Australia news LIVE: High Court dismisses immigration detainee challenge; Treasurer wants Australians to have more babies

Sydney and Monash universities have urged students protesting against the war in Gaza to stop using phrases such as “intifada” and “from the river to the sea”, as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus dismissed a request from Australia’s top tertiary institutions for urgent legal advice on the slogans.

Dreyfus noted that people could already make a complaint under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, under which it is an offence to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people”, if they were concerned about the use of the phrases.

The Group of Eight leading universities wrote to Dreyfus on Wednesday requesting formal advice on whether the pro-Palestinian call for an “intifada” was in breach of federal law.

“Intifada” is an Arabic word for popular uprising, but the Anti-Defamation League, founded a century ago to counter the vilification of Jews, argues it is a slogan that calls for indiscriminate violence against Israel.

The universities also sought guidance on calls that Palestine should be free “from the river to the sea” because of longstanding concerns the words are antisemitic and seek the destruction of the state of Israel.

Catch up on the full story here.

Women dealing with endometriosis will soon gain access to longer subsidised specialist appointments under Medicare to help patients get a quicker diagnosis and treatment.

The federal government will set aside $49.1 million in next week’s budget to allow for women to access longer specialist consultations and increased rebates for gynaecological care.

Longer specialist appointments for conditions such as endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome of 45 minutes or more will be covered by Medicare from July 2025.

While the condition is estimated to affect at least one in nine Australian women, it takes on average seven years before a diagnosis is received.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the subsidised longer appointments would aim to allow more women to receive a quicker diagnosis.

“Women are suffering unnecessarily. They’re having their experiences dismissed, being called hysterical and accused of drug shopping. Women’s pain is real, and it’s time we stop telling women to just suck it up,” he said.

“We need women and more doctors to know about endometriosis, so we can reduce the diagnosis delay and get the women the care they need.”

It’s expected the subsidies would provide 430,000 more services for women across Australia.

The two new items under the Medicare Benefits Scheme will provide higher fees for initial gynaecological consultation of $168.60 for a 45-minute appointment compared to a standard rate of $95.60.

AAP

The jury of 14 empanelled for the Supreme Court trial of accused missing campers’ killer Gregory Lynn has been discharged, with the trial expected to restart early next week with a fresh jury.

Jurors were told this morning matters had arisen that caused the need for them to be discharged.

They were discharged before opening statements were due to begin in the case.

Lynn, 57, earlier pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the deaths of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, before the jury.

This masthead will bring you regular updates of the trial, and you can find out the latest here.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has responded after the High Court dismissed the deportation challenge of a bisexual Iranian man.

The High Court dismissed the claim by the man, given the pseudonym ASF17, who launched a bid for release from immigration detention earlier this year, claiming he is being unlawfully held.

“We welcome today’s unanimous decision of the Court, which has found that individuals who are not cooperating with their own removal are able to remain in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia,” Giles said in a statement this morning.

He said community safety was the government’s “highest priority, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to keep Australians as safe as possible”.

In published reasons for the High Court’s decision to dismiss ASF17’s case, the primary judge did not find ASF17 to be truthful in his fear to return to Iran as a bisexual man.

“The primary judge accepted that ASF17’s present sexual orientation is bisexual and found that he has had recent sexual encounters with men while in immigration detention,” the reasons stated.

“However, the primary judge did not accept the truthfulness of the account given by ASF17 of having been caught by his wife in bed with a man in Iran, did not accept that ASF17 was telling the truth about why he did not want to return to Iran, and did not accept that ASF17 was willing to be removed to a country other than Iran.”

The primary judge found that ASF17 did not have a genuine subjective fear of harm in Iran and that the reason ASF17 was refusing to undertake voluntary actions to assist in his return to Iran was that he wanted to remain in Australia.

The justices also found that ASF17 had capacity to co-operate with authorities and he could change his mind on refusing to co-operate at any point, meaning he was not in illegal indefinite detention.”

“ASF17 advanced no basis for doubting the primary judge’s summation that ASF17 ‘has made a voluntary decision not to co-operate in meeting with Iranian authorities to facilitate his removal to Iran, a decision which he has the capacity to change but which he chooses not to change’,” the primary judge said under his findings of facts.

