Simon Birmingham was one of the Liberals who went out this morning to talk about the figures the opposition provided for that story in The Australian.

He spoke to Sky News to reiterate the point, but he also danced around a couple of issues he was directly asked about.

Q: You spoke of the suffering and the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Australia is a compassionate country. Figures show we are accepting more Palestinian refugees than other countries. Considering the dire situation you’ve been talking about, many would see that as a good thing?

Birmingham:

Well, Australia is a generous country, and we are historically one of the most generous countries in the world, accepting more refugees for permanent resettlement on a per capita basis than almost any other country in the world. And that is something we should have a proud record of.

Of course, it’s also a terrible fact that across the world there are many, many more refugees than can ever be resettled. And we face crises in our own region in Myanmar at present, of course, multiple crises in Africa, the continued war in Ukraine. There are sadly no shortage of refugees who would love the opportunity to come to Australia.

That’s why we need to make sure for our own social cohesion, wellbeing and security, that every possible security check is applied so that we have confidence that those who come to Australia are not only the most needy, but also the people who will contribute to our country and pose no security threat or risk to the social cohesion of our nation.

After the joint statement between the leaders where no questions were allowed to be asked, the government has released joint-ministerial statement on Australia-Indonesia defence cooperation which doesn’t actually say anything about what is happening with the pact, beyond that it will be aimed at “strengthening the bilateral defence relationship across many dimensions and areas of cooperation”.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, addressed Labor caucus discussing the four focuses of the government: cost of living, Medicare, Future Made in Australia, and Australia’s place in the world.

Albanese referred to Peter Dutton’s history of finding ways to divide Australians, repeating his argument from question time on Monday that the Coalition’s recent concern about Palestinians arriving from Gaza implied that Hamas control was only a problem after the 7 October attacks. While Dutton is obsessed with appearing tough Labor is focused on those doing it tough, he argued. Albanese noted the Coalition had not produced a single fully costed cost of living policy.

Albanese also referred to “constructive, detailed” negotiations with the opposition on aged care reforms. He is hopeful of an agreement with the opposition “very soon”.

Anika Wells gave details of the new support at home program, and gave the outline of negotiations on taskforce recommendations about viability and investability of residential care. Guardian Australia has confirmed Labor has offered to drop criminal penalties against aged care directors for breaches of standards; and is hoping to introduce more user-pays for wealthier consumers of residential accommodation and food.

Caucus also approved legislation:

• Setting up the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission

• Paying super on paid parental leave

• Family law changes, so courts can better consider the effect of family violence

• Bill Shorten’s amendments to NDIS legislation, reflecting negotiations with premiers on NDIS rule changes, and opposition amendments about not spending on drugs and alcohol

Indonesian president-elect says defence pact will be signed in coming days

Prabowo Subianto, who is currently the defence minister in Indonesia (as well as being president-elect), said Australia and Indonesia have also concluded negotiations on an updated defence pact, which will be signed in Indonesia in the coming days.

I look forward to hosting [Richard Marles] very soon in Indonesia signed our defence cooperation agreements. I think we had very important discussions which I think will be beneficial to both our countries in the future.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, also spoke at the joint statement and he too is very excited about the pact.

When you consider the journeys of Indonesia and Australia over the decades, it is profoundly historic that we have reached this moment where we find security in each other.

The map really determines that Australia and Indonesia is the closest of neighbours and have a shared destiny but, from this moment forth, that destiny is very much defined by deep strategic trust.

Typically, it would take the better part of a decade to negotiate an agreement of this kind that we have done it in less than two years, it speaks to the shared ambition, the shared sense of purpose between our two countries, the closeness between Australia and Indonesia under President Widodo and Prime Minister Albanese.

I have been to Indonesia in the last 18 months three times, Prabowo Subianto has been here twice, we have met each other countless times in other parts of the world. This would not have happened but [for] Prabowo Subianto’s leadership and I would like to thank him for that leadership. I would like to thank him for his partnership and indeed his friendship.

Prabowo Subianto says Indonesia would like Australian help battling ‘narcotics threat’

Prabowo Subianto said he and Anthony Albanese spoke of areas where Indonesia would like “Australian help, advice and assistance”, naming “in the field of agriculture, food security, also in the serious problem of drugs, narcotics, let us say threats that we are experiencing in Indonesia”.

I view the drugs problem and the narcotics threat to be of the highest importance in Indonesia and I really value Australian help in this.

