Australia news live: Plibersek condemns Israeli minister’s ‘disgraceful’ treatment of flotilla activists; Guzman y Gomez p

Plibersek says behaviour by Ben-Gvir ‘disgraceful’ as Greens call for stronger response

Tanya Plibersek, minister for social services, said the behaviour by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was “shameful” and “disgraceful”.

Plibersek, speaking to RN Breakfast, had this to say:

double quotation markI think it was absolutely disgraceful behaviour and I’m very pleased to say that the foreign minister has said that in the strongest terms to the Israeli government. Our Australian ambassador in Israel has made the position of the Australian government very clear that this behaviour is acceptable, completely unacceptable.

Greens senator Nick McKim went a step further, telling RN:

double quotation markThat is abhorrent treatment of people by a senior figure in the Israeli government. People are being degraded. They’re having their human rights abused. It is effectively a form of torture. And the simple fact is that Israel is now a rogue state. They’re kidnapping people, including Australian citizens, from international waters on the high seas. It’s basically an act of piracy …

I mean, this demands the strongest possible response from our prime minister and our foreign minister. A far, far stronger response than they’ve delivered to date.

Nick McKim. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 01.14 CEST

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Andrew Messenger

Queensland premier wasn’t warned before minister’s referral to AFP

The Queensland premier revealed he was taken by surprise by the news that his Olympics minister had been referred to the Australian federal police, because Tim Mander didn’t warn him.

Mander reportedly received the news of his police referral on Wednesday night, while in New Zealand. He then spoke at length with his lawyer.

But the minister didn’t communicate the news with him, premier David Crisafulli said.

Crisafulli said he was in a budget meeting at the time, which meant he wasn’t allowed to have his phone on him. A staff member passed him a note.

The premier said the story broke while Mander was on the plane back to Queensland.

Tim Mander. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Asked why Mander didn’t tell him earlier, the premier said: “He stepped aside, so I would suggest to you there’s been a consequence for him.”

Mander stood down yesterday over claims he misled the Australian electoral commission about where he lived.

The former scripture union head was allegedly enrolled to vote at the home of a staffer, after moving out of his home, due to having an affair with fellow minister Amanda Camm.

ShareJosh Nicholas

One Nation leads Labor and Coalition as voters sour on budget

One Nation has outpolled both the Labor and Coalition in a new poll from Capital Brief and DemosAu.

The poll puts One Nation’s primary support at 28%, compared with Labor’s 26%, the Coalition on 23%, and the Greens on 13%. The poll has a margin of error of 3.6%.

A bar graph showing One Nation support

The numbers show crumbling support for the major parties – Labor got 34.6% of the primary vote in the 2025 federal election and the Coalition received 31.8%. One Nation got just 6.4% and didn’t win any seats.

“We can no longer speak of One Nation as a minor party” says Dr Luke Mansillo, a political scientist at the University of Sydney.

George Hasanakos, head of Research at DemosAU, said if the poll results were reproduced at an election, the most likely outcome would be a hung parliament.

He said the government’s release of the 2026 federal budget on 12 May had not provided the political lift Labor needed, with voters broadly negative on the budget.

Updated at 02.40 CEST

Lisa Cox

Feral horse numbers surge in Kosciuszko national park

Feral horse numbers in the Kosciuszko national park have surged, with new survey data estimating populations climbed by thousands after the New South Wales government paused aerial culling in 2025.

Conservation advocates say the rebound in numbers demands an urgent rethink of retention zones that allow thousands of horses to remain in the park.

Brumbies or feral horses on the plains above Kiandra in the Kosciuszko National Park. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The government’s annual survey of feral horse populations, released Friday, estimated there were between 6,476 and 16,411 feral horses in the national park in late 2025.

This is a sharp increase on the previous year – the first survey after aerial shooting of horses resumed – when numbers dropped to an estimated 2,131-5,639 horses.

Guzman y Gomez suddenly leaves the US market

Guzman y Gomez, the Mexican-themed fast food chain, is pulling out of the United States in a spectacular turnaround on its American market ambitions, AAP reports.

