Israel-Iran conflict: Potential for US to intervene
Former Labor senator Stephen Conroy discusses the distinct factions of Republicanism and whether the US will intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict.
'The Republicans have always had a strand of them which is now magnified and strengthened by MAGA views – they're what we call isolationists,' Mr Conroy told Sky News host Paul Murray.
'Then there's always been … establishment Republicans, and they've always believed that the prosperity and the success and growth in economies have been based on the US's abilities to build alliances around the world to keep the world safe.'
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Sky News AU
30 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Albanese should find a seat at the everyday Aussie kitchen table where the bills are piling up, instead of looking for a place next to Trump
While Australians again struggled to afford fuel and basic groceries this week, the Prime Minister had in his sights another overseas trip to enhance foreign optics instead of fixing problems at home. Mr Albanese has now ditched a last-minute appearance at next week's NATO summit in The Hague, some 16,000 kms away, in the hope it would produce a face-to-face with US President Donald Trump. The decision to instead send his deputy Richard Marles follows the PM's scheduled G7 encounter with Mr Trump in Canada which was scuttled by President's early exit to address the Iran-Israel conflict. What we are now also witnessing in the aftermath of that snub is a diplomatic dance which underscores just how far Mr Albanese is willing to go to secure a seat at the grown ups' table. At home, Australians are hurting and the cost of living remains the number one issue in this country. It has been for three years, probably more. The PM needs to stop eyeing a meeting with Trump overseas and start restoring confidence in his government's ability to manage both domestic and foreign affairs in a strategic and strong fashion. Sure, the US President's brush-off was a diplomatic embarrassment especially as it lacked a private heads-up to Mr Albanese before publicly pulling the plug on their meeting. But it's time to move on. The real questions are these: when was the last time this government delivered a serious and immediate policy to cut household energy bills? When was the last time this government offered tangible relief to small businesses buckling under the weight of supply chain blowouts and relentless interest rate pressure? This week it was announced that a productivity roundtable in Canberra was in the works to 'shape our government's growth and productivity agenda'. But already this is being picked apart as a consensus talkfest if cutting net immigration and net zero targets are not seriously considered. I don't think we are dealing with an abstract economic trend here because for nine million Australians it has nearly reached the point of financial collapse. New research from comparison site Finder paints a grim picture. Nearly half the country is the cost of a cracked windscreen or dentist's bill away from the edge. The average savings for this group? A paltry $215 which in NSW I would argue doesn't even cover a week's groceries. I saw a 1kg bag of ordinary coffee beans at the supermarket this week for $80. Dishwasher tablets, 82 of them, for $78. There was plenty of room to move in the fruit and vegetable aisle, with the least expensive thing to buy some apple varieties I'd never heard of and likely tasteless and cold-storaged for months. You're trying your luck if you fancy 350g of multi-coloured mini tomatoes for under $6.50, punished for your caviar-style tastes. The frozen food aisle with the cheaper dinners like fish fingers and bulk meat pies was doing brisk business, however. Local Facebook group chat is dominated by members asking for money saving tips including what time of day do local supermarket staff appear in store with a yellow sticker gun to discount products. According to Finder, 43 per cent in the cohort referenced have less than $1,000 in a bank account. More than half live pay transfer to pay transfer and 47 per cent are banking on a tax refund to plug holes in the dam. And a $12 coffee? Don't laugh, it's coming to a cafe near you. When inflation is combined with supermarket gouging, international trade instability and policy gridlock, prices only go in one direction. In cafes, once the beating heart of urban Australia, small business owners continue to be crushed. Wages, energy, rent, beans, you name it. Roasters say stress on the international coffee bean market means the only solution is to jack up prices. This isn't indulgence anymore. It's economics at gunpoint. Meanwhile, those brewing at home are finding supermarket shelves are no longer a refuge. Instant coffee is probably booming but that's less about convenience and more about budget. And then there's fuel. If you're still planning on driving to work, brace yourself. Petrol is tipped to hit $2.20 per litre with Middle East tensions sending the global oil markets into panic mode and we're all meant to just accept it like it's the weather. Australia may not import oil from Iran but that's no comfort at the bowser. Our prices are still shackled to global markets which drives up costs at the pump while hammering fuel-reliant industries nationwide. Australia used to have several oil refineries and now we have just two - Queensland's Lytton Refinery operated by Ampol and Victoria's Geelong Refinery, operated by Viva Energy. We can blame globalisation and "market efficiency" for that and we now import most of our refined fuel. With petrol spiking, inflation stays high too so consider that in terms of the Reserve Bank delaying any long-awaited interest rate cuts. And let's not forget the cherry on top: fuel excise and GST. What's the domestic agenda? Because from where most Australians stand at the petrol pump, in the supermarket aisle or checking their empty bank apps, it doesn't feel like there is one. We don't need a seat at NATO next week. Mr Albanese has had months to build a relationship with the Trump administration and should now plan to see him in Washington. We need a seat at the kitchen table where bills are piling up and no one from Canberra seems to be listening. Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Joe Spagnolo: Roger Cook moves on from Mark McGowan's Labor
It appears Roger Cook is going all out to ensure the public is aware there is a new sheriff in town, and that Mark McGowan is well and truly part of Labor history. The current Labor government, in terms of office and administrative personnel, has little resemblance to the one McGowan presided over. Cook has, for example, replaced his entire media team and appointed a new chief of staff since the March election. And there was further evidence of transformational Labor in Thursday's State Budget. Labor has finally stopped banging on about McGowan's Metronet, although project chief Rita Saffioti still resides over the remaining elements of the rail project — now eight years old — as Transport Minister and Treasurer. Instead Cook, keen to leave his own legacy, is embarking on what he and Saffioti call a 'poles, pipes, ports and wires' era, which will see billions spent on new infrastructure, enabling WA to hopefully begin a new era of diversification, and safeguarding itself against its reliance on iron ore exports and China's economy. If McGowan's catchcry was Metronet, Cook's and Saffioti's is diversification. From here on, Labor will begin its Budget sell to the public, and in doing so begin the sell of a re-elected Labor Government keen on reinventing itself and positioning itself for a fourth term of government by winning the 2029 State election. But reinvention comes with political risk. And we've seen that in this Budget, with Cook and Saffioti rolling the dice and deciding to shelve Labor's annual power bill credits — which, incidentally, McGowan commenced in 2020. Remember as a kid you would sit around a Christmas tree eagerly awaiting your presents? You either loved the gifts or were disappointed once you unwrapped the offerings. CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey loved what was under Saffioti's 'Christmas tree', citing Taylor Swift as he applauded big spends in ports, energy and water. 