As it happened: Police move to ban October 7 anniversary protests; PM condemns Iran after missiles launched on Israel

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both condemned Iran after it launched a salvo of missiles at Israel after the Israeli military killed the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed police efforts to seek a Supreme Court challenge to prevent pro-Palestine rallies from proceeding over the state’s long weekend, saying he believed there was a “high prospect of conflict” on Sydney’s streets around the anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
• Also in NSW, A twin-engine plane created history when it became the first to land on the 3.7-kilometre runway at Sydney’s new international airport.
• Victoria Police say they are unable to follow NSW’s actions to stop pro-Palestine rallies this weekend because there is no permit system to protest in Victoria. The state opposition has called on Victoria to consider implementing laws similar to NSW’s, where protests require permits that can be refused or withdrawn.
• In Queensland, a potential kingmaker has turned its back on the Labor government in a major blow to Premier Steven Miles before the state election on October 26.
• In business news, the corporate regulator has called on the board of ANZ to reflect on what changes the bank needed to make after it failed to overturn a Federal Court decision that it breached the law during a controversial $2.5 billion capital-raising almost a decade ago.
• In more world news, US Democratic nominee Tim Walz and Republican nominee J.D. Vance sparred on everything from immigration and the economy to abortion and the Middle East in a vice presidential debate.
• In sport news, the 2024 NRL Dally M awards kick off at 8pm, but the red carpet is underway. Follow all the action live here.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Cassandra Morgan, signing off.

The Australian sharemarket ran out of steam to close the day slightly lower, with energy stocks – boosted by a jump in oil overnight on the back of escalating violence in the Middle East – unable to keep the bourse in the green.

While the S&P/ASX 200 was in positive territory in afternoon trading, it eventually closed 10.7 points or 0.1 per cent lower to 8198.2, dragged down by tech (down 1.6 per cent) and consumer discretionary (down 1.7 per cent) stocks.

The top four-performing stocks were all energy players, with Karoon Energy at the top (up 7.5 per cent) followed by Strike Energy (up 7.1 per cent), Beach Energy (up 4.6 per cent) and Woodside Energy (up 3.1 per cent).

You can read our full five-minute recap of the trading day here.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham says it’s time for the Albanese government to “take action” and list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

Birmingham said Iran was the ringmaster of a “whole nest of vicious serpents who have continuously attacked Israel and sought to undermine peace and stability in the Middle East and right throughout the world”.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Iran – through the [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps – drives, funds, strategises with, and ultimately helps to empower Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels, and now we see it launching its own attacks,” Birmingham told ABC Afternoon Briefing.

The foreign affairs spokesman said the corps should “110 per cent” be declared a terrorist organisation under Australian law – a move the Coalition has been wanting for years.

“It is time for the Albanese government to take action and show leadership by listing the [IRCG as a terrorist organisation], as the US and others have done,” Birmingham said.

“It is also time for the world community to unite in recognising that Iran’s role is one as a chief destabiliser … [and it] is causing that suffering to so many.”

The IRGC is a much-feared branch of the Iranian Armed Forces tasked with defending the regime against internal and external threats.

There has been bi-partisan condemnation of Iran today after it launched a salvo of missiles at Israel after Israel killed the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman said authorities were doing everything they could to ensure Australians’ safe passage out of Lebanon.

However, on the availability of commercial flights in and out of Beirut, Gorman said, “we do not know what the next few days and beyond hold”.

“What we do know is what is in our control [is] just to continue to give the best possible advice to those Australian citizens who are continuing to be in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Consulate assistance line and the emergency response team,” Gorman told Afternoon Briefing.

A potential kingmaker has turned its back on the Labor government in a major blow to Premier Steven Miles before the Queensland election.

Katter’s Australian Party has for the first time thrown its support behind the opposition in a North Queensland region that looks set to influence the October 26 poll.

Steven Miles in Mackay on day two of the Queensland election campaign.Credit: Matt Dennien

State leader Robbie Katter on Wednesday confirmed KAP would preference the Liberal National Party in Townsville, a Labor seat held with a 3.1 per cent margin.

