TRANSCRIPT
- The competition regulator has released its final report on the supermarket sector
- The New South Wales Premier condemns an online threat against a mosque in Western Sydney
- Socceroos win their World Cup qualifier against Indonesia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released its final report into Australian supermarkets, confirming the market dominance of Woolworths and Coles.
It confirms both supermarket giants have increased earning margins in recent years, but did not conclude there is a duopoly.
The report raises concerns about the lack of competition within the supermarket sector compared to overseas, and dismisses the claims of the two giants that they have been under pressure due to the rise of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and smaller chains such as Bunnings.
The inquiry into Australia's supermarkets was requested by the federal government, after Woolworths and Coles were alleged to have engaged in a practice called price gouging during COVID-19 pandemic.
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New South Wales premier Chris Minns has condemned an online threat made against a mosque in Western Sydney, saying the behaviour is "truly disgusting".
New South Wales Police has launched an urgent investigation into the threat made on social media.
A TikTok account user allegedly referenced the 2019 Christchurch mass shooting in response to a video filmed at Lakemba Mosque.
In a statement, Lakemba Mosque called for stronger action against Islamophobia.
The incident comes two weeks ago, after a 16-year-old boy was charged over an alleged violent threat to another Sydney mosque, the newly opened Australian Islamic House Masjid in Edmondson Park.
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The Opposition Leader has used the phrase 'limp-wrist' - a term with historic anti-gay connotations - to describe the Prime Minister at an event in Sydney.
Peter Dutton used the phrase, defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “an extremely offensive word” targeting the behaviour of gay men, during a question and answer session at the Lowy Institute.
He was criticising Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's response to the Chinese Naval Task group conducting live fire drills off Australia’s coast in February.
"It was a show of force. Now, they're not words that the Prime Minister used at all. It was the weakest, most limp-wrist response you could see from a leader."
A spokesman for the Opposition Leader tells SBS that "it was a phrase that shouldn’t have been used, and no offence was intended from Mr Dutton."
But Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told the ABC Mr Dutton's language choice was not out of the ordinary.
"We made very clear our views to the Chinese and publicly we were very upfront about that. But, in terms of Mr Dutton's choice of language, what I'd say is that this is a bloke who opposed marriage equality, it's an unsurprising use of language from him. So I think people can draw their own conclusions about the term he used."
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The Indigenous-led Close the Gap group says Federal and State governments need to heed the recommendations in their new report to improve the lives of First Nations Australians.
The First Nations alliance has identified four priority areas for improvement in its annual report, namely shared decision-making, strengthening and building the community-controlled sector, transforming government organisations, and shared access to data.
The group says governments are still not doing enough in these areas to help end historic and ongoing inequality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Close the Gap Co-Chair Karl Briscoe says the government must be willing to make the investment required to facilitate this change.
"These solutions, we know, will work. That is how we'll actually get genuine reform across the health and well being aspect of our people. It's about governments, you know, relinquishing the power, giving us control to make decisions what affect our lives."
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Gaza's health ministry says at least 91 Palestinians have been killed in a third day of air strikes by Israel.
On Tuesday, Israel resumed air strikes that killed at least 400 Palestinians, signalling the end of the ceasefire agreement in place since January.
The Israeli military says it has begun what it called "targeted ground activities" to create a "partial buffer between the north and south" of Gaza.
Gaza resident Mohammed Enshasa witnessed the moment when neighbour's house was hit by an Israeli air strike.
"At approximately 2:30am the brutal Israeli strike on this house took place. Some seven people were sleeping in it, safe and sound, according to what the Israeli army had classified as a safe area. This area was a displacement area some time ago. Of course, they were all martyred, as you know. We took them out in pieces."
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian experts will join upcoming US-Russia talks, but will not be in the same room as Russian representatives.
The talks, set for Monday in Saudi Arabia, will focus on securing Black Sea shipping as part of broader peace efforts.
Speaking in Norway, Mr Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine's technical teams will attend.
He says during his phone call earlier this week with Donald Trump, the pair discussed state-owned - but currently occupied - Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, with Mr Trump suggesting US ownership of the facility.
"President Trump asked me what I think about the Zaporizhzhia power plant. I told him that it won’t work unless it is under Ukrainian control. It is illegal. It won’t be able to work."
His visit to Norway followed a trip to Finland, as he seeks to strengthen European support.
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Now in sports, Socceroos have secured a huge victory against Indonesia with five to one, making it closer to the World Cup Qualification.
Martin Boyle scored the first goal for Australia at 18th minute, followed by Nishan Velupillay.
Lewis Miller also scored one at 61th minute.
Jackson Irvine scored two goals for Australia, while Indonesia's Ole Romeney won one for his team at 78th minute.
Australia remains second in its qualification group. It will next face China on Tuesday.
