PM says Australia ‘volunteered’ support to remove former prince Andrew from line of succession
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, and said he would support former prince Andrew being removed from the line of succession.
Albanese was asked on RN Breakfast directly if he believes Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the line of succession. The prime minister said:
I certainly do. And I think that Australians will as well. These are very serious allegations. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will face the full force of the law.
I’ve written to prime minister Keir Starmer and I’ve engaged with him as well directly overnight to confirm that my government would agree to any proposal to remove him from the line of royal commitment secession.
Albanese said he wasn’t asked to provide his position to the UK, but had “volunteered” it. He said of his conversation with Starmer:
We engaged, and he thanked me for our position.
Key events
Albanese adds a new high-speed rail line would unlock housing, create thousands of jobs and add billions in new economic activity along the Sydney to Newcastle corridorr.
“It would be a game-changer for economic growth and productivity,” he told RN.
Read more here:
PM sympathises with children stuck in Syria, but lays blame for their situation on parents
Albanese is also speaking about the group of women and children linked to Islamic State fighters who remain in Syria.
The prime minister is maintaining that the government “is not and will not repatriate” the group of Australian citizens, but when asked if their return to the country was inevitable, he said:
They will have decisions to make. And for those people who potentially are facing charges, should they return to Australia, they’ll be considering that issue as well. But we are not repatriating them.
Australian citizens do have rights, of course, and we’ve said that as well. But if any do return, it won’t be with Australian government support.
Albanese said he sympathises with the children who are in Syria, but said they had been “put in that position by their parents”.
That is something that the Australian government didn’t do. We, of course, had very clear warnings. …
They made that decision. There are consequences for it. And those consequences are that the Australian government’s position is that we are not going to provide support for them to be repatriated, and that if they do return, then they will face the full consequences of their action to the full force of the law.
PM says Australia ‘volunteered’ support to remove former prince Andrew from line of succession
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, and said he would support former prince Andrew being removed from the line of succession.
Albanese was asked on RN Breakfast directly if he believes Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the line of succession. The prime minister said:
I certainly do. And I think that Australians will as well. These are very serious allegations. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will face the full force of the law.
I’ve written to prime minister Keir Starmer and I’ve engaged with him as well directly overnight to confirm that my government would agree to any proposal to remove him from the line of royal commitment secession.
Albanese said he wasn’t asked to provide his position to the UK, but had “volunteered” it. He said of his conversation with Starmer:
We engaged, and he thanked me for our position.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take things over. Let’s dive in to the morning’s news.
Jordyn Beazley
Peter Malinauskas says economic inequality driving One Nation support
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has said he thinks economic inequality rather than racism is the main driver attracting voters towards the One Nation party.
Malinauskas appeared on the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday evening, where he was asked about polling in South Australia showing that the party is no longer considered a fringe option. Despite One Nation experiencing a surge, polling has consistently shown Labor is headed for a collosal win ahead of the election next month.
Malinauskas said the most “profound” issue attracting interest in One Nation is the housing shortage. He said:
“There are legitimate grievances. I think much of them arrive from a sense of economic inequality, a sense of economic opportunity being at risk for future generations, and genuine concerns about that, which is why the best thing parties of government can do, and obviously I count Labor as one of those, is to focus on the policy that will make a difference and seek to prosecute the argument for those policies.”
He was also asked if he thinks “there is racism against Muslims in Australia” that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is “successfully tapping into”.
He said: “While there might be people on the fringes who share a different view, the vast majority of Australians don’t share those views.”
Southern Austereo boss goes after two months
Jeff Howard has stepped down as chief executive of the merged Seven West Media and Southern Cross entity Southern Austereo after only two months in the job.
Howard was appointed boss the new company but has gone just before new financial results are published.
A statement said he would step down “effective immediately”.
Heath Mackay-Cruise became chairman on Friday after Seven’s founder, Kerry Stokes, finished up in his role of interim chair of the merged entity.
In a statement, Mackay-Cruise said:
On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Jeff for his efforts across the period of transition, with the successful implementation of the scheme of arrangement [for the merger] and creation of a market-leading, multi-platform media company now complete.
The board is confident in our team’s capability to apply the financial discipline and industry leading expertise to drive scale and performance for Southern Cross Media Group going forward.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney to visit Australia next month
Tom McIlroy
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, will visit Australia early next month and make a major address to federal parliament.
Anthony Albanese confirmed Carney’s visit – locked in for 3-6 March – would include talks about closer economic and security cooperation.
Carney will visit Sydney and Canberra during the visit.
While in Australia, he will discuss cooperation on investment, economic security, critical minerals and defence. Stronger links between key institutions in Canada and Australia will also be on the agenda.
“Canada is one of Australia’s closest friends, built on generations of trust, with a shared commitment to supporting stability across the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” Albanese said.
“As our countries face new challenges and opportunities, we must deepen our cooperation with partners to promote our national interests.
“I look forward to discussing ways to build on our existing cooperation with Canada to shape the next stage of this key relationship.”
Poll shows One Nation surge
The latest Capital Brief/DemosAU federal poll shows One Nation’s continued surge in support.
The poll of 1,551 respondents was conducted between 16 February and 20 – days after Angus Taylor replaced Sussan Ley as leader of the opposition.
But there was no noticeable immediate impact from the change: the numbers show Labor on 29% (down 1% from January), One Nation on 28% (up 4%) and the Coalition on 21% (unchanged). The Greens and “others” were down.
Anthony Albanese leads on the preferred prime minister leaderboard on 37% (down 2) followed by Pauline Hanson on 25% (down 1) and Taylor on 19% (up 3 on Ley’s final poll).
But Albanese has a net positive rating of -17%, with 29% of voters having a positive view of the PM, compared with 46% who had a negative view. Hanson’s rating is -1% (37% positive, 38% negative) and Taylor’s is -4% (24% positive, 28% negative). Ley’s last approval rating was -18%.
DemosAU made a (very rough) seat projection based on the data and reckons it amounts to a strong Labor majority, and an absolute rout for the Coalition, who at best would score 20 seats: possibly as few as nine. One Nation would be the new opposition with 43-54 seats, up against Labor’s 76-85.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, will travel to Australia early next month as part of a broader Asia-Pacific tour aimed at diversifying trade links amid ongoing tariff turbulence from the US Trump administration. More in a moment.
The first public hearing of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion will start today with commissioner and former high court judge Virginia Bell to reveal how she will approach the inquiry. More coming up.
And a new federal poll has One Nation just one point behind Labor and seven points ahead of the Coalition, in more evidence that the party has hit an electoral purple patch.
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