![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789957692_861_Tom_McIlroy.png\")
Tom McIlroy<\/p>\nWong meets Palestinian foreign minister to discuss GazaTom McIlroy<\/p>\n
Foreign minister Penny Wong has spoken with her Palestinian counterpart, Varsen Aghabekian. The pair agreed that senior officials from both governments should meet in coming months to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss key priorities.<\/p>\n
The pair spoke on Friday night, with Aghabekian briefing Wong on progress on the Palestinian Authority\u2019s reform commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is committed to a two-state solution,\u201d Wong wrote on social media on Monday.<\/p>\n
double quotation markI spoke with Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr Varsen Aghabekian, about the PA\u2019s reform agenda and our joint efforts to strengthen Palestine\u2019s institutional foundations.<\/p>\n
We also discussed the devastating situation in Gaza. \u201cI reiterated that Hamas must play no role in the State of Palestine.<\/p>\n
The pair agreed that Israel must halt its illegal settlement activity and hold perpetrators of settler violence to account.<\/p>\n
Wong also told Aghabekian that Australia continues to press all parties to implement the Gaza peace plan in full and facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.<\/p>\n
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Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.11 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n WA government calls off shark catch-and-kill directive<\/p>\n The WA government has called off the search for a shark that killed a Perth man on Friday, after a minister had ordered a catch-and-kill directive.<\/p>\n WA police said a 63-year-old man was bitten by a shark while swimming at Sorrento beach. The swimmer\u2019s body has not been found.<\/p>\n In a statement, the Department of Primary Industries said it had concluded water and land based patrols around Sorrento beach.<\/p>\n double quotation markThere was no evidence of white shark activity in the area yesterday and a significantly diminished chance of catching the individual shark involved in the fatal incident on Friday.<\/p>\n Beaches in the City of Joondalup from Marmion to Iluka were set to reopen at 10am local time.<\/p>\n On Saturday the WA fisheries minister, Jackie Jarvis, revealed she had greenlit the order. She said in a social media post:<\/p>\n double quotation markGiven the shark had been positively identified, remained in the vicinity following a fatal attack and was considered to pose an ongoing threat, I authorised fisheries officers to destroy the shark if captured.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.21 EDT<\/p>\n More Australians forecast to live into their 90s<\/p>\n Australian households are expected to shrink but more people can expect to live well into their 90s, according to the latest update to forecasts of the country\u2019s long-term future.<\/p>\n Treasury\u2019s latest intergenerational report, to be published in full on Monday, will project the impact of government policies 40 years into the future.<\/p>\n An extract released on Sunday showed life expectancy at birth was forecast to reach almost 90 for women by 2065-66, up from about 86 years at present.<\/p>\n The report will also reveal that artificial intelligence (AI) will become the \u201cdefining influence\u201d on the economy over the next four decades, as the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, warned it would come with \u201cvery substantial risks\u201d.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.13 EDT<\/p>\n More than 800,000 bees stolen across far north Queensland<\/p>\n An estimated 800,000 bees, worth tens of thousands of dollars, have been stolen from properties in far north Queensland.<\/p>\n The industry is already reeling from the this month\u2019s arrival of the varroa mite parasite.<\/p>\n Tom Bidner, an apiarist from the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, said 44 colonies had been stolen from three different beekeepers.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Wong meets Palestinian foreign minister to discuss Gaza Foreign minister Penny Wong has spoken with her Palestinian counterpart, Varsen Aghabekian. The pair agreed that senior officials from both governments should meet in coming months to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss key priorities.<\/p>\n The pair spoke on Friday night, with Aghabekian briefing Wong on progress on the Palestinian Authority\u2019s reform commitments.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia is committed to a two-state solution,\u201d Wong wrote on social media on Monday.<\/p>\n double quotation markI spoke with Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr Varsen Aghabekian, about the PA\u2019s reform agenda and our joint efforts to strengthen Palestine\u2019s institutional foundations.<\/p>\n We also discussed the devastating situation in Gaza. \u201cI reiterated that Hamas must play no role in the State of Palestine.