Australia news LIVE: Albanese to address Labor conference; Trump says US will ‘destroy’ Iranian civilian targets

Hello and welcome to our national news live coverage for Thursday, July 23. I’m Mostafa Rachwani, and I will be bringing you the news from around Australia and the world as it happens this morning.

Here are our top stories so far today:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will set up his bid for a third term with a promise of further expensive cost of living measures to address the financial stress fuelling One Nation’s ascension as he expands a program to pay health workers as they study, in a speech to Labor faithful when the party’s national conference begins this morning.
• The first witnesses to front the NSW sensational corruption investigation have been revealed, including publican, lawyer and developer Michael O’Hara, one-time Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw, and consultant Robert Assaf, who is being investigated for allegedly soliciting or accepting political donations from banned donors in amounts that were not declared and exceeded donation caps.
• Bulldozers will raze the Wentworth Park greyhound track by the end of the year under a surprise expedited deal which paves the way for an urban renewal project roughly the size of Darling Harbour.

• Thousands of Victorian students are facing a day of disrupted learning when up to 35,000 government school teachers walk off the job for a second time today, forcing the Labor government back to the negotiating table months before the state election.

Multiple flights, including international arrivals, have been diverted as fog descended on Brisbane this morning.

Flights were diverted from landing in the city, but an airport spokesperson said no departures had been affected.

Qantas flights from Los Angeles and Singapore were diverted to the Gold Coast, as were a Virgin flight from Darwin and a Jetstar flight from Perth.

Another Jetstar flight from Manila was sent to Sydney, with flights circling the airport awaiting instructions.

Traffic on the ground was also impacted as multiple crashes caused delays throughout the morning.

Read more: Flights diverted, multiple car crashes as fog veils Brisbane.

The Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Jonathan Duniam, was on ABC’s RN Breakfast earlier and was asked about Pauline Hanson’s comments on domestic violence.

He said her comments, where she referred to domestic violence as a “two-way street”, were a “garbled response.”

“I think it was a garbled response. I did note from her answer that she did describe domestic violence as a scourge.”

“I think, community and political leaders need to be very careful about how they speak about these issues, and if we’re serious about resolving matters of domestic violence, elder abuse, child sexual abuse, and exploitation. Then let’s not just have throwaway lines in interviews.”

Asked if he believed the Liberal party needs to “rebuild” in light of their polling numbers this year, Duniam said it was a “waste of time” discussing deals with other parties.

“My one pitch to Australians is work with us. My one pitch to my colleagues is let’s do our job, which is to get back to basics on policy, explain to Australians why our policies are better, and we’ll help them out in the pursuit of resolving the issues they face, and then convince people to vote for us.”

“Let’s not talk about other parties. Let’s not talk about deals, preference deals, or carve-ups of seats, or mergers, or coalitions. That is a waste of time.”

Washington: The US and Saudi Arabia forged a new agreement that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman formally signed the nuclear co-operation deal alongside what the Trump administration described as a “bilateral safeguards agreement”.

The US administration released scant details, but the framework paves the way for the building of a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to comment publicly.

“Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation,” Wright said.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to head off emerging criticism of the decision. “The US is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation,” he said.

US forces have commenced more strikes against Iran, once again targeting the regime’s ability to menace commercial shipping, Central Command said.

The strikes began at 12.30am Tehran time (7.30am AEST). It is the 12th consecutive night of strikes by the US military in this second stage of the war.

Ahead of Labor’s national conference beginning in Adelaide this morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the party has serious policies, not just slogans, as expectations mount that a tax on gas exports will become a point of contention amongst party faithful.

A campaign has involved MPs including Labor’s Ed Husic, unions, the left-wing Australia Institute think tank, and online content creators calling to levy gas firms with a 25 per cent export tax.

The issue caught on in the public discourse right at the same time as Albanese was trying to secure fuel from Asian neighbours at the start of the US and Israel’s war with Iran. Many Asian nations that supply fuel rely on Australia’s gas exports, so Albanese scuppered the idea.

