That’s all for todayBy Isabel McMillanThanks for reading the national news blog for today, Thursday, July 16. This is where we’ll end the rolling coverage.Here’s a brief look back on some of today’s headlines.The US said it had ended its latest wave of airstrikes against Iran. Its forces struck Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities, as well as coastal surveillance facilities. It hit targets in Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port.One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts accused the “mainstream media” of waging a campaign against him, declaring: “First they came for Pauline. Then they came for Barnaby. Now it’s my turn.” The Queensland senator said in a statement on Facebook that news reporting on his comments amounted to “selective cherry-picking and dishonest distortions” designed to protect the political “uniparty”.Christopher Pyne says the AUKUS pact is unlikely to be delivered on time and on budget, but the former defence minister believes acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines will still provide an important deterrent to China and powerful boost to Australia’s military capabilities.Sam Neill’s management confirmed that the much-loved actor died of pneumonia. Philip Grenz, Neill’s long-time representative, issued a statement because, he said, several media stories containing “inaccuracies and outright falsehoods” had circulated since news broke on Monday of the 78-year-old’s death in St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Sydney.Opposition Leader Angus Taylor shared a photo of himself with a man who has become equally synonymous with criticising the Albanese government: comedian Dave Hughes.“Just trying to enjoy one of Melbourne’s famous coffees and this guy won’t stop talking to me about Labor’s toxic taxes,” Taylor’s caption read.And overseas, victims of the fire at a Bangkok music bar that claimed more than 30 lives included four of the six core members of the band playing when the blaze broke out.The fate of the Totsakan band has been a key focus in Thailand’s coverage of the blaze, and as residents expressed their sadness, confusion, outrage and demands for compensation on Wednesday, the sister of the group’s late keyboard player struck a particular note of grace.Thanks for tuning in. We’ll be back with rolling news coverage again tomorrow.Latest Posts5.33pm on Jul 16, 2026Kim Williams makes no apology for Netanyahu critique, but regrets timingBy Kishor Napier-RamanABC chair Kim Williams has doubled down on his views expressed in a profile published in this masthead that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an “aberrant” leader, but said the comments were inappropriate to make at the time.“I’m a very keen follower of matters to do with the Jewish faith, and I do believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is an aberrant figure in the leadership of Israel as a nation. I make no apology for that,” Williams told Sky News.“I do make an apology for expressing a view in a time of great conflict and where there is division in society, and I think it was inappropriate on my part.”5.31pm on Jul 16, 2026‘I’m not a punching bag’: ABC chair clashes with Chris Kenny over Middle East coverageBy Kishor Napier-RamanSky News’ Chris Kenny and ABC chair Kim Williams have clashed over claims the broadcaster has been biased against Israel in its reporting on the Middle East conflict.“If you’re saying the ABC is in any way guilty of some antisemitic bias in its reporting, I think you need to do a much better job in demonstrating that,” Williams said when asked about a clip from the broadcaster’s Media Watch program.ABC chair Kim Williams.Alex Ellinghausen“In fairness, you’re verballing me. I’ve never said anything about [that],” Kenny said.Later, Williams said the ABC had demonstrated “probably the most comprehensive and disciplined body of coverage” of the conflict.“I’m not here to actually be some kind of punching bag on assertions that you’re just throwing at me,” he said.5.27pm on Jul 16, 2026ABC chair backs Reuters veteran to bring ‘performance-oriented’ focus to broadcasterBy Kishor Napier-RamanABC chair Kim Williams says that managing director Hugh Marks’ decision to dump the broadcaster’s news boss Justin Stevens this year was driven by a desire to see a “different focus”.“I think Hugh [Marks] has made it very clear that he wanted to see a different focus. That he wanted to see something that was going to better accord with settings that that measured up in terms of a performance-oriented ABC,” Williams told Sky News host Chris Kenny.Stevens is set to be replaced by Simon Robinson, a London-based executive at news service Reuters.Kenny asked Williams whether Robinson’s role was to make the broadcaster “more pluralistic, less biased”.“I have every confidence that Simon holds values of pluralism very close to his heart, and he comes with all of the embedded values of the Reuters Trust principles, which are the oldest set of editorial policies operational on the planet,” Williams said.5.23pm on Jul 16, 2026Chris Kenny accuses ABC of lacking conservative voicesBy Kishor Napier-RamanSky News host Chris Kenny has accused the ABC of lacking ideological diversity and right-of-centre hosts.“The ABC can have a left-wing major program presenter. Where is the right-of-centre Philip Adams? There was never an answer to that,” Kenny said.Sky News host Chris Kenny.ABC chair Kim Williams said the ABC has had conservative hosts “from time to time”, pointing to former Centre for Independent Studies boss Tom Switzer, who had a weekly show until 2023.