TRANSCRIPT:
- Peter Dutton makes action on antisemitism part of his pre-election platform;
- The death roll rising from a tanker explosion in Nigeria;
- Race officials emphasising safety for tomorrow's Tour Down Under cycling.
Peter Dutton has vowed to punish antisemitic acts with mandatory jail terms if the Coalition wins government at the next election.
The Opposition Leader says the Coalition will introduce minimum sentences for several offences, as well as create a new federal offence for threatening places of worship.
He announced the plan at Bondi Central Synagogue, on the same day as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has asked Australians activists for calm during Gaza's six-week ceasefire.
Mr Dutton says the PM should also convene a national cabinet meeting on ways to combat antisemitism in the wake of a spate of vandalism and arson attacks in recent weeks.
"An attack on a Jewish person or Jewish family is an attack on all of us. And if we are anything as a country then we should be standing with people in their hour of need."
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Meanwhile, as the ceasefire continues, 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released under the terms of the agreement.
The Israel Prison Service says the 69 women and 21 teenage boys were set free from Ramallah's Ofer Prison and the Jerusalem Detention Centre.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has described these kind of moves as a potential pathway to peace.
"We have seen that because there have been so many false starts in terms of the ceasefire discussions. But we welcome the return of the hostages and there is the opportunity in the Middle East now for the Trump administration to take forward an agenda around greater increased stability and normalcy, particularly with the weakened position of Iran - and that is a good thing for stability in the region."
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The death toll from an oil tanker explosion in Nigeria has risen to 86.
Hussaini Isah from the National Emergency Management Agency says the blast near the Suleja area of Niger state happened during a fuel transfer from the tanker.
He says the explosion claimed so many victims because a crowd had gathered at the scene in order to take pictures and scoop gasoline.
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A cyclone that's raging off Western Australia near the Pilbara coastline could intensify even more by tonight.
Tropical Cyclone Sean has already been upgraded to a category three system as it tracks away from the coast about 200 kilometres northwest of Exmouth.
It's battering the far north of the state with winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour.
The Bureau of Meteorology says it's possible the cyclone could become a category four storm as it moves away.
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New South Wales psychiatrists have made a last ditch call to the state government to increase their wages, ahead of their planned mass resignation taking effect tomorrow.
The psychiatrists want a 25 percent wage rise - which Dr Pramudie Gunaratne from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists says will simply match what staff specialist psychiatrists are paid in other states.
But New South Wales premier Chris Minns maintains the state can't afford that - arguing that the increase equates to $90,000 a year, the wage of a first year nurse.
He says it also isn't fair to the other mental health professionals in the public system.
"They might be clinical nurses, they might be counsellors, they might be psychologists who work incredibly hard for the NSW public sector. They're not asking for 25 percent increases. N how can I justify saying to psychiatrists, okay we'll give you 25 percent. But someone who works just as hard in the same area can't get paid the same amount of money?"
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Australian scientists have begun drilling into a million year old ice core in Antarctica they believe could hold crucial information about the planet's climate.
The team is aiming to have completed a 150 metre pilot hole at the site, known as Dome C North, by the end of January.
It's hoped that the ice they extract will contain information about the most recent 4000 years of climate history.
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The safety of spectators is in the spotlight ahead of Tour Down Under racing tomorrow.
It follows the injuring of a female fan on Saturday night after a high speed crash during a Tour Event when several riders hit the safety barrier at high speed during the final lap.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has told radio station 5-double-A race officials have always been mindful of safety, and are doing the best they can.
"We see risks in society and we've got to account for it where we can, but not try and eliminate it altogether at the expense of what could be a really healthy way for families to enjoy themselves, We're also at pains to make sure that we don't overreact to what really is a freak accident."
