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Angus Taylor accuses federal government of assisting with IS-linked families repatriation <\/p>\n
Circling back to the opposition leader\u2019s press conference, and Angus Taylor said he didn\u2019t have faith in the government to handle the return of four Australian women and nine children from Syria who had ties to the former Islamic State fighters to home soil.<\/p>\n
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, earlier said the federal government was aware of their return and was not assisting with their repatriation, adding \u201cif they have committed crimes, they can expect to face the full force of the law without exception\u201d.<\/p>\n
Taylor disputed this claim, alleging they had \u201cclearly assisted with the issue and distribution of passports\u201d as well as with DNA tests.<\/p>\n
double quotation markI think the question now is – what\u2019s going to happen when these people arrive? What\u2019s it going to cost Australian taxpayers? … I don\u2019t have faith in this government when it comes to these ISIS supporters.<\/p>\n
Australian citizens cannot legally be prevented from returning to the country unless a formal exclusion order is in place. Burke has issued a single order to prevent one woman in Syria from returning, based on Asio advice about a national security risk.<\/p>\n
Read more about the story here:<\/p>\n
Share<\/a> Alleged Bondi terror attacker to face 19 extra charges<\/p>\n Naveed Akram faces fresh charges for his alleged role as a gunman in the Bondi terror attack, taking the total number of charges against him to 78.<\/p>\n Akram, 24, and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, allegedly murdered 15 people after opening fire at a Hanukah festival at Bondi beach on 14 December.<\/p>\n Akram, who survived a shootout with police, was charged in December with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act that investigators allege may have been \u201cinspired by Isis\u201d. Sajid Akram was shot and killed by police at the scene.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> First witness at antisemitism royal commission shares testimony<\/p>\n The first witness on the stand at today\u2019s antisemitism royal commission is using the pseudonym AAQ.<\/p>\n She\u2019s a public high school teacher in Tasmania who is concerned the curriculum does not focus enough on the Holocaust, antisemitism and Nazi ideology, and about the use of the book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas<\/a>, which she says is \u201dhistorically inaccurate\u201d and centres on Germans\u2019 suffering rather than Jewish victims.<\/p>\n She also said students graffitied swastikas around the school, showed a \u201cfascination\u201d with Hitler, and bullied a Jewish student and their sibling to the point they left the state. She says:<\/p>\n double quotation markThey\u2019d be performing a Nazi salute to each other in classrooms or hallways or in the schoolyard, you would see fingers under their noses to emulate Hitler\u2019s moustache.<\/p>\n She said students would gaslight her if she called them out and claim not to know what it meant.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing was done,\u201d she says, when she raised the issue with leaders. The principal spoke to the students once after antisemitic comments. \u201cThe implication was that I was being emotional,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Students also parroted tropes they had seen online about Israel and about Jewish people, she says, and it got worse after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n A Holocaust survivor who had been well received when he previously spoke at the school was met with \u201cboorish\u201d behaviour from students when he returned in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were essentially blaming him for what was happening over there [in Israel],\u201d she said, adding that some parents were \u201cirate\u201d that a Jewish person spoke at the school.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.48 EDT<\/p>\n Angus Taylor says fuel reserve announcement \u2018too little, too late\u2019<\/p>\n Angus Taylor, the opposition leader, says the new announcement about a 1bn litre, government-owned fuel reserve is \u201ctoo little, too late\u201d.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe need more fuel stocks, I\u2019ve said that very plainly. \u2026 The government needs to get on with it.<\/p>\n Taylor said the Coalition<\/a> wants to see fuel reserves at 60 days of supply, on the way towards \u201c90 days that we want to see\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.46 EDT<\/p>\n Duniam says government should do \u2018everything\u2019 it can to stop Islamic State-linked Australians from coming back<\/p>\n Jonno Duniam, the shadow home affairs minister, said earlier the government has \u201cone last chance\u201d to revoke the travel documents of the Australians in Syria with links to Islamic State fighters.<\/p>\n Burke has maintained today the government has extreme limits to what it can do aside from temporary exclusion orders, which have a very high threshold.<\/a> Only one person in the cohort has been subject to such an order.<\/p>\n Still, Duniam said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI say this government has one last chance before these people board planes back to Australia to revoke their travel documents, to apply temporary exclusion orders. Australians are not feeling safe now, we know that. \u2026<\/p>\n If there is a chance to stop them, we should do everything we can to stop it.<\/p>\n Jonno Duniam. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Albanese says Australians linked to Islamic State fighters will receive no help and face full force of the law<\/p>\n Albanese was just asked about the cohort of Australians linked to Islamic State fighters who are planning to return home. The prime minister said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThese are people who\u2019ve made what is a horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and a have placed their children in an extraordinary situation.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve said many times, any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law, and that will occur.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Chris Bowen, the energy minister, said the new reserves are a \u201cbig change\u201d for Australia. He went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is a big change in our approach as a country and a good one.<\/p>\n He said the 1bn litre stockpile, owned by the government, will build on increased minimum stock obligations in the private sector. The focus will be on jet fuel and diesel to prepare for the \u201cworst circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.18 EDT<\/p>\n Budget to include $10bn package to ensure fuel and fertiliser security, including permanent reserve of 1bn litres<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese is speaking now in Sydney, saying the government is continuing its work to tackle the ongoing fuel crisis.<\/p>\n Albanese said the budget will include a more than $10bn package to ensure fuel and fertiliser security, including a permanent, government-owned fuel security reserve of about 1bn litres.<\/p>\n double quotation markThis will support an overall expansion of Australia\u2019s onshore fuel reserves to ensure at least 50 days of fuel supply and storage of diesel and aviation fuel.