Australia news and politics live: Labor condemns deadly Israeli strike on hospital in Gaza

The top business and resources lobby groups have welcomed Murray Watt’s public announcement this morning of the accelerated timetable for bringing in the new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation laws.

The Environment Minister has been telling stakeholders for the past fortnight that he now aims to get the legislation before Parliament by the final sitting week of the year in late November, and he confirmed it this morning after the consensus view from last week’s economic roundtable that reform was urgent.

Business Council of Australia boss Bran Black said creating a faster and more efficient EPBC system was critical if the nation was serious about the energy transition, boosting housing supply and unlocking critical minerals.

“Right now, the status quo is working against Australia, deterring investment and making us a less competitive place to do business – accelerating these reforms in the right way will help shift the dial,” he said.

The Minerals Council of Australia backed the key principles by saying, “the MCA will continue to work closely with Minister Murray Watt to ensure these reforms are developed within a reasonable timeframe and deliver practical, workable outcomes,” chief executive Tania Constable said.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced the details of new legislation set to be introduced to Parliament, aimed at keeping children safe across the state.

Ms Allan said the Victorian Government is “acting with urgency” to overhaul the current system and advocate for changes that “must be made” at a national level.

Under the new changes, jurisdictions across Australia will be required to recognise the suspension of a person’s check.

“If you are suspended in one jurisdiction and have your Working with Children’s Check (WWCC) removed… all jurisdictions will recognise that suspension,” Ms Allan explained.

The legislation will also introduce automatic suspensions on WWCC without exception for individuals who are under reassessment. Additionally, there will be tougher penalties and strengthened oversight for individuals who attempt to gain or retain a WWCC by providing false or misleading information.

Read more.

Australia Post will temporarily partially halt sending parcels to the US ahead of the Trump administration’s changes to tariffs on imports.

As of Tuesday, businesses will no longer be able to send postal goods to the United States and Puerto Rico until further notice, 7NEWs reported.

Those using Business Contract and My Post Business will be most impacted, with gifts under $US100 ($A154), letters and documents not affected.

The move is in response to US President Donald Trump’s changes to customs and import tariff rules set to come into effect on Friday.

The US Government will suspend the de minimis exemption, which currently allows parcels valued $US800 ($A1234) or less to come into the country duty free.

Read the full story.

An adviser to the Biden Administration has warned against the cancellation of the AUKUS project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines amid a Pentagon review, but highlighted a wide range of problems that need to be resolved.

In a joint paper authored with a former State Department official, Abraham Denmark recognised the need for “a thorough review of AUKUS by the Trump Administration”.

But Denmark argued that if AUKUS failed or was scrapped, the “United States would become less capable in the Indo-Pacific” and its “international credibility would be dramatically undercut”.

The paper said “deterrence would be undermined, and propaganda from Beijing and Moscow declaring the unreliability of American commitments would gain significant credibility”.

The paper, written for Washington’s Centre for the Strategic and International Studies think tank, listed well-known problems that need to be addressed.

​Read the full story​.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says no agreement has been reached on an overhaul of Australia’s environmental protection laws, but confirmed the Government is fast-tracking the process.

“We have commited today to bring forward by several months the introduction of this legislation, we’ll be introducing it to the Parliament this side of Christmas,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

“We want to build more homes, we want to build more energy, we want to not just protect but restore our natural environment, and the only way to do that is to get moving with the reforms.”

When probed on whether the upcoming legislation would include a climate trigger, Mr Watt noted that former competition watchdog Graeme Samuel did not recommend such a trigger in his review of the laws.

“What he recommended is companies when they’re putting forward projects for approval, should disclose their emissions and what their plans are to reduce emissions going forward.”

Read the full story.

Environment Minister Murray Watt has condemned Israel’s double strike on a hospital in Gaza that reportedly killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.

“We utterly condemn this action and it’s yet another outrage in a war that’s gone on too long and cost too many innocent lives,” Mr Watt told ABC News Breakfast.

He emphasised that “targeting or hitting hospitals, health workers and civilians is a breach of international law.”

When asked whether the Albanese Government plans to take further action beyond condemnation, Mr Watt said Australia would continue to work with the international community to “demand a ceasefire, to demand hostages be released, and to demand peace in the Middle East.”

“That requires some change from Mr Netanyahu,” he added, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister who described the strike as a “tragic mishap”.

Read more.