Australia information reside: Trump replies ‘what does that mean?’ when requested if he’ll focus on Aukus with Keir Starmer

China’s ambassador to Australia says the nation has nothing to apologise for, after warships performed unannounced live-fire drills within the Tasman sea, which led to dozens of flight diversions.

For all of the background on this, you may have a learn under:

Talking on ABC AM, ambassador Xiao Qian signalled Beijing would frequently ship extra warships to this area.

We in China, we have a look at Australia as our accomplice. There’s no cause for us to pose menace to Australia … In my opinion, their discover is acceptable. I don’t see there’s any cause why the Chinese language facet ought to be apologetic about that, and even to consider to apologise for that.

As a serious energy on this area, as a rustic that has so many issues to take care of, it’s regular for China to ship their vessels to totally different components of the area to conduct varied sorts of actions.

The Victorian well being division has warned of a measles outbreak within the state, after two folks acquired their an infection in Melbourne.

In a press release yesterday, the division stated these circumstances had “no history of overseas travel or known contact with other cases of measles.”

This implies there’s now native transmission of measles in the neighborhood.

The folks had been infectious at a number of places round Melbourne and the Bendigo space, and you may view an inventory of publicity websites right here. Anybody who visited these websites in the course of the listed instances ought to monitor for signs, the division stated.

This information comes because the US is coping with a major measles outbreak:

Tropical Cyclone Alfred more likely to stay offshore however may nonetheless affect coast, bureau says

The Bureau of Meteorology says Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which has been monitoring by the Coral Sea properly off the shore of Queensland this week, is more likely to stay offshore.

The bureau stated the tropical cyclone is forecast to proceed transferring south by the Coal Sea as we speak as a class 4 system, and “while it may move closer to the coast on Saturday it is forecast to move south-east on Sunday away from the coast”.

Whatever the observe Alfred takes, coastal impacts for southern Queensland and north-east NSW are probably … Alfred has a excessive likelihood of remaining a tropical cyclone within the southern Coral Sea by a lot of subsequent week.

AAP is reporting {that a} majority of voters have backed the federal authorities’s $2.4bn rescue bundle for a troubled main steelworks.

The newest YouGov ballot, supplied to AAP, discovered 62% of these surveyed help the steelworks deal and public possession of the plant introduced final week, together with 61% of people that intend to vote Liberal on the upcoming election.

However a minimize in rates of interest that bolstered the fortunes of mortgage holders has didn’t translate to an uptick within the political fortunes of the federal government, the polling reveals.

The ballot confirmed the Coalition sustaining a 51% to 49% lead over Labor on a two-party most popular foundation. The Coalition’s major vote stands at 37% in contrast with the federal government’s 28%, whereas the Greens are on 14% and independents on 10%.

The ballot confirmed Anthony Albanese had a internet satisfaction of minus 12, with 40% glad in contrast with 52% dissatisfaction.

The opposition chief, Peter Dutton, had a internet satisfaction of minus two, with 44% glad and 46% dissatisfied. However Albanese held a slender lead as most popular prime minister, main 42% to 40% over the Liberal chief.

The YouGov ballot additionally revealed voters haven’t flocked to Clive Palmer’s new political enterprise Trumpet of Patriots – with simply 1% of voters indicating they’d give it their major vote.

The ballot of 1,501 folks was performed between 21 and 27 February, which had a margin of error of three.3%.

Hrdlicka says Virgin pilot’s response to China’s live-fire train ‘business as usual’

On the Right now present, Jayne Hrdlicka was additionally requested concerning the revelation it was a Virgin Australia pilot who first discovered about China’s live-firing workouts, earlier than authorities.

Requested how she was responding to this, the Virgin Airways chief govt stated this was a “business as usual thing for our team”.

Our pilots are very properly skilled. They’re very properly expert in navigating something uncommon – and this was positively uncommon … They picked up the radio communication on the airwave from the Chinese language warship, in order that they knew because the Chinese language warship was warning everyone within the airspace they usually shortly reacted, let our companies know. Tell us.

We modified our airspace guidelines and we shortly reacted. In order that was, you already know, enterprise as standard for us. And we’re actually pleased with the workforce as a result of they did precisely what they had been imagined to.

Virgin Airways CEO touts cope with Qatar

The Virgin Airways chief govt, Jayne Hrdlicka, was up on the Right now present earlier to debate the Virgin-Qatar deal, which was signed off this week.

You may learn an evaluation on the deal Elias Visontay and Jonathan Barrett under:

She stated fares could be lower than $2,000 for a round-trip to Europe and that about 60 Virgin employees are finishing secondments with Qatar.

Hrdlicka was additionally on ABC Information Breakfast, the place she touted the deal:

It is a partnership with the world’s finest airline and one in every of its largest, and meaning for Virgin Australia, whereas we’re huge in Australia, we’re small within the grand scheme of world aviation. This implies we get to entry Qatar Airways’ scale. So not solely can we get entry to their worldwide community and the chance to start out flying lengthy haul, however we get to have interaction in partnership with them to do issues like procurement along with our huge provide chain companions, engine producers, plane producers – all of our components, working along with airports.

