Australia news and politics live: ‘Iran is da bomb’ sprayed on Melbourne synagogue hours after US raids

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An iconic Melbourne religious institution has been vandalised twice in a day.

The heritage-listed Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue was targeted by vandals on Sunday.

One piece of graffiti read “Iran is da bomb” inscribed in a mushroom cloud, alongside another piece of vandalism that said “free Palestine”.

“It is believed a wall of the Toorak Road premises was graffitied by an unknown person sometime on Sunday afternoon,” a police spokesman said.

“That was removed but unknown offenders again graffitied the building sometime on Sunday evening.”

Read the full story here.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Andrew Hastie has taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s handling of the deepening Israel-Iran conflict, accusing him of being “too slow, too silent and too passive” in the face of an international crisis.

Speaking on ABC News following the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Mr Hastie said the Prime Minister should have made a public statement supporting Israel on Sunday.

“The people of Israel deserved a message of support. Is this a question of confidence or competence on his part?” he said.

Mr Hastie added that Australia’s leader “needs to be advocating for the national interest.”

Iran’s judiciary has announced it executed Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh on Monday for allegedly spying for Israel, as the conflict between the two nations entered its 11th day.

Officials said Mr Shayesteh was hanged for “intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime,” the term Iran uses to refer to Israel.

More to come.

Oil has jumped on fears that America’s bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran will trigger retaliatory strikes on Gulf oil infrastructure.

The price of crude spiked 5.7 per cent in early trade on news Iran’s parliament last night voted to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping channel 39 kilometres wide at its narrowest point that is responsible for one-fifth of the seaborne trade in oil.

Whether Iran can do that is a different story.

Its military capabilities have been depleted, and the consequences may be too severe. US Vice President JD Vance warned it would be “suicidal” for Iran to attempt to attack oil infrastructure.

Read more.

North Korea says it strongly condemns the US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities as a grave violation of a sovereign state’s security interests and territorial rights, the North’s state media reports.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said the United States and Israel were responsible for the current tensions in the Middle East born out of Jerusalem’s “ceaseless war moves and territorial expansion”, accepted and encouraged by the West.

“(North Korea) strongly denounces the attack on Iran by the US, which ... violently trampled down the territorial integrity and security interests of a sovereign state,” the unnamed spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA news agency on Monday.

Read more.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a warning of “a risk of reprisal attacks” amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Updating travel advice on Monday in the wake of the US strikes on Iranian facilities, DFAT said the risk of terrorist attacks “can increase, particularly around areas where foreign tourists gather, embassies and other foreign interests”.

“There is a risk of reprisal attacks and further escalation. Protests and civil unrest may happen globally,” it stated.

“Be alert to possible threats, especially in public places or mass gatherings.”

US President Donald Trump has declared on Truth Social that the United States caused “monumental damage” to “all nuclear sites in Iran” following recent strikes.

Describing the operation as a “bullseye”, Mr Trump claimed the obliteration was so extensive that the worst of the damage occurred far below ground.

He referenced a satellite image — not included in the post — showing a “white structure” embedded in rock and shielded from flames, suggesting it had also been struck.

“Obliteration is an accurate term,” he wrote.

Australia’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have said they’re opposed to retaliatory attacks from Iran, revealing they’re worried about any strike back on Australia and allies.

“Obviously we’re opposed to any action against Australians or indeed against anyone else,” Anthony Albanese told a Canberra press conference on Monday.

Penny Wong said Australia was considering broader advice in the wake of the strikes.

“There are always risks not only from escalation in the region but also potential for risk more broadly,” she said.

“I indicated publicly this morning that I have asked my department to consider whether there are any… if there’s any alteration to travel advice more generally, which we will obviously make sure is updated.”

Anthony Albanese has backed the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — a day after they took place — but it appears Australia did not know about the military plans in advance, nor had any involvement.

The Prime Minister repeatedly said the strikes were “a unilateral action by the United States” during a short press conference on the matter in Canberra on Monday.

“We are up front, but we don’t talk about intelligence, obviously, but we’ve made it very clear this was unilateral action taken by the United States,” he said when asked whether the Government had seen intelligence showing Iran was imminently at the point of developing a nuclear weapon or whether the Pine Gap signals facility was used to aid the attack.

Read more.