Australia news LIVE: PM heads to Washington to meet Trump; Israel halts aid to Gaza in clash with Hamas over breaking ceasefire

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth has this morning responded to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s plans to unwind multi-employer wage deals, saying that she expected “more detail” from Ley who is to speak today on the proposed policy change.

“We would expect to see a lot more detail from Sussan if any of her positions are to be taken seriously. But when it comes to industrial relations, Sussan Ley has got to explain how paying people less will actually lead to greater productivity. It just doesn’t happen by reducing people’s wages,” Rishworth told ABC’s News Breakfast this morning.

The ACTU and the Council of Small Business Organisations reached a deal on multi-employer bargaining in 2022, giving unions the ability to strike agreements for workers across a number of employers in the same industry.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth during question time at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Reinvigorating bargaining was a key focus of our government, and we’re starting to see that deliver. We have the most number of people covered by enterprise bargaining, 2.8 million people since enterprise bargaining was brought in, and those enterprise agreements are delivering economy-wide wage increases that allow for flexibility between employers and employees.”

Rishworth said the government would be expecting an answer on whether early educators would take a pay cut under Ley’s plans to unwind multi-employer bargaining.

“Is Sussan Ley saying that she is going to rip up the agreement that is delivering our early educators wage increases? ”

Mollie O’Callaghan has stunned the swimming world by breaking the women’s short-course 200-metre freestyle world record, just days after Swimming Australia was forced to defend the Olympic champion from false news stories being spread about her on social media.

A former long-course 200m world record holder – the now retired Ariarne Titmus lowered that mark last year – O’Callaghan continued her stellar season with a blistering victory at a World Cup meet in a 25-metre pool in Westmont, Illinois, on Sunday.

The 21-year-old, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the long-course (50m pool) version of the event, became the first woman to break the one-minute 50-second barrier in a 25-metre pool, clocking 1:49.77. Her time sliced 0.54 seconds off Siobhan Haughey’s previous world mark from 2021.

“I was so nervous all day,” O’Callaghan told Swimming World after the race. “I knew I was capable of doing that swim.”

The record caps a turbulent fortnight for O’Callaghan, who has been the target of a vile fake news campaign on Facebook.

Read more from Tom Decent.

Speaking to Seven’s Sunrise this morning, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce declined to answer whether he planned to jump ship to One Nation after announcing he would be stepping away from the National Party last week.

“I’m not going to stand for New England again… as regards to everything else, I do think there has been a breakdown of the relationship,” he said.

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When asked whether he had plans to join One Nation, he said, “I haven’t actually left [the Nationals] yet, I’ve barely resigned. I haven’t joined One Nation, and I mean, I’m not going to be, I’m not going to be salami-sliced here.”

Joyce did however confirm he had spoken with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson over the weekend.

His decision not to contest New England for another party, or as an independent candidate, has fuelled speculation he is considering a move into the Senate, which would give him a national platform to campaign.

Hanson wants Joyce to join her party, which she believes is a better fit for him than the Nationals he once led. Joyce previously complained of being relegated to the “far corners” of the backbench.

This masthead broke the news on Friday that Joyce was in advanced talks with Hanson about a switch.

Israel has launched a series of airstrikes in Gaza and said it was halting aid into the enclave in response to attacks on its forces that killed two soldiers, in the most serious test yet of this month’s US-brokered ceasefire which the two sides blame each other for flouting.

The Israel Defence Forces launched airstrikes and artillery fire against militants on Sunday in the southern part of the war-torn territory near the Rafah crossing into Egypt, saying it was responding to being fired upon.

Israel said Hamas fighters had fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire at the soldiers in an area that was controlled by Israeli under the terms of the ceasefire, and it vowed to fire back if the attacks continued.

Wounded Palestinian infants are treated at Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Sunday after an Israeli army bombardment.Credit: AP

But Hamas said the Israeli forces had repeatedly violated the ceasefire and claimed, without verification by any other source, that 46 people had been killed in recent days.

In a dramatic escalation of tensions, Israel said it would suspend the delivery of all humanitarian aid into Gaza until further notice.

Read the full report by Europe correspondent David Crowe.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will touch down in Washington soon ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump set to take place early tomorrow morning.

Upholding the under-review AUKUS pact, and leveraging Australia’s role in supplying the West with critical minerals, will be high on the agenda.

It will be the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders since Albanese took office.

Anthony Albanese captures a selfie with Donald Trump in New York in September.

With Australia still subject to steel tariffs and the US demanding more military spending, the government is bracing for the prospect of an argument with the president.

In a statement released yesterday, Albanese said: “I look forward to a positive and constructive meeting with President Trump.

“Australia and the United States have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in every major conflict for over a century. Our meeting is an important opportunity to consolidate and strengthen the Australia-United States relationship.”

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, October 20. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making headlines today.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will touch down in Washington soon ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump set to take place early tomorrow morning. It will be the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Items expected to be high on the agenda are the AUKUS alliance, critical minerals and Australia’s defence spending.

• Israeli forces have clashed with Hamas in a new sign of pressure on a peace deal in Gaza, blocking the flow of food and medical supplies to Palestinians while the two sides blame each other for flouting a ceasefire. The Israel Defence Forces launched airstrikes and artillery fire against militants on Sunday in the southern part of the war-torn territory near the Rafah crossing into Egypt, saying it was responding to being fired upon. In a dramatic escalation of tensions, Israel said it would suspend the delivery of all humanitarian aid into Gaza until further notice.

• Prince Andrew has given up his title as Duke of York, he announced in a statement over the weekend, after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines. The younger brother of King Charles said he and the royal family had decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”, his statement read.

• Mollie O’Callaghan has stunned the swimming world by breaking the women’s short-course 200-metre freestyle world record at a World Cup meet in a 25-metre pool in Illinois on Sunday. The 21-year-old, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the long-course (50m pool) version of the event, became the first woman to break the one-minute 50-second barrier in a 25-metre pool, clocking 1:49.77. Her time sliced 0.54 seconds off Siobhan Haughey’s previous world mark from 2021.