Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
A Listener Production. Hi, Natasha Belling with you and welcome to the afternoon edition of The Briefing. Coming up in our deep dive, the dangerous new phase in the war in the Middle East. It seems any peace deal is now off the table as all out attacks erupt between the US, Israel and Iran.
We speak with a top defence expert about what may happen next and why President Trump may be forced to launch a new all out war. But first, let's check the afternoon headlines this Wednesday, 10 June. A major court decision could see the federal government pay out millions of dollars in compensation.
Today, the High Court has ruled that the Australian government could owe tens of millions of dollars to people who were illegally detained in our immigration detention centres. The liability flows from the ruling in 2023 that it was illegal to indefinitely detain asylum seekers who did not have a home country.
And after that 2023 ruling, around 340 non-citizens were released, with reports they could now be eligible for compensation for their unlawful detention. One Nation has fought back against the federal government in a fundraising standoff.
Chapter 2: What recent developments have escalated the Iran war?
Labor posted an ad asking for donations of $27 to help stop the rise of One Nation. In response, Pauline Hanson's party launched its Fire the Liar campaign, targeting the Prime Minister for breaking election promises and asking for Australians to also donate. One Nation's fundraising drive on its website had an initial target of $1 million.
At the time of publishing this afternoon, donations have already reached more than $630,000. Here is One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce.
The movement goes across Australia the members within One Nation. It's a reflection on how the Australian people see politics and how they want it changed.
It comes as speculation grows the federal government could announce a back down over its controversial changes to capital gains tax. Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the MCG this afternoon for the state funeral of AFL great and MND campaigner Neil Danaher.
A number of high-profile politicians, including the Prime Minister and Federal Opposition Leader, joined the commemorations for Neil, who passed away at the end of last month after a brave 13-year battle with what he called the Beast. Danaher also founded Fight MND, which has raised more than $100 million. In 2025, he was named Australian of the Year.
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Chapter 3: How is the US responding to the renewed conflict in the Middle East?
Amongst the many tributes this afternoon to Neil was his wife of 41 years, Jane.
But MND doesn't define Neil. Neil is defined by his character, his integrity, his humility, his honesty, his strength and resilience. by his sharp wit, his cheeky smile, his love of family and friends and his wonderful love of laughter. This is how we will remember Neil. I love you, darling. Thank you.
The alleged Bondi shooter has been charged with 19 additional offences.
Chapter 4: What significant court ruling could impact Australian immigration policy?
Naveed Akram was initially charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder. The new charges include discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest and shooting with intent to murder. Akram's lawyer said the 24-year-old is yet to enter a plea as the matter is still in its infancy.
In US politics, an oyster farmer has officially become the Democratic candidate to represent the state of Maine in the Senate. Graham Plattner's election is one of the key votes that could take control of the government away from Trump's Republican Party. Plattner is a political newcomer. He was only recruited to run last year and has never held an elected office.
But he's not without controversy. In the last week, his campaign has been rocked by public revelations that before his campaign started, he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women. Plattner addressed those controversies in today's Victory Speech.
If you believe as I do... that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change. And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.
And researchers have found a connection between smartphones and declining birth rates. The US National Bureau of Economic Research studied birth rates around the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and found that while birth rates had already been falling, the iPhone was responsible for around 50% of the decline between 2007 and 2011.
The researchers gave three possible explanations that the iPhone was replacing in-person life, that the iPhone provided easier access to pornography and also that the new technology made it easier for people to access information on contraception. The paper says the effects were strongest among young people.
Music
Now it's time to get into our deep dive on the renewed hostilities in the Middle East. Any peace deal or ceasefire now seems obsolete as Israel, the US and Iran all launch dangerous new attacks. We speak with national security expert Jennifer Parker on why we should be concerned about the renewed hostilities and what may happen next. Jen, thanks so much for joining us.
How concerned should we be about these latest developments with this increase in the escalation of conflict between the US and Iran?
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Chapter 5: How is One Nation's fundraising campaign affecting Australian politics?
They may also be a stage that we don't know about in the diplomatic negotiations that's happening behind closed doors where Iran is trying to prove a point about their leverage. So all of this could be contributing to it.
But again, the concern comes from just the, not the breach of the ceasefire, because that's a consistent trend, but the intensity of these attacks now across the Gulf region from Iran and the capability that means that they still have.
So let's unpack what's happened over the last couple of days, because there has been critical developments, gents. So over the weekend, literally, we saw the US president in the Oval Office almost saying the peace deal was closed, you know, negotiations were happening, they were going to get it over the line.
And then we've seen these attacks unfold between Israel and Iran, Iran and Israel, Iran against the US and then the US back against Iran. And then just over the last couple of hours, our time in Australia, it looks like there are reports that Iran has hit a US naval base.
Yes. And in fact, that US Naval Base is the last base I worked at when I was serving in the Australian Navy. It is an important naval base. It's the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet. Now, how many US personnel are really working there now, 102 days into this war? or is probably questionable, but it's certainly a symbolic strike from Iran.
It was, that naval base was in fact attacked by Iran in the first 24 hours of this conflict, but hasn't been during the ceasefire. So a number of significant developments. It's clear that President Trump does want this peace deal. I mean, it's clear that the US don't want to return to the intensity of fighting that was occurring in March and early April. In fact, we've seen the commander-in-chief
of Central Command, who is the commander of the US forces in the region, come out and say that the strikes that the US undertook around the coastal cities and Kesham Island in Iran this morning were self-defense strikes in response to the Apache and basically implied that they would be limited, that the US did not intend to go any further.
Now, whether that remains their position, though, after Iranian strikes on what looks to be Kuwait, which Iran has struck Kuwait a couple of times during this ceasefire, the US base in Jordan. Now, if that is true, that is significant because Jordan hasn't been struck since the early days of this conflict. And then again, Bahrain.
Whether that forces the US to now rethink their approach in terms of their limits and strikes, only time will tell. But But if it does, then we're seeing really this conflict potentially returning to that high intensity we saw in March.
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Chapter 6: What was the significance of Neale Daniher's state funeral?
And Trump, I think, would be weighing up the risk of remaining in stalemate and the economic impact that he's having and also the reputational impact that he's having on the US versus the risks of re-entering the high intensity of the conflict and all of that domestic and international pressure that would come.
Certainly a rocky road ahead. We will watch with great interest. Jen, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks so much. That was Jennifer Parker, a defence and maritime expert with the University of New South Wales. And that's it for this episode of the afternoon edition of The Briefing.
We'll be back in your feed tomorrow morning with a two-part interview with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns on new cannabis laws, One Nation and the federal budget. We'd love you to subscribe or follow us on Instagram at The Briefing Podcast. I'm Natasha Belling. Thanks for your company.