Australia news live: Hanson’s support for Trump deportation policy ‘makes me sick’, Monique Ryan says; NT traditional owners rally outside Pine Gap base

Monique Ryan condemns Pauline Hanson’s comments on deportations and White Australia policy

Independent MP Monique Ryan has condemned a number of recent comments by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Ryan called Hanson’s comments saying she admires Donald Trump’s approach to mass deportation makes her “sick”.

I’ve seen footage of people being killed during the process of deportation in the US. I’ve seen people being removed from hospital settings and medical clinics, the thought of that happening in this country makes me sick. The fact that Pauline Hanson thinks that’s a reasonable way to treat and deal with vulnerable people tells me that she is not fit to have any significant leadership role in the country.

Ryan also rejected Hanson’s accusation she was misinterpreted to appear as if she said that she supported a White Australia policy.

I think it would appear that One Nation doesn’t know what they believe. On one hand it does not talk to the other combine a bit doesn’t know what Pauline is saying, they are incredibly incoherent as a political force. It’s remarkable they are getting as much airtime as they are. The need to be held to account and come up with reasonable, rational policies if they really believe that they have any role to play in the leadership of this country.”

Independent member for Kooyong Monique Ryan at a press conference at Parliament House. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Key events

What we learned, Tuesday 21 July

And that’s where we’ll leave today’s live coverage.

Before I go, let’s recap the day’s top stories.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has tried to defend party leader Pauline Hanson’s decision to meet far-right convicted criminal Tommy Robinson during a recent visit to the UK.

Separately, Joyce made headlines for an spiky interview on ABC’s 7.30 last night, that involved barking a an off-camera dog.

Qantas has apologised to about 250 passengers who were stuck on the tarmac in Sydney for four-and-a-half hours on Monday afternoon while the airline dealt with multiple separate problems.

A Melbourne synagogue was unsuccessful in applications for government grants for security before a December 2024 arson attack that has seen its doors closed ever since.

Staff numbers at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age will be cut by 30 in another round of redundancies announced by Nine’s publishing arm today.

KPMG has made a lifelong staff member and top executive its new Australian chief executive, rejecting external candidates, as it grapples with its audit leaks scandal.

WA police have arrested a 16-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed his mother to death and allegedly turned the knife on his sister, who managed to flee to get help.

Thanks for joining us, see you bright and early tomorrow morning.

Wong presses for prosecutions over methanol poisonings in meeting with Lao counterpart

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has pressed her Lao counterpart over a decision not to pursue the most serious charges in relation to the methanol poisoning deaths of Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones.

Wong met with her Lao counterpart Thongsavanh Phomvihane on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministers meeting today in the Philippines.

The government has pushed for a transparent investigation into the death, and put further pressure on Laos to hold those responsible to account.

In a statement from Manila, Wong said the government would continue to pursue the matter with Lao officials.

I made clear that Australia expects the Lao Government to ensure this investigation fully reflects the seriousness of this tragedy and that those responsible are held properly to account.Our advocacy for Holly and Bianca’s families is not over.

Last week the government sent special envoy Pablo Kang to Laos to convey Australia’s objections to authorities on the ground.

Housing Australia Future Fund must be more transparent: auditor general

The government’s $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund has provided 1,432 of the 40,000 homes Labor promised would be built by the end of the decade, according to a new Australian Audit Office report that criticised Treasury for not being transparent about the program’s performance.

The HAFF disburses a minimum of $500m a year to build social and affordable homes, and the ANAO judged that the design of the HAFF was “largely effective”.

But the independent audit office said that Treasury should do better in reporting on how the program was progressing against its own targets, as it noted that the average cost per home built under the HAFF was $770,387 over 25 years.

Experts and the government’s own Housing Australia do not expect the government to meet its ambitious home building target.

One of the ANAO’s five recommendations – all of which were accepted by the Treasury – was that the department “publicly and clearly reports on program performance, including the performance of sub-activities and programs, as well as the overall program”.

Clare O’Neil, the minister for housing and homelessness, in a statement said she welcomed the report. She said:

The auditor general has identified practical opportunities to strengthen governance, risk management and public reporting as the program continues to mature.

We welcome those recommendations and will continue improving the way the program is delivered.

Monique Ryan condemns Pauline Hanson’s comments on deportations and White Australia policy

Independent MP Monique Ryan has condemned a number of recent comments by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Ryan called Hanson’s comments saying she admires Donald Trump’s approach to mass deportation makes her “sick”.

I’ve seen footage of people being killed during the process of deportation in the US. I’ve seen people being removed from hospital settings and medical clinics, the thought of that happening in this country makes me sick. The fact that Pauline Hanson thinks that’s a reasonable way to treat and deal with vulnerable people tells me that she is not fit to have any significant leadership role in the country.

Ryan also rejected Hanson’s accusation she was misinterpreted to appear as if she said that she supported a White Australia policy.

