Month: November 2025

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the Canberra region, and pay my respects to elders past and present. I would also like to acknowledge and welcome other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may be attending today’s events.

Thank you for having me here.

It’s a pleasure to join you to celebrate sixty years of ACFID, and six decades of extraordinary contribution by Australia’s development and humanitarian community.

I want to thank the ACFID team for your work bringing the nation’s international development organisations together – Organisations that work to improve the lives and livelihoods of our neighbours, of those in our region and beyond.

Our partnerships with you all – Australia’s international NGOs – exemplify Australian generosity but are also integral to our national interest.

Ultimately, partnership with you helps us all shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

I’m very happy to have this chance to be with you today.

Now, while the international development portfolio now sits with Minister Aly, I remain deeply committed to this agenda… not least because it’s still so relevant to my work in the Pacific portfolio.

I remain very proud of what we’ve achieved together since we were elected in 2022.

Our view was that we needed a comprehensive reset in our approach.

We needed to grapple with the changing global landscape.

And we needed an approach that would put genuine partnership, transparency and local leadership at the heart of our interactions with our development partners.

The 2023 International Development Policy marked a reset – and was backed by $1.7 billion in new funding, and anchored in the principles of partnership, local leadership and transparency.

It was the first new International Development Policy in a decade.

Since the policy was launched two years ago we have made good progress.

We’ve published country and regional Development Partnership Plans and launched the AusDevPortal.

We’ve also published three thematic strategies: the Humanitarian Policy; the Disability Equality and Rights Strategy; and the International Gender Equality Strategy.

I’d like to take a quick chance to run through some of the priority challenges we collectively face in our work since this session is focused on partnership.

For the Pacific, climate change is not a future issue; it an existential one.

Australia’s Falepili Union with Tuvalu is a world-first treaty – supporting sovereignty and people’s security in the face of rising seas.

Likewise, our joint bid with Pacific to co-host COP 31 shows we’re not just talking about climate action – we want to lead with the region.

We’re backing climate finance the Pacific has asked for: the Pacific Resilience Facility, the Loss and Damage Fund, and the Green Climate Fund.

We have introduced ambitious new climate investment targets, under which at least 50 per cent of our ODA investments above $3 million must have climate objectives.

ACFID members, as our partners, are at the forefront of supporting the region in action against climate change.

From local action to embed community and traditional knowledge into climate adaptation, through to helping communities and countries navigate innovative development finance and global multilateral climate fund access, you are there.

And speaking of innovative finance, just this week, we had the first call for proposals under the Indo-Pacific NGO Blended Finance Accelerator – supporting NGOs to scope and develop high impact blended finance vehicles across the Indo-Pacific.

This was something I was really proud to announce last term – and it’s great to see it progressing.

The accelerator is equipping NGOs with the tools they need to lead and innovate – bringing ingenuity and commitment to some of our region’s biggest development challenges.

We’re also working with partners, including many NGOs represented in the room today, to advance human development outcomes right across the region.

From delivery of education, to reducing health risks, responding effectively to emergencies, elevating and strengthening sexual and reproductive health and rights, your work has, and will remain, critical to improving the lives of countless communities and individuals around the world.

That is development in action.

Practical, mutual and enduring.

Just to turn a little more to my portfolio of the Pacific, our goal is to be the partner of choice for the Pacific – not by default, but by design.

A partner that listens, delivers and stays the course.

We welcome all who come to our region with respect, transparency and long-term commitment.

What matters is that Pacific priorities drive Pacific outcomes.

Because when the Pacific is stronger, Australia is stronger.

NGOs play a vital role in supporting this regional development.

Through ACFID, NGOs and civil society actors, and others including Australia’s volunteers and our networks of Australian and regional Alumni through our scholarship programs – we are building deep people-to-people links between Australia and our region.

The work of your organisations, and the local organisations many of you partner with – you are reaching, changing and saving millions of lives each year.

Anniversaries like ACFID’s are a chance not simply to look back – but to look forward.