<\/p>\n The pair agreed that Israel must halt its illegal settlement activity and hold perpetrators of settler violence to account.<\/p>\n Wong also told Aghabekian that Australia continues to press all parties to implement the Gaza peace plan in full and facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.<\/p>\n Allow content provided by a third party?<\/p>\n This article includes content hosted on platform.x.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.11 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Things are getting worse,\u2019 Kellie Sloane says after alleged DV incidents<\/p>\n Kellie Sloane, the NSW opposition leader, also spoke about a series of alleged domestic violence incidents in the state in recent days.<\/p>\n Sloane told ABC News Breakfast this morning:<\/p>\n double quotation markSomething is broken and we\u2019re failing women in our state and our country. It\u2019s a national crisis. \u2026 Every time this happens, we treat it as a wake-up call. People say we need action.<\/p>\n We need to talk to men about respect. We need to talk to women about being respectful. We need more funding.<\/p>\n We\u2019re in a hopeless situation where things are getting worse. So, you know, this is not just the responsibility of government, although government has a responsibility to properly fund and manage this, but it needs to be a whole of community response. Our sporting clubs, dads in the homes respecting their wives, talking to their kids about what respect means, and then neighbours checking in on people as well.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.06 EDT<\/p>\n Tehan defends Coalition plan to reduce First Nations content in schools<\/p>\n The Coalition\u2019s education plan to reduce First Nations content from the curriculum would give Australian children a \u201cbroader perspective of history\u201d according to Dan Tehan.<\/p>\n Speaking to Radio National, the Liberal MP said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe won\u2019t be becoming apologists for who we are. We\u2019ll becoming proud of who we are, what we\u2019ve created as a nation and what we can contribute to the rest of the world. It\u2019s all about getting the balance right and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll be seeking to do in how we have the curriculum taught in schools. The shadow education minister, Julian Leeser, revealed on Saturday that a Coalition government would remove cross-curriculum content about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture, Australia\u2019s engagement with Asia, and sustainability.<\/p>\n He said they should instead be delivered as discrete, planned topics within history, geography or science classes \u2013 rather than taught thematically across the curriculum.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.47 EDT<\/p>\n Minns says NSW can\u2019t become \u2018numb\u2019 to domestic violence<\/p>\n The NSW premier, Chris Minns, spoke earlier this morning after a spate of alleged domestic violence crimes this weekend.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have numerous examples and allegations of individuals who [are] alleged to have committed horrifying acts against what are often defenceless family members. This is confronting and incredibly violent, but we can\u2019t become numb to the pain or the violence that we see.<\/p>\n We still need to take action and commit ourselves across government agencies, law reform, our prisons, New South Wales police, and education and other aspects of government agencies, as well as across civic society, to confront domestic violence when we see it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.42 EDT<\/p>\n NSW police detail \u2018horrific\u2019 scenes after Blue Mountains stabbings<\/p>\n Peter McKenna, deputy commissioner for NSW police, just spoke after an alleged stabbing attack by a mother against her three young children, which left one child dead and two others in critical condition.<\/p>\n McKenna said the mother, aged in her 40s, is also in critical condition after the incident, which took place in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, on Sunday afternoon. He said police responded to \u201chorrific\u201d scenes and officer were confronted with a \u201cbarbaric\u201d attack.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t remember a weekend like this in my career,\u201d the deputy commissioner told reporters.<\/p>\n McKenna said the woman, if she recovers from what\u2019s believed to be self-inflicted injuries, would probably be charged with murder and attempted murder.<\/p>\n He said the family was not known to police. The woman\u2019s husband is supporting his two children in hospital and has assisted police with their investigation.