16 News

The Albanese Government will strengthen Australia’s maritime security with a $176 million investment to deliver 40 new Australian-designed and built Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels (USV) – one of the world’s largest sovereign USV fleets.

Announced today, the contract with Ocius Technology expands Navy’s operational fleet to 55 Bluebottles, significantly boosting long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability across Australia’s vast maritime domain.

This investment will create 50 jobs at Ocius’ new advanced manufacturing facility in Sydney, supported by a second production site in the NSW Hunter region and an extensive Australian supply chain. Further opportunities for small and medium Australian businesses will be generated as production scales. 

The Bluebottle, developed in partnership with Navy and initially funded through the Defence Innovation Hub, is a long-endurance USV powered by solar, wind and wave energy. It provides persistent surface and sub-surface surveillance, can carry payloads and operates as part of a teamed, integrated maritime force.  

Increasing Bluebottle capability delivers a sovereign, persistent and scalable capability, supporting a key priority identified in the Albanese Government’s National Defence Strategy. 

Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Richard Marles MP

“The Bluebottle is an innovative platform designed, developed and manufactured right here in Australia. This is an excellent example of Defence and industry working together to deliver cutting-edge capability.  

“The Albanese Government’s investment in Ocius Technology and their Bluebottle USV has accelerated the delivery of the autonomous systems for Navy.

“Over the next five years and beyond, Bluebottle will monitor Australia’s maritime approaches and strengthen Defence’s ability to protect our national security interests.”

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Pat Conroy MP

“With this investment the Albanese Government is backing Aussie ingenuity while creating highly skilled, well-paid jobs for locals. We are investing right now to uplift our sovereign defence industry. 

“With this world-leading technology, we are able to increase surveillance of Australia’s northern approaches and respond to increasing maritime threats.

“Accelerated development of autonomous capabilities will be fundamental as we navigate this new era of global uncertainty.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, will travel to Jakarta, Indonesia this week for a Defence Ministers’ Meeting with Indonesian Minister of Defence, His Excellency Gen (ret) Dr Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest and most important partners. Our relationship is built on friendship, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to peace and security in the region.

The Defence Ministers’ Meeting will build on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Jakarta last month to sign the Australia‑Indonesia Treaty on Common Security, which reflects the close friendship, partnership and deep trust between Australia and Indonesia. 

It will also give Ministers the opportunity to progress the historic Defence Cooperation Agreement, signed by Australia and Indonesia in August 2024. 

Through this agreement, Australia and Indonesia continue to enhance practical arrangements, strengthening interoperability and support increased dialogue between our defence forces. 

Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles:

“Our bilateral defence ties with Indonesia make an important contribution to our shared security, and that of the region. 

“The Defence Cooperation Agreement represents a historic step in our defence cooperation, which has been further enhanced by the recently signed Treaty on Common Security.  

“Australia is committed to working more closely than ever before with Indonesia, to support a secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific.”

The Albanese Government continues to support Australians affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East as limited commercial flights resume and consular efforts expand across the region.

Our first priority is keeping Australians safe and we are working around the clock to help Australians who need it.

More than 3,000 Australians have now returned home on 21 direct commercial flights and further services are scheduled in coming days.

Two flights from Dubai are scheduled to arrive in Australia this morning, with a further two due to depart this afternoon. A flight from Doha is also scheduled to depart this evening.

Airports and airlines have advised that the overwhelming majority of Australian passengers stranded while transiting through the Middle East have now departed.

While airspace restrictions and intermittent closures around major transit hubs continue to cause delays and cancellations, commercial flights remain the fastest option for Australians to leave the Middle East.

We understand these are difficult decisions for Australians who live and work in the Middle East and we encourage those who do wish to leave to do so now on commercial flights.

Major airlines have extended their refund and free rebooking windows to assist passengers whose flights have been impacted.

Limited outbound commercial flights have begun to operate from Ben Gurion International airport in Israel and commercial flights continue to operate from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Lebanon.

The Government advises Australians if they can secure a commercial flight or other transport to leave Lebanon, and it is safe to travel to the departure point, they should consider doing so.

With airports closed in Kuwait and Bahrain, Australian officials are working with our partners on bus transportation to Riyadh enabling passengers to continue their journey on commercial flights.

Our ability to provide consular assistance in Iran is extremely limited.

Any Australians in Iran should prioritise their safety, monitor events and shelter in place during strikes.

We urge them to consider all available options to depart if it’s safe to do so.

The 24/7 DFAT Crisis Centre remains activated, and the crisis registration portal is open for Australians in Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates.

We continue to advise Do Not Travel to most destinations in the Middle East.

Australians requiring urgent consular assistance can contact the 24/7 Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 (within Australia) or +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas).

