Australia news LIVE: Labor sanctions neo-Nazi network; Top political donors revealed

Thanks for reading the national news blog. That’s it for today’s coverage.

In case you missed them, here’s some of the day’s top stories:

• White supremacist network Terrorgram will be the first entirely online group to be slapped with counter-terrorism financing sanctions, in an unprecedented move by the federal government to combat antisemitism.
• Employment Minister Murray Watt has confirmed federal Labor will not be introducing mandatory minimum sentencing for acts of Commonwealth terrorism, despite the Coalition’s pre-election promise to legislate the measure in response to rising antisemitism.
• Data from the Australian Electoral Commission released on Monday morning revealed top political donors in the last financial year, with climate activists backing the teals and packaging mogul Anthony Pratt donating $1 million into Anthony Albanese’s campaign fund around the time he attended a Katy Perry concert at Pratt’s house.
• A car owned by a construction union official was firebombed highlighting ongoing issues within the nation’s building industry.
• A major trial over Antoinette Lattouf’s alleged illegal dismissal by the ABC kicked off today in the Federal Court, where the court heard Ita Buttrose pushed for Lattouf to be taken off-air.
• Australian shares and the currency plunged after US President Donald Trump escalated tensions, sparking a potential trade war that could hurt the global economy.

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A new bid to stamp out hate speech will impose criminal penalties on people who promote hatred over race, religion, gender and other factors, in a crossbench move to challenge Labor and the Coalition to toughen the law.

Independent MP Allegra Spender will put the proposal to parliament on Tuesday in a call on both major parties to strengthen draft laws that criminalise incitement to violence but do not ban serious vilification, amid growing fears about antisemitism.

Allegra Spender visiting the scene of an antisemitic attack in Dover Heights in her electorate of Wentworth last month.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Spender said the government bill to tackle hate speech was too weak because it did not prevent clear cases of public speech that sought to provoke hatred, such as calls that echoed attacks on Jews during the Holocaust.

Her amendment has gained support from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Equality Australia, an advocacy group for LGBTQ Australians, while also meeting some of the concerns set out by disability groups in their reaction to the government’s draft law.

Read more about Spender’s proposed amendment here. 

Local shares and the currency have both plunged after US President Donald Trump fired the first shot in what promises to be a trade war that could batter the global economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index suffered its worst loss in four months on Monday, dropping 152.9 points, or 1.79 per cent, to a two-week low of 8379.4.

The broader All Ordinaries fell 161.3 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 8628.4.

Wall Street surrendered early gains on Friday after the White House said President Donald Trump would impose promised tariffs.Credit: AP

The Australian dollar meanwhile fell under US61¢ for the first time since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping as low as US60.88¢.

By late Monday afternoon it was back over that level but still down sharply, buying US61.22¢, from US62.25¢ at Friday’s ASX close.

AAP

Tens of millions of dollars in “dark” donations to political parties with no donor information because of weak disclosure laws have sparked calls for electoral reform.

Labor and its state branches raked in $67.5 million in 2023-24, the Coalition banked more than $73 million and the Greens $17 million, according to Australian Electoral Commission data released on Monday.

The amount of “hidden money” that’s not required to be disclosed was almost $75 million – or 45 per cent, according to analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity.

Independent senator David Pocock condemned the secrecy around donations.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The origin of donations under $16,300 for 2023-24 does not need to be disclosed. This increased to $16,900 for 2024-25.

Proposed changes to electoral laws bringing the disclosure amount down to $1000, and more stringent reporting requirements are before parliament, but they are tacked onto more controversial expenditure thresholds.

Candidates would be limited to spending $800,000 per election campaign and could only receive donations of up to $20,000 from an individual.

There would also be a cap on federal spending for non-political parties of $11 million, which covers unions and special interest groups such as Climate 200, while registered political parties would have a ceiling of $90 million.

Political parties would get more cash per vote from the electoral commission.

Independents have branded the proposals a major-party stitch-up that boosts Labor and Liberal coffers with public money.

The caps also make it harder for independents running in only a single seat to compete with candidates from major parties, who have access to tens of millions of dollars to spend on advertising.

Independent senator David Pocock, who declared $205,000, condemned the secrecy around donations.

“Australia’s political donation laws are currently a joke and a lack of transparency is eroding public trust in our democracy,” he said.

“It’s unacceptable that Australians have to wait months, sometimes over a year, to find out which corporations and vested interests are bankrolling politicians.”

AAP

A car owned by a construction union official has been firebombed in an incident that exposes the violence and intimidation still permeating the nation’s building industry.

The ute belonging to a senior organiser in the NSW branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union was torched about 1am on Monday.

The ute was set on fire outside the organiser’s Sydney home, forcing the CFMEU administrator to urgently call in state and federal police and take steps to protect the official.

The torched ute belonged to a CFMEU organiser.

Three construction industry sources, who declined to speak on the public record citing fear of blowback, confirmed the firebombing.

The same organiser previously had their house spray-painted with threatening graffiti.

