Woman in Syrian detention camp returning to Australia
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has revealed the woman held in a Syrian detention camp who was issued a temporary exclusion order, barring her from entering Australia, has applied for and been granted a return permit.
Burke said the woman will be under “every possible condition” – including monitoring where she lives, works, if she studies, and will be restricted from using any telecommunications device including a mobile phone or pay phone, unless she gives 24 hours notice and provides a reason for use.
Speaking to ABC’s AM program, Burke said she was the last remaining woman who was in the camp:
double quotation mark The temporary exclusion order applies until a permit is issued. And when a permit is requested, a permit lawfully has to be issued.I’ve been working through with my department, my agencies, Australian federal police and Asio, and with the lawyers to see every possible condition we can put on that permit … But we received the final advice yesterday that we can no longer have an exclusion condition any longer for her.
There will be a very high level of scrutiny and surveillance … that’s the absolute legal limit we’ve been able to go to and our agencies are ready.
Key events
How will the Community Strong Australia party be funded?
Show me the money!
That’s the big question hanging over the group – but Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall say that it will be community backed, and not funded by Climate 200.
Steggall says the money is “going to need to be built from the ground up.”
Asked whether major teal donors Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brooks will back the new party, Steggall initially avoids the question, but after a push by host, Sally Sara, Spender answers “no”.
Steggall does the majority of the speaking in the interview:
double quotation mark It will be for individuals who care about our politics, who will have the capacity to contribute, whether that be big or small, to enable a new choice at the table of our politics.
‘Australia is at a crossroads politically’: Steggall and Spender launch party
The women behind the new Community Strong Australia party are in the hot seat(s) on RN Breakfast, to launch their new party which they say will be centrist and give all their members a free vote.
Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender also say there won’t be a leader (at least until they build their party to 10 MPs and senators).
Steggall promises the party will be focused on the same “core pillars” that the teals have pushed – sensible economic management, climate action, integrity and equality.
She says:
double quotation mark I think Australia is at a crossroads politically where many people in our communities feel really unheard and feel that the major parties are out of touch, excuse me, but also are worried about the growing level of disunity and anger and some of the very divisive rhetoric that comes out of politicians in this place.
Steggall says the party will be like a sports team (which famously, do have captains/leaders), because “there is no capacity to deliver a performance without everyone pulling their weight and everything doing well. I think we all bring different skills and attributes to the table.”
‘Be careful how you protest,’ says Burgess
Burgess says the war in the Middle East has “added to the frustrations and anger in society” but the issue is broader.
He tells RN Breakfast society is now “quick to anger” and that the “level of tolerance is not what it used to be”, warning people to be careful in how they protest and cautioning the media against clickbait headlines that drive anger.
Burgess says:
double quotation mark There’s a number of drivers behind this and not one single ideology. And there’s something else that’s gone on in society where we’re quick to anger. We don’t debate. The level of tolerance is not what it used to be.If people just took the heat out of the debate, by all means protest, but be careful how you protest. For the media, certainly continue to do your job, but be careful how you do your job. For any of us, including myself. Well, you know, the clickbait of media these days, no offence to anyone, but those headlines drive anger. And actually, when you see people get angry, there is a direct correlation in these modern times between anger and language, inflame language, inflame tension, and violence.
Iran state-sponsored terrorism a ‘pressing and ongoing concern’: Burgess
The Asio director-general, Mike Burgess, tells RN Breakfast he’s concerned about the ongoing threat of state-sponsored terrorism by Iran. Burgess revealed last year that his agency believed Iran was behind at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia.
Burgess says:
double quotation mark That is a pressing and ongoing concern. Earlier this year in Europe, Iran-backed groups conducted attacks in Europe and we’re concerned that those operations will expand into this region, including Australia, and that could result in more arsons and even death of Australians.
Last night he broadly revealed the agency had foiled 31 major terror plots, including one major plot since the Bondi terror attack.
Burgess also defended the agency’s resourcing, after the royal commission into antisemitism revealed the proportion of funding allocated to counter-terrorism significantly declined from 2020 to 2025, despite funding to intelligence agencies increasing overall.
The director-general said:
double quotation mark For Asio, we increased our resources on counter-terrorism when we raised the threat level in August [2024] and we increased in the months before Bondi.
Burgess says he’s still concerned about the threat of antisemitic attacks, but that the threat is broader, and faces all Australians.
