Political shockwave as German far-right party surges

0:00ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Good morning, welcome to AM It's Monday 7 September. I'm Rachel Mealy coming to you from the lands of the Turbul and Jaggera people in Brisbane. Germany's far right party, alternative for Deutschland or AFD, is on the cusp of an historic electoral victory which could cause a political upheaval across Europe. The party has surged into first place in state elections in Saxony on hold, voters responding positively to its anti-immigration policies. Europe correspondent Elias Clua is in London. Elias, why is this result so significant? Well, this has wide-reaching political ramifications in Germany. So it looks like AFD, the alternative for Deutschland, is on track to win this state election in Saxony on hold in the east of Germany in a landslide exit poll show.

1:01They'll get about 44% of the vote, but that's probably not enough for them to govern in their own right. It looks like they'll fall about two to three seats short of a full majority. So this is where things get interesting. In Germany at the moment, there's what's called the firewall policy. The major parties have established this and it's basically them saying we will refuse to govern in a coalition with the AFD, the far right party, the AFD. Now, the AFD is banking on defections from the main centre-right party, the Christian Democratic Union, the CDU. The CDU is run nationally by Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz who is growing increasingly unpopular. And if there is a breach or the firewall just falls apart, his leadership is in serious jeopardy. This is also significant, Rachel, though, for the historical context because it's the first time a far right party has won a major election in Germany

2:05since the end of World War II. And Elias, tell us about the AFD. Who are they? And what are some of their policies? They are unashamedly far right of the political spectrum, Rachel. Some of their policies include a mass deportation programme of migrants. They've also proposed segregating classrooms on immigration status and learning needs. They have dismissed climate science. They want to roll back LGBTQ rights. They are also Eurosceptics. So there's talk of them introducing a referendum if they're elected nationally to exit the EU. Look, at this stage, they could potentially walk away from governing, even though they'll win in a landslide. But what is clear here, Rachel, is that Germany's political landscape is changing and the far right is well and truly on the rise. Elias, Clua reporting.

3:06Some of Australia's leading legal minds believe there's a significant prospect of the high court overturning the Federal Government's recent ban on the nation's most high profile, the Onazzi Group. A victory in the nation's highest court for white Australia, also known as the National Socialist Network, could be embarrassing for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. It would also pave the way for the white supremacist group to form its planned political party in a blaze of publicity. Lucy Carter reports. Go, all up! We're going fast! The sound of white supremacists chanting at a far right free speech rally in central Melbourne on August 30. Many are furious that the Federal Government's cracked down on hate speech and its ban on the neo-Nazi group white Australia. That group, which claims it was about to launch a political party, is now heading to the high court. Constitutional law expert Ann Tumi says it's a fight the government may not win. A lot of those laws were rushed through and this one in particular I don't think it

4:09had sufficient scrutiny. Professor Tumi says the hate speech laws introduced in the wake of last year's Bondi Beach terror attack a vague. And she believes the high court will ask the question if the laws are good for Australia in the long term. If you get beyond looking at the particular plaintiff which many people would find apparent, if you move beyond that and you look at, well, what does this legislation do? And if it's on the books and if it's held to be constitutionally valid, how could that be used in the future against all sorts of different groups? Hello constitutional law expert Professor Anthony Gray agrees. It's easy to defend Fredma speech for people whose views are what we call reasonable law. Views with which we agree. It becomes challenging when we're dealing with an organisation or with people who express views with which we may disagree. Professor Tumi says there is relevant legal precedent from when the federal government

5:09attempted to ban the Communist Party in the 1950s. It is possible and it has happened before to the extent that the Minty's government did find its legislation was found to be constitutionally invalid by the high court. New South Wales Labour MP Stephen Lawrence has publicly criticised the hate speech laws and is worried white Australia leader Thomas Sewell is about to get more undeserved publicity. Imagine the optics. Thomas Sewell launching the White Australia Party on the steps of the high court after having a big win there where we will be handing these people a political gift. A spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he was not able to provide any comment while the case was ongoing. The high court will hear the matter tomorrow and Wednesday with judgement expected at a later date. Lucy Carter reporting. The chair of the body set up by the Christian brothers to run its schools has indicated its considering permanently breaking away from the Catholic order that's been plagued by abuse claims for decades.

6:10The trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia also say the Christian brothers asked the school's body for money to help support elderly brothers without telling them that could include eight convicted pedophiles. Four corners Louise Milligan has this exclusive report. In the Victorian Goldfields Regional City of Ballarat, Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson saw the impacts of Christian brothers' crimes again and again. He carries with him the sadness of premature deaths and suicides of people who were educated by the Catholic order. Tell me what it's like to have to break the news to mothers of sons who have suicide because of abuse by the Christian brothers. Yeah, it's one of the saddest things that a policeman can do. The former detective has been horrified by the Christian brothers' recent conduct after they announced in June they were facing insolvency, leaving survivors stranded.

