Albanese: China, Australia won’t always agree, must be ready to ‘engage’ maturely
Daniel Hurst
Anthony Albanese will call for “a secure and stable region” in talks with China’s premier, Li Qiang, in Canberra today.
After participating in the annual leaders’ meeting in the morning, the prime minister will host a state lunch in the Great Hall of Parliament House where Australian wine and beef are expected to be on the menu.
According to speech notes distributed to media in advance, Albanese will say Australia and China “must always be ready to engage with each other as mature nations” because “it is always better if we deal direct with each other”.
The prime minister will say Parliament House “represents so much of who we are as a nation”, adding that “the seat of our democracy is fundamentally a place of dialogue”.
Albanese will say the two countries are “making progress in stabilising and rebuilding” dialogue:
We won’t always agree – and the points on which we disagree won’t simply disappear if we leave them in silence.
Key events
Australians are finally taking to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, with voter ratings of Anthony Albanese continuing to drop as they turn to the coalition for national security and economic management.
The Resolve Political Monitor, conducted for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, found 36 per cent of voters backed Mr Dutton as their preferred prime minister compared to 35 per cent who supported Mr Albanese.
This is the first time the opposition leader has taken the lead in the race for voter sentiment in this survey.
About 40 per cent of voters prefer Mr Dutton and the coalition as economic managers compared to 24 per cent who prefer Mr Albanese and the Labor Party, while 23 per cent ranked Labor and the prime minister as best to manage national security and defence compared to 42 per cent who favoured the opposition.
Though the primary vote for the coalition has remained steady at 36 per cent, the Labor Party’s support fell from 29 to 28 per cent, its lowest in three years.
A majority of survey respondents said it was most important to keep the cost of living low while seven per cent named environment and climate change as the highest priority.
Voters preferred Labor’s management of environment and climate with 24 per cent favouring the government compared to 22 per cent who preferred the opposition.
Meanwhile, the Greens’ primary vote grew from 12 to 14 per cent.
Via AAP.
Ex-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann arrives at a Toowoomba court
Bruce Lehrmann arrives at a Toowoomba court for a committal hearing into allegations he raped a woman in 2021.
Lehrmann, 29, a former Liberal staffer, is on bail and has not previously been required to attend court in person.
He is accused of two counts of rape relating to an alleged incident in Toowoomba in October, 2021
Ex-AFL boss McLachlan appointed Tabcorp chief executive
Ex-AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has been appointed the new boss of wagering giant Tabcorp.
McLachlan will take over as managing director and chief executive once everything is approved, but until then, will act as an observer under executive chair Bruce Akhurst.
He is replacing Tabcorp’s former chief executive Adam Rytenskild, who announced he was stepping down in March after a board investigation found he used sexually inappropriate language about a female regulatory official in Victoria.
In a statement, McLachlan said he was keen to get to work on providing a “unique customer omni-channel entertainment offering”.
Tabcorp is a wagering, broadcast and integrity services business and the challenges of growing it are appealing. It’s about creating entertainment for our customers in a safe way and providing a unique customer omni-channel entertainment offering across digital, retail and the media business.
Australia should take ‘every opportunity’ to press China for release of academic Yang Hengjun, James Paterson says
Coalition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson says Australia must advocate for imprisoned academic Yang Hengjun.
The Australian citizen’s medical condition is likely to be one of the issues prime minister Anthony Albanese raises with the Chinese premier.
Speaking on Channel 7’s Sunrise, Paterson saysAustralia should do “everything” it can for the academic.
We must do absolutely everything we can, because his family are rightly very concerned about his health and well-being. He has been unjustly detained for too long.
He should be released and be allowed to return to his family in Australia. And there is nothing that we … shouldn’t do to raise our concerns, including directly with the Chinese leadership at every opportunity.
We just hope that the Chinese government shows some compassion and decency towards Dr Jung and, frankly, some respect for Australia and releases him accordingly.
RBA board meeting: when doing nothing will still be painful for many
Members of the Reserve Bank of Australia board are preparing to assemble for the June interest rate meeting at which economists broadly expect no change.
The two-day meeting kicks off on Monday for what’s thought to be a straight-forward decision, with the RBA likely to hold tight at 4.35% and keep waiting for more convincing signals about what’s happening with inflation.
Photograph: David Gray/Reuters
It’s well down from its peak but inflation re-accelerated in April, suggesting stretched borrowers will be waiting a while longer for interest rate cuts.
Yet higher interest rates are clearly working to slow the economy, with the March quarter national accounts showing a minor 0.1% lift in gross domestic product and the labour market weakening in response, albeit slowly.
The post-meeting statement and press conference with Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock should provide more information on the bank’s assessment of the economy following the latest run of data.
Via AAP.
Two dead after Brisbane house engulfed by fire
A blaze at a suburban Brisbane home has claimed the lives of two people.
Emergency services were called to a home in Cypress Street, Woodridge, just after 6pm on Sunday where the house was found engulfed in flames.