The decision was made because the financial performance of the US business was not acceptable or meeting targets.

“I have always been confident in the differentiation of our food and guest experience, however this was not translating to an improvement in sales momentum,” founder and co-chief executive Steven Marks said.

Photograph: James D Morgan/Getty Images

Guzman’s US experiment lasted about six years, after it opened its first store in Chicago in January 2020.

“I realised this was going to take significantly more time and capital than we had expected,” Marks said.

Guzman on Friday reiterated that its Australian operation was still growing strongly.

Updated at 01.36 CEST

Victoria police investigating fire at car dealership in Melbourne

Victoria police are investigating the latest suspicious fire, at a car dealership in Richmond overnight.

Police believe up to three offenders smashed their way into the business at around 11.20pm on Thursday night. Once inside, they allegedly used accelerant to light the fire before fleeing.

Two cleaners inside at the time were able to escape without injury. The building sustained minor damage.

A crime scene has been established, and police are appealing for anyone with footage or knowledge of the incident to contact them.

Updated at 01.15 CEST

Parramatta Powerhouse museum takes flight with inaugural exhibition

The first items to go on display at a highly-anticipated museum have been installed, including a replica of the first Qantas plane, AAP reports.

A skilled group of technicians have manoeuvred the plane and two other pioneering aircraft into place in Parramatta Powerhouse’s largest exhibition space after construction wrapped in April.

The maiden exhibition, Task Eternal, will explore humanity’s quest to overcome gravity and take to the skies and will open to the public, along with the rest of the museum, later in the year.

The Qantas Avro 504K aircraft – weighing more than 760kg and measuring nine metres long with a wingspan of 11 metres – will feature alongside 3000 other objects.

An Autogiro VH-USR and the ultralight Scout Skycraft Mark 1, during a preview of the first items being installed in the Powerhouse museum in Parramatta, Sydney. Photograph: Jane Dempster/AAP Photograph: Jane Dempster/AAPShare

Updated at 01.02 CEST

Three charged with murder in Sydney after man dies from fall

Three people have been charged with murder after a man died after a fall in Sydney’s north-west last week.

NSW police said emergency services were called to a unit complex in Castle Hill on 17 May amid reports a man had been shouting from a balcony. On arrival, officers found the man, 44, suffering serious injuries in a garden outside the building.

The man was treated by paramedics at the scene but could not be revived.

After inquiries, police arrested two men, 38 and 30, and a woman, 34. All three have been charged with murder. They have all been refused bail and will appear in court today.

Updated at 00.42 CEST

Luca Ittimani

Public transport use back to normal in NSW

New South Wales residents have stopped switching to public transport as the fuel price spike fades.

The state government had flagged a spike in public transport use amid high petrol and diesel costs. Data from Transport for NSW showed average daily trips surged in April.

There were about 2.1m trips a day throughout April 2025, but there were 2.3m a trips a day by mid-April 2026. Trips rose across trains, metro services, buses, light rail and ferries.

Photograph: Jessica Hromas/AAP

The 10% uplift is significant considering NSW did not cut its fares. In Victoria, where public transport is free until the end of May, public transport use was 20% higher in April.

However, while Victoria’s uplift was expected to endure, NSW’s has eased. Fuel costs fell over April, with unleaded in Sydney averaging 242 cents a litre at the month’s start but 182 cents at its end, according MotorMouth. It now costs 187.7 cents a litre.

Network use has also dropped in NSW, with daily trips falling to 2.2m last week, the same as in the equivalent week last year. While train trips are still slightly higher, average daily bus use in NSW is now lower than it was a year ago.

Plibersek says behaviour by Ben-Gvir ‘disgraceful’ as Greens call for stronger response

Tanya Plibersek, minister for social services, said the behaviour by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was “shameful” and “disgraceful”.