March 15 is the seventh anniversary of the Christchurch mosque massacre, where an Australian white supremacist killed 51 Muslims and it marks the International Day against Islamophobia. Today, in the wake of rising Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate in this country, Senator Faruqi attempted to to move a motion marking the day and calling for action on rising Islamophobia, but was shutdown by Labor and the Coalition

On the weekend, a man stormed an Iftar organised by the Ballarat Muslim community and threw abuse and punches. He was asked by police to move on. He was not charged. Just recently, a white supremacist was arrested in Western Australia for planning a terrorist attack on mosques in Perth, after allegedly stockpiling weapons and ammunition. Mosques and Islamic schools across this country are receiving violent threats and Muslim women continue to bear the brunt, as they are abused and assaulted.

Instead of supporting the motion, the Labor Government shut down debate and used it as another opportunity to attack the Greens, rather than take action.

Senator Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Greens and spokesperson for Anti-Racism:

“The Christchurch mosque massacre should have been a turning point that forced this country to confront its own racism, but the reckoning never came.

“The Labor Government couldn’t even bring themselves to support a motion that condemns Islamophobia and calls for action. Instead, they shut down debate while whitesplaining a Muslim woman and attacking the Greens.

“Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate has become more normalised, more emboldened, and more dangerous. Instead of confronting this hate, politicians and the media continue to inflame and legitimise it.

“The ideology that fuelled the Christchurch terrorist was built over decades of Islamophobia. Decades of Muslims being portrayed as dangerous. Decades of politicians and the media telling us that Muslims are a threat to the so-called ‘Australian way of life’.

“Instead of distorting, diminishing and dehumanising Muslims and our religion, the Labor government should stop their dog-whistle politics, stand unequivocally against Islamophobia and protect Muslims, but they couldn’t even find it in their hearts to support the Greens motion.”

The Greens today will introduce a Bill that will require both Houses of Parliament to vote before the Australian Defence Force can be sent overseas to engage in warlike actions.

War power reform bills have been proposed by the Greens for over 20 years, and have been routinely rejected by the Liberal and Labor parties. With Australia being sent into another illegal US war, without any democratic debate or input, the Greens today are reintroducing the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill, introduced by Senator Jordon Steele-John in 2020.

There is widespread community support for this reform, including a 2023 poll that found 90% of Australians support war powers reform, to enforce a Parliamentary vote before the deployment of troops.

The announcement from the Albanese Labor Government to send 85 military personnel, including an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, to the Gulf and medium-range air-to-air missiles, into the conflict shows Australia has been fully dragged into another US forever war. This decision was made in a closed room by a handful of Labor cabinet members and zero parliamentary or public engagement or consent.

Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens leader said: “Labor’s Defence Minister finally revealed the truth last night about Donald Trump’s pressure for Australian deployment. Trump has been pressuring Australia to join his illegal war in the Middle East – it’s Trump calling the shots, and the Labor party is following.

“Albanese’s unquestioning support for Trump and Netenyahu’s illegal war shows why Australians deserve a say before their families are sent to war.

“Australians don’t want war. They weren’t asked if they back this illegal war. Parliament doesn’t get a say. Even the Labor backbench is reportedly unhappy. The only person that Albanese seems to listen to is Trump.

“We cannot allow a handful of the executives behind closed doors to take us to war, endangering civilians and putting Australian lives at risk whenever the US asks.
“Sending service members overseas without parliamentary approval risks unnecessary bloodshed. It undermines the accountability our veterans, their families and the people deserve.

“War will never deliver peace. Instead, civilians suffer, troops die, and the world becomes less stable. Parliament must be a counterweight to our government’s drive to appease Trump, Netanyahu, and others like them.

“The War Parties have fought against this because they know the public doesn’t want war – but the Green will keep pushing for this.”

Senator David Shoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, said: “Australia has joined another illegal US war, and the public got no say. That democratic failing is what this bill seeks to urgently address.

“We cannot have a handful of MPs from one of the war parties in the Commonwealth Parliament to send Australian troops into a string of US forever wars with no oversight and no public interest.

“Australians are outraged that after Iraq, after Afghanistan, the Australian military has been sent back to the Middle East as part of a US-Israeli illegal war. The Albanese Government has seen the decades of bloodshed and pain the US has caused across the Middle East, and signed us up for more.

“Australia’s defence and foreign policy elite are addicted to secrecy and hate the public having any say. AUKUS was decided in secret and AUKUS has driven us into this war. Democracy must not stop at the Foreign Minister’s office.

“War will not help the Iranian people, it will cause untold pain across the region, make the world a more dangerous place and all done without the consent of the Australian people. It’s time that changed, and time democracy got a chance to save us from the next illegal US war.”

The Greens say the results of the NACC investigation into the illegal Robodebt scheme will be cold comfort to the thousands of Australians whose lives were destroyed by one of the biggest scandals in Australian history.

While corruption findings against individuals are welcome, no government minister has been held accountable, and the political and bureaucratic architects of the scheme have walked away scot-free.