7:10One month after court proceedings against the Christian brothers were put on hold, the trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia, which took over the brothers' schools, agreed to step in as defendant in child abuse litigation against the order. Stephen Brown is the chair of the trustees and he's being interviewed for the first time. I'm here to say clearly to the victims of others and their support and people we are going to be working with them. While the trustees say they will take responsibility for the claims, four corners can reveal that the relationship between the two bodies has become fractured. The brothers told the New South Wales Supreme Court that they had met with the trustees and other Catholic entities earlier this year to tell them they were facing insolvency and ask for financial support. But Stephen Brown says the first time he found out about the true financial picture was three and a half months later. I would certainly remember that.

8:11I do not recall that matter being prosecuted in terms of insolvency. Stephen Brown says the only thing he recalls the Christian brothers asking for was $1.5 million to help support the living costs of elderly brothers. He says they did not tell him the order was also paying for the living costs of eight brothers in the community who are convicted pedophiles. To ask Australian taxpayers and fee-paying parents to pay for the living of convicted pedophiles, how would you characterise that request? We will not be seeing any of that money being supportive of Christian brothers who are pedophiles. The relationship between the two bodies has become so strained that the trustees now tell four corners they are looking at breaking away from the brothers altogether.

9:16The Christian brothers did not address this in their response to four corners. Their statement said, No taxpayer funds or school fees paid by parents will be used for the future care and living needs of any Christian brothers. Louise Milligan reporting and you can watch the full story tonight at 830 on ABC TV or any time on I View. And if you're in an abusive situation or know someone who is called 1-800-RESPECT, that's 1-800-737-732. In Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed at least seven people on Sunday in retaliation for what the military says were, Hezbollah drone attacks fired at Israeli soldiers. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire with the Lebanese government, the Israeli military is still operating in southern Lebanon where attacks have continued since the agreement in June this year. Middle East correspondent Caitlin Kelly reports.

10:16A body wrapped in a blue blanket is pulled through the rubble as men search among the wreckage of another Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. Smoke below the valley below the town of Arab Salim after Israeli attacks on Sunday killed at least two women and injured six. In an area outside the Israeli occupied security zone Abbas Hadar stands in the ruins of his brothers home. The Israeli military said it issued an evacuation warning to the area around a building they claimed was used by Hezbollah. Abbas says his brother lived abroad and the house was still under construction. May God have mercy on those who died in Arab Salim, martyrs who have nothing to do with anything. This is a civilian's home, whose owner is not here, so there is definitely nothing inside. In total across southern Lebanon at least seven people were killed and 20 injured on Sunday

11:17according to the Lebanese health ministry. Instructs the IDF said were retaliation for drones fired by Hezbollah at Israeli soldiers operating inside Lebanon. The Israeli military called it a blatant violation by the militant group without reporting any casualties as a result of the incident. Earlier this year the US broke a ceasefire between the Israeli and Lebanese governments, but Hezbollah was not part of those negotiations and the Israeli military continues to hold an occupied territory in southern Lebanon. In the town of Nabatiy al-Fakquat two people were killed and two injured and the out of service Ghandur Hospital destroyed where the IDF claimed the Hezbollah command center had been established. In the nearby city of Nabatiy al-Fakquat, often described as a Hezbollah stronghold, Meir Abbas Fakar al-Din expressed outrage describing damage to the government buildings. This is a crime in every sense of the word. The Lebanese state must take action and at the very least defend its institutions.

12:18Lebanese President Joseph Owen condemned the strikes branding Sunday's events a dangerous escalation. More than 4,000 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since the 2nd of March when Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of Iran. This is Katelyn Kelly in Jerusalem, reporting for AM. The federal government's push for social media platforms to do more to keep Australians safe online will ramp up this week with draft laws for a digital duty of care set to be unveiled. But the proposal to give users greater choice over what they see in their feeds is already facing pushback, with the opposition voicing censorship concerns as the Greens call for Labor to go further to hold big tech companies to account. Here's political reporter Lexi Junowik. Social media algorithms decide what you see when you scroll, but amid growing concern their feeding content that's causing real world harm, the government is moving to force

