Australia has formally recognised Palestine as a sovereign state, with the prime minister suggesting the move was "the world saying that the cycle of violence has to stop".

But while the declaration was matched by allies, including Canada and the UK, it puts Australia at odds with the United States. So, what impact will the move actually have?

Meanwhile, the telecommunications regulator has launched an investigation into the Optus network's outage last week, which is linked to three deaths. Communications Minister Anika Wells delayed her trip to the US to address the crisis, which she's labelled inexcusable.

And what's going on with Andrew Hastie's recent Facebook posts?

Brett Worthington and Jacob Greber break it all down on Politics Now.Read Jacob's latest pieces here:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-13/donald-trump-anthony-albanese-common/105756898https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-20/sussan-ley-coalition-climate-donor-laws/105778688 Read Brett's latest piece here:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-18/anthony-albanese-png-coalition-climate/105767026

Got a burning question?

Got a burning political query? Send a short voice recording to Brett and Mel for Question Time at thepartyroom@abc.net.au