What we learned, 28 September 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Anthony Albanese has ruled out any referendum on a republic during his term in government after meeting King Charles;
The Brisbane Lions and their fans have kept the party going as they celebrate a staggering grand final victory;
Coalition Senator Michaelia Cash has accused the PM of ‘double standards’ over his trip to UK Labour conference.
A man has died in a plane crash on the New South Wales south coast.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Teddy Swims cancels two shows due to losing voice in lead-up to NRL grand final
The artist who had been scheduled to provide mid-show entertainment for the NRL grand final has cancelled two shows over the weekend after losing his voice.
In a post to social media, Teddy Swims announced he was cancelling two shows in Honolulu on advice from his doctor so he can recover.
I hate to disappoint you and truly apologize for letting you down. Thank you for love, patience and understanding.
Swims is expected to perform at the NRL Grand Final on 5 October in Sydney.
Updated
Sharp drop in auction activity over AFL grand final weekend
Auction activity has dropped sharply this weekend with 1,760 auctions to be held.
This is a fall on the 2,638 held last week and lower than the 1,836 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 71.4% across the country, which is significantly lower than the 77.9% preliminary rate recorded last week but on par with the 71.6% actual rate on final numbers, and above the 60.6% at the same time last year.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 927 of 1,171 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 73.50%
Melbourne: 181 of 230 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 64.6%
Brisbane: 118 0f 151 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 66.1%
Adelaide: 47 of 84 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.6%
Canberra: 80 of 119 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 67.5%
Tasmania: No auctions held.
Perth: Four of five auctions held.
Updated
Interest rate decision to dominate economic agenda
Mortgage holders are unlikely to get a leg up from the Reserve Bank this week, with markets and analysts predicting the cash rate to remain on hold on Tuesday.
Borrowers and investors will turn their gaze to Chifley Square for the RBA’s upcoming cash rate call but those hoping for more rate relief are likely to be disappointed.
The central bank’s board is widely tipped to leave the cash rate on hold at 3.6% on Tuesday, after inflation came in hotter than expected in two successive monthly reports.
Also on Tuesday, the ABS will release building approvals figures for the month of August.
New dwelling consents have been trending upwards since mid-2024 but tumbled 8.2% in July due to volatility in apartment approvals.
Property analytics firm Cotality will release its monthly home value index on Wednesday, with property prices expected to set another fresh record as falling mortgage rates boost demand.
On Thursday, the ABS will issue international trade figures and its monthly household spending indicator, which has taken over from its retail series survey as the main signal for consumer spending.
– AAP
Updated
Still roaring: day-after scenes from the Lions’ grand final triumph
The Brisbane Lions players and coaches paid a visit to their ancestral homeland of Brunswick Street Oval in Fitzroy North to greet fans this morning, the day after winning back-to-back AFL premierships:
Updated
Magnitude-2.9 quake felt in NSW town after ‘swarm’ of tremors last year
A 2.9-magnitude quake has been detected in Muswellbrook, in New South Wales’ Hunter region, on Sunday.
Geoscience Australia reports that the quake was detected at 12.07pm at a depth of 5km and was relatively small, despite residents in the area reporting they felt it.
It is not the first quake to strike in the area, with a 4.1-magnitude quake recorded in November last year – the fourth such event in four months then.
There has previously been speculation that the tremors in the area are associated with a nearby coalmine.
Hadi Ghasemi, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, said in November:
What we are observing in general is earthquake swarm activity – a series of moderate-sized events, happening close to each other, both in time and space … and they may continue for months to come.
For more background on that story, read Guardian Australia’s report here:
Updated
Brisbane Lions take home some valuable ‘Mc-luggage’
The AFL has posted a short clip of what appears to be Brisbane Lions players attempting to get the premiership cup through airport security as carry-on luggage with the caption “precious cargo”.
Sadly, the video is a little too blurry for us to be certain midfielder Hugh McCluggage is in the video, but we’re hoping it’s him!
Updated
Fagan hails Lions’ premiership as ‘better than last year’
Brisbane’s coach, Chris Fagan, has described the Lions’ stunning grand final blitz of Geelong as even better than their drought-breaking 2024 premiership.
Fagan, who broke his own record from 12 months earlier as the oldest premiership coach in VFL/AFL history, addressed 6000 euphoric Lions supporters at the club’s spiritual Melbourne home of Brunswick Street Oval on Sunday.
