Australia news live: all Brisbane domestic airport passengers forced to re-screen at security after metal detector fault

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What we learned, Monday 4 August

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) issued flood watch warnings for large parts of Newcastle and the lower Hunter region. The alerts come amid evacuations overnight in Gunnedah in the New England region.

The federal government will provide $20m in aid for organisations to deliver food and medical supplies into Gaza. The aid announcement followed mass protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on Sunday, with thousands of demonstrators, including state and federal Labor MPs marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Anthony Albanese is also seeking a call with Benjamin Netanyahu as soon as possible. Bob Carr says the prime minister would be “wasting his breath” if he mentioned a two-state solution on the call.

Labor MP Ed Husic said more and more Australians had grown concerned about the impact of Israel’s war against Hamas on civilian populations.

Tasmania police will continue searching for a small plane that went missing en route from the state’s north to NSW on Saturday.

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said he does not regret voicing his opposition to the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest but said he respected Australians’ right to protest.

While Susan Ley expressed concern about Sydney being thrown “into chaos for hours” and mused about people accessing emergency services, with the additional police deployed to monitor the event.

Anthony Albanese appointed Krissy Barrett as the new commissioner of the Australian Federal Police. It’s a historic appointment, which will see Barrett become the first woman to lead the agency.

A Chinese national has been charged with alleged foreign interference by the Australian Federal Police. In a statement, the AFP say the woman has been accused of covertly collecting information about a Canberra Buddhist association on behalf of a public security bureau of China.

Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow to do it all again.

All Brisbane domestic airport passengers forced to re-screen at security after metal detector fault

Passengers in Brisbane airport are all having to be re-screened by security after a fault with a metal detector, the airport has said:

Due to a technical fault with a single metal detector at Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal, all people within the terminal are being re-screened.

The fault was quickly identified and there is no safety or security threat.

However, it will take some time to rescreen all passengers and staff, delaying flights.

We apologise for the inconvenience and thank passengers for their patience and understanding.

Our care team has been activated and is on the ground to support passengers.

There is no impact to the Terminal.

Homeless support organisations issue call for action

A coalition of leading organisations has urged both the Victorian and federal governments to address the growing crisis facing children and families experiencing homelessness.

The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare – the peak body for children and families for Victoria and Tasmania – is calling for immediate action alongside others organisations like Launch Housing and Anglicare.

Deb Tsorbaris, CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, said:

Children are being placed in environments that are unsafe and traumatising. We are seeing families fall through the cracks, and children becoming invisible in a system not designed to meet their needs.

Bob Carr says PM calling Netanyahu over two-state solution would be ‘wasting his breath’

Jordyn Beazley

Jordyn Beazley

The former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has responded to the prime minister’s plans to call Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu. He said:

If the prime minister is ringing Netanyahu to say, ‘we support a two state solution’, he’s wasting his breath. Netanyahu opposes a two state solution.

Carr, who marched at the head of the protest across Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday, reiterated calls for Australia to sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood. He said:

I don’t understand the diplomatic strategy that says it suits Australia’s interests being the last country to recognise Palestine. We’ve got neighbours to our north who can expect better of us. I refer to Indonesia and Malaysia in particular.

Why are we giving the world the impression that we’re some kind of timid laggard?

Thanks for your attention this afternoon, Cait Kelly will see you through the rest of the evening’s news!

Julian Assange’s brother explains decision to join Sydney march

Julian Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton has appeared on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, explaining why they decided to march at Palestine Action Group’s “March for Humanity” yesterday:

There’s a huge amount of outrage in the community and that outrage turning to action, particularly across the harbour bridge, so symbolic for marches across the decades, it was a time to, for Julian to show his solidarity with the Palestinian cause, with the suffering that’s happening in Gaza, and to really elevate it as much as he could.

He did actually do a protest in Cannes (at the Cannes film festival), where he wore a shirt with all the children who were under 5 who lost their lives in Gaza. It’s a cause that’s very close to his heart. So when I made the phone call to him and said, ‘I think we should do this, I think you should go’, he was 100% behind it.

Former hostage Dr Moore-Gilbert calls for protest group to denounce portrait of Iranian dictator displayed at Sydney rally

Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert says it was “profoundly disturbing” to see a portrait of Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei shown at the Palestine Action Group’s protest yesterday.

In a statement posted online, Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who survived 804 days as a hostage to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said:

I support the right to protest in Australia, including calling for an end to the war in Gaza. However, it was profoundly disturbing to see an enormous portrait of mass-murdering Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei, holding a rifle no less, positioned directly behind the group of prominent Australians leading the march.

... I’m not convinced that everyone in the front row of the protest knew what was being waved behind their heads.

