As it happened:Penny Wong steps up debate on Palestinian statehood;Beefed-up competition watchdog to target big mergers

Thanks for reading the blog on another busy news day. This is where we’ll leave today’s live coverage.

Here’s a refresh of our top national stories.

Over to politics.

Proposed deportation laws would be relaxed under changes favoured by the Coalition to make it easier for relatives from blacklisted countries to come to Australia,as the Albanese government faces a backlash from migrant communities.

Some MPs have received more than 500 emails from voters concerned about the bill now before a Senate inquiry to ban entire nationalities from coming to Australia unless their government accepts the involuntary return of its citizens.

The powers – which Labor failed to rush through the parliament last month – were in part a response to a crucial High Court case to be heard next week that could release a second group of migrants into the community if indefinite detention is deemed illegal for those who refuse to co-operate with being deported.

The government expects to win the case,but was mistaken about its prospects in the November High Court decision that made indefinite detention illegal for those with no prospect of deportation,with O’Neil telling Sky News she had been advised the government would likely succeed.

Full story here.

Museum of Old and New Art(Mona) curator Kirsha Kaechele is seeking legal advice after being ordered by the Tasmania Civil and Administrative Tribunalto allow men entry into her artwork,the Ladies Lounge.

As a result of the tribunal’s decision,announced on Tuesday afternoon,Mona has 28 days to either close the Lounge,allow the entry of men or reform the work in some way. Kaechele,the wife of Mona founder David Walsh,told this masthead she was considering her options,including an appeal.

“Admitting men does not appeal to me,” Kaechele said. “Appealing the decision is more appealing. They want me to reform the artwork. I could consider this,but I fear it may be beyond reform. I need the full 28-day period to absorb the decision and compose myself,and my response.

“I will be seeking counsel. As the hugely influential gender theorist Judith Butler has long argued,gender is a performative construct. To which I’d add:so is the legal system.”

On Tuesday,Mona lost the anti-discrimination case brought against it by New South Wales man Jason Lau,who visited the museum on April 1 last year,paid a $35 entrance fee,and was denied access to the Lounge.

Read morehere.

Tony Gustavsson learnt a lot in San Antonio,Texas on Wednesday morning (AEST). For starters,he learnt who the other team in the Matildas’ group at the Paris Olympics will be,with Zambia clinching the last remaining spot at approximately half-time of his side’s friendly against Mexico.

He also learnt more about how his team would cope with a high-pressing,high-energy opponent -like Germany and the United States,their other Group B foes – which turned out to be possibly better than he expectedas they ran out comfortable 2-0 victors,solving the problems posed by the Mexicans on the fly.

That’s exactly what we needed,” Gustavsson said post-match. “And now the next step is,can we now do this against a top-ranked opposition? Which we haven’t tested yet.”

He learnt a bit about what his team might look like in Parisif injured stars Katrina Gorry and Clare Hunt don’t make it,testing out newcomer Kaitlyn Torpey at left-back while shifting Steph Catley to centre-back,and putting Clare Wheeler in midfielder next to Kyra Cooney-Cross for her first extended run in months.

Read the full post match analysishere.

Let’s cross back to more sport news.

Jack Clarke,the Cricket Australia chair who oversaw the introduction of the Big Bash League and a major overhaul of the governing body’s board of directors,has died in Adelaide.

Clarke,a lawyer who served on the South Australian Cricket Association board for many years either side of his time at Cricket Australia,was 70 and had a history of health problems.

He suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep in hospital in Adelaide while awaiting an operation.

Clarke became chair of Cricket Australia in 2008,replacing his fellow South Australian Creagh O’Connor,in the wake of the fractious 2007-08 “Monkeygate” season when India threatened to quit their tour of Australia amid the Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan Singh affair.

Clarke’s time in the role was marked by numerous key decisions made for the future of the game,even as CA wrestled with the declining fortunes of the national men’s team following the retirements of Shane Warne,Glenn McGrath,Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer,to name four.

