As it happened: PM attacks Dutton’s slated public service cuts; ABC reveals $1.1m spent on legal fees in Lattouf case

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:

• Chinese navy ships again entered Australia’s exclusive economic zone as experts expressed alarm that a Virgin Australia pilot was the first to alert the federal government about live-fire exercises last week.
• ABC executives told Senate estimates today that the public broadcaster has paid $1.1 million to external lawyers in its court battle with journalist Antoinette Lattouf.
• The task of weeding out corruption in the CFMEU has been stymied by a High Court challenge that threatens to reinstate former union bosses thrown out by the federal government, the union’s administrator has told parliament.
• In NSW, Education Minister Prue Car has announced an independent review to examine a rise in safety breaches in NSW daycare centres, including an operator that recorded 502 breaches but maintained its quality rating accreditation.
• In Victoria, the man accused of being behind Melbourne’s prominent “Pam the Bird” graffiti told a court today that he wants to be released on bail to work at a Geelong painting company and live with his grandmother, who has vowed to keep him in line.
• In Queensland, librarians and other public workers in Brisbane are planning to walk off the job this week amid a pay dispute with council, while the city’s bus drivers look set to proceed with another strike of their own.
• In Western Australia, a Perth man who confessed to an undercover police officer that he violently bludgeoned his pregnant lover to death with a claw hammer will spend the next 24 years behind bars over the brutal attack.
• In business news, a class action has been filed against Tesla alleging their cars’ controversial semi-autonomous driving modes put Australian drivers at risk.
• In world news, a top Trump trade adviser has fired a fresh broadside at US allies who levy additional taxes on American tech companies, in a sign Australia’s latest plans to force social media giants to pay for news may antagonise the new administration.

Thanks for your company. Have a good night.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess spoke in Senate estimates after he recently warned Australia has never confronted so many serious national security threats at once.

The spy chief gave his annual threat assessment just last week, so much of his testimony today was expected to cover similar ground. The committee took a break from 6pm to 6.45pm for dinner, however Burgess resumed his appearance after that.

Here’s a little of Burgess’ opening statement today:

Understandably, much of the initial media focused on ASIO’s assessment [that] the security environment is becoming more dynamic, diverse and degraded.

However, it’s important to note, ASIO is well-practiced and well-placed to respond to emerging threats. Our powers are significant. Our capabilities are exceptional. Our resolve is resolute. And our people are brilliant. Security is a shared responsibility, and while your security service has got this, national security truly is everybody’s business.

Read more about the spy agency’s recent warnings here.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic insists the federal government has appropriately communicated Australian concerns about live-fire in the Tasman Sea to Beijing after revelations a commercial pilot alerted them instead of China.

Appearing on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing in the last hour, Husic was asked what would prompt a stronger response toward the Chinese government. In reply, the western Sydney MP suggested the Albanese government’s response to China was already appropriate.

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I think the biggest thing that we’ve been concerned about is the lack of notice around live fire,” Husic said.

“There is an ability for naval vessels to go through international waters. But the biggest issue is, if you’re going to conduct live fire, you’ve got to be able to give notice. We provide notice 12 to 24 hours notice when we do the same as a country. There’s a good reason for that; it’s a safety reason.

“Our Foreign Minister Penny Wong talked to her Chinese counterpart. Certainly, the message has been sent from our country to theirs about the serious way in which we view this.”

Read more about this story here.

The Australian sharemarket closed firmly in the red on Tuesday, weighed down by miners and banks, following weak leads from Wall Street overnight as investors await Nvidia’s quarterly results on Wednesday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 56.3 points, or 0.7 per cent, to close at 8251.90 points in the last hour. Seven of the 11 industry sectors retreated.

The ASX posted another poor session.Credit: Peter Braig

Investors sent Woodside shares up 2.8 per cent to $24, after the energy giant reported its statutory net profit for the year rose 115 per cent. However, lower oil and gas prices pushed its underlying net profit for the 12 months to December 31 down 13 per cent.

Domino’s Pizza stock also plunged 10.5 per cent to $28.90 after it posted a loss of $22.2 million for the first half of the financial year, following heavy restructuring costs associated with the closure of 205 underperforming stores, mostly in Japan.

US President Donald Trump’s statement overnight that sweeping 25 per cent tariffs against Mexico and Canada would go ahead weighed on markets.

Read the full market wrap here.

Experts have expressed alarm that Australian authorities only learnt about Chinese warships conducting live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea 30 minutes after they began, thanks to a Virgin Australia pilot’s midair alert.

Airservices Australia bosses told Senate hearings today they first thought the Virgin pilot’s tip may have been a hoax, but ultimately 49 commercial flights were forced to change course because of the surprise Chinese military drills on Friday.

A Qantas flight from Sydney to Queenstown was already in the air when it got the message to divert to avoid a live firing exercise.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong

Defence officials will be grilled about the issue on Wednesday amid accusations of a serious communications breakdown between government agencies and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The ADF also revealed today that the flotilla of three Chinese ships had re-entered Australia’s exclusive economic zone in the early hours of the morning, and had been observed 160 nautical miles (296 kilometres) east of Hobart.

