Australian news and politics live: Expelled Iranian diplomat bids farewell as he is forced to leave Australia

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been grilled on Australia’s detoriating relationship with the United States and Israel by Nationals MP Kevin Hogan.

Mr Albanese said he found it extraordinary that the question was being asked in the presence of US Congressman Jason Smith.

He referred to the comments of Deputy Prime Minister Pete Hegseth, who said the disussions with Richard Marles were very clearly about the countries’ governments and the way they deal with serious issues.

The PM cited his own experience as leader of the Opposition when Scott Morrison was Prime Minister, and how his shadow cabinet dealt with the AUKUS arrangements.

“That is how we dealt with the US relationship. We continue to be proud of the fact that the relationship with the United States is our most important and it is extraordinary you would come in here and attempt to undermine it,” Mr Albanese said.

Question Time has turned dicey after Liberl MP Angus Taylor questioned if Deputy Prime Minister Pete Hegseth’s meeting with Richard Marles was nothing more than a “photo opportunity”.

Mr Hegseth responded by saying even the Pentagon made it clear that the meeting was “coordinated in advance” and hit out over attempts to undermine it.

“What we have heard through the course of this week is those opposite firstly suggesting it was not going to be a meeting at all, then a little bit of a debate about whether it’s a meeting or whether it’s a happenstance, presumably those opposite think the photos have been published or magically generated by AI,” Mr Hegseth said.

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Liberal leader Sussan Ley has asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese why the government rejected advice to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation more than two years ago.

The PM repeated his response from yeseterday, that the advice received on Monday was acted upon on Tuesday.

Ms Ley raised a point of relevance, calling the PM to focus his response on the advice from two years ago.

The PM said his response was backed up by forensic intelligence provided by ASIO and its partners, and had landed him congratulations, for its swiftness and decisiveness.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed US Congressman Jason Smith to the House of Representatives.

“I look forward to continuing to work with congressman Smith, other members of congress, in the Senate, members of the US administration, including President Trump and I think your presence here is just a further indication, just coming a couple of weeks after the Australian American leadership dialogue,” Mr Albanese said.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley echoed the PM’s welcome.

“My electorate like yours has farming as its backbone and Australia and America share a deep tradition of excellence in agriculture. Congressman, I want to pass on the deep thanks from the opposition for making the time to be here in Canberra, to visit our Parliament today,” Ms Ley said.

Question Time has begun with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledging the grief Australians are feeling for the two police officers, Detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson and senior constable Vadim De Waart, killed on Tuesday.

“As a Parliament, as a country, we offer our deepest condolence to all whose worlds have been shattered by this horrific shooting. Our heart goes out to everyone whose heart is breaking,” Mr Albanese said.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the deaths are a “heartbreaking tragedy”.

“The deaths of these men is a heartbreaking tragedy that touched us all. Today our nation grieves for these officers who have lost their lives, their families, their friends, and their colleagues,” Ms Ley said.

“We must recommit ourselves to stronger action to cure the sickness that has seized the outer most fringes of society. And we must re-affirm our love and support for every single member of our brave police forces across Australia.”

With just hours left before his deadline to leave the country, Iran’s top diplomat to Australia was seen waving and bidding farewell to journalists as he departed.

Ahmad Sadeghi was publicly expelled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday.

It came after ASIO advised that a joint investigation with AFP had found the Middle Eastern regime was behind a series of anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne late last year.

Photographed outside his Canberra residence on Thursday afternoon, the envoy told reporters: “I love Australian people,” before adding: “Bye bye.”

Mr Sadeghi and three other Iranian diplomats in Australia were declared “persona non grata”.

Cricket great Usman Khawaja has urged the prime minister to act with courage and sanction Israel.

Mr Khawaja spoke with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Parliament House about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and gambling reform.

Although their meeting was initially cancelled due to scheduling conflicts, they found a new time on Thursday, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Prior to the face-to-face, the Australian batsman revealed he had voted for Labor at the May federal election and had faith in Mr Albanese.

“I actually have a lot of love and a lot of respect for the prime minister .... at times he’s 100 per cent shown courage,” Mr Khawaja told reporters in Canberra.

“It takes a little bit more courage to go for the next step and have sanctions, and I genuinely believe Prime Minister Albanese is the man to have the courage and do that.

“He’s shown that he’s got, (for lack of) better words, the cojones to go out there and do it.”

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Independent MP Bob Katter has threatened to “punch blokes in the mouth” after a journalist referenced his Lebanese background during a fiery press conference in Brisbane.

The long-serving member for Kennedy was speaking in support of the anti-immigration “March for Australia” rallies scheduled for 31 August when the confrontation erupted.

After Mr Katter had said he wanted to see people deported for attending a pro-Palestine rally, Nine News reporter Josh Bavas interjected: “You’ve got Lebanese heritage yourself … ”

Mr Katter immediately cut him off.

“I punch blokes in the mouth for saying that, don’t you dare say that,” he shot back.

The MP then refused to take any further questions from Mr Bavas.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has unveiled plans to abolish another 500 so-called “nuisance tariffs,” taking the Albanese Government’s tally to nearly 1,000 scrapped in just two years, more than any government in two decades.

Mr Chalmers said the cuts, now open for consultation until December 10, would streamline $23 billion worth of trade and save businesses about $157 million in compliance costs.

“These nuisance tariffs often do more harm than good,” he said.

“They push up compliance costs, they push up prices, and it often costs more to comply than the government raises.”

The opposition is calling on Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles to “come clean” on whether he had a formal meeting with his US counterpart in Washington this week after a Pentagon spokesperson reportedly said they did not.

Mr Marles, who is also Defence Minister, set off to the US this week for high-level meetings, including with US Vice President JD Vance.

He posted photos of himself, Mr Vance and Mr Hegseth all together, praising the Australia-US alliance as “longstanding, built on our shared history of deep collaboration”.

But a US defence spokesperson said overnight the photos did not show a meeting but “a happenstance encounter”, according to Nine.

The Australian also reported that there was no formal meeting set up and that Mr Marles cancelled his scheduled press conference before flying back to Australia.

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