Burgess says Asio ‘ready for the return’ of Isis-linked woman
Mike Burgess says Asio has been involved and is ready for the arrival of the Isis-linked woman, who has been granted a return permit and will be the final woman to leave the Syrian detention camp.
The woman, who was previously handed a temporary exclusion order, later applied for a return permit, which was granted by authorities. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, revealed the news just moments ago.
Burgess says:
double quotation mark Of course we were involved, and yes, I’m satisfied that my organisation is ready for the return.Asio is not all-seeing and all-knowing and we don’t want to be, but I can assure your listeners that actually the full use of my organisation’s capability and powers will be used when this individual returns to this country.
Burgess concerned Australian civilian could be killed at the hands of a foreign government
Mike Burgess says he’s really concerned about the level some nation-states, like Iran, could go to cause harm against Australians.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, the spy boss says the security level is worsening and we could see an Australian killed at the hands of a foreign government.
He says countries doing bad things isn’t new, but it’s not common in Australia.
double quotation mark Targeted killing … that could be a prominent Australian that is killed or everyday Australians just about going about their business. So I am really concerned about the actions of some nation-states, Iran in particular, and the level they will go to. That’s why we describe our security environment as degraded because some nation-states will plumb the depths and go to extreme levels that we would find unacceptable and horrible.At this point in time with a dynamic, diverse integrated security environment, we are really concerned about this.
Burgess made his annual threat address last night.
‘It’s a really simple question’: Burke berates Taylor
Finally, Burke is asked to weigh in on Pauline Hanson’s push for a “monocultural” Australia (which she yesterday tried to claim the Socceroos were a good example of), and Angus Taylor’s subsequent struggle to answer whether he supports multiculturalism.
Burke says Australia has “never been monocultural” and said it was odd Taylor couldn’t answer the question.
double quotation mark To talk about multicultural Australia is to just talk about modern Australia, to talk about who we are and who we’ve always been. And I find it really odd. I saw Angus Taylor unable to answer the question. Like it’s a really simple question.
Government reviewing threat levels, says Burke
Tony Burke says the government is reviewing the structure of the terror threat levels, after the spy boss, Mike Burgess, last night claimed the current system doesn’t adequately describe the circumstances the country faces.
Burke tells ABC AM the current threat level is “probable” and the level up from there is “expected”, but there’s a spectrum within that.
Asked by host Mel Clarke whether the government is considering changing the system to include more gradations or different descriptions of threats, Burke says that’s “part of what we’re considering at the moment”.
double quotation mark What Mike Burgess was making very clear last night is it has continued to increase the intensity of the threat level since we originally did the escalation to probable.There is a review that’s happening on that … Different countries, particularly our Five Eyes partners, everyone does it a slightly different way and we’re looking at that. The thing that matters is making sure that the Australian people, but also all the law enforcement agencies, get the best possible information. And so in the absence of there being a change in label, last night’s speech served that exact purpose.
Woman in Syrian detention camp returning to Australia
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has revealed the woman held in a Syrian detention camp who was issued a temporary exclusion order, barring her from entering Australia, has applied for and been granted a return permit.
Burke said the woman will be under “every possible condition” – including monitoring where she lives, works, if she studies, and will be restricted from using any telecommunications device including a mobile phone or pay phone, unless she gives 24 hours notice and provides a reason for use.
Speaking to ABC’s AM program, Burke said she was the last remaining woman who was in the camp:
double quotation mark The temporary exclusion order applies until a permit is issued. And when a permit is requested, a permit lawfully has to be issued.I’ve been working through with my department, my agencies, Australian federal police and Asio, and with the lawyers to see every possible condition we can put on that permit … But we received the final advice yesterday that we can no longer have an exclusion condition any longer for her.
There will be a very high level of scrutiny and surveillance … that’s the absolute legal limit we’ve been able to go to and our agencies are ready.
Steggall and Spender launch ‘Community Strong Australia’ party
After months of speculation, Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have this morning officially announced the new Community Strong Australia party.
Being a party, rather than independents, will mean they get access to extra funding under legislation that was passed by the Labor government last term (which the crossbench were furious about).
They say they’ll support community-backed candidates and representatives “who share a commitment to integrity, climate action, economic prosperity, practical solutions and genuine engagement with the people they represent”.
In a statement, Steggall said:
double quotation mark The community independent movement has shown what’s possible when people unite around shared values and practical solutions. Community Strong Australia is about extending that opportunity to more Australians.
But other teals aren’t yet joining the fray – Nicolette Boele, who was elected last year to the Sydney seat of Bradfield, issued a statement this morning saying: “For now, I am remaining independent”, but called it a “significant day”.
