Australia news live: arrival of H5N1 bird flu a ‘genuine wildlife emergency’, experts say; fuel excise rebate extended at reduced rate

Ted O’Brien distanced himself from Pauline Hanson’s suggestion that Australia shouldn’t give aid to Pacific countries that also take aid from China.", , The idea that you effectively hold a gun to the head of our Pacific neighbours – that’s that’s not what a friend does, that’s not a way of building trust, you don’t basically create an ultimatum You certainly don’t say it’s all about who you’re going to get money from. The relationship that we have with the Pacific islands is far deeper than then development money And if you were to narrow the debate to just that, well, you got to be careful who you’re wanting to go into a bidding war with. You go into a bidding war with someone with deeper pockets, well, you’re going to lose that Tolls on strait of Hormuz would ‘set a dangerous precedent’, Ted O’Brien says The shadow foreign affairs spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, said Australia should be concerned about the risk of an ongoing toll for the strait of Hormuz, following a 60-day memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran Speaking on the ABC Insiders program, he said From Australia’s perspective, I think that’s the main thing that we should be concerned about, because that has a direct impact on the prices we pay here in Australia A permanent toll would be bad in practice, wrong in principle, and set a dangerous precedent for how otherwise waterways should be managed internationally Iran has said it would again close the strait after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon, a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal Tom McIlroy Albanese backs Keir Starmer, says ‘stability is a good thing’ Anthony Albanese has urged support for his friend, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, warning voters want stability and not political chaos Asked about the expected leadership challenge by newly elected Labour MP Andy Burnham, Albanese says he will work with whoever is elected to be prime minister. Burham is expected to oust Starmer from 10 Downing Street within days But I must say that the history of just changing leaders is not a positive one I’ve dealt with already four British prime ministers since I’ve been elected as prime minister, and so I think stability is a good thing, and I’m on my fourth Liberal party leader as well A lot of chaos has occurred in global politics, one of the things that my government has provided is stability and order and getting things done Shadow minister for foreign affairs Ted O’Brien said the Albanese government’s decision to taper down the fuel tax excise cut was a “practical step” On the ABC Insiders program, he said I think it’s a practical step. It’s good insurance I’m glad it hasn’t been set for too much longer I think the real test for them is whether or not they find budget