Australia news and politics live: Pro-Palestine protest a ‘wake-up call’ for politicians, says Ed Husic

Nationals’ leader David Littleproud has accused Anthony Albanese of “failing” diplomacy with the Trump Administration after Australia was slapped with a 10 per cent baseline tariff.

Speaking on Sky News on Monday, he said his “failings in terms of diplomacy with the Trump administration” was “raw to see”.

“I think the Prime Minister shouldn’t take any victory out of this,” he said.

“Obviously, we still need the Prime Minister to get over there and have a relationship with President Trump. Every other world leader of note has been through the White House to press our case.

“It’s important… that he gets himself to the White House sooner rather than later to make sure that we have a strategic partner in defence, but we also press the case, not just for Australia… to return to our rules base order of trade.”

Labor MP Ed Husic says the recognition of Palestinian statehood would undermine the terrorist organisation Hamas.

“On the point of whether or not this rewards Hamas, I would put it differently…I would actually say it fundamentally undermines them and undercuts their standing,” he told ABC Radio National Breakfast on Monday.

“And the fact that you’ve set up a state, reformed the democracy and the Palestinian Authority, demilitarised Hamas, I think undercuts it significantly.”

“So I would actually say for people who want to see Hamas removed out of the equation, this is the way to go. Recognition is the way to go.”

Labor MP Ed Husic, who took part in the pro-Palestine march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday, described the protest as a “tremendous example of a peaceful assembly”.

Speaking to ABC Radio National, Mr Husic said the demonstration sent a powerful message to politicians, many of whom have “underestimated” the depth of feeling among Australians regarding the crisis in Gaza.

Among the prominent figures marching alongside Mr Husic were notable figures such as Julian Assange, Bob Carr, Mehreen Faruqi and Craig Foster.

“It was a tremendous example…of people coming out in force to let governments know how deeply they feel and how much they want governments to act on the concerns they have, triggered by horrific images we’ve seen out of Gaza,” he said.

He added, “I think people in particular believe it’s just not right. Not only is it not legally right under international humanitarian law to treat kids in the way that they’ve been treated in Gaza, but it offends our values as people, and so people turned up in large number.”

“I think this is a wake-up call for Australian politics.”

Australia’s defence force is growing for the first time in years with applications rising and retention rates improving.

Defence enlisted more than 7000 full-time personnel in 2024/25, which is the highest annual intake in more than 15 years, and a 17 per cent increase from 2023.

The Federal Government aims to reach 69,000 permanent defence force personnel by the early 2030s and has introduced targeted initiatives to address declining recruitment.

Significant investments had helped support current defence workers and grow the force for the future, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said.

“In 2025, the ADF is now growing again for the first time in almost four years, (and) while there is much more work to do, we are confident these positive trends will continue.”

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Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says net zero is a “lunatic policy” that is hurting the poorest Australians due to increasing power prices.

“It’s outrageous, and it’s premised around this lunatic policy called net zero. We’re not going to achieve net zero. We are going to deindustrialise Australia. We are going to smash the Australian economy,” he told Sunrise.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek questioned Mr Joyce on his solution to cheapen energy prices.

“What is his alternative?... What is his plan? If he doesn’t want renewables, what does he want?”

“I will go back to coal-fired power,” Mr Joyce responded.

Mr Joyce also slammed the Productivity Commission’s report, which called for an expansion of the safeguard mechanism.

“It’s going to make it harder for manufacturing to come to Australia and heavy industries to come to Australia,” he said.

Legal experts have warned that Sunday’s demonstration on the Sydney Harbour Bridge could result in further disruptions, with no law preventing future applications for protests.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek was asked on Sunrise if the pro-Palestine rally, which had a turnout of over 90,000 people, sets a precedent for other advocacy groups.

“I think Australians understand that the peaceful right to protest is important in our democracy, but we wouldn’t want to see the Harbour Bridge shut down every weekend,” she said.

“I think Australians do want to send a message that there has been too much death, too many people have lost their lives, and we want to see the hostages return, we want to see humanitarian access to Gaza, we particularly don’t want to see children starving to death as a result of this conflict,” she added.

On the other hand, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said that the protest will start a precedent.

“Once you’ve got one issue saying, ‘this is really important to us,’ and I don’t doubt for one second how important this is, everyone wants to see an end to the war, but you create a precedent for other groups,” he said.

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

An answer to Australia’s languishing productivity lies in its response to the threat of climate change, an independent government advisory body has found.

Adapting to growing climate-related risks while also reducing emissions and transitioning to clean energy will enable higher productivity growth and living standards, according to an interim report by the Productivity Commission.

The findings come as Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepares to convene a roundtable in search of a solution to the nation’s lagging productivity.

“Australia’s net zero transformation is well under way,” commissioner Barry Sterland said.

“Getting the rest of the way at the lowest possible cost is central to our productivity challenge.”

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