China’s test launch of a nuclear-capable missile into the Pacific damaged its standing in the region, Pacific Minister Pat Conroy says, arguing it has strengthened the case for a regional security pact within the Pacific.

On Monday, China fired the ballistic missile from a submarine and it then flew over multiple Pacific islands and appeared to hit waters close to Tuvalu’s exclusive economic zone. China had called the launch “routine”, but Pacific leaders including Prime Minister Albanese sharply criticised the test as “provocative” and “destabilising”.

Mr Conroy said the test had damaged China’s reputation as a potential security partner, pointing to criticism from leaders in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Asked whether the missile test had emboldened countries in the region to pursue a regional security agreement, Mr Conroy said the incident underscored the need for Pacific-led security.

Pushed on whether the defence force had the capability to protect Australia from a strike like the one launched by China last week, Mr Conroy said the government was strengthening Australia’s position through diplomacy and defence resourcing. “What we’re seeing in the region is the biggest arms race, the biggest build-up of the military since 1945 and, and that is occurring without any transparency or strategic reassurance,” he said.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale had been seeking support for the idea ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Pacific Islands forum next month, pointing to the missile test as strengthening the case for a regional security pact.

The royal commissioner, Virginia Bell AC SC, says Jewish witnesses have been subject to “ugly antisemitic attacks” after giving evidence of their own experiences of antisemitism.

The fourth block of hearings in Melbourne this week is examining the lived experiences of antisemitism on Jewish students and academics, including the response of universities to combat it.

Opening the hearing on Monday, Bell drew attention to the provisions of the Royal Commissions Act, which makes it an indictable offence to inflict any damage or disadvantage on a person on account of their evidence.

Four academics and students are giving evidence under a pseudonym on Monday. Also appearing is a co-convener of Students for Palestine and education officer at the National Union of Students, Yasmine Johnson, the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Hugh de Krester, and Josh Keller of the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism.

A Jewish student who is appearing under the pseudonym Liat has told the royal commission she lost her friends after the 7 October Hamas terror attack because of her Zionism. After the 2023 terrorist attack, she said she lost the vast majority of her non-Jewish friends. In one instance, someone at a theatre afterparty told her, “we’re not friends anymore, you’re a Zionist”. Liat said you could critique Israel without being antisemitic but she hadn’t seen “examples that accuse Israel of doing things without playing on those [antisemitic] tropes”.

She says she was called a “baby killer” and “genocide supporter” by students who were part of the Australia National University’s pro-Palestine encampment. In one instance a protestor connected to the encampment, who wasn’t a member of the university, performed a Nazi salute.

She says she felt “physically unsafe”, and called out two particular chants they used as being antisemitic: “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution” and “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”. She also says the use of the word intifada is “in reference to historical events … which involved the murder of Jews”. Pointed to the fact some proponents of the term “intifada” aren’t calling for violence to Jewish people but to the liberation of Palestinian people she says: I think they should use a different word.

A tutor and PhD candidate at UNSW says students performed Nazi salutes towards him during a business class. Appearing before the royal commission under the pseudonym ACJ, the academic said he was teaching a class for international students at UNSW College that had nothing to do with Nazism in 2024 when four students stood up and performed the salute.

He said he was “incredibly shocked, and offended, and threatened” by the display. “My grandparents had survived the Holocaust, the Nazis … murdered a huge proportion of my family. And so when someone does a Nazi salute at me it feels like they want to kill me.”

He said he wasn’t sure if the students knew he was Jewish, but it seemed clearly directed. The academic reached out to his direct supervisors, noting it was a crime to perform a Nazi salute in New South Wales and that he intended to go to the police.

He said the students were initially issued a formal warning. NSW Police then carried out an investigation, he said, and the students were suspended and required to visit the Sydney Jewish Museum. He asked for the students to be removed from his class and was refused due to timetabling.

The Albanese government has announced it will roll out digital passenger cards to all Australian international airports and seaports after a “successful” trial on Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The paper forms, which ask passengers arriving in Australia for personal information and to declare any food, plant or animal products, have long been an annoyance for travellers arriving on long-haul flights. The trial program run by Qantas will be expanded to other capitals including Perth and Adelaide by the end of 2026, and a digital declaration will then be phased in for all airlines and at seaports over the next 12 to 18 months.

The Albanese government said the declaration would initially be accessible via a webform option but it aimed to work with the industry to make the form accessible through airline apps. The Qantas trial was made available through the airline’s app, with travellers completing the form digitally before flying.

Digital systems for incoming passengers operate at many airports globally, including major hubs in Japan, Singapore and New Zealand. The minister for trade and tourism, Don Farrell, said a simpler and quicker arrivals process would mean “visitors can spend less time filling out forms and more time enjoying everything Australia has to offer”. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the modernisation was “essential to Australia’s prosperity and national security” and would create a “seamless border process” for international visitors and Australian travellers.

A 2024 report by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called Australia’s paper system “antiquated” and warned that it risked damaging Australia’s reputation as a desirable tourist destination, which had called for the paper cards to be abolished and said efforts to modernise incoming and outgoing passenger systems could bring an additional $50bn to the Australian economy every year. The government said the broader rollout would reduce manual processes for passengers and enable digital collection of information ahead of time. It said it would also “increase data quality for risk assessments, allow for rapid updates and management of global risks and events, such as biosecurity outbreaks, and meet passenger expectations for a biometric-enabled, seamless digital border experience”.

Julie Collins, the agriculture minister, stressed that the government would “never compromise on biosecurity”.