Ed Husic calls for sanctions against Israeli ministers to go further if Netanyahu government does not ‘respond’ to concerns over Gaza
Labor MP Ed Husic has said the targeted sanctions against two Israeli ministers “should have the flexibility to go further” if the Netanyahu government does not “respond to the growing concerns internationally about its approach”.
Speaking on ABC’S Afternoon Briefing, Husic who was dumped as a cabinet minister after the election, said:
I believe if the Israeli government doesn’t respond, we should be prepared to target sanctions further on those who could take the steps to free up the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to frankly stop seeing … it is unacceptable [that] 36 out of 38 hospitals in Gaza have been bombed. How is that right [for] the population of innocent people in that part of the world?
Earlier today, Anthony Albanese was asked if he would take the sanctions further if it did not prompt a change, however he would not speculate if he would do so. Despite Huric’s calls, he said it was appropriate for the prime minster to not speculate on this:
I think there’s a signal being sent here by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. Like-minded nations. That have said in various forms they cannot stomach what they’re seeing.
Husic said the sanctions were an important step forward.
It’s important we work with like-minded countries to send a signal to the Netanyahu government that we need to see better in that part of the world. What we’re seeing at the moment is a humanitarian catastrophe, it’s not an accident, it’s not a series of unfortunate incidents joined up with each other, it reflects deliberate decisions made by the Netanyahu government in Gaza and in the West Bank.
Key events
Cait Kelly
The NDIA has said it will slash the fees for health workers such as podiatrists, dieticians and physiotherapists, after a review found participants were being charged more than the market rate.
In a statement this afternoon, the NDIA said it will adjust the price limits for supports determined by the NDIS Disability Support Worker Cost Model, effective 1 July 2025 by 3.95%.
It said the annual pricing review found costs were much higher for participants.
The statement said:
This improved data showed many of the NDIS therapy pricing limits are now out of step with broader market rates, in some cases exceeding them by up to 68%.
Therapy supports represent a significant proportion of NDIS funding. With $2.4 billion in payments in the six months to December 2024, nearly 413,000 participants access therapy supports which account for more than 10% of total Scheme spend.
At the same time, the number of unregistered therapy providers in the market increased around 6%.
Sarah Basford Canales
EU ambassador says ‘incredible’ changes in geopolitics put FTA back on track
Returning briefly to earlier today, the European Union ambassador, Gabriele Visentin, shared an update on how negotiations between Australia and the EU on a free trade agreement are going.
In case you haven’t been reading every development since discussions first began in 2018, the two have been considering how a free trade agreement might be reached but have faced a number of setbacks with talks suspended in 2023.
The main points of contention were on geographic indicators – whether Australian-produced prosecco, for example, should be allowed to be marketed as such in Europe – as well as Australia’s agricultural exports.
But it’s now 2025 and the US president, Donald Trump, has re-entered the chat. With the US doubling its steel and aluminium import tariffs to 50%, and applying a broader 10% “baseline” tariff on all over imported goods, US trading partners are looking to diversify their exports to other markets.
So on that note, Visentin was asked at his National Press Club address what has changed between Australia and the EU since 2023 regarding the negotiations.
He responded:
Nothing has changed in terms of content. The differences are still there and are still difficult to resolve and to address … what has changed, of course, is the willingness and the readiness to try to strike a deal. We have seen incredible change in the geopolitics and in the world trade. And this means that an FTA would allow the EU and Australia to team up and defend free trade, the principles of free trade. So on one side, the geopolitical situation has been, let’s say, instrumental to bring us back to the talks after one-and-a-half years that these talks have been suspended, but these issues remain.
While the EU ambassador was hesitant to name any names, it appears Trump remains the big elephant in the room.
Coalition and Greens clash over Australia’s sanctions on two Israeli ministers
The Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has said the Coalition is against the Labor government’s decision to sanction two Israeli ministers because it hasn’t been clear how that would “bring an end to the war”.
Speaking on the ABC’s Background Briefing, Wallace said this position reflected the US’s view, pointing to comments by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who said the sanctions were not conducive to the peace process.
Australia has joined the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in placing financial sanctions and travel bans on two Israeli government ministers, over what Penny Wong described as “inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank”.
Wallace argued that the Magnitsky-style sanctions used by the government were designed to be used for “for egregious human rights violations, not because of what someone has said”.
