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Sarah Basford Canales
Shadow defence minister says past visa decisions show immigration standards ‘too low’
Returning to the opposition press conference earlier this morning for a moment, shadow defence minister, James Paterson, has said Australia’s decision to grant a visa to the daughter of a senior military figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shows immigration standards are “too low”.
The Australian reported this week that the woman had been granted a student visa in February 2024, followed by a permanent visa eight months later, despite her father featuring on the sanctions list since 2012.
This morning Paterson used the example to attack the Labor government’s record on immigration. He said:
double quotation markThis is yet another example of how standards for immigration on Labor’s watch have been too low, and why Angus has been calling for standards to lift.
James Paterson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said it could not comment on individual cases but said visa applications were considered on an individual basis against legal requirements:
double quotation markThe Department of Home Affairs works with law enforcement and intelligence partners to cancel or refuse visas of non-citizens who are at risk to Australia’s national security. To be granted a visa, all applicants must meet all legal requirements, including health, character and security criteria.
Andrew Messenger
Republic movement responds to ex-prince Andrew’s arrest
The Australian Republican Movement has weighed in on the arrest of ex-prince Andrew.
Co-chair Nathan Hansford said the group “won’t speculate on legal matters that sit with UK authorities and the courts”, adding:
double quotation markBut the broader point for Australia is straightforward: our head of state should not be determined by heredity, or by events in another country. This isn’t about any one person – and it isn’t about a King or Queen, or someone in line to become one.
It’s about Australia completing the final step to full independence: an Australian as head of state, chosen by Australians, accountable to Australians. That’s what a confident, fully independent country looks like.
That’s the conversation the Australian Republic Movement is leading – a forward-looking debate about Australia’s future, and the leaders Australians choose to shape it.
Andrew Messenger
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy convener says Andrew should be removed from line of succession
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy head David Flint says ex-prince Andrew should be removed from the line of succession.
Flint led the monarchist group during the 1999 referendum and remains its convener. He said:
double quotation markHe’s not going to succeed. He’s eighth in line, and you’d have to have a major calamity for seven people to pass away before him. Some of them are very young. But I think as a matter of propriety, it’s inappropriate to have him there.
Flint said it was difficult to amend the relevant legislation to change the order of succession, because it requires all 15 realms of the Commonwealth to agree to do so. It was last amended in 2011.
Andrew is no longer a prince after being stripped of many of his titles in October last year, but remains in the line of succession.
But he said Andrew’s arrest wouldn’t be a boon for the republican movement.
double quotation markI don’t think people are going to think deeply about it, like they’re thinking about the cost of living or housing or those things which really affect them, and the number of people who think about it deeply will be quite small. I just don’t think it’s going to be significantly damaging to the monarchy.
Updated at 21.56 EST
What has Donald Trump said about former prince Andrew’s arrest?
Trump calls former prince Andrew’s arrest ‘a very sad thing’ – video
Tom McIlroy
Australian PM says former prince Andrew has suffered ‘extraordinary fall’ but that won’t prompt another republic referendum
Anthony Albanese has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace”, but says the latest crisis facing the British royal family won’t prompt another referendum on Australia becoming a republic.
In his first comments about the arrest, Albanese told the Guardian’s Australian Politics podcast that Mountbatten-Windsor had lived a life of absolute privilege.
“These are very serious allegations, and because they will be, no doubt, the subject of court action, I’m limited in what I can say,” the prime minister said.
double quotation markBut people will be following the detail here. This appears to be about [classified] documents, and whether they were inappropriately forwarded on to someone who wasn’t eligible. But, of course, there’s the bigger issue as well when it comes to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. No doubt, we will wait and see where this all goes.
Read more:
Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The GuardianShare
Petra Stock
UniSuper accused of greenwashing after quietly reducing environmental element of investment option
A major Australian super fund has been accused of greenwashing after it continued to badge an investment option as “sustainable” despite quietly halving its environmental criteria.
UniSuper, which invests $158bn on behalf of 670,000 members, promotes its Global Environmental Opportunities option as a portfolio “selected on the basis of environmental considerations”.
UniSuper headquarters. Photograph: JHVEPhoto/Alamy
Initially the option invested only in companies and assets that derive at least 40% of their revenue from “environmental themes” such as alternative energy, energy efficiency and “green building”. The fund also applied “negative screens”, excluding investments on the basis of exposure to products such as fossil fuels or weapons.
In March 2025 UniSuper reduced the threshold to 20%, and the Global Environmental Opportunities option now lists several technology companies, including Microsoft and Nvidia, among its top investments.
Read more here:
Virginia Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law react to arrest of former prince Andrew
The relatives of the late Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the former prince Andrew in 2001 at the age of 17, say they feel vindicated after his arrest on Thursday.
