Gulf States struck by Iran as war intensifies

ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.

Good morning, welcome to AM It's Friday the 6th of March.

I'm Rachel Mealy in Brisbane, coming to you from the lands of the Turbul and Yagra people.

Iran has launched a fresh wave of strikes across the Gulf states in the last few hours,

triggering emergency warnings in some of the region's biggest cities.

It comes as Israel intensifies its strikes in Lebanon, prompting thousands of people to flee the south of the capital Beirut.

Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran is in Jerusalem for us this morning.

Matthew, what's the latest?

Well, Rachel, good morning. We have seen another wave of drone attacks across the Gulf region, mainly on

the United Arab Emirates with reports of explosions near Abu Dhabi's international airport,

but there have also been sirens going off in Dubai, which is about an hour and a half

drive away as well. In the last short while, we have also seen an announcement coming through

from the general staff of the Kuwaiti Army, saying that Kuwait's air defences are dealing with

missile attacks and drones coming in as well. And that is causing sirens to go off across that

country too. So it had been something of a more calm day across the region overnight.

Australia time, but clearly that is now ratcheting up with Iran launching a fresh wave of strikes.

Iran has launched, according to its state news agency, more than 500 ballistic missiles

and naval missiles and around 2,000 drones since Saturday when this conflict began.

It is saying that around 40 percent of those launches were aimed at Israel and about 60 percent

at American targets in the broader region, including in the Gulf. But we know, of course,

civilian sites in the Gulf have been hit as well. It hasn't just been US military targets there.

We also saw earlier today claims that Iran had hit a tanker in the Persian Gulf there too.

So this is still a very fluid situation still unfolding this morning, Australia time,

but showing again that this conflict is far from over.

And Matthew Israel has continued bombing Lebanon. What's happened there?

So major strikes in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, but also in the southern parts of the country

with fresh evacuation orders issued throughout the day by Israel. They call them evacuation orders.

Locals would call them force displacement orders there. And we do know that 10 of thousands of people

have been displaced already. There's been bumper to bumper traffic in Beirut. As people have been

trying to leave those areas and there is a real concern that that too is escalating as well.

Israeli forces have moved in on the ground in Lebanon, particularly in the southern

reaches there. That started yesterday, including some direct contact between Hezbollah forces

and Israeli forces in some of those small villages. It does appear that this is also a new front

in this conflict and this could drag on for even longer than anything which happens in Iran,

if the US, for example, calls time on fighting that's happening there. For his part, the French

President Emmanuel Macron is trying to play something of a peacemaker in this place. He is calling

on both the Lebanese government to take a firm stance against Hezbollah to pull it into line.

He's calling on Israel to show some restraint, but in the face of both of those calls, he is also

confirming that France will provide armoured vehicles to the Lebanese armed forces to help them

out during this period. Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran, the military action in Iran has

drawn attention away from domestic issues in the United States in recent days, but their

front and center again today, with Donald Trump's announcement, he's replacing his embattled

homeland security secretary. Christie Knome has been under pressure over her handling

of immigration enforcement issues. Barbara Miller joined me from Washington.

But what's behind this move? Well, Christie Knome has been under pressure for some time. She was

in charge of the immigration enforcement operation, and that criticism really ramped up after the killing

in two separate incidents of two civilians in Minnesota. She was very quick to describe those as

acts of domestic terrorism. Videos of the scenes of both those killings did not back up those assertions.

And I guess those killings really brought to a head brewing criticism of these operations,

which, of course, in a number of U.S. cities had seen people literally ripped out of their cars,

taken from their homes in this crackdown on what the government said were illegal immigrants.

Of course, some of the people who were arrested and detained turned out to be American citizens.

But it also seems Rachel, as though a bit of a final straw was her appearance before a Senate

hearing this week. On the one hand, she didn't apologise to the families

of Renee Good and Alex Prety. But she also told that hearing that Donald Trump had personally

approved a controversial ad campaign in which she featured prominently, an ad campaign about

immigration enforcement. And Donald Trump was reportedly pretty angry about that testimony.

In fact, so angry, he gave an interview later to Reuters and said that he hadn't approved that

a controversial ad campaign. So a bit of a calm down. Kristi Nome was once considered a

possible vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump. She's a former governor of South Dakota.

But it's not all over in his truth social post. Donald Trump says that Kristi Nome will become

special envoy for the shield of the Americas. Now, he says that's a new security initiative,

which he says he will announce this weekend. And Barbara, on Iran, the president Donald Trump has

given the thumbs down to the idea that the son of Iran's supreme leader be appointed his successor.

What's he had to say? Yeah, this is the president responding to reports that Mojtaba Hamini

was about to be appointed successor to his father. Donald Trump in a couple of interviews has

been scathing of that suggestion. He told Axios that Mojtaba was a lightweight. And he said he

wanted to be directly involved in the appointment of a new leader. How exactly that would happen?

