Australia news LIVE: PM says October 7 ‘not a day for demonstrations’; Gaza ceasefire talks underway in Egypt

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7.27am

Marles doesn’t say whether PNG treaty will interfere with China’s Pacific plans

By Emily Kaine

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles has said the landmark mutual defence treaty signed yesterday between Australia and Papua New Guinea is “fundamentally about our relationship with Papua New Guinea” amid concerns that the treaty could be interpreted as interfering with China’s plans in the Pacific.

“I think this is fundamentally about our relationship with Papua New Guinea. And as I say, this is a natural expression of the history of our two countries, the affinity between our two countries, the geography of our two countries. There’s no doubt that the Pacific today is experiencing more geostrategic contests than it has at any point, really, since the end of the Second World War,” Marles told Sky this morning.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape during a press conference after signing the Pukpuk defence Treaty at Parliament House in Canberra.

“And certainly, as long I’ve been involved in engaging in the Pacific, it’s never been like it is now, but I’ve always been of the view that Australia is the natural partner of choice for the countries of the Pacific.

“Provided Australia stands up and engages in the way that we should, which is what we are doing, that’s a fact which will be expressed and realised, and we are seeing that in the form of this agreement today,” he said.

7.12am

‘Nothing worse than politicians who only think of themselves’: Cash

By Emily Kaine

Opposition spokeswoman for foreign affairs Michaelia Cash has responded to the internal turmoil plaguing the Liberal party, following the shock exit of Andrew Hastie from Sussan Ley’s frontbench on Friday and the leak of Peter Dutton’s scathing assessment of Hastie’s performance last term.

Asked this morning on Nine’s Today Show about her party being “all over the shop”, Cash said, “There is nothing worse than politicians who only think of themselves.

“I have one job there every day, ensuring that we are putting in place mechanisms that will bring prices down, that will ensure that [Australians] can keep the lights on, but more than that, that are making their lives easier. So I wake up every day and I know where my fight is. My fight is with the Albanese government... We are in a cost of living crisis, and that is squarely where my focus is.”

Leader of the opposition in the Senate, and foreign affairs spokesperson Senator Michaelia Cash.

Appearing alongside Cash was Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth, who said the government refused to be distracted by what was going on in the Liberal party room.

“We’re not going to get distracted. We’re getting on with the job of governing, implementing, delivering our election commitments, and we will continue to do that. And you know, Michaelia’s right, people don’t like parties that are focused on themselves. Unfortunately, that’s what the Liberal Party is doing at the moment, but we’re going to get on with our job, which is governing for the Australian people,” Rishworth said.

6.56am

Gaza ceasefire talks underway in Egypt

By Emily Kaine

Gaza ceasefire talks have begun this morning in Egypt, with delegations from the US, Israel and Hamas in indirect negotiations.

A key sign of progress in the talks will be whether Hamas frees all the roughly 20 of remaining live hostages — plus the remains of the dead — in return for Israel releasing about 2000 Palestinian prisoners.

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Sunday.

The US and Israel aim to use the negotiations to finalise US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, although Hamas has not yet agreed to all the conditions of the plan.

There are plenty of contentious issues for the delegations to negotiate, including the speed and extent of Israel’s military withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’ future role in the territory.

6.44am

New Triple Zero watchdog laws aim to rebuild trust after fatal failures

By David Swan

The Albanese government will introduce legislation this week to give the Triple Zero custodian formal powers, more than 18 months after the role was first recommended, as it faces criticism for failing to reinforce the service after a string of outages.

The bill, to be tabled in parliament’s final sitting weeks for 2025, will embed the custodian within the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), with statutory powers to demand information from telcos to monitor performance and to respond to outages.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the move was critical to rebuilding trust in the emergency call system after three deaths were linked to an Optus outage in September, when at least 600 Triple Zero calls failed in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

“We know Australians’ confidence in Triple Zero has been shaken, and it’s vital that it’s rebuilt,” Wells said.

6.43am

PM says October 7 ‘not a day for demonstrations’ ahead of anniversary rallies

By Matthew Knott and Paul Sakkal

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that October 7 is “not a day for demonstrations”, as pro-Palestine groups organise protests in NSW and Victoria to mark the second anniversary of the atrocities in which Hamas militants murdered 1200 people and took another 250 captive.

Israel’s ensuing invasion of Gaza was labelled a genocide in a landmark United Nations inquiry a fortnight ago.

Albanese called for “decent human behaviour” to mark October 7, as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned “deeply disrespectful” plans by pro-Palestinian groups to protest on the anniversary of the Hamas massacre that incited the Gaza war.

Pro-Palestine protesters have been gathering in Sydney each week for two years.

With Israel and Hamas inching towards acceptance of a US-brokered peace plan to end a catastrophic conflict that has razed the Gaza Strip and killed an estimated 67,000 people, Albanese warned that any protests on Tuesday would undermine support for the Palestinian cause in Australia.

Allan said anyone who protested on October 7 did not want peace in the Middle East or social harmony in Australian cities. “I condemn that behaviour,” she said. “It shouldn’t be occurring, and those who are choosing to mark this day with protest clearly are not acting in the interests of peace or supporting our great multicultural state.”

6.43am

What’s making news this morning

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Tuesday, October 7. My name is Emily Kaine, and I will be helming our coverage throughout the first half of the day. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that October 7 is “not a day for demonstrations”, as pro-Palestine groups organise plans to protest in both NSW and Victoria on the second anniversary of the atrocities in which Hamas militants murdered 1200 people and took another 250 captive. Israel’s ensuing invasion of Gaza was labelled a genocide in a landmark United Nations inquiry a fortnight ago.
The Albanese government will introduce legislation this week to give the Triple Zero custodian formal powers, more than 18 months after the role was first recommended, as it faces criticism for failing to reinforce the service after a string of outages. The bill, to be tabled in parliament’s final sitting weeks for 2025, will embed the custodian within the Australian Communications and Media Authority, with statutory powers to demand information from telcos to monitor performance and to respond to outages.
Gaza ceasefire talks are underway in Egypt, with delegations from the US, Israel and Hamas in indirect negotiations with hopes to enact US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. A key sign of progress in the talks will be whether Hamas frees all the roughly 20 of its live hostages – plus the remains of those who are dead – in return for Israel releasing about 2000 Palestinian prisoners.
The Coalition is inching towards a compromise deal to keep the party together on climate change following the exit of net zero opponent Andrew Hastie. Frontbencher James Paterson said the Coalition had good prospects of settling on a climate policy, reflecting growing hopes within the party room that Ley could retain the net zero target, with stronger caveats about the economic impacts.