![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789030937_857_Sarah_Basford_Canales.png\")
Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\nRSL Australia says calling a veteran a traitor is a \u2018slur\u2019Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s largest veteran support group has warned calling veterans traitors is a \u201cslur\u201d and an attack on every veteran\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
It follows a bitter rift between the Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie and the One Nation<\/a> leader, Pauline Hanson, after the latter refused to apologise for a cartoon her party published that labelled Hastie a \u201ctraitor\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement this afternoon, the Returned & Services League of Australia, better known as RSL Australia, said using the word sends a \u201ccorrosive message to the wider veteran community\u201d that \u201cyour service can be recast as betrayal the moment it\u2019s politically convenient\u201d.<\/p>\n The statement said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe recent comments from Senator Hanson towards Andrew Hastie MP go beyond political disagreement.<\/p>\n This may have begun as a political dispute between Senator Hanson and Mr Hastie, however, when a person\u2019s military service is used as the punchline, when the word \u2018traitor\u2019 is thrown at someone who has worn the uniform and deployed on operations, that stops being politics and starts being an attack on every veteran\u2019s service.<\/p>\n Veterans don\u2019t stop being accountable to their oath once they leave the ADF. Branding a former soldier a \u2018traitor\u2019 sends a corrosive message to the wider veteran community: that your service can be recast as betrayal the moment it\u2019s politically convenient.<\/p>\n RSL Australia asks all sides of politics to keep that distinction. Calling a veteran a traitor is a slur, and it deserves to be treated as one regardless of who it\u2019s aimed at or how it\u2019s dressed up.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.08 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n What we learned, Thursday 10 September<\/p>\n That\u2019s a wrap on our live coverage for today!<\/p>\n Before we say bye, let\u2019s recap the day\u2019s top headlines.<\/p>\n Former prime minister Kevin Rudd did the rounds in Canberra today<\/a> for a round of high-profile speeches this week, marking his return to Australia after serving as ambassador to Washington DC.<\/p>\n The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has warned the Albanese government<\/a> not to join the \u201cmadness\u201d of cutting migration to appease One Nation<\/a>. Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has backed the warnings.<\/p>\n Andrew Hastie has continued to step up the fight against One Nation<\/a>, after one of its cartoon Please Explain videos referred to the Liberal MP and SAS veteran as a \u201ctraitor\u201d after he gave evidence against Ben Roberts-Smith in his failed defamation claim.<\/p>\n Jacqui Lambie, an independent senator and defence veteran, has also joined the criticism<\/a> against Pauline Hanson .<\/p>\n Moira Deeming, the former Victorian Liberal MP, has announced she will lead the conservative Family First party<\/a> at the November state election.<\/p>\n Angus Taylor has confirmed the Coalition<\/a> won\u2019t support the government\u2019s digital duty of care bill in its current form, because it would enforce political censorship.<\/p>\n A controversial plan<\/a> for the Minns government to allow big industry to use a new Great Koala national park to offset its climate pollution will go ahead after a deal with the Greens.<\/a><\/p>\n Australian-first laws that guarantee the right to work from home two days a week are unlikely to pass Victorian parliament before the November state election, with the Coalition<\/a> and crossbench teaming up to refer the bill to an inquiry.<\/p>\n The high court has refused<\/a> with costs an appeal by women-only app Giggle against a full federal court ruling in May that upheld a landmark decision<\/a> that the app and its founder, Sall Grover unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.<\/p>\n And finally, here\u2019s a Tl;dr<\/a> on what happened in question time.<\/p>\n Thanks for sticking around, we\u2019ll see you tomorrow morning!<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Victorian premier says Liberals have shown \u2018true colours\u2019 on work from home<\/p>\n The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, says the Liberals have \u201cshown their true colours\u201d by voting with crossbenchers to refer work from home laws to a parliamentary inquiry.<\/a><\/p>\n double quotation markAfter pretending to support our work from home laws all the way along, the Liberal party have teamed up with the One Nation party and voted our work from home laws down \u2026<\/p>\n This legislation has been in the Parliament for three months. I met with the business community and made it fair for families and fair for employers. The Liberal party and Jess Wilson have shown their true colours.<\/p>\n The inquiry will report back on 20 October, a few weeks before the government enters caretaker mode.<\/p>\n Victorian premier Ben Carroll. Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAP<\/p>\n Carroll indicated he would not recall parliament, saying he already added an extra week:<\/p>\n double quotation markI\u2019ve already added a week to get all of our integrity legislation through. It was always designed to be going through this week, I delayed to get the business community the consultation they wanted.