Peter Dutton condemns Prime Minister’s leadership during a fiery question time
A fiery question time has ended with Peter Dutton condemning the Prime Minister’s lack of “strong leadership” on anti-Semitism.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has exploded over the Prime Minister’s trip to the United States and questioned his leadership over the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia.
In a wide-ranging speech during question time, Mr Dutton asked the house to express its concern about the rise of anti-Semitism and social disharmony, to condemn the Prime Minister’s lack of “strong leadership”.
“Prime Minister, I have written to you and what you should do is consult with the premiers and the chief ministers and immediately convene a meeting of the national cabinet to get a better understanding of the police response, to understand what the security and intelligence agencies are providing, to collate that information, and to have a coherent response which provides support and underpinning a security for people of Jewish faith in this country when they need it most – in their hour of need,” he said.
“This Prime Minister has gone missing.”
Mr Dutton said since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Albanese government had failed to stand up for the Jewish community and was “speaking out both sides of its mouth”.
“The Australian public sees this as a government where the wheels are quickly falling off,” Mr Dutton said. “It’s given rise to social disharmony in this country. There are Jewish kids who are afraid to go to school.”
Mr Albanese said government’s words “have been qualified, the message divided”.
But straight after question time, the Prime Minister left for his trip to San Francisco for the APEC summit.
“Australia’s participation at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting signals our enduring commitment to strengthening regional economic cooperation and growth,” he said ahead of the trip.
“This year’s theme focuses on resiliency, sustainability and inclusion – all key priorities of the Australian government.
“Engagement with APEC partners is critical for seizing the opportunities to create the jobs of the future, to expand our economic growth, and to take advantage of our location – on the doorstep of the fastest growing region in human history.”
Albanese slams Dutton over QT comments
Mr Albanese slammed Mr Dutton for the “weaponisation of anti-Semitism” in parliament.
Mr Albanese said it was “frankly beyond contempt” that Mr Dutton would seek to link anti-Semitism with the decision of the High Court.
The Prime Minister said he would continue to stand up against anti-Semitism, and he remains “proud” of his track record of advocating for a two-state solution.
“I make no apologies for trying to bring communities together, not divide them. Because that’s the role of political leaders,” he said.
“At a time where there is social division, leaders have a choice – to either bring people together or divide them.”
Mr Albanese said Mr Dutton had been “exposed for all to see” for going so low as to link the two issues.
Mr Albanese said he understood how fearful Jewish Australians and Arab-Australians and Islamic Australians all were at the moment, and said “no one should threaten people because of their religion or their race”.
Mr Albanese went on to offer some of his strongest language yet on the unfolding crisis in the Middle East.
“We have responsibilities as a democratic nation to say that democratic nations must stand up, consistent with the international rule of law,” Mr Albanese said.
“That is something that I have done and will consistently do.”
Later on Wednesday, Wentworth MP Allegra Spender also denounced Mr Dutton for “turning antisemitism into a political football” saying it was damaging not only for the Jewish community but for national cohesion.
“To watch the Opposition deliberately try and politicise this issue and conflate it with the Prime Minister’s travel schedule in order to score political points is disgraceful,” she sad in a statement after question time.
“We need to come together as a country and take urgent action against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate speech.
“This is a time when Australia’s national unity has never been more important. Peter Dutton’s attempt to weaponise and politicise anti-Semitism for political gain is unconscionable.”
Dutton raises questions over ‘hard-core’ criminals
Mr Dutton then moved to ask the house to express its concerns about threats to community safety in the wake of last week’s High Court decision, and the presence of “hard core criminals” including murderers, rapists, and paedophiles among that cohort.
He called on Mr Albanese to “cancel his plans to travel to the United States”, because his priority “must be the protection of the Australian community at home”.
He doubled down his calls for Mr Albanese to urgently convene a national cabinet meeting to “formulate a strong and coherent response to combat the rise of anti-Semitism, repair social cohesion, and protect community safety”.
Mr Dutton said the government should urgently bring forward any legislation necessary to “neutralise the threat posed by the hard core criminals his government has released into the Australian community”.
He said the parliament should sit for as long as is necessary until that legislation is dealt with.