Virginia Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law react to arrest of former prince Andrew – video
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he shared confidential material with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while he was UK trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing or accusations against him.
Updated at 20.43 EST
Andrew Messenger
Former Republican movement head Craig Foster says Andrew arrest should ‘spark a national conversation’ about the monarchy
Former chair of the Australian Republican Movement and ex-Socceroo Craig Foster says the arrest of ex-prince Andrew should “spark a national conversation” about the monarchy.
“It should spark a national conversation about the standards we will accept, how we want to see ourselves, be seen in the world, and particularly what we want our next generation of Aussies, in all of our beautiful diversity, to understand as our value set,” he said.
Foster said Australians dissatisfied with Andrew’s alleged behaviour should “join the movement for an Australian head of state, and let the royals’ conduct reflect only on themselves”.
Foster stepped down as chair of the body in 2024.
“No Australian could possibly support what we have seen,” he said.
Craig Foster. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShare
Updated at 20.28 EST
Coroner unsure if burrito bowl death was preventable
Continuing from our last post: AAP reports that a coroner could not determine whether a 17-year-old boy who suffered a severe allergic reaction to a home-delivered meal would have survived if he was given adrenaline sooner.
An inquest into James Tsindos’ death was held in October 2024 and coroner Sarah Gebert on Friday delivered her findings. She determined while James might have survived if he was administered the third dose of adrenaline sooner, she could not be certain.
Gerbert noted a panel of experts had reviewed the case and had differing opinions on James’ ultimate prognosis, saying she could not side with a particular expert on whether James’ death was preventable.
“I express my regret to the family that I am unable to do so,” she said.
Gerbert made eight recommendations, including that the Department of Health update its guidelines around anaphylaxis management.
Updated at 20.24 EST
Coroner reports on teenager’s burrito bowl death
A coroner has handed down her findings into the death of a 17-year-old boy who suffered a severe allergic reaction from a burrito bowl delivered to his home, AAP reports.
James Tsindos experienced anaphylaxis on the afternoon of 27 May 2021, after eating a burrito bowl ordered off the now-defunct Deliveroo app. The meal contained a sauce made from cashews and James began experiencing allergy symptoms, including swollen lips, nausea, tingling in the throat and abdominal cramps.
His father called an ambulance and paramedics arrived at their Brighton home, in Melbourne’s south-east, about 2.50pm. James received two doses of adrenaline five minutes apart and he was transferred to the nearby Holmesglen private hospital as a precaution.
As he arrived at the hospital about 3.44pm, he told the paramedics he was “wheezy” and he used his asthma puffer. At 4.10pm, James’ condition deteriorated and he was administered a third dose of adrenaline but he still had trouble breathing.
He was transferred to the resuscitation ward and within a minute became unresponsive before entering cardiac arrest. Doctors and nurses tried to resuscitate James and he was transferred to The Alfred but never recovered. His life support was turned off on 29 May.
Updated at 20.13 EST
Luca Ittimani
Guzman y Gomez halves in value in a year
Fast food company Guzman y Gomez has lost half its market value in the last year, after releasing underwhelming profit results today that sent its share price plunging to a new record low.
GYG’s still-struggling US expansion ran at an $8.3m loss in the last six months of 2025, worse than the $5m loss over the same period in 2024, on GYG’s EBITDA basis.
That dragged the whole company’s underlying earnings below expectations in the last six months of 2025, to $33m.
The Australasian operations made $41.3m on GYG’s EBITDA basis, above expectations, but its performance in 2026 so far was not as strong as analysts expected.
Shares in the company have slid more than 10% this morning, dragging its market value to less than $1.9bn. It had been worth almost $4bn on 21 February 2025.
The company’s overall sales are rising, up to $681.8m over the half-year, from nearly $578m in the second half of 2024.
The company has told investors it plans to open 32 new Australian restaurants over the year to June, with a total of 108 in planning – most of which are drive-thru. The US branch is still set to run at a loss in coming months.
Guardian Australia’s Jonathan Barrett explored the risks GYG was facing back in 2024, with analysis that remains prescient today:
Updated at 20.07 EST
Natasha May
Progress on tackling lead contamination in Broken Hill has ‘slowed in recent years’, report finds
Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an “urgent public health priority” but progress has “slowed in recent years”, NSW’s chief scientist and engineer says.
Prof Hugh Durrant-Whyte’s report into the health and environmental impacts of lead contamination in Broken Hill was made public on Thursday, and acknowledged the issues highlighted in it have been documented in prior studies but “previous recommendations remain unimplemented.”
Guardian Australia last year revealed the state’s environment watchdog buried a report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies for several years, and separately that NSW Health resisted lower blood lead guidelines.