Plibersek, speaking to RN Breakfast, had this to say:

Greens senator Nick McKim went a step further, telling RN:

I mean, this demands the strongest possible response from our prime minister and our foreign minister. A far, far stronger response than they’ve delivered to date.

Nick McKim. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 01.14 CEST

Josh Taylor

Father of Australian on flotilla detained by Israel rejects ambassador’s claim no one harmed

Also last night, Chris O’Connor, father of Neve O’Connor, one of the 11 Australians that was on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza that was detained by Israel, rejected Israel’s ambassador to Australia’s claim that those detained in flotillas have not been harmed.

O’Connor told ABC’s 7.30 he had not spoken to Neve since before the flotilla was intercepted but alleged the first time his daughter was taken hostage “she was beaten”, subjected to psychological torture and hospitalised.

double quotation markAnd as she said to me – the beatings were not bad compared to what happened to men of colour that she saw, and she heard the screams.

O’Connor said it was the Israeli Defence Force behind the alleged attacks. He said:

double quotation markShe said she was kneed in the face.

She was punched in the ribs.

She was dragged across the outdoor area.

The psychological torture she had was being in a stress position for many hours.

They were sprayed with water and were subject to hypothermic conditions overnight, because it was very cold in the containers.

O’Connor said the claims made by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Dr Hillel Newman, that flotilla detainees were not mistreated had been countered by video testimony.

double quotation markSo no, I absolutely reject that.

Updated at 00.19 CEST

Israel’s ambassador tells ABC ’no one was harmed‘ on flotilla

Josh Taylor

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Dr Hillel Newman, claimed last night no one taken into custody from humanitarian aid flotillas headed to Gaza were harmed, after a far-right Israeli minister posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured drew widespread condemnation.

The footage showed Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waving an Israeli flag and mocking and taunting the detainees.

Newman said on ABC’s 7.30 Thursday night the actions of Ben-Gvir “have been condemned from wall-to-wall – from the leadership of the entire state of Israel” but as the election processes were beginning to get under way in Israel, he would not say whether Ben-Gvir would be fired.

While condemning the incident, Newman claimed those detained from the flotilla weren’t being mistreated. He said:

double quotation markNo one, out of the 400 plus people that were on the flotilla, no one was harmed.

The interception itself was done with great sensitivity by the state of Israel, by our security forces.

He rejected claims of violence and sexual abuse towards those who had been detained from flotillas in the past:

double quotation markThere are many accusations which are thrown out there … which are untrue.

Hillel Newman. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPAShare

Updated at 00.20 CEST

Australian onboard flotilla says group was treated ‘really poorly’ after detention by Israel

All of the activists travelling aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla who were detained by Israeli authorities this week have been released from detention and are now in Istanbul.

A statement from the flotilla’s Australian delegation said 428 people, including 11 Australians, were free after spending about 80 hours in detention. The Australians were undergoing examinations at a hospital and will meet with lawyers in the coming days before their return to Australia.

Zack Schofield, one of the Australians onboard, said the group was taken to prison and “treated really poorly”:

double quotation markMany of us haven’t eaten for days. We were denied water for two days. … But it is nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians in the occupied territories every single day. …

The message to our Australian government is that they need to cut ties with Israel. We need to cancel the alliance, stop sending them weapons parts, stop giving them political support.

Updated at 23.40 CEST

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to Friday, we’ve made it. It’s Nick Visser here again to take you through the day’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:

The 428 activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, including 11 Australians, have now been released by Israeli authorities after they were detained earlier this week. One of those Aussies said they were in custody for about 80 hours and denied food and water, “but it is nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians”.

Public transport use is back to normal in NSW after the spike in fuel prices fades. At the height of the crisis, trips across trains, metro services, buses, light rail and ferries lifted by about 10%. In Victoria, where public transport is free, use was 20% higher.

We’ll have more soon. Stick with us.

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Ref: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/may/22/australia-news-live-flotilla-sumud-israel-al-roj-camp-isis-budget-capital-gains-negative-gearing-jim-chalmers-anthony-albanese-angus-taylor-ntwnfb