing and it “impedes the independence of our judicial system”.

• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has praised Donald Trump as “a big thinker” who wants peace after the US president shocked the world by proposing an American takeover of the Gaza Strip. Trump suggested on Wednesday the United States could assume control of Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, with the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants moved to nearby Arab states. Both neighbouring nations and Palestinians have rejected the idea. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the idea.

Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt will step down at the end of this year’s Rugby Championship, ending months of speculation over his future.

His last game in charge of the Wallabies will be October 4 against New Zealand in Perth. Sources with knowledge of the situation not authorised to speak publicly say Schmidt is keen to stay on in an advisory role if his successor agrees.

Joe Schmidt in Sydney for a Wallabies camp in January.Credit: Rugby Australia

Schmidt signed on last January to coach the Wallabies only until the end of the British and Irish Lions tour this year, but after rebuilding the side’s confidence and a successful November tour to Europe, Rugby Australia had hoped to persuade the New Zealander to extend his stay until the 2027 World Cup.

Schmidt had originally committed to deciding on his future by the end of December, but negotiations on the role dragged on until this week.

The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Thursday after a broad market rally, led by retailers, banks and real estate stocks, following gains on Wall Street as US President Donald Trump’s proposed Gaza takeover detracted from concerns around his tariff diplomacy.

The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Thursday after a broad market rally, led by retailers, banks and real estate stocks.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

The S&P/ASX200 gained 103.8 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 8520.7 points. All 11 industry sectors advanced bar energy, which declined along with a slump in oil prices as Trump turned his attention to the Middle East. Banks soared 2 per cent as CBA, the biggest stock on the local bourse, jumped to a record high. The market gains extended the local bourse’s 0.5 per cent rise on Wednesday.

The Australian dollar retreated and traded at US62.68¢ at 4.18pm AEDT.

Read our full market wrap here.

Hundreds of ABC staff have demanded the broadcaster disavow its legal position that Antoinette Lattouf had failed to prove that the Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern races exist and launch an inquiry into the independence of the public broadcaster.

While Lattouf has alleged in her ongoing unlawful termination case against the ABC that her political stance and race had played a role in the public broadcaster terminating her contract, the ABC has argued in federal court that the existence of a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern “race” must be proven as fact.

Antoinette Lattouf arriving at the Federal Court today. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Staff are outraged over the ABC’s position, this masthead was told, and on Thursday, about 250 union staff passed a resolution demanding explicit acceptance from the ABC that it will not require proof it is possible to be racist to a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern person, as well as offering an apology for making this argument in court.

“Whether there is a Lebanese, Arab, or Middle Eastern ‘race’ is a complex, multi-faceted question of fact. The facts must be proved,” the ABC’s application, published by the Federal Court, states.

Read the full story here.

Teal MP Monique Ryan has said politicians shouldn’t create mandatory sentences as it leads to poorer outcomes for the justice system.

Last night, Labor caved to weeks of Coalition demands to force automatic jail time on terrorists and people displaying Nazi symbols, avoiding a political fight but defying the party’s own policy platform in a major backdown.

Teal MP Monique Ryan in parliament this week.Credit: James Brickwood

But Ryan was among those who didn’t support the bill and told the ABC that sentencing decisions should be made by “judges, not politicians”.

“And across the board, I do not agree with mandatory sentencing,” said Ryan.

“Although I was very happy to support the hate crimes legislation ... [and] the country is better for having passed it in the last couple of days, I was really disappointed that the government back-flipped essentially at the last minute on mandatory sentencing.

“I think we need to treat these crimes very seriously ... but mandatory sentencing impedes the independence of our judicial system.”

Anger has erupted in the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement after Labor MP Helen Polley, who chairs the committee, shut it down after an hour.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge requested a 15-minute extension to the scheduled hour of questioning so committee members could grill Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw about whether he briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on an apparent antisemitic plot in Sydney involving a caravan packed with explosives.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw (second from right) and other senior AFP members gave no answers on caravan briefings with the prime minister. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Shoebridge said “millions of Australians” were interested in finding out details about the prime minister’s knowledge of the plot as he accused Labor of using its numbers on the committee to shut down scrutiny.

Kershaw earlier declined to answer questions about the matter, saying: “I would say that that question relates to an ongoing joint counterterrorism team investigation and, according to the briefings I’ve received, that’s not the subject or purpose of today’s hearing.”

Liberal National MP Llew O’Brien backed Shoebridge’s bid to extend the hearing, but the AFP officers were allowed to leave after an hour without providing any detail on the caravan plot.

Fowler MP Dai Le has pushed back on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s request for an inquiry into the communications surrounding the caravan filled with explosives found in Sydney.

This morning, Dutton said he had written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking for an independent inquiry into the communications between security agencies, police and the government on the caravan.

But Le, the independent MP for Fowler, told the ABC she hoped the prime minister was briefed on the incident, but an inquiry was unnecessary.

Independent MP Dai Le in 2022. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I think that the Prime Minister has to ...be upfront with the public in terms of what he knew, when he knew it,” said Le

Labor Senator for South Australia Marielle Smith added that the issue was being politicised.

“What I want to see from our leaders, is leaders who respect our intelligence agencies and our law enforcement agencies and let them do their jobs,” said Smith.

“That’s the most critical thing here.”

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has declined to answer politicians’ questions about whether he briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in Sydney before news of the apparent antisemitic plot broke in the media.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw facing questions from the parliamentary committee this morning. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I would say that that question relates to an ongoing joint counterterrorism team investigation and, according to the briefings I’ve received, that’s not the subject or purpose of today’s hearing,” Kershaw said in response to a direct question from Liberal National MP Llew O’Brien.

“And also, I am conscious that this is a public hearing and it’s not an appropriate forum for us to provide information relating to an ongoing investigation.”

Greens Senator David Shoebridge backed O’Brien’s search for an answer, saying it would not prejudice an investigation for Kershaw to reveal when the Prime Minister was told about the plot.

Labor MP Helen Polley sought to prevent the line of questioning, urging her fellow committee members to focus on the stated topic of the hearing: the contents of the AFP’s most recent annual report.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza after the US president’s proposal drew international criticism.

Trump’s suggestion this week that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced, while also proposing a US takeover of Gaza has been condemned by advocacy groups as ethnic cleansing.

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States together this week. Credit: AP

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu did not explicitly talk about Trump’s idea of the US taking over the Gaza Strip but backed the idea of “allowing Gazans who want to leave, to leave”.

“I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” he said.

Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump suggested sending US troops to fight Hamas in Gaza or that Washington would finance rebuilding efforts.

“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard,” he added. “It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”

Reuters

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement’s hearing into the Australian Federal Police’s annual report is getting under way now in Canberra.

There is an unusually high level of interest in the inquiry because it will allow MPs and senators to grill AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw on the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in Sydney and to probe whether Kershaw told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the apparent antisemitic plot before details leaked to the media.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for an independent inquiry, led by an esteemed law enforcement figure, into the matter as he seeks to keep up pressure on the government over its response to the surge of antisemitic attacks.