The Nightly Live: Albanese visits synagogue, Hadley’s replacement, Luigi Mangione charged, Jay-Z on red carpet

Mr Fletcher has pledged to “keep working” for his consituents and also towards the election of a Dutton Government.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has a lot of ground to cover to get off the back foot when it comes to the anti-Semitism crisis facing this country, and his latest post on X shows just how much wrk he has in front of him.

The PM’s team has posted a picture of him chatting with anti-Semitism special enjoy Jillian Segal in Canberra “to talk about the work we’re doing to make Jewish Australians feel safe”.

Albo is also due to visit the synagogue site today.

This just in from Ellen Ransley in Canberra:

Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher has announced he will retire at the next election, the second senior moderate in two weeks to step down.

The Bradfield MP and the manager of opposition business suffered a 15 per cent swing against him at the 2022 election, against teal independent Nicolette Boele.

Ms Boele is running again for the next election - due by May. The seat, on Sydney’s north shore, has been expanded to incorporate parts of the retiring North Sydney electorate.

In a statement, Mr Fletcher said after serving the community for 15 years, “renewal is healthy”.

We’ll have more to come on this breaking story shortly.

Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon has visited the site of the synagogue firebombing, and issued a grim warning to the Alabanese Government in the process.

“The Adass Israel Synagogue, founded by Holocaust survivors, stood as a testament to resilience,” eh said.

“Today, standing amidst the ash of this sacred place, the stench of hate is undeniable. The Jewish community deserves better. Australians deserve better. The government must do better.”

​

​

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has rejected claims that Australia’s recent shifts on Israel are anti-Semitic, arguing that Israel needed to be held accountable for its actions in Gaza.

Her comments come after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to link Australia’s recent votes on UN resolutions on Gaza and Israel to the arson terror attack on a Melbourne synagogue. He wrote on social media: “Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism”.

In a speech to the University of South Ausrtalia on Monday night, Senator Wong rejected that assertion, saying: “It is not anti-Semitic to expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries.”

“Nor is it anti-Semitic to call for children and other civilians to be protected, or to call for a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security,” she continued.

Ms Wong defended Australia’s shift in position on the UN vote, arguing the country was standin alongside allies “part of the internationanl push for peace through a two-state solution”.

Still, she said Israel, being a democratic state, should not only expect but respect scrutiny over the governmnent’s policies and actions.

“The fact that we (Australia and Israel) are both democracies should mean that there is respect for disagreement. Respect and tolerance.”

Veteran talkback presenter Ray Hadley has named the successor who will take over his top-rating radio program when he leaves the studio at the end of this week.

Hadley, who ​announced in November he was calling time on his broadcasting career​ after 43 years, revealed his replacement on-air on Tuesday morning.

The 70-year-old named listener favourite and long-time mentee Mark Levy as the man who will take the reins of the morning program.

In a statement, Levy, 40, said he was “extremely honoured” to take over “a timeslot that’s been owned by a mentor and a friend for the last 20 years”.

Hadley will sign off for the last time on Friday, December 13, closing the curtain on one of the most decorated careers in radio. Levy will pick up the 9am to 12pm timeslot from Monday.

Liberal Senator James Paterson has responded to Labor MP Josh Burns’ claims that Peter Dutton intervened to stop him reading a statement at a joint press conference after the Ripponlea synagogue firebombing.

Mr Paterson did not reject Mr Burns’ accusation, but said “it is not the role of a Liberal frontbencher to act as a spokesman for a Labor MP”.

“I feel very sorry that Josh Burns and his community have been abandoned by the Labor Party in the wake of this terrorist attack,” he said in a statement to ABC RN.

“One of the many senior Albanese government ministers from Victoria should have been there to speak if Josh was not able to.”

Mr Burns has also responded to reports the Simon Wiesenthal Center has issued a travel advisory to Jewish people against travelling to Australia in the wake of the Ripponlea terror attack on a synagogue.

He said it had been a “historic week for the wrong reasons” and that the declaration of a terror incident had “real consequence” that he hoped would be resolved soon enough.

“My hope is that we’re able to get on top of this,” the Labor Member for Macnamara told ABC News Breakfast.

“All problems have solutions. All problems can be fixed.

“We have overcome anti-Semitism before and Australia has been a wonderful place for the Jewish community and I hope we get back to that as soon as possible.”

Labor MP Josh Burns has accused Peter Dutton of blocking a show of political unity after the terrible synagogue firebombing attack on Friday.

Speaking with ABC RN on Tuesday, Mr Burns said Mr Dutton told Senator Paterson not to read a prepared statement from the Labor MP when sickness prevented him from speaking at the planned joint press conference.

Mr Burns said Mr Paterson had agreed to read the statement “because I thought it was really important there be a united front” after the attack.

“Unfortunately, right before we got on, Peter Dutton intervened and told James that he wasn’t allowed to read out the statement. Peter Dutton told James that he wasn’t allowed to read out my words,” Mr Burns told ABC RN.

“I wanted to stand out with James and present a united front on this, and Peter Dutton decided that it was more important to play partisan games and to allow my words that I physically couldn’t speak to be read out.”

He said Mr Paterson told him the opposition leader had advised against reading the statement. A member of the Jewish community agreed to read the statement instead, Mr Burns added.

He criticised Mr Dutton for playing “partisan games” about anti-Semitism and said it would be a “really strong statement for us to put our partisan differences aside” to tackle the scourge.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has reportedly suffered a major defeat in his attempt to alter his family trust to consolidate control of his media empire in the hands of his son Lachlan.

Nevada Commissioner Edmund Gorman ruled against Mr Murdoch’s bid to change his irrevocable family trust to give his eldest son - the head of Fox Corp and News Corp - controlling power, concluding the father-son duo had acted in “bad faith” to make the amendments.

As it stands, the trust would divide control of the company equally among Rupert Murdoch’s four oldest children - Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence - after his death.

Mr Gorman said the plan to change the trust was a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” inside the empire “regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust, the Times reports.

​Get the details.​