Jacqui Lambie accuses the government of ramming through legislation in the Senate...
Sudanese Australians lobby the government for more humanitarian aid....
NRL player Josh Papalii will fight charges related to alleged aggressive behaviour.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has criticised what she sees as an attempt by the government to ram through legislation without debate.
The government has almost 40 bills it wants passed through the Senate today before the upper house adjourns for the year.
The lower house will return tomorrow morning to finalise the bills.
A guillotine motion, which allows bills to be voted on with minimal or no debate, has now passed with all legislation except the migration bills and social media ban to proceed under those conditions.
Senator Lambie says the government is trying to rush important legislation.
"You know its a problem when the guillotine is four pages long. And these aren't small bills, they aren't tweaks to the legislation that we can call non controversial. They are big and they are massive. And they include bills that are so under cooked, and that putting it politely they're raw to the bone."
Suspended senator Lidia Thorpe has showed she will not back down after being suspended from the Senate, entering and disrupting the chamber a day after she was ousted.
She entered the Senate press gallery today and called for a "free Palestine" as debate rumbled in the chamber below.
SPEAKER: "I believe the Is have it."
THORPE: "Free free Palestine! From the river to the sea Palestine will be free."
SPEAKER: "I call the clerk."
The independent senator left soon after the disruption.
The Senate voted to suspend the outspoken Victorian senator last night after she threw pieces of paper at her One Nation colleague Pauline Hanson and called her a convicted racist.
The Federal Court ruled that the One Nation leader had racially vilified Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi in a social media post earlier this monthbut Ms Hanson has announced she will now be appealing the ruling.
Sudanese Australians have celebrated a meeting with the Federal Government but says a new boost to humanitarian assistance is still not enough to address the crisis in Sudan.
The community met with Foreign Minister Penny Wong yesterday to raise awareness of the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis* in Sudan which has been engulfed by war since April of 2023.
Following the meeting, the Foreign Minister announced Australia will provide an additional $17 million of humanitarian assistance, bringing Australia’s total contribution to Sudan and neighbouring countries to $50 million.
Azza Elssaid - who has lost 12 family members to recent violence in Sudan - has told S-B-S the meeting with Ms Wong was a good start, but she's not confident that the humanitarian funds will reach people on the ground.
"She said the $17 million is going to the U-N in the countries around (Sudan) but not on the ground. What I'm thinking is she can connect it with the Red Cross in Sudan and transfer the money but 17 is not enough to cover all the people in Sudan. So, for me, it was good but not enough. We need more help and more information from her."
The United Nations says over 11 million people have been displaced during the conflict, with the region now facing intense food insecurity and famine.
The government has warned Australians to be ready for cyclones, floods and heatwaves over the summer as large parts of Australia are set to face higher bushfire risk.
The Australasian Fire And Emergency Services Authorities Council has now released their seasonal bushfire outlook for 2024, showing much of southern Australia and remote communities in the Northern Territory need to be prepared.
The outlook map also shows heightened threats across W-A's southern coast and roughly half of Victoria.
National Emergency Management Agency deputy co-ordinator-general Joe Buffone says Australia will potentially have a wetter December and hotter than average summer but authorities are well-equipped to address the threats.
"You're going to hear about cyclones, you're going to hear about flooding, you're going to hear about severe weather, you're going to hear about heatwaves, and in particular, you're going to hear about the fire risk. So right now, nationally, we are better prepared than we have ever been, we are connected, we are co-ordinated, we are working very closely with states and territories who have primary responsibility. But we are also working very closely with the private sector so that they can contribute to any impacts, in particular, supply chains."
In sport,
NRL player Josh Papalii will fight charges stemming from allegations he behaved aggressively and threw glasses on a night out drinking.
The Canberra Raiders prop's lawyer, Tom Taylor, has confirmed in ACT Magistrates Court today that 'not guilty' pleas had been entered to the charges of resisting a territory official and remaining in or re-entering a premises.
ACT Policing confirmed officers responded to reports three men were behaving aggressively towards staff and each other and throwing glasses in a licensed premises early on September 16.
Papalii's case is expected to return to court in early 2025.
