Federal politics: Anthony Albanese condemns synagogue fire as an 'attack on Australian values' — as it happened

Both from me and the Prime Minister.

Thanks for joining us today! Here's a quick summary of the days events:

• A "shocking" rise in youth radicalisation has prompted  Australia and other Five Eyes nations to jointly call for more action to combat the threat.

• Defence Minister Richard Marles says he wants the review of the agency overseeing the $368 billion nuclear submarine program to be "ruthless".

• Multiple federal politicians have responded to a suspicious fire at a Melbourne synagogue. 

• Peter Dutton has confirmed a long-awaited price tag will be placed on the Coalition's nuclear power plan next week.

• Grants of $475 million to develop a rare earths refinery and $21 million for critical minerals programs were announced

The clever Courtney will be back in the hot seat on Monday morning with all the latest Australian politics news.

A reporter asks if antisemitism a bigger problem than previously thought?

Albanese responds describing Australia as a great multicultural nation where different faiths and ethnicities live together in harmony.

"Incidents like this [the synagogue attack] disrupt that," he says.

"It's an attack on the harmony we have in Australia which overwhelmingly people participate in."

He says the incident was aimed at producing fear in the community, which is why the whole community has to respond.

"It should be the case that everyone in Australia is able to go about their activities free from fear."

He stops short of calling it a terrorist attack, saying the joint terrorism task force will be looking at the incident and updating him later today.

As mentioned earlier a Five Eyes report has found 20 per cent of ASIO's counterterrorism cases involve young people — some as young as 12.

"The problem with radicalisation online is often can't be seen," Albanese says.

"By definition, it can happen in privacy. With someone on a computer screen and we have seen tragically, the impact of that, not just here in Australia but around the world."

He links back to the social media ban for Australians under 16, saying part of the motivation for that legislation was "giving parents more power to have those conversations with the young ones about what is going on online."

We are in Perth so it's no surprise the PM is being asked about Sculptures by the Sea.

A reporter tells Albanese organisers threaten to cancel every couple of years until they are able to secure funding from corporate donors.

She asks if the government had been "embarrassed into coming to the table?"

The PM says no.

"It's not just an artistic event, but part of the rationale for the Government funding instead, it brings tourists here to Perth and WA, not just from other parts of Australia but it is a global event that has global recognition as well," he says.

The PM is asked about the UN vote calling on Israel to end occupation in Gaza and other Palestinian territories.

He's asked how he responds Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office saying they are "inviting terrorism."

He tells the press conference 157 countries voted for that resolution, including the five eyes partners United Kingdom and New Zealand.

He says it is the exact same way the Howard government voted for a long period of time.

Anthony Albanese says he spoke with the anti-Semitism convoy Jillian Segal this morning following the attack.

He says although anti-semitism has been around for a long period of time it has been on the rise.

He notes legislation that has already come in including a ban on hate symbols and legislation to have Australia's first National Student Ombudsman.

The Prime Minister is now being asked about the synagogue attack.

He described it as a "shocking incident" that "should be unequivocally condemned".

"There is no place for an outrage such as this," Alabenese said.

"To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values."

Australian company Iluka Resources has been announced as the company developing the Eneabba Rare Earths Refinery project in Western Australia.

The project is Australia's first integrated rare earths refinery.

The Prime Minister, alongside Resource Minister Madeleine King have announced the funding to go to five different projects.

The new grants are:

• $3.8 million for Vecco Group Ltd in Brisbane for feasibility and design of a high-purity vanadium
• $3 million for Graphinex Ltd in Townsville, to support a proposed graphite refinery (Battery Anode Hub), linked to its Esmeralda deposit;
• $7.39 million for Tivan Ltd, in East Kimberley for studies into Speewah Fluorite
• $5 million for Australian Rare Earths Ltd, in Naracoorte, to support a demonstration plant of ionic clay hosted rare earth elements from its Koppamurra Project
• $2.7 million for Critical Minerals Group, in Townsville and Mount Isa to support a vanadium electrolyte production chain for battery-grade chemical materials 

He's addressing the media about the Future Made in Australia legislation which passed through the House of Representatives along with a flurry of other bills late last week before parliament ended for the year.

The bill will still have to go through the Senate before it can be finalised.

The team at 7:30 unpacked that policy recently:

He's at Australian Vanadium in Perth — who as the name suggests manufacture Vanadium batteries.

Vanadium is set to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the critical minerals subsidy.

Political reporter Melissa Clarke had more on that earlier in the year, you can catch up below.

Papua New Guinea's prime minister says his country's bid to join the NRL doesn't hinge upon a security pact, despite Australian government sources saying negotiations would see China blocked from gaining a military foothold in PNG.

PNG's entry into the NRL is expected to be announced in Sydney late next week, with Australia injecting $600 million to support the Port Moresby-based team.

Before flying to Sydney on Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister James Marape said there was no "deep" security element to the NRL bid.

"There's no condition 'you do this, and we will give you the team'. The NRL team process comes from the NRL itself and not from the Australian government," he said.

