Angus Taylor doubles down on call for ‘principled commitment’ to Taiwan security
The shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, has repeated his calls for Australia to make a “principled commitment” opposing the invasion of Taiwan, saying his statements this week were consistent with the status quo of peace between China and its neighbour.
Taylor had previously said Australia should make “principled commitments” and be “prepared to act” to defend Taiwan from invasion.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, refused to make advance commitments to join a conflict in Taiwan while visiting China this week.
Speaking to the ABC this afternoon, Taylor repeated his comments, linking Australia’s policy to its relationship with the US, which he said was committed to opposing an invasion of Taiwan.
What you can do is make principled commitments. The US has said very clearly that they will not stand for a conflict under this governments watch ….
We want to see [peace] right across our region, across the Indo-Pacific. We’re not going to achieve that, unless we have alliances like we have with the United States and … they are invested in, they are nurtured.
Taylor rebuffed repeated questions over whether he had been calling for Australia to make a new commitment to defend Taiwan and denied there was inconsistency between his view and the Coalition’s support for peace in the island.
Making a commitment as a nation to the status quo … includes, of course, peace in the Taiwan Strait and the security of Taiwan.
Key events
Monique Ryan calls parts of antisemitism envoy’s plan ‘contentious’ and rejects conflating views on Israel with racism
Monique Ryan says Labor should not unilaterally accept the government’s antisemitism envoy’s report, querying whether its recommendations are entirely backed by sufficient evidence.
The independent MP said it was important to fight antisemitism and hear Jewish Australians’ concerns, but discouraged the government from implementing Jillian Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism. She told the ABC:
It’s helpful to get the input of people like Ms Segal, but I don’t think the government should adopt that sort of report unilaterally … I don’t think that we should unilaterally accept any one person’s stance.
Ryan queried whether the report had sufficient evidence and singled out its recommendation that governments adopt a controversial definition of antisemitism that has been accused of conflating Jewish hate with criticism of Israel.
I have some issues with the issues that Ms Segal has raised. I’m not sure the evidence for the statements she has made in her report is there. Some of them are really quite contentious …
I think Australians – and all people, really – should have the ability to have independent views about the actions of foreign governments, be it Israel or other international powers, without that being conflated with forms of racism.
Segal’s plan, released last Thursday, also said governments should consider fighting antisemitism by withholding funding from universities and monitoring media organisations, prompting concerns, including from Australia’s race discrimination commissioner.
Body found in Snowy Mountains plane wreckage
Police have found the body of a man believed to be the missing pilot of a plane that crashed in the Snowy Mountains earlier this week.
The body was found just before 3pm today, near the crash site. The man is yet to be formally identified and was to be removed from the site this afternoon. A report will be handed to the coroner.
The plane took off from Victoria on Tuesday and never arrived at its intended destination in Moruya, New South Wales.
Search efforts began that day, and a rescue helicopter located the crashed plane in the Snowy Mountains on Thursday afternoon, near Khancoban, less than 300km from the plane’s destination.
CommBank denies union claims of offshoring jobs to ‘take advantage of cheaper labour’
The Commonwealth Bank has denied sending jobs offshore by making Australian workers redundant, after the finance union announced it would take the bank to court.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) said Australia’s biggest bank made 304 jobs redundant in June while simultaneously advertising to fill about 100 positions in its Bengaluru-based (formerly Bangalore) subsidiary, CBA India.
About a third of the affected Australian workers held identical job titles to the positions CBA India advertised, the FSU said in a statement. The union’s national secretary, Julia Angrisano, said this indicated the redundant positions were still required but were being moved offshore, which would breach the bank’s enterprise agreement.
Angrisano said:
“By hiring for the same job, at their own Indian subsidiary, they’re showing themselves to have breached the Enterprise Agreement and essentially lied to their workers. This is the very definition of bad faith …
These jobs are not required to be done in India; they’re just moving the work there to take advantage of cheaper labour and further line their own pockets.
