Australia news live: Albanese heads to Trump reception in New York; number of regular gamblers rising | Australia news
Key events
Mal Lanyon named as NSW new police commissioner
Anne Davies
Controversial deputy commissioner, Mal Lanyon has been named New South Wales’s new police commissioner, replacing Karen Webb.
The 38-year-old veteran of the NSW Police is due to be announced by the Premier Chris Minns, this morning.
The premier appears to have overlooked two incidents involving Lanyon including a New Year’s Eve trip on a police boat with his wife and two friends and an earlier incident in 2021 when he was found by ambulance officers lying drunk at the Big Merino, in Goulburn.
He is expected to take over on 1 October.
Albanese says 20 October meeting with Trump demonstrates ‘important relationship’ between US and Australia
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said Australia and the US maintained an “important relationship” after the White House confirmed he would meet with Donald Trump in Washington DC on 20 October.
Albanese told reporters in a press conference in New York that he didn’t “broadcast everything,” but his office has had discussions with Trump that have laid the foundation for the meeting. He said earlier:
The United States is an important relationship for us and today the meetings, as I foreshadowed, in spite of some of the commentary, as I foreshadowed, if people listen to what we say, we had agreed on a meeting.
And today the meetings that president Trump are having – he’s in New York for one day – are understandably focused on peace in the Middle East.
Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Nick Visser here to take over the morning blog from Martin Farrer. Let’s dive in.
Albanese meets with world leaders at sidelines of UN meeting
Anthony Albanese and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, have represented Australia on the floor of the United Nations general assembly meeting in New York.
Along with the Dfat secretary, Jan Adams, the pair listened to US president Donald Trump’s address to the 80th anniversary session of the UN.
Trump dismissed moves by allies including Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood, insisting world leaders should instead demand the return of hostages taken by Hamas in the 7 October attacks.
On the sidelines, the PM met with a range of world leaders, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, Lương Cường of Vietnam and Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
He also met the Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and the boss of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
More on Trump’s speech here:
Tom McIlroy
Albanese to make case for US capital to flow to Australian economy
Anthony Albanese and Australia’s ambassador to Washington, Kevin Rudd, are preparing to attend a major investment event in New York in the next few hours.
Hosted by Macquarie, the event will include a strong pitch from the prime minister for American capital to flow into the Australian economy.
It comes ahead of his national address to the UN on Tuesday night, local time.
Albanese will say some of the biggest names in American business are expanding their footprint in Australia, namechecking Google, Microsoft and Amazon for efforts in digital infrastructure, cloud computing and quantum.
The prime minister will say:
American capital and Australian manufacturing are a natural fit. And if we move now, we can make them an unbeatable combination. We can put our investment partnership at the centre of a defining global opportunity.
The world’s shift to clean energy represents the biggest change since the industrial revolution. We are looking at ever-increasing global demand for clean energy and the technology that generates and stores it.
And if you started with a blank piece of paper and wrote down every asset and resource you would need to thrive in that economic environment, at the end of it, you would hold in your hand a list of Australia’s strengths.
Tom McIlroy
Albanese expected to meet Trump for first time at world leader reception in New York
Donald Trump’s presence is already dominating the UN general assembly in New York, with the US president set to host a reception for visiting world leaders on Tuesday night, local time.
We expect the event will be the first time that Anthony Albanese will meet Trump in person, likely a short hello as part of the formalities. The prime minister and his partner, Jodie Haydon, are attending the reception to represent Australia, along with dozens of other leaders in town for the UN.
The White House press office has released timings for the event, expected to start about 9am Sydney time.
The president will speak at the reception, before returning to Washington DC, about two hours later. We don’t expect to have much information from inside the room, given journalists are barred from observing the proceedings.
Trump and Albanese have not held a formal bilateral meeting in New York, despite a big push by Australian diplomats to get the two leaders together this week, though the White House has confirmed they will hold a proper one-to-one meeting next month.
Trump addressed the UN earlier in the day and his presence is being felt in every meeting, from recognition of Palestine, to climate change, to wider geopolitical affairs.
Haydon will also attend the Fostering the Future Together reception hosted by Melania Trump today.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight and breaking news before Nick Visser gets on board.
After Donald Trump’s excoriating speech to the UN general assembly in which he scolded Australia and other countries for recognising Palestine, Anthony Albanese will meet the US president at a reception in New York in a couple of hours. The pair will hold a proper one-to-one meeting next month. We’ll bring you all the details.
The number of Australians gambling and the prevalence of harm has increased with nearly one-third of adults betting each month, according to new research. More coming up.