Following the launch of the Indian Premier League in 2008,Clarke and CA’s then chief executive,James Sutherland,worked together to review the governance structure of the game,the financial model and also the possibility of expanding the state-based Big Bash into something broader.

Read morehere.

Penny Wong has stepped with care into a ferocious debate on Palestine with an argument that is utterly rational but totally incendiary.

The foreign affairs minister has set out a clear case for a Palestinian state in a way that lends Australian support to growing international concern about Israel’s conduct of the unrelenting war in Gaza.

Butshe has set off a furious reaction from peak Jewish groups and guaranteed a partisan dispute with the Liberals when the Australian argument will have little or no influence on a practical outcome.

That is because the challenge is not the domestic rhetoric. It’s the international reality.

One fact stands out. The death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom is a turning point for the government. It may be a turning point for the country. Labor senses a shift in sentiment and is hardening its message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wong is right to explore a principled position on whether Australia and other countries might recognise a Palestinian state as a step towards a two-state solution with Israel,rather than making recognition contingent on that long-sought solution.

Read more of David Crowe’s opinion piecehere.

Let’s cross to some national sport news.

Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson has been handed a three-match suspension fordirecting a homophobic slur at an Essendon player

The 28-year-old had used the word “f-----” when abusing his opponent,with the language picked up on the umpire’s microphone during the match.

Finlayson’s comments outraged community leaders,who said they were a poor reflection on the AFL environment.

Pride Cup chief executive Hayley Conway said Finlayson’s slur pointed to a larger concern that the AFL had not done enough to change its culture.

“You do have a player who has said something that is completely unacceptable in any workplace. They recognised that,they apologised for it. But ultimately,that player is operating in a context and an institution where those things have been tolerated for a long time,” Conway said.

Good afternoon.

It’s Wednesday,April 10. I’m Hannah Kennelly and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the remainder of the day. Thanks for your company.

If you’re joining us now,here’s a summary of today’s headlines.

More from Alinta boss Jeff Dimery’s press club address,where he said nuclear energy was not a practical reality in the Australian market.

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Nuclear energy

Split inside conservative green group over new nuclear agenda

Dimery says he sees the issue as a political question,and remarked that at 55,he thinks he’ll be retired before nuclear could feasibly enter the Australian market.

“It’s probably for the younger folks to debate,but otherwise I would say you can imagine our shareholders and board would not be too impressed if the management team were sitting around contemplating building power stations that are not legal. It would not be a great use of our time,” he said.

Dimery was then asked if he believes nuclear reactors could be built quickly enough to replace the capacity of outgoing coal-fired power stations.

His response:

From a replacement timeframe point of view,as I pointed out I am 55,if you add 10 years that will get us to 2034,and there will still be coal in the market in 2034. AGL’s timetable is 2035,and[even AEMO is saying] there will be coal in 2038.

I am not a nuclear expert,let me say at the outset … But based on what I have read,could you,if you started now,have nuclear in the market by 2035 or 2038? The answer would be yes. But again,no one is starting now because the legislation isn’t conducive to us even exploring that. Again,it is kind of like looking for unicorns in the garden.”

Today’s National Press Club address was given by Jeff Dimery,managing director and chief executive of Alinta Energy.

Given the highly divisive debate around Australia’s energy transition,with the government backing renewables and the Coalition pushing for nuclear,Dimery’s thoughts on the politics of the energy market were interesting.

Here’s an extract of his view of the current debate:

The pleasing thing I am hearing coming into the next federal election is that both of the main political parties are committed to net zero by 2050. And I think this whole concept of climate deniers hopefully is now off the table. So really what we are debating is what is the right roadmap to get to net zero by 2050.

And clearly the Liberal and National parties are looking at the replacement of baseload coal with baseload nuclear. The current government is more focused around the technologies that are there today …

And so the best we can do right now,from my perspective,is keep ploughing on with what we know and what we have got. We are all on the same page;that is an outcome we are shooting for. The big debate is about how quickly we get there.

What would you pay to be there a day early or two? What would you be prepared to save to be there a day late? That is really what we are talking about now. And that is very refreshing from where we were four or five years ago,where we were not even on the same page.”