I reckon it feels better than last year because it’s bloody hard to do it two times in a row.
All the obstacles we had to overcome this year to get to that point [of being in a grand final].
Even the fact that Geelong beat us three weeks ago [in the qualifying final], and we’re able to turn the tables around; it was just so exciting.
Fagan made sure to reference young superstar Will Ashcroft, who became the youngest player in history to win back-to-back Norm Smith medals.
After Ashcroft was named best-on-ground in last year’s crushing win over Sydney, the talented midfielder was sledged by opponents in a pre-season match, saying he didn’t deserve it.
Now he’s got one two years in a row so that’s fantastic.
After farewelling Melbourne fans, the premiership team will fly home to Brisbane for another fan event at Brighton Homes Arena on Sunday evening.
– AAP
Updated
Greens say Labor’s climate plan little more than ‘thoughts and prayers’ without logging action
Labor’s climate policy amounts to “thoughts and prayers” if it takes no plan to end old growth logging, the Greens say.
In a statement released on Sunday, Greens Senator Nick McKim said ending old growth logging should be a central focus of the government after a Climate Change Authority report found it was necessary to achieve the bottom range of Labor’s climate targets.
“The government can’t simply pretend this advice wasn’t provided,” McKim said.
Labor needs to announce a date to end old growth logging, and if they’re not going to do that they need to explain where they are going to find the emissions reduction to make up the shortfall.
Minister Bowen’s characterisation of the Climate Change Authority advice as ‘possibilities’ or ‘commentary’ is deceitful. The advice made it clear that ending old growth logging was ‘required’ and no amount of dishonest spin from Minister Bowen can change that fact.
The fact is that the government doesn’t have a plan to meet its 2035 emissions reduction target, low as it is. We are not going to meet even a target so lacking in ambition as Labor’s with thoughts and prayers. We need a plan and the government doesn’t have one.
Ending native forest logging and reining in land clearing are essential to meeting Australia’s emissions reduction targets.
Protecting our forests is the cheapest, fastest, and most effective way to cut emissions and safeguard biodiversity. It would save money, protect biodiversity and massively reduce emissions.
Labor’s position is climate denial in practice.
The federal Labor government has previously dismissed unwelcome recommendations or directions as “commentary” or “suggestions”.
In response to the findings of the Robodebt royal commission, the government said it accepted “all 56” recommendations, but characterised the 57th, which called for reform to freedom of information laws to ensure greater access, as “commentary”.
Updated
Whale and calf freed after becoming trapped in Queensland shark net
Two humpback whales, a mother and her calf, that became entangled in a shark net off Queensland’s Rainbow Beach yesterday morning have been freed, the Queensland government has confirmed.
Members of the public reported to a hotline that the whales were stuck in the nets at 6am yesterday. A Department of Primary Industries (DPI) spokesperson said the whale calf was released at 11.45am and the mother was freed “shortly after 3pm”.
The DPI deputy director-general, Pauline Jacob, said two scuba divers had slowed the rescue as it began when they made the entanglement worse. She said:
Our teams are the trained experts, and we urge members of the public to please stay away from the nets.
Campaigners at Envoy Foundation, who say the shark nets should be removed during the whales’ east coast migration, said the latest incident was the eighth and ninth whale entanglement in as many days in Queensland.
Updated
Calls for change after Qantas refuses to fly British woman with mobility scooter due to its battery
Dr Jurai Darongkamas has travelled all over the world with her mobility scooter and says she never had a problem until she booked a flight with Qantas earlier this year.
The 60-year-old clinical psychologist, who lives in the UK city of Birmingham, flew to Sydney on Thai Airways without a problem but was not allowed to board her connecting Qantas flight to her holiday destination in New Zealand.
At the heart of Darongkamas’s dispute with Qantas is whether her scooter is a mobility aid, as she argues, or a personal electronic device, as the airline insisted during a six-month-long complaints process.
Qantas claims it aims to be the “airline of choice for customers with specific needs”, but Darongkamas says Qantas is the only carrier that hasn’t let her fly with her Topmate ES33 scooter and its 281Wh lithium battery.
She said the experience on the day “hammered home the fact that I am no longer as able as I was … and people can do what they like” and that the complaint process “just compounded the feeling of powerlessness”.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Catie McLeod:
Updated
A few snaps from Anthony Albanese’s UK trip to meet King Charles at Balmoral in Scotland.
