Australian news and politics live: Anthony Albanese releases statement attacking Israel over Gaza

Nationals leader David Littleproud has issued a statement on X stating his concerns Labor struck a deal with the Trump administration without validating biosecurity calls had been validated.

Comments made in the past 24 hours by the US administration contradict Labor’s claim that the move to lift the import ban on US beef was off the back of biosecurity and science.

“We need to knbow if Labor is sacrificing our high biosecurity standards just so Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can obtain a meeting with US President Donald Trump,” Mr Littleproud said.

Read the full statement below:

Faced with the most serious political crisis of his wartime leadership, Volodymyr Zelensky was at pains to show that he is listening, responding and thereby reinforcing Ukraine’s democracy after being accused by critics of toying with autocracy.

The Ukrainian President sparked three nights of protests in Kyiv and across the country after signing into law a bill that placed under political control the country’s two anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Both were established at the request of the international community to deal with Ukraine’s post-Soviet corruption problems and followed the 2014 Maidan protests that led to the downfall of the pro-Russian former president Viktor Yanukovych.

FULL ANLYSIS:

Trade Minister Don Farrell believes Australia faces long-term consequences from the US tariffs.

Senator Farrell, who defended a move yesterday to loosen laws around US beef imports, said the US was “questioning the benefits of open, rules-based trade”.

“The Trump administration is seeking to expand domestic manufacturing and influence the policies of trading partners,” he said.

“Australia is a medium-sized open economy that is highly integrated with the global economy.

“We rely on being able to send our produce, resources and human capital to the world to sustain the high standard of living which we enjoy today.

“We cannot risk a return to the ‘law of the jungle’.

“If our trading partners’ growth slows, without doubt we will suffer.

“The costs to consumers and businesses of a global economic slowdown will be felt for generations and the shockwaves of inflation will worsen.”

Shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash has labelled the wording of Anthony Albanese’s forceful statement as “disappointing”, saying it failed to place blame on recognised terrorist group Hamas.

“Any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas,” Senator Cash said.

“It is disappointing that Prime Minister Albanese’s statement about Gaza once again fails to place any blame on Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, for the delays in aid reaching the people of Gaza.

“The Coalition acknowledges that the delay in aid entering Gaza is unacceptable and that the Israeli Government needs to urgently work with international bodies to allow aid to flow freely to those that need it.

“However, the right system must be in place so that it can be distributed without Hamas intervening in the process.”

A senior Liberal Party figure has backed calls for leader Sussan Ley to not use the Indigenous flag and dump “tokenistic” Welcome to Country ceremonies and acknowledgments before official events.

The two motions will be debated at tomorrow’s WA Liberal Party council and has been supported by the Coalition’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash, after an explosive Senate debate on Welcome to Country ceremonies.

On flag recognition, the motion “calls on the Ley Opposition to adopt a policy that in addition to the Australian national flag, only flags representing official jurisdictions (such as states and territories) or government institutions (such as the armed forces) be given formal Commonwealth recognition”.

Another motion will call on the federal Liberal Party to state that “Welcome to Country ceremonies and acknowledgments should not hold official status as they are tokenistic at best and do nothing to improve the lives of our most disadvantaged Australians”.

Senator Cash said she supported both motions and “welcome them being debated at the WA State Liberal Party Council”.

“It has been my long held belief and I am on the public record saying that there is one national flag and we should all unite under it,” she said.

“On the Welcome to Country issue my long held position, that is again on the public record, is consistent with the motion.”

with agencies

Anthony Albanese has released a strongly-worded statement on the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza conflict.

The Prime Minister has urged Israel to follow international law and let the UN and aid groups do their humanitarian work safely and freely.

The forceful statement slammed Israel, saying it was blocking aid and killing people trying to get food.

“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears,” Mr Albanese said.

“Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.

“We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.

“This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance.

“Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within secure and internationally-recognised borders.

“We continue to support all international efforts to facilitate a ceasefire.”

UK defence and foreign officials have praised Australia for signing onto a new treaty to cement AUKUS at the annual AUKMIN talks in Sydney today.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal comes in a “new era” of “increasing uncertainty and increasing threats”.

“This demands a new era for defence, an era in which the indivisibility of security in the Indo-Pacific is alongside the security of the Euro-Atlantic,” he said.

“In which the deep relationships like ours with you must be deepened further. And our UK commitment to Australia is absolute.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it was a “challenging time globally”.

“We’ve got war in Europe, crises in so many ways in the Middle East, of course, and challenges in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“And we value because of a shared history, a shared understanding, we are aligned on so many issues.

“We rely on each other in so many ways and, obviously, combined we are part of a system that gives us tremendous intelligence capability and military capability.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles has spoken on the importance of a new UK-Australia defence deal amid a time of global volatility and a “great power contest” in the region.

Speaking in Sydney, where he and Penny Wong met with UK counterparts, Mr Marles expressed his gratitude for Australia’s “oldest relationship” with Britain.

“We are living at a time where in the Indo Pacific or in the North Atlantic, the world is volatile, there is a great power contest,” he said in opening remarks.

“We’ve got ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East, and this is a time where we’re really grateful for the closeness of the personal relationships but the significance that we have in the bilateral relationship.”

Asian shares have eased, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak as investors lock in profits ahead of a crucial week that includes US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings.

The dollar gained against the yen after bouncing off a two-week low on Thursday, helped by some firm US economic data, while Japan’s currency was weighed down by political uncertainty amid media reports Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down.

Benchmark Japanese government bond yields hovered just below the highest since 2008.

Japan’s broad Topix index, which had jumped more than 5 per cent over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time high, pulled back 0.7 per cent. The Nikkei slipped 0.5 per cent from yesterday’s one-year high.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5 per cent and mainland Chinese blue chips declined 0.2 per cent.

Australia’s equity benchmark declined 0.5 per cent.