Major parties knock back inquiry into racism and sexism in the Senate – as it happened

This blog is now closedAustralia sends crisis teams to Middle East as thousands of travellers and expats remain strandedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarrell says $15bn of trade could be impacted by warLabor’s trade minister, Don Farrell, says a “relatively small” amount of Australia’s exports go through the Middle East as the war escalates in the region.A relatively small amount, about $15bn worth of trade goes through the Middle East. Obviously, that’s very important for those companies that are trading there.Our trade is, in fact, increasing in the Middle East. We now have a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Already, our beef trade has doubled in the six months that that trade agreement has been in operation. But of course, all of that gets affected by this uncertainty of the war in the Middle East.The legal basis of these strikes is ultimately a