He didn't say. And he said, you know, as I was with Delsey Rodriguez in Venezuela, who took over

from Nicholas Maduro. So not the first time that Donald Trump seems to be equating what's going

on in Iran with what happened in Venezuela when, of course, are two very, very different scenarios.

But clearly, he wants to be calling the shots there. So a war in which he said he didn't necessarily

want regime change, but seems to want to be in charge of who now leads the regime or the country.

Barbara Miller there in Washington.

While the ongoing attacks on Iran and the ever-expanding retaliatory attacks have had a major impact

on the world's seaborn crude oil supply, sending energy prices soaring. For motorists in Australia,

this means the price of fuel will keep climbing at the pump. Madeline King is the resources minister.

She joined me earlier. Minister, Australia's oil and gas suppliers are going to be hit hard by

this war. Exactly how much do we have in reserve? Well, disruptions like this, as we're seeing in

the Middle East, obviously disturbing to everyone. And we can't always avoid the ripple effects of such

quite large conflicts as we've seen through the travel disruption. But in relation to fuel,

Australia is well-stopped with fuel like petrol for everybody's cars and diesel for the trucks

that that moves our food and goods around. So we're confident that will remain the case.

There has been some concern amongst the community that there may be some price gouging going on,

and I'm concerned about that as well. Very importantly, the treasurer has written to the atribal

sea to make sure they monitor fuel prices and take action as needed at the moment.

Prices that are holding steady, but as for gas, we are well-supplied with gas as well.

A lot has changed since 2022 and we came into government and we saw a massive spark in gas prices

since then this government has taken action to disconnect the domestic price system and

supply system from the export pricing system, especially on the East Coast. So that

boeds well and at the moment gas prices are holding very steady and they're down to $10

gigajoules. On gas, energy analysts say that Australia is still vulnerable to global gas supply

markets. How can you make sure that Australians won't fall victim to the current volatility?

Well, we are a global player in international LNG supplies. That is absolutely

a fact and that's been a great benefit to this country. But as I said before, we are not immune

and there are ripple effects, but we have taken action. So when we came into government,

we reformed the Australian domestic gas security mechanism, which means should there be

urgent shortage of gas, I can take action and make sure that we hold that gas in this country

for our own use. But that's not been demonstrated at the moment and there's no indication that

there will be a shortage, but should that happen, we have got the tools to make sure that gas will

be available to Australian consumers. There are reports this morning that Australian personnel were

on board a US submarine when it torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka

yesterday. Can you confirm that? Well, we're not going to talk about the cruise and operational

matters on and at the submarines that there are long-standing arrangements relating to third-country

deployments. So it really isn't appropriate to go into those details. Are Australians currently

training with the US Navy as part of the Orcas submarine training rotation? Yes, they absolutely

are and I'm very pleased to say that I've met some of these Australian sailors when they have

returned to HMS Sterling, which is in my home's name of Rockingham. Shouldn't we know whether

our sailors are in harm's way? Of course, it's an operational matter. So we are not going to reveal

either the names or who's who on a submarine like that. I don't want names. I just want to know

whether our sailors are in a submarine. It's just simply not appropriate to go into these details,

but I've just explained that we do have a personnel training through the Orcas system. As one

would expect, we've been very open about that, but for operational security reasons, the Australian

defence force does not and should not disclose specific details regarding third-country deployments.

And no one would expect this to. Minister, on evacuations from the Middle East,

is the government happy with the rate at which Australians are being able to return from the region?

We'd be happier if everyone was free to fly as they normally do. We've got very custom to

going through global hubs like Doha and Dubai. I don't know. I certainly do it semi-regally,

but in good news, there are more repatriation flights occurring. And last night, over 280

Australian passport holders landed in Sydney, and there are now four scheduled Emirates flights

to Australia from Dubai in the next 24 hours. Two planned Eddie Hub flights from Abu Dhabi

as well. And I have heard, and I hope this comes to fruition, that Katariaways has started to

organise a limited number of relief flights. Has the consular response been good enough?

Absolutely. It's been exceptional. These very difficult times. It's a conflict in the Middle

East. It's a long way from home, and there are Australians caught out, a long way from home.

And the Department of Foreign Affairs are working very hard to make sure every Australian finds

their way to a safe place, and hopefully home. They might choose to go onward elsewhere,

but in the meantime, we are keeping our people as safe as we can.

That's Federal Resources Minister Madeline King. The Federal Government has officially banned

Islamist group Hisbert Terrier under its new hate speech laws. The Government has listed

the organisation as a prohibited hate group, making it the first organisation to be captured

under the new legislation. It comes as Labour MP Ed Heussick is saying Muslims should not have to

quote beg for protection from the government, as he urges the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism

and social cohesion to also examine Islamophobia. The Labour backbencher, who's also a Muslim

Australian, has accused his party of failing to deliver on key commitments to Australians of faith.