<\/p>\n The Liberal Party had been very clear: we will pass this. And what have they done? Behind Victorians\u2019 backs, behind the government\u2019s back, done a sneaky deal with One Nation. If you needed any more proof that the Liberal Party are anti-worker, look what they did right now to working women, to working families that work hard every day and just want the right to work from home.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.31 EDT<\/p>\n VIC Property Council welcomes delays to the WFH Bill<\/p>\n The Property Council has welcomed delays the Victoria\u2019s national-leading work from home bill after the Coalition<\/a> and crossbenchers decided to refer it to an inquiry, effectively stalling it until after the election.<\/p>\n The organisation said the draft legislation requires \u201cfurther scrutiny given the complexity and legal challenges it presents to all Victorians.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, Victorian Executive Director Cath Evans said the decision was the only correct choice.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe Victorian Parliament has seen sense. Instead of forcing rushed legislation through Parliament, it has made the right call by sending the Bill to a Committee to properly examine its operation, implications and legal validity.<\/p>\n Referring the Bill to a Committee gives the Parliament the opportunity to methodically examine all of the legal and economic issues associated with the Bill.<\/p>\n This decision should be the clearest signal: the Victorian Government needs to be focused on the things that will actually drive growth – building more homes, creating jobs, attracting investment and restoring confidence in the state.<\/p>\n We hope this is the beginning of a more constructive approach to addressing the economic issues facing Victoria, and a government that listens to business and recognises that employers and employees are best placed to agree on arrangements that work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Boats seized, mud crabs freed in seafood sting<\/p>\n Boats have been seized and mud crabs freed in a crackdown on black market seafood trafficking, AAP reports.<\/p>\n Three boats will be destroyed after successful prosecutions involving illegal seafood trafficking in Moreton Bay, the Gold Coast and Brisbane. Two offenders were caught by Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers selling seafood outside the state\u2019s commercial fishing system.<\/p>\n A Russell Island man was fined $10,000 for black market sales of mud crabs, king threadfin salmon and mulloway. Officers also located 139 protected bivalve molluscs and an undersized mud crab in his possession.<\/p>\n The man was ordered to forfeit the vessel and associated equipment.<\/p>\n It follows two other successful prosecutions of illegal seafood harvesting in southeast Queensland, with all three forfeited vessels to be crushed. Officers executed a search warrant and seized his vessel, trailer, outboard motor and marine electronics.<\/p>\n Deputy Director-General Fisheries and Forestry Pauline Jacob said the offenders weren\u2019t simply catching a few extra fish for dinner. She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThey were profiting from Queensland\u2019s fisheries resources through ongoing illegal seafood sales that undermine honest commercial fishers and legitimate seafood businesses.<\/p>\n She said licensed commercial fishers invest heavily to meet strict licensing, sustainability and food safety requirements.<\/p>\n double quotation markBlack market operators avoid those costs while undercutting businesses that do the right thing.<\/p>\n Queenslanders deserve confidence that the seafood they buy has been legally harvested, responsibly managed and supplied through legitimate businesses.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>RSL Australia says calling a veteran a traitor is a \u2018slur\u2019 Australia\u2019s largest veteran support group has warned calling veterans traitors is a \u201cslur\u201d and an attack on every veteran\u2019s service.<\/p>\n It follows a bitter rift between the Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie and the One Nation<\/a> leader, Pauline Hanson, after the latter refused to apologise for a cartoon her party published that labelled Hastie a \u201ctraitor\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement this afternoon, the Returned & Services League of Australia, better known as RSL Australia, said using the word sends a \u201ccorrosive message to the wider veteran community\u201d that \u201cyour service can be recast as betrayal the moment it\u2019s politically convenient\u201d.<\/p>\n The statement said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe recent comments from Senator Hanson towards Andrew Hastie MP go beyond political disagreement.<\/p>\n This may have begun as a political dispute between Senator Hanson and Mr Hastie, however, when a person\u2019s military service is used as the punchline, when the word \u2018traitor\u2019 is thrown at someone who has worn the uniform and deployed on operations, that stops being politics and starts being an attack on every veteran\u2019s service.<\/p>\n Veterans don\u2019t stop being accountable to their oath once they leave the ADF. Branding a former soldier a \u2018traitor\u2019 sends a corrosive message to the wider veteran community: that your service can be recast as betrayal the moment it\u2019s politically convenient.<\/p>\n RSL Australia asks all sides of politics to keep that distinction. Calling a veteran a traitor is a slur, and it deserves to be treated as one regardless of who it\u2019s aimed at or how it\u2019s dressed up.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.08 EDT<\/p>\n High court refuses Giggle\u2019s appeal over women-only app discrimination The high court has refused with costs an appeal by women-only app Giggle against a full federal court ruling in May that upheld a landmark decision that the app and its founder, Sall Grover unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.