North Queensland looms as a make-or-break battleground for the Labor government, with regional areas among the hardest hit by the key election issues – youth crime, health, housing and cost-of-living pressures.

“We’ve never preferenced against Liberal or Labor anywhere in Queensland,” Katter said.

“But we’re going to do it this time because we feel [Labor] need to be sent a message somewhere in north Queensland.

“We’ve been crying out for help about seven or eight years now about the crime problem in North Queensland.”

KAP holds four of Queensland parliament’s 93 seats, with 51 held by Labor.

But it is aiming to claim six at the election and could hold the deciding vote from the crossbench on key issues in parliament.

Katter said the party would back the opposition in Townsville after accusing Labor of not addressing crime up north.

Pauline Hanson echoed his belief youth crime was the number one election issue, calling on One Nation supporters to preference Labor and the Greens last.

The premier was unperturbed by the lack of support from the minor parties.

“It doesn’t surprise us that the LNP, One Nation and KAP ganged up against us,” Miles told reporters in Mackay.

“We will just continue to outline our plans to address the cost of living and to build our state forward, to take our state forward, and we’ll be campaigning to win this in our own right.”

AAP

A twin-engine plane created history on Wednesday when it became the first to land on the 3.7-kilometre runway at Sydney’s new international airport.

Amid wet weather, the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche touched down at Western Sydney Airport about 1pm to conduct testing of about 3000 aeronautical ground lights on the runway and approach during multiple take-offs and landings.

A twin-engine plane becomes the first aircraft to land on Western Sydney Airport’s 3.7-kilometre runway.Credit: Western Sydney Airport

Western Sydney Airport chief executive Simon Hickey said the small plane’s landing signified that the airport was switching from a construction phase to testing and commissioning ahead of its opening in late 2026.

“I’m really confident that we’ll be opening in 2026. This is absolutely different from a construction site. The terminal is watertight; the roof is on,” he said.

“What we’re going to be doing from next year is moving that towards really stress-testing the airport to make sure we’re ready.”

The testing on Wednesday involved the plane making a series of take-offs and landings during daylight, dusk and night-time conditions.

Flight paths for the new curfew-free airport are expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

In business news, ANZ breached its continuous disclosure obligations during a controversial $2.5 billion equity capital-raising almost a decade ago, that was the subject of a criminal cartel case, the Federal Court ruled this morning as it struck out the bank’s appeal.

The bank failed to overturn last year’s Federal Court judgment that found ANZ should have told the market the three investment banks that underwrote its 2015 capital raise took up more than 25 million of ANZ’s unsold shares.

ANZ was found to have breached its continuous disclosure obligations during a controversial $2.5 billion equity capital raising almost a decade ago.Credit: Oscar Colman

ANZ had used Citi, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan to underwrite the placement.

In a judgment handed down this morning, Justices Brigitte Markovic, Michael Lee and Catherine Button dismissed ANZ’s appeal, and ordered the bank to pay the corporate regulator’s costs. The Federal Court last year handed down a $900,000 fine in December.

“Listed entities have an obligation to disclose immediately information concerning the listed entity that is not generally available and that a reasonable person would expect, if generally available, to have a material effect on the price or value of the entity’s securities [subject to certain expectations],” Lee wrote in his judgment.

You can read Sumeyya Ilanbey’s full story here.

Almost one in three Victorian public sector employees thinks corruption is a problem in their workplace.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s latest perceptions of corruption survey, released on Wednesday, makes for alarming reading.

More than 9000 responses were collected from Victorians aged 16 and older, including public sector workers, local government employees, Victoria Police members and business suppliers.

Roughly nine out of 10 agreed corruption happens in Victoria.

“On average, a 19-percentage point gap exists between those agreeing corruption happens versus [those that] perceive that corruption is a problem, suggesting a widespread tolerance for certain types of corruption behaviours,” the report said.

“Across the groups, there has tended to be an increase since 2022 in the proportion viewing corruption to be a problem in Victoria.”

Victorian government workers are most likely to think corruption is happening in their workplace.

Thirty per cent conceded it happened within their ranks, up 10 per cent from two years ago and well above business suppliers (15 per cent), Victoria Police (21 per cent) and local government (22 per cent).

