Australian news and politics live: Labor Government ‘obliged’ to provide passports to ISIS brides

Anthony Albanese has labelled One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s “good Muslims” comments “disgraceful”.

The outspoken Queensland Senator had made the comments on Monday evening on Sky News before a media blitz across Tuesday and Wednesday to give a partial apology.

Speaking to NOVA radio’s Jase and Lauren show on Wednesday, the PM criticised the minor party leader.

“Well, those comments are disgraceful, and they’re aimed at just dividing people,” he said.

“It doesn’t take the country forward at all to just dismiss people because of their faith and who they are, and that is what Pauline Hanson does.

“And this week, Ramadan starts. So it’s a particularly holy time for Muslims.

“There’s markets on in Sydney, at Lakemba, and Dandenong here in Melbourne.”

Anthony Albanese says comments made by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson about the Western Sydney suburb of Lakemba risk fuelling division and legitimising violence.

Mr Albanese was asked about Ms Hanson’s remarks during an appearance on ABC News Breakfast. The One Nation leader had claimed people from outside Lakemba, a suburb in Sydney’s west with a large Muslim community, feel “unwanted”.

The Prime Minister said there was a clear link between that kind of rhetoric and acts of violence, arguing such commentary can “legitimise it,” while speaking to ABC Radio Sydney.

“Pauline Hanson is a divisive figure. She has made a political career out of seeking to divide Australians against each other, and what we need is more unity,” Mr Albanese said.

Addressing One Nation’s rising support, he said Ms Hanson has campaigned heavily against the government’s industrial relations reforms and cost-of-living measures.

Donald Trump is “very interested” in exploring a social media ban on kids, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump says after revealing she’s spoken in depth to the US President about the harm it’s causing children.

Ms Trump, who is married to the President’s son Eric, told the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast that she and Eric didn’t allow their children, aged six and eight, to have any access to phones or tablets because the studies of what excessive screen time did to young people’s brains were “horrifying”.

“I see things like what has happened in Australia and what has happened in France where you have a regulatory body saying we’re going to wait until these kids are at least a little bit older, 15, 16 years old, in order to at least process a little more what they’re doing in the social media space before they get online,” she said.

“And I personally would be so in favour of that.

“I’m not much of one for regulating things; I would be very happy with a little bit of regulation in this space, just personally as a mum.”

She said Mr Trump was in no doubt about where she stood on the matter.

“When I talk to him about the studies that I’ve read and the way that, you know, a kid looks at a screen and their dopamine and their oxytocin and all these feel-good chemicals are firing and then you take the screen away and those all go away, well, how are they ever going to get back to that in just regular life without a screen?” she said.

“I think it’s something that he’s taking an interest in… I do think it’s something that that he’s looking into and at least educating himself on to make a decision.”

A man has been arrested after allegedly making threats to kill Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Officers swooped on a Macquarie Fields residence and arrested a 55-year-old man this week, after alleged death threats were made in February.

During the raid, The National Security Investigations Team, which is part of the Australian Federal Police, located three gel blasters, three slingshot mounts and a pair of metal handcuffs.

Several electronic devices were also found and have been seized for forensic examination.

“It will be alleged the 55-year-old was responsible for a number of threatening calls to the federal parliamentarian’s office in February, 2026,” the AFP said in a statement.

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For a group of ISIS brides and their children to fly from Syria to Australia, they need passports. A Labor minister on Thursday said the Government was “obliged” to provide the controversial figures these documents.

Arguing the semantics of the word assistance, Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite on Thursday said the Government needed to grant the passports, but attempted to claim that wasn’t help.

“It’s a right that everyone has as an Australian citizen. So I, as a Government official or others, can’t stop that,” he told Sky News.

“We’re obliged as a government to apply the law, and that applies regardless of who is in government.”

It echoed similar comments made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday who attempted to claim the Government was “providing no assistance”, despite issuing government documents for the women to return to Australia.