I think it would appear that One Nation doesn’t know what they believe. On one hand it does not talk to the other combine a bit doesn’t know what Pauline is saying, they are incredibly incoherent as a political force. It’s remarkable they are getting as much airtime as they are. The need to be held to account and come up with reasonable, rational policies if they really believe that they have any role to play in the leadership of this country.”

Qld government considering investment in four pumped hydro projects

We assess these projects using a consistent evaluation framework aligned with the energy roadmap objectives, projects were assessed against a comprehensive set of principles, including commercial outcomes, strategic fit, broader impacts and risks, deliverability and feasibility.

Monique Ryan raises concerns over AI datacentre locations, urges government protection

Independent MP Monique Ryan says she has concerns about where existing and future AI datacentres are built and has urged the government to ensure “there are protections in place”.

When asked whether she would want one in her electorate on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, she said:

I think people would be concerned. Sound pollution is an increasing concern for people. We have seen in states 75% of people are now saying they don’t want one in the area and there’s a good reason for that.

When asked where they should be placed, she said they should be near energy sources and “powered by 100% new renewables”. She said:

That should not be taking electricity out of our existing power supply. So companies building them can ensure 100% new renewables to them and water sovereignty as well.

Dead stranded baby whale returns negative bird flu test

A humpback whale calf that died on Greenhills Beach in Cronulla last week has tested negative for bird flu. It comes after responders were called to the stranding last Friday morning after a public report to ORRCA’s hotline.

The test was carried out under NSW’s H5 bird flu surveillance program, which can include marine mammals such as whales and seals.

Authorities say the newborn animal, confirmed to be just a few days old, most likely died from complications linked to a difficult or traumatic birth.

A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said:

Examination findings showed the calf was born alive and had taken its first breaths, with no evidence it had been able to feed from its mother.

While it is not possible to determine the exact events leading to the calf’s death, the findings indicate the animal experienced serious complications shortly before or during birth and was unable to survive in the critical first days of life.

The department said a full necropsy test “may take some weeks to come back.”

First Nations protesters rally at US military base in Northern Territory

Hundreds of protesters have marched towards the gates of the secretive US-run intelligence base Pine Gap, on Arrernte land on the outskirts of Mparntwe-Alice Springs, demanding it be shut down.

On Monday, traditional owners delivered a letter to the facility requesting the base be shuttered and the land it occupies returned to the Arrernte people.

Traditional owner Felicity Hayes said the base was the cause of sadness for her people, and should be the source of shame for Australia and the US.

We want our Apmere (land) back … My country is a sacred place … for me and my families and for everybody in Australia so today I wanted to tell them that we don’t want Pine Gap to ever exist on our land. Shut it down. Close it down and give our land back.

Pine Gap was established in 1966 by the CIA. It is, technically, a “joint facility” between Australia and the US, but it is always run by an American. Its precise role is shrouded in secrecy, but it is known to provide key surveillance and targeting information for US military operations. The information gathered by satellites and sent through Pine Gap has been linked to US and Israeli strikes in Gaza and elsewhere across the Middle East. The US military regards Pine Gap as one of its most valuable offshore intelligence assets.

On Tuesday morning, protester Aahana Nag locked herself to the steering wheel of a vehicle blocking Hatt Road, the main road into the base. She was arrested and taken into custody by NT police. Nag said, in a statement:

The United States has displaced the custodians of these lands and has built an intelligence facility that provides critical intelligence for their illegal military operations.

How can we allow this when the United States is currently conducting illegal attacks and invasions globally?

Nag said Australia should end its military alliance with the US.

This base is material proof of the federal government’s investment in US wars that do not serve us.

Family rejects coroner’s newborn death finding

A family whose daughter died hours after her birth from an undiagnosed heart defect has rejected a coroner’s finding that the baby’s death was not preventable, AAP reports.

Thea Flaskett died on the morning of 11 September 2023, a little more than four hours after she was born at a Queensland hospital. Thea’s parents Meg and James Flaskett had fought for an inquest into their daughter’s death, which held hearings in Brisbane in 2025.

Meg Flaskett said the family was “devastated but not surprised by the outcome” in a statement that criticised the inquest’s findings. She disputed that Thea’s heart defect was the only major contributor to her death at Redcliffe hospital, north of Brisbane. She said:

Had Thea’s condition been diagnosed before birth, her labour, delivery and immediate management would have been fundamentally different.

Although these findings bring the coronial process to an end, they do not bring us peace, nor do they answer the questions that have driven us for almost three years.

New KPMG CEO was on executive during ‘botched’ inaction on leaks, Labor inquiry chair says

Labor senator Deb O’Neill has taken aim at KPMG’s new CEO in connection to the firm’s failure to confirm or address leaks in its audit team.

John Sams, today appointed chief executive, is a KPMG lifer who had been the firm’s chief financial officer and a board member since October.

O’Neill, the chair of a parliamentary inquiry, said in a public statement:

Mr Sams’ appointment is the elevation of yet another member of the firm’s leadership which oversaw the series of botched investigations and non-action.

