10.00pm EST
22:00
Large Invasion Day protests held across Australia
Invasion Day protests are being held across Australia, with large crowds gathering in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and other cities.
Several hundred protesters gathered on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra, met by a large police contingent.
Stalls and speech tents were also set up at the nearby Aboriginal Tent Embassy, which marks 50 years of activism today.
Helicopters displaying the Australian flag and a low military flyover contrasted with a seas of shirts displaying the Aboriginal flag and statements of Indigenous sovereignty.
In Sydney, thousands of Invasion Day protesters marched through the city, while a large number braved the rain in Brisbane with signs bearing “Change the date” and “Always ways, always will be”.
In Melbourne, statues of Captain James Cook were smeared with red paint.
A group claiming empathy for the protest action said Captain Cook had begun an era of “racism and misogynist violence”:
We are among the many thousands of voices calling for truth telling about the Frontier Wars so that the work of healing can begin. We cannot change the past but we can change which parts of our shared history we celebrate. We can and will change our future.
– with AAP
Updated
at 10.12pm EST
9.56pm EST
21:56
The parent company of the firm that runs Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru has failed to lodge financial reports with the corporate regulator on time, in an apparent breach of corporations law.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has confirmed that it has registered a “report of misconduct” against Rard No 3, the Brisbane-based company that wholly owns Canstruct International, following the Guardian’s inquiries. The potential penalty for filing a report late is a fine of more than $25,000.
Canstruct International has earned $1.82bn since 2017 running Australia’s sole offshore processing operation on the Pacific island. Its contract to provide “garrison and welfare services” for a little over 100 refugees and asylum seekers held on the island was extended last week – its eighth noncompetitive extension – for another six months, for $218.5m.
9.19pm EST
21:19
Russia’s ambassador in Australia says the country’s decision to withdraw diplomatic staff from its embassy in Ukraine “would be funny if it wasn’t so sad”, AAP’s Dominic Giannini reports.
Aleksey Pavlovsky has talked down fears of an invasion of Ukraine, saying there is no intention to go to war as 100,000 troops amass on the border. He told the ABC:
We should use our critical thinking. Isn’t it a funny way to prepare an invasion by just gathering troops on the border and let them sit there for months. When you prepare an invasion you just do it promptly. These troops are not a threat, they are a warning to Ukraine’s rulers not to attempt any reckless military adventures.
Pavlovsky said large-scale military exercises are conducted regularly because Russia has to maintain its preparedness.
The Russian ambassador also criticised Australia’s decision to issue a do not travel declaration for Ukraine and for its call for citizens in the country to leave, as well as talking down the impact of sanctions – which have been threatened by western nations including Australia – saying they don’t work.
Tensions in Ukraine have been increasing for months, with the west accusing the Kremlin of preparing for war to prevent Ukraine joining NATO. There are concerns Russia is conducting a cyber offensive, having been blamed earlier this month for defacing Ukrainian government websites and infecting computers with destructive malware .
Home affairs minister Karen Andrews said Russia posed a risk in terms of cyber security. She told 4BC radio:
What we have become aware of – as has the rest of the world – is that in recent times there’s been some activity in the Ukraine, potentially by Russia. We will be doing all that we can to look at what the source of these attacks are, how they can be remedied, how we can use that information to support potentially the Ukraine.
Foreign minister Marise Payne has reiterated support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling for Russia to de-escalate the situation along the eastern European border.
But former US representative to NATO and US special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker said Russia’s presence at crisis talks in France was simply it “going through the motions of engaging in diplomatic activity”, with a possible invasion still imminent.
Updated
at 9.39pm EST
