Australia news LIVE: Butler vows health rebate bill will return to Senate after Coalition, Greens block legislation; Wells to introduce Digital Duty of Care to parliament today

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Australian and world news this Thursday, October 15. Here’s what you need to know today.

• Health Minister Mark Butler has vowed to bring the Albanese government’s health rebate bill back to the Senate after the Coalition and the Greens joined forces yesterday to throw out the proposed changes. Under the proposed measures announced in the May budget, private health insurance was set to become more expensive for older Australians.
• Communications Minister Anika Wells will introduce Labor’s Digital Duty of Care legislation to parliament today. It is likely to face delays as both the Coalition and the Greens prepare to send the legislation to a Senate inquiry.
• Outgoing Coalition frontbencher Jonno Duniam used his final speech to parliament to implore his Liberal colleagues to return to their roots and stay the course against a surging One Nation, and cautioned them against mimicking other politicians. The Tasmanian senator will not return to parliament next year.
• And US President Donald Trump has shared an AI video in which he wrestles the tiger that killed a British man at a South Yorkshire zoo. The beginning of the 23-second video mirrors actual footage of William Chapman’s last moments. South Yorkshire Police had asked the public not to share “distressing footage” of Chapman’s death, and Chapman’s family revealed their “severe distress” about footage and other content being shared online.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says Labor’s changes to private health insurance rebates would put “more pressure on our public health system” after the Coalition and the Greens joined in the Senate yesterday to block the legislation.

Under the proposed measures, private health insurance was set to become more expensive for older Australians.

McKenzie told Nine’s Today show this morning that there were “better ways” to find savings than by targeting over-65s.

“It’s about priorities … We don’t think that pensioners relying on their private health rebates are a targeted group.

“But unfortunately, under Labor, they were.”

Washington: US President Donald Trump has shared an AI video in which he wrestles the tiger that killed a British man at a South Yorkshire zoo.

In the clip the US president, in a suit and tie, chases the male tiger and throws him to the ground, before the pair start hugging.

The beginning of the 23-second video mirrors actual footage of William Chapman’s last moments, before he was mauled to death on Saturday.

In the AI clip, which was posted on the president’s Truth Social network on Tuesday (US time), Trump sits on the ground and tries to fend off Altai, the 200-kilogram Siberian tiger, while the animal swipes with its paw.

Trump is seen jumping up and running after the big cat in the faked video. It is set to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

South Yorkshire Police had asked the public not to share “distressing footage” of Chapman’s death. On Tuesday evening, Chapman’s family revealed their “severe distress” about footage and other content shared online.

Outgoing Coalition frontbencher Jonno Duniam has implored his Liberal colleagues to return to their roots and stay the course against an ascendent One Nation, cautioning them against mimicking other people or ceding defeat in his final speech to parliament.

The Tasmanian senator said no one could deny the difficult position facing the Liberals, who have sunk in the polls after losing dozens of seats across two successive elections, but that he believed they would form government again.

“This challenge is not insurmountable. We have a history and we should be proud of it,” Duniam said in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon.

“My party can give Australians what they need. Not by pretending to be someone else or seeking to appease certain actors, but by returning to our roots, by backing [our values] in with conviction … and explaining why it is better than the alternative.”

Read the full story by federal politics correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Australian and world news this Thursday, October 15. Here’s what you need to know today.

• Health Minister Mark Butler has vowed to bring the Albanese government’s health rebate bill back to the Senate after the Coalition and the Greens joined forces yesterday to throw out the proposed changes. Under the proposed measures announced in the May budget, private health insurance was set to become more expensive for older Australians.
• Communications Minister Anika Wells will introduce Labor’s Digital Duty of Care legislation to parliament today. It is likely to face delays as both the Coalition and the Greens prepare to send the legislation to a Senate inquiry.
• Outgoing Coalition frontbencher Jonno Duniam used his final speech to parliament to implore his Liberal colleagues to return to their roots and stay the course against a surging One Nation, and cautioned them against mimicking other politicians. The Tasmanian senator will not return to parliament next year.
• And US President Donald Trump has shared an AI video in which he wrestles the tiger that killed a British man at a South Yorkshire zoo. The beginning of the 23-second video mirrors actual footage of William Chapman’s last moments. South Yorkshire Police had asked the public not to share “distressing footage” of Chapman’s death, and Chapman’s family revealed their “severe distress” about footage and other content being shared online.