Updated
Lions in dreamland as staggering second half delivers grand final glory to Brisbane
Grand finals shouldn’t end like this: a party masquerading as a football match for at least half an hour. This was supposed to be a tight contest with the AFL’s two best teams, slugging it out in an arm wrestle for the title of the modern era’s best club, a fitting struggle for the final Saturday in September.
But as the Lions kept coming in a staggering second half, there was not just one defining grand final moment. Rather, they came thick and fast, too quickly to fully appreciate. A hallucination of glory, an incomprehensible haze.
There was Will Aschroft with a minute left, holding the ball up with a hand on the right wing, like a conductor with a baton triggering the maroon mass to roar. There was Logan Morris, who ambled with the ball over the boundary line in the forward pocket, before he became absorbed by the Brisbane fans on the fence. They hugged him, patted his head, and didn’t let him go for several seconds. With the lead more than 50, he could have lingered longer.
For more on the grand final result, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Jack Snape:
Updated
Clive Palmer to take $13m dispute to Swiss court after Hague tribunal rejects case
Billionaire Clive Palmer will take his legal fight with the Australian government over a $13m bill to Switzerland.
Palmer previously tried to bring the case before The Hague-based permanent court of arbitration, but the tribunal rejected it, ruling it had no jurisdiction over disputes between a national government and its citizens.
Palmer announced the decision on Sunday via social media, saying he would appeal to Switzerland’s supreme court. The post, titled as a “media release”, said:
Mr Palmer said that he and his legal team would challenge the tribunal’s judgment, ensuring the matter is tested in a forum in which the lawful arguments of his case are properly heard.
He said the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland would be the next step in the journey to achieve justice in the matter, hopeful of the final arbiter taking an opposite view to that of the tribunal.
For more on this story, read the previous reporting here:
Updated
Australian defence force says ‘no place’ for extremists despite member’s link to neo-Nazi group
The Australian defence force says it has “no place” for rightwing extremists, despite one of its members remaining in the service for more than eight months after police found he had been involved in a gathering of the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group.
Separately, the 25-year-old Sydney man was charged in August with possessing alleged violent extremist and child abuse material on his mobile phones after being arrested in Holsworthy. He will face court again next month.
The Australian federal police (AFP) charged the man after it received intelligence that he attended an NSN gathering in Marsfield, in Sydney’s north, in late 2024.
Footage of the gathering, seen by Guardian Australia, shows about a dozen men clad in black exercise clothing in a public park. It is believed they had been conducting a “training” session.
“Further inquiries indicated the man may be in possession of the illicit material,” the AFP said in a statement.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Nino Bucci:
Updated
Man dies in plane crash on NSW south coast
A man has died after a plane used by a skydiving business crashed at Moruya on the southern New South Wales coast.
NSW police confirmed the death on Saturday after emergency services were called to bushland 2km north of Moruya airport.
The pilot, a 54-year-old man, was the only person on board and died at the scene. Police have secured the area and specialist officers will examine it.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has been informed. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Police and ATSB officials are expected to speak to the media at 1.45pm on Sunday.
We will keep you updated.
Updated
Cash accuses PM of ‘double standards’ over trip to UK Labour conference
Cash also reiterated criticisms from the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, that Albanese has spent too much time travelling internationally, including attending the UK Labour conference, saying that the prime minister criticised Scott Morrison for going to a US Republican party event.
You don’t get to have double standards, Mr Albanese. And double standards is what we are now seeing from this prime minister. You are there, in your own words when Scott Morrison was prime minister. You are there as head of the government, not as head of the Labor party, so why don’t you behave like the head of our country instead of turning this into a domestic political exercise.
Cash suggested that the previous Coalition government had a better relationship with the US government and would have been able to secure a more favourable deal on tariffs.
The Coalition senator also described a recent speech by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the United Nations as a “speech of great moral clarity”.
Cash did not respond to questions about whether the position of the Coalition was increasingly isolated as governments have recognised Palestine and put pressure on Israel to end its military operations.
Quoting Marco Rubio, Cash said the US was working directly to get a result for Israelis and Palestinians.
The substance I want to see is president Trump negotiating to get what we all want and that is an end to this war, a return of the hostages and a guarantee of Israel’s security going forward.
