As it happened: Crossbench rages as electoral reforms pass; Dutton calls for debate on powers to revoke citizenship

Thank you for reading our national news blog. This is where we’ll wrap up today’s coverage, but here’s a look back at the day’s top stories:

• The Australian Defence Force has sounded the alarm about Chinese warships operating close to Australia as it revealed an Australian navy helicopter had been involved in a dangerous encounter with the Chinese military in the South China Sea.
• A quip in parliament has sparked new speculation about a race to the election after Anthony Albanese appeared to suggest a Labor colleague was on his “last day” in Canberra despite official plans for a federal budget on March 25 before Australians go to the polls.
• Teal MP Zali Steggall accused Special Minister of State Don Farrell of shutting crossbenchers out of talks on Australia’s donation reform in a heated exchange in the corridors of Parliament House. It comes after revelations that the government had struck a deal with the Coalition to overhaul Australia’s electoral laws and cap donations, infuriating independents who argue it benefits the major parties.
• The Victorian Labor Party is on the brink of victory in the Werribee byelection despite a savage swing against the Allan government, with further counting today increasing the lead of local school teacher John Lister.
• At least four former ABC employees have died after breathing in asbestos dust while working at the public broadcaster’s former Melbourne studios, while many more are believed to have been exposed to the deadly substance.
• Detectives will forensically examine the full video provided by an Israeli social media personality of his exchange with two Sydney nurses, with his evidence vital in determining possible criminal charges.
• US President Donald Trump intends to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia as part of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine that will begin immediately following a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call between the two leaders.
• Police in Bali are searching for a man believed to be an Australian tourist after a wild brawl outside a beach club on Tuesday night.

We’ll be back tomorrow with all the day’s biggest news. Enjoy your night.

A public debate should consider the “inadequacies of the migration system” that allowed for a nurse who “hates our country” to be granted citizenship, says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Footage emerged on Wednesday of two NSW nurses appearing to vow not to treat, and even kill, Israeli patients. One of the nurses in the video, Rashad Nadir, fled from Afghanistan with his family as a child and recently became an Australian citizen.

Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham this morning, Dutton said it should be of a “deep concern” that someone like Nadir could “get through the net” and become an Australian citizen.

“To take citizenship or strip citizenship from somebody, there are constitutional constraints, and at some stage, our country has to have a discussion, I think, about the way in which the whole migration system works,” Dutton said.

The opposition leader said the Migration Act allows for the revocation of citizenship in the instance of a false declaration, usually around people who have committed acts of terrorism, but added: “Even that is limited”.

Dutton then referred to a 2023 high court decision that allowed a terror cell leader to stay in the country, overturning a decision he made as home affairs minister to revoke his citizenship.

“I think it’s a conversation for our country at some point, maybe sooner than later, about how we can say to these people, if you don’t share our values, if you’re here and you’re enjoying the welfare system and you’re enjoying free health and free education, then at the same time you hate our country? Well, I don’t think you’ve got a place here.”

Read more about the investigation into the nurses’ video here.

The Australian Defence Force has sounded the alarm about Chinese warships operating close to Australia as it revealed an Australian navy helicopter has been involved in another dangerous encounter with the Chinese military in the South China Sea.

The ADF said on Thursday that three Chinese vessels – a Jiangkai-class frigate, a cruiser and a replenishment vessel – have been observed operating near north-east Australia, including by passing through the Torres Strait.

While the ships are not breaching international law, the ADF was concerned enough to issue a rare statement about the activity, occurring in Australia’s exclusive economic zone.

The Chinese vessels travelled through South-East Asia, before entering Australia’s maritime approaches.

Read the full story here.

We will only know if Donald Trump is serious about tariffs if he pushes up the price of his beloved Big Mac.

The president’s threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on $78 billion worth of steel and aluminium imports – including $1 billion from Australian firms – has unleashed hand-wringing about what this means for the Australian economy.

Focusing on this one sector ignores its relative economic unimportance, but also the threat posed by a widening tariff war and Trump’s seriousness to prosecute such a war.

If Trump turns to beef imports he will have to make a choice between self-interest and his professed beliefs.

Read Shane Wright’s analysis here.

Defence veterans will get faster access to improved welfare and health payments including assistance for funerals or travelling for treatment after the largest overhaul of their entitlements system in 40 years.

The federal parliament on Thursday passed the changes which flowed from a 2019 Productivity Commission inquiry and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran suicides which found the long-standing and complicated entitlement system was hurting the mental health of veterans.

Former members of the defence forces and their families have had to contend with three separate, and at times conflicting, compensation laws for the past 20 years. The oldest piece of compensation law dates from 1986.

The first recommendation of the royal commission’s interim report, released in August 2022, was to simplify and harmonise compensation and rehabilitation laws because of the impact they were having on veterans.

Read the full story here. 

Education Minister Jason Clare has again made fun of the Coalition’s policy to help small businesses pay for lunches, likening it to a turducken.

Taking a Dorothy Dixer question on how the government is building a better and fairer education system, Clare slammed the Coalition for voting against childcare laws as they argued it was unaffordable.

“Here is the kicker, the argument that they use is that we cannot afford it, but apparently we can afford billions of dollars for bosses to have lunch on the taxpayer,” Clare says.

“Mr Speaker, here was the press release from the shadow treasurer on 3 November on the day they said they were opposed to cutting student debt by 20 per cent and I promise you I’m not making this up.

“Their argument for opposing is this, ‘there are no free lunches in economics’.

“It turns out that there is, but only for the bosses ... a bit of taxpayer-funded chicken, stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey, which is a perfect analogy for this policy because I think most Australians will think it is stuffed.”

Police in Bali are searching for a man believed to be an Australian tourist after a wild brawl outside a beach club on Tuesday night.

Four security guards were injured in the fight with a group of shirtless men, local media reported, with one guard suffering “bite wounds” and another taken to hospital with broken teeth and a head injury.

A video of the fight outside Finns beach club in Canggu shows the combatants hitting each other with pieces of wood and throwing punches. At one point, one of the tourists strikes a security guard with what appears to be a bollard.

Bali police are still looking for the three tourists seen in the video, and their nationalities could not be confirmed to this masthead on Wednesday night.

Read the story from our South-East Asia correspondents.