Key events
Richard Marles says Japan frigate deal ‘significant’ moment in relationship between two countries
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has called yesterday’s announcement of a $10bn contract with Japan to grow Australia’s war fleet a “big step forward in the relationship” with the country.
Australia said it will spend the money to buy three Mogami-class frigates over the next decade, awarding the contract to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as part of a wider deal to replace the ageing Anzac-class frigates. The first three will be built in Japan by 2034, before construction moves to the Henderson naval precinct in Western Australia.
Marles told RN Breakfast:
There’s no doubt that this is a very significant moment in our relationship with Japan. There’s no country with whom we have a greater strategic alignment than Japan, and we’re doing more as a result in relation to that defence relationship …
As a result of this, this is easily the biggest defence industry agreement that will exist between Australia and Japan.
Ben Doherty
Ican Australia director: ‘Australians are crystal clear – our country must take action’
The bombings of Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 – 80 years ago – killed more than 210,000 people. Survivors of the blast – hibakusha – have been vociferous advocates for the global abandonment of nuclear weapons.
There are about 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world today, a dramatic reduction from the cold war peak of 70,000, but several countries, including Russia and North Korea are believed to be increasing and updating their stockpiles.
Labor committed in its policy platform to signing and ratifying the UN prohibition treaty in 2018, and reaffirmed this in 2021 and 2023. The government has participated as an observer at treaty meetings since 2022, but has not yet signed the treaty.
Labor’s current policy platform states: “Labor in government will sign and ratify the Ban Treaty” but with the caveats around enforcement mechanisms, complementarity with the non-proliferation treaty, and work towards universal support for the ban treaty.
Gem Romuld, Ican Australia director, said:
Eighty years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Australians are crystal clear – our country must take action to ensure these weapons are never used again. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the global pathway forward. Australians expect our government to deliver on Labor’s longstanding promise to sign and ratify the treaty, and to do so in this term of Parliament.
This is not a symbolic gesture – it is a concrete step towards a safer future. Australians across the political spectrum want to see leadership that matches our values and reflects the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Ben Doherty
Most Australians support ratifying treaty banning nuclear weapons, poll finds
Two-thirds of Australians support ratifying the global treaty banning nuclear weapons, a new national poll, released on the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, shows.
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force in 2021: 73 countries are parties to it, including the majority of Australia’s neighbours in the Pacific and south-east Asia.
The treaty bans the development, testing, stockpiling, use, and threat of nuclear weapons, advocating for their complete elimination.
None of the world’s nine nuclear weapons countries – the US, Russia, China, UK, France, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea – are parties to the treaty.
Essential Research polling commissioned by the Nobel peace prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican) Australia, shows more than two-thirds (68%) of Australians support signing and ratifying the treaty, with opposition to Australia joining the treaty at just 11%.
Kmart accused of misleading customers by sourcing clothes from factories linked to Uyghur forced labour
Kmart is facing accusations it misled customers on its ethical credentials by sourcing clothing supplies from factories in China with links to slave labour, Australian Associated Press reports.
An Australian-based Uyghur group has filed a lawsuit against the outlet in the federal court, seeking to gain documents so they can see whether it knowingly sourced stock from suppliers who used forced labour from those in the ethnic group.
In its ethical sourcing statement, Kmart said it aimed to provide products that respected human rights according to its ethical sourcing code which committed to abiding by international standards, including guidelines set out in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The lawsuit filed by the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association claims Kmart included on its 2024 and 2025 factory lists two suppliers with links to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
It said this region in China’s west has been well-documented for “systemic state-sponsored forced labour and other atrocities against Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim people”.
The group wants proof from Kmart that it has abided by its ethical sourcing promises regarding these suppliers and whether its public statements have been misleading or deceptive.
Cait Kelly
Hundreds of jobseeker payments cancelled illegally by government IT system, watchdog finds
Welfare advocates are calling for an end to mutual obligation, after the commonwealth ombudsman found the department’s automatic system unlawfully cancelled payments.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Kristin O’Connell said :
The release of this damning report is a significant moment for every person who has been subjected to compulsory activities while on a Centrelink payment and for those who have spoken up about the abuse they experienced. For the first time, welfare recipients may feel their experiences are being taken seriously and their lives being treated as valuable by someone in a position of power.
Today, the government can and must urgently stop all Centrelink payment penalties – including suspensions, reductions and cancellations – related to compulsory activities and commit to permanently removing the Targeted Compliance Framework.
Every person who has had a hand in operating these unlawful systems should feel deep shame and be held responsible for the damage done to people in poverty.
Read the full story here:
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over for Martin Farrer. Let’s dive in.
Cait Kelly
Nearly 40% of homeless Tasmanians are under 25, new data shows
TasCOSS, in collaboration with the Youth Network of Tasmania and CatholicCare Tasmania, has released new child and youth homelessness indicators, which highlight the increased rates of child and youth homelessness and the glaring gaps in the service system.
