11m agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 2:22am<\/p>\n
Albanese responds to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described\u00a0Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace”.<\/p>\n
The brother of King Charles was questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office<\/a> when he worked as a British trade envoy.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Guardian<\/a>, Albanese said he was limited in what he could say.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are very serious allegations, and because they will be, no doubt, the subject of court action, I\u2019m limited in what I can say,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut people will be following the detail here. This appears to be about [classified] documents, and whether they were inappropriately forwarded on to someone who wasn\u2019t eligible. But, of course, there\u2019s the bigger issue as well when it comes to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. No doubt, we will wait and see where this all goes.<\/p>\n “To see this decline and fall is extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n 26m agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 2:07am<\/p>\n Voters divided as Barnaby Joyce considers contesting New England for One Nation<\/p>\n Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has not ruled out recontesting his seat of New England as a One Nation candidate.<\/p>\n Following\u00a0his defection from the National Party in December,<\/a>\u00a0the MP said he planned to run on One Nation’s Senate ticket for NSW.<\/p>\n However, Joyce has now said there was a “caveat”, and he could recontest in the lower house if it appeared One Nation could win multiple seats.<\/p>\n On the streets of Tamworth, John O’Meagher said he was surprised by Joyce’s “caveat”, but it was ultimately “his call”.<\/p>\n Many in the region noted that Mr Joyce’s reputation would work in his favour if he decided to recontest.<\/p>\n Read the full story from\u00a0Genevieve Blandin de Chalain and Peter Sanders below.<\/p>\n 1h agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 1:23am<\/p>\n Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu set to show world leaders climate change impact ahead of COP31<\/p>\n Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu look set to host world leaders and climate change ministers in the lead-up to COP31 in a bid to encourage larger countries to accelerate cuts to emissions.<\/p>\n Both Fiji and Palau had offered to host the “pre-COP” meetings secured for the Pacific under a complicated deal struck last year that saw hosting rights for the main climate summit go to T\u00fcrkiye while giving Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen a key position in global climate negotiations.<\/p>\n Australia and Pacific Islands nations have declared they want to use the opportunity to publicise the Pacific’s existential battle with climate change.<\/p>\n But negotiations on who should host events in the lead-up to the summit have dragged on.<\/p>\n Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr told the ABC that Pacific leaders were close to landing a deal that would hand Palau, Fiji and Tuvalu a prominent role ahead of COP31.<\/p>\n Read more of this exclusive report by foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic and Evan Wasuka.<\/p>\n 1h agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 12:56am<\/p>\n Taylor distances himself from Hanson’s remarks<\/p>\n Angus Taylor has distanced himself from Pauline Hanson’s remarks on Muslim Australians, insisting the Coalition’s focus was on “core values”, not on race or religion.<\/p>\n The One Nation leader was condemned for suggesting there were no “good” Muslims. She later offered a partial apology for her remarks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Taylor said he didn’t agree with Hanson’s comments. Asked if she should issue a full apology, the opposition leader said it was a matter for Hanson.<\/p>\n “I will always distance myself from people who think this is about anything other than protecting our way of life, focusing on our core values,” Taylor said.<\/p>\n “If people want to come to our country, no matter their religion, and they don’t believe what we believe in, then we should shut the door on them, it is as simple as that.<\/p>\n “I don’t see that focusing on race and religion is the answer to that. I see us focusing on values and what we believe in as the priority here.”<\/p>\n 2h agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 12:26amTaylor willing to work with government to broaden powers to refuse passports<\/p>\n Angus Taylor says the opposition would be willing to assist the government in broadening the power to refuse an Australian passport.<\/p>\n The Coalition is questioning why single-use travel documents were approved for a group of Australian women with links to the Islamic State to return from Syria.