“Our priority is making sure that we deliver fuel so that when people go and try and fill up at the at the petrol station, fuel is available,” Albanese told the ABC’s AM program this morning.

“We have serious policies that include a gas reservation, a domestic gas reservation for the east coast ... to deliver certainty to make sure that manufacturing on the east coast can continue to get gas at a price that ensures that those jobs are protected.

“We have a serious policy, rather than just a slogan,” Albanese said. (edited)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says students in allied health degrees including pharmacy, radiology, physiotherapy and psychology will benefit from an expansion of paid prac placements.

“These are areas where we do have skill shortages, where we need to encourage people to go into these professions,” Albanese told the ABC’s AM program this morning.

The additional support, to help students fulfill their practical placement obligations as part of their study, is valued at $158 million and will commence on July 1, 2027.

“It will make a difference, a practical difference, to attract people into these professions,” Albanese says.

The PM is expected to outline the policy further at Labor’s national conference, beginning in Adelaide today.

Yemen’s Houthis said on Thursday they had carried out a military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers, identified as ENCELA and LAYLIA, saying the vessels violated a naval blockade imposed by the group.

The Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, drawing a warning from the Saudi-led coalition that it would respond “firmly,” in a move that threatens to disrupt global energy supplies beyond the Gulf.

Reuters

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is on ABC’s Radio National this morning, and says Labor does not “lightly dismiss” the challenge posed by either One Nation or the Coalition.

Chalmers was asked about the significance of the One Nation electoral challenge to Labor, and the treasurer was diplomatic in his response, saying Labor understands the “legitimate anxiety” people have around politics and the economy.

“Well, we don’t lightly dismiss the challenge posed by whether it’s the Liberals and Nationals or One Nation in our political system. We don’t take the outcome of future elections for granted. It is the case that we’ve got a strong majority in the House of Representatives, but politics is volatile.“

“And at a time when we do have these intensifying pressures, at a time when there is accelerating change in our community, in our economy, and in and around the world, we understand that creates some legitimate anxiety about what the future holds for people, and sometimes that encourages people to consider political alternatives.“

“And so, we don’t lightly dismiss any of that. More than acknowledge that, we’re acting on those very real pressures, those very real anxieties that people feel, including in some of the areas we’ve already talked about, like AI, like the energy transformation, and some of these other economic challenges.”

Sticking with Jason Clare for a minute, he has responded to recent reporting in this masthead about the millions of dollars in donations Labor has received from gambling companies over the past five years.

Clare says plans to ban gambling ads on TV and radio during school pick-up hours and prevent betting with credit cards show “we take this seriously”.

“There’ll always be some people that say that we’ve done too much, or that we haven’t done enough, but I think the evidence is there in the reforms that we’re implementing,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

“We’re taking more action than any government has ever done,” Clare says.

The government’s approach drew criticism it did not go far enough by backing down on a full crackdown on betting advertising. The issue may come up as Labor figures gather in Adelaide for the party’s national conference to decide on policies to take it through the next election.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says he hopes the issues motivating teachers to walk off the job in Victoria will be addressed.

“Teachers do the most important job in the world. I want to see them being paid as good as they possibly can be,” Clare told ABC News Breakfast this morning.

“The big pay rise for teachers in NSW has seen vacancies in classroom drop to a 12-year low ... the Victorian government’s got a big offer on the table here of a 28 per cent pay rise, which would be even bigger than NSW,” Clare said.

Pressed on whether he thought Victorian teachers had been underpaid compared to other states, Clare said he was not getting involved in individual negotiations.

“But the truth is we need more teachers; we’ve got a shortage of teachers,” Clare said.

“We’re seeing some really big jumps in the number of people enrolling in teaching, and that’s a good thing. But we also want to make sure that our teachers are paid what they deserve, as well as taking some of that unnecessary admin burden off them, so they get more time to teach,” Clare said.