Australia to join United States Global Entry program from next year
Australia will join the US Global Entry program in 2025, creating an easier pathway for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who visit the country each year.
Eligible Australians who sign up for the program would benefit from streamlined and expedited immigration and customs clearance channels on arrival into the US, a statement from the foreign minister, Penny Wong, says.
The program will be available from January 2025 to a limited number of Australians who travel most frequently to the US, with plans to expand the program later in 2025. Wong said:
Joining the Global Entry program is a mark of the closeness and the strength of the relationship between our two countries.
The foundation of the friendship between Australia and United States is the friendship between our people. This program will deepen these links and make it easier to foster greater commercial ties.
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Russian-born Australian citizens have Brisbane apartment restrained following espionage charges
The Australian Federal Police has obtained court orders restraining the home and assets of two Russian-born Australian citizens, charged with an espionage-related offence last month.
On 2 August the Queensland Supreme Court made restraining orders over property owned by the married couple, valued in excess of $550,000.
The AFP alleges the 40-year-old woman, who is an army private in the ADF, and her 62-year-old husband, accessed sensitive ADF information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities.
A Brisbane apartment owned by the couple is subject to the restraining order, as well as multiple bank accounts and the superannuation funds acquired by the woman during her employment with the ADF.
Restraining orders prohibit the disposal of, or any dealing with the property subject to restraint, unless authorised by the court.
The pair was charged in July with one count each of preparing for an espionage offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment. It was the first time an espionage offence has been laid in Australia since new laws were introduced in 2018.
Richmond player Dustin Martin retires after 15-year AFL career
Legendary Richmond player Dustin Martin has retired, effective immediately, following a 15-year AFL career. He informed his teammates of the decision today, and said:
It is hard to put into words what the Richmond Football Club means to me, I love this place so much. I will be forever grateful for the love and the support I have received from the people here.
To my teammates, the brotherhood that we all share is what I value most, as well as the bond with the staff and coaches… thank you to all of you. To my family and friends, thank you for your unconditional love and support.
To the Tiger Army, I have always felt loved and supported throughout my career, and for that, I will be forever grateful. The memories that we have created together will live with me forever. Thank you.
Martin played 302 games and booted 338 goals, making his debut for Richmond in Round 1 of his first season (2010). Richmond CEO, Brendon Gale, said it was hard to put into words the contribution Martin had made to the club.
Tensions arise in Northern Territory police in wake of apology to Aboriginal people
Lorena Allam
Tensions have already arisen in the NT police in the wake of the Northern Territory police commissioner Michael Murphy’s landmark apology to Aboriginal people delivered at the Garma festival on the weekend.
Last night, Murphy announced he had resigned his membership from the Northern Territory Police Association over its response to his speech.
Murphy said he was “incredibly disappointed” by the Association’s statements.
I love policing. I know you do too, and I am proud to be your Commissioner. I have a vision for the future of NT Police; and in order to achieve that future, we need to be able to understand and acknowledge our history. Our shared mission is to serve and protect all Territorians.
The NTPA had said they were “disappointed” that the Commissioner hadn’t communicated to them the “content, and intent, directly with the membership well in advance of his speech”. NTPA acting president Lisa Bayliss said:
In fact, the speech in its entirety was sent to the media before the membership. It is also not the role of police to assess the success or otherwise of federal government-directed policies of Closing the Gap, the Stolen Generation and the Intervention, as the Commissioner has done.
If the Commissioner is genuinely committed to achieving the goals he has outlined, it is essential that the entire Agency is included in this process and fully supported in its efforts to serve the community. Our members deserve the backing of the senior police executive, ensuring they are not unfairly overburdened with blame but rather empowered to continue their vital work for the benefit of all Territorians.
Day three of Reynolds-Higgins trial to begin in a few hours
Sarah Basford Canales
We’re heading into day three of Linda Reynolds’ defamation trial against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins.