Persevering with to make the breakfast rounds this morning, the employment minister, Murray Watt, additionally spoke with ABC RN, the place he was requested about experiences that welfare funds have being wrongfully suspended amid IT points with the mutual obligations scheme.

Watt stated this was “this is something that we’ve been working on for several months now”, pointing the finger on the Coalition and saying they’d launched this and the federal government was attempting to repair it.

It does have issues with it. We’ve been working very onerous to repair it.

Watt stated there had been a “number of different IT bugs in the system” which have “resulted, unfortunately, in some jobseekers having payments not made in the way that they should be”.

We’ve achieved the whole lot we are able to to attempt to remediate these funds however what we’re additionally attempting to do is to repair the system. Individuals shouldn’t be having this sort of factor occur to them, based mostly on a authorities system.

We’re decided to attempt to repair it. We’ve bought evaluations beneath method by way of the IT bugs but in addition my division, which is chargeable for this method. When it grew to become clear that there was some authorized uncertainty concerning the cancellation of individuals’s funds, they instantly paused these cancellations.

You realize, I believe all of us settle for that the group owes it to jobseekers to help them with revenue, and jobseekers owe it to the group to hunt work, however we don’t have to have a punitive system like we had beneath the Coalition and that’s what we’re searching for to alter.

Senate estimates probes new definition of antisemitism adopted by universities

In Senate estimates yesterday, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi questioned the training division over the adoption by Australia’s universities of a brand new definition of antisemitism, which intently aligns with the Worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.

The definition agreed to by universities notes that criticism of Israel is just not in itself antisemitic however might be, together with “when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel”.

Requested by Faruqi if the training division was involved that by adopting the definition, “freedom of speech and academic freedom and critique of Israel and anti-racist research will be stifled”, deputy secretary Ben Rimmer stated there was “nothing in what we’ve seen that gives us cause for concern”.

Universities have agreed that it’s useful for them to have a working definition of antisemitism as they improve their efforts to sort out antisemitism on campus … that looks as if a really cheap goal.

Requested if universities had a working definition as a collective on Islamophobia, Rimmer stated they didn’t, however many universities had a working definition towards racism that referred to as out Islamophobia.

For extra on the brand new antisemitism definition, learn our explainer:

Dutton says ‘not everyone gets the acronyms’ amid Trump Aukus remark

Taking a last query, Peter Dutton was additionally requested about Donald Trump’s “What does that mean?” response to a query about Aukus.

Dutton, like Murray Watt, wasn’t too fazed:

Not everybody will get the acronyms, and all the remainder of it, however there’s little question in my thoughts that the president strongly helps the alliance between our three nations and strongly helps Aukus.

He acknowledged that beforehand and the submarine deal, which we negotiated once we had been in authorities, once I was defence minister, will underpin the nationwide safety of our nation for the following century. And it’s an vital relationship.

Dutton says buy of properties ‘aspirational’

After extra forwards and backwards, Peter Dutton once more argued the prime minister is “in a desperate position” and “knows that he’s about to lose his leadership to Jim Chalmers or Tony Burke”.

Transferring to his property purchases, the host requested about Dutton’s criticism to modifications of household trusts and unfavourable gearing – is that as a result of he’s available on the market for a twenty seventh property?

Dutton responded that he’s “invested according to the laws and I’ve paid taxes according to the law”.

I’ve claimed deductions based on the regulation, and I’ve been aspirational in my life. I didn’t begin with cash. I didn’t develop up with a silver spoon in my mouth. And I labored onerous after college till I began college, and I used to be lucky sufficient to purchase a home once I was 20 years of age.

Sadly, tragically, beneath this authorities, younger 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds [and] now 30-year-olds have misplaced the dream of house possession. I wish to restore it … I’ve labored full-time with out, frankly, any absence out of the workforce in any way, and my spouse’s labored onerous.

Dutton once more questioned on share purchases

The opposition chief, Peter Dutton, was additionally up on the Right now present this morning, the place he was once more requested about his buy of financial institution shares in the course of the GFC and earlier than a financial institution bailout – the subject of a lot dialogue this week.

Dutton stated the accusations had been a “sign of a desperate government” and accused Labor of “smearing and throwing mud”.

The host stated again “as if you don’t do the exact same thing”, which Dutton rejected:

Properly, no, no, we don’t really. I made no remark in relation to Copacabana and the prime minister renting out his rental properties. I didn’t make any judgment in relation to that in any way. It’s a non-public matter for the prime minister.

The host additionally referenced a report within the Australian Monetary Overview, claiming shadow ministers on the time heard whispers of the deal – was he amongst these within the know?

No … If the prime minister needs to make that declare, he ought to make it himself … I’ve been sincere and clear in each transaction I’ve achieved. If I used to be performing some form of dodgy share deal, I wouldn’t put it up in lights on my parliamentary register.