Key Points
- Prime Minister confirms Chinese research vessel circumnavigating Australia
- Mass grave of aid workers found in Gaza
- Sam Kerr cleared to return as Matildas' captain
TRANSCRIPT
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has addressed the discovery of a Chinese research vessel reportedly circumnavigating Australia.
The "Tan Suo Yi Hao" ship is travelling below South Australia after a recent joint exploration exercise with New Zealand and had reportedly crossed into Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone.
SBS now understands the vessel is currently outside of this Exclusive Economic Zone and is heading west.
Mr Albanese says he is confident in the ability of the Australian Defence Force's ability to monitor the ship's expected path back to China and respond to any potential threats.
"Do you have concerns about it Mr Albanese?"
"Of course, I'd prefer that it wasn't there. But we live in circumstances where — just as Australia has vessels in the South China Sea and vessels in the Taiwan Strait and a range of areas — this vessel is there. What our task is to do is to make sure that we represent Australia's national interests. We do that each and every day. And I have every confidence in our Defence Force and our security agencies to do just that."
He also pointed out this is not the first time this has occurred, with a similar Chinese surveillance ship detected and tracked by Australian authorities in 2020.
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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he will reconsider the need for an Islamophobia envoy if the Coalition wins the federal election.
Labor created antisemitism and Islamophobia envoy roles in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza.
Mr Dutton, who has been accused of downplaying Islamophobia while campaigning against antisemitism, says his government would review the Islamophobia role and continue it "if it is helping".
A spokesperson for Mr Dutton confirms the antisemitism role will not face a similar review and will be continued.
The Opposition Leader also dodged issues raised by the Imam at Sydney's Al Madinah Mosque, where Mr Dutton made a rare visit yesterday [[SUN 30th March]].
The mosque leadership said they did not agree with him on a number of fronts, including previous comments critical of Lebanese Australian immigration.
Mr Dutton has avoided the criticism and says he condemns all acts of hate.
"Do you publicly apologise for making comments like former P-M Malcolm Fraser 'made mistakes on bringing some people in'?"
"Well, the point that I was making yesterday is that people should be able to live in our country, in our society - particularly in the 21st century - peacefully and I don't tolerate attacks on mosques, churches, temples or any place of worship and I've been very clear on that."
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Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt, has criticised the Opposition's pledge to roll back some of Labor's changes industrial relations reforms.
Opposition spokesperson for Finance, Jane Hume, has confirmed the Coalition would review the "Same Job, Same Pay" laws if they win the federal election.
The laws have meant that more than 400,000 labour hire employees around Australia can apply to receive the same pay they would get if they worked directly for a host employer.
During an election campaign visit to Cairns, Minister Watt accused Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor of trying to take the pathway to wage parity away from workers.
"I think Angus Taylor owes it to workers here at Cairns airport to explain why does he want to get rid of Labor's 'same job, same pay' laws. Why does he want to cut the pay of these workers who do exactly the same work as directly employed workers of Jetstar, who wear the same uniform, work the same rosters, but get paid - on average - $8000 a year less than those directly employed workers. What kind of impact is that going to have on the local Cairns economy?"
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A mass grave containing the bodies of 15 humanitarian aid workers and their ambulances, has been found in Gaza.
The find comes a week after they came under fire by the Israeli military, while responding to the wounded.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society says the bodies of eight of its medics were found, along with six members of the Civil Defence and one UN agency employee.
The organisation says it is heartbroken by the discovery and outraged by Israel, which has remained silent on the alleged attack and attempted to deny the organisation access to the area where the workers were last seen.
Jonathan Whittal, head of office for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has accused Israel of targeting the ambulances and attempting to conceal the attacks by burying the evidence in the mass grave.
" They came here to save lives and ended up instead in a mass grave. Vehicles, their ambulances, UN vehicles, Civil Defence vehicles are crushed and dumped."
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To sport now, Sam Kerr has been cleared to resume as captain of the Matildas when she recovers from a knee injury, after apologising for her conduct during a drunken incident in London.
Kerr was found not guilty in February of racially abusing a British police officer, two years after calling him "stupid and white" following a dispute with a taxi driver.
Football Australia says it would take no further action against Kerr after meeting with the 31-year-old striker.
In a joint statement with Kerr, the football body says it has "concluded that Kerr’s professional and sincere acceptance of responsibility, as well as her acknowledgement of the far-reaching implications of on- and off-field actions, warranted no further action."
Kerr has not played a competitive match in over 15 months, after suffering an ACL injury in January 2023, when training for Women's Super League club Chelsea.