When our Government came to office, I mapped out Labor’s vision for an international development program grounded in values of fairness, equality and compassion.

Consideration of our partnership with you, and the role of civil society in promoting equality, access to services and opportunities has hugely informed every step of our policy development and program roll out.

People in this room had direct input and influence over the international development policy I launched with the Foreign Minister in 2023.

You have also worked with the Department on every single strategy, policy and Development Partnership Plan that has come out since.

And our partnership is also expanding directly through programs too.

This includes getting the Civil Society Partnership Fund up and running to ensure that your counterpart organisations around the world are supported to defend a shrinking civic space.

And I’m particularly pleased to say this also includes establishing the new Partnerships for Decent Work in the Indo-Pacific program.

It’s great to have APHEDA in the room with us today. I acknowledge their long-standing expertise in supporting union movements around the world. Not only will this program deliver solid development outcomes by supporting decent work and decent pay; but unions are critical defenders of civic space.

The push back against civic space in our region is very, very real as you all well know.

And the best way for the Australian Government to respond to this is to partner with you in this room, and your counterpart organisations.

We see this playing out in real time, right now:

• Eroding the rights of women and girls.
• Diminishing access to reproductive and sexual health services.
• A push back on workers’ rights.
• Too many instances of ignoring, at best, the rights of people with disabilities.
• Communities and individuals not being able to participate in civic life.

 In a time when the rules-based order is under pressure, when human rights are being squeezed, when the basic needs of people can’t be met, the international development program is one of the clearest ways Australia shows up, with respect, transparency and cooperation.

So to draw this together, I return to what I said just earlier: an anniversary like ACFID’s 60th is a chance to look forward.

Where do we go from here?

Well, in the immediate future we need to bed down and lock in the new activities we are working on with you.

I want these to be successful and sustainable.

And I want these to become just as embedded in the partnership between the Government and NGOs as ANCP is.

But beyond the programs I’ve discussed, one thing above all is clear:

That despite all of the incredible change the world has seen in the last 10 years (let alone the 60 years since ACFID was founded), the need for a strong development program and the need for active NGOs is greater than ever.

The future is undoubtedly littered with challenges.

Everything I have discussed will persist:

• Climate change action.
• Intensifying humanitarian needs.
• Protecting rights.

Ensuring women and girls have opportunities equal to the men and boys around them.

Ensuring a voice for the vulnerable.

And the only way we can achieve sustainable progress on any of these will be through enduring partnerships where we all work together with a singularity of purpose.

Conclusion

So to ACFID and its members: congratulations on sixty years of service, advocacy and partnership.

You embody the best of Australia – our generosity, our ingenuity and our belief that our region’s success is our own.

As we look ahead, it’s important that we keep working together – government, civil society and community – to build a region that is peaceful, prosperous and resilient.

Here’s to the next 60 years of ACFID, and to working together in true and lasting partnership.

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

The Albanese Government is helping children access the life-changing assistive technology they need to thrive.

Minister for International Development, Dr Anne Aly, announced $16.5 million to help children across the Indo-Pacific with vision, hearing or mobility impairments.

This investment will improve access to testing and early interventions, helping children with disabilities to participate meaningfully in education.

Education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty and builds strong, resilient communities.

Assistive technologies play an important role in ensuring children with disability can access all the benefits of education in line with their peers.

This funding is part of Australia’s commitment to contribute to a more inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Announced at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar, this partnership with ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, will help children access devices such as glasses, hearing aids and mobility aids.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for International Development, Dr Anne Aly:

“This funding will extend the life-changing ATscale program to the Pacific for the first time.”

“Assistive technologies are often out of reach for the children across the Indo-Pacific who need them most.”

“Early access to assistive devices can be transformative – opening doors to education, independence and future opportunities.”

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Pat Conroy:

“People with disability remain among the poorest and most marginalised in our world.

“I’m proud that we are expanding access to essential assistive technology across the Indo-Pacific.

“Disability equity is an essential part of Australia’s commitment to international development.”

