Australia politics live: Coalition says Australia now an active participant in Iran war; plan to allow buildings up to 42 storeys in Sydney’s ‘coolest’ neighbourhood

From 3h ago 22.40 GMT Tehan says Australia now an active participant in Iran war The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says Australia is now an active participant in the war in the Middle East, after a decision to deploy surveillance aircraft to help protect civilians – including Australian civilians – in the region. Speaking to RN Breakfast soon after the prime minister announced the deployment of the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, upon request by the United Arab Emirates, Tehan said that on principle, it was the right thing for Australia to be playing a role in the conflict. “Given that Australia will be providing military assistance to the UAE, are we now active participants in this war?” he was asked. double quotation mark I think by the very nature of that action, yes, we are [participants to this war]. And we’re doing that because we want to keep Australians safe and we want to see an end to this evil Iranian [regime]. We want to be doing our bit to keep the region safe and obviously bring this conflict to an end. You know, the best thing that can happen now is for the Iranian regime to say, enough’s enough. He says the Coalition looks forward to receiving a briefing from Labor on any requests made to Australia to provide military support in the Middle East. Shadow minister for energy, Dan Tehan. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Share Updated at 23.44 GMT

6m ago 01.16 GMT Tom McIlroy Labor to introduce changes to block some people on temporary visas amid war in Middle East Labor is about to introduce changes to immigration rules designed to stop people with temporary visas coming to Australia, on the basis of shifting global circumstances. As the war in the Middle East escalates, the changes would allow the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, to block people from Iran travelling to Australia on tourist and other temporary visas coming here. The assumption from authorities would be that they may seek to stay in Australia permanent because of the conflict. The visas could have been issued anytime within the past six months. Labor believes loopholes in the current laws could be exploited. Some guard rails will be included in the new laws. Share Updated at 01.16 GMT

9m ago 01.12 GMT Caitlin Cassidy Naplan tests to roll out on Wednesday, coinciding with holy month of Ramadan About 1.4 million students are set to sit down for Naplan tests tomorrow, the annual national assessment loved by statisticians and loathed by many education experts. Naplan measures how students in years 3, 5, 6 and 9 are progressing in literacy and numeracy, with this year marking the second cycle since the test was brought forward from May to March with new proficiency levels. The chief executive of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara), Stephen Gniel, said Acara had worked with the Islamic Schools Association of Australia, as the test window coincides with Ramadan, to help schools and teachers support affected students. double quotation mark We’re encouraging schools to schedule their tests as soon as possible in the test window and to run Naplan tests first thing in the morning to ensure fasting students’ energy levels are at their highest. Gniel assured students that there was no need to study for the tests.