Australia news as it happened: Qantas fined $90 million for illegally sacking 1800 workers; European leaders to join Zelensky in Trump meeting

Pro-Palestine protesters dared police to take them to court over a planned march across Brisbane’s Story Bridge after the two parties failed to reach an agreement on Monday.

Queensland police rejected plans put forward last week by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin to march across the bridge on Sunday, deeming it unsafe and urging organisers to choose another route.

Organiser Remah Naji declared the protest would go ahead as planned – despite the two parties failing to reach an agreement during mediation at Brisbane Magistrates Court – saying it’s now up to police to take the group to court if they want to prevent it from happening.

“We entered into those negotiations in good faith with a genuine willingness to listen, engage constructively, and make reasonable accommodations to work collaboratively with the police and make this march happen,” Naji said.

“Unfortunately, the mediation did not lead to a resolution, despite our best efforts, and now the onus is on the police to take us to court to prevent us from marching on the 24th of August.”

Read more on this story here.

Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – who himself has been sanctioned by Australia – has criticised the Australian government’s decision to revoke the visa of fellow far-right Israeli Minister Simcha Rothman.

In a post to X, Ben-Gvir accused the Australian government of actively supporting “Hamas and terrorists”.

“The active support of the Australian government for Hamas and terrorists, and the entry ban against MK Simcha Rothman, are a historical stain and a shame for the Australian government,” he wrote.

“The gloating cries of Israeli left-wing activists, the collaborators of Hamas, and those who defame Israel worldwide, are a disgrace that will never be erased from them.”

The Albanese government banned Rothman – who is a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition – from travelling to Australia for three years, saying it will not allow overseas visitors to spread division.

Rothman – who has made inflammatory statements, including describing Gazan children as “enemies”, and opposes a two-state solution – was scheduled to travel to Australia for a speaking tour this week including events organised by the Australian Jewish Association.

In June, Australia and the UK froze assets and slapped travel bans on Ben-Gvir and another far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich over settler violence in the West Bank and advocating for the displacement of Gazans.

In the 10 years from 2011, the length of the rule book for building houses in Australia almost doubled to nearly 3000 pages. Combined with the strictures imposed by local councils, apartment building regulations and environmental laws, different levels of government now dictate everything from how much a window can open, to the design of balcony railing, to the number of carparks a house has to have.

Many of these measures have been done in the name of worthy goals, such energy efficiency or child safety. But ahead of the Albanese government’s economic roundtable, the nation’s builders and Productivity Commission have warned that the ever-increasing restrictions on building a home come with a steep cost.

Labor has pledged to build 1.2 million homes by the end of the decade, but that promise is under intense pressure after a report from the government’s independent adviser in May showed the nation was set to fall 262,000 short of the target. This year, house prices in Australia reached a record of nearly 14 times the annual wage, compared to nine times the average wage in 2015 and 6.5 times in the year 2000.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil reaffirmed the government’s intention to prohibit further adjustments to the National Construction Code last week, in a bid to reduce costs and building delays. It is a similar position taken to the last election by then-opposition leader Peter Dutton, who suggested a 10-year freeze to the code.

Read more on this story from Millie Muroi here.

Former Australian Financial Review columnist and author of Qantas expose The Chairman’s Lounge, Joe Aston says the Transport Workers Union should be lauded for taking on the case against Qantas.

On Monday, Qantas was fined $90 million for illegally sacking more than 1800 workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the largest penalty under workplace laws in Australian corporate history.

“It looked like a hopeless case. Nobody thought that they would win. Nobody thought that it would be so spectacular, that’s for sure. So it’s only right that they are rewarded … for engaging in such a high-risk venture,” Aston said.

On the eve of the government’s three-day economic reform roundtable, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg says the opposition will look to find “common ground” to improve Australia’s economy.

Bragg said the Coalition stands similarly with the government on adopting a sensible approach to artificial intelligence (AI).

“We want to make sure that we can avail ourselves of the benefits of this technology. We’re not part of the great race between China and the United States in developing the actual applications,” he told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.

“But we need to make sure that businesses, particularly smaller ones, can use this technology because it’s going to come for us. It’s going to be very disruptive, but there will be benefits of this disruption as long as we’re prepared and we’re not going to be over regulatory in our endeavour.”

Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent all day telling TV interviewers that high-stakes negotiations to end a war are best done behind closed doors. Then his boss opened Truth Social.

Rubio was doing the rounds on the Sunday morning political talk shows, politely declining invitations to reveal what was sought from Russian President Vladimir Putin when he met US President Donald Trump in Alaska, or what Putin was willing to give up, if anything.

“These peace deals, these peace agreements and negotiations, they don’t work when they’re conducted in the media, either through leaks or through lies,” Rubio told This Week on ABC. “They don’t work if you go out and say aggressive and abrasive things about one side or the other – because then they just walk away.”

On CBS’ Face the Nation, he said: “We’re not going to negotiate this in the media … There’s no conditions that can be imposed on Ukraine. They’re going to have to accept things, but they’re going to have to get things, too.”

And on Fox Business, Rubio said: “If one side gets everything they want, that’s not a peace deal. It’s called surrender. And I don’t think this is a war that’s going to end any time soon on the basis of surrender.”

All told, Rubio was clear and consistent throughout his major television appearances. This was a difficult negotiation between two warring parties that were not inclined to make concessions, he said. The US was doing its best to mediate a conflict it was not directly involved in, and meeting Putin was not a sin – in fact, it was crucial, and Trump was the only one who could do it.

Read more on this analysis from North America correspondent Michael Koziol here.

Former Tasmanian Labor MP Michelle O’Byrne will be Australia’s next gender equality ambassador following years of advocacy to advance women’s rights.

O’Byrne served as the federal member for Bass from 1998 to 2004 and then as the state member for Bass in the Tasmanian parliament from 2006 to 2025.

She advocated for the decriminalisation of abortion in Tasmania, the establishment of safe access zones around abortion clinics and reforms to address family violence.

She most recently served as the speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly before her retirement from parliament prior to the state election in July.

The ambassador for gender equality aims to drive Australia’s efforts to end gender-based violence, promote economic equality and inclusive trade, support women’s participation in climate and humanitarian action and champion women’s leadership across the Indo-Pacific.

AAP

The Albanese government has banned a far-right Israeli politician who is a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition from travelling to Australia for three years, saying it will not allow overseas visitors to spread division.

Israeli MP Simcha Rothman – who has made inflammatory statements, including describing Gazan children as “enemies”, and opposes a two-state solution – was scheduled to travel to Australia for a speaking tour this week including events organised by the Australian Jewish Association.

Sky News reported today that Rothman had been denied a visa a day before he was expected to arrive in Australia.

“Our government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

“If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here.”

Earlier this month the Department of Home Affairs cancelled a visa it had issued to a Palestinian woman who allegedly celebrated Hamas’ October 7 massacre.