A woman in her 80s and a man in his 60s died at the scene.
Queensland Police are investigating the cause of the fire and appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
Via Aap.
Amy Remeikis
‘Stop it at the start’ campaign starts rolling out social media messaging
The next stage of the “stop it at the start” campaign, part of a federal government push to end gendered violence, will start rolling out across your screens from today.
This part of the campaign is focussed on social media and online messaging, with the government hoping to reach parents and care givers of people aged between 10 and 17 and alert them to the messages they receive in their social media feeds.
“The hidden trends of disrespect” hopes to make adults more aware of the messages children are receiving and how those messages can reinforce misogynistic attitudes.
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth says new research “shows there is a growing echo chamber of disrespect online with influencers targeting young boys with misogynistic content”.
“Parents and other adults with young people in their lives can’t always know everything that kids are seeing online, but we can take steps to educate ourselves on what they are seeing and hearing and help young people to recognise and deal with harmful online content,” Rishworth says.
No specific influencer has been mentioned by the government, but it appears to be targeting the content of “alpha” manosphere influencers such as Andrew Tate, who remains popular with young men despite sex trafficking allegations.
“We can’t let these misogynistic voices go unchallenged,” Rishworth says.
“This campaign will counter these voices in the social media spaces where they are being viewed, like Snapchat, Meta and TikTok.”
To make the message clear, an “algorithm of disrespect” – a multi-lingual interactive simulating the average 10 to 17 year old’s social media feed – has been created, so adults can see what children are being exposed to on a daily basis.
You’ll start seeing the latest round of campaign advertisements from today. The interactive and more information is available at www.respect.gov.au.
Albanese: China, Australia won’t always agree, must be ready to ‘engage’ maturely
Daniel Hurst
Anthony Albanese will call for “a secure and stable region” in talks with China’s premier, Li Qiang, in Canberra today.
After participating in the annual leaders’ meeting in the morning, the prime minister will host a state lunch in the Great Hall of Parliament House where Australian wine and beef are expected to be on the menu.
According to speech notes distributed to media in advance, Albanese will say Australia and China “must always be ready to engage with each other as mature nations” because “it is always better if we deal direct with each other”.
The prime minister will say Parliament House “represents so much of who we are as a nation”, adding that “the seat of our democracy is fundamentally a place of dialogue”.
Albanese will say the two countries are “making progress in stabilising and rebuilding” dialogue:
We won’t always agree – and the points on which we disagree won’t simply disappear if we leave them in silence.
Sydney’s rail system thrown into Chaos by urgent signal repairs
Urgent signal repairs have thrown Sydney’s rail system into chaos this morning, with delays being reported across various lines.
The repairs are happening at Harris Park in Sydney’s west, and are impacting services on the T1 North Shore and Western Line, the T5 Cumberland and the Blue Mountains line.
#WesternLine Allow plenty of extra travel time due to urgent signal repairs at Harris Park.
Some trains will be delayed and trips may take longer than usual.
Please check station information screen and listen to announcements or check transport apps for updates. pic.twitter.com/x2fT3EMEB1
— T1 Sydney Trains (@T1SydneyTrains) June 16, 2024
Trains on the T2 Inner West and Leppinton line, which normally run to Parramatta, are terminating earlier in Granville.
Bruce Lehrmann to face Toowoomba court
Ben Smee
Bruce Lehrmann is expected to attend a Toowoomba court today for a committal hearing into allegations he raped a woman in 2021.
Lehrmann, 29, a former Liberal staffer, is on bail and has not previously been required to attend court in person. He is accused of two counts of rape relating to an alleged incident in Toowoomba in October, 2021.
The hearing – to determine if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial, potentially in a superior court – is scheduled to include a cross-examination of the complainant.
Lehrmann’s lawyers have previously sought medical evidence and extensive phone text message records from the alleged victim.
Queensland law previously prohibited naming accused rapists until they were committed to stand trial. Lehrmann was revealed as the man at the centre of the Toowoomba rape allegations in October, after that law was changed. He was previously referred to as a “high-profile Toowoomba man” in the case.
Good morning
Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the day’s news. We begin with Bruce Lehrmann, who is due to face court in Toowoomba today. The former parliamentary staffer is expected to front a magistrates court for a committal hearing into allegations he raped a woman in 2021.
The hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial. He has indicated he will defend the charges.
Elsewhere, Anthony Albanese will be hosting a state lunch for China’s Premier Li Qiang at Parliament House as relations between the two countries continue to thaw.
The trial of former airline pilot Greg Lynn could come to a head today, with the 12 jurors set to begin deliberations on whether Lynn is guilty of the double murder of campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay. The 57-year-old faced a five-week trial where he denied killing the pair in Victoria’s alpine region in March 2020, but admitted removing their bodies and burning their remains.
And, finally, the RBA is holding its June interest rate meeting today, where expectations are that it will keep rates on hold for now. We’ll bring you that and everything else that’s happening today as it comes through.
