Herzog wants Albanese to visit Israel | Evening News Bulletin 29 May 2025
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The Prime Minister is under pressure from party members and others to introduce sanctions on senior Israeli politicians as threatened by other nations.
Several media outlets, such as the Australian Financial Review, are reporting that Israeli President Isaac Herzog has invited Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit Israel, days after the he condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Reports say the Israeli President told a delegation of Australian journalists that he would welcome a visit from Mr Albanese.
Following further calls to impose sanctions, Mr Albanese has this week expressed scepticism about the measure.
Greens leader Larissa Waters says it’s disappointing to see the Prime Minister back away from sanctions.
“What a disappointment that Australia, once again, is nowhere near leading the pack, calling for the protection of human rights and sanctioning, what is a devastating crime against humanity. I think there’s many voices, now, even inside the Prime Minister’s own party, that are saying sanctions are necessary.”
While it could take over a year for some flood insurance claims to be resolved, one-off payments for affected individuals in New South Wales will be available tomorrow [[30/05]].
Those eligible will receive a one-off $180 payment, or up to $900 per household, to assist with costs such as food, clothing, medicine and emergency accommodation.
More than 6000 insurance claims have already been filed and federal assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino says 90 to 95 per cent should be resolved within a year.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says it is important that people know they have support.
“This is a massive undertaking, seeing this community get back on its feet to make sure that targeted assistance in fact, works. That the infrastructure is built and that people who are potentially going through the worst day, month, week of their life are in a position to get help from their governments.”
Protesters are gathering in Perth to voice their outrage over the government’s approval of a major gas project expansion in Western Australia.
New federal environment minister Murray Watt has given fossil fuel giant Woodside the green light to extend it’s North West Shelf gas project to 2070.
The approval was given despite concerns relating to both the environmental degradation and the degradation of scared Indigenous artworks in the region.
Among the protesters is Dr Colin Hughes.
He tells S-B-S that the older generation is not doing enough to protect future generations.
“We somehow think that investing in our superannuation, which gives us great returns from Woodside and the fossil fuel industry, is making us feel very rich, so that we can buy yet a bigger car and go on more overseas trips. It is our generation, our grandparents, our boomers, that have actually caused this because we haven’t done anything for the last 30 years.”
The Victorian government has moved an urgent legislative amendment in the upper house today to ward off potential legal challenges to its appointment of Mike Bush as the new Victoria Police Chief Commissioner.
Mr Bush, a former New Zealand police boss, is not an Australian ciitzen.
Premier Jacinta Allan will not reveal the exact date the government discovered the eligibility issue, only saying it was during the course of organising paperwork for the appointment.
She says the changes to the law are out of an abundance of caution.
“It’s an archaic law, it’s not just or right, particularly when you consider that one of Victoria’s great strengths is we are a diverse, multicultural state with so many people from around the world choosing Victoria as the place to live and work we attract the best and brightest from the world over.”
The opposition is accusing the government of bungling the situation.
U-S President Donald Trump says he won’t back down on his tariffs policy, despite a court blocking it.
A three-person Federal Court decision in New York has blocked the tariff measures, ruling that Mr Trump overstepped his authority in bypassing Congress to impose sweeping measures.
Mr Trump claims he was allowed to bypass Congress because he says the U-S trade deficit was a national emergency and grants powers to invoke the 1977 Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The administration is expected to appeal against the decision.
Mr Trump has hit back at questions around if he will use the court decision to back out of the tariffs, which include a ten per cent baseline tariff on Australian good and services.
“This country was dying. You know, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. I went to Saudi Arabia. The king told me. He said, you got the hottest– we have the hottest country in the world right now. Six months ago, this country was stone cold dead. We had a dead country. We had a country people didn’t think it was going to survive and you ask a nasty question like that.”
The anniversary of the landmark ascent of Mount Everest is being used as an opportunity to remind people they have a responsibility to tackle climate change.
Today marks International Everest Day, celebrating 72 years since the landmark ascent of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal.
The day marks not only a milestone in mountaineering but also highlights the cultural and environmental significance of the Himalayas.
Nepal’s government says it has a duty to protect the Himalayas from the risks presented by climate change and the growing numbers of climbers attempting to scale the region’s summits.
Bhola Giri is the spokesperson for the Federation of Nepalese Community Associations of Australia Incorporated.
He says Nepal is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change.
“The future of Everest is in our hands, and climate change is the real issue, and this is here, and Sherpa community and Nepal economy are threatened. Global collaboration is essential for sustainability, and everyone can contribute to conservation effort.”
In football, Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca says the club’s European Conference League title can be a stepping stone to better things.
Chelsea has beaten Spanish side Real Betis, four goals to one, in the Conference League final in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
The Spanish side was one-nil ahead at half-time, but Chelsea overwhelmed them in the second half with goals from Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho, and Moses Caiceido.
Cole Palmer set up the first two goals for Chelsea, and he was named Player Of The Match.
Maresca says his club has done well this season, given how many young players they have in their team.
“Hopefully, it can be a starting point. To build a winning mentality you need to win games. You need to win competitions. And for sure, the trophy we won tonight is going to make us better. But also, I’m very proud about the path, or the journey, we have done in the Premier League. And with a young squad, I mean the youngest squad in the history of the Premier League, it’s something unbelievable.”