Wallace said the Coalition needed a briefing from the government to understand the “charges the government is levelling at these two ministers”.
This is a very serious change in direction from the government. And we want to understand why.
The Greens senator David Shoebridge, who also appeared on the ABC alongside Wallace, said the Coalition was defending two ministers who had “engaged in some of the most hateful urgency for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, dehumanising of Palestinian people, aggressive illegal expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank”. He added:
I can’t understand how it is that the Coalition in a country which … is meant to defend fundamental human rights is going out of their way to defend these two extremist members of the Netanyahu government and say without any proper basis the Magnitsky regime is not designed to deal with this matter. It absolutely is.
Andrew Messenger
State government unlikely to bail out Brisbane psychiatric hospital which is set to close
The Queensland government looks unlikely to bail out a Brisbane psychiatric hospital which is set to close its doors.
The Toowong private hospital, boasting 58 mental health beds, has cared for thousands of patients in Brisbane’s west for nearly 50 years. It was taken over by administrators last month and scheduled to close on Wednesday.
The state treasurer, David Janetzki, was challenged in questions time by the opposition leader to use his budget later this month to save the hospital from closing. He said:
I acknowledge that it is a troubling time for that health service and that private hospital, because we know that private health institutions and private listed companies involved in the health services sector are facing challenging times.
Janetzki said the department was watching carefully and “ready to help as necessary” and that “all” all health patients would be successfully transferred into a public health bed.
We must have the capacity in our health system to stand by and step in as necessary, to support facilities under duress, as we are observing right now in Toowong in the western suburbs of Brisbane.
Husic says sanctions must target ‘decisionmakers’ and not general Israeli public
Staying with Husic’s appearance on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing a little earlier; the Labor MP said that he is not yet in support of government-wide sanctions:
I want us to be careful about targeting the people that are making the decisions that are impacting innocent civilians in Gaza, innocent Palestinians.
We shouldn’t necessarily have an impact on people who are not calling the shots in terms of the way the operations have been conducted by the Netanyahu government and the IDF in Gaza. So, in terms of broader impacts on the Israeli public, I don’t think we’re at that point.
I want us to be able to destiningish clearly between decisionmakers and the general public.
Ed Husic calls for sanctions against Israeli ministers to go further if Netanyahu government does not ‘respond’ to concerns over Gaza
Labor MP Ed Husic has said the targeted sanctions against two Israeli ministers “should have the flexibility to go further” if the Netanyahu government does not “respond to the growing concerns internationally about its approach”.
Speaking on ABC’S Afternoon Briefing, Husic who was dumped as a cabinet minister after the election, said:
I believe if the Israeli government doesn’t respond, we should be prepared to target sanctions further on those who could take the steps to free up the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to frankly stop seeing … it is unacceptable [that] 36 out of 38 hospitals in Gaza have been bombed. How is that right [for] the population of innocent people in that part of the world?
Earlier today, Anthony Albanese was asked if he would take the sanctions further if it did not prompt a change, however he would not speculate if he would do so. Despite Huric’s calls, he said it was appropriate for the prime minster to not speculate on this:
I think there’s a signal being sent here by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. Like-minded nations. That have said in various forms they cannot stomach what they’re seeing.
Husic said the sanctions were an important step forward.
It’s important we work with like-minded countries to send a signal to the Netanyahu government that we need to see better in that part of the world. What we’re seeing at the moment is a humanitarian catastrophe, it’s not an accident, it’s not a series of unfortunate incidents joined up with each other, it reflects deliberate decisions made by the Netanyahu government in Gaza and in the West Bank.
Anne Davies
NSW Police are still grappling with high levels of psychological injury despite programs introduced in 2024 to report psychological harm due to trauma in the workplace, a NSW Audit office report has found.
In 2024 20% of police were unavailable for duty and 13% of positions were vacant, with 7% of the force on long term sick leave. 93% of medical separations were due to psychological injury.
The auditor found:
The NSW Police Force monitors and reports on psychological injuries to the workforce using broad classifications, but does not monitor, analyse or report on the root causes of these injuries.
As a result, the NSW Police Force is not efficiently or effectively preventing future psychological injuries to the police workforce.
The auditor noted that in 2023, the NSW Police Force introduced an expanded suite of wellbeing initiatives including counselling and support for police after traumatic incidents. But it said these do not address other psychological risk factors such as role overload, fatigue or burnout.