The Western Australian supreme court will continue to hear the federal Liberal senator’s account of events following the alleged rape of Higgins in Parliament House in early 2019.
Reynolds told the court on Monday afternoon she had spoken with a “very upset” Higgins in the days following the incident but was not yet aware of a potential sexual assault allegation.
Reynolds is suing Higgins for a series of social media posts published in July 2023 she says damaged her reputation.
Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, is expected to hand over the questions to the defence on Wednesday or Thursday for cross-examination.
Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has indicated she will seek to demonstrate Reynolds was aware of Higgins’ alleged rape by 1 April 2019 and that claims Higgins and her now husband, David Sharaz, concocted a conspiracy to damage her reputation are wrong.
We’ll update you in a few hours when the hearing begins.
Here’s a list of the Australian athletes to watch out for today, as we head into day eleven of the Paris Olympics:
Urgent push to overhaul men’s behaviour change programs
Court-ordered men’s behaviour change programs are littered with missed opportunities and must be urgently overhauled to boost engagement. That’s according to Monash University research, which found simply attending or completing courses should not be viewed as success.
As AAP reports, providing participants with ongoing support after courses end, collecting data on what happens to them, funding programs on a longer-term basis and boosting housing options for men who take part were identified as key areas to address.
Lead author Prof Kate Fitz-Gibbon said:
Men who do not have stable accommodation are more likely to skip group sessions and to exit the program early. It is then highly challenging to monitor and manage their ongoing risk where no fixed address is provided.
Fitz-Gibbon said there are mixed definitions of what success looks like and experts in the area called for long-term funding, as short term programs undermine the integrity and effectiveness of their work.
The current approach to working with men who use violence is missing opportunities to more effectively engage men in behaviour change, to keep their risk visible and to hold them accountable.
These missed opportunities represent critical moments where victim-survivor safety could have been improved.
Paul Karp
University sector blasts Labor for ‘draconian’ international student cap
Universities are speaking to the Senate education committee about the government’s proposed cap on international students.
Universities Australia’s chief executive, Luke Sheehy, said the bill is “rushed policy”, “ministerial overreach” and a “political smokescreen” designed to give the government the upper hand in “the battle over immigration ahead of the election”.
Sheehy said that “facts and data” don’t support claims international student arrivals are linked to the housing crisis, with higher vacancy rates around universities and international students making up just 4% of the private rental market. He said they are being made “scapegoats” for the housing crisis.
International students “accounted for more than half of Australia’s GDP growth [last year], almost single handedly saving from recession”.
The Group of Eight’s chief executive, Vicki Thomson, said the proposed cap was “draconian” and “economic vandalism”.
With immigration a “key battleground” between political parties, the university sector is “shaping up as the fall-guy”, she said.
Advocates to rally outside NSW parliament for accessible building codes
People with disability and advocates are set to rally outside New South Wales parliament today, calling to ensure new housing developments in the state are accessibly built.
According to Building Better Homes, NSW is one of just two states which hasn’t adopted the design standards mandated in the national construction code – requiring developers to include basic accessibility features, like a step-free shower and level entry to a home.
Campaign spokesperson Julie Charlton said the refusal of the state government to adopt the standards – which were a key recommendation of the disability royal commission – shows a “complete disregard for people with disability, older Australians, and others who require accessible housing.”
It’s not difficult or expensive to implement these standards but it would change the lives of people with disability and older Australians.
According to modelling from the Australian Building Codes board, the standards would add about 1% to the cost of a new build.
Advocates will rally outside NSW parliament at 11am and attempt to present government representatives with a signed open letter from hundreds of people with disability.
Lack of early social media regulation may have allowed easier radicalisation of young people: experts
Security experts say governments not regulating social media in its early years may have led to young people being more easily radicalised online, AAP reports.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi has said governments not enforcing social media in its early years had contributed to platforms not being regulated, allowing for the radicalisation to more easily occur. He told ABC Radio today:
These issues of people being angry, people being feeling disaffected, and people having a issue … have always been there. The advancement in technology and use of social media has a huge amplifying effect.
