Australia news LIVE: Death toll climbs as hundreds missing in Hong Kong apartment blaze; Australia records biggest annual drop in emissions outside of pandemic

3 months ago 20

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7.18am

O’Brien: Coalition ‘frustrated’ over social media ban ‘confusion’

By Emily Kaine

Deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien has expressed his frustration with the lack of clarity around the government’s social media ban set to come into effect on December 10.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast this morning, O’Brien said a few members of the Coalition voiced doubts around particular elements of the ban – such as the age verification requirement – that they claim are still shadowed by confusion.

“We’re getting very frustrated, is the truth ... because it’s meant to go live literally within the next couple of weeks, and the government still doesn’t know what it’s doing it. I mean, the age verification is complete confusion… so we supported [the ban]. We support the principle of it.

“But they’re failing on the implementation,” he said.

From December 10, age-restricted social media platforms will have to take “reasonable steps” to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit.

7.01am

Russia rules out big concessions on Ukraine

Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan for Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said, after a leaked recording of a call involving US envoy Steve Witkoff showed he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to Donald Trump.

Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week with other senior American officials for talks with Russian leaders about a possible plan to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, the deadliest in Europe since World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to advance the US-backed framework for ending the war and to discuss disputed points with Trump in talks that he said should include European allies.

Kyiv and its European allies are worried that details of the plan leaked last week show it bows to key Russian demands – barring Ukraine’s NATO entry, enshrining Russian control of a fifth of Ukraine and limiting the size of Ukraine’s army.

But, while welcoming the Trump administration’s efforts, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday, Moscow time, that, “There can be no question of any concessions, or any surrender of our approaches to those key points”.

Moscow also raised concerns about the leak of the transcript of a call between Witkoff and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, in which the US envoy advised Ushakov on how to pitch a peace plan to Trump.

Reuters

6.46am

Australia records biggest annual drop in emissions outside pandemic

By Mike Foley and Nick Toscano

The biggest annual drop in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions outside the COVID-19 pandemic has been driven by record output from renewable energy that is squeezing more coal and gas out of the power grid.

The Albanese government yesterday seized the official figures showing a 2.2 per cent emissions drop in the year to June 30 as proof that its pro-renewable energy policies were working.

Labor has come under heavy criticism from the Coalition, which earlier this month dumped its support for Australia’s net zero emissions goal while insisting the government’s climate commitments are unachievable and are failing to reduce emissions.

Record levels of renewable energy in the electricity grid are displacing coal and driving down emissions.

Those attacks escalated after a 10-minute partial blackout in Parliament House during question time on Wednesday that prompted howls of laughter from the Coalition directed at Energy Minister Chris Bowen.

However, new data from the Department of Climate Change and Energy shows that emissions are down 2.2 per cent in the year to June 2025, in welcome news for the Labor government.

Read the full story by Mike Foley and Nick Toscano here.

6.45am

Hong Kong apartment blaze: What you need to know

By Daniella Miletic and Josefine Ganko

A fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Hong Kong has been burning for nearly 12 hours, with the death toll continually rising as rescuers gain further access to the building.

Here’s what you need to know:

36 people have died and 279 more are unaccounted for, Hong Kong’s leader John Lee confirmed. 29 casualties are in hospital.
Lee also confirmed the fire was now “coming under control”, with about 700 residents safely evacuated and being housed in temporary shelters.
Five of the 32-storey buildings in the Wang Fuk Court estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district caught fire.
Approximately 5000 people live in this government-subsidised housing estate.
The blaze was first reported mid-afternoon on Wednesday local time, but was upgraded to a level 5 alarm, the highest level of severity, soon after nightfall, the Fire Services Department said.
A firefighter is among the confirmed dead.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting.
Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction, with plans introduced in March this year to phase out its use.

We are running a dedicated live blog with rolling updates on the Hong Kong blaze. Follow along here.

6.45am

What’s making news this morning

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, November 27. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making headlines today.

A fire has been burning at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Hong Kong for over 12 hours as the death toll continues to rise and firefighters and rescuers gain further access to the building. 36 people have died and 279 more are unaccounted for, while 29 casualties have been taken to hospital.
The biggest annual drop in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions outside the COVID-19 pandemic has been driven by record output from renewable energy that is squeezing more coal and gas out of the power grid. Official figures yesterday showed a 2.2 per cent emissions drop in the year to June 30 as proof that the Albanese government’s pro-renewable energy policies were working.
Australia’s gender pay gap narrowed in 2025, but women still earn on average about $28,000 a year less than men, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s latest report showed. Women earned on average 78.9 cents for every dollar a man earned. It was a 0.7 per cent improvement on the 2024 numbers.
Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan for Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said, after a leaked recording of a call involving US envoy Steve Witkoff showed he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to US President Donald Trump. Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week with other senior American officials for talks with Russian leaders about a possible plan to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, the deadliest in Europe since World War II.

Stay with as we continue to bring you the latest live news updates from Australia and beyond.