The torching of the official’s car comes as CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, SC, attempts to assert control over a union, and within an industry, dogged by underworld figures and operating within a culture of fear and violence.

Read more about the incident here. 

Neo-nazi and white supremacist groups are likely to quickly shift their approach in the face of counter-terrorism sanctions aimed at curbing radicalisation and cracking down on hate.

Terrorgram, an online network for neo-Nazis that advocates acts of violence, has been hit with counter-terrorism sanctions by the federal government in response to escalating antisemitic attacks in Australia.

The sanctions make it a criminal offence to use or deal with Terrorgram’s assets, under the threat of up to 10 years in jail and hefty fines.

“We have to use all the tools of government to prevent the rise of extremism, to confront antisemitism and to confront hate in all its forms, and we are doing that,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

While there were Australians on the platform, it was difficult to determine the location of all users, she said.

It is the first time Australia has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an online entity.

It follows a spate of antisemitic attacks including the targeting of synagogues and the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in Sydney’s north-west with a note containing addresses of Jewish institutions.

The explosives had the capacity to cause a 40 metre-radius blast, but no detonator was found.

Michael Zekulin, who researches terrorism and counter-terrorism at the Australian National University, said the situation wasn’t static and groups were constantly evolving.

“Any time you look to nullify or sort of constrain the use of one system, they simply find ways to bypass that; that’s the challenge,” Dr Zekulin said.

“You’re continuously chasing these groups as they move around from place to place and they learn and they sort of understand what’s coming and they try to react to that.”

Measures to crack down on networks were frequently under review by governments, he said.

AAP

We are returning to the trial in Sydney today where the Federal Court will determine whether Antoinette Lattouf was illegally sacked by the ABC.

The court has heard Ita Buttrose pushed for Antoinette Lattouf to be taken off-air, asking why she could not “come down with flu, or COVID or a stomach upset?” after receiving a tranche of complaints about her presence as a fill-in presenter on ABC Radio Sydney.

The then-chair of the ABC said, “We owe her nothing”, in correspondence aired in the Federal Court on Monday morning. Buttrose departed the ABC in March last year after one term as chair.

Antoinette Lattouf arrives at the Federal Court on Monday ahead of her unlawful dismissal case.Credit: Edwina Pickles

“We’re copping criticism because she [Lattouf] wasn’t honest when she was appointed,” Buttrose said in her correspondence, according to Lattouf’s barrister Oshie Fagir.

The correspondence was revealed in the opening statements made by Fagir as the high-profile case began in front of a packed courtroom on Monday morning, in which Lattouf is arguing she was unlawfully terminated.

Read more about the case here. 

The 67th annual Grammy Awards are in full swing, and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have just snagged the award for best pop duo/group performance with their masterful ballad Die With a Smile.

Lady Gaga, left, and Bruno Mars.Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Follow along here for live updates as we bring you all the highlights from the biggest night in music.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has addressed the Labor Party caucus, saying his party begins the year with a great sense of optimism.

As politicians return to Parliament House for the first sitting week of the year, Albanese spoke to his party, saying 2025 will be a good year.

“We begin 2025 with a great sense of optimism. Inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low – indeed, our average rate of unemployment is the lowest that it’s been in many, many decades, going back more than 50 years, and that is something that we can be proud of,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has launched his latest attack against Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, accusing the Coalition of opposing its cost-of-living measures.Credit: Chris Hopkins

“I think the hard work this group has done is making sure that we provided cost-of-living relief for people who are most in need in a way that helped to put that downward pressure on inflation.”

Albanese shifted his speech to attack the Coalition, accusing them of being against all cost-of-living relief measures introduced.

“They want to go back, and being worse off under Peter Dutton. Now, we know that they opposed all of our cost-of-living measures,” he said.

“They don’t want workers to get a tax cut, but they do want bosses to get a free lunch and that is the big distinction, and they want workers to pay for it. They want every Australian to pay for up to $20,000 … a pop for people to engage in meals, entertainment.

“And we know as well, that they didn’t put forward any costing of it.”

Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster since 2001 visited the crash site on the weekend and divers scoured the submerged wreckage for more remains after authorities said they had recovered and identified 55 of the 67 people killed.

Washington, DC Fire and EMS chief John Donnelly said officials were confident all would be found. Divers are working diligently to locate remains as crews prepare to lift wreckage from the chilly Potomac River as early as Monday morning, US time, Donnelly said at a news conference.

Family members of those killed in the Washington crash were taken in buses with a police escort to the Potomac River bank near where the two aircraft came to rest after colliding.Credit: AP

Colonel Francis Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said divers and salvage workers were adhering to strict protocols and would stop moving debris if a body was found. The “dignified recovery” of remains took precedence over all else, he said.

“Reuniting those lost in this tragic incident is really what keeps us all going,” Pera said. “We’ve got teams that have been working this effort since the beginning, and we’re committed to making this happen.”

Divers had high-definition cameras with feeds monitored on support boats, Pera said, putting “four or five sets of eyes” inside the wreckage. Owing to the frigid conditions, one diver was treated at a hospital for hypothermia, Donnelly said.

AP