As it happened: Federal seat of North Sydney abolished; Defence Minister strips medals from ADF officers

That’s all folks.

Thanks for joining us on another busy news day. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

Here’s a look back at this afternoon’s major stories:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced $4.3 billion funding for the aged care sector.
• Defence Minister Richard Marles has stripped medals from a number of Australian Defence Force officers involved in the Afghan War, fulfilling two recommendations from the Brereton report into misconduct in the war, including unlawful killings.
• In VIC, anti-war protests continued near the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, one day after rallies descended into violent clashes with police.
• In QLD, a police officer died in a motorcycle crash while participating in a memorial ride for fallen colleagues.
• In NSW, whooping cough cases have reached their highest levels since 2019.
• In culture news, Taylor Swift dominated the MTV Video Music Awards, setting a record as the most-awarded solo artist in the show’s history – and overtaking Beyonce – with 30 trophies.

Thanks for tuning in.

Let’s stay with protest news.

Defence Minister Richard Marles described Melbourne anti-war protesters’ conduct as “absolutely disgraceful” in an interview with ABC Radio Melbourne this afternoon.

Marles said the Land Forces conference had been an important event “in terms of land capabilities that exist and industrial capabilities that exist within Australia”.

“The conference itself is actually really important in terms of building understanding between defence forces in the region and makes its own contribution to the maintenance of peace,” he said.

“That’s what’s happening here in the Convention Centre in Melbourne and these demonstrations pay no respect to that. They pay no respect for the people who wear our nation’s uniform.”

On Thursday, police blocked roads, patted down anti-war protesters and inspected bags outside the weapons expo during subdued demonstrations a day after violent clashes erupted between activists and police.

Let’s cross back to the protests in Melbourne.

A group of anti-war protesters gathered outside Hanwha Defence Australia’s corporate headquarters in Melbourne CBD this afternoon.

The protesters held large flags and signs outside 550 Bourke Street and chanted “Shame” and “Shut it down” and “Stop arming Israel”.

Protesters gather outside companies Hanwha and Elbit. Credit: AAPIMAGE

A line of police stood behind the group, clearing a path for people walking past.

It comes after about 200 protesters rallied outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on day two of the Land Forces International Land Defence Expo protesting against the weapons expo and the companies involved in overseas conflicts, including the war in Gaza.

Police blocked roads, patted down anti-war protesters and inspected bags outside the weapons expo during subdued demonstrations a day after violent clashes erupted between activists and police.

Earlier today, at Whiteman Street, police searched backpacks and pockets, and an officer told the crowd that anyone wearing a face covering must leave the area. Metal-detecting wands were used to scan passers-by for weapons.

Read more here.

Let’s cross to some business news.

The Australian sharemarket was trading more strongly at midday today, after US stock indexes stormed back from big early drops to finish higher overnight, led by a handful of influential Big Tech companies.

The S&P/ASX200 was up, gaining 446.30 points or 0.6 per cent to 8034.20 as of 12.16pm AEST, with 10 sectors in the green or ticking up, led by information technology stocks (up 1.9 per cent), and only materials (down 0.2 per cent) tracking lower. The ASX closed 0.3 per cent lower on Wednesday.

Wall Street had a roller-coaster session.Credit: AP

Mineral Resources was the best performer of the large caps, leaping 8 per cent by midday as it added to Wednesday’s 16 per cent jump, while fellow lithium miners Pilbara Minerals (up 5.6 per cent) and Liontown Resources (up 5.4 per cent) were also higher.

Lithium stocks globally jumped overnight on speculation Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology halted production at a major mine, easing oversupply concerns for the material.

Among the other miners, BHP lost 1.9 per cent in opening trading, while Fortescue and Rio Tinto had both made gains of 1 per cent in the middle of the session.

Read more here.

Let’s hit pause on politics and head over to some culture news.

Pop performances, broken records and Joan of Arc outfits dominated this year’s Video Music Awards.

Taylor Swift, with Post Malone, breaks another record, this time at the MTV VMAs.Credit: Getty Images for MTV

Here’s a list of the top moments:

• Taylor Swift broke another record (again). The star of Miss Americana won seven awards, making her the solo artist with the most career VMA wins, and the artist with the most video of the year wins.
• Chappell Roan won the award for best new artist, dedicating the accolade to the LGBTQ community. The 26-year-old dazzled on the red carpet in a look that Sydney Morning Herald journalist Lauren Ironmonger dubbed “the love child of Juliet Capulet and Joan of Arc”.
• Katy Perry performed a 10-minute medley spanning more than 15 years of her back catalogue. Unsurprisingly, the singer did not feature her universally panned single Woman’s World.
• Sabrina Carpenter’s performance of Espresso featured a dancing crew of astronauts and aliens culminated in a steamy smooch between the pop star and a saucy extraterrestrial dancer.

