TRANSCRIPT
- Australia gets its first-ever antisemitism envoy
- China is directly accused of cyber-espionage for the first time by Australia
- Queensland confident home-ground advantage will play a big role in the deciding State of Origin game
The government has appointed lawyer and businesswoman Jillian Segal as Australia's first antisemitism envoy.
It was expected the position would be announced alongside an Islamophobia envoy, which the government says will be announced shortly.
Ms Segal will advise the government on issues relating to antisemitism and social cohesion, and engage with the community to increase understanding.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says combating antisemitic feeling is especially important in the wake of the current conflict in the Middle East.
"It is important that we combat discrimination in all of its forms. We have seen, since October 7 last year, a significant rise in antisemitism in Australia. That is why the government has made the decision to appoint a special envoy on anti-Semitism, and I'm very pleased that Jillian Segal has agreed to take up that role."
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The Jewish Council of Australia has expressed concern over the appointment of Jillian Segal as Australia's antisemitism envoy.
Ms Segal is the immediate past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, a peak body representing Jewish organisations in Australia.
The Jewish Council of Australia says it was concerned about the appointment of a pro-Israel advocate to the position, and that the envoy will fail to distinguish between Jewishness and support for Israel.
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Alice Springs residents have woken after the first night of a curfew designed to reduce crime.
The three-night curfew, applied by local police, applies to all people and, geographically, to the town centre between the hours of 10am and 6pm.
It has been instituted after a wave of crime last weekend, including a brawl involving 80 people.
Robyn Lambley is the independent M-P who represents the area in the territory's parliament.
She told the Channel Seven a longer-term solution has to be found that involves buy-in from the entire community, particularly including local Indigenous organisations.
"Well, the long-term solution is very difficult. And we've all been chipping away at that for many decades. It's about housing. It's about making sure kids go to school. And we have to make everyone who gets government funding accountable for where that goes. There's a lot of questions around whether or not some Aboriginal organisations are actually delivering for their people. It's an ongoing problem. We can never take our eye off the ball. And we need as much help as we can get."
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The federal government has, for the first time, published an advisory that attributes malicious cyber activities to a group acting on behalf of China.
The Australian Signals Directorate says the notorious APT40 group has been targeting Australian government and private sector networks, and says it will continue to do so.
APT40 is considered a Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage group.
In one case in April of 2022, APT40 was able to steal several hundred unique usernames and passwords from an Australian entity.
While Australia has previous joined international partners in attributing hacking to China, this is the first Australian-led, direct technical attribution of malicious cyber activity to a Chinese state-sponsored actor.
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Australia has joined international condemnation of Russia's latest fatal missile attacks on Ukraine- most notably, one on a children's hospital in the capital, Kyiv.
At least 36 civilians, including two children, have been killed in rare daytime air attacks across the country.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the attacks are abhorrent, and Australia continues to support the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine's President, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, is vowing revenge for the attacks.
"Ukrainian, then translated "Beyond any doubt, we are going to rebuild everything that these terrorists have destroyed. And beyond any doubt, we are going to answer these savages from Russia. Everybody that was injured will get all necessary help, and we pledge to work on bringing Russia to justice for the terror, and Putin for his orders to carry out these strikes."
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In rugby league,
Queensland hooker Ben Hunt says playing at home brings the best out of his side, as they looks to bounce back from a 20 point loss in next week's third and deciding game of the State of Origin series against New South Wales in Brisbane.
Coach Billy Slater has reshuffled Queensland's backline for the final game, with Kayln Ponga and Dane Gagai returning to the side after their loss in game two.
Hunt says Queensland is comforted by the fact they have previously bounced back from a game two defeat to win game three in Brisbane and win the series.
"It's definitely a pretty bad defeat down in Melbourne and, something that, you know, we were looking at and looking to improve and you know, we were there in that same year 2022, we had a pretty bad loss in game two I believe and then come to Brisbane and obviously won in a tight game and I think it's going to be like that come Wednesday night. It's going to be a real, real tight battle. It's going to be a tough game and one that both teams are going to be up for."
