Australia news LIVE: Australian man pleads guilty to stealing US trade secrets for Russia; Trump and Xi set to meet in South Korea today; Hurricane Melissa kills dozens in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba

19 hours ago 5

Key posts

1 of 1

7.15am

New environmental laws lack balance, says shadow environment minister

By Emily Kaine

Opposition environment spokeswoman Angie Bell has said this morning that the government’s new environmental laws, set to be tabled in parliament today by Environment Minister Murray Watt, do not balance environmental concerns with business concerns.

Speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast, Bell said, “Certainly, this act is about preserving and protecting the environment. There’s no doubt about that, but we need to have a balanced approach to the reforms in this act. And what we are saying is that it has not been balanced, and that currently, the way the … almost 1500 pages that will be introduced this morning are not balanced, are not workable, will be a handbrake on jobs and investment in this country, and will be a green light for investment to go offshore.”

She also criticised the government’s proposal to establish a federal environment watchdog, claiming it would slow down approval processes.

“More green tape is a problem. More red tape is a problem, and the prime minister’s new environment protection authority will be holding up those processes. We’ll see a bigger bureaucracy ... and we won’t see faster, necessarily, approvals through that process.”

Watt will table the environmental protection reform bill today, and will address the National Press Club this afternoon.

7.01am

Hurricane Melissa claims dozens of lives

Hurricane Melissa has claimed dozens of lives in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica.

Melissa made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 295km/h, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before weakening and moving on to Cuba.

In Haiti, flooding from Melissa killed at least 25 people in the southern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, its mayor told The Associated Press.

Mayor Jean Bertrand Subrème said dozens of homes collapsed when La Digue river burst its banks and people were still trapped under rubble. Only one official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency was in the area as residents struggled to evacuate amid heavy floodwaters.

It has now been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but has left widespread destruction across Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba as it continues tracking a path across Cuba.

People in the eastern Cuban province of Santiago de Cuba began clearing debris around the collapsed walls of their homes after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the region hours earlier.

6.46am

Australian man pleads guilty to stealing US trade secrets for Russia

By Michael Koziol

An Australian man living in the United States faces a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty to stealing defence trade secrets from his American employer for a Russian broker.

Peter Williams, 39, entered the plea before the District of Columbia in Washington on Thursday, in relation to two counts of theft of trade secrets.

Court documents, seen by this masthead, allege that Williams intended those secrets to be sold outside the US – “specifically to a buyer based in the Russian Federation” – and were worth about $US1.3 million ($2 million).

Prosecutors said the material was stolen over a three-year period – between 2022 and 2025 – from the American defence contractor where Williams worked. It comprised national security-focused software, including “at least eight sensitive and protected cyber-exploit documents”.

“Those components were meant to be sold exclusively to the US government and select allies,” the US Justice Department said following the guilty plea.

“Williams sold the trade secrets to a Russian cyber-tools broker that publicly advertises itself as a reseller of cyber exploits to various customers, including the Russian government.”

Read the full story by North American correspondent Michael Koziol.

6.46am

Albanese dines with Trump and other leaders as Xi meeting awaits

By Lisa Visentin

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dined alongside US President Donald Trump and leaders from an assortment of Asia-Pacific nations as leaders gather this week for the ASEAN and APEC summits.

The venue was not the White House but a banquet room at the Hilton in the South Korean tourist town of Gyeongju, where Trump and the leaders took their seats somewhat awkwardly at a small round table for a dinner hosted by President Lee Jae Myung.

Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump dining with other world leaders.

But not before Trump praised Albanese for their “great meeting last week” in an exchange of small talk before the assembled press.

“We’re working together on rare earths, but we’re working on a lot of things together,” the US president said.

The dinner was the prelude to the blockbuster event later today, when Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time during his second term.

6.46am

What’s making news today

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, October 30. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage for the first half of the day. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dined alongside US President Donald Trump and leaders from an assortment of Asia-Pacific nations as leaders gather this week for the ASEAN and APEC summits. It preceded a high-stakes meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping set to be held later today.
Environment Minister Murray Watt will table the government’s new environmental laws in parliament today, proposing reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act that Watt has promised will include strict new requirements on project developers to prevent harm to nature. The government will attempt to deliver on its election promise to create a national environment watchdog, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared a top priority in this term of parliament.
An Australian man living in the United States faces a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty to stealing defence trade secrets from his American employer for a Russian broker. Peter Williams, 39, entered the plea before the District of Columbia in Washington on Wednesday, local time, in relation to two counts of theft of trade secrets.
Two men who were arrested over jewels stolen in a brazen heist at the Louvre Museum will be charged for theft by an organised gang, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. Prosecutors will ask that the men be jailed while the investigation continues, she said, adding that the royal necklaces, tiaras and earrings stolen haven’t been found yet.
The Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate for a second time this year, seeking to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. Chair Jerome Powell said there were “strongly differing views about how to proceed in December” at the policy meeting and a further reduction in rates is not “a foregone conclusion ... far from it”. Powell’s comments sent Wall Street sharply lower.
Hurricane Melissa has claimed dozens of lives in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 295km/h, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before weakening and moving on to Cuba. It has now been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but has left widespread destruction across Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba.