Australian news and politics recap: Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks losing $1.5m a day

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People have been warned to leave or prepare for the worst, with a tropical cyclone on track to cross a densely populated part of Australia’s coast for the first time in 50 years.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is looming off Queensland’s coast, threatening to bring heavy rainfall, damaging winds and monster waves.

It is forecast to cross between Queensland’s K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) and the Gold Coast on Thursday or Friday as a category one or two system.

It will mark the first time since 1974 Queensland’s southeast has taken a direct hit from a cyclone.

The crossing location is more likely to be near Brisbane with towns south of the city at risk of the most serious rain and wind conditions.

Alfred is a category one system in the Coral Sea, about 450km northeast of Brisbane.

It is “yo-yoing” between a category one and two system as it travels abount 20km/h south east.

The system is expected to slow and do a U-turn towards the Queensland coast on Tuesday before making landfall later in the week.

-- Savannah Meacham, AAP

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Sanjeev Gupta’s collapsed Onesteel Manufacturing steelworks at Whyalla lost $319 million in the seven months before the South Australian Government sent it into administration last week.

KordaMentha, which is now running the mill, said the operation and the Middleback Ranges iron ore mine that feeds it is losing $1.5 million a day, according to ​the Australian Financial Review​.

Creditors are owed $1.35 billion, the newspaper reported on Monday.

Mr Gupta last week said his GFG Alliance is owed $500m from the steelworks, while more than 200 creditors are set to claim their share of cash.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said he expected KordaMentha to run the mill until the middle of 2026, the AFR said.

Read the full story ​here​

A senior official in the US Agency for International Development has been put on leave after warning dismantling of the agency will lead to unnecessary deaths.

Nicholas Enrich, USAID’s acting assistant administrator for global health, in the seven-page memo shared with staff, and which was seen by Reuters, said “political leadership” had made it impossible to deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance around the world.

The email contradicts assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that such aid would continue despite President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s cost-cutting campaign.

Twenty minutes later, Enrich sent another email, which was also seen by Reuters, that he had “just received notification that I have been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately”.

A source familiar with the matter said the decision to put Enrich on administrative leave was made on Wednesday, before he sent his email on the consequences of USAID’s dismantling.

Spokespeople for the State Department and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

-- Andrea Shala, Reuters

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Volodymyr Zelensky has taken to social platform X to express his gratitude for the support received from Europe and the United States in their ongoing struggle to preserve Ukraine’s independence.

The President of Ukraine posted a short clip saying he had seen “clear support from Europe” and “even more unity” and “willingness to cooperate”.

“Everyone is united on the main issue – for peace to be real, we need real security guarantees,” he said on X. “And this is the position of all of Europe – the entire continent.”

He listed the United Kingdom, the European Union and Turkey, adding, “of course, we understand the importance of America, and we are grateful for all the support we’ve received from the United States”.

“There has not been a day when we haven’t felt gratitude,” Mr Zelensky said.

“It’s gratitude for the preservation of our independence – our resilience in Ukraine is based on what our partners are doing for us – and for their own security. What we need is peace, not endless war. And that’s why we say security guarantees are the key to this.”

Rattled European leaders on Sunday said they were “doubling down” on supporting Ukraine and boosting military aid following the televised Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The embattled Mr Zelensky was greeted with cheers outside 10 Downing Street and a warm hug from British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer when he arrived late Saturday for an emergency summit of European leaders.

The pair embraced again at the start of the session Sunday, which Sir Keir described as a “once-in-a-generation moment” for European security, and sat side-by-side during the talks.

The display of support stood in stark contrast to comments from Trump administration officials Sunday, who heaped blame on Mr Zelensky for the White House uproar.

National security adviser Michael Waltz described Mr Zelensky’s behaviour as “incredibly disrespectful,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused him of disrupting US efforts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.

-- Steve Hendrix, Mariana Alfaro, The Washington Post

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Asked what he made of US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s treatment of Mr Zelensky at the White House at the weekend, Mr Dutton said he was “disappointed” by the scenes.

“People have got short memories and is not that long ago since the Second World War. And when the Prime Minister says we live in the most precarious period since then, he is right,” he said.

“And what we know is that bullies do not respect weakness, and we will stand up with like-minded countries in support of peace in Europe and make sure that Russia can feel the pressure of having to settle a deal quickly so that Ukraine and her people can get on with a normal life as quickly as possible.”

He said the US has been an “incredibly important ally” for Australia, but if he becomes PM after the next election, Mr Dutton says he wouldn’t be affraid to “lobby the President of the US to reconsider his position in relation to Ukraine”.

“Because I think it is in all of our collective best interest if we are able to provide support to Ukraine, and that is something I am dedicated to,” he said.

Read the full story here.

A Lithuanian rower is receiving medical treatment on a navy ship after being rescued from a tropical cyclone’s damaging winds and monster waves.

Aurimas Mockus called for help on Friday when Tropical Cyclone Alfred proved too powerful as he was attempting to row 12,000km across the Pacific Ocean from San Diego to Brisbane.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority called in the Australian Defence Force for help locate Mr Mockus who was stranded about 740km east of Mackay off the Queensland coast.

Mr Mockus had run into trouble when Cyclone Alfred intensified to a category-two system in the warm Coral Sea waters with constant 95km/h winds and gusts of 130km/h.

​​Read the full story here.​​

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is holding a press conference in his electorate in Brisbane.

Asked about the new ‘Coalition of the Willing’ that’s come out of UK and France-led talks with European leaders and Ukrianian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, Mr Dutton says ther ewould be “no need for Australia to send troops”.

But, he says, Australia should continue to support Ukraine.

“Everyone wants peace... and we want Putin to retreat from ukriane and to stop the attacks, and President Zelenskyy is a modern-day hero. He’s a war hero, and he deserve support,” Mr Dutton siad.

He went on to thank UK Prime Minsiter Sir Keir Starmer for his “support and leadershIp”.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia has thanked the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader for their “steadfast support” for his country after the stunning bust-up between the US and Ukrainian presidents in the Oval Office at the weekend.

“Support for Ukraine is bipartisan. We are enormously grateful for what has been done so far,” said Vasyl Myroshnychenko, adding that Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles provided to Ukraine by Australia were saving lives.

“We’ve never had such great relations with Australia as we have now. And Ukrainians, the Ukrainian community in Australia, will forever be thankful for that,” he said.

More could be done to boost the relationship after the election, including talks on how to help Ukraine rebuild, as well as business opportunities in the critical minerals field, said Mr Myroshnychenko.

After the weekend’s tensions, Europe was now “trying to figure out a way forward” but UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to form a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine was a “very promising start,” he said.

“Ukrainians want to end this war more than anybody else, but it must be a sustainable, robust peace … And for that to happen, we need to have security guarantees.”

Russia’s actions were a security threat to all democracies, including in the Indo-Pacific, stressed the Ambassador.

“This is a bigger war. This is not just a Russia’s war against Ukraine. That’s an assault on the global democracies, and Ukraine is first.”