Youth Network of Tasmania CEO, Tania Hunt, said an alarming 39% (911) of homeless Tasmanians were children and young people aged 0-24 years:
Homelessness affects a person’s mental and physical health, as well as their education and employment opportunities, and their ability to participate in society – these effects are particularly damaging for children and young people.
TasCOSS chief, Adrienne Picone, said the homelessness system in Tasmania is simply not adequately resourced to meet the needs of children and young people, with 61% of people turned away from homelessness services under 25 years of age.
Tasmania’s rate of young people presenting alone to specialist homelessness services (231.7 clients per 10,000 people) is the second highest of all states and territories, only after the Northern Territory.
Faith and community groups call on PM to sanction Israel and recognise Palestine
Cait Kelly
A coalition of Australian interfaith and community organisations is calling on Anthony Albanese to sanction Israel and to urgently recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
In an open letter, the 24 groups, including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and Palestinian Christians in Australia, write:
United in solidarity with each other and with our fellow human beings in Gaza, we call on the Albanese Government to immediately impose sanctions on the Netanyahu Government and formally recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
As widely acknowledged by genocide scholars and human rights groups, including Israeli B’Tselem, the Israeli government is carrying out a genocide – killing, starving and displacing Palestinians in Gaza en masse.
We are facing a moment of profound moral reckoning. In light of clear violations of international law, it is imperative that Australia respond with urgency and use every means available to help end this horror.
It is time to stand decisively for justice, dignity, and the right of all human beings to live free from occupation and slaughter.
Sanction the Netanyahu Government now. Recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
Queensland teachers to strike from today
Andrew Messenger
Members of the Queensland Teachers’ Union will walk off the job today for the first time since 2009.
About 50,000 union members are expecting to strike without pay, with thousands of Brisbane members planning to march on parliament. Members will also gather in several regional locations, including Cairns, Townsville, the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba.
The QTU president, Cresta Richardson, said the union was protesting against a pay offer in a new enterprise bargaining agreement from the state government that would “place members at the bottom end of the Australian pay scale in three years”, after months of negotiations.
Our members have voted unanimously to send this government a clear message. We are united and dedicated to turning around the exodus of burned-out teachers and school leaders from our schools. Our students and school communities need the government to do its job.
Queensland’s state government is currently locked in negotiation with several public sector unions, including the nurses’ union, Professionals Australia and the Queensland Professional Firefighters Union. Conciliation over teachers’ bargaining will soon begin at the Industrial Relations Commission.
Josh Taylor
Apple and YouTube not tracking number of child sexual abuse reports, eSafety commissioner says
YouTube and Apple have not been tracking the number of users reporting child sexual abuse on their platforms, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has said.
In the latest transparency report from eSafety covering Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Discord, WhatsApp and Skype, both Apple and Google also failed to provide numbers on trust and safety staff employed at the companies.
In the reports covering what the platforms are doing to tackle child sexual abuse on their services, Inman Grant said many of the issues identified by her office in 2022 and 2023 had not been addressed meaningfully.
She said:
In the case of Apple services and Google’s YouTube, they didn’t even answer our questions about how many user reports they received about child sexual abuse on their services or details of how many Trust & Safety personnel Apple and Google have on-staff.
It shows that when left to their own devices, these companies aren’t prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services.
The companies are required to report to her every six months.
Anthony Albanese speaks to Emmanuel Macron about Gaza, climate and trade
The prime minister had a chat on the phone with France’s president overnight, according to an official readout passed on to the media.
It said Albanese and Macron spoke about the crisis in Gaza and “their ongoing commitment to getting aid to civilians”.
Both leaders discussed their longstanding support for a two state solution (France recently committed to recognising a Palestinian state, but the readout didn’t say if this specifically came up).
They also discussed action on climate and France’s support for Australia’s joint bid to host Cop 31 in partnership with the Pacific.
They agreed on “the importance of finalising the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement”, the readout said, and signed off by promising to “stay in close touch and meet again at the United Nations General Assembly in September”.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best stories making news this morning before Nick Visser steps up to the plate.
Teachers in Queensland are going on strike today over pay in their first walk out since 2009. Approximately 50,000 teachers will be striking without pay with thousands planning to march through Brisbane to highlight their claim. More coming up.
There’s more pressure on Anthony Albanese to take more action against Israel this morning, this time from interfaith and community groups including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, and Palestinian Christians in Australia. It comes amid reports this morning that the prime minister has spoken to the head of the UN and also to the head of the Palestinian Authority as he explores ways to help end the Gaza war. More coming up.
Speaking of which, Albanese also spoke with France’s Emmanuel Macron overnight, and the discussion included Gaza. More on that very soon.
The retail chain Kmart is facing accusations it misled customers on its ethical credentials by sourcing clothing supplies from factories in China with links to slave labour. It is being sued by an Australian-based Uyghur group at the federal court. More details shortly.
