Australia news LIVE: Politicians speak out against Hanson speech, GetUp stunt at National Press Club; key details of US-Iran peace deal emerge

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, June 18. Here’s what’s making headlines today.

• Details of the US-Iran deal have emerged, revealing the United States will immediately waive restrictions on Iranian oil exports and ultimately lift all sanctions, as well as help create a $US300 billion ($425 billion) development fund for Iran.
• One Nation says leader Pauline Hanson’s safety was compromised yesterday when a stunt banner unfurled behind her as she delivered her first-ever speech at the National Press Club in Canberra. Activist group GetUp claimed responsibility for the stunt, which has been referred to the Australian Federal Police.
• A coalition of medical professions has spoken out against the move to give pharmacists the power to prescribe medications.
• England have beaten Croatia, while DR Congo have shocked Portugal with a draw so far this morning at the World Cup. Next up: Ghana v Panama. You can follow along on our World Cup blog here. And the State of Origin will head to a decider in Brisbane on July 8 after a dominant Queensland 44-24 win last night.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the world’s wealthy democracies to work together on regulating advanced artificial intelligence systems, speaking at a high-level meeting that included top AI executives on Wednesday.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued a similar plea at the Group of Seven summit of major industrialised nations in France, saying an “international forum” is needed for countries to draw up AI guardrails. He said the task of AI safety should not be left to tech companies.

Overshadowing the discussion on AI was the Trump administration’s directive last week that prevents foreign nationals from using Anthropic’s newest and most powerful artificial intelligence models.

Macron said it was a “good thing” that US officials recognise that so-called frontier AI models could be dangerous but he also criticised it as a “strictly nationalist” reaction.

The remarks followed a G7 working lunch that brought together AI industry figures, including leaders of three of the most powerful AI companies – Altman, Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei – on the theme of “ensuring a safe, rapid and effective deployment of artificial intelligence”.

AP

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday electronically signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war between their countries, US and Iranian officials have confirmed.

A provisional memo had been signed digitally on Sunday by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and witnessed by Trump, a US official said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on state television that the memorandum of understanding had been signed. The fate of a planned signing ceremony set to take place in Switzerland on Friday was unclear as Baghaei said it had been called off.

The peace deal is now in effect, the US official said. It was unclear if the Strait of Hormuz had yet been reopened.

Reuters, Bloomberg

Veteran journalist and presenter Virginia Trioli announced this morning she will leave the ABC after 27 years at the national broadcaster.

Trioli was the founding anchor of News Breakfast, which she co-hosted alongside Michael Rowland from 2008 to 2019. She also hosted Mornings on ABC Radio Melbourne, and most recently presented the TV series Creative Types with Virginia Trioli.

“After spending all this time with a whole lot of creative types, I realised that I kind of am one, too. And that’s really what I want to go and focus on now,” Trioli told ABC News.

“I’ve just been so fortunate and had the luckiest and best career you can possibly have in mainstream media … but right now I am just itching – there is this voice that’s getting increasingly loud in my head – to go and work on my own creative projects.”

Trioli said she is working on two books and a TV script, among other projects. Her last day at the ABC will be June 26.

New One Nation MP David Farley said Pauline Hanson’s press club speech was one Australians “have been looking for for some time”.

“It was direct shooting. It hit the targets. It was clear. It was succinct and it addressed a number of the elephants in the room, and one of the big elephants in the room is a trillion dollars’ worth of national debt,” Farley told Radio National.

Farley welcomed Hanson talking about “radicalised Islam”.

“Put a foot, put a foot across the throat of radicalised Islam and step it out, and stamp it out, and exit people that want to practise it, promote it or exercise their rights to that part of Islamic faith within Australia, it is just not acceptable,” he said.

Barnaby Joyce has insisted One Nation was not trying to demonise migrants, after multicultural and Muslim groups condemned Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech.

On ABC’s 7.30 last night, Joyce denied One Nation was turning its back on half of the population who are either born overseas or are second-generation migrants.

“What we’re saying is Australia has to have the capacity to bring in an Australian culture, a culture with guardrails, a culture that is able to absorb people, so that we have harmony, we have peace, and we have a unity of purpose,” he said.

He also rejected the suggestion that One Nation was making the case that it was fundamentally wrong to come from another country.

After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer confronted him before he was sentenced to life in prison.

“I am responsible” for the crimes, said Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women.

The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing mysteries. Heuermann, 62, will have no possibility of parole.

“A million years isn’t enough,” Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, said. “You fill me with so much repugnance, I can’t stand it.”

Labor frontbencher Murray Watt said Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address showed “her plan for Australia is one of division, chaos, and cuts”.

“She made really clear that she wants to cut people’s wages, make it easier for them to get sacked by their boss, and she wants to cut healthcare, which means paying more for a GP,” Watt told the ABC’s News Breakfast.

“I lost track of the number of different people and groups that Pauline Hanson targeted in her speech yesterday. She’s coming after workers, she’s coming after women, she’s coming after migrants, she’s coming after the ABC and SBS, but you can’t run a country just fuelled by your grievances against different groups in our community.”

He rejected her claim that multiculturalism is a “failed policy”, saying Australia was one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world, and pointed to the economic benefits.

Asked about Hanson’s cut through and success with her fundraiser, Watt said: “There’s nothing unusual about political parties putting up negative advertising. I mean, you know what this shows is that the Pauline Hanson and One Nation are becoming like every other political party. She’s always tried to present herself as a bit of an outsider. She’s now very clearly showing that she is a career politician.”

US military officials have identified all eight people killed in this week’s fiery crash of a B-52 during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.

The victims were men between the ages of 32 and 53. They include four active duty airmen, one reservist and three civilians.

“They were dedicated professionals, beloved family members and irreplaceable teammates,” said Colonel Thomas Tauer, commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards.

The airfield where the crash occurred on Monday remains closed, but other base operations have resumed. No cause has been determined. Officials said it could take six months to complete the investigation.

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was taking part in a test mission as part of a program to keep one of the oldes aircraft in the US fleet flying for decades to come. The bomber had arrived at Edwards in December after having a modernised radar installed at Boeing’s facility in San Antonio, Texas.

AP

National Party Senator Bridget McKenzie has criticised the GetUp protest banner unfurled during Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech, but stopped short of joining calls for a ban.

On an appearance on the Today Show this morning, McKenzie said the banner “wins the most stupid political stunt of the year,” but said a lifetime ban on the protest group is “a bit too much”.

She called the National Press Club an important platform for political leaders, who she said need to be able to face tough scrutiny from the media.

“I think nothing says more that One Nation is now a mainstream political player than this address,” she said.

“I am concerned that One Nation also wants to pick and choose which media they take questions from, who they like or they don’t like. That might be OK for Donald Trump to pick and choose which media he takes questions from, but it does not go well here in a democracy like Australia.”

Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defence at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said on Wednesday. It wouldn’t absolve him of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing, but could free him from prison sooner.

If a jury accepts that defence, the panel would convict Mangione of manslaughter and he would face up to 25 years in prison. Alternatively, the jury could reject the extreme emotional disturbance defence and convict him of murder, which carries a potential life sentence. That defence isn’t available in his federal case.

Judge Gregory Carro announced the decision in court on Wednesday, two weeks after holding a secret hearing on the matter at the defence’s request. He said he will unseal a transcript and other records from that proceeding once redactions are made.

Carro said he didn’t expect the development to delay Mangione’s trial, which is scheduled to start September 8. The federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on October 13. Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

AP