Returning to the news Australia’s highest court has dismissed the claim of a bisexual Iranian man who was challenging the country’s deportation legislation.

The Iranian man – known as ASF17 – refused to co-operate with federal authorities to send him back to Iran because he feared persecution launched a bid with the High Court arguing for release from immigration detention as he claimed he was being unlawfully held.

In a judgement summary, the High Court found there was a “constitutional limitation identified” in the November NZYQ case which found indefinite detention was illegal, meaning ASF17’s appeal was unanimously dismissed.

The High Court said in its published summary that it unanimously held that ASF17 could remain in detention if it were possible for him to be deported.

“Were the detainee to decide to co-operate in the undertaking of administrative processes necessary to facilitate that removal,” the summary stated.

A major US-based free speech organisation is trying to intervene in the Australian legal showdown between Elon Musk’s X Corp and the nation’s online safety watchdog.

The fight between the eSafety Commission and Musk’s social platform, centred on an order to remove all videos of last month’s stabbing of a Sydney priest, will resume this morning.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a group that champions and defends free speech, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international digital rights group, will apply to the Federal Court to become a party to the proceedings.

FIRE, which has received funding from billionaire Charles Koch and the Playboy founder Hugh Heffner, argues the watchdog is effectively seeking a global ban outside its jurisdiction.

“FIRE anticipates raising issues relating to the impact of global orders on national sovereignty and the implications of restricting access to information that is protected by the laws of other jurisdictions,” it said in its submission, obtained by this masthead ahead of the hearing.

“It also anticipates raising public policy issues in the context of the rise of censorship, by governments, of speech on social media platforms and websites.”

The overseas organisations are being represented by Australian lawyer Kevin Lynch of Johnson Winter Slattery.

It is not clear of the court will the groups to become parties to the case or “friends of the court” to provide arguments and expertise.

A parliamentary probe into societal damage done by social media giants will be an important inquiry for Australians, according to the prime minister.

The inquiry will examine the damage done by Facebook, TikTok and other platforms, as billionaire Elon Musk expands his legal challenge against Australia’s online watchdog.

Anthony Albanese told reporters at a press conference earlier this morning that social media companies needed to have social responsibility.

“Across a range of issues, whether it be the issue of domestic violence, whether it be radicalisation of young people across a range of areas, something that keeps popping up … is the role of social media, which can be very positive, but can also have a negative influence.”

He said the inquiry would be important for the public and would allow them to engage with the debate.

“I think that this will be an important inquiry for …the community to engage in the debate about what is the role of social media how do we make sure that social media as benefits continue whilst the potential for harmful impacts minimised.”

The government has successfully fended off a major legal challenge that would have seen up to 200 more immigration detainees released into the community.

The High Court dismissed the claim by the bisexual Iranian man, given the pseudonym ASF17, who launched a bid for release from immigration detention earlier this year, claiming he is being unlawfully held.

It is a legal sequel to last year’s landmark High Court ruling outlawing indefinite detention that has so far seen 153 detainees freed.

The appeal attempted to resolve the question of whether someone who refuses to co-operate with moves to deport them to their country of origin can continue to be detained, if their own actions are inhibiting the government’s ability to remove them in the near future.

The Commonwealth argued his ongoing detention is legal because the detainee could “bring it to an end at any time” by agreeing to meet Iranian authorities for the necessary paperwork to return to Iran.

But his barrister, Lisa De Ferrari, SC, told the court last month the government had never tried to resettle him anywhere else and that her client did not oppose being removed to a country other than Iran.

More to come.

The prime minister is speaking ahead of the decision in the case of immigration detainee ASF17, which springs from a landmark High Court decision which found it was unlawful to indefinitely detain people with no prospect of deportation.

Speaking in Canberra this morning Anthony Albanese said the government already dealt with the initial High Court decision, that of NZYQ.

“It is not something that we supported, it is something that we made submissions to the court to oppose,” he said.

“But when courts make a decision, governments, whoever is in government has to comply with the law.”

Albanese said the government wanted to strengthen the legislation around deportation, and it was still necessary.

“Governments need to have the capacity for people who have no right to stay in Australia, who have exhausted their legal processes, have been found not to have any right to stay here, should not be just allowed to self nominate in staying here,” he said.

He called on the Coalition to support the changes, rather than holding it up.