<\/p>\n “Temporary exclusion orders are there to deal with exactly this situation. There are powers to refuse passports, and the government has not answered the most basic questions about why those things are not being used, or to what extent they have sought to use them,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The legislation provides the powers to [refuse a passport] under the appropriate circumstances. The truth is if they need to be broadened, then we stand ready to work with the government to do that.”<\/p>\n The group of 34 women and children had attempted to leave\u00a0Al-Roj camp in north-eastern Syria on Monday<\/a>, but were forced to turn back shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n A temporary exclusion order has been issued against one of the women on advice of security agencies.<\/p>\n Taylor called for the government to set out the advice it had received about the group.<\/p>\n Asked about the children, the opposition leader said it was “tragic” they were involved, but questions remained.<\/p>\n “There are real questions about radicalisation and what might have occurred with those children. We don’t have the answers to any of those questions.”<\/p>\n 2h agoFri 20 Feb 2026 at 12:02am<\/p>\n Taylor makes visit to Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue<\/p>\n Opposition Leader Angus Taylor is in Melbourne today, where he’s visiting the\u00a0Adass Israel synagogue alongside Liberal frontbencher James Paterson.<\/p>\n Paterson says it is “not an accident” Taylor has chosen to visit the synagogue so early in his tenure as opposition leader.<\/p>\n “Protecting our way of life is a critical priority for the Liberal and National parties and the Coalition,” he says.<\/p>\n “A critical feature of the Australian way of life is being able to worship freely without fear. And for the many Australian Jews, and especially the Adass Israel community, that has not been the case since that dark day.”<\/p>\n The synagogue in Ripponlea was targeted in an arson attack on\u00a0 December 6, 2024.<\/p>\n Taylor says the attack should never have happened.<\/p>\n “But what I saw today was a Jewish community that is resilient, that is fighting back.”<\/p>\n 2h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:40pm<\/p>\n More reaction to arrest and questioning of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/p>\n Reactions have been rolling in from federal politicians about the news that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested and questioned by UK police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.<\/p>\n It is believed the arrest relates to allegations he passed sensitive government documents to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says she hopes the news brings some comfort to Epstein’s victims.<\/p>\n “I hope some comfort to the victims to see that it seems no-one is above the law,” she said.<\/p>\n “I hope that there are thorough investigations and, where warranted, prosecutions come from the release of these documents, and that victims get the justice they deserve.”<\/p>\n 3h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:01pmNew chief of top intelligence watchdog revealed<\/p>\n The federal government has appointed a new chief for Australia\u2019s top intelligence watchdog.<\/p>\n The attorney-general,\u00a0Michelle Rowland, has just announced New South Wales Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes will take up the role of inspector-general of Intelligence and Security from April this year.<\/p>\n He\u2019s replacing Christopher Jessup, whose five-year term is coming to an end.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an important role \u2013 the inspector-general oversees and reviews Australia\u2019s national intelligence agencies to make sure they don\u2019t break the law or overstep any boundaries while doing their work.<\/p>\n Barnes has had a long career in the law, and the attorney-general says he\u2019ll bring \u201cextensive\u201d experience to the job and ensure intelligence agencies continue to face \u201crobust\u201d scrutiny.<\/p>\n 3h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:37pm<\/p>\n Full list of 11 Australian women with ISIS links trying to leave Syria revealed<\/p>\n The ABC can reveal the names of the 11 women connected to former Islamic State fighters in Syria who attempted to journey home to Australia this week<\/p>\n The group of 34 Australians, including 23 children, has been living in camps in Syria since the fall of the so-called caliphate, and some of those children were actually born behind the razor wire.<\/p>\n Some of the women are believed to have accompanied their husbands to the war zone, but others came with family and married IS fighters once they arrived. Some say they got stuck in Syria by accident.<\/p>\n Many of them have previously spoken to the ABC.<\/p>\n They\u00a0left the Al-Roj camp in north-eastern Syria on Monday in the hopes of returning to Australia<\/a>, but were forced to turn back shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n An official at the Al Roj camp said that when the group left, staff started dismantling their tents, and when the group unexpectedly returned, some had to bunk in together.<\/p>\n
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