Australian news and politics live updates: Anti-Semitism crisis top of list as Parliament returns

Former transport minister Jo Haylen says she has stepped down from the Minns Government ministry.

“As I said on Sunday, I’ve made some mistakes,” she says.

“People aren’t perfect.

“This morning I’ve told the premier that I will resign my position as the Minister for Transport.”

Ms Haylen says she will continue in her role as a local member.

NSW Premier Chris Minns backed his Transport Minister as late as this morning after the furore surrounding her taxpayer-funded van ride to a winery.

Jo Haylen was hit by a series of car-related scandals after she tasked a driver to take her to a boozy winery lunch and drop her children off at weekend sport in Sydney.

The lunch inlcuded her Labor frontbench colleague Rose Jackson.

We’re hearing reports that under-fire NSW Minister Jo Haylen has quit.

Sky News is reporting she has stepped down.

Ms Haylen is set to address the media in just a few minutes at 2pm AEDT.

More to come.

The anti-Semitism crisis is the talking point of the day across both houses of Parliament as the sitting week kicks off in earnest.

The Nightly’s Ellen Ransley reports from the upper house:

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie put forward her own motion on anti-Semitism.

In response, Foreign Minister Penny Wong made her own statement, saying it “is important and appropriate that today across the chamber, we stand together to unequivocally condemn antisemitism in all its forms”.

“We have seen actions which have appalled us all, vandalism and arson of the Jewish MPs office, the Adass Israel fire bombed. Antisemitic graffiti, words of hate sprayed on cars and on buildings … caravan laden with explosive, vile acts of hate, attacks on places of worship,” she says.

She said these were not only attacks on Jewish Australians, but also “an attack on who we are as Australians”.

“They’re an attack on our values”.

The Coalition and independent senator Lidia Thorpe sought to move various amendments to the motion, met with a passionate response from Senator Lambie pleading for the Senate to stand together.

“This is about sharing the love with the Jewish community. This is not about politics, this is about saying ‘we are here for you’,” she said.

“It’s about coming together on something so important, to let them know we are all standing together as one. That’s what today is about.

“I’m not going to complicate this. I don’t want any division, I just want the Jewish community to know we are here for you.”

From Nicola Smith:

Antisemitism “has no place in our nation” and the Government will “combat it with the full force of our laws,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Australian parliament on Tuesday.

“Our simple message to those cowards and criminals engaged in these low acts of hatred - you will be caught. You will be punished,” he said. “Our Government has no tolerance for your actions.”

The Albanese Government has come under pressure from the Jewish community and the Coalition to act faster and more decisively to curb a rise of anti-Semitism and attacks that have left Australian Jews living in fear.

The Prime Minister and the Government have strongly denied this criticism, listing a long line of preventive actions taken in recent months, including the appointment of a special envoy and increased funding for security.

“We will continue to provide Asio, the Australian Federal Police and all of the authorities, every single thing they request or desire in order to be able to do their work, and we will respect their work and give them support,” said the Prime Minister.

“We know that anti-Semitism has given dark shadows across generations. I say to Jewish Australians, they can proudly stand tall. You belong here, and Australia stands with you.”

But a fired up Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, hit back that Australia has never seen the level of “hatred and racism” that it was experiencing now, charging that a “very definite and strong stance” should have been taken from the moment controversial anti-Israel protests took place in central Sydney on October 9, 2023.

Holocaust survivors and their descendants “for the first time since 1945 they say that they feel unsafe in this country,” he said.

“There are people otherwise, within the Jewish community that I’ve spoken to, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, now across the rest of the country, who are talking about leaving our country.

“People who are born here, who know little of Israel and little of that life, they’re talking about leaving our country and going to Israel because They feel safer there a country that’s under nuclear threat from Iran.”

Anthony Albanese is reportedly topping up his parliamentary income with a whopping $120,000 a year in rent.

He is renting out his newly purchased $4 million Copacabana home for an estimated $1000 a week, and his Sydney federation bungalow in Marrickville for about $1350, according to ​news.com.au​.

His parliamentary salary is $564,356 a year. This all adds up to a very tidy $686,556 annual income.

​READ THE STORY​

A rejuvenated and in-form Mary Fowler has been named to return to the Matildas set-up after opting to withdraw from the side’s most recent international window.

Fowler was rested from November’s friendlies on home soil due to fatigue but is welcomed back to the fold for the SheBelieves Cup tournament in the USA later this month.

The extra time off appears to have done the 21-year-old Fowler a world of good, with the Manchester City striker netting three goals and registering four assists across her five games since the turn of the year.

Read the full story here.

AAP is reporting that Antoinette Lattouf, the journalist sacked by the ABC after an anti-Israeli Instagram post, will return to give evidence today as she sues the public broadcaster.

Lattouf was hired on a casual basis to present the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney over five days in December 2023.

The Federal Court was told on Monday that a barrage of complaints was sent to the ABC, with the broadcaster’s most senior executives, including then-chair Ita Buttrose, discussing the “Antoinette issue”.

While initially no moves were made against Lattouf, mounting pressure from a growing number of complaints caused her dismissal after three days on air, her barrister Oshie Fagir said.

The Nightly’s Aaron Patrick reported on Monday that Lattouf’s case centres around an oft-used conspiracy theory that a cabal of Jews control the media.

Here’s his deep dive into the history of this harmful trope and why conspiracy theories rarely survive the facts.

Read the full report here.

Ellen Ransley is reporting that the Greens will use the first day of parliament to condemn Donald Trump’s presidency and his “attacks on human rights, democracy and climate action”.

The minor party will move a motion in the senate that “the election of President Trump is a threat to Australia and the world, including his attacks on human rights, democracy and climate action, that the toxic influence of billionaires and corporations in political decision making must end, and that we must do everything we can to stop Trump-style politics coming to Australia”.

A vote will be held later today.

Former US President Joe Biden has set his eyes on Hollywood, signing on to one of tinsel town’s biggest talent agencies.

The 82-year-old has rejoined Creative Arts Agency just weeks after leaving the White House, in a sign he is not planning to keep a low profile.

“President Biden is one of America’s most respected and influential voices in national and global affairs,” Richard Lovett, co-chair of CAA, said in a statement.

“His lifelong commitment to public service is one of unity, optimism, dignity, and possibility. We are profoundly honored to partner with him again.”

Mr Biden joins Michelle and Barack Obama who did similar when they left the White House.

Read the full story here.