Updated
‘Albanese has failed Australia’ over ‘little’ relationship with Trump, Michaelia Cash says
Senator Michaelia Cash has continued the Coalition’s attack on Anthony Albanese, accusing the prime minister of not doing enough to engage with the Trump administration and spending too much time this year on international diplomacy.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, Cash compared Albanese’s relationship with Trump to the US president’s one with the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, describing Australia’s current ties with Washington as “little”.
The relationship in Washington is not strong, and because it is not strong, Mr Albanese is not able to pick up the phone like other world leaders are able to do and speak directly to the US president about the impact of his announcements on Australia.
In response to the prime minister’s description of his conversations with the US president as “warm”, Cash said “he has achieved nothing”, saying that “the most he got out” of his interaction with Trump was a selfie.
Mr Albanese has failed Australia. He’s almost embarrassing us on the international stage.
Updated
Albanese closes door on republic referendum during his leadership
Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding another referendum while he’s still prime minister, putting to bed the prospect of a vote to make Australia a republic.
On the ABC’s Insiders program this morning, Albanese said he would hold only one referendum as leader.
I think I’ve made it clear that I wanted to hold one referendum while I was prime minister and we did that.
It’s a step up in language, with the PM having previously left the door open to another referendum in a future term, but without specifying a timeline.
On Friday, Albanese said:
I’ve said very clearly, I have no plans to have a referendum during this term.
Today, Albanese broadened that to the entirety of his leadership.
Updated
PM brushes off Coalition criticism for attending UK Labour party’s national conference
Returning to Albanese’s appearance on Sky News this morning, the PM has shrugged off criticism from the Coalition that he is spending too much time engaging in international diplomacy after he attended the UK Labour party’s national conference.
What I do is work very hard representing Australia.
He said the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, had invited him to attend the conference, and he had also held meetings with the leader of the Conservatives, as well as the heads of Spain, Iceland and Canada.
In Liverpool, I’ll be having discussions with ministers, not just with prime minister Starmer, about Aukus and about that progress, taking the opportunity to sit down with government ministers.
Asked about whether Australia’s immigration policies have helped his government retain its popularity when other progressive leaders appeared to be struggling against a challenge from the far right, Albanese said he would leave “he commentating to the commentators”.
I think you can be strong on borders without being weak on humanity, and that’s what drives my government.
Updated
PM says he will not criticise Trump as ‘we respect’ autonomy of other nations but expects ‘that to be returned’
Challenged by Speers on whether the PM’s stated position means “no criticism of this sort of behaviour” from the Trump administration – that is, the targeting of political opponents with legal charges – Albanese says that “what it means is that we respect the fact that elected governments are allowed to govern their own nations”.
And I’m not going to run a running commentary on US domestic politics, because my priority is governing Australia in the interests of Australians.
Albanese said he did not feel the need to enter his planned meeting with Trump with an offering but would treat him “with the respect that the president of the United States deserves”.
And I expect that to be returned. And certainly, the indications are – we’ve had five either phone conversations or greetings in person now, and they’ve all been warm, constructive, positive and optimistic. And I think that it is in both Australia’s interests and the interests of the United States that we continue to have a good relationship. And I’m sure that we will.
The PM appeared to imply that Australia’s resources may make for a more attractive relationship with the US, and that he had already discussed supplies of critical minerals with the UK government.
Albanese said that stockpiles of critical minerals could become a “second pillar” of the Aukus agreement, saying “there’s a connection obviously with defence, but there’s also civil use of critical minerals and rare earths.”
So what we’re talking about here is not giving anything to anyone – even our friends. What we are talking about is making sure that we maximise the return to Australia of that, but that we also make sure that we play a role in those international markets.
Updated
Albanese says he ‘respects the positions’ of Trump and Farage on immigration despite holding ‘very different views’
Responding to criticism from Nigel Farage that Albanese may not be willing to meet the Reform leader, the prime minister points to recent meetings with the UK prime minister and the leader of the Conservatives, saying: “I haven’t been invited to meet Nigel Farage.”
I’m aware of his views. We would have very different views. Were he ever to be in a position, I respect people’s positions. And I engage with them.
Asked about Donald Trump’s nearly hour-long speech to the United Nations, Albanese says: “It’s not my job to give a critique of other leaders.”
My job is to govern in Australia’s national interest. And part of what we’ve done is to be strong on borders without being weak on humanity.
Pushed on this, Albanese says he “respects the positions” that Donald Trump and Nigel Farage hold.