'A bit like Taylor Swift, the Government is shifting to a new era of infrastructure spend. We're moving from the Roads Era to the Industrial Era,' Morey said. But welfare groups are not singing Swifty songs today. In addition to power and water hikes of 2.5 per cent, car licence charges have gone up 3.9 per cent and driver's licence fees have gone up 2.9 per cent. These are not huge increases by any means. But the optics of these increases aren't great for a government that on Thursday announced a forecast $2.5 billion surplus for this financial year and a forecast $10 billion in surpluses through to 2028-29. 'We were disappointed not to see a total freeze on increases in fees and charges, particularly utilities, electricity and water, but also on transport licenses,' Anglicare WA Acting CEO & Director of Services Philippa Boldy said on Friday. 'By increasing fees and charges, people are getting further behind instead of getting an opportunity to move forward. If we take more money out of the pockets of people that are already struggling for the essentials they need to live, we're not being fair with WA's growth and the economic strength.' Sure: the Government has softened the blow by announcing other initiatives such as the capping of public transport fares to one zone, saving some families and estimated $625 a year. But getting rid of a measure that shaves about $400 a year from household power bills in the midst of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis is a big call. What Cook is banking on is that West Australians will accept that investing in the future of WA will reap big benefits for the adults of tomorrow and generations to come. This is a Budget for the future. And in that sense Cook and Saffioti need to be applauded for recognising the fact that the rivers of gold — courtesy of iron ore exports to China — may well dry up into the future. But more needs to be done to help WA's vulnerable who right now aren't singing Swifty tunes, but belting out 'Under Pressure' along with Davie Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Israel launches fresh wave of attacks on Iran, as conflict enters second week
Israel's air force has confirmed that a fresh wave of air force jet attacks has been launched towards Iran, as the conflict between the two countries enters into its second week. The air force says the fighter jets were deployed on Saturday local time to target "military infrastructure" in south-western Iran. Israel also says it has killed a veteran Iranian commander during attacks by both sides in the more than week-long air conflict, while Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat. Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas arm, was killed in a strike on an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom, said Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz. Calling his killing a "major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force", Mr Katz said in a statement that Izadi had financed Hamas ahead of its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. The Revolutionary Guards said five of its members died in attacks on Khorramabad, according to Iranian media. They did not mention Izadi, who was on US and British sanctions lists. Iranian media said earlier on Saturday that Israel had attacked a building in Qom, with initial reports of a 16-year-old killed and two people injured. At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks on June 13, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies. Israel says Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, while Iran says its atomic programme is only for peaceful purposes. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's aggression, which he said had indications of US involvement, should stop so Iran can "come back to diplomacy". "It is obvious that I can't go to negotiations with the US when our people are under bombardments under the support of the US," he told reporters in Istanbul where he was attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). On Friday in Geneva, Mr Araqchi met European foreign ministers who were seeking a path back to diplomacy. US President Donald Trump said he would take up to two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel's side, enough time "to see whether or not people come to their senses", he said. He said on Friday he thought Iran would be able to have a nuclear weapon "within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months", adding: "We can't let that happen." On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran's Fars news agency said Israel had targeted the Isfahan nuclear facility, one of the nation's biggest, but there was no leakage of hazardous materials. Israel said it had launched a wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites. Ali Shamkhani, a close ally of Iran's supreme leader, said he had survived an Israeli attack. "It was my fate to stay with a wounded body, so I stay to continue to be the reason for the enemy's hostility," he said in a message carried by state media. Early on Saturday, the Israeli military warned of an incoming barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing as Israel's air defence systems responded. There were no reports of casualties. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based rights organisation that tracks Iran, gave a higher death toll than Tehran, saying Israeli attacks have killed 639 people there. Those killed in Iran include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. Israel said it also killed a second commander of the Guards' overseas arm, whom it identified as Benham Shariyari, during an overnight strike. Nour News on Saturday named 15 air defence officers and soldiers it said had been killed in the conflict with Israel. Iran's health minister, Mohammadreza Zafarqandi, said Israel has attacked three hospitals during the conflict, killing two health workers and a child, and has targeted six ambulances, according to Fars. When asked about the reports, an Israeli military official said that only military targets were being struck, though there may have been collateral damage in some incidents. An Iranian missile hit a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Thursday. At the OIC meeting, where the Israel-Iran conflict topped the agenda, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Israel's attacks on Iran right before a planned new round of nuclear talks with the US aimed to sabotage negotiations and showed Israel did not want to resolve issues through diplomacy. The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Mr Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire because "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us." Mr Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel, its close ally, to scale back its air strikes to allow negotiations to continue in part because it was "winning". "But we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens," he said. Israel has said it will not stop attacks until it dismantles Iran's nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities, which it views as an existential threat. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that it would reject any proposal that barred it from enriching uranium completely, "especially now under Israel's strikes". Reuters
