Before we go, let’s take a look at the day’s top headlines:
Pauline Hanson has offered a qualified apology for her comments about Indigenous Australians and about Anthony Albanese’s mother – both which have been widely condemned.
Universities Australia has warned One Nation’s plan to drastically cut down international student numbers will lead to campuses shutting down and domestic students missing out.
Australian fashion brands Cue and Veronika Maine face collapse
Longtime Australian fashion brands Cue and Veronika Maine are facing collapse after being placed under the control of receivers and managers.
The company’s parent said the decision followed “a difficult period”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Hilco Capital said:
It is a disappointing outcome, but the only available course of action given the circumstances.
Our intention has always been to fund Cue to restore growth and profitability. This appointment will now provide an opportunity for a new owner to carry the Cue and Veronika Maine brands forward.
I want to acknowledge the efforts of all the staff during a challenging period and thank them for their continuing support of these great Australian fashion brands.
Human Rights Commission condemns Hanson’s comments about Indigenous Australians
The Australian Human Rights Commission has joined widespread condemnation of Pauline Hanson’s offensive comments about Indigenous Australians.
The commission said the comments contradicted Australia’s shared values of “fairness, dignity and respect” and had “no place in the national conversation”.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, Katie Kiss, said:
Such commentary is a tactic to divide us at a time when we need to come together. In fact, people have come together over the past 24 hours, across the political spectrum, to criticise the senator’s comments.
For that, I am heartened. But the harm caused should not be underestimated.
The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, added:
Whether our ancestors arrived more than 200 years ago, or we are recent migrants, we all live on lands and waters that were maintained by and hold the cultures of First Peoples. Recognising that gives us strength and brings us together. Denigrating First Peoples does the opposite and lessens all of us.
When public figures use language that dehumanises entire groups of people, it causes real harm. History has shown that when people are portrayed as less deserving of dignity, respect or belonging, discrimination and exclusion are more likely to follow.
Sivaraman said the incident reinforced the commission’s recommendation in the National Anti-Racism Framework for anti-racism training for all parliamentarians.
King accuses Hanson of ‘gaslighting’ Indigenous Australians and prime minister
The resources minister, Madeleine King, has accused the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, of “gaslighting” Indigenous Australians and the prime minister after Hanson offered a qualified apology for comments that have been widely condemned.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, King said Hanson’s apology was inadequate. She said:
There is a way of apologising, isn’t there? … ‘Sorry if I caused offence’ is not really an apology.
She says outrageous things about Indigenous Australians, disgusting things, and then walks back into this building and says she did not say it at all. That is gaslighting.
What she said about the prime minister’s much-loved mother is beyond the pale, and a pseudo-apology is just pathetic on her behalf.
NSW police watchdog delays public examinations into alleged protest brutality investigation
The NSW independent police watchdog, the law enforcement conduct commission (Lecc), has delayed public examinations into its investigation of alleged police brutality, citing “a range of procedural issues”.
In February, the Lecc launched Operation Makalu to investigate allegations arising from violent clashes between police and demonstrators at a protest against the visit of the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.
The delay comes two weeks after the leak of police body-worn camera footage of the protest, which was shared widely on social media. The footage allegedly shows a male police officer telling colleagues during a 9 February protest at Sydney Town Hall: “I fucking pumped that cunt.”
The commission has not specified when the public examinations will begin.
In a statement, the Lecc said:
The Commission had previously announced that any public examinations would start no earlier than September 2026. A range of procedural issues have now arisen, which the Commission must consider. As a result, public examinations will not be held in September 2026.
The Commission will provide a further update on its investigation as soon as practicable.
Two WA teens charged after alleged Perth Zoo break-in
Western Australia Police have charged two teenage boys after an alleged break-in at Perth Zoo during which a crocodile was assaulted and property was damaged.
Police allege the boys, aged 16 and 17, entered the zoo at about 7.15pm on Sunday. It remains unclear how they gained entry.
The teenagers allegedly cut the locks on a crocodile enclosure before entering and striking the animal with a metal pole. They are also accused of damaging CCTV equipment inside the enclosure by removing the cameras from the wall.
The incident was reported to authorities the following morning, before police arrested the teenagers at their separate homes.
Both boys have been charged with two counts of criminal damage or destruction of property, one count of trespass and one count of animal cruelty.
State politicians react to Guardian story about man Tasered in homeless clearance
Queensland politicians have reacted to Guardian reporting that a man was Tasered in a homeless clearance earlier in the month.
The man attempted to kill himself after being ordered to leave a park north of Brisbane to make way for a kite festival. He was rushed to hospital, but discharged the next day.
The opposition leader, Steven Miles, said the state government had “washed their hands of responsibility for the homelessness crisis that they’re contributing to”, blaming cuts to the state’s emergency fund for accommodation in hotels and motels. He said.
We’re seeing this situation get even worse. It’s pretty much every park across Moreton Bay, whether that’s Pelican Park in Redcliffe, all the way through to Fernie Grove, there’s more and more people popping up in those parks.
Miles said it wasn’t appropriate for a hospital to discharge a patient back into homelessness.
Greens MP Michael Berkman said the case was “the end result of both major parties treating housing as a profitable commodity rather than a human right”. He said:
Our Government has created this vicious merry-go-round by underfunding housing, healthcare and community services.
If this is how the system treats a homeless man with terminal illness, it makes you wonder how they’re treating other people who we just haven’t heard about.
The minister for correctional services, Laura Gerber, said she wasn’t familiar with the case but said the government prioritised community safety.
