Australia news LIVE: PM announces $925m investment to support people leaving violence; Qantas app data breach investigated

To end his press conference, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is asked about the attack of Ninette and Philip Simons allegedly by a former immigration detainee who was not wearing an ankle bracelet at the time.

Asked if there will be an application to the courts to re-detain any of the released individuals, Albanese says it takes a long time to bring a case based on proper legal advice, but he wants to see applications made soon as a matter of urgency.

Here’s what he said:

The law that was passed last December was based upon the previous government’s legislation on terrorist offenders. That took a long time to bring a case to bear based upon proper legal advice.

What you want to make sure, is that you don’t make an application that doesn’t succeed. You want to make sure that an application does succeed. I want to see, to be very clear, I want to see applications done as soon as possible and I want them to see them succeed.

It’s always best to make announcements when they’re happening, rather than foreshadow them. Something that is good practice and I want to see it happen as a matter of urgency, I’ve made that very clear, my view.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has snapped back at a journalist about the way he dealt with domestic violence rally organiser Sarah Williams.

Albanese did not agree that he would have responded differently to Williams in hindsight, nor that it was ill-advised to use the phrase “I am the prime minister”.

Sky presenter Andrew Clennell asked if the PM could have “handled that interaction a bit better in retrospect.”

Albanese responds: “You have not put what was said beforehand, I was asked to have discussions with people unknown about whether it was appropriate, whether we would be speaking or not,” he said.

“I responded to that, I was happy to speak, happy to not speak.”

Clennell responds by asking again if Albanese thought his response to Williams was appropriate, the prime minister quips back.

“You can look at it, don’t you work at Sky? Everyone can look at it. This is a serious issue. We are talking about a woman dying at the hands of their partner every four days and I have no interest in this.

“This is not about me, I attended a rally, I was proud to do so. As a national leader, it is appropriate that I do that, and I stand by that … I congratulated, if you look, I congratulated the organisers of the rally.”

Asked if he felt regret that Williams was in tears at the end of the exchange, Albanese said Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin had reached out to Williams’ organisation to provide a briefing.

“I don’t want to see anyone in that situation, [or] feel badly about anything, about any circumstances,” he said.

“I wish Sarah well, we have reached out, the commissioner’s reached out to Sarah’s organisation to provide a briefing that will occur. I engage constructively with people.”

The changes to bail laws will be led by the state and territories while the Commonwealth plays a role in bringing people together, says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Asked how he will achieve uniformity across the states, Albanese said under a federation it has to be done in a cooperative way.

“What I heard from the premiers and chief ministers, is the commitment to best practice, to examine what works, and they will work in a coordinated way to look at how they can deal with issues like our laws,” he said.

“Some of them require individual legislation across the jurisdictions, so that will, if you like, take place by states and territories with the Commonwealth essentially playing a role in bringing people together, bringing together jurisdictions.”

Albanese said he will also look into working with Education Minister Jason Clare to include improvements in the national curriculum.

“[We’ll look] to make improvements there as well to make sure our youngest [learn about good behaviour].”

Albanese also said there will be an approach to sharing information between states and territories for repeat offenders.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is holding a press conference in South Australia.

Watch live here:

Bail laws were discussed at the national cabinet meeting, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it will be addressed through later meetings while denying he is kicking the can down the road.

“When we went through reports from each of the jurisdictions, they spoke about electronic monitoring, spoke about the range of issues in the justice system as well which are there. That’s the work we’ll continue,” he said.

“There is a police minister’s meeting this Friday. The Attorney-General’s standing meeting will discuss these issues as well and come back in the next quarter, so [we’re] not kicking this down the road, but will come back with ways in which uniformity or greater uniformity can be considered going forward.

“It was very constructive. One of the things that was clear as well is that jurisdictions were keen to learn off each other.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged that policing the internet will be a challenge, but says his government is seeking cooperation wherever they can with platforms.

Asked about the challenge the government is facing to take down the Sydney church stabbing video from X after billionaire Elon Musk pushed back against the eSafety commissioner, Albanese said online players need to understand there are consequences.

“We will be seeking cooperation wherever we can, but we need to take action and the online players need to understand exactly what the consequences are of a free-for-all online,” Albanese said.

“It’s a challenge for government, it’s like a challenge for parents as well. Parents are terribly concerned about their children and what they’re seeing online. That is increasing over a period of time.

“[The 10-year-plan as a] framework is very good, but we can’t afford to set and forget. We need to continually look at what are the challenges and how do we overcome them and overcome them together.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has announced a $6.5 million commitment to a pilot program of age-assurance technologies to help better protect children online.

“The Australian government will commit $6.5 million in the May budget for a pilot of age-assurance technologies to better protect children online and reduce their exposure to harmful content,” she said.

“The pilot will identify available age-assurance products and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security. The outcomes of this pilot will support the E-Safety commissioner’s ongoing regulatory work to implement codes or standards under the Online Safety Act to reduce children’s exposure to inappropriate content and that includes online pornography.”

Following the national cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also pointed to the review into the Online Safety Act to ensure the government keeps on top of emerging online threats and harms.

“This was a particular focus of debate so that when the Victorian Premier [Jacinta Allan] reported on the royal commission, one of the things that was very stark was just how much technology has changed the nature of the threat and the damage which is being done by this new use of technology, and it’s something that we’re very, very conscious of,” Albanese said.

“The government will also bring forward legislation in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm. This is known as doxxing.”

Anthony Albanese has also announced a suite of online measures to help combat toxic male extremist views about women online.

The government will introduce legislation to ban the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography, and the sharing of sexually explicit material using technology such as artificial intelligence.

“[It] will be subject to serious criminal penalties,” Albanese said.

A campaign will also begin mid-June and run until May 2025 called Stop it at the Start.

“This new phase will include counter influencing campaigns in online spaces where violent and misogynistic content thrives to directly challenge the material in the spaces that it’s being viewed,” Albanese said.

“The government’s undertaking long overdue classification reforms with states and territories which will examine options to reduce exposure to violent pornography, informed by engagement with experts and best available evidence.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced $925 million will be allocated from the budget to support women to leave violence.

“The government will invest $925 million over five years, it will be included in the budget in two weeks’ time, to permanently establish the Leaving Violence program so those escaping violence can receive financial support, safety assessments and referrals to support pathways,” Albanese said.

“Those eligible will be able to access up to $5000 in financial support along with referral services, risk assessments, and safety planning.”