Commenting on the revelations from Airservices Australia today, opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said: “There are two realities: either the prime minister and his deputy are not across their national security brief, or they have been dishonest with the Australian people. Which is it?”

Former senior defence official Michael Shoebridge said he was “astounded” by Airservices Australia’s revelations.

The ADF was either in the dark about the Chinese exercise until after it began or had failed to alert air safety authorities, he said.

Read the full story here.

Pacific Islanders in Australia on a working visa scheme will have to wait nine months longer for changes that would boost their wages.

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme allows workers from 10 countries to be employed in Australia across a range of sectors – including agriculture and meat processing – to fill labour gaps.

Kaltak Takau from Soloman Islands picks fruit in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges under the seasonal Pacific worker scheme.Credit: Jason South

They must be paid for at least 120 hours of work per month, but this was set to change to at least 30 hours a week from July 1.

Hours would be averaged over the course of the month, meaning some weeks workers could do 20 hours and then others more than 40.

Ensuring workers are paid for 30 hours a week would increase wage payments, as businesses would need to account for extra hours in slower weeks and still pay overtime in busier weeks.

But the change has been pushed back to March 31, 2026 as the federal government reviews the terms following consultations.

“We’ve listened very closely to PALM stakeholders – farmers, labour hire firms, unions, Pacific nations,” Employment Minister Murray Watt said.

“Our view is it’s best to leave the PALM settings as they are for the moment while we better understand the impact of the changes that we’ve made.”

AAP

Senators have been warned to be respectful to department officials after a complaint was made about their treatment in a parliamentary hearing following fiery exchanges.

A witness in the environment and communications committee complained to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service about how they were treated during today’s hearings.

A federal parliament committee was warned about badgering department witnesses on Tuesday.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Senators were briefed on the matter following the lunch break and received a copy of the support service’s guidelines on their desks.

Committee chair Karen Grogan began the session after lunch by reminding all senators of “their obligations under the behaviour code for Australian parliamentarians to treat witnesses with dignity, courtesy, fairness and respect”.

“That includes not badgering, haranguing, harassing or raising your voice at witnesses, and not interrupting witnesses who are attempting to answer a question,” she said.

The Tuesday morning session included the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts and the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

AAP

Washington: A top Trump trade adviser has fired a fresh broadside at US allies who levy additional taxes on American tech companies, in a sign Australia’s latest plans to force social media giants to pay for news may antagonise the new administration.

Peter Navarro, who encouraged tariffs on Australia during US President Donald Trump’s first term, criticised countries for targeting American technology firms with digital services taxes to prop up their own industries.

US trade adviser Peter Navarro (left), Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump.Credit: James Brickwood, AP

“What these countries are doing is discriminating against our biggest tech companies,” Navarro told CNN. “They do it in a way [that] only applies to the very largest companies, and it’s always the American companies.

“Meanwhile, they use them to promote their own national champions inside the country. Effectively, they steal our tax revenues from us. It’s just outrageous.”

The comments came as Treasurer Jim Chalmers arrived in Washington, DC, for meetings with his US counterpart amid concerted efforts to convince the Trump administration to exempt Australia from planned tariffs.

Read the full story here.

Queensland senator James McGrath has again been involved in an argument over antisemitism, causing another Senate estimates hearing to be briefly suspended.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused McGrath of weaponising antisemitism in a rowdy parliamentary hearing that eventually was shut down as opposition MPs questioned the government over the issue.

Senator James McGrath in the Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

On Tuesday, Greens senator Barbara Pocock alleged that McGrath spoke over the top of women on the Senate’s finance and public administration committee.

“I will not sit here as a bystander and watch you do that, Senator McGrath, without calling you out for it,” Pocock told him on Tuesday afternoon.

“It is inappropriate. And further, you have referred to me as antisemitic.”

Senator Barbara Pocock speaks at federal parliament earlier on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

McGrath then spoke over the top of Pocock as he rejected her claim.

But the Greens senator continued: “I will complete my words, thank you. I will say what I need to say. I am the only Greens senator in this room, and you have referred to me and my party as antisemitic. I ask you to withdraw. It is a lie. It is not true, and I insist that you withdraw it.”

McGrath responded: “With due respect, Senator Pocock, I did not say that you personally were antisemitic or racist. Your party is an antisemitic, racist party and I will not withdraw that.”

The committee chair asked again for McGrath to withdraw, but he refused.

The session was then briefly suspended.

ABC news boss Justin Stevens has thrown a jab at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp stable, accusing the publisher of lacking an audience and obsessing over the ABC.

Stevens, speaking at a Senate estimates hearing moments ago, said the media company that owns The Australian and Sky News had an “obsession with taking scrutiny beyond scrutiny” and was “regularly agitating against the work of our journalists”.

ABC news director Justin Stevens at the Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We’re flattered by their interest,” he joked.

“Despite their very small readership, we do engage and respond to a lot of their queries.”

Stevens acknowledged the ABC must accept scrutiny and own up to errors because it was publicly funded.

“Defending the work of our journalists … is very important,” he said.