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>>24443557

Anthony Albanese calls for 'more certainty' on US objectives in Iran war

Tom Lowrey and Paul Johnson - 30 March 2026

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on US President Donald Trump to commit to an end for the Iran War as global fuel prices continue to spiral.

Mr Albanese had earlier said he wanted "more certainty" from the US on its objectives in Iran, especially after Mr Trump's three stated ones had been met.

In the weeks since the conflict broke out the federal government has offered support for the United States' actions, arguing it is important to prevent Iran building a nuclear weapon, and to weaken the regime's capacity to threaten global security.

"I note the president today has said that there has been regime change," Mr Albanese told 7.30.

"I think the president is in a position whereby he can claim that he has achieved the objectives that he set out to."

Mr Trump has in recent days spoken of putting troops on the ground in the US but Mr Albanese called for the opposite, as the world battles skyrocketing fuel prices that have been caused by Iran slowing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

"I want to see a recognition of the economic damage that this conflict is continuing to result in," Mr Albanese said.

"I want to see an end or a de-escalation to the conflict."

He said the economic pain the world and Australia was in was of particular concern to him.

"This has had a devastating impact and that tail will continue for some time.

"Quite clearly there is a need to see an end point. I think that's what people want to see."

Asked if his comments represented a rift between Australia and the US, the prime minister denied that was the case.

"Not at all," he told 7.30.

"We have a very constructive relationship personally, myself and President Trump."

Regime change difficult to achieve, PM warns

Mr Albanese said if the goal was the downfall of the Iranian regime, that could be a very difficult proposition.

"At the beginning of the conflict the objectives were outlined as one: stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, which has been clearly achieved," he said.

"Secondly, degrading the opportunity that Iran has for engaging in military action, either overt or through its proxies in Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Clearly there has been a substantial degrading of Iran's position.

"The third was regime change and I think that, very clearly, history tells us that regime change imposed from outside is very difficult."

Thousands of US marines and sailors have been sent to the region as US President Donald Trump reportedly weighs the next steps.

Mr Albanese said he would like to see the end of the "abhorrent and reprehensible" Iranian regime, but called on the US to be clear as to whether that is what it is pursuing.

"Whether that is going to occur or not is something that I think needs to be outlined," he said.

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Liberal leader avoids weighing in

Earlier, Opposition leader Angus Taylor avoided offering any significant commentary on the conflict other than observing that Australians facing rising fuel bills want to see the Strait of Hormuz reopened.

Shadow Industry Minister Andrew Hastie — a former contender for Liberal leader — yesterday described the war as a "huge miscalculation" and said Australia had a right to ask "hard questions" on the conflict.

When asked this morning if the war was a mistake, Mr Taylor said it was important it came to an end.

"We absolutely want to see the Strait of Hormuz opened up," he said.

"We want to see that happen straight away. You know why? Because that will bring down the price of fuel at the bowser.

"So we want America to succeed in those endeavours."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/albanese-calls-for-certainty-on-us-objectives-in-iran-war/106513202

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKgQU–Aks

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>>23939208 (pb)

>>24360128

Five social media platforms investigated over compliance with under-16 ban

Maani Truu and Nicole Asher - 31 March 2026

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Five social media platforms are being investigated by the government's online safety watchdog for potentially failing to comply with the ban on users under 16, almost four months after the world-leading laws came into force.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are being investigated for "potential noncompliance" with the ban, Communications Minister Anika Wells revealed.

An update on the ban, released by the eSafety commissioner, has identified a range of what it called poor practices that encouraged children and teens to access the platforms.

The report detailed examples of social media companies allowing underage users to repeatedly attempt age assurance until they pass, and failing to do enough to stop teenagers and children from opening new accounts after being kicked off.

As a result, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the commission was "moving into an enforcement stance".

"These platforms can comply today, and we certainly expect companies operating in Australia to comply with our safety laws," she said.

"They can choose to do so or face escalating consequences, including profound reputational erosion with governments and consumers globally."

The update also alleged that some companies had failed to introduce clear and effective mechanisms for parents and other people to report underage users.

An eSafety Commission survey of 898 parents, conducted at the tail end of January, found about a third of children still had social media accounts, down from half before the ban kicked in.

Of under-16s who had accounts before the ban, between 60 and 70 per cent had managed to stay on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok, the survey revealed, while just under 50 per cent still had an account with YouTube.

"That isn't the law failing, that isn't Australian parents or Australian kids not complying, that is big tech taking the piss, to be honest," Ms Wells said.

"We would have liked to see a drop [in] those figures and the fact that we're not seeing a drop in those figures is why I'm here telling you we are moving from investigations to enforcement because big tech needs to do better."

To continue to do business in Australia, the minister said the companies had to obey Australian law.

"If eSafety finds these companies have systemically failed to uphold their legal obligations then I expect the commissioner to throw the book at them," she said.

Social media giants face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to take reasonable steps to comply with the ban, but there is no penalty for parents or children who go around it.

Tech breaches no 'speeding fine'

Inman Grant said gathering enough evidence to show companies had not taken reasonable steps to comply with the ban would take time.

