00:02Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has confirmed that the Al-Minhad Air Base, which is located
00:08just outside of Dubai, was struck over the weekend, but that all Australians are safe
00:15and accounted for and that none were injured.
00:18Now, Australia has about 100 Defence Force personnel across the Middle East, with most
00:25of them located in the United Arab Emirates.
00:27And that Al-Minhad Air Base has been serving as an operational headquarters for many years
00:35now.
00:36The Deputy Prime Minister was asked exactly where these drone strikes hit at the air base,
00:43but he said that he wouldn't go into those details.
00:46Let's take a listen.
00:48On the first night, there was a strike at the Al-Minhad Air Base.
00:55But all the Australians who are there are safe and accounted for.
01:02There were no injuries to Australians.
01:05And Robby, what's been the political reaction here to those public services being held to
01:11mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
01:14Yeah, well, many Australians have celebrated the death of Iran's former Supreme Leader.
01:22There have also been reports that some mosques and Islamic institutions are holding public
01:28memorials and prayer sessions to honour him.
01:32Now, those actions have been condemned by both the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Deputy Prime
01:39Minister, Richard Marles, both saying that they don't think that they are appropriate.
01:44Meanwhile, the opposition has also condemned these services, suggesting that they could also
01:52potentially breach the law.
01:54And the opposition is calling for authorities to investigate them.
01:59Shadow Attorney General Michaelia Cash was asked about this earlier.
02:03And she said that it was utterly disgraceful that they were going ahead.
02:08Here's what she had to say.
02:09The IRGC is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.
02:14And any suggestion that these sermons are in any way advocating support for the IRGC must
02:22be investigated.
02:23This is a country that does not tolerate terrorism and we do not tolerate this type of behaviour.
02:30Meanwhile, Gemma, Angus Taylor has just addressed his first joint party room meeting since he
02:37ousted the former opposition leader Susan Lee and took over that role.
02:42And in that process, Senator Jane Hume also took over the role of the deputy opposition leader.
02:48So this is their first coalition joint party room meeting since they've both taken over those
02:54leadership roles.
02:55Angus Taylor started that address by thanking his colleagues for putting their faith in him as leader.
03:03And he also went on to say that a strong coalition is central to being able to provide a strong
03:11offering at the next election.
03:13We are laying out our priorities and we're going to be laying out policies all the way through to
03:18the next election that address two core issues for Australians.
03:23Restoring their standard of living that has been trashed by this government.
03:27It's gone backwards compared to all of our peer countries around the world.
03:31And we're going to protect Australians' way of life.
03:36We cherish our way of life in this country.
03:38We cherish our core beliefs and values and we're going to fight to protect them every single
03:43day.
03:45A lot of work ahead for the opposition leader Angus Taylor, given that we know that the coalition
03:51has seen worsening poll results since that disastrous election loss last year.
03:59And we've also seen two coalition splits since that election under Susan Lee's leadership.
04:06So, a big job ahead for Angus Taylor.
04:09Parliament is sitting today, Gemma.
04:11So, we will bring all the latest developments as they come.
04:14We'll be looking at our first two.
04:14Thank you very much.
04:15I'm ready for this one Q&A.
04:17We'll be looking at our next list enamorism project for耐 mapping.
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