CommBank denied it was breaching the enterprise agreement. A spokesperson said the bank had been expanding its workforce in Australia and India and was providing opportunities for domestic staff to reskill and find new roles.
The spokesperson said:
We refute the FSU’s claims and met with them this week to respond in detail and assure them that there is no basis to their allegations.
We have been transparent in communicating workforce shifts with our technology team over the last three years. This includes being explicit about roles which are declining and offering reskilling and upskilling opportunities to people in those roles.
Teal MP to push for lower voting age in Australia after Labor rejects it
Independent MP Monique Ryan says she will press the Albanese government to lower the voting age in the coming term of parliament, as the UK moves to widen the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds.
Ryan, representative for the Melbourne seat of Kooyong, said she would again put forward a private members’ bill to give older teenagers the vote after pushing for a similar move in the previous term.
She told the ABC that politicians should be working to engage young people in political processes and conversations.
The best way to do that is to enfranchise them, give them a vote, and give them a feeling that government is acting for them and in their best interests …
We want young people to have a say on those things that really matter to them.
After Labor frontbencher Matt Thistlethwaite this afternoon shot down the idea of the Albanese government lowering the age, Ryan pointed to Labor MPs’ historical support for a wider franchise:
When a parliamentary committee looked at this in 2018, Labor was supportive … It is a shame to see they are no longer on board with this idea. I will be pushing it because young people in my electorate tell me that it matters to them.
Read more about the UK’s move here:
Labor frontbencher shoots down lowering voting age
An Albanese government minister says Labor is “not open” to lowering the voting age after the UK announced it would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote by the next general election.
The UK Labour government said it would be fairer for older teenagers, many of whom already work and are able to serve in the military.
Matt Thistlethwaite, Australia’s assistant minister for immigration, said the government would not be considering following suit. He told the ABC:
We are not open to it at the moment, it is not our policy. It’s not our policy to lower the voting age.
Thistlethwaite said Australia had achieved a record level of enrolment of young voters at the 2025 election and that the UK proposal was “interesting”.
I think a lot of nations would be looking up what the United Kingdom is exploring doing and see how it does … It is good to see young voices heard.
Josh Taylor
Hackers of 5.7m Qantas customer records identify as ‘threat actor group’, court documents reveal
Qantas has told the NSW supreme court that the alleged hackers of its customer data have identified themselves as a specific threat actor group, but the company has suppressed the group’s name.
As part of the court injunction obtained by Qantas against the release of information acquired from the hack of 5.7m customer records, we reported earlier, the court ordered that the documents the airline filed be made available to the media. This gives a little more insight into the hack.
The heavily redacted documents include an affidavit from a Qantas employee outlining that the alleged cybercriminals had self-identified as a certain “threat actor group”. However, the name of the group was redacted from the documents. Qantas sought from the court that the name of the group and the potential motivations of the group be redacted.
It is understood that the tactics used to obtain the data were similar to those employed by the group Scattered Spider, but neither Qantas nor the federal government has confirmed this.
The documents also contain emails from the alleged cybercriminals to Qantas, in which they supplied sample data to the company, and also initially gave the company 72 hours to respond – to what demands is unclear, as that is also redacted.
That deadline passed, but Qantas indicated it had subsequently continued to communicate with the alleged hackers. As of now, there is still no sign that the data has been posted on the dark web.
Angus Taylor doubles down on call for ‘principled commitment’ to Taiwan security
The shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, has repeated his calls for Australia to make a “principled commitment” opposing the invasion of Taiwan, saying his statements this week were consistent with the status quo of peace between China and its neighbour.
Taylor had previously said Australia should make “principled commitments” and be “prepared to act” to defend Taiwan from invasion.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, refused to make advance commitments to join a conflict in Taiwan while visiting China this week.
Speaking to the ABC this afternoon, Taylor repeated his comments, linking Australia’s policy to its relationship with the US, which he said was committed to opposing an invasion of Taiwan.
What you can do is make principled commitments. The US has said very clearly that they will not stand for a conflict under this governments watch ….