So we look forward to a wide spectrum of future cooperation, not least in the field of sports.

I congratulate Australia for its great achievement in the last Olympics and I am also determined to better our position in the next Olympics.

President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated as president in October, said Anthony Albanese was the first foreign leader to call and congratulate him on his win in February.

He too has re-affirmed the relationship between the two countries and will “continue the general policies” of his predecessor.

In most fields, especially in the field of economics, we have had good cooperation. We would like to see more Australian participation in our economy. We would also like to see closer collaboration and consultation on various fields that we can achieve outcomes that respect both our economic interests, both our national interests.

Albanese says there is ‘no more important relationship’ for Australia than its friendship with Indonesia

Anthony Albanese is speaking at the joint press statement he and the Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto are holding. There will be no questions, so it is literally a statement.

Albanese:

There is no more important relationship than the one between our two great nations. The strides that President Widodo and I have made together toward a deeper economic relationship will be the foundation of the work that I know will continue under your administration and that’s been confirmed by the one-on-one leaders’ meeting that we had today, but also the discussions that we had with senior members of my cabinet and your delegation. Our countries will continue to strengthen our ties as economic partners, security partners and partners that stand ready to benefit from the global transition to net zero.

Paul Karp is at the Labor caucus briefing (each party holds a background briefing following its meetings) and says the caucus heard from Anthony Albanese and Anika Wells on the aged care reforms.

The prime minister said he was hopeful of an agreement with the opposition “very soon”.

Wells gave details of the new support at home program, and gave an outline of negotiations on taskforce recommendations about the financial viability of residential care.

One of those things may be making people who have more money pay more for aged care. More to come.

Tammy Tyrrell to vote against government’s NDIS bill

Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell has announced she won’t be supporting the government’s NDIS bill when it pops up in the Senate:

I’m voting against the government’s NDIS bill. There are so many unknowns in this bill. It’s like a book with chapter headings and then no writing. The Senate shouldn’t pass bills that the government couldn’t be bothered to do their homework on.

I never wanted to be a politician but, as an accidental one, my goal is to try and make things better for people where I can. Hundreds of Tasmanians on the NDIS are telling me this bill will actually make things worse for them. That’s why I can’t support it.

Study shows 24% of Australian children live in ‘childcare desert’

Victoria University has released data showing 700,000 Australians live in areas which make accessing childcare almost impossible.

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone living outside of inner city areas, but the research found that roughly 24% of Australian children live in what the researchers termed the “childcare desert”.

The Parenthood’s Georgie Dent, who has been pushing for changes to access and the end to the activity test (which bases how much subsidy a parent or care giver can receive based on their “activity” such as work or volunteering), said the government also needed to look at availability of childcare in its quest to expand access.

Maddy Butler, the lead campaigner for the Parenthood’s “access for every child” rural coalition said:

We know that there is a direct link between access to early childhood education and care and parents’ workforce participation and, in the regions, entire workforces and communities are suffering because of this.

This report is yet more proof that as long as providers make the decisions about where to open centres, services will continue to congregate in wealthier, more advantaged and metropolitan areas.

The Greens party room has met, mainly discussing the lack of progress on a lot of government legislation. The minor party thinks that the NDIS bill may pass on Thursday with opposition support, but otherwise bills are backing up for the September session.

A regional broadcasting bill which the Greens planned to amend to push for a total gambling ad ban has been pushed down the list.

The Greens are upset about Peter Dutton’s comments on Palestinian visas and are worried Labor will be spooked out of offering a special humanitarian visa to help people fleeing the Gaza war zone.

The Greens rejected claims about construction union donations, noting that they hadn’t taken a cent from them in over a decade.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is due to meet later today with the visiting prime minister of Qatar, a country that has been playing a key role in attempting to broker a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The meeting in Canberra is scheduled to occur this afternoon. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who holds the dual roles of prime minister and foreign affairs minister of Qatar, is visiting Australia and New Zealand.

The latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks were held in Doha, Qatar, last week but ended without a breakthrough. Further negotiations are expected to be held in Cairo, Egypt.

During a visit to Israel yesterday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said that this week was “probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security”.

The Australian government has strongly backed the ceasefire proposal that the US president, Joe Biden, has been pushing for the past three months. Wong has called for “all parties” - meaning Hamas and Israel - to agree to the terms. Wong said in June:

The human suffering in Gaza is unacceptable. This war must end