Australia news live: PM says nation ‘needs to work together’ to tackle antisemitism as he speaks after Holocaust memorial also attended by Dutton

Murray Watt says the Coalition has spent all of January “arguing about culture wars” and defended Anthony Albanese’s sentiments over Sussan Ley’s comparison of the arrival of the First Fleet with the colonisation of Mars.

Speaking with the ABC, the Labor minister said:

I think what the Prime Minister had to say today was entirely valid, and it just shows yet again, that Peter Dutton and his most senior members are always more interested in fighting culture wars than actually providing policies that will help the Australian people when they need that assistance.

Over the last two-and-a-half years from Peter Dutton and the Coalition, we’ve seen culture war after culture war. They spend the entire month of January and half of December arguing about culture wars in the lead up to Australia Day, all as a way of avoiding talking about what they’re going to do to assist people.

Also speaking with the ABC, Jane Hume defended Ley’s message, if not its exact framing.

The Liberal senator said:

The analogy was about that drive and endeavour that Australians have for a prosperous and successful nation. Whether or not it was a clumsy analogy, that is for others to say. It was not my analogy, it was not my speech, but the speech was about Australia Day and about Australians, and for the Prime Minister to latch onto one analogy rather than the sentiment demonstrates the fact that he does not take Australia Day seriously, as the Coalition do.

This is a really important day for us.

Chalmers won’t respond to question on Ley’s First Fleet comments

Staying with Jim Chalmers on the ABC, where the treasurer has refused to “take the bait” on Sussan Ley’s comparison of the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s efforts to build a colony on Mars.

Honestly, if I focus my time and energy on crazy stuff that Sussan Ley says, I wouldn’t get anything else done.

I think the maddest thing Sussan Ley has said was when she was asked a year ago … whether the Coalition would roll back Labor’s tax cuts for every taxpayer. She said that was absolutely their position, and so I can’t focus on mad staff that Sussan Ley says from time to time.

He said the comment was “designed to provoke a response” but that he would not “take the bait”.

Treasurer touts cost-of-living response on ABC

On the first day of her new role as presenter of the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Patricia Karvelas has quizzed Jim Chalmers about analysis by Labor that has found some households would be $7,200 worse off without the government’s cost-of-living measures.

The treasurer said:

Now, we know that the Liberal party that Peter Dutton leads would prefer wages to be lower, they said it is a deliberate design feature of the economic policy.

We know that Peter Dutton called for an election, trying to stop the tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, and we know that he opposed two rounds of energy bill relief – so I think it is entirely within our rights to point out the people that they would have been thousands of dollars worse off he had his way and they will be worse still if he wins the next election.

He said that Dutton’s “nuclear insanity” would push up electricity prices.

PM says nation ‘needs to work together’ to tackle antisemitism

Peter Dutton says extremist groups causing ‘safety crisis’ in Australia

Speaking with media in Perth, the leader of the opposition said there was “absolutely” a rise in white supremacist activity in Australia.

It is a disgrace, an abomination, and anybody who’s spewing hatred, whether it is the Greens or the white supremacists or the neo-Nazis, they have no place in our society at all. We are a tolerant community, and I think I demonstrated as home affairs minister, that we have zero tolerance for the activities of these extremist groups.

It’s clearly on the rise. When you speak to Holocaust survivors who have been here living peacefully having created a life for themselves here since the end of the second world war, and they are now say they feel unsafe in our country, and that demonstrates to all Australians that we have a serious problem that needs to be fixed and we are absolutely dedicated to fixing it.

As we said right from the time of the attack on October 7, we have zero tolerance for antisemitism and racism and hatred and we have demonstrated that not just with words but action.

We want to have in place a regime of minimum mandatory sentencing for acts of antisemitism and that should be a very clear message to others who are thinking about partaking in if these acts of hatred, they should think twice about it.

Man arrested after ‘despicable’ defacing of Police Wall of Remembrance in Sydney

Speaking with the media on Monday afternoon, police minister Yasmin Catley said a 43-year-old man was in custody.

The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said that police patrolling in Glebe at midday yesterday “came across this despicable damage”.

Following that, an investigation was commenced and thankfully a short time ago, officers arrested a man at Glebe and he is currently in custody at Day Street police station.

We will wait for him to be interviewed and hopefully he will be before the court for [allegedly] damaging what is a very special place for police officers. This wall names police officers over 160 years who have lost their lives on duty. To have it damaged, and this way, is like sacrilege to police officers and we’re very pleased that someone will now be before the court.

Unfortunately, looking the damage, it will not be that quickly fixed and to all those families are police officers whose names appear on this wall, can I say we are thinking of you and we will be with you until this gets fixed.

We will have further information in relation to this man’s charge when it is available but I am very pleased with the swift action to arrest [the alleged perpetrator].

Catley warned would-be vandals that they would be prosecuted.

“If you are out committing these sorts of attacks, then I say to you, be careful because you will end up in the clink,” she said.

Thank you, Steph Convery.

Over to Queensland, where the Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring two weather systems off the state’s coast, with one posing a 25% chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.

The two risk areas are in the Gulf of Carpentaria and off the north east coast, said the bureau’s senior meteorologist, Angus Hines, with both showing signs of potential tropical cyclone development.

He said the cyclone “risk continues to climb”, with the eastern system the more likely to gain momentum from Thursday and into the weekend.

It is “showing stronger signs” of tropical cyclone development, with a 25% chance of becoming a cyclone from Sunday onward. 25% represents a moderate risk, while over 50% is a high risk.

The other has a 10% chance of cyclone development. Hines said it was very unlikely both systems will develop into cyclones, with one likely to accelerate while the other diminishes.

“There’s still plenty of days for us to analyse the data coming in,” he said.

Multiple scenarios could still occur in the intervening time, he said.

Skyhooks band member announces tour cancellation

Bob “Bongo” Starkie, a member of the Australian band Skyhooks, which had its heyday in the 1970s, has been diagnosed with aggressive leukaemia.

In a statement sent to media this afternoon, Starkie said he checked himself into hospital last Friday due to health concerns, and a diagnosis of leukaemia was the result.

Upcoming “Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie’s Skyhook Shows,” including two as part of Sydney’s Rock the Harbour in February, will be cancelled. Punters who bought tickets are advised to contact their point of sale for information about rescheduling and refunds.

Starkie said:

This has come as a shock to me and my family. Life has been generous to me up until now, but sometimes you draw the short straw. I apologize for any inconvenience; it stresses me to cancel the shows. I’ve been feeling on top of the world with the addition of Sasha in the band, but the situation makes it impossible for the shows to continue at this time.