Australian news and politics live: Temporary ban imposed on ‘ISIS bride’, blocking her return from Syria

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We’ll be back tomorrow with live coverage of Australian news and politics as it happens.

Your first curation of today’s news is available in The Nightly’s edition below:

Government officials are scrambling to find out more details about 13 Australian fighters with suspected ISIS-links who have recently been transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US-led military operation.

The Nightly can reveal the Australian prisoners are among almost 6000 captured terrorists who have been moved to Baghdad for interrogations ahead of trials related to crimes in Iraq.

According to an Arabic document recently issued by the Iraqi Correctional Service, 5704 suspected Islamic state-linked foreign fighters and affiliates have now been taken to the Al-Karkh Central Prison.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson has told The Nightly it was “aware of reports that the US is transferring prisoners from northeast Syria to Iraq. We are seeking further details with relevant authorities.”

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The Bondi royal commission will hold its first public hearing next week, where commissioner Virginia Bell will explain how she intends to approach the task.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese established the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion in early January, after resisting weeks of calls for the broad-ranging inquiry.

“I acknowledge the importance of addressing anti-Semitism within the Australian community,” Ms Bell said on Wednesday.

“I plan to conduct the inquiry as expeditiously as possible so that I can deliver a report containing my findings and recommendations not later than the first anniversary of the anti-Semitic terrorist attack that took place at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025.”

The hearing will be held at 10.30am AEDT on Tuesday, February 24 and will be livestreamed via the commission’s website.

Anthony Albanese says he’ll lobby Laotian prime minister for justice over the 2024 deaths of two Australian teens from methanol-poisoning while backpacking in the south-east Asian nation.

Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones, both aged 19, died after a mass methanol poisoning incident during a night out at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng on November 13.

The Prime Minister confirmed on Wednesday he would hold talks with Sonexay Siphandone after 10 people linked to the hostel and convicted of destroying evidence were fined less than $200 earlier this month.

Speaking on Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday, Mr Albanese admitted that Canberra could have “done better” in keeping families up to date with the process.

“Certainly, DFAT needed to have done better, and we made that clear to them, but they’re seeking justice,” the PM said.

“My heart breaks. No one should lose their child in any circumstance, let alone under these circumstances.

“I agreed with them that I would talk directly to the prime minister of Laos, and we’ll be trying to establish that at this stage.

“That discussion will take place next week, just to assert Australia’s very clear position that we want justice to be done here.”

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Liberal Senator David Sharma says the Albanese Government only acted on a so-called “ISIS bride” after coming under political pressure, after the Home Affairs Minister announced a temporary ban on one woman wishing to return from Syria.

“The security interests of Australians and Australians who live here should be put first here. I think the Government has only acted because they came under political pressure,” he told ABC TV.

“If you look at their actions in the past, they have tried to allow these people to return home on the quiet without declaring to the public who they are, whether a security agency has made an active assessment about a temporary exclusion order or any other number of considerations.

“I would raise one more point, Anthony Albanese has been saying these people have been issued passports because it’s the normal course of the law. Well, section 14 of the passports act makes clear there’s discretion to refuse the granting of a passport if that person may prejudice the security of Australians. That discretion is there. That discretion has not been exercised.”

ACT Policing has confirmed two people allegedly threw rocks and a suspicious item at a hotel hosting a major defence conference in Canberra on Wednesday.

“About 9am this morning, police responded to reports of a disturbance at a hotel on Commonwealth Avenue,” a police spokesperson said.

“Police believe two people threw rocks and a suspicious item at the building, causing minor property damage. No injuries were reported to police.

“The item was seized by the AFP Bomb Response Team and it was determined the item was not an explosive device.

“About 12pm, police conducting a search of the hotel located unattended backpacks in a conference room.

“Occupants were removed from the room to another part of the hotel while it was searched and the bag was assessed.

“About 12.30pm, the bags were deemed to not be suspicious and the owners were located.”

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A temporary exclusion order has been placed on one of the Australian women previously linked to ISIS, blocking her from returning from Syria.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed the decision, saying security agencies had advised the Government to act in relation to one individual within the group.

“I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a temporary exclusion order, which was made on advice from security agencies,” he said.

“At this stage security agencies have not provided advice that other members of the cohort meet the required legal thresholds for temporary exclusion orders.”

The development comes as 11 women with alleged ISIS links and 23 children currently held in the Roj detention camp in northeast Syria seek approval to travel to Damascus in a bid to secure flights back to Australia.

The group is being assisted on the ground by prominent Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi, who is understood to be a friend of Mr Burke.

Mr Burke said he had not discussed the matter with Dr Rifi.

“I have no information other than what I’ve seen in the media about whether Dr Jamal Rifi is in Australia or overseas. He has not discussed any plans with me, nor would he have any reason to,” Mr Burke said.

Workers have seen their pay levels go backwards compared with inflation for the first time since late 2023, unless they’re a public servant.

Despite the bad news for most workers, Treasurer Jim Chalmers hailed the result as a triumph, noting the wage price index had been above 3 per cent for 14 straight quarters, which in the December quarter was meaningless when it lagged behind inflation.

“So, 14 quarters in a row where we’ve seen wages growth north of three per cent - didn’t happen once in annual terms in the 35 quarters of our predecessors,” he told reporters in Brisbane.

“Of course, with inflation higher than we’d like, that has implications for the real wages calculation but the overwhelming story of this Labor government has been real wages growth.”

He made the claim even though overall pay levels have now gone backwards in seven of the 15 quarters since Labor came to power in May 2022 on a campaign built around getting wages moving again.

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A protest calling on the Government to “sanction Israel” and “cut all ties with organisations complicit in genocide” had been planned for later on Wednesday, with it currently unclear if it is linked to the two incidents that have already rocked a Canberra defence conference.

Details of a planned protest were published online prior to the conference, claiming to be hosted by Students and Staff Against War ANU and Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN).

A page published on the website Green Left said the protest would also call on the Government to “remove restrictions on Palestine protests and on the right to criticise Israel”.

The event was advertised to commence from 4.30pm, with it currently unclear if the incidents are linked to the plan.

Police have cleared a conference room in Canberra during a speech by Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, after the apparent discovery of a suspicious package.

Mr Conroy was addressing the ADM conference at Canberra’s historic Hyatt Hotel when hundreds of delegates were told by police to leave.

Earlier in the day, protestors smashed a window at the venue during a speech by Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, causing panic among attendees.

That incident prompted the Prime Minister to again urge people to “turn the temperature down across society”.

Stay with us as we bring you breaking details.