The government is adamant every one of the asylum seekers and refugees released from indefinite detention after last week’s High Court decision is on an appropriate visa with conditions.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles faced questioning from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Dan Tehan in question time on Wednesday.
It followed reports from the ABC that revealed some of the detainees released in recent days were in the community without visas.
Mr Giles said there were now 83 people who had been released from detention after the decision, and reiterated that it was not the federal government’s desire to have them in the community.
“Complying with the orders of the court is not optional,” he said.
“We have to give effect to the decision that was made and all of those 83 releases required by the decision of the court are people who are on bridging visas, with appropriate conditions.”
Government signals new legislation following High Court ruling
Senator Wong has confirmed emergency legislation will be introduced to respond to the High Court ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful.
“The government is working through that and, as I said, the government intends to introduce legislation shortly to further respond to the decision of the High Court and we look forward to the opposition assisting with passage of that legislation as soon as possible,” she said.
Wong fires up over the Greens questioning
A fired up Penny Wong unleashed on a Greens senator for seeking answers about Australia’s defence exports to Israel.
David Shoebridge asked the Foreign Minister during question time on Wednesday whether Australia was supplying parts for F-35 fighter jets, or other weapons, to the Jewish state.
Senator Wong insisted the government had not supplied weapons to Israel since the conflict with Hamas began.
But after a clash between the two, the Foreign Minister lost her cool, drawing a line between the questioning and misinformation on social media.
“You are trying to make this a political issue,” she shouted, pointing her finger at the Greens.
“It is utterly irresponsible”
On Tuesday, Mr Albanese told Labor MPs social media posts that suggested Australia was supplying weapons to Israel was not true.
Australia’s cyber boss ‘recalled’ to defence
The senior Australian Air Force officer recently appointed to the country’s top cybersecurity role has been recalled to defence to deal with a “workplace matter”.
In a statement, the Australian Defence Force said Air Marshal Darren Goldie, who was appointed the inaugural national cyber security co-ordinator in July, had “been recalled to defence to deal with a workplace matter related to his time in defence”.
“He is currently on leave. While the matter is under consideration it would be inappropriate to comment further,” the statement said.
“The welfare of our people remains our priority and it is requested that Air Marshal Goldie’s privacy is respected at this time.”
Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil said she had been notified of Air Marshal Goldie’s recall.
She said Department of Home Affairs deputy secretary of cyber and infrastructure security Hamish Hansford would act as national cyber security co-ordinator in the interim.
Air Marshal Goldie had, in recent weeks, taken the lead on the country’s cybersecurity responses to Optus’s nationwide shutdown and the DP World cyber attack that forced ports across Australia to close.
Dutton’s national cabinet call for Albo
Peter Dutton has called on Anthony Albanese to urgently convene a national cabinet meeting to deal with the ongoing domestic implications of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Opposition Leader told reporters on Wednesday that he wrote to the Prime Minister to voice his concerns about rising anti-Semitism across Australia.
Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese and state and territory leaders should urgently meet to discuss their joint response to increased reports of anti-social behaviour.
“I fear that there will be a significant act within our community that will cause harm to people in the Jewish community, or the community (more broadly),” the Liberal leader said.
“At a time when temperatures are rising, the Prime Minister should be showing strong leadership to lower those temperatures. He has completely failed that test.”
Mr Dutton said it was time for the government to “show resolve” and speak with “one united voice against anti-Semitism”.
“That’s the view of not just the Opposition but of many Jewish leaders within this community.”
Albanese ‘shouldn’t leave country’
Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese “should not go to APEC” to deal with the fallout of the High Court’s decision last week that indefinite immigration detention is illegal.
About 80 people have been freed since last week’s ruling, including some people known to be convicted criminals.
Mr Dutton and the Coalition have slammed the government for failing to plan for the outcome and now want legislation to be rushed through the parliament to deal with the decision.
Mr Albanese will head to San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon for the economic forum, meaning he will miss the last sitting day of the week.
Mr Dutton said he shouldn’t go and parliament “should not rise” until the government comes forward with legislation
“We will sit down with the government, we will sit additional hours through the night, whatever it takes to get these people back into custody, which is where they belong,” Mr Dutton said.
“It is the No. 1 priority of any government to keep the community safe. The government is failing, (Mr Albanese) has been asleep at the wheel and continues to be asleep at the wheel on this issue.”
