Australian news and politics recap: Albanese defends response to Chinese navy circumnavigating Australia
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Key Events
ASIC shutting down 130 investment scam websites per week
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) continues to take a blowtorch to scam websites, shutting them down at a rate of 130 per week.
In its half-yearly update, the regulator reported that it had removed 2,460 investment scam websites and online advertisements, bringing the total number of blocked sites to more than 10,000 since mid-2023.
Among these were 7,227 fake investment platforms, 1,564 phishing scams, and 1,257 scam sites targeting cryptocurrency investors.
ASIC has ramped up enforcement this year, with priorities reflecting the increased cost-of-living pressures consumers face and a focus on preventing financial harm. Chair Joe Longo said the regulator was “closely monitoring developments in the insurance and superannuation sectors.”
‘Not everyone gets the acronyms’: Trump’s AUKUS gaffe
Peter Dutton is not too concerned about Donald Trump’s AUKUS gaffe, saying “not everyone gets the acronyms’”.
The Opposition leader said the Australian alliance with the US was still strong.
“Not everyone you know gets the acronyms, and all the rest of it, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the president strongly supports the alliance between our three countries and strongly supports AUKUS,” he told Nine’s Today program.
“He stated that previously and the submarine deal ... will underpin the national security of our country for the next century.”
Employment Minister Murray Watt also dismissed concerns the US president did not immediately know what AUKUS was when asked about it during a White Press press conference with British PM Keir Starmer.
“I wouldn’t make too much about a president with a very full plate not remembering one acronym. I think all of us go through that sort of thing at different times,” he said on ABC Radio.
“You’ll see there that he was able to say very quickly about the strength of the relationship with Australia and the fact that AUKUS will be something he’ll be discussing with the British prime minister.”
Australia paid the US almost $800 million in February as part of the first payment of the AUKUS submarine deal.
Chinese ambassador doesn’t see the problem with drills off Australia
China’s ambassador to Australia has played down the fallout of a live firing drill, saying notice given was appropriate despite federal government protests.
The Chinese vessels conducted drills in compliance with international law and practice and “I don’t see there’s any reason why the Chinese side should feel sorry about that or even ... apologise for that,” Xiao Qian told the ABC.
Australia has raised concerns with China about a failure to give prior warning about any live-firing drills after the first warning came from a commercial airline pilot who had to divert course.
The defence force only found out about the drills from civil aviation authorities some 40 minutes after the window for the live-firing opened before an alert from New Zealand counterparts tailing the ship came in 90 minutes after opening.
Australian authorities have acknowledged China had a right to be in waters hundreds of kilometres off the Australian coast but “best practice” the defence force followed was to give between 12 to 48 hours notice.
‘Clear and accessible target’: Concerns raised over nuclear sites
Australian nuclear reactors could become a target of war if the federal coalition was to go ahead with plans to build them, a group of former defence leaders warn.
The plan to build seven small nuclear reactors across five states on the sites of coal-fired stations could leave Australia vulnerable to missile warfare and sabotage, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group says.
The group, including former Australian Defence Force chief Chris Barrie and Department of Defence Director of Preparedness and Mobilisation Cheryl Durrant, is urging the nation not to go down the path of building nuclear power stations.
Modern warfare is increasingly being fought using missiles and unmanned aerial systems, Ret Adml Barrie says.
“Every nuclear power facility is a potential dirty bomb because rupture of containment facilities can cause devastating damage,” he said.
“With the proposed power stations all located within a 100 kilometres of the coast, they are a clear and accessible target.”
ABC to make final stand against pro-Palestine presenter
An ABC with its reputation under fire is set to make one last defence to a decision telling a casual radio host sympathetic to the Palestinian people not to return to work.
Antoinette Lattouf was let go after three days of a week-long fill-in stint on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program when she shared a Human Rights Watch post that said Israel used starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
She went after the ABC in the Fair Work Commission and escalated the case to the Federal Court, where she has sued for penalties and damages.
The journalist claims she was unlawfully dismissed because of her political opinion and race.
