Australia politics live: tech giants face law to pay for news content; Australia joins call for Iran to end death penalty

Australia has joined more than ۳۰ nations, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada, in a joint statement condemned Iran’s use of capital punishment, saying in a joint statement the Islamic republic was executing protesters to “silence dissent”.

AFP reports that the countries, joined by the European Union’s top diplomat, “condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing executions of protesters and use of the death penalty” by Iran.

“The use of capital punishment to silence dissent, intimidate communities, and punish individuals exercising their human rights can never be justified,” the statement said.

New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Germany and numerous other European nations were also among those calling for Iran “to immediately end the use of the death penalty and release all those arbitrarily detained”.

The statement joins growing alarm from the United Nations and rights groups over a surge in executions in recent months.

According to the UN, since March ۱۹, at least ۵۶ people have been executed on national security-related charges, including ۲۷ people in cases linked to the protests.

The UN and rights groups have warned of a lack of fair trials and forced confessions.

Thousands of students are expected to rally in Students Say No to Pauline Hanson protests across major cities and towns, Australian Associated Press reports.

“I’m hoping this will be the start of a real kind of movement,” said Australian National University student, Yerin Park, who is organising the Canberra protest.

“We want to make sure we lay the best basis for … an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-bigot response in Australia.”

Rally flyers distributed by the National Union of Students include calls to “fight against racism” and “stand up against the far right”.

Hanson, leader of One Nation, used her June National Press Club address to call for a monocultural Australia before appearing on a podcast hosted by British far-right activist and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson during a work trip to the UK last month.

Hanson’s track record shows she has voted against pro-education policies such as free TAFE and increasing funding for public schools, union general secretary Akash Nagarajan said.

“Pauline Hanson actually doesn’t stand for things that benefit students’ lives….(and) a lot of students are galvanised by that,” the ۲۱-year-old said.

Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, One Nation’s only member in Victorian parliament, said everyone had the right to protest, but expressed concern about who was behind the movement.

“Students really should be focusing on academics and I think the Socialist Party getting involved with students is the wrong way to go,” she told reporters.

Josh Butler

The news bargaining incentive bill will pass parliament after a deal between Labor and the Coalition, which will see tech giants forced to make more total deals with news publishers and a special deal for the Australian Associated Press newswire.

The NBI, which is designed to force tech companies such as Facebook and TikTok to pay media outlets for the value they derive from news on their platforms, will be introduced into parliament today.

Following negotiations with the opposition, Labor will amend the bill to require tech giants to make a minimum of eight deals with news publishers – up from the previous six. The design of the scheme will also mean big tech platforms can only offset a maximum of ۲۵% of their exposure to the levy with each deal, which is to incentivise deals being made with a range of outlets.

Additionally, ۵% of funds will be directed to AAP, the news wire service.

“The Albanese government is delivering for journalists and ensuring they get their fair share from digital platforms that benefit from Australian news,” said communications minister Anika Wells.

Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino called it a “significant day for the future of Australian journalism.”

“We want to see deals between digital platforms and a diverse range of media organisations to ensure fair recompense for the use of content,” he said.

Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.

The news bargaining incentive, which will see tech companies forced to make more deals with news publishers to compensate them for using their material, will be introduced to parliament today. More coming up.

New investor home loans have plummeted since the May budget but the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, insists house prices will continue to grow over the next two years.

And overnight Australia has joined more than ۳۰ nations, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada, in condemning Iran’s use of capital punishment.