A decision on whether the first five investigations will lead to enforcement action is not expected until the middle of the year.

Ms Wells defended the time frame, telling reporters it "isn't a police officer issuing a speeding find on the spot".

"This is world-leading law that requires the eSafety commissioner to go to the Federal Court of Australia and to do that we need to build the evidence base," she said.

To build a case against the social media giants, Dr Inman Grant said the commission had to have sufficient evidence that they had failed to introduce systems and processes to make the ban work.

"That means more than simply demonstrating some children do still have accounts," she said.

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A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it had made clear that accurately determining a users age was "a challenge for the whole industry", but that it was committed to complying with the laws.

"The most effective, privacy protective and consistent approach is to require robust age verification and parental approval at the app store and operating system level before a teen can download an app or create an account," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"In the meantime, we’ll keep investing in enforcement to detect and remove under-16 accounts and support parents, while advocating for a system that’s workable in practice and delivers better safety outcomes for young people."

When the ban was introduced on December 10, teenagers used social media to brag about still being able to access their accounts. At the time, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman-Grant said there had been "teething issues" as platforms deployed new age-assurance technologies.

The following month, the government revealed that more than 4.7 million accounts were deactivated in the first two days of the ban, and preliminary analysis by the eSafety commissioner found that social media companies had made "meaningful attempts" to remove underage users.

By the start of March a further 310,000 accounts were blocked from platforms due to age restrictions, according to the eSafety commissioner's update.

Tech companies are required to provide data on their responses to the ban to eSafety under the laws.

The Coalition's communications spokesperson, Sarah Henderson, accused the government of failing to properly implement the ban, which was initially called for by the opposition.

"There is no question social media companies should comply with the law. But the government must own the fact its legislation is not working as promised," she said.

Last week, Ms Wells announced that the definition of platforms covered by the ban would be updated to include those with infinite scroll, "feedback features" such as likes or upvotes and time-limited elements, such as disappearing stories.

The 10 platforms that fall under the scope of the ban — Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, Reddit, YouTube, Kick and Twitch — will be assessed against the new rule.

It will not impact other sites such as Discord, Google Classroom, WhatsApp and Roblox, which are excluded under existing laws.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-31/five-social-media-platforms-under-investigation-under-16s-ban/106513690

https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/five-social-media-platforms-flagged-for-compliance-issues

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions#compliance-update-march-2026

https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-03/SocialMediaMinimumAgeComplianceUpdateMarch2026.pdf

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>>24443533

>>24443543

Police vow to track down the people who helped Dezi Freeman

Angus Delaney - March 30, 2026

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Police have vowed to continue chasing the people who helped Dezi Freeman hide from the law after the dangerous killer was shot dead in an early morning raid on a rural property.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed that police were investigating whether Freeman was being assisted or harboured by supporters hours after Freeman was gunned down at a property in Thologolong in north-east Victoria.

Bush said it was likely that Freeman had help during the seven months he was on the run after he shot dead two police officers who were attempting to serve a warrant on him at a property in Porepunkah.

The property where Freeman was found is nearly 200 kilometres from where he was last seen by authorities in Porepunkah in August last year.

“It would be very difficult for him to get where he was without assistance,” Bush said.

“We will be speaking to anyone we suspect has assisted him in avoiding detection and arrest.”

All people connected to the sprawling rural property in Walwa will be questioned by police about any connections to Freeman.

Bush said nobody else was present at the property when police confronted Freeman this morning, but any person connected to it would “form part of ongoing investigation”.

He added that while Freeman had been the only person at the property for at least 24 hours before the shooting but “that doesn’t mean they haven’t been in the past”.

“[It is] very important for us to understand how long he’s been here and who else was complicit in getting him here, and then caring for him or providing him with food and other things to this point,” Bush said.

“We will be speaking to anyone we suspect has assisted him to avoid detection and arrest.”

He said that those who were found to be complicit in helping Freeman escape or harbouring him would be held to account.

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt also issued a warning to anyone who might have harboured Dezi Freeman during his time on the run.

“Our members will chase every rabbit down every burrow,” Gatt told reporters at a press conference in Wodonga.

Criminal law specialist Melinda Walker said that in a case such as this, any charges would fall under section 325 of the state’s Crimes Act.

This includes cases in which a person has committed a serious indictable offence and another person, who knows or believes them to be guilty of this “principal offence”, acts with the purpose of assisting with their escape from authorities or impeding their apprehension, prosecution, conviction or punishment.

“Where the principal offence is the most serious offence, being life imprisonment, then that person [who assists them] could be liable to a penalty of a maximum of 20 years if they are found guilty,” Walker said.

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Earlier this month, Victoria Police said it was not intending to charge the wife of Freeman with obstructing a police investigation into the fatal shooting of two police officers at Porepunkah, after the Office of Public Prosecutions found there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction.

At the time, police confirmed that they had interviewed Amalia Freeman, 42, and a 56-year-old man from Porepunkah in relation to the offence of “indictable obstruction of police” by detectives from Taskforce Summit, but the brief of evidence had not been authorised by prosecutors.