Political reporter Sarah Tamevska has more. In a highly disciplined Labour caucus, former

minister Ed Heussick is one of few outspoken MPs. The Royal Commission is about both anti-Semitism

and social cohesion. And if there is not going to be an examination of Islamophobia, that is really

concerning. Muslim Australians should not feel like they have to beg for protection.

Ed Heussick was among the early advocates within Labour for a Royal Commission into the Bondi

Terror attack, which targeted Jewish Australians. He says the inquiry should examine Islamophobia as well.

Muslim Australians have relied on Labour governments because the other side of politics doesn't take

this issue seriously. There is a lot that's been invested in our government for the voice to be

heard and to be responded to and the protections extended. Should there be a separate Royal Commission

into Islamophobia? No, I'm not arguing that by any stretch.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza,

the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has reported a 700% surge in anti-Semitic incidents.

While the Islamophobia register of Australia has documented a 620% increase in Islamophobic incidents.

Bilal Rowe from the National Immams Council says many Muslims are disappointed by the Royal

Commission's scope. We have seen many incidents of people being verbally physically abused across

cities. So it's not as though it's an abstract or theoretical issue. Edie's happening right now

and Edie's widespread. Simone Abell from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry is happy with

the Royal Commission's terms of reference. What happened was a horrific terrorist attack,

an anti-Semitic terrorist attack that targeted Australian Jews while they were celebrating Hanukkah

and that is why the Royal Commission needs to focus on anti-Semitism.

In January, the Prime Minister shelved plans to pursue racial vilification law reforms

in the wake of the Bondi attacks due to a lack of Senate support. Instead, the Parliament passed

water down legislation that made a new offense for hate groups. Both Simone Abell and Ed Hewsiq say

those reforms should be pursued. We have now a Royal Commission that won't look at Islamophobia.

We have not done anything as a government to progress the report on racism done by the Human Rights

Commission and we have not fulfilled a commitment that we have given to provide any

felification protection. The ABC has contacted the Prime Minister's office for comment.

Sarah Tamefska reporting there.

The head of Australia's biggest independent group of remote stores says Indigenous communities

are struggling to afford enough food and it's worse than he's seen in 30 years.

That's despite half of the nation's remote community's benefiting from the federal government's

grocery subsidy scheme. Jane Barden reports from Warriwee on South Galban Island.

When families don't come into the only grocery store in the Northern Territory Indigenous

community of Warriwee, the shops manager Nathan Wood worry things are going wrong at home.

Normally people in this community of 500 on remote South Galban Island off Onamland

shop for food every day. You know there's a little young children out here that don't get to

eat every day because of the affordability costs. Last year the National Competition Watchdog

found Australian grocery prices rose 24% over the last five years. In remote areas prices are

double losing cities. A small tin of corned beef costs $10 and Warriwee store. A tin to

pie cost $17. Warriwee community leader Jenny Manmarulu. Because of the freight it cost

a fortune to bring their groceries here. Johnny Namueh is a senior Warriwee traditional owner.

The prices are too high and we can't afford to pay all that.

The not-for-profit Onamland Progress Association runs Warriwee shop and 25 other remote stores in

the Northern Territory in Queensland. Its veteran chief executive Alistair King says all their

communities are suffering. 30 years I've seen good I've seen bad but I've not seen it as difficult

as it is now. People are doing it really tough in communities. Last July the federal government

brought in its most generous ever remote food subsidy scheme. It's really helpful for people

and since that subsidy has come in we have seen people buying other things other than just the

basic groceries. Prior to the subsidy one kilo flower out here was about $3.45. It's now $1.20.

Two-thirds of the Warriwee community depend on federal government welfare payments and pensions.

Alistair King thinks the government should consider raising their centre-link payments.

Because if you think about it the social welfare does not go up like wages CPI right.

Grocery costs they go up every year and the last few years has been terrible with the cost

of living crisis. Really impacting remote customers. Warriwee community leader Jenny Manmarulu agrees.

The government have to start looking at people on centre-link to increase their wages because

it's not fair you know. Another local leader Boonuk Galaminda says remote communities need more

help to ensure their kids have a healthy future. We want to feed our children to go to school

healthy, strong every day. Warriwee community leader Jenny Manmarulu, Jane Barden our reporter

and that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Rachel Mealy.

Hi I'm Sam Hawley, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. Part of the reason Donald Trump says he's

gone to war with Iran is to destroy the nuclear threat it poses. Today Kelsey Davenport from the

Arms Control Association on why it could all lead to more nuclear weapons around the world.

Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on ABC Listen.