Ahead of question time on Thursday, Greens Senator Nick McKim urged Labor to not let any legislative fix be “dictated” by Mr Dutton because he had a “horrendous record of cruelty to refugees and disregarding basic human rights.”
Silence over Gaza
The Greens will ask the Senate to hold a minute’s silence after proceedings on Wednesday afternoon in respect to civilian lives lost in Gaza.
It follows weeks of political divisions over the government’s response to the conflict.
Greens foreign affairs spokesman Jordon Steele-John said all major parties should join the minor party to call for a ceasefire.
“Children and families have faced horrific death, injury and suffering. People in Gaza are experiencing relentless bombing. Those that survive the bombing have increasingly limited access to electricity, food or water,” he said in a statement.
“This cannot go on.”
The Albanese government has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong saying on Sunday, “We all want to take the next steps towards a ceasefire.”
Earlier this morning, The Israeli Defence Forces posted on X that it was “carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Shifa Hospital” after it accused the terrorist group of having a command post under the complex.
Thousands of civilians, including 600 patients, are reportedly sheltering at the hospital according to reports from British broadcaster Channel 4.
High Court move unleashes concern
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the federal government was “deeply concerned” over the release of individuals convicted of murder and child sexual abuse into the community.
Mr Marles said the government was doing everything in its power to closely monitor individuals who have been deemed as dangerous and flagged that a full briefing on the decision had yet to be released by the top court.
“Obviously, we were in the High Court arguing against this decision so we are deeply concerned about the consequences of it which is why we’ve put those people who have been released on bridging visas which contain the strongest possible conditions on them, and we are now looking at every options available to around what more we can do, but bear in mind the full judgment hasn’t been released yet,” Mr Marles told Sky.
“We want to make sure the steps we take are legally robust.”
Major cyber warning
China has been named the main actor of state-sponsored cyber attacks against Australia amid warnings of a nationwide surge in cybercrime.
An annual cyber threat report released on Tuesday revealed 94,000 cyber incidents had been reported over the past financial year, with the cost of attacks on small businesses rising on average to $46,000.
The report flagged that attacks on federal government agencies and critical infrastructure have also increased, with state-sponsored cyber hacks pinned as a serious concern. Chinese state-backed hackers were identified as a leading culprit of cyber warfare, alongside Russia and Iran.
Foreign cyber actors are increasingly crippling local businesses, the report said, with the most common form of attack being “compromised emails” where a scammer uses email to trick someone into sending money or divulging confidential company information.
Individuals are the most vulnerable to identify fraud, online banking fraud, and online shopping fraud.
Mr Marles said cyber warfare was a critical issue raised with during recent conversations with China.
“We are making sure we have the best possible defence in place and there’s a range of other state actors who have been engaged in this as well,” he said.
Christmas trade relief on the cards
China’s trade block on Australian, beef, lobster and wine could be lifted by Christmas according to the trade minister.
Don Farrell spoke ahead of a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in San Francisco.
“Issues in respect to lobster and to beef are biosecurity issues, but I remain very confident based on my meeting last week, and hopefully my meeting today, that by Christmas all of these trade impediments will be removed,” Mr Farrell told ABC RN.
China imposed sanctions worth $20bn on Australian products during the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020. Only $2bn worth of sanctions remain on Australian exports, including rock lobsters and beef.
“China has its processes to go through and we understand that – we are simply encouraging them to complete those processes.”
Government must ‘wake up’ on toxic dust
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie wants to know if the federal government will wait and hold a sausage sizzle before it bans the import and manufacture of a toxic concrete linked to incurable lung disease.
The government is under pressure to ban engineered stone, which is linked to silicosis, after major retailers phased out a range of products in response to a damning safety report.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea announced it would follow in Bunnings’ footsteps to phase out range of trendy kitchen benchtops from its shelves in the wake of a Safe Work Australia report that recommended an outright ban on the material to protect another generation of workers from fatal illness.
Independent crossbenchers and MPs penned an open letter to state and federal workplace ministers on Wednesday urging for a nationwide ban on the material.
“It’s really embarrassing when you have Bunnings that’s already come over the top of you. Wake up and do something that is sensible that saves lives in this country and do it before Christmas,” Senator Lambie told reporters.
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