“It was a pretty good program,” Williams said.5.20pm on Jul 16, 2026ABC chair says he doesn’t know how star broadcasters voteBy Kishor Napier-RamanFacing a grilling from Sky News host Chris Kenny on his nightly show, ABC chair Kim Williams has defended the neutrality of the public broadcaster.“I would have no idea how the overwhelming majority of people at the ABC vote, and nor would I seek to find out,” Williams said.Kenny accused the ABC of taking an “alarmist” position on climate change, a claim Williams vehemently denied.“I wouldn’t say the ABC is ever alarmist in relation to climate change. The ABC is covering the vast panoply of science, which overwhelmingly suggests that the planet has real challenges,” he said.“Frankly, I don’t know how they vote, and I don’t know if they vote ... they may well register out of issues of principle a vote that is invalid.”5.11pm on Jul 16, 2026AUKUS will not run on time or on budget, Christopher Pyne saysBy Matthew KnottChristopher Pyne says the AUKUS pact is unlikely to be delivered on time and on budget, but the former defence minister believes acquiring a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines will still provide an important deterrent to China and powerful boost to Australia’s military capabilities.Pyne, who now runs a lobbying firm whose clients include major defence contractors, said that an underappreciated part of the AUKUS pact was that it would provide the US Navy with a new submarine base for the United States in Western Australia, opening up its access to the Indian Ocean.Former defence minister Christopher Pyne has established a career post-politics as a lobbyist, including for defence firms.Oscar ColmanPyne, who served as defence minister from 2018 to 2019, told a crowd-funded public inquiry chaired by former Labor minister Peter Garrett that AUKUS was a huge national endeavour, bigger than opening up the Olympic Dam mine in the late 1980s.“It’s not like buying a watering system at Bunnings and putting it in over the weekend on your own,” Pyne said of the plan to acquire a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines in co-operation with the US and Britain.“Do I think they will deliver it on time and on budget? No, I don’t. I can say that now because I’m not in public life any more, but I don’t think they will ... I think they will give it a good go.”Foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott has the full story here. 4.47pm on Jul 16, 2026Legal system a ‘jailing machine’, lawyer tells racism probeBy Duncan MurrayA senior barrister has unleashed at a racism probe, saying young Indigenous people are denied due process and incarcerated at world-leading rates.“Make no mistake, this legal system up here now has become ... a jailing machine,” long-time Northern Territory barrister John Lawrence told an inquiry into racism, hate and violence towards Indigenous Australians on Thursday.Lawrence said that over almost 40 years practising law in the territory, he had witnessed the rule of law eroded to the point it was unrecognisable with the prison experience for many including long stretches in isolation or massive overcrowding.“What we have now is a gulag – a massive gulag,” he said.Set up in March, the inquiry is probing systemic racism, the influence of online platforms and initiatives aimed to combat racism.4.20pm on Jul 16, 2026Delhi tells ship owners not to deploy Indian seafarers on Hormuz routesBy Delhi: India has ordered ship owners, ship managers and recruitment companies not to deploy the country’s seafarers on vessels undertaking trips through the Strait of Hormuz amid renewed fighting in the region.India is the world’s third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working across global shipping fleets, according to government data.“No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders,” the Directorate General of Shipping said in an order issued late on Wednesday.Two Indian seafarers have been killed in attacks on vessels in the region over the past three days, as tensions escalate in the Middle East.3.47pm on Jul 16, 2026Australia should send military assets to the Gulf: MorrisonBy Michael KoziolWashington: Australia should send military assets to the Gulf to help protect commercial shipping, former prime minister Scott Morrison has said, as US bombing of Iran intensifies and a crisis redevelops in the Strait of Hormuz.US forces completed two waves of strikes against the Islamic regime on Wednesday (US time), and fired at an unladen oil tanker bound for Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, as they stepped up the naval blockade of Iranian ports.Former Australian PM Scott Morrison dispatched a navy frigate and troops to the Persian Gulf in 2020.Fairfax MediaMorrison, speaking on the sidelines of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Washington, said it was now time for Australia to consider what military assets it could send to the Gulf to defend free shipping and global energy supplies.“We should be following our national interest, and we have serious national interests at stake when it comes to fuel security and what’s happening in the Gulf,” he said.“It’s important that we be proactive in the national interest to be making a contribution that helps resolve the issue, including the use of our defence assets.”US correspondent Michael Koziol has the full story here. 1 of 4