Meanwhile, Labor’s existing welfare compliance system may be operating illegally, with a Commonwealth Ombudsman Report finding that Services Australia and DSS had been non-compliant with social security law for the past six years, while the government was also forced to introduce legislation last year to retrospectively legalise the collection of over $4 billion of welfare debts.

Labor have also still failed to implement key recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission, despite having previously agreed in principle to all of the recommendations, including:

• Reinstating the 6 year limit of recovery of debts
• Establishing a duty of care for the Department of Social Services that prioritises the needs of social security recipients while administering the law
• Restricting the kinds of decisions which can be made or automated without human oversight
• Better protections for people experiencing hardship from receiving compliance notices.

Greens spokesperson for social services Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“I don’t think the thousands of people harmed by the illegal and immoral Robodebt scheme will be celebrating these NACC findings today.

“There may be some small satisfaction found in the fact that two staff were found to have acted corruptly, but the architects of Robodebt are still sitting pretty.

“No government minister has been held accountable, which means no government has been held accountable. If the political class knows they can get away with something as appalling as this, they will keep trying it on.

“That’s why nothing changes. That’s why we still have a welfare compliance system that the Department and the government can’t even tell us is operating legally. And that’s why we still have dodgy payment suspensions and cancellations, and a dubious debt-recovery programming chasing decades-old debts.”

Greens spokesperson for finance and public sector Senator Barbara Pocock:

“Robodebt was the worst failure of public administration in Australian history, raising an estimated $1.73 billion of illegitimate debts from over 430,000 vulnerable Australians,

“This outcome by the NACC amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist for those found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct and intentionally misleading the Cabinet and Commonwealth Ombudsman. Australians will be rightly outraged by this lack of accountability. 

“The Robodebt scheme flourished because of a political and media culture that stigmatises income support recipients, and failures in public sector leadership and culture in key departments.

“Labor must implement all 57 recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission in full to ensure that Robodebt can never happen again.”

Senators Mehreen Faruqi, Senator Lidia Thorpe and Senator Fatima Payman have written to President Sue Lines calling for urgent action to address racism in the Senate and ensure Parliament is a safe workplace for women of colour.

In a joint letter, the Senators outline a pattern of racism, both overt and insidious, within the Senate chamber. They warn that standing orders and procedural rules are increasingly being used to silence those who call out racism, with other Senators often drawing a false equivalence between those calling out racism and racist behaviour itself.

The letter documents a series of incidents, including personal insults directed at the Senators, racist comments going unchecked in debates, and instances where Senators attempting to call out racism were reprimanded or silenced.

Such behaviour would not be tolerated in any other workplace. Failing to address racism within Parliament undermines its integrity and discourages women of colour from participating in public life.

Senators Faruqi, Thorpe and Payman are calling on the President of the Senate to take immediate steps to address racism in the Chamber and in Parliament, including reviewing the way standing orders are applied and introducing mandatory anti-racism and cultural safety training for all parliamentarians.

Greens Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Anti-Racism, Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“Racism does not exist only at neo-Nazi rallies and One Nation press conferences. It is alive and well in the Senate, and women of colour who stand up to the government are subjected to it even in these halls of power.

“When we call out racism in Parliament, the system turns on those who call it out instead of those who perpetrate it. The Senate Chamber is becoming an increasingly hostile environment, where women of colour like us are marginalised, belittled and silenced. No other workplace would tolerate such toxic and exclusionary behaviour.

“The message we are hearing from the Chamber and those presiding over it is that we should be seen and not heard, that we cannot represent our communities authentically, and that we are a problem and a threat to the establishment.

“We are told to sit down and be quiet. We are told we are out of order and out of line. We are told we are breaking rules that others openly flout.

“I understand that there is a need for robust debate in parliament, and I participate in that robust debate, but I will never accept that racism has to be part of my job. We must draw the line at racism.

“We look forward to the President’s response to our letter, and call on her to take action to end the racism that has been allowed to fester. We want this to be a moment of reckoning for the Senate. This is our moment to build an anti-racist country and it can start with Parliament.”

I congratulate Matt Canavan on his election as Leader of The Nationals and Darren Chester as Deputy Leader.

I have worked closely with Matt and Darren for many years and know the conviction they bring to the Australians they represent. They understand regional and rural Australia. They understand the pressures facing families, farmers and small businesses. And they will provide strong leadership for The Nationals at an important moment for our country.

The partnership between The Nationals and Liberals has always been built on shared values and a deep belief in the Australian way of life. Together we are focused on ensuring our country remains a place of opportunity and aspiration, where hard work is rewarded, communities are safe, and future generations can look ahead with confidence.

Under the Coalition, Australians will know exactly what we stand for.

We stand for rewarding aspiration and hard work.

We stand for backing families, farmers and small businesses.

We stand for a stronger economy that restores living standards.

And we stand for protecting Australia’s way of life.

Together with Matt and Darren, we will keep fighting every day for the country we believe in, because Australia is worth fighting for.