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

The Albanese Government is backing Pacific governments to deliver and strengthen their social security systems, to help safeguard vulnerable individuals and households from poverty and economic shocks.

Minister for International Development, Dr Anne Aly, announced $18 million for the Pacific Partnerships for Social Protection (P4SP) program at the Second World Summit on Social Development in Qatar.

P4SP has helped create social safety nets for around 176,000 people across the Pacific – including the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income earners, unemployed individuals, children in out-of-home care, and rural pregnant mothers.

This includes supporting the delivery of Kiribati’s first unemployment benefit scheme, contributing to a dramatic reduction in their national poverty rate from 21.9% in 2019–20 to 5.5% in 2023–24.

In addition, the program has supported reforms to Fiji’s national transport scheme, delivering more flexible transport options for the elderly and people with disabilities.

This additional funding for P4SP will allow Australia to partner with more countries in the Pacific to address inequality and promote social development.

Learn more about the P4SP the Partnerships for Social Protection website.

Quotes attributable to Minister for International Development Dr Anne Aly:

“Social protection helps reduce poverty, builds resilience, promotes economic participation and ensures that no one is left behind.”

“When we support people facing the greatest hardship, we lift entire societies.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy:

“We are proud to partner with Pacific countries to help build fairer and stronger societies.”

“Australia’s continued investment in social protection reflects our commitment to supporting inclusive systems that help people when they need it most.”

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

A 55-year-old male has been arrested in the Northern Territory and extradited to Victoria in relation to an interstate arrest warrant.

On Wednesday 29 October, the Northern Territory Police Force’s Financial Crimes Section Detectives executed a search warrant on two male tourists at a holiday park in Howard Springs.

Detectives were investigating information from Batchelor Police that two male tourists travelling in a camper van had allegedly attempted to mix counterfeit currency with legitimate currency during gambling activities. Further reports identified the same two males attempting similar activities in Howard Springs, Berry Springs and Humpty Doo.

As a result of these investigations, a 55-year-old male was issued a Notice to Appear for possessing prescription medication without a script. No counterfeit currency was located during the search.

Subsequent police investigations identified the 55-year-old was allegedly utilising fake identification and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Victoria. Between Wednesday 29 and Friday 31 October, extensive joint agency efforts were made to locate the male.

The Fugitive Task Force took carriage of the investigation, and he was subsequently arrested on Tuesday 4 November by Avon Downs police members after being identified travelling with another male towards Queensland. Two mobile phones and cash were also seized.

Yesterday, he was extradited from Alice Springs by Detectives from the Victorian Police Clandestine Laboratory Squad in relation to commercial drug manufacturing charges in Victoria.

Investigations are ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact police on 131 444, quoting reference NTP2500108958. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.

Source: Australia Government Statements – Agriculture

7 November 2025

Who does this notice affect?

This notice affects importers of plant products for human consumption (e.g. rice, beans, lentils, dried chilli, cumin and coriander seed), freight forwarders, biosecurity industry participants and accredited persons operating under the department’s approved arrangement class 19.

What is changing?

On 28 May 2025, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) updated the phytosanitary requirements…

Source: Mental Health Australia

Temporary access changes will be in place for citybound drivers using the Falcon Street/Military Road southbound on-ramp to the Warringah Freeway to enable the construction of the final southbound lane and ramp configuration of the freeway.

From 6am Saturday 8 November 2025, the changes will affect access to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Cahill Expressway from Falcon Street and Military Road and will remain in place for around four months. 

Motorists are advised to expect changed traffic conditions and refer to the new directional signs and pavement markings that will be in place on the southbound freeway lanes and on approach to the southbound on ramps from Falcon St/Military Rd.

These changes are required to safely set up a new temporary work area south of Falcon Street as part of the Warringah Freeway Upgrade. The work includes pavement work, drainage, traffic barriers, and Intelligent Transport System installation which will enable the construction of the final southbound lane and ramp configuration.

A Transport for NSW spokesperson said: “The NSW Government is continuing work to simplify and upgrade the Warringah Freeway, making it safer, easier to use, and more efficient and reliable for all road users, including public transport users.

