As it happened: Fresh debate looms over national integrity commission; Medibank leaks could continue for months

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for me or any foreign minister to engage in speculation about potential listings. The government’s position about this issue, about the human rights abuses, is clear,” Wong said.

Chandler’s statement also called out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for telling Question Time yesterday the government was considering the business implications of any action.

As reported on this blog, Albanese said “we actually don’t have a vast number of economic relations between Australia and Iran”, implying that increased sanctions would not have much effect.

He also said: “One of the things we have done is make sure ... that, in any action that’s taken, we’re fully cognisant of the implications for Australian businesses of that.”

Chandler said: “It was tone deaf for the Prime Minister to suggest business implications are a legitimate reason why Australia has not announced concrete actions to hold Iran accountable.

“There are a range of options available for the Australian Government to act upon, and the community is entitled to know why our Government has felt unable to announce tangible actions when nations like the US, UK, Canada and Germany have done so.”

The federal opposition has pledged to back any government action over Iran’s human rights abuses, even if they have economic consequences.

Trump did notch some big wins Tuesday, particularly in Ohio, where his pick for the Senate, Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance, sailed to easy victory after Trump’s endorsement. In North Carolina, Ted Budd, an early Trump pick, kept an open Senate seat in GOP hands.

But Trump lost some of the night’s biggest prizes, particularly in Pennsylvania, where Dr Mehmet Oz, who only narrowly won his Senate primary with Trump’s backing, lost to Democrat John Fetterman.

Trump-backed candidates also lost governors races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Maryland, and a Senate race in New Hampshire, though Trump seemed to celebrate the latter, bashing Republican Dan Bolduc for trying to moderate his stances by backing off his embrace of Trump’s election lies.

Meanwhile, as our North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin reports, President Joe Biden has already declared his intention to run in 2024.

Biden, who is turning 80 this month, said he intended to run regardless of whether Trump entered the race, although a final decision would be made next year.

Asked to respond to those who questioned his fitness for the job, he replied: “Watch me.”

“My intention is that I’m running again,” Biden said, in his first public comments since votes were cast yesterday (Tuesday US time).

“But I’m a great respecter of fate and this is ultimately a family decision. I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it and I don’t feel any hurry one way or another to make that judgment.”

Biden characterised the US midterm elections as a victory for democracy, and has vowed to work with Republicans if they take control of Congress, saying Americans had made it clear they didn’t want a “constant political battle”.

With AP

Pratt told the commission he had read Murphy’s judgment in the last month in preparing to give evidence and also remembered the media report at the time.

“I thought his analysis ... was spot on,” Pratt said.

When asked by Commissioner Catherine Holmes if there had been a conspiracy to conceal a stuff-up, Pratt conceded bureaucracies could be good at trying to minimise the damage from adverse reports.

“But ultimately, it is actually really a requirement for the bureaucracy to answer the question and to give the right information,” he said.

Robo-debt was initiated under the former Coalition government and falsely accused welfare recipients of owing money.

The commission is investigating how the scheme, which operated between 2015 and 2020, went ahead despite government departments knowing the debt calculation method was unlawful and would have required legislative change.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians were sent debt notices under the scheme between 2015 and 2020, which recovered more than $750 million before it stopped operating.

The commission is continuing.

With AAP

The question of how likely anyone is to get it is far from settled, though it can sometimes happen when a person only had mild symptoms in the initial phase of infection.

Mannix has reported previously that Australia needs high-quality prevalence studies, particularly because our risk will be different to other countries: most people infected with COVID in Australia were already vaccinated.

But, he says, even if the true risk is very small, the absolute number of people with long COVID is going to be large because so many people have been infected.

These people also fall between the gaps in Australia’s safety net system, once they run out of sick leave. To qualify for JobSeeker, you need to be looking for work. To qualify for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, you need to be permanently disabled.

The Australian government commissioned the parliamentary inquiry into long COVID in September and its findings will inform a national response.