Australia news LIVE: Labor marked down on migration; Hanson ramps up fight against gun buyback scheme

Key PostsToday’s headlinesBy Daniel Lo SurdoThank you for following our national news live blog for Monday, August 17.Here’s what is making headlines today.Australian voters have condemned the Albanese government’s handling of immigration policy, with 54 per cent agreeing the government is running the portfolio in an “unplanned and unmanaged way”, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor. However, 60 per cent of voters liked falling house prices, while concern about the cost of living has fallen to the lowest level since February 2023.One Nation has signalled its staunch opposition to the national gun buyback scheme sparked by the Bondi massacre, after NSW became the first state to join the initiative after striking a deal with the federal government on Sunday. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson it was the “people behind the guns” responsible for acts of terror, rather than the “law-abiding Australians who are trying to go about their business”.Sam Pang has won the Gold Logie for the most popular person on Australian TV, in a glittering ceremony held in Sydney on Sunday night. Pang was presented the award by a tattered and torn Sharon Strzelecki – Magda Szubanski in her first public appearance since her prolonged cancer battle – dressed in Australia Zoo fatigues, taking inspiration from Logies host Robert Irwin.Latest Posts7.00amJoyce responds to Hanson’s Mardi Gras jabBy Daniel Lo SurdoOne Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has said he would “absolutely” not attend Mardi Gras, one day after party leader Pauline Hanson doubled down on decades-old comments in which she said she “didn’t like” the LGBTQIA+ event, telling News24 that sexuality should be kept “behind closed doors”. “You can absolutely bet I would not go to the Mardi Gras. But that’s my business, and we just want you to live your own life, but it’s your life. It’s not so much as something that other people have to stop the traffic for,” Joyce told Seven’s Sunrise moments ago. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce.GettyIt follows Joyce’s claim last week that One Nation was “one of the gayest parties in Australia”. He sidestepped a question probing whether he supported the Mardi Gras event, saying it wasn’t something he was involved in or had an opinion on. He was joined on-air by Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, who said Mardi Gras was a “really great opportunity to celebrate what’s fantastic about Sydney”. 6.49amUkraine launches massive attack targeting Moscow, killing sixBy Ukraine launched hundreds of drones across Russia overnight, killing at least six people in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war.Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries, energy facilities and retail warehouses. Those attacks have brought the war home to the Russian public nearly 4½ years into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.An employee looks at a plume of smoke rising during a fire at Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries’ logistics complex near the town of Podolsk, outside Moscow overnight.AFPRussia’s Ministry of Defence said it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight. Some 600 drones were detected heading towards the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third of those destroyed over the Moscow region itself.Meanwhile, Ukraine came under Russian attack, with drone strikes destroying homes and torching Kyiv’s landmark book market.A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih killed two people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media on Sunday. He also said that one more person had been killed in the city of Sumy.People spend time near the river as a firefighting helicopter collects water to extinguish the fire that broke out in a distribution warehouse near Moscow after Ukraine’s drone attack.Anadolu via Getty ImagesRussia’s Ministry of Defence said it had also targeted several sites in Kyiv, including a manufacturing facility for Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles.The domestically produced missiles are increasingly key to Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russia.AP6.31amTrump accuses BBC of harassing familyBy London: The BBC asked a US court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of President Donald Trump’s family in connection with his $US10 billion ($14 billion) defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, a court document showed.Lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr have “personal knowledge” and likely have records relevant to elements of Trump’s claims against the broadcaster. The broadcaster has been unable to serve subpoenas because the three have Secret Service protection, the court filing says.Donald Trump in New York on Friday.APThe president filed the lawsuit in December, accusing the BBC of defamation and deceptive and unfair trade practices. The allegations centre on the way a 2024 documentary edited a speech Trump gave on January 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington.The lawsuit accuses the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts” of Trump’s speech to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what [he] said” and that the editing was “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 election.The BBC apologised to Trump for the misleading edit, but said it had not defamed him.The latest court filing said that Trump’s family members had knowledge relevant to Trump’s argument “that it would be materially false to imply that he incited violence”. The BBC asked the court to allow the subpoenas to be served by email and certified mail.Trump’s legal team said “the BBC is seeking to harass [Donald Trump], his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process”. A trial has been provisionally set for February.AP6.24amLabor marked down on migration in new pollBy James MassolaVoters have condemned the Albanese government’s handling of immigration policy, with 54 per cent agreeing the government is running the portfolio in an “unplanned and unmanaged way” even as Labor prepares to unveil in the next fortnight tougher rules on visa overstayers and dodgy asylum claims.But the government will be buoyed by 60 per cent of voters supporting lower house prices, while nearly twice as many people back Labor’s changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing as oppose them, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor.The majority of Australians think Labor’s management of immigration isn’t carefully planned.Aresna VillanuevaConcern about the cost of living has fallen significantly, by 9 points to 36 per cent, the lowest level since February 2023, though the issue still remains voters’ No.1 concern by a considerable margin.Read more from chief political commentator James Massola. Today’s headlinesBy Daniel Lo SurdoThank you for following our national news live blog for Monday, August 17.Here’s what is making headlines today.Australian voters have condemned the Albanese government’s handling of immigration policy, with 54 per cent agreeing the government is running the portfolio in an “unplanned and unmanaged way”, according to the latest Resolve Political Monitor. However, 60 per cent of voters liked falling house prices, while concern about the cost of living has fallen to the lowest level since February 2023.One Nation has signalled its staunch opposition to the national gun buyback scheme sparked by the Bondi massacre, after NSW became the first state to join the initiative after striking a deal with the federal government on Sunday. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson it was the “people behind the guns” responsible for acts of terror, rather than the “law-abiding Australians who are trying to go about their business”.Sam Pang has won the Gold Logie for the most popular person on Australian TV, in a glittering ceremony held in Sydney on Sunday night. Pang was presented the award by a tattered and torn Sharon Strzelecki – Magda Szubanski in her first public appearance since her prolonged cancer battle – dressed in Australia Zoo fatigues, taking inspiration from Logies host Robert Irwin.1 of 1