We’ll be hearing more from them this morning.
Josh Butler
Hanson says Farley’s mistaken vote alongside teals ‘a problem’
Pauline Hanson says she hauled new MP David Farley into her office after he voted alongside teals and Greens to wind back fuel tax credits for miners, admitting it was a “problem” and that he had made a mistake.
The One Nation leader tried to explain Farley’s vote as an error because “he’s got no staff in his office” and had suffered from the absence of colleague Barnaby Joyce – who is in London this week, instead of being in parliament.
“I had two discussions with him today … and I was point-blank with him,” Hanson told Sky host Andrew Bolt on Wednesday night.
double quotation mark Look, you say, you shouldn’t be making a mistake. Can I tell you something? It is a bloody robust place in here, and the fact is, he’s got no staff in his office, Barnaby’s not around.
Farley said he mistakenly voted alongside more progressive members on an amendment to wind back fuel tax credits, and that he later unsuccessfully tried to change his vote once he realised his mistake.
Hanson said Farley has “made some previous mistakes and I’m not going to deny that, I will own it”.
double quotation mark But said to David, ‘This is a problem … I’ve worked 30 years to get here to stand up and fight for the Australian people.’ And I said, ‘Your performance in there is going to reflect on me and the One Nation. My members here that we’ve worked so hard to represent the Australian people.’And he said ‘Pauline I’m orange.’ He said, ‘I agree with all your policies.’ And he said it was a mistake.
Hanson said she would lend Farley staff from her office next week to help out in his office.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
The sitting week is ending with a bang, as teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender announce the formation of a party after months of “will they, won’t they” speculation. More on that shortly.
Australia’s spy boss, Mike Burgess, has claimed an Australian citizen working as a senior intelligence officer for Iran “orchestrated” a firebombing in Bondi, in his annual threat assessment.
And Pauline Hanson has had to explain why her colleague, the new One Nation MP David Farley, voted on with the Greens and teals to wind back fuel tax credits for miners, farmers and others.
It’s going to be another busy day. Let’s get cracking!
Giving voters ‘a fair crack’ will restore trust in politics: Albanese
Tom McIlroy
Anthony Albanese will address the Committee for Economic Development of Australia summit in Canberra today, insisting Labor’s appetite for tough political reforms will help restore trust in government.
Amid a surge in support for Pauline Hanson and One Nation, Albanese will argue tax reform and measures to address housing shortages around the country is difficult but necessary.
Albanese will say:
double quotation mark The easy political option in that situation is to kick the can down the road. To try and explain away, or work around, a system that isn’t working.And while that might be the easy choice – it’s not the right one. The privilege of serving in government demands more of you than that.
Albanese will argue it is not enough to acknowledge people’s frustration.
double quotation mark You can’t just nod along while young Australians tell you that the deck is stacked against them. You have to do something to give them a fair crack. That is the choice our government has made.
Electricity use in Australia is expected to nearly double by 2050, says Aemo
Adam Morton
Electricity use in Australia is expected to nearly double by 2050, but the rise of battery storage has led the market operator to scale back the amount of new transmission lines it thinks will be needed to get the energy around the country.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has released its integrated system plan – a blueprint for the optimal future grid that is updated every two years.
It again found the least-cost system would run on renewable energy supported by energy storage – batteries and pumped hydro – and new transmission lines. Fast-start gas plants would be turned on when needed as backup.
Since the last blueprint in 2024, solar energy and batteries have become cheaper and wind and transmission have become more expensive.
Aemo said under its main “step change” scenario about 6,000km of new transmission would be needed by 2050. But 1,680km of potential transmission listed in 2024 would no longer be required due to investment in generation and storage, and changes in policy.
The plan would cost about $106bn in annualised capital investment, including $6bn on new transmission lines – down from $16bn two years ago.
Aemo’s chief executive, Daniel Westerman, said:
double quotation mark Over the forecast period, Australia’s ageing coal-fired power stations will close … At the same time, consumers are continuing to invest in rooftop solar and home batteries. [That] benefits all consumers by reducing the need for grid-scale investment.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
There will be plenty of politics to come but we start with good news: thanks to the recent boom in batteries connected to the national power grid, we’re going to save money on new transmission lines. That’s despite our power use being expected to nearly double in the next decade or so.
Plus: as debate still swirls around Labor’s tax changes, Domain predicts the three cities where house prices will still continue to rise, despite … everything.
