Evening News Bulletin 14 July 2025
Sussan Ley says core conservative values will guide the Opposition's new policy platform
Chelsea's Cole Palmer with a superstar display in the Club World Cup final Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he won't be afraid to advocate for detained Australian writer Yang Henjun whilst in China. Mr Yang has been detained in China since 2019, and has been sentenced to death, with a two-year reprieve, after an opaque trial on espionage charges. Mr Albanese will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow He says his record for advocating for Australians detained overseas in second to none. " Whether it be here in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the United States, and the United Kingdom... we have been successful advocating for Australians. And we will always do that." Businessman Andrew Forrest says the debate about Australia's security relationship with China isn't stopping those trying to further Australia's business relationship with China. The non-executive chairman of mining company Fortescue Metals is amongst the business leaders accompanying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his present trip to China. He says they've met with Chinese steelmakers, raising concerns about dumping. Mr Forrest says businesses won't be distracted by big issues like Chinese military forces performing several controversial actions towards Australian personnel, or Australia being in the middle of tensions between the US and China on issues like Taiwan. "Security becomes a distraction. But for us, we are head down, tail up, stressing that bilateral relationship in the best interests of Australian employment, and every Australian." Sussan Ley is promising the federal opposition's policy platform will be rebuilt on the traditionally-espoused values of Australia's conservative parties. Continuing her visit to Western Australia, the Opposition Leader says she's listening to community concerns after the Liberal Party's poor showing in May's federal election. "We will listen. We will stand by our values. So, as we develop policy, it will be through the prism of those values- lower, simpler, fairer taxes, and less regulation." Ms Ley is flagging energy prices and red tape in the building industry as two areas the opposition wants to focus on. But when, further pressed on the matter, she has declined to name any specific regulations in Western Australia that are holding up development. The Defence Force says its current military exercises are showing off the nation's improved long-range defence capabilities. More than 30,000 personnel from 19 nations, including the United States, are participating in the war-fighting exercises in New South Wales and Queensland, which include live-fire drills, air combat, and maritime operations. It's the first one of these exercises since Australia received the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS. Army Brigadier Nick Wilson says HIMARS vastly expands what Australian forces are capable of. "It gives us both a land and maritime strike capability at increased long range, We've gone from an army, most recently, with an indirect fire flange of 20-plus kilometres, to one in excess of 400 kilometres." New questions about sexuality and gender will be part of a trial run of the national census involving more than 60,000 homes ahead of the main event. The first census questions on sexual orientation and gender will be sent to around 60,000 households chosen by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, part of a practice version of the census to try and make sure the actual census, which will be held on the next year, goes off without a hitch. Next year's census will be first to include questions about sexual orientation and gender for people aged 16 and over. Questions about sexuality were set to be scrapped from the questionnaire, but the federal government backtracked on the decision in 2024 following criticism from LGBTQI groups. In football, Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca says midfielder Cole Palmer continues to build his legacy at the club with his star turn in the Club World Cup final. Palmer scored Chelsea's first two goals, and set up their third, in their three-nil win over Paris Saint Germain in the final in the United States. Maresca says Palmer is a player who's at his in the most important matches. "Yeah, these are the games where we expect Cole to appear, because they are big games, big moments, and, once again, he's shown how good he is." PSG coach Luis Enrique has apologised for his role in a scuffle at the final whistle.
He says he was trying to break up an altercation between players.
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