Australian government sources have said the deal is linked to a security arrangement that would stop Beijing from gaining a significant police or military presence in PNG.

The ABC understands Beijing has been trying to clinch an agreement with PNG that would allow police or defence troops to be based in the country.

You can read the full story at the link below.

Good afternoon!

Courtney has finished up for the day so I'll be with you for the next little while.

We're gearing up to hear from the Prime Minister shortly, who is in Perth today with Resources Minister Madeleine King, and the Member for Pearce, Tracey Roberts. 

We'll bring you more on that as it happens.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says a decision on whether to acquire a locally produced transportable missile system will be made next year.

Conroy has confirmed the government has begun a formal process to examine whether to acquire the Australian made StrikeMaster, which uses Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) mounted onto a Bushmaster, or whether to import more HIMARS weapons from the United States.

This week the ABC reported the government was increasingly willing to acquire the StrikeMaster although there was some resistance in the Army to the move.

Conroy says Defence will spend the next year studying both options, to decide which would be best for Army's future maritime strike needs.

"We're running a competition to drive value for money for the Australian taxpayer and also to explore the trade-offs there. Both capabilities are incredibly advanced, both capabilities are being introduced into service by the United States."

The minister made the comments after conducting a "sod-turning" for a new missile factory to be built at Newcastle Airport, in a joint collaboration between the Commonwealth and Norwegian company Kongsberg, which will eventually manufacture NSMs at the site.

Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon is refusing to put blame on the federal government for the arson attack on a Synagogue in Melbourne overnight.

The Israeli government expressed it was "very disappointed" in Australia's recent shift in stance at the United Nations to join an international call for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told The Australian that vote would lead to further terror.

But speaking at an event at the Israeli embassy, Maimon says the overnight attack was part of a continuing rise in anti-Semitism, and would not suggest it was a reaction to the UN vote.

He called on the Albanese government to step up its efforts in combatting anti-Semitism.

Woolworths says picket lines disrupting supplies to its supermarkets are a "metaphorical gun" aimed at the company by its own workers.

The retail giant has made fiery submissions during a Fair Work Commission hearing into an ongoing strike centred in Victoria, which has led to empty shelves around the nation and what it says is at least $50 million in lost sales.

The strike by members of the United Workers Union is a legally protected action, meaning workers can't be sacked for taking part in it. (They are not paid while they are not working).

Woolworths is applying to the commission for a bargaining order to move along picket lines outside distribution hubs at the centre of the strike.

The supermarket's legal counsel Marc Felman KC has called these picket lines "obstructive" and "capricious or unfair" and described them as a "metaphorical gun", that is having the effect of not allowing workers who may want to continue working to enter the site.

Read the full report from business reporters Emilia Terzon, Daniel Ziffer and Warwick Long below.

Politicians from across the aisle have joined together outside the Adass synagogue to denounce a fire that tore through the place of worship.

Labor MP Josh Burns, who represents the federal electorate where the synagogue is located, had a statement read out on his behalf as he'd lost his voice.

"Adass is a proud and peaceful community built on Holocaust survivors who came to Australia looking for a synagogue. Behind us is the centre of Jewish life, learning and spiritual realities," he said.

"I've been inside many times, and to see it burnt today is devastating.

"The attack was a disgrace and is extremely dangerous. The rise in anti-Semitism in Australia is shocking, and it needs to stop."

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson said Australia needed to "send a message" that we do not tolerate violence against religious centres.

"If this behavior continues to be tolerated, this will get worse. There will be more incidents like this, and next time, someone will be hurt," he said.

Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism has urged government leaders to condemn an attack on a Jewish synagogue in Melbourne's south-east.

Police are investigating the fire that started just after 4 o'clock this morning and caused extensive damage to the place of worship at Ripponlea.

Jillian Segal, who was appointed by the federal government this year, says behaviour that vilifies any group is not acceptable.

"What we are seeing is anti-Israel sentiment bleeding into anti-Jewish sentiment and that must be condemned," she says.

The Australian Energy Market Operator estimates the cost of Labor's renewables-led plan between now and 2050 will be $122 billion in net present value. This includes the cost of the renewables rollout, storage and transmission.

In today's dollars, Frontier Economics says that figure is $642 billion.

This is the total of all costs of phasing out coal and some gas-fired power stations and replacing them with wind, solar, hydro and batteries, backed by a new network of transmission lines, between now and 2050.

Labor has not disputed the $642 billion figure. When asked about the figure on Wednesday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said:

"AEMO says that the net present value of the transition is $122 billion and the Frontier Report says that's correct," Bowen said.

The Coalition has said its nuclear plan will cost less than $642 billion.

Here's what Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien told ABC's News Breakfast yesterday:

ROWLAND: Will nuclear come in below $642 billion? Will nuclear be cheaper?

O'BRIEN: I can assure you it will be cheaper, cleaner and more consistent.

It's important to remember that the Coalition's plan is not to go nuclear instead of renewables. It's in addition to renewables.