News and politics live updates: Katy Gallagher defends conduct in Higgins case as ‘entirely appropriate’

An Australian man is facing the death penalty in Syria over the alleged murder of a fellow national.

Gold Coast man Patrick Stevenson, 20, has been detained for seven months in Syria over the shooting death of another Australian man Abdullah Glen Charles Burgess in December.

The penalty for pre-meditated murder in Syria is punishable by death.

However, Mr Stevenson could be spared execution under Syria’s legal system if Mr Burgess’s widow grants forgiveness in the form of a blood-money payment.

Read the full story here.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has defended the government’s laws allowing the repatriation of ISIS-linked Australians.

The comments come as Pauline Hanson has said she wants to introduce a bill to ban accused terrorists from returning to Australia.

Mr Burke warned that doing so could set a dangerous precedent.

“There are about 750 every year who I make leave,” he said.

“About 750 people where I make sure that their countries have to take them back.

“And I would not want to go down a path where somehow we started a principle where countries don’t have to take their citizens back.

“It is absolutely in the interests of Australian national security that we keep to the principle that countries take their citizens back.”

The Reserve Bank’s chief economist Sarah Hunter is worried Australians will expect inflation to stay high which could potentially lead to higher prices for longer.

She is the first RBA official to speak since official data showed inflation moderated to 3.8 per cent in June, down from May’s annual pace of 4 per cent, to be at the lowest level since February before the US strikes on Iran pushed up crude oil prices.

“We obviously want to get inflation back down and what we want to make sure is we don’t see higher expectations become embedded - that’s really critical for a central bank,” Dr Hunter told a Barrenjoey chat in Sydney on Thursday.

“It is one of our north stars - we have to hang on to that.”

She spoke shortly before the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed a 47.1 per cent surge in petroleum prices during the June quarter, marking the biggest surge over three months in records going back to 1983.

Dr Hunter said higher crude oil prices made it hard for the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates during a time of weak economy activity.

“This type of shock is really tricky for central banks because it just worsens the trade-off,” she said.

The US military has launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, describing the attack as a “powerful response” to earlier missile attacks in Jordan.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) made the announcement on social media after Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” in retaliation for a ballistic missile strike on US forces.

”US forces began launching strikes against Iran at 8pm ET today,” CENTCOM wrote on X.

“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces mased in the Middle East.”

Anika Wells has thrown her support behind The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) court fight against Optus over a deadly triple-0 outage in September 2025.

The Communications Minister said the allegations against the major telco company were “serious”, and supported the decision to launch legal proceedings into the national outage that lastest 13 hours and has been linked to two deaths.

“Australians rightly expect to reach triple-zero when they need it most, and telcos are legally obligated to ensure that connection occurs,” Ms Wells said in a statement.

“As the matter is now before the court, I will not be making further comment at this time.”

Australia’s telecommunication regulator has revealed it has commenced legal action against Optus over a deadly triple-0 outage.

The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) announced on Thursday morning it had commenced Federal Court proceedings against the company.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said access to emergency call services was “essential to protect the Australian public”.

“Australians rightly expect that when they call triple-0, their call will connect,” she said.

“The circumstances of this outage meant that did not reliably occur, leaving people unable to connect to potentially lifesaving services.”

The legal action follows a 14-hour outage for Optus customers that began in the early hours of September 18 and left some customers unable to reach emergency services.

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Anika Wells has endorsed the eSafety Commission’s move to take legal action against Telegram over alleged terrorist content on the platform.

“Telegram needs to explain to Australian users – and the Federal Court – why it has allegedly not complied with Australian laws,” the Communications Minister said.

“Following a year-long investigation, eSafety alleges that Telegram has failed to detect, disrupt and deter pro-terror material and accounts, including after reports by Australian users were made.

“This is the first enforcement action in the Federal Court taken by the eSafety Commissioner under the Albanese government’s Unlawful Material Codes and Standards, which came into effect a year ago.”

The deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has now been detected in Victoria, marking another step in the virus’s spread across Australia’s southern coastline.

Agriculture Victoria confirmed a greater crested tern found near Portland, in the state’s south-west, tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza strain.

The discovery comes just days after authorities confirmed local transmission of H5N1 for the first time in Australia among greater crested terns in South Australia.

The virus first arrived in Australia in June when it was detected in a brown skua at Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance in Western Australia.

Since then, it has spread through migratory seabirds, with further detections including a giant petrel in Western Australia and infected birds at Knights Beach in South Australia, close to the Victorian border.

​Read more.​

A senior Nationals senator has welcomed One Nation’s Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill, pledging to work “in good faith” with the minor party when parliament returns next month.

The Australian revealed on Wednesday that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had sent the 22-page Bill and a lengthy explainer to fellow crossbenchers.

It was accompanied by a missive criticising Opposition Leader Angus Taylor for not responding to another letter she penned to him last week – something he remedied that evening, according to the paper.

The Bill proposes a foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order, barring those on one from entering the country.

​​Read the full story here.​​

Police say Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling remains in custody following his arrest this morning over the alleged assault of the Northern Territory’s Administrator David Connolly.

The 54-year-old member for Solomon is accaused of assaulting the Administrator at Darwin’s Thai Festival on 18 July.

Mr Gosling initially denied the incident had occured describing the claims as “ridiculous”.

NT Police say investigations began last week and Mr Gosling was arrested earlier this morning and he remains in custody.