Australia news LIVE: Labor to introduce student debt cuts and childcare reform; Albanese urged to go greener; Ozzy Osbourne dead at 76
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6.50am
Ghislaine Maxwell to meet justice officials to discuss potential new evidence in Epstein saga
By Michael Koziol
Ghislaine Maxwell, the former socialite who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with her friend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually exploit girls, is set to meet with the US Justice Department to discuss potential new evidence in the sex-trafficking saga.
Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche – formerly President Donald Trump's lawyer – said he had approached Maxwell's counsel to see if she would speak with prosecutors, and anticipated meeting her 'in the coming days'. Maxwell's lawyer David Oscar Markus confirmed the discussions.
The development instantly sparked speculation Trump could pardon Maxwell if she were to provide evidence that did not implicate the president, who is a former friend of Epstein, and whose presence in the so-called Epstein files has long been rumoured.
Trump has come under intense pressure over the Epstein case in the past fortnight, especially from his Make America Great Again base, after the Justice Department and FBI said they would not release any more records from the investigation and the case was effectively closed.
Trump's new submarine chief a critic of Australia
By Michael Koziol
The man leading Donald Trump's push to build more ships and submarines is a critic of Australia who has questioned whether Canberra can be trusted to stick with the AUKUS agreement, and whether it is ready to help the United States take on China.
Jerry Hendrix, a retired navy captain who holds a senior role in the president's Office of Management and Budget, said last year that 'the Australians have been noticeably fickle' about AUKUS and queried if the deal had true bipartisan support.
Meanwhile, with AUKUS under review by the Pentagon, the heads of a US congressional committee on China have written to the Trump administration to defend the agreement, arguing it would 'dramatically enhance' collective efforts to defend against Beijing's aggression.
The letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is the second time in as many months that members of the US Congress from both sides of politics have written to the former Fox News host to defend AUKUS, underlining fears a US review of the pact will recommend major changes.
6.41am
What's making news today
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Hello and welcome to the national news live blog. My name is Daniel Lo Surdo, and I'll be helming our live coverage this morning.
Here's what is making news today:
The Albanese government will set forth on executing the legislative agenda promised to voters when it introduces draft laws to reduce student debt and reform childcare on Wednesday. It follows a day of first speeches and ceremonial pomp in Parliament House as federal politicians convened in Canberra for the first time since Labor's crushing election victory in May.
Albanese is facing one of his first major policy tests after his historic re-election as a business group led by Andrew Forrest's Fortescue has demanded a 75 per cent cut to Australia's emissions, and Labor's hand-picked climate adviser prepares to tell the government what its 2035 target should be.
Ozzy Osbourne has died just weeks after his farewell show, aged 76. The death of the Black Sabbath lead singer has prompted an outpouring of grief from the music industry's biggest names, with Osbourne's family saying the musician was 'surrounded by love' at the time of his passing.
The Australian sharemarket is set to rise again after Wall Street was on track to edge to another all-time high in late trading. It comes as US President Donald Trump extended his verbal attack on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who Trump thinks has kept interest rates too high, labelling Powell a 'numbskull' who will be 'out pretty soon'.
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SBS Australia
40 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Trump says Hamas 'didn't want' Gaza deal; Netanyahu mulls 'alternative' options after talks collapse
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump appeared to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, both saying it had become clear that the Palestinian militants did not want a deal. Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling "alternative" options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave, where starvation is spreading and most of the population is homeless amid widespread ruin. Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be "hunted down", telling reporters: "Hamas really didn't want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it's very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job." The remarks appeared to leave little to no room, at least in the short term, to resume negotiations for a break in the fighting, at a time when international concern is mounting over worsening hunger in war-shattered Gaza. Britain and Germany said they were not yet ready to do so but later joined France in calling for an immediate ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keith Starmer said his government would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal. Trump dismissed Macron's move. "What he says doesn't matter," he said. "He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight." Israel and the United States withdrew their delegations on Friday AEST from the ceasefire talks in Qatar, hours after Hamas submitted its response to a truce proposal. Sources initially said on Friday that the Israeli withdrawal was only for consultations and did not necessarily mean the talks had reached a crisis. But Netanyahu's remarks suggested Israel's position had hardened overnight. US envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas was to blame for the impasse, and Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Facebook that the talks had been constructive, and criticised Witkoff's remarks as aimed at exerting pressure on Israel's behalf. "What we have presented — with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation — we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one," he said. Mediators Qatar and Egypt said there had been some progress in the latest round of talks. They said suspensions were a normal part of the process and they were committed to continuing to try to reach a ceasefire in partnership with the US. The proposed ceasefire would suspend fighting for 60 days, allow more aid into Gaza, and free some of the 50 remaining hostages held by militants in return for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. It has been held up by disagreement over how far Israel should withdraw its troops and the future beyond the 60 days if no permanent agreement is reached. