Australian news and politics live: Albanese rules out recognising Palestine at state, calls for more Gaza aid

We’re wrapping up our live coverage for the day.

The Nightly will still have all the latest Australian and world news updates this afternoon and tonight.

We’ll be back with our rolling live coverage tomorrow morning.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has stood with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in condemning Israel for what they say amounts to violations of international law in its actions in the Gaza Strip.

“The Prime Minister made our position clear this morning...It is forbidden to withhold aid from civilians. That is not consistent with international law,” Senator Wong said.

“But actually, as importantly, it’s morally the wrong thing to do. It’s ethically the wrong thing to do. The Prime Minister has made that clear. We’ll continue to contribute what we are able to to the humanitarian effort for Gaza.

“The quickest, most effective way to ensure that the children of Gaza are provided with the food that they need is for Israel to allow aid to flow unimpeded, for a ceasefire to be in place, and for the hostages to be released.

“And that’s what we’ll keep arguing for.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to specify when the government will introduce its contentious proposal to increase taxes on high-value superannuation accounts over $3 million dollars.

“It will come in time,” he told the ABC when pressed on timing.

“We have our position and, of course, we’ll deal with the Senate as we tried to last time,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has contradicted his Trade Minister Don Farrell by stating that US President Donald Trump did not raise the issue of Australian biosecurity rules on US beef directly with him.

Mr Albanese reiterated that the biosecurity clearance was unrelated to US tariff negotiations.

When asked, “Did Donald Trump raise this with you directly?” Mr Albanese told the ABC, “No.”

He added, “Donald Trump did raise it at the so-called Liberation Day. Of course, he raised it publicly.”

This statement contrasts with Mr Farrell’s remark on Sky News, where he claimed Mr Trump had brought up the matter in a direct phone call with Mr Albanese.

“I had recently two discussions with (US trade representative) Jamieson Greer and this issue was not raised on either of those occasions,” Senator Farrell told Sky News.

“Of course the President of the United States has raised it with the Prime Minister, but … this is a common process that the Australian government uses to apply our strict biosecurity laws.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been asked about how the Trump administration has been portraying the decision by Australia to lift restrictions on the importation of US beef to Australia.

The Trump Administration says this has been a triumph of negotiation.

Mr Albanese has responded and said it was the result of “a process that has been there for ten years, the review process.”

“So he - his views were well-known, and the Americans - before Donald Trump was assumed the presidency in January - in December they made some changes and then at the beginning of this year some further changes,” he said.

He also said Donald Trump did not raise the issue with him directly.

When asked if this was just a coincidence that beef restrictions lift amid trade tensions, Mr Albanese said: “Donald Trump himself said just a couple of days ago that that was the case - that he wasn’t aware Australia was going to do that.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made clear he will not support France’s effort to recognise a Palestinian state by September, citing the involvement of the terrorist group Hamas at its core.

Speaking to the ABC, he said, “What we will do is we’ll make a decision based upon the time.”

Asked if Australia would imminently recognise a Palestinian state, Mr Albanese responded, “Is the time right now? Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not.”

While ruling out immediate recognition, Mr Albanese appeared open to revisiting the matter in the future without the backing of the United States. “Australia will always make our decisions as a sovereign state,” he said.

“But the role of the United States is critical. And the United States was playing a role in negotiating with the Saudis and Jordan and states in the region about how you move the Middle East conflict forward.”

Read the full story.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested that Israel may have breached international law by halting food deliveries to Gaza.

He said, “Quite clearly it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision Israel made in March,” he told the ABC.

When asked if he was calling it a breach of international law, Mr Albanese clarified, “I’m not a lawyer, but I consider it a breach of decent humanity and of morality.”

“Everyone can see that. I support Israel and its right to defend itself, but that boy isn’t challenging Israel’s right to exist, nor are the many suffering from the lack of food and water. The fact that people have died waiting to receive food and water—not from the UN, but through the joint Israeli-American operation—is a tragedy.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is speaking to ABC Insiders and says the Israeli government’s recent decision to permit some aid into Gaza is “just a start” and emphasised that much more must be done to protect innocent civilians.

He referred to heartbreaking images of a starving one-year-old boy, saying, “it breaks your heart.”

“A 1-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter. The civilian casualties and death in Gaza is completely unacceptable. It’s completely indefensible. My Government has been very consistent in calling for a ceasefire. We have been consistent in calling out the terrorists in Hamas and saying that the hostages should be released. But we have rules of engagement and they are there for a reason. They are to stop innocent lives being lost and that is what we have seen.”

Mr Albanese expressed how deeply moved he was by the images of this “innocent young boy.”

“For anyone with any sense of humanity, you have to be moved by that. And you have to acknowledge that every innocent life matters - whether they be Israeli or Palestinian.”

Read more.