Netanyahu ‘must change course’, Penny Wong says
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “must change course”, Penny Wong has said.
The foreign minister is speaking on ABC News Breakfast about the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues. Wong said:
What I’ve said to my counterparts directly, and what I have said previously publicly … that unless Israel, Mr Netanyahu, changes his course of action, Israel will continue to lose support. We say to Mr Netanyahu, you must change course.
Wong was then pressed on the fact “nothing is happening” despite these calls, she responded:
Unfortunately, you and I both know that nation states make their decisions and those decisions may include acting in ways which diminish their standing internationally.
Asked what the the foreign minister makes of Netanyahu’s comments that this was an unintended strike and “happens in war time”, Wong responded:
I would say to Mr Netanyahu that war time does not obviate responsibility for observing international humanitarian law, including the protection of aid workers, and the Australian government, on behalf of the Australian people, and on behalf of Zomi Frankcom, expects full accountability for what has occurred. That the death of an aid worker in these circumstances is unacceptable.
Key events
Wong said she “expects Mr Netanyahu to make himself available for a call” with prime minister Anthony Albanese on the deaths of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and seix of her colleagues.
Wong, who spoke with Israel’s foreign minister overnight, said:
I believe, and the government believes, this obviously is an issue that we need Israel to address. The Australian community needs Israel to address. So, of course, we would expect Mr Netanyahu to make himself available for a call.
Asked whether the Australian government ever consider sanctions against Israel, Wong said “we don’t speculate on sanctions”.
Wong did not indicate she would take the step of expelling the Israeli ambassador or other diplomats after being asked during the interview if she would do so. She said “it’s important we maintain diplomatic relationships with many countries” and have an avenue for expressing “our views about issues which are important to Australians”.
Netanyahu ‘must change course’, Penny Wong says
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “must change course”, Penny Wong has said.
The foreign minister is speaking on ABC News Breakfast about the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues. Wong said:
What I’ve said to my counterparts directly, and what I have said previously publicly … that unless Israel, Mr Netanyahu, changes his course of action, Israel will continue to lose support. We say to Mr Netanyahu, you must change course.
Wong was then pressed on the fact “nothing is happening” despite these calls, she responded:
Unfortunately, you and I both know that nation states make their decisions and those decisions may include acting in ways which diminish their standing internationally.
Asked what the the foreign minister makes of Netanyahu’s comments that this was an unintended strike and “happens in war time”, Wong responded:
I would say to Mr Netanyahu that war time does not obviate responsibility for observing international humanitarian law, including the protection of aid workers, and the Australian government, on behalf of the Australian people, and on behalf of Zomi Frankcom, expects full accountability for what has occurred. That the death of an aid worker in these circumstances is unacceptable.
Wong says aid worker deaths ‘even more distressing’ as movements were coordinated with Israeli military
Penny Wong says the aid workers died after World Central Kitchen had coordinated their movements with Israel’s military was “even more distressing”.
She added:
This has been a conflict which has been particularly fatal for aid workers. I know that the UN Secretary General said overnight, some 196 aid workers have been killed in this conflict. This is unacceptable.
Asked how comfortable Wong was with the fact 32,000 people have died in Gaza, and 74,000 have been injured, Wong replied:
I don’t think anybody’s comfortable with this conflict, with the civilian lives which have been lost, with the hostages who remained unreleased. As you said more than 30,000 civilians have been killed more, than half a million Palestinians are starving. What we have said to the Netanyahu government directly is that they must change course. We’ve also said we support an immediate humanitarian ceasefire consistent with the UN Security Council resolution.
Wong speaks with Israeli counterpart about Zomi Frankom’s death: ‘We expect full accountability’
Penny Wong says she has told Israel’s foreign minister that the death of aid worker Zomi Frankcom is “outrageous and unacceptable” and has “expressed the outrage of the nation”.
The foreign minister, who is speaking on ABC now, said she spoke to her counterpart last night. She said of the conversation:
I expressed that that we expect full accountability for the steps. We spoke about his intention to ensure that there was a thorough investigation.
We spoke about the importance of full accountability and transparency and obviously we will continue to work with the Israelis on the detail of this investigation. What we expect is a transparent, full accountability for what has occurred, which is a death not only this Australian, Zomi Frankcom, but also a number of other aid workers.
Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in Brisbane unit
A woman has been found dead in a Brisbane unit and a man has been charged with murder.
Police said they found the body of a 66-year-old Western Australian woman at a Fortitude Valley unit following a welfare check about 1pm on Tuesday.
A 42-year-old man, who officers said was related to the woman, was arrested at the unit and later charged with one count of murder (DV offence).
He will appear in the Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday.
– AAP
Jordyn Beazley
Good morning, everyone! I’ll be taking you through our rolling live news coverage today.
As always, if there’s anything you’d like to bring to our attention, you can reach me at jordyn.beazley@theguardian.com.
Dutton targets small business conference to push nuclear policy
The federal opposition leader will use a small business conference in Sydney to argue that his nuclear energy policy will help them by creating cheaper energy costs, AAP reports.
Peter Dutton believes lower energy costs are key to unlocking Australia’s future economic competitiveness and nuclear would help bring prices down.
He will take the opportunity to spruik the Coalition’s upcoming energy policy at a small business conference in Sydney on Wednesday.
“I want to see our industries remain onshore and the cost of doing business come down for small businesses across the country,” he is expected to say in his speech at the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia event.
He will say he wants to broaden the nation’s manufacturing capabilities by growing the resource and defence sectors and developing a domestic green steel industry.
“But these goals cannot be achieved without cheap, consistent and clean power,” he will say.
The opposition has already foreshadowed a tilt towards nuclear technology and is working on a policy with possible sites for reactors on old coal station locations to take advantage of existing transmission infrastructure.
“Nuclear is the only proven technology which emits zero emissions, which can firm up renewables, and which provides cheap, consistent and clean power,” he will say.
The federal government has repeatedly dismissed nuclear as technology that is ill-suited to Australia that has a high price tag and will take too long to roll out.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live blog covering all the news from across Australia. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the best of the morning stories before my colleague Jordyn Beazley takes up the running.
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Israel has admitted that its air strike killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues as they were delivering food in Gaza. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said overnight that the deaths of the seven volunteers was “a tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip”, before adding: “This happens in wartime.” In a television interview on the ABC last night, Anthony Albanese said the Australian government had so far been unable to speak with the Israeli ambassador or other top officials.
