Australian news and politics live: NSW Police charge nine protestors from Sydney’s anti-Herzog rally

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You can read tonight’s edition of The Nightly below:

Spy agency ASIO issued a very strong pre-emptive rebuttal statement ahead of the ABC airing a Four Corners episode on Monday night about intelligence failings in the lead-up to the Bondi terror attack.

Ultimately, the episode and associated online stories incorporated much of the lengthy response, in which ASIO questioned the sources for the reporting and claimed there were “significant errors of fact”.

ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks described it as “a very strong statement” under questioning in Senate estimates on Tuesday.

“But I think the program stood up for itself. It was transparent. It raised matters simply in a way that I think warranted further discussion, particularly at a Royal Commission,” he said.

“We can all assess the program on its own merits.

“I think the program was transparent about where we were one source or not. It was transparent about the various points of contact and what were reasonable decisions at the time.”

He also revealed that ASIO had written to him and got his email address wrong in doing so.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young was incredulous.

“I think it says more about ASIO if they can’t even get the email address of the managing director of the ABC right, how closely, they’re looking at detail,” she said.

Mr Marks said there had been no further contact or complaints since the program aired.

ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks is facing a grilling at Senate estimates this afternoon, largely from Liberal senator Sarah Henderson and the Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young.

Senator Henderson asked several sets of questions about the documentary Silenced, which aired at the Sundance film festival and looks at how human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson fights against the use of defamation laws globally to silence survivors.

The Australian has reported that lawyers for former senator Linda Reynolds sent the filmmakers a warning of possible defamation action if the documentary contained any suggestion she had sought to prevent Brittany Higgins from airing her rape complaint.

Mr Marks said the ABC would ensure the documentary is subject to its usual editorial reviews, including canvassing possible defamation, before it airs on the public broadcaster.

“Obviously, defamation is something that we cannot contemplate,” he said, while emphasising that he had not read the film’s script.

“I would imagine that it deals with general topics of women’s experiences around the world. Again, I haven’t seen the program, so it’s not safe to make assumptions.”

He later updated the committee that “there is no mention of (former senior staffer) Fiona Brown or Linda Reynolds in the documentary”, according to the ABC’s head of corporate partnerships and development.

The ABC contributed $340,000 to the documentary, or 14 per cent of the project’s budget.

It will be able to air it after the cinema release, which is likely to have a year-long window.

There was no hiding Anthony Albanese or his romping 94-seat majority’s hubris on Tuesday as the Liberal Party braced for a leadership challenge within days.

The Prime Minister’s frontbencher Clare O’Neil was more brazen online with her overconfidence.

The housing minister posting a photo on several of her social media accounts after a morning pilates session captioned: “Smashed a Pilates class, now I’m going to smash some Liberals”.

The post had been deleted by 5.20pm on Tuesday after a string of criticism in her comment sections.

Mr Albanese also mimed a fishing motion at the dispatch box during Question Time, drawing a reaction from the Opposition following their earlier concerns about urgent care clinics.

It followed teasing from himself and members of his frontbench that Angus Taylor can’t count amid speculation he’s canvasing numbers for a leadership contest.

Opposition frontbencher Melissa McIntosh has described Tuesday’s joint party room as “boring” because Liberals and Nationals just spoke about legislation.

It comes as calls mount for leader aspirant Angus Taylor to resign from the frontbench on Wednesday, paving the way for him to challenge the first female leader of the Liberal Party.

“We had a really boring joint party room today where we welcomed the (Nationals) back in the party room and we spoke about legislation,” Ms McIntosh said.

“So, I know everyone’s getting a bit feverish about it out here in the media, but we are actually getting on with the job, and there hasn’t been any talk today.

“I think if anyone has intention to run as leader. They do need to, to make that clear.”

She accused the media of stirring up the speculation.

NSW Police confirmed nine people have been charged over Monday’s protest in Sydney’s CBD.

Police say 27 people were arrested at the scene after a number of “scuffles” broke out.

The youngest person arrested was a 19-year-old man who has been charged with assaulting a police officer while in the execution of their duty causing actual bodily harm.

Majority of those arrested were in their 20s. The oldest person arrested was a 67-year-old man who was charged with behaving in an offensive manner in/near a public place/school.

All nine people were charged with either assault or public order related offences.

Five members of the public were taken to hospital and two officers were treated at the scene.

Protest organiser Josh Lees says another rally will go ahead in Sydney’s inner city tonight following violent clashes between police and demonstrators in the CBD.

The planned protest comes after 27 people were arrested and 10 police officers were assaulted during demonstrations in the city on Monday night.

Mr Lees told ABC Sydney on Tuesday morning that the unrest reflected the level of public anger over the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

He said a further rally, planned for outside Surry Hills Police Station at 5.30pm, was being organised in response to what he described as “police brutality”.

NSW Police confirmed they are aware of the planned assembly but said organisers have not lodged an application.

“The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly,” a police spokesperson said.

“However, the first priority for NSW Police is always the safety and security of the wider community.”

Police warned they would not tolerate unlawful behaviour and urged anyone attending the protest to follow police directions and stay safe.

The Prime Minister has again urged politicians and the community to “turn the temperature down” as he called for nuance in the debate over the Middle East.

“President Herzog is here in Australia to offer sympathy and solidarity to people who are mourning and offer his support to members of Australia’s Jewish community. He has said – to quote him – that his visit is ‘in the spirit of solidarity, friendship and love’,” Anthony Albanese said in response to a question from Greens MP Libby Watson-Brown asking him to send the Israeli leader home.

“There is a need this country, as well for some nuance in this debate. The debate is not advanced by people thinking it’s like a football team, where you have to support 100 per cent one side or the other side. That does not advance peace.

“I believe very strongly that we need to engage with both Israelis and Palestinians as we go forward.”

2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame should be stripped of her honour for leading pro-Palestine protesters in chanting “globalise the intifada”, veteran MP Barnaby Joyce says.

The chant has become commonplace at pro-Palestine demonstrations the world over and is widely deemed anti-Semitic for its violent connotations. It has been banned in Queensland and a similar ban is being discussed in NSW.

“We have to continue to mobilise, and we have to continue to globalise,” Ms Tame told crowds rallying against the Israeli President’s visit in Sydney on Monday.

“Say it with me, from Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada.”

Mr Joyce said on Tuesday she should “100 per cent” lose her award, which she received for fierce advocacy for survivors of sexual assault.

“You have a responsibility when given an honour by the Australian people to basically conduct yourself in a way that inspires the harmonious nature of Australia,” the Nationals-turned-One Nation MP told Sky News.

“We are not … softies, but we have an (egalitarianism), we have a robustness, we have a cheek about us, but we do not inspire this sort of division, this hate.

“The form of her words, if it’s followed through, brings about the death of people.

“People will be, on the premise of their, of their religion, of their race, they will be murdered.”

- NCA

Communication Minister Anika Wells has defended an additional $10 million spent on an awareness campaign for Australia’s social media ban.

The extra cost brings the total taxpayer bill to explain the policy to $20 million, according to evidence by department officials in a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday morning.

Ms Wells conceded that Aussies were still confused after the first round of advertising, so a decision was made in late 2025 to up the budget.

“There have been decisions taken over the second half of the last year in response to feedback on the ground,” Ms Wells claimed.

“People like the Opposition, for example, were saying that not enough Australians were aware of what was coming, that people needed to inform themselves, and one of the ways that we help Australians inform themselves about laws that are going to impact them, is an educational awareness campaign.”