Australian news and politics live: Trump ‘keen’ to reschedule meeting with Albo after Middle East disruption

The Federal Government has officially committed to the new plan for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, giving the green light with a co-funding commitment to a $7.1 billion project.

The agreement, which now includes a $3.4 billion investment from the Federal Government, marks the largest investment by an Australian Government for sports infrastructure ever.

“We are good to go for the Games 2032,” Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said on Thursday.

“What today’s deal means is certainty for Games infrastructure going forward. It means certainty for our infrastructure delivery program, for industry, for host communities and for workers.”

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said: “The real legacy of an Olympic and a Paralympic Games isn’t just the sporting moments that fill us with pride, it is the potential.”

“It ignites the lasting legacy that builds the infrastructure that changes a city, a town, a community for the better, and provides possibilities for the way people live and play in your hometowns.”

A man in northern NSW has died after contracting Australian bat lyssavirus — the first confirmed human case in the state and only the fourth in the country.

The news comes after NSW Health issued a statement this week that the man, in his 50s, had received treatment after a bat bit him several months ago.

While more than 100 people were assessed last year after being bitten or scratched by bats in NSW, none resulted in infection — until now.

“It is incredibly rare for the virus to transmit to humans, but once symptoms of lyssavirus start in people who are scratched or bitten by an infected bat, sadly, there is no effective treatment,” Keira Glasgow, a director in health protection at NSW Health, said on Wednesday.

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The Albanese Government is “determined” to enforce rules compelling tech firms to pay Australian media for content consumed on their platforms despite concerns of backlash from the White House.

Australia’s media bargaining code affects US tech titans more because they own most major digital platforms – a similarity with Canada’s case.

Against a backdrop of US tariffs slapped on Australian products, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday Labor had no intention of changing the code.

“We’re determined to continue with this policy framework,” she told Sky News from Washington.

“It really does go to enabling content for consumers and ensuring that journalists and content creators have appropriate remuneration, and that is an important thing for any democracy but also paying the fair share of tax.”

Read the full story here.

Four people are dead and 38 are still missing after a ferry capsized off the coast of Bali.

A distress call was made from the vessel, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew, at about 11.20pm on Wednesday.

The ferry was found overturned and drifting at 12.22am on Thursday.

Banyuwangi Police Chief Rama Samtama Putra said 23 people had been rescued, many of them unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours.

It was only half an hour into its 50km journey from Ketapang Port in East Java to Gilimanuk Port in Bali when tragedy struck.

The vessel reportedly suffered a leak which led to complete engine failure, forcing it to capsize in two-metre-high seas.

Four of the survivors are believed to have saved themselves by using the ferry’s lifeboat.

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A wedding bus driver impaired by an opioid during a horror crash that killed 10 people has appealed against his 32-year jail sentence.

Brett Andrew Button, 60, had been driving too fast and engaged in risk-taking behaviour before the deadly crash, which also injured 25 people, in the NSW Hunter Valley region in June 2023.

He was sentenced in September to a maximum jail term of 32 years with a non-parole period of 24 years.

At the time, NSW District Court Judge Roy Ellis said he was unaware of any other case that had such a devastating impact on so many people.

Button has filed a challenge to his sentence which was briefly heard in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday.

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Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong claims that US President Donald Trump is eager to reschedule a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC.

The meeting was initially postponed due to Mr Trump’s urgent return to the US amid Middle East developments.

“The Prime Minister has said, you know, we’re obviously very flexible about those arrangements. The President is a very, very busy man. But I was pleased that Secretary Rubio made clear that, you know, obviously, that they’re keen for a meeting – they want to reschedule it,” Ms Wong told Sky News on Thursday morning.

“It was disappointing, as he said, that they had to reschedule because the president had to return (to the US) as a consequence of what was occurring in the Middle East.”

When pressed about when the meeting will happen earlier this week, Mr Albanese said that there would be many opportunites at the end of the year.

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser has accused Creative Australia of making the “wrong decision” to reinstate artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as the country’s representatives at the prestigious Venice Biennale art festival.

The decision to drop Mr Sabsabi several months ago followed critical scrutiny of two of his historic works in parliament, including a 2007 work showing the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

However, following an independent external review of the decision, Creative Australia reversed this decision on Wednesday and apologised for the hurt and pain caused.

Mr Leeser, who is also shadow minister for the arts, denounced the U-turn, saying it did not reflect Australian values.

“To reinstate an artist and give them taxpayer funds, after they have glorified the leaders of listed terrorist organisations, flies in the face of these values,” he said.

Mr Leeser told ABC Radio National Breakfast that the artist was the “wrong person” to represent the country particularly at a time of tensions in Australia over the decline in social cohesion and fears over anti-Semitism.

Qantas customers have been told to be on high alert for scams after one of the worst cyber attacks in months.

Qantas has revealed a cyber incident on a third-party platform used by the airline’s contact centre that exposed the details of six million customers.

Names, phone numbers, dates of birth and email addresses are among the data believed to be exposed in the leak.

Read the full story here.

US pharmaceutical companies are ramping up calls for the White House to act against Australia’s $18 billion Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), claiming the system undercuts American drug makers and amounts to “unfair and non-reciprocal trade practices”​​​​​​.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) recently submitted a complaint to the US government, arguing that Australia’s approach to subsidising medicines sets prices too low and restricts access, ultimately short-changing US innovators​​​​.

PhRMA alleges that Australia’s system benchmarks new medicines against older, cheaper drugs, leading to lower prices and limited patient access.

The group claims these policies force Americans to pay more for the same treatments while suppressing prices overseas, and is urging President Donald Trump to leverage ongoing trade talks to address the issue​​​​.

The push from US drug makers comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government seeks an exemption from Mr Trump’s looming “reciprocal” tariffs, and as Foreign Minister Penny Wong argues Australia’s case in Washington​​.

Wealthier students are set to benefit more from future plans to cut university debt levels than those on lower incomes, research has shown.

Analysis into a federal government proposal to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent found more than half of the financial relief offered will go to the top third of earners.

Meanwhile, the study by the e61 Institute found less than 20 per cent of the measure will flow through to those in the bottom third.

The plan to cut tertiary education debt will be the first legislation introduced by the federal government in Anthony Albanese’s second term when parliament resumes on July 22.

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