When social media was being developed, mistakes were made by democracies by not regulating early enough, not baking in security.
The question though now is how do you get that back? We’re so far down the line, people rely on the internet, rely on social media for their lives and livelihoods.
Wong addresses media in Washington and comments on Australia-US alliance
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has spoken in Washington following news Australia will join the US Global Entry program from next year.
Wong is in the US for Ausmin talks tomorrow, and met with the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, earlier.
On the Global Entry program, Wong said it would be “good for our citizens … good for Australian businesses [and] good for our friendship”:
The US-Australia relationship is unprecedented in scale, scope and significance – but underpinned above all else by the links and bonds between our people. And this program and our participation in it is a sign of our closeness and our trust.
Wong described the Australia-US alliance as “a living expression of two countries and two peoples aligned by who we are, by what we stand for, and for what we want in the world.” Ahead of tomorrow’s talks, she said:
There have rarely been such strategic challenges as we face today.
Human remains located inside crocodile in Far North Queensland
Human remains have been located inside a crocodile at Cooktown, in Far North Queensland, after a man went missing at the weekend.
Queensland police said a formal identification process was under way and a report would be prepared for the coroner, however the remains are believed to be those of a missing 40-year-old NSW man.
At the weekend, a search commenced in the Annan River area after following reports the 40-year-old had been taken by a crocodile. Initial investigations indicated the man had been fishing on the riverbank, when he fell into the water and failed to resurface.
The search and rescue operation has been suspended, and police are working with wildlife officers as investigations continue.
Queensland Labor plans state-owned petrol stations as it bids for fourth term
Andrew Messenger
A re-elected Queensland Labor government would set up state-owned petrol stations, cap daily fuel price rises and take over operation of council buses from local government, Steven Miles will announce.
The premier will use Tuesday’s state of the state address hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia to make a populist pitch for a fourth Labor term.
He will promise to construct a dozen state-owned petrol stations and crack down on petrol price gouging by “big multinationals” if successful at the 26 October poll.
Continue reading below:
Speaking of the Olympics, here’s what you missed overnight from Paris, thanks to our sports team!
Queensland firefighter Olympian cheered on by state fire department
Queensland firefighter Aly Bull will kick off her Olympic campaign this evening in the K-2 and K-4 500m sprint kayak events.
The Queensland fire department has cheered her on in a post to X, writing:
Allez Allez Allez Aly!!! … Representing Durack Station on the international stage, the three-time Olympian will be firing on all cylinders as she pushes for a podium finish. Good luck Aly! We’ll all be cheering you on!
Allez Allez Allez Aly!!! 🔥🆙QFR Firefighter Aly Bull kicks off her Olympic campaign this evening in the heats of the K-2 and K-4 500 metre Sprint Kayak events. Representing Durack Station on the international stage, the three-time Olympian will be firing on all cylinders as she… pic.twitter.com/ZbWWFL2Akj
— Queensland Fire Department (@QldFireDept) August 5, 2024
Ambassador’s comment inflammatory, repugnant, says Wong
Comments from Iran’s ambassador to Australia calling for Israel to be wiped out have been condemned by the foreign minister, Penny Wong.
As AAP reports, remarks on social media from ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi on Saturday called for a “wiping out” of Israelis in Palestine by 2027, while also referring to Israelis as a “Zionist plague”.
Wong criticised the remarks, saying they were inconsistent with national values:
Those comments are inflammatory and they’re repugnant, and they do not represent Australia. We maintain a diplomatic relationship with Iran because we seek to further Australia’s interests; that is why we continue to engage, including in relation … to the importance of de-escalation, given the circumstances we face in the Middle East.
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have held talks with Sadeghi following the social media comments. But the opposition home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, called for the federal government to take further action against the ambassador. He told ABC Radio today:
If he wasn’t an ambassador, it’s highly likely [the comments] would fall afoul of Australia’s anti-incitement and racial vilification laws.