<\/p>\n The full court had upheld the lower court\u2019s decision<\/a> that Giggle and Grover had indirectly discriminated against Tickle when she was barred from the platform because they thought she was a man.<\/p>\n The full court doubled the initial amount of damages awarded to Tickle to $20,000.<\/p>\n Grover\u2019s team had argued the app \u2013 designed as a \u201cwomen-only safe space\u201d \u2013 constituted a \u201cspecial measure\u201d under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA), which allows discrimination with the aim of redressing historical disadvantage between men and women.<\/p>\n The high court said there was \u201cno reason to doubt\u201d the full court\u2019s construction of the relevant sections of the Sex Discrimination Act, and any appeal on these provisions \u201chas insufficient prospects of success\u201d to warrant granting a special leave to appeal the case to the high court.<\/p>\n It brings to an end the long-running legal saga, which commenced in 2022.<\/p>\n The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, said in May in a video posted to social media featuring Grover, that the Coalition<\/a> was committed to \u201camending the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure protections for single-sex spaces are based on biological sex,\u201d if elected.<\/p>\n Roxanne Tickle in May 2026. Photograph: Hollie Adams\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.38 EDT<\/p>\n Victoria\u2019s WFH bill effectively delayed until after state election Australian-first laws that guarantee the right to work from home two days a week are unlikely to pass Victorian parliament before the November state election, with the Coalition<\/a> and crossbench teaming up to refer the bill to an inquiry.<\/p>\n The laws were first announced in 2025 by the then premier Jacinta Allan in a bid to capitalise on the backlash to the federal Coalition\u2019s plan to force public servants back into the office full-time, which contributed to their election loss.<\/p>\n Jacinta Allan in March. Photograph: Joel Carrett\/AAP<\/p>\n The Victorian Coalition, though, had said it would support the bill and expected it would pass parliament on Thursday.<\/p>\n But in a shock development, the Coalition has joined with crossbench MPs, including Legalise Cannabis, David Limbrick from the Libertarians, former Liberal MP Moira Deeming and One Nation\u2019s Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell to refer the bill to an inquiry that effectively stalls it until after the election.<\/p>\n The inquiry was put forward by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Jeff Bourman and passed 18 votes to 17.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.00 EDT<\/p>\n Thank you all so much for joining me on the politics blog this week!<\/p>\n I\u2019ll leave you with the fabulous Achol Arok and see you here bright and early Monday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tl;dr here\u2019s what happened in question timeShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.40 EDT<\/p>\n Department denies dereliction of duties over alleged AI hallucinations in submission on social media ban<\/p>\n Last month, the federal infrastructure department was quizzed in a Senate inquiry over claims made in a submission to the social media ban amendment bill that alleged citation errors identified in the age assurance technology trial report were AI hallucinations.<\/p>\n It was aired just before we published our story<\/a> identifying several errors in the report.<\/p>\n At the time, officials relayed the claims by ACCS – the age verification organisation that undertook the trial – that the errors were due to links breaking in the intervening time between the report publication and the hearing.<\/p>\n Senator Fatima Payman queried in her dissenting report of the inquiry whether officials had been derelict in their duty in not independently verifying the advice provided by ACCS at the time.<\/p>\n The department\u2019s secretary, Jim Betts, said in a letter to the committee chair, tabled this week, that officials are not failing in their duties if they give evidence \u201cbased on advice provided to them that, at face value, can be accepted as accurate\u201d.<\/p>\n Betts said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe representations made by officials were based on information available to them at the time and were honestly and reasonably held.<\/p>\n Betts said the department had continued to investigate since then. The department said ACCS had since provided new citations to replace the erroneous ones and would correct the report online.<\/p>\n ACCS has denied the citation errors were AI hallucinations.<\/p>\n The department declined to answer further questions on the report.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.23 EDT<\/p>\n That\u2019s time on question time<\/p>\n After a final question to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese calls time on QT for the week.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.22 EDT<\/p>\n Coalition tries to pin Albanese on golf club membership<\/p>\n Take two \u2013 Anthony Albanese is asked again how the Daily Telegraph knew about his honorary membership in 2019 but he didn\u2019t, and asks if it\u2019s just \u201canother case of you falling off a stage?\u201d<\/p>\n The inference there is that Albanese is lying about the membership and doesn\u2019t want to own up to it (like when he tried to deny that he fell off a stage<\/a> during the last election campaign).<\/p>\n Albanese once again does his absolute best to totally avoid the question.