A police spokeswoman said the briefs were independently reviewed, which also determined a prosecution was unlikely.

A third person had been interviewed regarding an attempted theft but would also avoid charges, according to the spokeswoman, who said any further information received by detectives involved in the case would be “thoroughly assessed and acted on as appropriate”.

Immediately after Freeman’s disappearance, police repeatedly warned sympathisers not to help the fugitive.

Superintendent Brett Kahan used a press conference to issue a blunt message.

“People know the whereabouts of the person who has killed two cops,” Kahan said. “People have chosen, for whatever reason, not to come forward. I’m taking this time to appeal to you to come forward.

“You are committing an extremely serious crime by harbouring or assisting in the escape of Dezi Freeman.”

Kahan said police believed Freeman, a self-proclaimed “sovereign citizen” who changed his surname from Filby, had a wide support network.

He said that the offer of a surrender plan made to Freeman immediately after the murders would be extended to any potential accomplices.

“Take up that offer, by whichever means you like, whether it be [calling] triple zero or otherwise,” he said. “We will formulate a surrender plan.”

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-vow-to-track-down-the-people-who-helped-dezi-freeman-20260330-p5zk0s.html

>>24443520

>>24443533

>>24443543

>>24447126

Eight snipers and a fatal choice: The high-stakes tactic that cornered Dezi Freeman

John Silvester - MARCH 31, 2026

When Desmond Freeman was located by police near a tiny country town not far from the banks of the Murray River, both sides had already rehearsed the likely outcome, and both sides stuck to the script.

Shortly after he shot dead Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 35, and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and injured a third officer at a rural property in Porepunkah, he made a prophetic statement to his wife, Amalia.

“I love you and will see you in heaven.”

On August 26, 10 police had gone to the property to serve Freeman with a warrant over serious historical sex offences. This has been lost in the aftermath. Freeman was not a survivalist or a sovereign citizen. He was an accused child molester.

There had been discussions about calling in the specialist Critical Incident Response Team, but it was decided to conduct a local, low-key operation.

The reason general duties police are called first responders is that they respond to the situation at hand, which makes them vulnerable to an ambush as they approach with gun holstered. This is not America, where there is an assumption every suspect will be armed with a gun.

But when police were tipped off that Freeman was alive and hiding at a property near the town of Walwa (population 191), the odds were always on their side.

The Special Operations Group (known as the Sons of God) trains for sieges such as this and plans for every known contingency.

In its multimillion-dollar, secret indoor training facility, there are six container type constructions – coincidentally remarkably similar to Freeman’s rural hideout.

They use the containers to practice forced entries, setting off explosive charges and hostage extractions.

Before Monday’s operation the SOG scouted the property and drew up a plan, identifying every possible escape route, and placing armoured vehicles on the external perimeter to ram Freeman if he attempted to drive out.

The fact the armed offender was inside the container in relatively open country meant a forced entry would have been dismissed as too dangerous, leaving the only real chance of a non-lethal option in Freeman’s hands.

For three hours through dawn, he was encouraged to agree to a peaceful arrest. For three hours, he refused.

Before Freeman was called to surrender, at least eight specialist SOG snipers, trained to hit a target from up to a kilometre, were in place.

They were wearing top-level ballistic vests, camouflage gear and purpose-built helmets.

Freeman had a doona.

As planned, when he refused to surrender, police launched non-lethal distraction devices (known as flash bangs), forcing the suspect into the open.

Covered in his doona, he then showed he was armed, firing shots in the direction of a negotiator with Thompson’s police-issue Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol.

Several snipers fired simultaneously (they discharge their heavy calibre semi-automatic rifles at more than 10 shots a second) hitting him dozens of times.

Freeman had a death wish that was answered by the Sons of God. Publicly, police have said that this is now a matter for the coroner and the investigation is ongoing. Privately, they are relieved and delighted. That is why the labour-intensive and expensive manhunt for Freeman, called Taskforce Summit, continued when there were no real leads.

This had to be resolved, one way or the other.

For traumatised members at the Wangaratta station, where Neal Thompson was a much loved member, for the first time in seven months, there may be smiles.

For the families of the two dead officers and for the police force in general, Freeman’s death does not provide closure, but it does provide an answer.

Last week there was a memorial to recognise the 40th anniversary of the Russell Street bombing that cost Constable Angela Taylor her life.

Among those present were Carolina and Alain, the parents of Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who live in Belgium. They looked shattered and are still clearly in the depths of grieving. Now at least they will know the man who took their son’s life cannot hurt anyone else.

Detectives will now try to backtrack, to learn how long Freeman was at the property, how he managed to travel nearly 200 kilometres from Porepunkah to Walwa, and who harboured Australia’s most wanted man.

Then there is the question of whom, if anyone, may now be eligible for the million-dollar reward.

The absence of sightings of Freeman led police to believe it was likely he had killed himself.

On Monday, when he refused to surrender and left his hideout armed with a gun, he did just that. It is known as suicide by cop.

https://archive.vn/sC0oZ