Australian news and politics recap: ASIO chief says no intelligence to suggest anti-Semitism about to decline

The Coalition have accused Labor of “secret planning” to reinstate their proposed biosecurity levy which would have seen $50 million per year collected from the agricultural sector.

In senate estimates on Tuesday, National Party Senator Bridget McKenzie questioned something that had been on a parliamentary notice paper in the Senator’s last sitting week.

Labor Senator Anthony Chisholm, however, said the issue was off the table ahead of the looming Federal Election.

“We won’t be taking the biosecurity levy to the election,” Mr Chisholm said.

The proposed levy had been unpopular with farming groups and failed to get the support of the Coalition or the Greens.

Ms McKenzie claimed Labor had to be “dragged kicking and screaming” on the last day of the Senator to have it discharged from the notice paper.

“So please don’t spread misinformation to the agricultural sector that somehow the minister and you as her spokesperson here in the Senate somehow supported the discharge,” she said.

Anthony Albanese says defence were “aware” of the Chinese live fire danger ahead of time, despite Airservices Australia claiming a Virgin Australia pilot was the first to alert a government agency.

Asked if he was concerned a Virgin Australia pilot had been the first to raise the alarm about the military exercise in the Tasman Sea on Friday - after testimony from Airservices Australia chief executive Robe Sharp at Senate estimates overnight - the PM says he’s spoken to the defence chief about what occurred.

“The Australian Defence (Force) were certainly aware … Australia has had frigates, both monitoring by sea and by air … of the presence in the region of these Chinese vessel,” he said.

The department of defence are due up before Senate estimates on Wednesday, where questions about the military exercise are expected.

Asked what role Australia might play in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, Anthony Albanese says we’re not involved.

Despite that, he says Australia’s position is clear.

“We regard the struggle of the people of Ukraine as being a struggle between a country defending its sovereignty, defending its borders, defending the rule of law, a democracy in the Ukraine, versus an authoritarian regime that has breached international law, that has engaged in barbaric activity and attacks against infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine,” he said.

“This is an unlawful action by Russia. We have stood with the people of Ukraine, because their struggle is the struggle for the international rule of law.”

Labor had earmarked $5.5 billion in its latest budget update for the pledge, but hasn’t revealed where the remainder of the money is coming from.

Asked how Labor was planning to fund its pledge, Mr Albanese said: “We have gone through the budget line by line”.

“We didn’t do what the Coalition did, which was on Sunday say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just make this big commitment without knowing what it is, without seeing any of the detail before it’s even been announced’,” he said.

Anthony Albanese says Labor has gone through the budget “line by line” to account for the $8.5 billion Medicare package.

The significant investment, quickly matched by the Coalition, has come under scrutiny by economists who query how either side can claim to be financially prudent if they’re going to splash such significant cash without tinkering with the revenue base.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says cutting up to 36,000 public service jobs will cover some of the costs.

The Prime Minister says there’s no way the Coalition could do that without resulting in “less people providing support for our veterans, less people providing the support that Australians need, perhaps more robodebt being brought back as well”.

Airservices Australia have told parliament that the government agency was alerted to a Chinese warship conducting a live-fire test off the coast in the Tasman Sea by a Virgin Australia pilot.

“It was in fact a Virgin Australia aircraft that advised one of our air traffic controllers that a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east off our coast,” Airservices Australia Rob Sharp told a parlimentary hearing.

“At 10am our air traffic control commenced what we call a ‘hazard alert’ which basically alerts all flights in the area that there’s a hazard, so that was done within 2 minutes.”

Fatima Payman has drawn strident criticism from an Australian academic who was imprisoned in Iran after the renegade senator told Iranian state-owned TV the country was an “incredible place” for women.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who spent two years imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges, said the senator’s comments were “nonsense”.

Senator Payman was interviewed by a reporter for Iran’s PressTV after speaking at a Sydney event focused on “the reality of Iranian people”.

The news report broadcast last week shows Senator Payman in what appears to be a partial quote describing the “incredible place that Iran is, allowing for women to participate in the workforce, to ensure that they have a voice and their voices are heard”.

She goes on to say, “They’re involved in the democratic process – realities that we’re not privy to living here and listening to the propaganda that we receive from very single-sided organisations with a specific agenda.”

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Talking up Labor’s investment in Urgent Care Clinics and bolstering public hospitals, Mr Albanese says Labor has shown it has “competency”.

“All of this is under threat if we are not successful in the election,” he said.

He went on to say this election will “be about two different views of Australia and our health system”.

The Coalition immediatley matched Labor’s $8.5 billion pledge, but Mr Albanese says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton “cannot be trusted”.

“There is no opposition health policy,” Mr Albanese said.

“They just said on Saturday, in something that was sincere as a fake tan, said that he’d match it.

“Well, it’ll fade away … and when they come into office, you can rest assured, the cuts will be back, because he needs to make cuts.”

Anthony Albanese is back on the quasi-campaign hustings today, in the seat of Bennelong with local Labor MP Jerome Laxale.

(Thanks to the AEC’s redistribution, the seat once held by former PM John Howard is now notionally Liberal held by 0.04 per cent.)

The Prime Minister is again spruiking Labor’s $8.5 billion Medicare package, saying investing in it is crucial to prevent the “Americanisation” of healthcare, and warning a Coalition Government would be detrimental to the country’s health system.

“We do not need an Americanisation of the health system. What we need is for Australians to be able to rely upon the fact that when they need it, they will get the care that they need – and primary healthcare through our GPs is so important,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has admitted the bureaucracy got it wrong and promised to immediately reverse a decision to cut funding from Red Nose Australia.

After media reports circulated early on Tuesday that the national charity which provide assistance to families grieving the loss of a child would have its funding cut, a wave of protest flooded talkback radio.

The PM was forced to jump on a call from Melbourne Airport with 2GB’s Ben Fordham and admit he knew nothing about the decision stating “it will not happen on my watch”.

“Red Nose is a unique charity and the funding will absolutely continue,” Mr Albanese said.

“I knew nothing about this and occasionally, frankly, the bureaucracy get it wrong and on this occasion they got it completely wrong.”

Red Nose CEO Amy Cooper thanked the PM for the assurance live on air saying “it was a big relief”.