<\/p>\n Read more here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.23 EDT<\/p>\n Plibersek says polls \u2018not great\u2019 but Labor focused on cost of living<\/p>\n Tanya Plibersek says the Labor party isn\u2019t focused on polling, despite the results. She told Sunrise this morning:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe polls are obviously not great, but we are not focused on the polling. What we\u2019re focused on is making a real difference in people\u2019s lives. We know that they\u2019re doing it tough. We hear that. \u2026<\/p>\n In every part of our government, we are wholly focused on taking pressure off Australians. We know they\u2019re feeling it because they tell us.<\/p>\n Plibersek said the government needs to remain focused on cost of living and taking pressure off Australians while making sure wages grow.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn through lower taxes. \u2026 It\u2019s those sorts of practical things that make a difference to people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s what we need to focus on as a government and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll keep doing.<\/p>\n Minister for social services Tanya Plibersek. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.53 EDT<\/p>\n Albanese and Labor hit record low popularity in latest Newspoll<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese is the most unpopular he has ever been since becoming prime minister in 2022, a new poll shows.<\/p>\n AAP reports The Australian\u2019s closely watched Newspoll tally has slugged the prime minister with a minus 27% net satisfaction rating, with only about a quarter of Australians now saying they would cast their vote for Labor \u2013 the lowest in nearly 15 years.<\/p>\n The week before receiving a record-breaking belting in the 2025 election, former Liberal leader Peter Dutton scored minus 24% on the same metric.<\/p>\n The major parties combined performed abysmally in the latest poll, with 54% of those surveyed now supporting someone other than Labor or the Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n One Nation is continuing to dine out on the mass exodus with a leading 30% of the primary vote share, but Australians still prefer Albanese to Pauline Hanson as prime minister.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.53 EDT<\/p>\n Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen<\/p>\n The rise of Way Dynamic, Australian folk-pop musician<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a huge couple of years for Way Dynamic, the Melbourne multi-instrumentalist whose real name is Dylan Young. His 2025 album Massive Shoe is about to be re-released internationally after Young signed with the indie giant Jagjaguwar. The likes of Elton John, Djo, Zane Lowe and Elijah Wood have sung his praises.<\/p>\n Have a read about the musicians\u2019s rise above, and take a listen to his music below on this fine Monday morning:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.51 EDT<\/p>\n Australians won\u2019t be hit with card surcharges from 1 October<\/p>\n Debit and credit card surcharges will be eliminated from 1 October, as part of Reserve Bank reforms that will do away with extra checkout fees on Visa, Mastercard, and Eftpos payments.<\/p>\n The RBA estimates the changes will save consumers about $1.6bn a year in surcharges, but the big banks and credit companies are likely to recoup the costs of processing transactions in other ways, including through fewer perks for cardholders.<\/p>\n What will happen now?<\/p>\n Photograph: courtneyk\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.54 EDT<\/p>\n Coalition plans to use cut in tobacco excise to fund fuel tax policy<\/p>\n Angus Taylor says the Coalition would cut the tobacco excise to fund halving the fuel excise, despite health experts sounding the alarm about the move. <\/p>\n Speaking on Nine\u2019s Today, the opposition leader said his party\u2019s policy to slash the fuel excise in half when global prices hit US$100 over two weeks \u201cwon\u2019t put pressure on inflation, despite what the treasurer is trying to say, he has it wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n When asked about previous criticisms from health experts<\/a> about slashing the tobacco excise and what it would mean for anti-smoking efforts, Taylor said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI think the health experts need to explain why they\u2019re OK with \u2026 organised crime in this country, criminal gangs in this country, controlling the tobacco trade. 80% of the trade is illegal. You can already buy a packet of cigarettes for 15 bucks a pack or less. So I mean, seriously, we can\u2019t take those comments seriously.<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789957693_931_Andrew_Messenger.png\")
Andrew Messenger<\/p>\nTom McIlroy<\/p>\n
Those western civilisation values, in particular, are what is at the heart of who we are as a nation. We want to make sure that that is equally part of the curriculum as it\u2019s taught to young Australians.<\/p>\n![\"Catie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789957694_587_Caite_McLeod.png\")
Catie McLeod<\/p>\n
![\"Penry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789957694_467_Penry_Buckley.png\")
Penry Buckley<\/p>\n