Key events
Daniel Hurst
Nauru told the Australian government to expect “a significant policy announcement” but didn’t reveal the content before the Pacific nation switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
The Australian minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has previously said the government was not taken by surprise by Nauru’s 15 January announcement, as it was given “a heads-up that a decision had been made”.
Elizabeth Peak, the head of the Office of the Pacific at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told a Senate estimates hearing late yesterday:
We had a heads-up from the Nauru government in general terms that a significant policy announcement was forthcoming. And we were aware on 15 January that that announcement may relate to a change in diplomatic recognition.
The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, zeroed in on the language about becoming “aware” of the actual detail of the announcement. He asked whether that awareness was a result of Australia being officially advised by Nauru or through other channels.
Peak replied that it “was a function of advice that we had through trusted local sources”.
Birmingham argued this showed Conroy’s initial claim “wasn’t entirely truthful”, but the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said she did not “accept that characterisation”.
Daniel Hurst
Australia urges Israel to comply with international court orders
Australian officials have spoken directly with Israeli counterparts to urge compliance with the International Court of Justice’s orders, a Senate committee has been told.
But the Australian government has refused to state whether or not it accepts South Africa’s allegations that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, with those claims strongly denied by the Israeli government.
During a Senate estimates hearing late yesterday, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government’s position was that Israel must follow the ICJ’s interim orders. Those orders, issued late last month, required Israel to enable the provision of humanitarian assistance and “take all measures within its power” to prevent genocidal acts.
Wong said this position had been communicated to Israel “at official level and also [through] the public statements that I’ve made”.
The Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said that left unanswered the critical question of whether Australia accepted the premise of South Africa’s case under the genocide convention, prompting Wong to reply: “We accept rulings of the ICJ.”
Adam McCarthy, a first assistant secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Australian government was a strong supporter of the rules-based order:
As such, it is for the ICJ to either accept or to not accept the premise of South Africa’s case or the nature of Israel’s defence.
Melbourne greets fans with Taylor Swift projection ahead of tonight’s show
Taylor Swift will kick off the Australian leg of her Eras Tour tonight, with her first sold-out show in Melbourne at the MCG.
The city welcomed the superstar to Australia with a projection on Flinders Street station last night:
The city is expected to be buzzing today, with transport authorities extending the free tram zone to help fans get to the stadium.
The gates to the MCG will officially open at 4.30pm AEDT this afternoon. Opening act Sabrina Carpenter will begin about 6.20pm, before Swift herself takes the stage later in the night.
Sydney to test further 38 sites for asbestos mulch, 71 total
The City of Sydney has announced it will test garden beds in 38 locations where it believes asbestos contaminated mulch may have been used.
These areas will be taped off from this morning.
The council will also be testing another 33 parks where it believes the contaminated mulch may have been used – 71 locations in total.
This is on top of three parks that were previously confirmed with asbestos.
It said in a statement last night:
We are testing these locations as we have identified through our delivery tracking that they may contain contaminated mulch.
We anticipate the testing of parks and garden beds will take several weeks.
If further asbestos is found, the area will be fenced and signs put up while clean-up takes place by licensed asbestos removalists.
We urge people to avoid taped off mulched areas in parks and mulched garden beds around their local area as this situation continues to evolve. We will share more information when it comes to hand.
You can view the full list of affected parks here.
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Friday – welcome back to the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage.
The City of Sydney has announced it will test garden beds in 38 locations where it believes asbestos contaminated mulch may have been used. These areas will be taped off from this morning. The council will also be testing another 33 parks where it believes the contaminated mulch may have been used. Catie McLeod wrote about the escalating crisis last night:
Australian officials have spoken directly with Israeli counterparts to urge compliance with the international court of justice’s orders, a Senate committee has been told.
Meanwhile, Nauru told the Australian government to expect “a significant policy announcement” but didn’t reveal the content before the Pacific nation switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. We will have more on both these stories from Daniel Hurst shortly.
Taylor Swift has touched down in Australia and is set to kick off the Australian leg of her Eras Tour in Melbourne tonight. The city will be buzzing as fans flock from across the state – and the country – for the big event. We’ll bring you the latest about this here on the blog today.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: [email protected].
With that, let’s get started.
