16 News

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, will travel to Europe and the United Kingdom as part of the Albanese Government’s work to strengthen Australia’s relationships.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will visit Germany to meet with their counterparts to discuss regional resilience building, deepen defence strategic alignment, enhance economic prosperity, and a secure Indo-Pacific.

This will be the first joint meeting between Australia and Germany’s Defence and Foreign Ministers since 2021.

The Foreign Minister will then travel to Paris for meetings with her counterpart while the Deputy Prime Minister will attend meetings with his counterpart in Finland.

In the United Kingdom, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will join Defence Secretary John Healey, and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, for the 16th Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN).

These discussions will focus on how Australia and the United Kingdom are working together to shape our shared future, including for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles MP:

“While geographically distant, Australia and Europe’s interests are increasingly interconnected which is why we must focus our partnerships on reinforcing collective deterrence.

“In complex and uncertain times, the United Kingdom remains a critical partner for Australia and we continue to strengthen and modernise our partnership including through the AUKUS partnership.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong:

“The Albanese Government is working harder than ever to strengthen and diversify Australia’s relationships.

“In the face of accelerating contest, a deteriorating strategic environment and global economic stress, we are bolstering Australia’s partnerships, resilience and security while promoting peace and prosperity.”

Australia has today imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on three individuals linked to the terrorist organisations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

These sanctions are aimed at making it harder for these terrorist organisations to recruit, fund attacks, and spread their hateful ideology.

The individuals targeted are senior leaders and financial facilitators of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, responsible for directing and financing the terrorist activities of these groups. 

Australia continues to coordinate with a range of partners on these sanctions and other measures against terrorist groups.

We remain unequivocally committed to eradicating terrorism and violent extremism, and to holding terrorist actors to account. 

It is a criminal offence to use or deal with the assets of a listed person or entity, or to make assets available to them. Penalties for a breach of an Australian sanctions law include heavy fines and up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

A consolidated list of sanctions is available on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. 

The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Penny Wong, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s  Minister of Foreign Affairs; Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Elina Valtonen, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs; Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; Baiba Braže, Latvia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s  Minister of Foreign Affairs; Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Maria Malmer Stenergard, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs; today issued the following statement:

“We express our profound concern over the continued escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and welcome ongoing efforts to implement the ceasefire. The people of Lebanon have already endured immense hardship.

“We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, adhere fully to the ceasefire, refrain from actions that could lead to further escalation and ensure the protection of civilians.

“We support the efforts of the Lebanese government to extend its authority throughout the country in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, including through the strengthening of Lebanese state institutions and security forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah. Hezbollah must cease its attacks on Israel.

“All parties must respect international law, including international humanitarian law. In this regard, we call on Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stop its military escalation.

“We further encourage continued engagement with ongoing diplomatic efforts, including those led by the United States and international partners, aimed at securing a negotiated path toward long-term stability and security for both Lebanon and Israel.

“The people of Lebanon and Israel have the right to live in peace, security and dignity, free from the threat of renewed conflict.”

Andrew Braddock MLA will introduce legislation next week to ensure medicinal cannabis patients are treated under the same legal framework as other patients prescribed potentially impairing medications.

The reform will bring the ACT into line with jurisdictions such as Tasmania and announced changes in New South Wales, by shifting to a genuine impairment-based approach to driving safety.

In practical terms, this means people who are prescribed and using medicinal cannabis lawfully will not face criminal charges for driving, provided they are not impaired.

Andrew Braddock, Greens Member for Yerrabi:

“The ACT’s current laws simply don’t stack up. Right now, a person can follow their doctor’s advice, take prescribed medicinal cannabis, and still be treated like a criminal, even when they are not impaired and don’t pose a danger to themselves or others.

“They are not being punished for dangerous driving, but for the presence of a trace amount of a legally prescribed medicine that does not impair driving. Meanwhile, patients taking opioids or benzodiazepines face no equivalent test. That double standard has no scientific basis, and it must change.

“This reform reflects what the evidence tells us: impairment, not mere presence, should be the standard for road safety. Our laws should be based on evidence, not outdated assumptions.

“It will also bring the ACT into line with other jurisdictions. The UK has had a medical defence in place for nearly a decade, Tasmania already treats medicinal cannabis like other prescribed medicines, and New South Wales announcement today shows they recognise the importance of ensuring drivers who are not impaired are not unfairly charged.

“It makes no sense for Canberrans to be treated differently simply because they cross a border. You shouldn’t be able to drive legally in Queanbeyan but risk a criminal charge minutes later in Canberra.

“This reform is about fairness and common sense. People managing serious conditions like chronic pain, cancer, endometriosis, PTSD and multiple sclerosis should not be forced to choose between their medication and their mobility.

“If you are not impaired, you have a valid prescription, and you are taking your medication as directed, you should not be treated as a criminal.

“This change does one simple thing: it puts medicinal cannabis patients on the same footing as everyone else. Nothing more, nothing less.

“The choice now is a political one. The evidence is clear, the model exists, and other jurisdictions are already acting. It’s time for the ACT to catch up.”

As the fallout over KPMG’s multiple scandals continues, the Greens can reveal that the government holds numerous active audit contracts with the Big 4 firm. 