13:21social media companies to give Australians greater choice. It's due to release draft legislation for a digital duty of care this week. I think it's a struggle moved by the government. Dr Joanne Orlando is a leading digital wellbeing researcher. The algorithms are at the core of all the issues that we're having with social media. It's understood that while the government wants to make it the law for big tech to give users the choice of what they see in their feeds, whether an opt-in or opt-out mechanism is used for algorithms will be up to the platforms. Dr Orlando, an associate professor at Western Sydney University, says the choice to opt-in to a personalized feed is the safer option. So that means everyone would buy default, get what they're called like a generic feed. So it's still not going to be 100% perfect and safe, because there's still collecting a lot of data about us from all the third-party apps. Under Labor's proposal, tech companies would be responsible for minimizing and preventing

14:22harm on their platforms, or face hefty fines of up to $100 million if they don't. The opposition is yet to land on a position on the plan. Well, firstly, I'd like to see the detail of what the government is proposing. Liberal Front Benscher, John O'Donion, believes more needs to be done to tackle algorithms, but he and others in the coalition, including opposition leader Angus Taylor, a concerned Labor's proposal could threaten freedom of speech. Back when we did deal with the hate laws in the Parliament, there was that very difficult task of balancing free speech with, of course, the need to protect community from insidious and terrible activities that take place online. As the government denies its looking to censor the internet, the Greens are pushing for a commitment to an opt-in model for algorithms, as advocated for by T-Chust Consent Chief Executive, Chanel Contos. Sarah Hansen Young is the minor party's communications spokesperson. If there was a genuine opt-in on algorithms, it would give the choice back to the individual.

15:27This is actually about freedom. The government's push to hold social media companies to account will be a key theme this sitting fortnight. With communications Minister Anneke Wells also urging Parliament to pass a bill to strengthen Australia's social media age restrictions for under 16s. Lexi Dunawik reporting, parents of young people who've taken their own lives and Australia's top mental health experts say states and territories need to lift their game in suicide prevention services for this cohort. They point to crisis support services being unavailable, a disconnect between the public and private systems, and the traumatising effect of putting young people in adult psychiatric facilities without family involvement. A group of parents is launching a campaign for reform this month ahead of the New South Wales election next year. But experts say the changes are needed across most of the country. Catherine Gregory reports. Sydney Mother, so if you read Hamilton, says the hardest thing about her 18-year-old son's

16:31mental illness, was seeing him pushed into an adult psychiatric service. Adult services are just not suitable for young people. Little in adolescence, and in some cases they can actually make things worse. Her son died at 19 years old in late 2024, and she feels he was failed by the state's mental health system, particularly crisis care support. The service landscape was so fragmented, and when we needed that, the right help, it just wasn't there. She's part of a group called Parents for Crisis Care Reform, a nonpartisan parent-led advocacy group working to improve crisis support for young people. Ahead of the upcoming New South Wales election, the group is calling for the next government to invest in a six-point reform package for the sector. The big one, recognising the age of 12 to 25 as a specific youth cohort that has dedicated youth crisis responses. This includes mobile support, hospital in the home. Third, we need safe alternatives to emergency departments.

17:32Fourth, we need youth-specific inpatient units for 12 to 25-year-olds that are staffed by specialists. The group also wants coordinated care between different types of services and between the public and private psychiatric systems, as well as including families in the patient's treatment. The Commonwealth recently invested in services such as Headspace and some youth specialist centres. But both Sophie Reed Hamilton and other experts say there are gaps at a state level. Sadly, state governments have been asleep at the wheel, and as a result, we've seen a lot of tragedies, preventable deaths. Professor Patrick McGarry heads up Youth Mental Health Service Origin. So the state government should really be developing immediately widespread hospital in the home teams for young people, so that young people can be treated not in emergency departments or acute units which can be very traumatising. Patrick McGarry backs the campaign's reforms, saying suicide is the biggest cause of preventable death among young people. And with the upcoming elections in New South Wales and Victoria, he says those governments

18:34must commit to acute mental health care. You have some obsolete adolescent units around the place, which only go up to 18, and the coverage really needs to go up to 20, 25, like the federal government has recognised even 20 years ago. In a statement, the New South Wales Minister for Mental Health, Rose Jackson, said her government has recently bolstered investment in mental health by 20%. The bulk for community-based services such as Kids Helpline and contributing to the Commonwealth's youth community living support services. While a Victorian government spokesperson said its state leads the way with mental health, but it's still investing in services. Catherine Gregory reporting, and that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Rachel Mealy. I'm Sam Hawley here, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. China Shop 2.0 has begun. While China Shop 1 saw cheap goods flood the world, this is all about cutting-edge technology and AI.

19:36Today, David Otter, the economist who helped coin the phrase China Shop, and one of the time magazines' most influential people of 2026, on weather nations, including Australia, are ready for it. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on ABC Listen.