TRANSCRIPT:
- The last Australian repatriation flight from Lebanon lands in Sydney;
- The Australian economy still struggling, amid sluggish household spending figures;
- The Socceroos draw one all with Japan in their world cup qualifier.
The last Australian repatriation flight from Lebanon has landed in Sydney.
The flight touched down just after 7pm last night with 249 Australians and their families on board.
More than 3000 Australians have returned on 18 government-sponsored repatriation flights since they began on October 5.
The federal government says it decided to stop further evacuations due to a decline in demand.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has previously urged Australians to return from Lebanon using commercial options.
"Flights are not going to be scheduled indefinitely and are subject to operational and security constraints. You should leave now if you wish to leave."
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The United States has told Israel it may withhold military assistance if aid deliveries to Palestinians in Gaza don't improve.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have reportedly sent a letter to Israel saying changes need to be made so that the level of assistance coming into Gaza comes back from the low levels it currently sits at today.
The letter has pointed to US law that requires recipients of US military assistance not to arbitrarily deny or impede the provisioning of humanitarian assistance.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says the US hopes Israel will make the changes they've recommended.
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The Australian economy remains sluggish, with household spending flat despite income tax cuts starting to flow.
New data from Commbank shows consumers have increasingly pulled back on hospitality, household goods, and food and beverage services.
Stephen Halmarick is a Chief Economist at the Commonwealth Bank.
He says the numbers suggest people are not spending their tax cuts on discretionary items.
"So if you look at July, August, September as a whole, consumer spending was okay, but there's no real evidence that the tax cuts, sorry, big increase in consumer spending and other work we've done in the Australian economics team here at CBA says that most or shows that most of that increase income was used to pay down debt."
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Parliament has resumed in the Northern Territory, with the new Country Liberal government being sworn in.
Selina Uibo is also there, leading an opposition of just 4 Labor M-Ps - all of whom are Indigenous.
New Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says law and order is at the top of the C-L-P's agenda, with legislation to lower the age of criminal responsibility, strengthen police powers and amend bail laws to be brought forward.
"In this first sittings of Parliament, my government will introduce its reducing crime package of legislation to turn this crime crisis around. We make no apologies for implementing the swift and decisive action. We've taken political commentators and special interest groups can say whatever they like, but we have the backing of the people that matter most and that is everyday Territorians Madam Speaker."
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Work has resumed at a housing development in South Australia after the discovery of ancestral remains last year.
The bones of 29 people were found on the site in Tarndanya, Adelaide, where the Walker Corporation is building 12 thousand homes.
South Australia's Minister for Indigenous Affairs Kyam Maher has now given the company permission to resume, as long as they follow certain conditions.
The housing developer will have to build a Kaurna Memorial Resting Place, and all Aboriginal remains that were removed during excavation works from that site will be returned and reburied as close as possible to where they were found.
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Meanwhile, archaeologists have unearthed well-preserved skeletons on what is believed to be an ancient burial ground in Denmark.
Some 50 skeletons were discovered during a routine survey ahead of power renovation work on the outskirts of a village northeast of Denmark's third largest city, Odense.
Michael Borre Lundoe is a curator and archaeologist from Museum Odense.
He says the bones may help them study the Viking era.
"This opens a whole new toolbox for scientific discovery. Hopefully we can make a DNA analysis on all the skeletons and see if they are related to each other and even where they come from."
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The Socceroos have fought out a dramatic one-all draw with Japan in their crucial World Cup qualifier at Saitama Stadium.
The squad had just ten minutes to warm up before the match after their bus became stuck in traffic caused by an earlier accident on the roads.
The Asian Football Confederation declined requests from both Football Australia and the Japanese Football Association to delay kick-off.
But coach Tony Popovic says they can take confidence from the result ahead of their crucial next qualifier against Saudi Arabia.