“General motorists and buses will share the new Falcon Street eastern southbound on-ramp until the final dedicated bus lane on-ramp opens in 2026.

“Please plan ahead, follow signs, and drive with caution while adjusting to the new traffic arrangements.

“We thank motorists for their patience at we work towards delivering world class road infrastructure for Sydney.”

What to expect

Eastbound on Falcon Street from Crows Nest towards the City 

• All Falcon Street eastbound traffic will merge into one lane on the existing southbound on ramp to continue towards Sydney Harbour Tunnel. Motorists for the Sydney Harbour Bridge can use the exit lane to the Bridge south of Ridge St.
• Eastbound motorists can no longer access the Cahill Expressway via Falcon Street, Crows Nest. Motorists can use the Miller Street or Mount Street on ramps to access Cahill Expressway.  Motorists can use the Sydney Harbour Tunnel for access to City East, Eastern Suburbs and Sydney Airport. Access to Sydney Harbour Bridge is still available to motorists for journeys to the CBD and Western Suburbs.

Westbound on Military Road from Northern Beaches and Mosman towards the City 

• All Military Road westbound traffic will use the new Falcon Street southbound on ramp to access Sydney Harbour Bridge and Cahill Expressway or use the existing southbound on ramp to access Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
• Motorists on Military Rd westbound approaching the citybound ramps, should use lane 1 for the Cahill Expressway and Sydney Harbour Bridge, and lane 2 for the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. 
• Once on the Freeway, drivers travelling towards Sydney Harbour Bridge will need to change lanes twice, travelling across the bus lane.

Ernest Street on ramp to Cahill Expressway

Motorists can no longer access the Cahill Expressway via Ernest Street. Motorists can use the Miller Street or Mount Street on ramps to access Cahill Expressway. Motorists can use the Sydney Harbour Tunnel for access to City East, Eastern Suburbs and Sydney Airport. Access to Sydney Harbour Bridge is still available to motorists for journeys to the CBD and Western Suburbs.

Warringah Freeway southbound to Sydney Harbour Bridge and Cahill Expressway 

• Southbound drivers on Warringah Freeway travelling to Cahill Expressway will need to use the southbound outer lanes only as access to the Cahill Expressway from the southbound inner lanes will no longer be available.
• Drivers in the southbound outer lanes travelling to Cahill Expressway will need to cross over the bus lane on the freeway from right to left for access to Cahill Expressway
• The bus lane on the southbound outer lanes will be commencing on the left hand side (instead of the right hand side) north of Falcon St 
• Over height and Dangerous Goods Vehicles must follow signs and should not use the Tunnel lanes.  

For the latest traffic updates, visit livetraffic.com or download the Live Traffic NSW app.

For more information about the traffic switch, visit Warringah Freeway Upgrade.

Source: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

Australia’s Antarctic tractor-traverse team is slowly making its way up the Antarctic plateau to deliver scientific equipment, fuel and food to the site of the Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) drilling project.
The 10-person team left Casey station on 1 November and expect to take 15-18 days to travel the 1168 kilometres to the drilling site, at Dome C North.
Traverse Leader, Damien Beloin, said the team has six tractors and 20 sleds to haul 493 tonnes of gear (see ‘What’s on traverse?’ section below).
Two snow groomers at the front of the convoys grade a path through the rough terrain, guided by GPS navigation systems.
“The Traverse route goes from sea level at Casey, passes Law Dome, goes through the Elcheikh Saddle, and gradually climbs up to an altitude of 3233 metres above sea level, at the top of the Dome C plateau,” Mr Beloin said.
“Different surfaces and snow conditions along the way will bring their own challenges.”