In his report, Durrant-Whyte’s wrote to the premier’s department:
double quotation markWhile some progress has been made in reducing environmental lead levels and community exposure, improvements have slowed in recent years. Aboriginal children remain disproportionately affected, with comparatively higher exposure risks. …
In short, we found that a centralised, coordinated approach deploying timely, evidence-based decision making is required to reduce BLL [blood lead levels] in the children of Broken Hill. …
Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an urgent public health priority.
Updated at 19.43 EST
Jordyn Beazley
Police watchdog anticipates some hearings into Sydney protest will be public
The police watchdog anticipates some of the hearings into alleged police misconduct at Sydney’s anti-Herzog rally will be held publicly.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) said in an update about the investigation on Friday that it’s expected to take some time to go through the “substantial volume of material” from both the public and the NSW police force.
Lecc said:
double quotation markThe timing and progress of the investigation, including the timing of hearings, will depend upon assessment of the material to be obtained in the present phase of the investigation.
It is anticipated that at least some of those hearings will be held in public.
Updated at 19.49 EST
Taylor says he doesn’t agree with Hanson’s recent remarks about Muslims
Taylor was asked about comments by a Sydney mayor this morning saying Pauline Hanson should be charged for her recent remarks on Muslims.
He said:
double quotation markWhat I’ll say is I don’t agree with Pauline Hanson and what she said. What I believe in is that people who don’t adopt and believe in our core values shouldn’t come to our shores … whatever their race or religion.
I’ll always distance myself from people who think this is about anything other than protecting our life and focusing on our core values.
If people want to come to our country, no matter religion and they don’t believe what we believe then we should shut the door on them.
Updated at 19.22 EST
Taylor is repeating many of the points he made earlier in the week, claiming the Albanese government hasn’t answered questions about how many passports have been issued.
The government has maintained Australian officials have abided by Australian law, issuing travel documents to Australian citizens. But Albanese and home affairs minister Tony Burke have both said the country is not assisting and will not help with any repatriation efforts.
Taylor also responded to questions about the children stuck in Syria, saying there was no proposal to separate the kids from their parents. He added “real questions” remain about any “radicalisation” that may have occurred with those children.
Updated at 19.14 EST
Taylor maintains Labor government should ‘shut the door’ to Australians in Syria
Opposition leader Angus Taylor is speaking at a press conference in Melbourne after a visit to the Adass Israel synagogue. The synagogue was subject to an arson attack in December 2024.
Taylor is speaking about the attack and the devastating terror attack at Bondi Beach last year. Taylor said:
double quotation markIf we are to protect way of life, we need to shut door on Islamic extremism in this country. We need to shut the door people who want to come to this country bringing hate and violence from another part of the world to our shores.
He went on to say the Albanese government should do more to restrict Australians stuck in Syria from reentering Australia:
double quotation markThese people should not be coming … the door must be shut. Labor has many levers at its disposal to shut the door.
The Australian people want to see our way of life protected, and we will do need to do to make sure that happens.
Angus Taylor. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare
Andrew Messenger
Palestinian, gun control groups not called to speak on Queensland’s Bondi bill
No Palestinian or gun control groups have been invited to speak on Queensland’s Bondi legislation during its parliamentary committee inquiry.
The legislation was in the works for nearly two months before being made public last Tuesday. The state government set just seven days for public submissions and only two days for public hearings, one of them in Townsville, half from members of the local community. More than 400 individuals and groups have made a submission on the bill.
Several different gun groups were invited to speak, including the Shooters Union Australia, the North Queensland Rifle Association and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia twice.
Alannah and Madeline foundation senior advocacy adviser, Stephen Bendle, said he had asked for a chance to speak, but was refused without explanation on Wednesday night.
“We thought it was outrageous that the only people talking about firearms at that inquiry were two of the largest members of the gun lobby,” Bendle said.
double quotation markWe felt this reinforced that the government had bent the knee to the gun lobbyists and refused to make any concessions, to make any restrictions on firearms following Bondi.
He said: “I don’t think the government wanted to be criticised”.
Remah Nahi from Justice for Palestine Meanjin said the decision not to hear from them was “discrediting”.
The bill’s gun control elements have been criticised as weak, and multiple different religions, unions, and legal groups have criticised its provisions permitting the attorney general to ban particular expressions as an attack on free speech and freedom of religion.
Updated at 19.01 EST
Americans generally view the Epstein case as an example of wealthy and powerful people rarely being held accountable and believe the US government is still hiding information about Epstein’s clients, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
“We are trailing too far behind in justice, especially when we are sitting on the mountains of information that we have,” Amanda Roberts said. “The world is looking at us to do the right thing here.“
Learning of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had brought “a mixed bag of emotions,” the sister-in-law of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre said:
double quotation markInitially we were … screaming, at one point at 3am. And then it just hits you – that gut punch of the fact that she’s not here to see this.
Updated at 18.41 EST