Australia news LIVE: King Charles III diagnosed with cancer; RBA ...

King Charles called Prince Harry personally to inform him of his cancer diagnosis, the BBC reports.

The BBC was told the King made several phone calls in the moments after his diagnosis including to his estranged son, who is now believed to be travelling to the UK.

The King also personally told his other son Prince William and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Prince Harry leaving London’s High Court in June last year after giving evidence in a libel case.Credit: AP

Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex Meghan, moved to the US in 2020 after stepping away from royal duties.

The relationship between the couple and the senior royals has been distant at best in the years since, especially after the release of the couple’s Netflix documentary which aired allegations of racism within the royal family.

Prince Harry’s last public appearance with his father was at the King’s coronation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed outrage at China over the suspended death sentence handed to Australian academic Yang Hengjun after five years of being held on vague espionage charges in Beijing.

Speaking this morning in Canberra, Albanese reiterated the government’s approach to China of cooperating when they can and disagreeing when they must.

Yang Hengjun has spent five years in a Beijing prison cell and received a suspended death sentence.Credit: Sanghee Liu

“We have conveyed firstly, to China, our dismay, our despair, our frustration but to put it really simply our outrage at this verdict,” he said.

“This is a very harsh sentence on Dr Yang, a man who is not in good health, and we will continue to make the strongest representations. We of course called in the ambassador yesterday, but we will make representations at all levels.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reiterated his well-wishes to King Charles, who has been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer after a prostate surgery.

Speaking after the service at St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Canberra, Albanese expressed hope King Charles would recover and visit Australia.

King Charles III and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Getty

“All Australians will be sending their best wishes to King Charles for a speedy recovery, this is difficult news, and we hope for King Charles, for his majesty and for all of their family … the very best,” he said.

“We want to see his majesty to return to full duties as soon as possible. We of course, look forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting [which], will be held in our region and of course, we have invited King Charles to visit Australia, and we sincerely hope that is able to occur.”

Negotiations to pass the government’s Closing Loopholes legislation are continuing, as Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says conversations with independent senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie have been positive.

Speaking on ABC Radio National, Burke said he hoped to reach a positive conclusion with Pocock and Lambie, who both hold reservations about the bill.

“Nothing’s resolved until everything’s resolved. So at the moment, we don’t have a majority in the Senate. I’m hopeful, the conversations have been really constructive but you know, there’s no negotiation with David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie that’s an easy one,” he said.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.Credit: Oscar Colman

One part of the bill that has received extensive concerns from Pocock and Lambie is the “right to disconnect” – which would allow workers to tell their bosses to stop making unreasonable contact after hours.

“Certainly, it’s completely reasonable contacting people for shifts, all those sorts of things are completely reasonable, and we don’t want to get in the way of that [for employers],” Burke said.

“I’ll just add now what’s reasonable for a worker … if you’re in a job where you’re only paid for the exact hours that you’re working, some people are now constantly in a situation of getting in trouble if they’re not checking their emails, being expected to be working for a whole lot of time that they’re not being paid and that’s just unreasonable.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken about the diagnosis of King Charles.

Albanese spoke outside St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church this morning, where a service is held to mark the commencement of Parliament for the year.

King Charles III with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace in May.Credit: Getty

“Can I just say that today, the thoughts of all Australians are with King Charles and his family, we wish him very much a speedy recovery,” Albanese said outside the church.

“I’ll be sending a message to the palace this morning, and we hope that King Charles has a speedy recovery and a return to his duties as soon as possible.”

The former US president Donald Trump also shared his reaction to the news about King Charles, this time on his own Truth Social platform.

“He is a wonderful man, who I got to know well during my presidency, and we all pray that he has a fast and full recovery,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was asked about the King’s diagnosis at an event in Las Vegas, where he said he had just been told the news.

US President Joe Biden meets with King Charles III.Credit: Getty

“I’m concerned about him,” he said.

“Hopefully, I’ll be talking to him soon.”

During a press briefing spokesman for the US State Department Vedant Patel said he was “very sad”.

“Our thoughts are with the King and his family. That’s incredibly sad new … I’m very sorry for the King and his family,” he said.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham would not confirm if the Coalition will vote for the Albanese government’s reformed stage 3 tax package.

Instead, he reiterated the Coalition’s position will be standing for lower, simpler, fairer taxes.

As we reported below, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton convened a shadow cabinet meeting on yesterday afternoon to debate his response to the government plan. The Coalition will hold a party room meeting today to decide an alternative policy.

The opposition’s shadow foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We’re working through the normal parliamentary party processes to settle our position, our position will ultimately be one of lower, simpler, fairer taxes,” Birmingham told ABC News this morning.

“A few dollars a week that [the government’s tax plan] would provide households isn’t going to do anything really to cover over that huge gap in household finances and the pressure people are facing.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is poised to accept the federal government’s overhaul of the stage 3 tax cuts as Treasury officials reveal that 70 per cent of workers will pay less tax over a full decade if the draft law is passed.

The forecasts also show that most taxpayers will pay a lower average tax rate under the revised plan than the original Coalition package during the decade ahead, even as their taxable incomes grow.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

But the Coalition will ramp up its calls for more generous tax cuts that spare workers from the impact of bracket creep when their earnings rise above tax thresholds that apply a higher tax rate.

Dutton convened a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon to debate his response to the government plan before a Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday to decide an alternative policy.

Catch up on the rest of this story here.

The suspended death penalty for Australian citizen Yang Hengjun has come as a “reality check” for Australia’s relations with China, says opposition spokesman for foreign affairs Simon Birmingham.

Speaking on ABC, Birmingham said the news of Yang’s death sentence was “harrowing” for his family and Australians.

The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Harrowing news indeed for his family who face the prospect of potentially never being united again with their loved one,” he said.

“Of course a case that is somewhat of a reality check for Australia in their relationship with China and the case that must remain at the forefront of advocacy by the Albanese government and all Australian officials in their engagement with Beijing.”