The opposition picked a broad bunch of questions (and was perhaps a bit all over the place) to target Labor with today, from the Whyalla steelworks, to a fundraising dinner attended by Albanese, to green hydrogen, to private health insurance rebates for over-65s.
The prime minister also said it was appropriate that a Labor staffer, and ex-Play School host, was stood down after old tweets disparaging Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and others were revealed.
The opposition then tried and failed to table photographs of the staffer in question with Albanese.
Nassif threatens to pull out from Icac hearings mid-rant
Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif has threatened to withdraw from the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s inquiries as the counsel assisting attempted to interrupt a rant about corrupt politicians.
Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC asked him to calm down, but Nassif quickly snapped back.
Dialling into the inquiry from Lebanon, he said:
“I want to prove my point. If you don’t want me to prove myself I’ll withdraw from all this nonsense.”
Showing his handwritten notes to the camera, Nassif said:
I’m taking notes … So stop fucking putting words in my mouth. This is a public hearing, and I know what you’re doing. You want to show the public that I am corrupt. I’m not corrupt.
You guys are not attacking the corrupt officials in the government. You want the country to be ruled by crooks.
Assistant commissioner Fabian Gleeson SC told Nassif to take a breath:
“The purpose of this inquiry is to get to the truth of certain allegations. It’s not for you to attack other people. You can be passionate about that, but this is not the forum for those complaints.”
‘I am not corrupt’: Jean Nassif declares innocence
Kat Wong
Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif is fronting the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption to wrap up his evidence after an explosive appearance on Monday.
Nassif told the commission he offered lobbyists Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis $1m to help fast-track his developments.
As counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC read texts between Greenwood and Ellis about Charles Perrottet not prioritising the developments, Nassif said he did not understand what this had to do with him.
Dialling in from his Beirut bedroom, Nassif said:
This is an issue amongst them and between them. I was not involved at all. I am not involved with paying politicians to get my projects approved.
I employed consultants to solve my problems and unblock the way …
What they did, if they did any corrupt work, I am not involved with it. I was not aware of it … You need to understand. I am not corrupt.
As part of its investigation into allegations against people associated with the NSW Liberals, Icac is examining the allegation that Liberal figures anticipated receiving $2m in prohibited donations from Nassif in exchange for political outcomes, including damage to the career of the NSW Liberal minister David Elliott, and the removal of the building commissioner David Chandler.
Australia’s gross debt-to-GDP ratio lower than any major advanced economy, Chalmers says
One Nation MP David Farley is next from the crossbench and asks if the treasurer will accept “commonwealth debt has reached a point beyond which it becomes unsustainable? Yes, or no? If yes – what gross debt-to-GDP ratio or what gross debt level would trigger that concern with you?”
Jim Chalmers says Australia’s debt-to-GDP ratio isn’t that bad compared with other countries, and that much of the debt was accrued during the Coalition government.
We have lower gross debt-to-GDP than any major advanced economy – in fact, much lower. Less than half the US, UK, less than a quarter of Japan. That’s really important because, to go to the core of his question, there are other countries where debt is approaching unsustainable levels, but not in Australia.
Farley tries to make a point of order, saying Chalmers isn’t answering the question about what debt level would cause concern.
Chalmers continues:
If you look at US bond yields, Treasury yields, for 10 years, they’ve breached 5% again today. That is a source of considerable concern for policymakers and decision-makers, governments, and the private sector right around the world. And it reflects a number of things. It reflects the fact that the war in Iran is dragging on longer than anyone would like from an economic point of view.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
Immediate action taken against Labor staffer Muldoon ‘appropriate’, PM says
Anthony Albanese says it is “appropriate” that Labor senator Richard Dowling has stood down ex-Play School host RhysMuldoon as his staffer.
Tweets by Muldoon about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Peta Credlin were unearthed today, leading to the “immediate action” – as Albanese put it – taken against him.
Nationals MP Anne Webster asked Albanese when he first became aware of Muldoon’s “vile tweets”.
Albanese won’t give a timeline.
When they became public debate today – I wasn’t aware of those comments until they were raised in the media – and neither was Senator Dowling. The comments are completely unacceptable, and Senator Dowling has taken immediate action – and that’s appropriate.
Liberal frontbencher Aaron Violi tries to table a series of documents including: “the Prime Minister, on election night, with his close personal friend Rhys Muldoon. The Prime Minister being kissed on the cheek by his close political ally Rhys Muldoon. And disgraced Labor adviser Rhys Muldoon with the Prime Minister.”
Milton Dick is absolutely not having that, and warns Violi “don’t take advantage of my goodwill or the House’s goodwill by using props to try and table things.”
‘I’ll meet with leaders who have never held a press conference’: Albanese defends his government’s transparency
Will the government commit to publishing ministerial diaries, or lists of who ministers have met, so Australians can see who really is in the room, asks Allegra Spender.
She quotes a survey conducted by McKinnon which found “72% of Australians think politicians serve ourselves and vested interests first, before we serve them”.
Albanese says that his diary is regularly published via FOI requests – but what Spender is suggesting is the proactive publishing of all ministerial diaries.
He then defends the current system and says at least Australia is, like, better than other countries.
When I go to the UN next week, I’ll meet with leaders who have never answered a question in parliament. I’ll meet with leaders. I’ll meet with leaders who have never held a press conference and answered questions from journalists. In most parts of the world, leaders do not go through the transparency that we have in this country. So I’m proud of our democracy.
Albanese mentions the national anti-corruption commission which has never held a public hearing and the independent parliamentary standards commission (whose work is also shielded from public scrutiny).
Prime minister Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