It said the cost of psychological injury which was trending upward was $1.75bn over a five year period, during which the force had spent $34m on well-being programs and a further $60m on costs associated with running the Health Safety and Wellbeing Command.
It said that programs introduced since 2023 had not been evaluated.
“The NSW Police Force has limited information about the causes of police psychological injuries, and could do more to align preventative measures with evidence that describes the risks,” the auditor concluded.
Adam Morton
The wait for a decision on whether Tasmanians will hold an early election continues – and may for some time yet.
For those catching up, the parliament passed a no confidence motion in the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff. Last night he advised the governor, Barbara Baker, to call an early election.
Baker met this afternoon with the opposition leader, Dean Winter, as part of a process that her office described as “giving due consideration to all available options” and “considering advice from a number of sources”. She is yet to make a decision and has said she would meet again with Rockliff before the end of the week.
Winter has issued a statement saying he told Baker what he has been saying publicly – that he “will not be doing a deal with the Greens” to form a minority government.
Labor has just 10 seats in the state’s 35-member lower house. It cannot form government without support on confidence and supply from eight crossbenchers, including five Greens.
The Liberals, who have 14 seats, may avoid an immediate election and keep governing in minority if they replaced Rockliff. Potential alternative leaders include former federal minister Eric Abetz, ex-state treasurer Michael Ferguson and police minister Felix Ellis.
But it is unclear whether a Liberal government under a different premier could secure a durable deal with the crossbench.
So far the parliamentary party has backed Rockliff.
ABC correspondent and camera operator again teargassed and hit by ‘less lethal’ rounds while covering LA protests
Kate Lyons
Lauren Day, the ABC North America correspondent who was teargassed and whose camera operator was shot in the chest with a “less lethal” bullet while covering the LA immigration protests yesterday, says she and her camera operator have been caught in the crossfire yet again today.
Day told Guardian Australia that she and her camera operator had endured a “scary and stressful night and we’ve had some more issues today with getting caught in the crossfire – this time with pepper pellets.”
Pepper pellets are projectiles which burst open on impact, releasing powdered oleoresin capsicum (capsicum spray).
Day said:
It certainly puts you on edge knowing things can turn at any moment and the fact that you’re press is no protection to getting caught up in the chaos.
Day and her camera operator, a freelancer, were hit with teargas while reporting yesterday. Her camera operator was also hit in the chest with a less lethal bullet, but has escaped injury.
He was thankfully wearing a Kevlar vest at the time so was totally uninjured and didn’t even wake up with a bruise. We didn’t see what he was hit by but I’m just grateful whatever it was didn’t strike his neck or face where it might have really done some damage.
“Less than lethal” bullets can cause fatal injuries if they hit people in the neck or face and LAPD officers are instructed not to fire at certain parts of people’s body or at people from too close a range.
After the incidents last night, Day says she was “far more on edge” going back out for another night of reporting.
I’ve reported from the Middle East five times since October 7 and also from Myanmar during the civil war there, so I’m not unfamiliar with risk and conflict in my work, but I never expected the kinds of scenes we’re witnessing in the United States in 2025.
More from Penny Wong on the decision to sanction two Israeli ministers
Wong called the two Israeli cabinet ministers “the most extreme proponents of the unlawful and violent settlement enterprise” this morning. Watch her remarks below:
Victoria man dies from significant burns five months after alleged arson attack
Victoria Police said a man has died after an alleged arson attack in Melbourne in January, five months after he sustained significant burns to his body.
Officials said emergency services responded to a business that was on fire on 15 January about 4.15am, where witnesses said multiple people allegedly poured an accelerant inside before setting it alight. The group then fled the address, with one member “visibly on fire”, police said.
Emergency services later responded to a home where a man, 52, was treated for the burns and taken to the hospital. He spent the past five months receiving medical treatment for the injuries before his death. No one has been arrested in relation to the fire, or another at the same store police believe is linked. Chris Murray, a detective inspector with Victoria Police, said:
This is an incredibly sad turn of events for this man’s family, however it’s important that we are clear that this was a completely avoidable situation.
Over the past two years in particular we have issued repeated warnings about the dangers of fire and the potential for someone to be killed as a direct result of these arson attacks.
