As it happened: October 7 anniversary commemorated; Qantas confirms Lebanon repatriation flights

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Gatherings to commemorate the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel have been held around the country today, and more are expected in Sydney and Melbourne tonight.
• In Melbourne, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other senior politicians are slated to attend an event in the city’s south-east, after Albanese earlier today said Jewish Australians had felt the “cold shadows of antisemitism” since October 7 last year.
• A pro-Palestine march and vigil is also planned for Melbourne this evening. The Age will have reporters on the ground at both events.
• In NSW, commemorations began with a sunrise vigil overlooking the water in North Bondi.
• Both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine vigils are planned for Sydney tonight, with a community vigil in the eastern suburbs to commemorate the more than 1000 Israelis killed during the October 7 attack, and a pro-Palestine vigil expected at Sydney Town Hall. You can follow our live coverage of Sydney’s commemorations here.
• The controversial Stand 4 Palestine Australia is also holding a “defiant” rally protesting against the war in Gaza at Lakemba Mosque in western Sydney.
• Qantas will fly Australians from Cyprus to Sydney on two flights, with the first plane carrying 220 people expected to land on Tuesday evening.
• Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the Australian ambassador in Tehran over what it said was his country’s biased stance on Iran’s attack against Israel, drawing the ire of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The department said it “makes no apology” for its views, and described Iran’s missile attacks as a “dangerous escalation”.
• Albanese says former Labor senator Fatima Payman should test her popularity at the next election after revelations she will move within days to set up a new political party, according to The Australian Financial Review.
• In world news, New Zealand’s Defence Force has launched a formal court of inquiry into the “shocking” sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, which went under at the weekend after striking a reef in Samoa’s south.
• Florida is preparing for its largest evacuation since 2017 as Hurricane Milton intensifies on its path toward the US state’s western coast, coming on the heels of the devastating Hurricane Helene.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Cassandra Morgan, signing off.

Greens leader Adam Bandt says Australians should mourn for Gaza, Lebanon and Israel on the October 7 anniversary of the Hamas attack.

Here’s what he had to say on ABC Afternoon Briefing a few minutes ago.

You’ll find widespread across the Australian community, people [are] continuing to call for the hostages to be released and acknowledging and marking the deaths on October 7.

But as we speak now, there is still shelling and bombing occurring in Lebanon and in Gaza.

On this day, as we sit here right now, not only is the 40,000 death toll in Gaza being added to, but we have seen a significant amount happen in the years since those terrible events on October 7.

Those events have to be considered as well … we can hold the two at the same time and understand that right now, as we speak, there are people who are in fear of their lives as a result of bombs that are being dropped in Lebanon.

There are children right now in Gaza still who are dying because they haven’t got enough to eat or drink, and that merits our attention as well.”

Australia’s largest power station operator is trialling a complete shutdown of some units during the day while other companies are cutting back output to their lowest levels ever as they fight to dodge spiralling losses when solar panels swamp the grid.

The rollout of large-scale renewables and millions of rooftop solar panels has been radically reshaping eastern Australia’s energy market, unleashing vast amounts of cheap electricity and pummelling the prices generators receive on sunny and windy days to $0 or below for hours at a time.

Plants that burn coal are the most exposed to the shock of increasingly volatile price swings because their turbines lack the ability to easily ramp generation up and down, even if they are struggling to compete.

While coal plants typically always run at a minimum level to avoid the costly and complicated process of switching on and off, energy giant AGL last month carried out an Australia-first trial of taking one of the units at its Bayswater generator in NSW offline for five hours and returning it to service in the afternoon.

AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof said the company had gained insights for the trial following a visit to the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in the United Kingdom, which closed last week after 57 years. He said the trial shutdown at Bayswater from 10am to 3pm on September 7 had demonstrated to the company that it could be done.

Read the full story from Nick Toscano here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says former Labor senator Fatima Payman should test her popularity at the next election after revelations she will move within days to set up a new political party.

The Australian Financial Review reported that Albanese called for Payman to hand her seat back to Labor.

“Senator Payman should test democratic support for her actions by contesting the next election herself under the banner of her new political party,” he said.

Payman is in her first term — so will avoid facing voters at the next election — and resigned from the Labor Party in July after crossing the floor to support a Greens motion to recognise a Palestinian state.

Good afternoon, and thanks for reading the national news blog.

I’m Cassandra Morgan, taking over from Josefine Ganko. If you’re just joining us, here’s a look at what you’ve missed so far today.

• Politicians are commemorating the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel as vigils and solemn ceremonies are held across Australia to mark one year since the deadly events.
• In NSW, a sunrise vigil overlooking the water at North Bondi in Sydney marked the anniversary, while both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian vigils are planned around the city this evening.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to attend a vigil in Melbourne tonight. A pro-Palestine vigil is also planned.
• The prime minister said in a statement this morning that Jewish Australians had felt the “cold shadows of antisemitism” since October 7 last year.
• Qantas will fly Australians from Cyprus to Sydney on two flights, with the first plane carrying 220 people expected to land on Tuesday evening.
• Outgoing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has suggested it’s time for Victoria to consider implementing a permit system for protests, like that in NSW.
• Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the Australian ambassador in Tehran over what it said was his country’s biased stance on Iran’s attack against Israel, drawing the ire of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The department said: “The Australian government condemned Iran’s reckless missile strikes on Israel. They were a dangerous escalation and increased the risks of a wider regional war.”
• Australia has seen a 300 per cent surge in antisemitic comments and threats in the past year, according to Jewish leaders who say their community feels under siege.

Keep following the national news blog with us into this evening.