Once they arrive at Dome C North, the traverse team will continue the work they began last year to establish an inland station to support the MYIC project for the next five years. This will include commissioning a kitchen building, amenities van and generator van.
Equipment that was positioned at Dome C North last year, including sleeping vans, a mess area and the drill tent, will be de-winterised, in preparation for the science team’s arrival in late November.
Shortly after the traverse team arrive, MYIC project Science Lead, Dr Joel Pedro, and his scientific and drilling engineering team, will fly to the drill site. They’ll work with the traverse team to set up the next phase of the drilling project.
Magic million
The MYIC project aims to obtain an ice core climate record spanning at least 1.4 million years, covering a period in Earth’s history when there was a fundamental change in the timing of ice age cycles.
“About one million years ago the cycle of ice ages shifted from a regular 41,000 year glacial-interglacial cycle, to a cycle every 100,000 years,” Dr Pedro said.
“A leading theory is that declining atmospheric CO2 levels led to this change. A climate record of over one million years will provide the essential CO2 record to test this theory, and provide information to test models and better predict climate in the future.”
Last season the team successfully drilled to 150 metres (4000 years of climate history) using a shallow drill, and then progressively widened the borehole.
This season the team will fit a fiberglass bore casing into this widened bore hole, to prevent it closing under pressure once deeper drilling begins.
“This season a lot of our work will involve setting up our big, cable-suspended, electro-mechanical drill, which can reach over 3000 metres-deep and tolerate the −55˚C temperature in the ice,” Dr Pedro said.
“The Australian Antarctic Division has spent nearly six years developing this new drilling system, in collaboration with other international research groups, and this will be the first time we’ve assembled the drill system in the field.
“It will be a big moment for the project to recover the first cores with this drill.
“All going well, we hope to reach around 400 metres depth this season.
“After that, the target is to drill 1000 metres per year, which will put us on track to reach bedrock by 2029.”
Read more about the MYIC project in last season’s Drilling Diary and our special feature Secrets of the Ice.
This content was last updated 27 minutes ago on 7 November 2025.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force has released its Anti-Racism Strategy, which sets out the agency’s approach to fair, respectful and culturally aware policing across the Territory.

The work was led by Executive Director of Cultural Reform, Leanne Liddle, alongside input from key internal and external stakeholders.

The strategy outlines practical steps to strengthen cultural understanding, improve trust, and support ongoing learning throughout the organisation.

Commissioner Martin Dole said the document is a key part of wider cultural reform underway.

“This is about accountability and improving. Our officers serve a diverse community, and we are committed to building a police force that reflects and respects that,” Commissioner Dole said.

The strategy is available to the public on the Northern Territory Police Force website here.

Source: Tasmania Police

Community urges to act on firearms and weapons

Friday, 7 November 2025 – 11:03 am.

Tasmania Police is calling on public support to help reduce the number of firearms and weapons in the community, with a mobile amnesty operating at Claremont this Saturday.
Glenorchy Division Inspector Jason Klug urges any member of the public with unregistered or unwanted firearms, or other weapons such as 3D printed guns, crossbows, swords or knives, to take advantage of the mobile amnesty.
The mobile amnesty will be located on the foreshore grassed area on Main Road at Claremont, at the intersection with Abbotsfield Road. It will operate between 11am and 2pm on Saturday, 8 November.
“A permanent firearms amnesty exists in Tasmania and that means unregistered or unwanted firearms can be surrendered to police without any action being taken in relation to possession offences,” Inspector Klug said.
“Our mobile firearms amnesties, such as what we have organised in Claremont on Saturday, are an important extension of that process.
“Our important goal is to remove weapons, such as firearms and knives, from our communities and to make those communities safer places for everyone to live, work and to raise their families.
“A mobile amnesty is a location within the community, that’s not a police station, where people can meet with officers and surrender items. And people can be assured that when they do hand these items over, they are going to be taken out of circulation and reduce the potential for harm.”
The mobile amnesty at Claremont will involve uniformed members of Tasmania Police on site to accept firearms, firearms parts and ammunition. Additional weapons, such as knives and swords, brought to the location will also be accepted.
Members of the public should first approach officers to advise they wish to surrender a firearm or weapon.
Do not carry loaded firearms in public or to the mobile amnesty.
Seek advice if you are uncertain how to check whether the firearm is loaded.

Source: Australian Capital Territory – State Government