According to the government’s own AusTender portal, the federal government holds dozens of active audit contracts worth $27.4 million with KPMG across various departments:

• The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), the national auditor, has multiple active audit contracts with KPMG to the value of over $6.428m.
• The CSIRO has a $4.9m internal audit contract with KPMG.
• The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has multiple active audit contracts with KPMG to the value of $2.1m.
• The Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) has an internal auditing contract worth $1.748m with KPMG.
• The ATO has a contract of $680,000 with KPMG, more than three times the value it originally was quoted.

KPMG has been accused of and admitted to multiple misdemeanours, including sharing confidential client information to rig audit tenders, auditors using AI to cheat on internal exams, breaching audit independence, and “falling short” on the whistleblower’s concerns raised. 

The Greens are calling on Labor to ban KPMG from all government contracting work. In 2025, the Australian Greens introduced a bill that would allow the Commonwealth to ban dodgy contractors, such as PwC and KPMG, from entering into government contracts in order to deter unethical conduct. Both Labor and the Coalition refused to support the bill.

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock, spokesperson for finance and public sector:

“It’s clear that KPMG’s rot spans far and wide in government. Repeated scandals show they are unfit for government work yet Labor has given them millions of dollars in contracts.

“Why would the government hire a firm that’s been accused of sharing confidential client information, to audit its books?

“Labor must immediately ban KPMG and stop these corrupt firms from milking taxpayers of millions of dollars while abusing the system for their gain.

“If the NSW government can call for a ban on KPMG, why can’t the federal government? 

“The government must stop allowing the Big 4 to self-regulate. Labor needs to put an end to their special treatment – on tax, public reporting, professional liability and whistleblower protections – and regulate the Big 4 like other large Australian firms.

“The latest KPMG scandals show the Big 4 consultancy firms making a mockery of the parliament yet again. They have made millions of dollars from government work and abused the system. Labor needs to read the room and ban KPMG.

“Their ethics fail every pub test.

“The government needs to stop feigning outrage and expressing ‘deep concern’ at corrupt practices and instead introduce the legislative and structural reforms that enforce transparency and public accountability. Enough is enough.” 

It’s unacceptable that the logging assessment bilateral agreement between the Tasmanian and federal governments will be progressed ahead of the relevant environmental standards being finalised, the Greens say.

“This is simply the next chapter in an ongoing collusion between Labor and the Liberals to lock in destruction of Tasmania’s precious forests,” Australian Greens Forests spokesperson and Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim said.

“We have not even seen some of the environmental standards in draft form, and the ones we have seen are grossly inadequate.

“Governments should be protecting native forests, not conspiring to destroy them.

“Native forest logging should end, and it should end now.

“Tasmania’s Forest Practices Authority has an appalling track record of rubber-stamping forest destruction, and simply can’t be trusted to assess impacts from logging.”

Healthcare advocates and medical professionals are urging politicians to vote against changes to abortion laws that would reduce abortion access.

Greens spokesperson for Health Dr Amanda Cohn, a former regional GP and abortion care provider, said the proposed changes to abortion laws would have a devastating impact on women in regional areas, which have already been identified as ‘abortion deserts’.

The Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Sex Selection Prohibition) Bill 2025 is currently being debated in the NSW upper house.

“This bill is not really about sex-selective abortions, which the evidence shows is not happening in NSW,” Dr Cohn said. “Anti abortion campaigners are lobbying politicians to incrementally erode abortion rights.”

If the bill was successful, health practitioners could face criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment for a poorly defined offence.

“Health professionals have told me they will not continue to provide abortion care if the laws are successful, as the uncertainty and risks are too great,” she said. “Practitioners shouldn’t be put in a position of being expected to doubt, interrogate, and police their patients.”

“This will have a devastating impact on regional communities where there is already limited access to abortion care. Sydney University research found that only three public hospitals across NSW provide routine abortion services, meaning most communities rely on private providers who are under no obligation to provide care.”

“Debating sex-selective abortions is a common tactic for anti-abortion campaigners to position themselves as on the side of women and girls and incrementally restrict abortion access,” Dr Cohn said.

The bill is opposed by key expert bodies and advocates for women’s rights and women’s health including Family Planning Australia, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, the Australian Medical Association (NSW), Women’s Health NSW, the Women’s Electoral Lobby, and Fair Agenda.

The bill was debated in the Legislative Council on 3 June 2026 and is likely to be debated again when Parliament next sits.

Dr Cohn encourages community members to contact their local state MP to advocate for upholding abortion rights in NSW.

Her full contribution to debate on the bill can be read here.

The NSW Government has announced a new three year funding cycle for the Saving Our Species program, while leaving critical natural areas vulnerable to continued logging, broadscale clearing and destruction under the failed biodiversity offsets system.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment and solicitor Sue Higginson said:

“The increase in allocated spending for the Saving Our Species Program for the next three years is obviously a very welcomed announcement, and direct investment in frontline services and boots on the ground at a landscape scale is a move that has been called on for decades,”

“Unfortunately, it’s not the ambition and vision nature needs right now. If the Minns Labor Government are serious about protecting the environment, stopping the extinction crisis and repairing nature, they would fix the failed biodiversity offsets system, fix our land clearing laws, end native forest logging, and expand our National Park system to 30% of land and water by 2030,”

“Investment in managing our landscapes is a defense position, our natural world needs bold and positive action that stops the harm and builds resilience – not just repairing harm,”

“I look forward to more detail from the Minister about how and where this money will be spent, and what in fact will be saved.” Ms Higginson said.