The inquiry has heard KPMG’s board’s subcommittee commissioned legal advice which found no evidence for the leak allegations in December. Only after the allegations were publicly revealed in March did KPMG re-investigate, verify and act on some of the allegations. KPMG declined to comment. Sams did not sit on the subcommittee.

O’Neill previously took aim at KPMG when it replaced its outgoing chair with Michael Ebeid, an internal independent director who had oversight of last year’s investigation. She took another shot at Ebeid in her comments today.

Ebeid is yet to officially become chair but still sat on the selection panel that today appointed Sams. The firm’s 680 partners have to vote on whether to change their partnership agreement so Ebeid can serve as independent chair. O’Neill said:

I note reports of concerns within KPMG about the role Mr Ebeid has played in advancing the path of Mr Sams to CEO, given there has been no formal agreement by partners to allow Mr Ebeid, who is not a partner of KPMG, to assume the role of Chair of the Board.

Contacted on behalf of Ebeid and Sams, KPMG declined to comment. Ebeid today said Sams was also endorsed by the board.

Tamworth sports journalist killed in rural car accident

Perth teenager arrested after allegedly stabbing mother to death, injuring sister

A 16-year-old boy has allegedly stabbed his own mother to death and turned the knife on his little sister who managed to flee to get help, AAP reports.

Police attended a home in the suburb of Bentley, in Perth’s south-east, after the incident which authorities say occurred at about 6:15am on Tuesday.

Officers located the body of the 35-year-old mother inside the family’s Mill Street home, Acting Insp Jessica Securo told reporters.

The girl was also stabbed but managed to flee the house, making it to a nearby highway for help. Securo said:

Jewish schools council says poorer schools using education funding for security

Stephen Rothman, a former NSW supreme court judge who is the co-chair Australian Council of Jewish Schools (ACJS), the representative body for schools throughout the country, has been explaining to the royal commission on antisemitism how Jewish schools are funded, including security costs.

Rothman has said since 2023, “the level of vitriolic antisemitic abuse has been significant, and in my view, normalised to such an extent that members of the community generally feel unwelcome and unprotected”.

ACJS analysis shows the national total for security spending in the four years to 2022 to 2025 is more than $58m. Rothman said be believes every Jewish independent school funds this through levies to parents, but this is “normally significantly lower” than poorer schools needs to spend in relation to security per student, with schools drawing on their own funds or from increased fees to cover costs.

It’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek line by members of the Jewish community that it’s expensive to be Jewish, and it is, a lot of money is spent on donations and the like, it’s part of the culture, but nevertheless, if you can get the donations, yes, that’s good. If you can’t get the donations … [schools] will use resources that other schools would use for all sorts of other facilities to fund security, including education, unfortunately.

Rothman said the ACJS’s position is “at least the recurrent expenditure on guards and other operational … expenditures” should be funded by the federal government.

Now the wonderful Achol Arok will take you through the rest of today’s breaking news.

Jewish school has looked at diverting school funding to meet security needs

The royal commission on antisemitism on social cohesion has been hearing about the security burden on Jewish schools in Sydney and Melbourne following a rise in antisemitic incidents sine October 2023.

Before lunch, it heard from Mount Scopus Memorial College and Bialik College in Melbourne, which like many independent Jewish schools, charge parents security levies in addition to fees, which have increased significantly since October 2023. They described antisemitic incidents directed at students.

This afternoon, Linda Emms, the principal of Emanuel School in Sydney, has said while the majority of its security costs came from levies charged to parents, they did not fully cover increasing costs, meaning “over the last 18 months in my time at the school, it has meant that we’ve had to look at diverting funds from other areas of school operations”.

She said the start of the 2026 school year, had brought an “added layer of complexity” for Emanuel, which is near Bondi beach, with many staff, student and parents impacted by the terror attack in December. Emms said the school has a police presence every day.

Our parents have worked incredibly hard, particularly with some of our younger students, to get their children to see the police as their friends and as being there to protect them.And I watch some of them come in, and they will fist bump the police as they come in of a morning and say hello to them. And it’s lovely, but it’s really sad that we have parents who actually have to do this, because that’s how they’re actually reassuring their child that it’s OK that there’s actually police at the front gate every morning.

Queensland police ethical standards investigating after man dies in Brisbane city watch house

The Queensland police ethical standards unit is investigating the death of a man at the Brisbane city watch house yesterday.

The 55-year-old Thornlands man had been in the facility since Friday. He was arrested that day, 17 July, at about 10.50am on a return to prison warrant.

He told staff he was feeling unwell on Monday shortly after 3pm and was assessed by nursing staff and other emergency services. He died a short time later. His cause of death is under investigation.

The Queensland police ethical standards command is investigating the death in custody on behalf of the state coroner. The state’s watch houses are operated by Queensland police and are designed for adult detainees to be held for about 48 hours.

There are 72 people currently being held in the Brisbane watch house; eight of them have been there longer than a week, one for 12 days.