Read the full VMA recap by Robert Moran here.

Let’s head back to question time where MPs are discussing university fees.

Education Minister Jason Clare says he is consulting with the university sector and broader community about establishing an Australian Tertiary Education Commission, which would help set university course fees.

Asked by the independent member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, about when he would address the increased cost of arts, business and law degrees under the Morrison government, Clare said the commission would help steer reform, including the setting of course fees.

“I’m consulting with the university sector and the broader community at the moment about how we establish that Australian Tertiary Education Commission and its roles and responsibilities,” he said.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has accused the prime minister and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek of being cowed by demands from the mining industry to reduce the powers of its proposed Environmental Protection Agency.

“We know what happens when the mining industry wants to get their way; they get heavy, they lobby hard and they start to bully parliamentarians,” Hanson-Young said in Canberra this afternoon.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young speaking in Canberra this afternoon.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Albanese government needs support from the opposition or the Greens senators for its draft laws to create a new agency, which was a 2022 election promise.

The mining industry is lobbying the opposition to negotiate a deal with the government to guarantee the EPA does not have tough regulatory teeth to impose fines on companies for environmental breaches.

This could limit the scope of the EPA’s powers to auditing industries’ performance and making recommendations to the minister.

Miners are worried that, were the government to cut a deal with the Greens, the EPA would impose more restrictions on development as well as tougher scrutiny on greenhouse emissions.

The Greens are demanding that the government create new powers to block fossil fuel projects under a so-called climate trigger, and crack down on native forest logging, if the minor party is to back the EPA.

“This government needs to make a choice. Do they want to protect nature or do they want to roll over and be a patsy for [mining magnate] Gina Rinehart?” Hanson-Young said.

Plibersek said on Thursday that negotiations were ongoing with both the Greens and the opposition. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Wednesday it would be “very hard” for the government to cut a deal with the Greens.

“The Greens will want the annihilation of the sector,” Dutton said.

Let’s head back to question time, where Treasurer Jim Chalmers is talking about aged care.

Chalmers says the government’s $4.3 billion aged-care deal will help stem one of the biggest areas of government spending over the next 40 years.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announces more details into the government’s $4.3 billion aged care deal.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Government spending in aged care over that period is expected to double as a share of the economy and that makes it one of the fastest-growing areas of government spending in the budget,” he said.

“There are five big areas of government spending: aged care, healthcare, NDIS, defence and interest costs.

“What this government has shown is a real willingness and a real ability to deal with some of those structural challenges in the budget.”

Asked by shadow treasurer Angus Taylor if he would take responsibility for the 12 interest rate rises under his watch, Chalmers said interest rates had been rising before Labor came into government.

“Isn’t that interesting that he forgot the first [rate rise]!” Chalmers said. “I don’t think that that was an accident … [Taylor] was hoping that nobody noticed that interest rates started going up on their watch.”

Chalmers said the rate rises, which began before the election, were putting pressure on people, but that the government had the same goal as the RBA.

“Now, the Reserve Bank has their job and I have my job to do. And, as the Reserve Bank governor has said on a number of occasions now, we’ve got the same objective.”

Let’s take a break from question time and cross over to some WA news.

A West Australian Labor MP has taken the extraordinary step of lashing his own party and Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media in parliament, accusing the state’s only daily newspaper of waging a campaign to derail environmental protection efforts.

Chris Tallentire used the cover of parliamentary privilege to lay bare concerns about a report underpinning the state’s Environmental Protection Amendment Bill, comparing its recommendations to a “wishlist” for industry.

Chris Tallentire accused a Seven West Media newspaper of waging a campaign to derail environmental protection efforts.Credit: WA Labor

But he was also scathing of coverage of the federal government’s “nature positive” laws, which have been pulled from Thursday’s Senate notice paper over concerns levelled by the business community about the so-called “climate trigger”.

Tallentire singled out Seven West Media’s newspaper, The West Australian, and its digital masthead The Nightly, which is backed by mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Chris Ellison, accusing the media giant of joining the effort to counter environmental protection laws at both a state and federal level.

Read the full story here.

Tanya Plibersek was asked to withdraw her final comment about Angus Taylor during question time today. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek has hit back at the opposition in parliament after being asked by the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, how many hectares of native vegetation would be cleared to develop 60 new renewable energy projects that were announced in question time yesterday.

While she did not provide an exact number, and was asked by the Speaker to remain relevant to the question, she took the opportunity to hit out at shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.

“[Littleproud] is not interested in land clearing when it’s the shadow treasurer poisoning grasslands,” she said.

That refers to allegations that were aired in 2019 when the Morrison government was in power.

Taylor shouted out: “That is a lie. That is a lie.”

Several points of order were raised by both sides, and Plibersek withdrew the remark, which took her two attempts.