Australia news LIVE: Albanese calls national cabinet to consider tracking domestic violence offenders; Rafah assault ‘on immediate horizon’: UN aid chief

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University on Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in an escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. The school promised they would face expulsion.

The occupation at the campus in New York — where protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment Monday or be suspended — unfolded as other universities stepped up efforts to end the protests.

Protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locked arms early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to Hamilton Hall, among several buildings that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest.

“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement Tuesday. He said the university had given protesters a chance to leave peacefully and finish the semester, but that those who didn’t agree to the terms were being suspended — restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.

“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation — vandalising property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances — and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” he said.

AP

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government is prepared to do more and do better to address domestic violence but would not say if they would commit to more funding.

Speaking on ABC Radio National, Chalmers said the level of domestic violence is a national crisis.

I think our whole government recognises that we need to do better and we need to do more.

This is genuinely a national crisis … I think this is partly a story about government investment but not solely a story about government investment.

If there are ways that we can provide more investment or invest differently in these really important services to keep women safe, then obviously that’s something that we’re prepared to consider and that’s one of the reasons why the leaders from around Australia are gathering today.”

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley says she does not want to hear more platitudes or soothing words about domestic violence as she hopes to see a coordinated plan across all levels of government.

National Cabinet is set to meet this morning to discuss the scourge of domestic violence incidents as the number of women killed in violent circumstances so far this calendar year rose to 28 on Monday.

Ley told ABC the Coalition will support more funding put to frontline workers in the industry as they are struggling from the high demand.

I would like to see a coordinated plan across all levels of government to tackle this national cancer. I don’t want to hear any more platitudes, I don’t want to hear any more soothing words.

We need governments to deliver on their promises. Two years ago Anthony Albanese promised 500 frontline community safety workers over the next couple of years. There should be these workers on the ground helping women now.

We all know that we need more funding and we need more frontline services to deliver that funding. There are many other things we need, too, and I’m particularly interested in the research that is done on violent pornography and its effect on young men.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Perth couple who were attacked faced a “horrific” experience, and the government is working around the clock to make better arrangements to monitor former immigration detainees released by the High Court.

Perth couple Ninette and Philip Simons were attacked in their Perth home on April 16, allegedly by three men including released detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, who was not wearing an ankle monitor at the time.

Chalmers told Nine’s Today program the government was dealing with legacy issues surrounding the detainee system and was still managing the High Court decision that did not go in their favour.

“What happened to that woman in Perth in WA is absolutely horrific. There’s no other way to describe it. Absolutely horrific, nobody should have to go through the kind of ordeal that she has been through, and we are working round the clock to try and make these arrangements much better,” Chalmers said.

“Obviously, it’s devastating and that makes us more determined to make the system as good as it can be. I know that our political opponents want to politicise this. They should try and be part of the solution to this rather than part of the problem.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says India is a good friend of Australia despite two of their intelligence operatives being expelled in 2020 for being members of an elaborate “nest of spies” that attempted to steal information about defence technology, airport security and trade relationships.

Speaking this morning about changes to foreign investment laws aimed at attracting more overseas capital while making it more difficult for businesses with links to countries such as China, Chalmers said the regime applies equally around the world.

“Our foreign investment regime applies equally around the world. The test that we apply are robust tests, they’ll become even more robust as a consequence of the changes I’m making, the overhaul we’re announcing today,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

Pressed three times if India spying on Australia is the action of a friend and whether we should trust them with foreign investment, Chalmers said it was an important relationship.

“We have got a good relationship with India and with other countries in the region. It’s an important economic relationship. It’s become closer, I think, in recent years, as a consequence of efforts on both sides and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has defended the handling of released detainees after a Perth couple were violently assaulted, allegedly by a detainee who stopped wearing an ankle monitor.

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise, O’Neil said the decision to release former detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, on bail was a state decision that the federal government has little control over.

“If I had any power to put that person back in detention, that is exactly what I would do,” O’Neil said.

“There is a bunch of decisions that were made by state courts, usually with regard to state crimes. I’m not going to refer to the specifics of this individual case but as a Commonwealth minister, I can’t do anything to change what state courts decide to do with regards to bail.”

O’Neil would not give comment on why Doukoshkan was not wearing an ankle bracelet at the time of the alleged offence, but repeated there were experienced law enforcement officials making decisions on how to monitor released detainees.

“This is one of the layers of protection we have put in place, including a regime that puts in place ankle monitoring bracelets and curfews that has made that really big investment in different layers of policing that will help protect the community,” she said.

Donald Trump has been fined $US9000 ($13,900) for repeatedly attacking witnesses in his hush money trial and has been warned by the judge that he faces jail time if he continues to violate a gag order put in place to curb his tirades.

As the trial entered its third week in Manhattan, Judge Juan Merchan found the former US president in contempt of court for breaking a gag order nine times by making public statements on social media and on his campaign website.

Read our full story here.

United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that despite global calls for Israel to spare Rafah in the Gaza Strip, “a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon.”

He also said in a statement that Israeli improvements to aid access in Gaza “cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah.”

Reuters

Violent offenders will be tracked with electronic devices to alert police to their location and protect women from potential attacks under a South Australian scheme that will be on the agenda at a national cabinet meeting to decide new measures to curb male violence.

The scheme, which came into force on Tuesday night, will be considered by federal and state leaders at a meeting on Wednesday that will also canvass stricter bail laws and greater funding for support services for women and children.

For more on what we can expect out today’s national cabinet, click here.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s national news.

My name is Josefine Ganko, I’ll be leading the blog this morning. It’s Wednesday, May 1.

To get our coverage started, here are some of the top headlines from overnight and what’s ahead of us today.