Key Points
- Larissa Waters becomes Greens Leader
- Manhunt for detainee who attacked immigration workers
- Perth Bears appoint Anthony De Ceglie as CEO
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Senator Larissa Waters will lead the Greens, with the minor party electing her as leader at a party room meeting today.
Senator Waters will replace former leader Adam Bandt, who lost the seat of Melbourne at the federal election.
The Greens retained all Senate seats in the May election, and now holds the sole balance of power in the upper house.
Larissa Waters has been a Senator since 2011, with a brief gap between 2017-2018, when she was forced to resign as part of the Section 44 saga.
Under that section of the Constitution, no politician was allowed to hold dual citizenship or any other form of allegiance to another nation.
In Ms Waters’ case, she had been born in Canada.
Refugee advocates are calling on Anthony Albanese to use his talks with the Indonesian President to improve conditions for refugees awaiting resettlement options in Indonesia.
The Australian government announced in 2014 that it would no longer take refugees or asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Indonesia.
The decision has left thousands of people in limbo until a third country accepts them.
The Refugee Council of Australia is urging the government to lift the ban and lead the region in refugee resettlement.
Speaking to SBS, Australia director at Human Rights Watch, Danielle Gavshon, says the issue is one of many human rights concerns the Prime Minister should be raising.
“Another significant issue that we would like to see the prime minister discussing with Indonesia is the prime minister committing to raising the ban on resettling refugees that have arrived in Indonesia since 2014. So, this is something that Indonesian civil society groups have also raised around the visit, and it’s a really significant issue that the Albanese government should be addressing at the moment.”
New South Wales Police are searching for a man who attacked two immigration detention centre contractors, while they were transferring him to Sydney Airport.
The 28-year-old man was being driven from Villawood Detention Centre to Sydney Airport when police allege, he attacked the driver and passenger with a sharpened metal object.
Superintendent Simon Glasser says police are urging the public for assistance if they see the man.
“Police are asking for public assistance now to locate a 28-year-old male, who may be able assistance with our inquiries. He is a Tongan national, he’s described as 28 years old, Islander appearance, large build, is about 180 centimetres tall and unshaven.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he received a message of profound courage from jailed pro-democracy blogger Yang Hengjun.
Dr Yang has been imprisoned in China since 2019, after the Australian writer was found guilty of espionage charges, which he has always denied.
In a handwritten letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Yang has issued a fresh plea to Australian leaders to bring him home.
Mr Albanese says he is doing his best to push for Dr Yang’s release.
“I was also written to by Dr Yang. It was a message of profound courage and resilience and hope, despite his difficult circumstances. And we continue to advocate for Dr Yang’s interests and wellbeing at every opportunity, and I have certainly asked our ambassador to convey that very directly to Dr Yang.”
Hundreds of people have staged a silent march through the Eurovision host city of Basel.
They are protesting Israel’s participation in the competition, despite ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
As Israel announces plans to occupy Gaza and continues its months long blockade of the enclave, demonstrators are calling for it to be excluded from the annual song contest.
Since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been excluded from the Eurovision competition.
Protesters like Lea Kobler say Israel should face the same treatment.
“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not, it’s not. How can we rightfully exclude Russia, but we’re still welcoming Israel, who is doing horrendous things to so many people, and we just welcome them here and parade them and say ‘oh hello’, and they’re committing a genocide and war crimes and nobody’s doing anything.”
To sport now, the National Rugby League has launched a bid to win over Perth’s media, appointing a former editor-in-chief of The West Australian newspaper as the new Bears chief executive.
Head office has confirmed Anthony De Ceglie will be the inaugural Perth CEO, appointing him to the role before a board is even in place.
De Ceglie will therefore be charged with helping put the club together, with one of the most pressing jobs being to appoint a new coach for their 2027 entry.
De Ceglie was most recently the director of news and current affairs at Seven West Media, having been promoted after overseeing Western Australia’s flagship newspaper.
