Hamas won't disarm unless independent Palestinian state
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Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Indigenous artist avoids sacking from government role despite releasing foul-mouthed rant labelling Anthony Albanese a ‘genocidal c***'
Indigenous musician Fred Leone has escaped being sacked from a government board despite releasing an abusive clip to social media labelling Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a 'c***' for his handling of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Prime Minister Albanese is reportedly considering a potential shift in foreign policy following in the footsteps of the UK, France and Canada, with September's UN General Assembly a possible timeframe for Australia to formally recognise a Palestinian state. Mr Albanese's hardening stance on the conflict was not enough to satisfy Indigenous musician and federal public servant Fred Leone, who posted a lengthy expletive-laden rant to Instagram last week scolding the PM and his cabinet colleagues in the strongest possible terms. Mr Leone, who was driving in his car at the time, began the clip by declaring that Anthony Albanese was a 'weak as p***, f****** dead s*** damn arsed leader' and that he was the 'poxiest f****** leader this country has ever had.' The Butchulla songman was nominated to the board of the Music Australia Council by Arts and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in 2023 and rakes in an annual salary of $24,540 from the position. Mr Leone, who has an extensive track record of expressing controversial personal opinions, seemed unphased about his position as a civil servant and proceeded to launch a blistering personal attack aimed at his ministerial bosses. Mr Albanese copped the brunt of the tirade and was characterised by Mr Leone as a 'f****** child' who had been 'sucking Zionist n*** for the last two years, it's pathetic.' 'You (Mr Albanese) call anybody who calls out Israel an antisemite, what we are talking about is disgusting, you are selling weapons parts to Israel, go get f***** you piece of s***. Mr Leone said Foreign Minister Penny Wong should also 'go get f*****' and that she was a 'gutless piece of s***' and a 'lying b****.' The man then turned his sights to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who personally appointed him to the lucrative federal board. 'Tony Burke, you f****** weak arse c***. How many Israeli IDF soldiers are here and living in this country with dual citizenship and you are here galivanting around,' Mr Leone said. He also appeared to threaten the trio, at one stage stating, 'don't come near me or I'll rip you in front of everybody.' The outburst, which would typically warrant instant termination in most workplaces, did not result in Mr Leone being stood down from his official capacity as a federal bureaucrat - with The Australian reporting he would remain in the role until his term on the board lapsed at the end of August. In a brief statement to The Australian, Mr Burke said 'his (Leone's) language escalated as soon as he was told that he wasn't going to be reappointed to Music Australia.' Mr Leone said he 'couldn't give a f***' if he 'never got any funding from the Australin government ever again.' 'I will apply, and I couldn't give a f***, I couldn't care less,' he said.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Breakfast Wrap: Gaza protests 'wake up call' for politics
Labor MP Ed Husic says the weekend's pro-Palestinian protests were a "wake-up call for Australian politics". When I looked in this crowd you had the people you would expect who have been there from the start, but there was a lot of middle Australia there and I think that's something that can't be ignored." Today on the Breakfast Wrap we hear from the Labor backbencher about the impact of the rally over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and we get a response from NSW police, who have raised concerns with the scale of the demonstration. We'll also turn to Gaza, to ask what the future of Hamas is, as more countries come to the table on Palestinian statehood. Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap
The Age
5 hours ago
- The Age
How Netanyahu squandered his moment to halt the war in Gaza
Jerusalem: When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led the country to a military victory over Iran in June, both his allies and rivals portrayed it as his finest achievement. Flush with newfound confidence and authority, Netanyahu seemed finally to have gained the political capital he needed to override opposition from his far-right government allies to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip. Six weeks later, the prime minister has squandered that moment. The talks between Hamas and Israel are, yet again, stuck. Israel is now pushing for a deal to end the war in one go, instead of in phases. The move brings negotiations to where they were 19 months ago, when mediators last tried to reach a comprehensive deal, and it is just as likely to fail as it did then. Now as then, both Hamas and Netanyahu are refusing to make the compromises needed for such a comprehensive deal to work. 'As long as this is the government – and assuming it doesn't fundamentally change its course – there will be no comprehensive agreement, and the hostages will not return, ' wrote Oren Setter, a former member of Israel's negotiation team, in a column on Monday in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahrono t. 'The opposition needs to understand this, the public needs to understand this, and the media needs to understand this,' Setter added. In short, the credit Netanyahu accrued following the war with Iran in June has evaporated, both domestically and overseas. International condemnation of the growing starvation in Gaza – which aid agencies and many foreign governments have largely blamed on Israel's 11-week blockade on the territory between March and May – is at its peak. Partly to protest Israel's responsibility for that situation, several of the country's long-standing allies have recognised a Palestinian state, or pledged to do so in the near future. In the United States, most Democratic senators voted last week to block some arms sales to Israel. A Republican lawmaker, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has accused Israel of genocide, an accusation it strongly denies. Domestic opposition to the war in Gaza is at an all-time high, and calls are growing for the remaining hostages held by Hamas to be returned through a diplomatic deal. Israel's ability to sustain the war, amid growing fatigue among its military reservists, is increasingly under question. After a rise in death by suicide of reserve soldiers, the military has set up a committee to investigate how to better support those leaving service.