We want to see [peace] right across our region, across the Indo-Pacific. We’re not going to achieve that, unless we have alliances like we have with the United States and … they are invested in, they are nurtured.
Taylor rebuffed repeated questions over whether he had been calling for Australia to make a new commitment to defend Taiwan and denied there was inconsistency between his view and the Coalition’s support for peace in the island.
Making a commitment as a nation to the status quo … includes, of course, peace in the Taiwan Strait and the security of Taiwan.
Former Treasury chief John Stone dies at 96
John Stone, the high-profile former Treasury secretary, has died aged 96.
Stone was a leading Australian public servant in the 1970s and 1980s, heading up the key federal government department under the Fraser and Hawke governments and working alongside treasurers John Howard and Paul Keating.
He was elected a National Party senator for Queensland in 1987 and served a three-year term. He remained a prominent commentator on Australian politics into the 21st century.
Guardian Australia understands Stone died on Thursday. The Nightly reported Stone had been diagnosed with leukaemia in recent years.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott paid tribute to Stone in a post on X. Abbott wrote:
The passing of John Stone AO leaves Australia bereft of one of its most unflinchingly courageous public intellectuals. He died yesterday, at home, with his family by his side, aged 96 …
John was perhaps our most prominent contrarian: someone who exposed the orthodoxies of the day to withering and fearless scrutiny, saying what he believed needed to be said but that almost no one else would …
John was a public servant in the truest sense: totally loyal to our country, but wanting it to be all it could be, and frank and fearless in pointing that out.
Abbott also paid tribute to Stone’s family, including his son, Andrew Stone, who served as a top economic adviser to Abbott and, more recently, to former Liberal leader Peter Dutton.
Families of children allegedly sexually abused by Joshua Dale Brown to pursue civil case against childcare giant G8 Education
Benita Kolovos
Three Melbourne families whose children were allegedly abused by accused sex offender Joshua Dale Brown are preparing to take civil legal action against G8 Education, with the first claim expected to be filed as early as next week.
Law firm Arnold Thomas & Becker has announced it is preparing three separate lawsuits against Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, which is operated by childcare giant G8 Education.
Police have alleged that Brown sexually abused eight children, aged between five months and two years, while employed at the centre. He has yet to enter a plea, and the case is still in the early stages of the criminal justice process.
Principal lawyer Jodie Harris said the firm would begin civil legal proceedings in the supreme court “pretty immediately”.
She said the firm had been approached by more than 250 families across the 23 centres Brown had worked in. This included three families whose children attended additional centres announced by police this week:
We are acting for three families whose children attended Milestones Early Learning Greensborough, one from Milestones Early Learning in Tarneit and one family linked to Kids Academy Waratah Estate in Mickleham.
These families, like many others, are dealing with distress and uncertainty following the revelations … Some families are unable to return to work because they can no longer entrust their children to childcare.
Dolphin carcass found on Adelaide beach amid SA’s toxic algal bloom crisis
A dolphin carcass has washed up on an Adelaide beach as the toxic algal bloom afflicting South Australia’s coast continues.
The dolphin’s body was found on Seacliff Beach, in the city’s inner south, and collected by the state’s national parks and wildlife on Thursday morning.
An autopsy would be performed to investigate the cause of death, including potential effects of algal bloom as well as the role of rough seas and storms, according to a spokesperson for the state’s Department for Environment and Water.
The deadly bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae has devastated marine life along South Australia’s coastline since March and arrived on Adelaide’s beaches in late June. You can read more here:
As public concern deepens, the state government has increased surveillance of marine ecosystems with water sampling and patrols, expanding the number of test locations from 14 to 17 in the last fortnight.
The algal bloom had been detected at sites, including the Port River, which is home to the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary. Dolphins in the sanctuary were not believed to be at immediate risk, but water testing was continuing, the department said in a separate statement.
Luca Ittimani
Thanks to Nick Visser for taking us through today’s breaking news around the country. I’ll be with you for the rest of today.
