Australia news live: Albanese speaks with Macron about Gaza; eSafety boss lashes Apple and YouTube over child safety
Key events
Faith and community groups call on PM to sanction Israel and recognise Palestine
Cait Kelly
A coalition of Australian interfaith and community organisations is calling on Anthony Albanese to sanction Israel and to urgently recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
In an open letter, the 24 groups, including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and Palestinian Christians in Australia, write:
United in solidarity with each other and with our fellow human beings in Gaza, we call on the Albanese Government to immediately impose sanctions on the Netanyahu Government and formally recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
As widely acknowledged by genocide scholars and human rights groups, including Israeli B’Tselem, the Israeli government is carrying out a genocide – killing, starving and displacing Palestinians in Gaza en masse.
We are facing a moment of profound moral reckoning. In light of clear violations of international law, it is imperative that Australia respond with urgency and use every means available to help end this horror.
It is time to stand decisively for justice, dignity, and the right of all human beings to live free from occupation and slaughter.
Sanction the Netanyahu Government now. Recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.
Queensland teachers to strike from today
Andrew Messenger
Members of the Queensland Teachers’ Union will walk off the job today for the first time since 2009.
About 50,000 union members are expecting to strike without pay, with thousands of Brisbane members planning to march on parliament. Members will also gather in several regional locations, including Cairns, Townsville, the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba.
The QTU president, Cresta Richardson, said the union was protesting against a pay offer in a new enterprise bargaining agreement from the state government that would “place members at the bottom end of the Australian pay scale in three years”, after months of negotiations.
Our members have voted unanimously to send this government a clear message. We are united and dedicated to turning around the exodus of burned-out teachers and school leaders from our schools. Our students and school communities need the government to do its job.
Queensland’s state government is currently locked in negotiation with several public sector unions, including the nurses’ union, Professionals Australia and the Queensland Professional Firefighters Union. Conciliation over teachers’ bargaining will soon begin at the Industrial Relations Commission.
Josh Taylor
Apple and YouTube not tracking number of child sexual abuse reports, eSafety commissioner says
YouTube and Apple have not been tracking the number of users reporting child sexual abuse on their platforms, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has said.
In the latest transparency report from eSafety covering Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Discord, WhatsApp and Skype, both Apple and Google also failed to provide numbers on trust and safety staff employed at the companies.
In the reports covering what the platforms are doing to tackle child sexual abuse on their services, Inman Grant said many of the issues identified by her office in 2022 and 2023 had not been addressed meaningfully.
She said:
In the case of Apple services and Google’s YouTube, they didn’t even answer our questions about how many user reports they received about child sexual abuse on their services or details of how many Trust & Safety personnel Apple and Google have on-staff.
It shows that when left to their own devices, these companies aren’t prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services.
The companies are required to report to her every six months.
Anthony Albanese speaks to Emmanuel Macron about Gaza, climate and trade
The prime minister had a chat on the phone with France’s president overnight, according to an official readout passed on to the media.
It said Albanese and Macron spoke about the crisis in Gaza and “their ongoing commitment to getting aid to civilians”.
Both leaders discussed their longstanding support for a two state solution (France recently committed to recognising a Palestinian state, but the readout didn’t say if this specifically came up).
They also discussed action on climate and France’s support for Australia’s joint bid to host Cop 31 in partnership with the Pacific.
They agreed on “the importance of finalising the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement”, the readout said, and signed off by promising to “stay in close touch and meet again at the United Nations General Assembly in September”.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best stories making news this morning before Nick Visser steps up to the plate.
Teachers in Queensland are going on strike today over pay in their first walk out since 2009. Approximately 50,000 teachers will be striking without pay with thousands planning to march through Brisbane to highlight their claim. More coming up.
There’s more pressure on Anthony Albanese to take more action against Israel this morning, this time from interfaith and community groups including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, and Palestinian Christians in Australia. It comes amid reports this morning that the prime minister has spoken to the head of the UN and also to the head of the Palestinian Authority as he explores ways to help end the Gaza war. More coming up.
Speaking of which, Albanese also spoke with France’s Emmanuel Macron overnight, and the discussion included Gaza. More on that very soon.
The retail chain Kmart is facing accusations it misled customers on its ethical credentials by sourcing clothing supplies from factories in China with links to slave labour. It is being sued by an Australian-based Uyghur group at the federal court. More details shortly.