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's coalition, welcomed Netanyahu's step, calling for a total halt of aid to Gaza and complete conquest of the enclave, adding in a post on X: "Total annihilation of Hamas, encourage emigration, (Jewish) settlement." Mass hunger in Gaza International aid organisations say mass hunger has now arrived among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with stocks running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, then reopened it in May but with new restrictions. The Israeli military said on Friday it had agreed to let countries airdrop aid into Gaza. Hamas dismissed this as a stunt. 'The Gaza Strip does not need flying aerobatics, it needs an open humanitarian corridor and a steady daily flow of aid trucks to save what remains of the lives of besieged, starving civilians,' Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, told Reuters. Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Source: AP / Jehad Alshrafi Gaza medical authorities said nine more Palestinians had died over the past 24 hours from malnutrition or starvation. Dozens have died in the past few weeks as hunger worsens. Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it, in what the Israeli foreign ministry called on Friday "a deliberate ploy to defame Israel". The United Nations says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions. United Nations agencies said on Friday that supplies were running out in Gaza of specialised therapeutic food to save the lives of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher also has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusations that staff with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Hamas, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The ceasefire talks have been accompanied by continuing Israeli offensives. Palestinian health officials said Israeli airstrikes and gunfire had killed at least 21 people across the enclave on Friday, including five killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City. In the city, residents carried the body of journalist Adam Abu Harbid through the streets wrapped in a white shroud, his blue flak jacket marked PRESS draped across his body. He was killed overnight in a strike on tents housing displaced people. Mahmoud Awadia, another journalist attending the funeral, said the Israelis were deliberately trying to kill reporters. Israel denies intentionally targeting journalists.
Sydney Morning Herald
40 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Trump ‘allowed' to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, but says now not the time to talk about it
Washington: US President Donald Trump noted he had the power to pardon convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell but said he hadn't given it any thought, as top justice department officials completed a second day of interviews with the former socialite and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice. Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said his client did not receive any form of clemency offer during about 10 hours of questioning by deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, over two days. 'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine,' he told reporters following the second meeting on Friday (Saturday AEST). 'We're not going to comment on what we're hoping for ... No offers have been made.' Later, Markus said: 'We haven't spoken to the president or anybody about a pardon just yet.' But the lengthy meetings with Blanche – who used to be Trump's personal lawyer – took place as the president comes under extreme pressure over his failure to release the so-called Epstein files, fuelling speculation that Maxwell could provide evidence that is useful to the president in exchange for clemency. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit and abuse girls. Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex-trafficking trial. Before jetting to Scotland for a mixture of politics, personal business and golf, Trump played down questions over whether he could pardon Maxwell, but acknowledged he had the power. 'I'm allowed to do it. But it's something I have not thought about,' he said. He added that he never went to Epstein's private island and said reporters should focus their attention on Epstein's other associates, such as former Democratic president Bill Clinton (Clinton has always denied any wrongdoing, as has Trump).
The Age
40 minutes ago
- The Age
Trump ‘allowed' to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, but says now not the time to talk about it
Washington: US President Donald Trump noted he had the power to pardon convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell but said he hadn't given it any thought, as top justice department officials completed a second day of interviews with the former socialite and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice. Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said his client did not receive any form of clemency offer during about 10 hours of questioning by deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, over two days. 'They asked about every possible thing you could imagine,' he told reporters following the second meeting on Friday (Saturday AEST). 'We're not going to comment on what we're hoping for ... No offers have been made.' Later, Markus said: 'We haven't spoken to the president or anybody about a pardon just yet.' But the lengthy meetings with Blanche – who used to be Trump's personal lawyer – took place as the president comes under extreme pressure over his failure to release the so-called Epstein files, fuelling speculation that Maxwell could provide evidence that is useful to the president in exchange for clemency. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually exploit and abuse girls. Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex-trafficking trial. Before jetting to Scotland for a mixture of politics, personal business and golf, Trump played down questions over whether he could pardon Maxwell, but acknowledged he had the power. 'I'm allowed to do it. But it's something I have not thought about,' he said. He added that he never went to Epstein's private island and said reporters should focus their attention on Epstein's other associates, such as former Democratic president Bill Clinton (Clinton has always denied any wrongdoing, as has Trump).