<\/p>\n Albanese added:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have worked relentlessly to secure our fuel supply lines. So far we are faring well.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.53 EDT<\/p>\n High court appeal against NZYQ removal to Nauru dismissed An elderly Iranian man\u2019s appeal in the high court against being sent to Nauru has been dismissed.<\/p>\n This morning, the high court bench unanimously dismissed the challenge to the Albanese government\u2019s arrangement with Nauru to send members of the NZYQ cohort there on 30-year visas.<\/p>\n Lawyers for the man, who was one of the first three announced in February 2025<\/a> for resettlement in Nauru, had argued his deportation could result in his \u201cimminent\u201d and \u201cpreventable\u201d death due to the tiny Pacific island\u2019s limited health facilities.<\/p>\n You can read more about that here:<\/p>\n They had also argued Australia\u2019s $2.5bn deal with Nauru to send NZYQ-affected people to Nauru was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll have more once we work through the judgment\u2019s reasons.<\/p>\n At least 350 non-citizens have been released into the community since the high court ruled in November 2023<\/a> Australia could not keep non-citizens indefinitely detained.<\/p>\n Many of the cohort\u2019s visas have been cancelled as a result of criminal convictions but they cannot be returned to their country of origin because they are stateless or face persecution.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Survivors in the Bondi terror attack to have a formal application made to suppress their identities<\/p>\n Prosecutors in the case against alleged Bondi terror attack gunmen Naveed Akram will make a formal application next month to suppress the identities of dozens of complainants and some survivors.<\/p>\n In December, the court granted an interim suppression order protecting the identities of a number of survivors of the attack unless they give their consent.<\/p>\n More survivors also applied have their identities protected after Crown prosecutors applied to vary the suppression order in the Downing Centre local court last month.<\/p>\n The commonwealth prosecutor told the Downing Centre local court on Wednesday that, since taking over the case from NSW police, prosecutors had \u201cendeavoured to contact each of the complainants ourselves directly to ascertain their views on the ongoing extension of the orders\u201d.<\/p>\n The prosector requested a half-day long hearing on 10 June \u2013 pending confirmation from the registry this date is available \u2013 to make a formal application to suppress the identities of dozens of complainants and some survivors. She told the court that some of the survivors are children, who will already be protected from being identified.<\/p>\n Judge Susan McItnyre agreed to extend the non-publication order before a formal hearing is set.<\/p>\n Matthew Lewis, who appeared on behalf of five media publications \u2013 including Guardian Australia \u2013 could not confirm yet whether the media would oppose the application. He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markNo evidence has been served so can\u2019t speculate whether we will or not.<\/p>\n Akram, 24, and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, allegedly killed 15 people after opening fire at a Hanukah festival at Bondi beach on 14 December.<\/p>\n Akram, who survived a shootout with police, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act that investigators allege may have been \u201cinspired by Isis\u201d. Sajid Akram was shot and killed by police at the scene.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.54 EDT<\/p>\n AFP chief says some returning IS-linked family members will be charged<\/p>\n Krissy Barrett, the commissioner of the AFP, said planning surrounding the return of Australians linked to the Islamic State began in 2015, with investigators collecting evidence for more than a decade. She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThat evidence and information was to determine whether Australians who travelled to Syria may have committed commonwealth offences, including terrorism offences, such as entering or remaining in declared areas, and crimes against humanity offences such as engaging in slave trading.<\/p>\n Barrett would not flag how many people would be arrested or when they will be arrested to protect the investigation. She said, however:<\/p>\n double quotation markSome individuals will be arrested and charged. Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia.<\/p>\n And children who return in the cohort will be asked to undergo community integration programs, therapeutic support and countering violent extremist programs.<\/p>\n Australians need to know that law enforcement and security agencies are doing everything they can to keep them safe and \u2026 that individuals are held to account for their actions.<\/p>\n Krissy Barrett. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.57 EDT<\/p>\n Tony Burke says there are \u2018very serious limits\u2019 on how citizens can be blocked from returning home<\/p>\n Burke said there are \u201cvery serious limits\u201d on what the country can do to block a citizen from returning home.<\/p>\n He said he received one advice where an individual met the requirements for a temporary exclusion order and he acted immediately with regards to that person.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Asio director general \u2018extremely concerned\u2019 by young people being radicalised online<\/p>\n Mike Burgess, the director general of Asio, said he remains \u201cextremely concerned\u201d about the number of young people, particularly young men, who are being radicalised online.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markPeople who self-radicalise online often show few, if any, real world indicators they\u2019re mobilising the violence. Online operations are often the only way we can have identifying and engaging with these individuals, so we can understand their intent, their capability, their identity and their targets.<\/p>\n Burgess said the most likely act of politically motivated violence would occur with \u201clittle to no warning\u201d and in ways \u201cthat are difficult to attack\u201d. Australia\u2019s national terrorism threat level remains at probable.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.32 EDT<\/p>\n Tony Burke says government \u2018is not assisting\u2019 Islamic State-linked families<\/p>\n In regards to the Islamic State-linked families, Burke had this to say:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe government is not repatriating and will not repatriate. The government is not assisting and will not assist these individuals.<\/p>\n They made an appalling, disgraceful decision. If any of these individuals find their way back to Australia, if they have committed crimes, they can expect to face the full force of the law, without exception.<\/p>\n![\"Jordyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jordyn_Beazley,_L.png\")
Jordyn Beazley<\/p>\n![\"Tory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Tory_Shepherd.png\")
Tory Shepherd<\/p>\n![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778032693_129_Sarah_Basford_Canales.png\")
Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\nJordyn Beazley<\/p>\n