Australia news LIVE: Three ‘ISIS brides’ arrested after arriving in Sydney, Melbourne; US strikes Iran near Strait of Hormuz

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Here are the top headlines:

• Three Islamic State-linked women have been arrested by police after arriving back in Australia last night. One has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation while the others are expected to be charged with slavery-related offences.
• The US is awaiting a response from Tehran on the latest peace proposal to end the war.
• Pope Leo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met at the Vatican, where they “renewed the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations,” the Vatican said in a statement.
• Major supermarkets and retailers which host Ecobatt battery collection bins are seeking answers after an investigation by this masthead revealed that Ecocycle is facing allegations of “systemic and routine” malpractice and has been evading the audits that would shed light on its recycling practices.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has announced next week’s federal budget will amass $64 billion in re-prioritisation and savings, days after she and Treasurer Jim Chalmers signalled a focus on savings over spending in the financial document released on Tuesday night.

Gallagher said it is part of $178 billion in savings Labor has found since coming to power in 2022. The savings included identifying uncommitted funding for grant programs across government, and the decision to scrap the northern half of the Inland Rail, which would have transported freight through rural Queensland to near Brisbane.

Chalmers described the savings as a hallmark of the “especially responsible budget” that will be delivered next week, as Labor works to avoid introducing stimulus that could add to inflationary pain.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to “throw the book” at the cohort of four women and nine children with links to Islamic State who returned to Australia last night.

The opposition has attacked the government for failing to block the group – all are Australian citizens – from returning home.

“We actually support the rule of law. Australian citizens are entitled to Australian passports, they’re entitled to come into Australia,” Albanese told Nova Melbourne.

“What we’re entitled to do, though, is to throw the book at them, and that’s precisely what we’re doing.”

Two of the women have been charged with crimes against humanity for alleged enslavement, while a third has been charged with joining a terror group.

Coalition frontbencher Sarah Henderson has defended the party’s impending policy that would cap immigration levels in line with the number of houses built in Australia.

“Migration and Labor is completely out of control … there are simply not enough houses being built,” the opposition communications spokeswoman told Sky News.

“The number of houses is running well behind, and Labor’s incompetent policies are the cause of that, and that’s why we are going to tie lower migration to the housing that was built in this country.”

Asked about industry concerns that strict immigration caps would limit the skilled migrants needed to build housing, Henderson said: “We’re not suggesting by any stretch that skilled migration won’t continue to come to this country, but we’ve got to get the numbers right.”

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor is expected to announce the policy in his budget reply speech on Thursday, as first reported in The Australian.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has avoided questions over how much it would cost for law enforcement to monitor the IS-linked cohort that has returned to Australia after the Coalition claimed it was $2 million per person.

“We’ve been investing additional resources into this side of the budget since we came to [government]. I don’t think it’s useful to speculate on individual costs around ensuring Australians are safe, as it relates to individual programs,” the senator told Radio National.

“We will spend what we need to spend to keep Australians safe. And I would suggest that the opposition would have done exactly the same when they were in government.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has rejected suggestions the government is prioritising metro voters over those living in the regions.

The prime minister will announce today a $3.8 billion boost to Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop, days after scrapping the northern half of the Inland Rail, which would have transported freight through rural Queensland to near Brisbane.

Gallagher defended the move, saying the Coalition-era Inland Rail was in “absolute shambles” when Labor inherited it.

“There was essentially no business case, no understanding of the route, no understanding how to get there, no understanding of the costs of it, and in no detail at all,” she told Radio National.

She said Australians should consider the budget holistically rather than through the lens of just two projects.

Two Islamic State-linked women have been charged with slavery offences after landing in Melbourne on Thursday night.

Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her 31-year-old daughter Zeinab were among four women and nine children who arrived in Sydney and Melbourne amid a vicious domestic debate over whether they should have been permitted to return home to Australia.

On Friday morning the women were charged with enslavement and using a slave. Kawsar was also charged with possessing a slave and engaging in slave trading.

Kawsar and Zeinab were taken into police custody after arriving at Melbourne Airport. They are expected to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

The women arrived from Syria, where they had been living in the al-Roj refugee camp for seven years, after leaving Australia to join their partners, who were involved with Islamic State.

The US military has confirmed it struck Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz in what it said was an act of self-defence.

US Central Command, which controls operations in the Middle East, said Iran launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as three American guided-missile destroyers transited the strait during the past few hours.

The US intercepted these “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded by striking the Iranian military facilities responsible, CENTCOM said in a statement.

“CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it said.

The development comes as both sides discuss a potential memorandum of understanding to end the war and begin a 30-day negotiating period on the details of a potential agreement.

Nationals Leader Matt Canavan said the government should have exercised more powers to slow down the arrival of 13 Australian women and children with links to Islamic State returning to Australia.

“Obviously, sometimes with people with Australian passports, you can’t exactly stop them forever, but there are powers there,” Canavan told Radio National, pointing to temporary exclusion orders that ban a person from returning to Australia for a period of time. One woman in the Syrian camps was barred after the cohort made an attempt to return earlier this year.

“We offered to give the government more powers that were rejected. I think what’s really important now is that the prime minister come out today and explain how this has helped … and he should explain to Australian people how he’s keeping them safe.,” Canavan said.

The Coalition proposed laws earlier this year to criminalise the actions of NGOs or advocates who help people linked to terrorism come back into the country.

Donald Trump’s White House press secretary has given birth to a baby girl and has said she will take maternity leave.

Karoline Leavitt, 28, announced overnight the birth of her daughter Viviana (aka ‘Vivi’) on May 1. She is the first White House press secretary to give birth while in the job.

“She is perfect and healthy, and her big brother is joyfully adjusting to life with his new baby sister,” Leavitt wrote on social media, with an image of her holding her baby.