<\/p>\n He says the article was related to a 2019 campaign to save the golf course from future development, and does a little copy and paste from a previous answer where he said that of the Coalition\u2019s 2025 election promises, not one was for Sydney\u2019s inner west.<\/p>\n double quotation markI certainly supported it as did people throughout the area of the inner west either side of the Cooks River, because this is an absolutely vital and precious piece of the inner west, of Sydney.<\/p>\n The manager of opposition business, Dan Tehan, tries to table the article to parliament, but leader of the House, Tony Burke rejects the attempt, and says it\u2019s already online.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.12 EDT<\/p>\n Richard Marles offers no further insight on position over Israeli settlements<\/p>\n The independent MP Helen Haines asks: what will it take for Australia to join our allies in imposing trade bans on Israeli settlements in the West Bank?<\/p>\n This time the deputy PM Richard Marles takes the question and sheds no further light on the issue than when Anthony Albanese was asked about it a short time ago.<\/p>\n Multiple nations, including the UK, have announced they\u2019ll implement bans on trade from illegal settlements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marles says the Australian government supports a two-state solution, and illegal settlements are hindering that, but that targeted sanctions on individuals and entities are still the answer.<\/p>\n double quotation markBecause of the positions that we have taken, we have put in place sanctions and bans in respect of those that have been participating in the settler \u2013 settlements \u2013 in the territories, and that has included Israeli ministers themselves. We will continue to look at further targeted measures, working collaboratively with our allies and partners around the world in respect of this issue.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.11 EDT<\/p>\n Albanese dodges question on 2019 report of honorary membership in golf club<\/p>\n The opposition has come with receipts, asking how a Daily Telegraph article from 2019 reported that Anthony Albanese was an honorary member of the Marrickville golf club but the prime minister himself didn\u2019t know until now.<\/p>\n A Coalition<\/a> MP shouts asking if Toto is a member too, to which Albanese replies, smiling: \u201cDon\u2019t attack Toto, you\u2019ve got to draw the line somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The prime minister doesn\u2019t really answer the question.<\/p>\n He goes off on a bit of a tangent, saying that the golf club wasn\u2019t even in his electorate in 2019, and that he has the second-smallest electorate in the country.<\/p>\n double quotation markThere is very little green space in my electorate, and I defends every inch of it. In 2019, the Marrickville golf course was not in my electorate. It was actually in the electorate of Barton.<\/p>\n Marickville golf course in Sydney. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.03 EDT<\/p>\n PM on the defensive over Marrickville golf club grant<\/p>\n The prime minister is again on the back foot, defending a $6m grant given to the Marrickville golf club<\/a>, which he was an honorary member of.<\/p>\n Yesterday Anthony Albanese said the money was to stop sewerage from the club ending up in the Cooks River. Liberal frontbencher Tony Pasin asks if the PM mislead parliament because $1m was used on stormwater works, but $4.55m was spent on a clubhouse precinct.<\/p>\n Albanese provides a pretty short answer, and doesn\u2019t address the substance of the question, but basically does confirm that part of the funding, not all of it, was for the sewerage works.<\/p>\n double quotation markThere were three commitments in my electorate. One for a women\u2019s health centre, the one for a St Vincent de Paul facility, a refuge, for women and children escaping domestic violence, and one for the upgrade of the inner west council\u2013owned Marrickville golf club. Included in that was funding to fix the sewerage because it goes into the river and causes a problem when it floods.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.27 EDT<\/p>\n Albanese defends not declaring golf club membership<\/p>\n Liberal frontbencher Angie Bell is next and asks the prime minister why he hasn\u2019t declared his honorary membership of the Marrickville golf club when he did declare honorary membership of the Royal Sydney golf club.<\/p>\n The former received $6m under an invite-only grants program that gave the majority of funding to safe, marginal or target Labor seats.<\/p>\n Spoiler alert: the opposition intervenes three times because they\u2019re not happy with the answer.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese during question time. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese says it\u2019s because he knew about one (Royal Sydney) but didn\u2019t know about the other, and doesn\u2019t even have a card for the Marrickville club.<\/p>\n Albanese then tries to turn the attention back to the Coalition<\/a>, and says he took a look at all the opposition\u2019s 2025 election funding promises (which some staff member would have spent many hours trying to pour through).<\/p>\n double quotation markI looked through the list of Coalition election commitments from 2025 and there were over 1,000 projects worth $1.2bn. I looked for anything in Grayndler and of the thousand projects, there wasn\u2019t a single one in the inner west, not one.<\/p>\n![\"Benita](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789030937_117_Benita_Kolovos.png\")
Benita Kolovos<\/p>\nSarah Basford Canales<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789030938_489_Josh_Taylor.png\")
Josh Taylor<\/p>\nBenita Kolovos<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789030939_474_Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\nJosh Taylor<\/p>\n