If he is wantonly breaking the law like that and inciting violence against the community … it is incumbent on the government to take action. They have options available to them under the Vienna Convention, including declaring an ambassador to be persona non grata.
Caroline Kennedy weighed in on how important China would be during discussions between Australia and the US:
The US-Australia alliance is really a global partnership, and obviously with China being such an important … trading partner and competitor for both of us, that is obviously one of the main topics.
But I think we’re also talking about what we can do together to fight climate change, to help the Pacific Islands build critical infrastructure to connect them, just like we were doing with the subsea cables or with the digital and cloud computing centre. So it’s so multifaceted …
Australia and US sign memorandum of understanding on tackling foreign misinformation
The US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, is speaking with ABC News Breakfast following news Australia will join the US Global Entry program from next year.
We had more details on this earlier in the blog here.
She was asked about the fact that the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had signed a memorandum of understanding on tackling foreign misinformation. Kennedy said:
It definitely is [a growing problem], and that’s why it’s so important for countries – more than 20 countries have signed up to this framework – that we will be able to provide trustworthy information to countries in the region. I think it’s a great step for our democracy to be working together.
RBA’s rate hold looks even more certain amid $10tn market rout
Peter Hannam
The Reserve Bank’s two-day board meeting that wraps up this afternoon was very likely to have left the key interest rate unchanged for a sixth straight gathering even without the sudden burst of global market mayhem.
The downward spiral in equity markets became evident to most Australia investors last Friday, or about the time the RBA was finalising forecasts for its quarterly statement on monetary policy that will inform the rates verdict we’ll all learn about at 2.30pm AEST.
The unwinding of big bets on artificial intelligence and US tech titans such as chipmaker Nvidia began, though, about three weeks ago. Over that time, stock markets had shed $US6.4tn in value, or about $10tn in Australian dollars. (That looks like $10,000,000,000,000.)
The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, will probably be asked why the RBA isn’t cutting its cash rate of 4.35%, where it’s sat since November. It will be interesting to hear whether the board considered such a move along with the “hike” or “hold” options. (We looked at those two options here yesterday.)
Bullock is likely to say the central bank is watching market developments closely, and the RBA has the capability to intervene to cut the cash rate to support the economy or to purchase Australian dollars if the currency goes into a tailspin (and fuels inflation as import prices rise). (The dollar is holding steady at about $US65 US cents so far.)
Markets that were tipping a rate rise before the end of the year now predict a 20% chance of rate cut today, and about 60% of 50 basis points of cuts to 3.85% by December.
Uncertainty is likely to be word of the day, whether it’s sliding markets, a potential escalation of war in the Middle East, and who knows what in the US presidential campaign over the next three months as election campaigns ramp up.
Uber teaming up with electric car importer for program to offer secondhand EVs
More rides and deliveries could take place in secondhand electric vehicles if a pilot program launched by Uber takes off in Australia, AAP reports.
The tech company announced its vehicle trial today after partnering with Queensland firm Car Empire to offer discounted access to used electric cars from Japan. The Nissan Leaf models, which will cost about $22,000, will be offered to delivery as well as rideshare drivers for the first time.
Uber Australia and New Zealand managing director Emma Foley said despite these and other efforts to help professional drivers adopt electric cars, their high initial cost remained a speed bump.
New electric vehicle purchase numbers are coming up – in 2023, 8.5% of new vehicles in Australia were EVs – but the secondhand market is still less than one per cent. We hope that, long-term, this becomes a catalyst for the wider market because ride-share drivers might have these cars for a few years and on-sell them.
Uber’s secondhand EV trial will extend to drivers in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, and will give them access to used Nissan Leaf vehicles from 2017 to 2019.
The vehicles, which will be packaged with three-year warranties and roadside assistance, will be available on five-year loans for $124 a week.
Car Empire director David Cosgrove said the company had 20 EVs ready and could import up to 200 models a week, depending on demand.
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