Australian news and politics live: Cash raises ‘serious’ concerns over Labor sanctions of Israeli ministers

Few Australians have heard of Steven Kennedy, but he may be one of the most important figures to emerge from the public service this century.

Mr Kennedy was this week appointed secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, making him the chief adviser to Anthony Albanese. If there is anyone who can convince the low-risk Prime Minister to undertake difficult policy reform, it may be the psychiatric nurse who became an economist.

Mr Kennedy ran the Treasury Department during the pandemic. During that difficult time he essentially ran Australia with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

“He always seems to me entirely unflappable,” said Jeff Borland, a economics professor at Melbourne University.

Read the full story here.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin has suggested the Government’s newly imposed sanctions against two right-wing Israeli ministers could undermine US-led efforts to end the war in Gaza.

“We dislike these two politicians just like 90% of Israelis who didn’t vote for them,” he said in a statement, referring to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“But sanctioning the politicians of a democratic ally will not contribute to peace when there is a war in Gaza and the obstacle to peace has always been Palestinian violence and rejection of a negotiated end to conflict,” he said.

“Targeting a pair of firebrands from a minor party distracts from the actual issues and could also undermine US-led efforts to end the war in Gaza and help deliver peace to the region.”

Announcing the sanctions, Foreign Minister Penny Wong stressed, “we want a peaceful, secure future for the people of Israel but we do take issue with the actions of the Netanyahu government.”

Alleged death cap mushroom cook Erin Patterson has told her triple-murder trial that she ate 1kg of mushrooms in five days before the deadly lunch.

The 50-year-old was quizzed by Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC about the beef Wellington meal who said her Woolworths rewards records indicated that she purchased 1kg of sliced button mushrooms on July 23 and a further 750g on July 27.

Ms Patterson agreed.

The jury were shown the RecipeTin Eats recipe for beef Wellington Ms Patterson said she used. It called for 700g of mushrooms and said it would feed 6-8 people.

“So you had 1.75kg sliced button mushrooms, correct or incorrect?” Dr Rogers asked.

“Incorrect,” Ms Patterson replied.

Read the full updates here.

Shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash has raised questions and concerns about the Government’s decision to join allies in sanctioning two senior Israeli ministers, but the Coalition has not explicitly opposed the move.

Describing it as a “very serious development”, Senator Cash said, “Labor should be clear who initiated this process, on what basis they have done so and who made the decision.”

She called on the Government to explain “how this action contributes to the safe return of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and a lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Senator Cash also questioned the use of Magnitsky-style sanctions, a regime designed to respond to serious matters of international concern, such as human rights abuses and terrorist acts, and whether the threshold had been lowered in this case.

The Nightly understands a provision in the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations 2011, grants the Foreign Minister power to target a person or entity engaged in acts that constitute “a serious abuse of a person’s: right to life; right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and right to be free from slavery, servitude or forced or compulsory labour.”

Alleged death cap mushroom cook, Erin Patterson, is in the stand for a seventh day and has told her triple-murder trial a sixth beef Wellington she had prepared was “just an extra one” after being quizzed over the reason for making separate portions.

Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial accused of murdering three of her husband’s relatives with a deliberately poisoned lunch she hosted in the country Victorian town of Leongatha on July 29, 2023.

Ms Patterson has also denied she had failed to recall the location of an Asian grocer where the mushrooms for the meal were purchased on purpose, to mislead the hearing, after prosecutors said she should know the area well after working for the local Monash City Council.

​Read the latest on the mushroom killer trial here.​

The Australian share market has pushed higher into uncharted territory, following a jump on Wall Street in the US overnight that was fuelled by hopes of a positive outcome from US-China trade talks aimed at defusing a tariff dispute that has whip-lashed global markets.

The S&P-ASX200 surged to a fresh record closing high on Tuesday of 8587.20 — surpassing its previous record close of 8555.8 set back on February 14 — just seven weeks before US President Donald Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs crashed markets around the globe.

The leading index rose again in early trade on Wednesday, climbing to 8638.2 in the opening minutes before retreating slightly to 8617.9 — up 30.7 points, or 0.4 per cent — by 9am.

All sectors bar health care were in the green, led by strong gains among energy, mining, telco and real estate stocks.

Read the full story here.

Anthony Albanese has rejected questions the government would close Bankstown Airport to funnel more activity to the new Western Sydney International Airport.

Speaking at the official unveiling of the new terminal building, which still only has a handful of airlines signed on, the PM shared his confidence the airport would be an economic activity hub.

“No, we need aviation activity. Some people have opposed this airport existing,” he said.

“But this is a major benefit for Western Sydney. What we’ll see is people coming into here, visiting the Blue Mountains, visiting all of the Western Sydney things that it has to offer there - creating jobs and economic activity.”

The Prime Minister toured the terminal at Badgerys Creek, 44 kilometres from the city’s CBD this morning.

While major construction is now complete, the airport is expected to open for domestic, international, and air cargo services in late 2026.

Anthony Albanese has doubled down on Australia’s decision to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers.

“Sometimes, friends have to be clear with each other,” the PM said, while speaking in Western Sydney on Wednesday.

The imposed travel bans and financial sanctions come after Australia accused them of inciting extremist violence and serious human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“We’ve been clear with the Israeli government about our concerns, which we’ve raised continuously - both privately and through previous statements.”

“What we’ve done here is make a specific decision based upon the positions that have been put forward by these two Israeli ministers, based upon our concerns about the pangs of settlements in the West Bank.”

Read the full story here.

The Chinese Navy has sent its two aircraft carriers into the Pacific for the first time, demonstrating to the world its ability as a naval power to threaten America’s dominance of the world’s biggest ocean.

Two carrier battle groups led by the Liaoning and the Shandong operated near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima over the weekend, the Japanese Government reported. It is the first time either of the carriers have sailed that far west, military experts said.

“It’s a signal of what China’s increasingly capable of,” said military analyst at the Lowy think tank in Sydney, Sam Roggeveen.

“Traditionally the apex of naval in the modern age has been aircraft carriers and they are are showing they are on a path to having capabilities that are equal and maybe superior to that of the US.”

Read the full story here.

Australia is in the box seat to receive a flood of capital seeking refuge from economic turbulence in the United States, according to some of the country’s largest investors.

At a symposium hosted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Future Fund chief executive Dr Raphael Arndt said many of the world’s largest fund managers are heavily exposed to US assets and are now looking for more stable jurisdictions to diversify.

“In the listed markets, the US is somewhere between 60 and 70 per cent of global market cap ... in private markets, it’s even more,” Dr Arndt said.

“So every investor in private markets in the world has a huge exposure to the US. Many investors, including us, are thinking hard about how we should diversify that exposure. Australia is right up there in terms of attractive investment destinations, alongside parts of Europe and Japan.”

​Read the full story here.​