Victoria Police employees (85 per cent) were more likely than community members to agree police misconduct occurred in Victoria (75 per cent).

IBAC Deputy Commissioner David Wolf said the latest findings should help agencies identify gaps to address perceived weakening ethical cultures.

“There is an opportunity for public sector agencies, local councils and Victoria Police to address corruption risks and vulnerabilities and enhance their own approach to corruption prevention,” he said.

AAP

In Victoria, state deputy Liberal leader David Southwick has told the Federal Court he secretly recorded an internal party meeting as an “insurance policy” because he could no longer trust Moira Deeming after “the darkest day” of hate on the steps of the Victorian parliament.

Southwick is being cross-examined on day 12 of the defamation trial that ousted Liberal Deeming launched against state Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick outside the Federal Court in Melbourne on Wednesday.Credit: Joe Armao

The tape has been a central piece of evidence since it emerged early in the trial. Anger has risen within the party over the secret recording of the meeting between Deeming and senior Liberal figures on March 19, 2023, stoking tensions over the party’s leadership.

Deeming helped organise the Let Women Speak rally on the steps of parliament the day before the meeting. Neo-Nazis were among several groups of protesters who arrived that day.

She has denounced Nazism and alleges Pesutto defamed her as a Nazi sympathiser, which he rejects.

Southwick told the court it was obvious to him at the time that the neo-Nazis were there to support the cause of the Let Women Speak rally given their anti-trans banner, making it especially important that Deeming make clear they were not welcome in her cause.

The leadership team hauled Deeming into a 70-minute meeting the day after the rally, a meeting the court previously heard that Southwick secretly recorded.

“That was personal to me,” Southwick told the court. “I felt I had to protect myself from what was about to happen, should that happen.”

You can read the full story from Rachel Eddie here.

Less than a quarter of Australians are satisfied with their financial position, with younger generations increasingly relying on grandparents for support.

Research conducted by investment group MLC found 70 per cent of people said financial wellbeing was important to meeting life goals, but only 23 per cent were happy with their money situation.

MLC’s Financial Freedom Report, which surveyed more than 2500 people, also found one in three was taking steps to make financial dreams.

As cost-of-living concerns and stubborn inflation impact on household budgets, the report found just 25 per cent of respondents were prepared to handle unexpected financial challenges.

Some 41 per cent of respondents said they worried about their finances all the time or often.

MLC head of technical services Jenneke Mills said the findings showed many people were vulnerable to financial shocks.

The findings also showed grandparents were playing a larger role in helping younger generations financially, with more than half saying they are assisting monetarily or plan to do so.

“Family support, especially for younger generations, goes beyond providing short-term relief – it fosters a foundation of financial security and confidence,” Mills said.

“By offering support, whether it be through financial education or practical assistance, parents and grandparents are helping to shape how young Australians approach their financial futures.”

The findings showed 60 per cent of those in Generation Z received financial support from grandparents, along with 56 per cent of Millennials, when they reached adulthood.

That compares with 20 per cent of Generation X and 6 per cent of baby boomers.

AAP

In more world news, at least 23 people died in Thailand when a school bus carrying more than 40 students and teachers on a field trip caught fire in the outskirts of the capital Bangkok.

Twenty-three bodies have been identified, Trairong Phiwpan, forensic science commissioner told reporters, with an investigation on the causes underway.

Sixteen students and three teachers were sent to a hospital for treatment, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said.

Images posted on social media and carried by local news outlets showed thick grey smoke pouring out of the bus, parts of which were still on fire.

The blaze was later extinguished. A Reuters photographer saw fire trucks, police and rescue vehicles parked around the blackened vehicle, with a cluster of firefighters at the entrance.

“Teachers told us that the fire ignited very quickly,” acting police chief Kittirat Phanphet told a press conference.

“From speaking to witnesses, we believe the explosion was caused by a spark from the tyre that lit the gas cylinder that was powering the vehicle,” he said, adding that some students escaped through the window.

The bus was a natural gas vehicle (NGV), according to Transport Minister Suriya.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the students were on a field trip from the province of Uthai Thani, about 250 kilometres north of the capital.

Reuters