New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has apologised to the Muslim community for security failings in the lead up to the Christchurch terror attack. It comes as the royal commission publicly releases its report into the 2019 shootings at two of the city's mosques, which resulted in the deaths of 51 people. The 792-page report details numerous failings by police, New Zealand's security agency, and the public sector, but doesn't identify any specific shortcomings that would've stopped the attack.
Federal parliament has passed the government's new foreign relations legislation in full. The laws allow the Commonwealth to review and scrap any deals that state and territory governments, local councils and public universities make with other nations. Before the final vote, independent senator Rex Patrick failed to get enough support for the upper house to insist on an amendment making the foreign minister's decisions subject to judicial review. Victoria's Belt and Road Initiative deal with China could be one of the casualties of the new legislation.
Facebook and Google could soon be forced to pay major Australian media organisations for news content they have on their platforms. The federal government says it will introduce legislation to parliament tomorrow [Dec 9] introduce a mandatory media bargaining code. It means Facebook and Google must comes to a commercial agreement with Australian media organisations in order to use their stories on their platforms. Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the ABC and SBS will be included in the media bargaining code, alongside commercial news organisations.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others.
Testing for coronavirus is now widely available across Australia. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
The federal government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone's app store.
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