I do hope however that those who were pictured marching in front of Khamenei’s portrait denounce the presence of this image…

Julian Assange joins thousands of protesters walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Palestine Action Group’s March for Humanity in Sydney, Sunday, August 3, 2025.
Julian Assange joins thousands of protesters walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Palestine Action Group’s March for Humanity in Sydney, Sunday, August 3, 2025. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

Hill understands Gaza protests but says ‘government has acted’

Julian Hill was asked by Patricia Karvelas about Ed Husic’s statement about yesterday’s protest:

Ed Husic says those protests were a wake-up call for Australian politicians. Was it?

Hill:

Not for me, I’d say. I don’t have unique special knowledge. I’ve been talking on this and I represent a community in south-east Melbourne that feels this viscerally. I have Jewish friends, Palestinian friends, I represent an area with a large Muslim population. But it’s gone beyond particular areas. Australians want the killing to stop. The protests we saw on the weekend were an expression of that feeling.…The government has acted and I understand, you know, people are upset, we’re not always acknowledged or given the credit for the steps and the actions, the practical things we have done.

Hill says potential Albanese/Netanyahu call important to convey PM’s message directly

The assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, was on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing speaking about the government’s announcement it will increase international student places by 25,000 in 2026.

While on the program he was asked about what the prime minister would achieve in seeking a call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu:

I have known Albo next year 30 years. I met him in 1996. The characterisation, if you have a conversation with Albo in public, and in private, you will get the same person. It’s one of the very rare features of the man, he’s authentic.

It’s important that world leaders convey these things directly. They may not be comfortable conversations, but it’s important at the leader level the messages the foreign minister has been reported as sending to the ambassadors and others are reinforced to the leader level.

Married couple, dog missing as light plane disappears

Police remain cautiously optimistic as efforts continue to locate a married couple and their dog who were on a light plane that has gone missing, AAP reports.

No distress call was made from the green two-seater plane which disappeared during a flight across Bass Strait, Tasmania police’s northern commander, Marco Ghedini, said.

Family members raised the alarm about 5pm on Saturday when the plane, carrying a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s from northern Tasmania, failed to arrive at its destination.

The light aircraft left George Town airport in Tasmania’s north about 12.45pm on Saturday and was headed to Hillston airport in central western NSW via Leongatha in Victoria’s south-east.

An extensive search operation continues, with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority co-ordinating efforts in northern Tasmania, Bass Strait and southern Victoria. Several boat crews are also scouring the waters for the missing pair.

Foreign interference charge is a first by the AFP

Giving a press conference just now, the AFP’s counter terrorism and special investigations assistant commissioner, Stephen Nutt, said:

This is the first time the AFP has charged a person with foreign interference that allegedly involves targeting members of the Australian community.

Foreign interference is a serious crime that undermines democracy and social cohesion. It is a crime carried out by or on behalf of a foreign principle that involves covert and deceptive conduct or threats of serious harm or menacing demands.

Chinese national charged with alleged foreign interference

A Chinese national has been charged with alleged foreign interference by the Australian Federal Police.

In a statement, the AFP say the woman has been accused of covertly collecting information about a Canberra Buddhist association on behalf of a public security bureau of China.

The woman appeared in ACT magistrates court today to face one count of reckless foreign interference. She was arrested and charged on Saturday, after homes were searched in Canberra with electronic devices seized. AFP said these devices will undergo forensic examination.

The operation was launched after the AFP received information from Asio. In a statement the AFP said:

The AFP will allege the woman, who is also an Australian permanent resident, was tasked by a public security bureau of China to covertly gather information about the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta, a Buddhist association.

It is the third time a foreign interference offence has been laid in Australia since new laws were introduced in 2018, and the first time relating to alleged community interference.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry releases statement on Sydney Gaza march

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has released a statement regarding yesterday’s Harbour Bridge protest.

The statement acknowledged the majority of those who marched did so in solidarity with civilians in Gaza, but said the rally had ignored the hostages held in Gaza.

Co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said:

Our national landmarks are there to bring Australians together. This march did not do that.

Any genuine concern for humanity would have also included the forgotten people held against their will in Gaza, the tortured and broken innocents held underground for nearly two years.

Tom McIlroy

Tom McIlroy

Sussan Ley welcomes new AFP commissioner

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has welcomed Krissy Barrett’s appointment as the new commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

Barrett will be the first woman to lead the agency, replacing outgoing commissioner Reece Kershaw.

Barrett has worked in law enforcement for nearly 25 years, including as deputy commissioner responsible for national security.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the AFP, including in counterterrorism and as deputy commissioner, Ms Barrett is well-equipped to lead the AFP in its important work in defending Australia’s national security.

We thank the departing commissioner, Mr Reece Kershaw APM, who has tirelessly served the Australian community for more than 30 years, including almost six years as the head of the AFP, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

SA Police investigating sudden death of two people in Bordertown

SA Police are investigating after two people were found dead at a property in Bordertown. Officials said they were called to a home around 11pm local time on Sunday evening for a welfare check on the occupants.

When they arrived they found a man, 47, and woman, 41, dead inside. The pair were in a domestic relationship, police said.

Detectives and forensic response units were on scene and investigations will continue. Police are not seeking any suspects in the matter.

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