Australia news live: Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crimes allegations in first public statement since arrest; free public transport in Victoria extended

Cait Kelly

Did Harry and Meghan tour Australia to make money – or cosplay a return to royal life?

In Aussie parlance, Meghan and Prince Harry’s whirlwind visit down under was the very definition of a “Claytons” tour.

Claytons in Australia is primarily known as a cultural phrase for a substitute, fake or ersatz version of something, the saying evolving from a 1970s/80s non-alcoholic beverage marketed as “the drink you have when you’re not having a drink”.

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Prince Harry and Meghan at Bondi beach. Photograph: Getty Images

Yes, Harry and Meghan are royals. But this was not a royal tour. It was something very different.

You can read more on this story here:

Joe Hinchliffe

Another arrest at Queensland rally

Another person has been arrested in the streets of Brisbane for chanting pro-Palestinan chants outlawed under new Queensland laws.

As a few hundred protesters prepared to march on parliament, a solitary woman kneeled on Adelaide Street, which was closed to traffic, and repeated the chant in front of a heavy police presence.

She was quickly arrested and taken into a police van.

Fatal collision investigation continues

Victorian police say there is no update on the investigation into a driver who allegedly crashed his car into three people outside a Melbourne convention on Saturday.

The man was under police guard in hospital after the collision near the Melbourne showgrounds, which left one person dead and another in a serious condition.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, police said there was no update on the case nor plans to address the media later today.

Joe Hinchliffe

Protester arrested at pro-Palestine rally after high court challenge announced

A man has been arrested for chanting ‘From the River to the Sea’ seconds after a rally in Brisbane began with the announcement that organisers will challenge Queensland’s new laws at the high court.

Dozens of armed police swarmed the man after he chanted the phrase outlawed by the state’s premier, David Crisafulli.

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Photograph: Supplied

Joe Hinchliffe

‘From the liver to the brie’: pro-Palestine punsters put Qld laws to test

An Irish nurse from Tamborine Mountain has put Queensland’s ban on two phrases associated with the pro-Palestine movement to the test.

Police in King George Square inspected several posters she made after receiving a report they fell foul of the ban on “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

“From the liver to the brie,” one sign read.

“Globalise the insalata,” read another.

“Well played,” said one police officer, calling in others to admire the pun.

It came as a relief to artist Kathy Lambert, her husband, Matthew Lambert, and friend, Christine Martin, all of whom travelled up from the Gold Coast and its hinterland to join today’s pro-Palestine protest for the first time.

“We’ve got kids,” Lambert says. “We don’t want to be arrested. We just really wanted to show how absurd these laws are.

“And we just want an end to the killing.”

Roberts-Smith ended his statement by saying:

This is an unprecedented case, and the public interest is huge, and the media has a job to do, which they should be allowed to do.

But I would ask that the media please allow my family their privacy at this time, particularly my children who have already, unfortunately, suffered through a deliberate, sensational arrest that was made last week and [an] unnecessary spectacle.

I understand this journey will be long.

I understand this journey will be difficult, but I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life.

I will never give up and I will always be in the fight.

Thank you.

Sorry I won’t be taking questions.

Roberts-Smith continued:

While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training and within the rules of engagement.

I’d also like to say that I’m extremely proud of all of the men and women that served alongside me in Afghanistan and their service and sacrifice should never be forgotten, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Many of whom were my friends.

I’d like to thank my partner, Sarah, my beautiful daughters, my mother and father, and all of Sarah’s family for their unwavering support and for standing by me during this difficult time.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the millions of Australians who have reached out to me publicly and privately to offer their support and well wishes.

It means a great deal to me and is extremely humbling.

Ben Roberts-Smith has just issued a short statement to the media while on bail on the Gold Coast as he awaits a potential trial on alleged war crimes.

The Victoria Cross recipient, once Australia’s most lionised soldier, faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan.

He told media on Sunday:

For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan.

As I’ve always maintained: I categorically deny all of these allegations.

And while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.

I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan.

Pro-Palestine rally to march at QLD parliament in defiance of banned phrase

Joe Hinchliffe

Protesters will march at Queensland parliament today in defiance of the state government’s decision to ban two phrases associated with the pro-Palestine movement: “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.

The “Not Our Laws” rally in Brisbane comes a day after 20 were arrested holding banners or chanting the forbidden phrases, with the Queensland police service saying there were “14 charges of displaying a prohibited expression and seven charges of reciting a prohibited expression” on Saturday.

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Remah Naji. Photograph: Fraser Barton/AAP

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi and the event’s organisers will hold a press conference before the rally begins in King George Square at 1pm.

The event’s spokesperson,Remah Naji, said it was part of broader protest action for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and that she didn’t expect the arrests of Saturday to be repeated.

Naji said it would be a peaceful rally and that she did not expect chants or banners saying “from the river to the sea”.

“But if people do it out of individual choice, that is not something we can control,” she said.

Joe Hinchliffe

Qld premier takes ‘vision to drill’ to Brisbane byelection

Queensland’s governing LNP will look to make a byelection in Brisbane something of a referendum on its “vision” to “drill, refine and store our own fuel”, the state’s premier, David Crisafulli, said this morning.

There will be a byelection in the seat of Stafford on 16 May after the death of MP Jimmy Sullivan.

Sullivan, 44, was found dead in his Stafford home unit last week in what police deemed non-suspicious circumstances.

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David Crisafulli. Photograph: David Crisafulli/ Facebook

He was elected to parliament as a Labor MP in 2020, but was forced to sit on the cross-bench after being disendorsed by Labor in May 2025.

Crisufulli announced the former Brisbane city councillor Fiona Hammond would again run for Stafford, after she secured a swing of +6.58 to the LNP in the safe Labor seat at the last election.

The premier said the byelection would be a “big opportunity” for voters to contrast his “vision” for fuel self-sufficiency, which included opening up the Taroom trough for oil extraction.

“Right now we are at a junction,” he told reporters. “I want to send a message that never again will we be at the mercy of others when it comes to our own fuel security.”

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline is 1800 55 1800. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Fuel spend slumps, data shows

Australians have slashed their fuel spending for the first time since the start of the Iran war as leaders call for a return to normal oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, AAP reports.

Tehran has backflipped on a promise to open the key oil-trading waterway, firing on ships attempting to traverse the strait.

Announcing it would close the trading waterway, Iran blamed an ongoing US blockade on its ports, arguing the move breached a temporary ceasefire.

Meanwhile, data from Westpac shows Australians are beginning to spend less on petrol and diesel as a cut to fuel excise flows through to the bowser.

In the past fortnight, spending on fuel dropped 3.8 per cent, according to analysis of debit and credit card transactions.

“Seeing fuel spend fall back is a meaningful shift and suggests the fuel excise cut is landing in household budgets,” Westpac consumer chief Carolyn McCann said.