The truth is that around the world, people want – including in Australia – people want borders to be controlled. They want control over their migration system. That’s a way that you build support for migration as well. It’s why my Government has been concerned about that. It’s why we’ve continued Operation Sovereign Borders. That’s why no one who has arrived by boat or attempted to arrive by boat since I’ve been prime minister has been permitted to stay in Australia.
It is suggested that this statement conflicts with the PM’s earlier statements that Australia needs to stand up for the rule of law, given the Trump administration’s targeting of former FBI director James Comey.
Well, what we don’t need to do is to interfere in the domestic politics of another nation. What we need to do is to stand up for our own values in the way that we govern Australia. And we do that. We speak out about what our values are, and we govern Australia accordingly.
Updated
Albanese plans to build stronger partnerships with ‘like-minded’ UK and Canada in ‘turbulent’ world
Albanese says Australia is looking to build stronger relationships with other “like-minded countries” such as the UK and Canada, which, as Commonwealth countries, have been historical partners.
Referring to his United Nations address, Albanese said it “was a real opportunity for us to put Australia’s philosophical position, if you like, about our place in the world and the way we want to operate”.
And the rule of law is important that there be guardrails. And the fact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is, perhaps, a very acute example of where the international rule of law if it’s just allowed to occur. A nation attacking a sovereign nation in the way that that occurred. Australia has an interest in upholding international norms and rules.
Asked for his thoughts on the anti-immigrant politics being promoted by Nigel Farage, Albanese says the “world is very turbulent at the moment” and that “it is the case that sometimes people look for easy answers, that their lot in life is difficult because of people who aren’t like them.”
And the politics of grievance, of course, are always easy. It’s easier to tear things down than it is to build them up. The job of social democrats is to build things, to create, to appeal to optimism and hope, which is a powerful force, but sometimes, fear can be also a force that gets support.
Asked whether these concerns, particularly on immigration, are “legitimate”, Albanese said:
Look, people’s concerns are always having to be considered. And respected. You’ve got to go to where people are and the way that they are thinking. You can’t just dismiss that. You have to respond to that, and indeed, try to anticipate that in some ways. So I think that that is important. That was part of the discussion yesterday, which was very much philosophical, if you like, about the way that the world can move forward in a more united way.
Updated
PM repeats ‘Australia punches above our weight’ line while promoting multilateralism as defence in a ‘turbulent’ world
Asked whether he sees a “greater or broader” role for Australia in international affairs beyond the regional focus that characterised his government’s first term, the PM says “Australia punches above our weight” – a repeat of a talking point he shared with Sky News earlier on Sunday morning.
That’s very clear to me when I have the honour of representing Australia in international forums. We primarily have to concentrate on our region in the Pacific, with Asean. That is where our focus should be.
But we have three pillars essentially to our international affairs: our alliance with the United States; our regional engagement; but the third, as well, is our support for multilateralism, of which we have a proud history.
And part of that is that in today’s world, the land war in Europe with the Russia invasion of Ukraine has made a difference to the price of goods on supermarket shelves in Australia, because of [the] energy crisis that arose [as] part out of that.
The combination of this directly informs how Australia is engaging with a more “turbulent” world.
And that’s why we can’t afford to be isolationist. That’s why we have to be concerned about the state of the world.
Updated
Albanese rules out republic referendum after meeting King Charles
The prime minister says his personal invitation to Balmoral Castle to meet King Charles was “a personal honour, but really an honour for Australia as well”.
In an interview on ABC Insiders with host David Speers, Anthony Albanese has refused to provide any detail on his conversation with King Charles, instead describing in general terms how the two “discussed world affairs” and “had a rather wonderful lunch”.
This all sounds very pleasant, but he didn’t provide much detail for an Australian public who may want to know what their head of state and prime minister discussed at lunch.
Albanese did, however, rule out any referendum on Australia becoming a republic.
I’ve made it clear that I wanted to hold one referendum while I was prime minister, and we did that.
Now the PM says his government will concentrate on the cost of living and “making a real, practical difference to people’s lives”.
Updated
Albanese praises King Charles and describes ‘warm’ relationship with Trump
Anthony Albanese has spoken about his “warm” and “respectful” conversations with King Charles and Donald Trump, after a big week on the global stage.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, the prime minister said he would respect “protocol” and not share the details of his conversations with the king, describing it as an “honour” for a “one-on-one meeting, but also a very nice lunch” with the English monarch and Australia’s head of state.
Protocol requires that those discussions remain quiet. I respect that protocol, but his majesty is, as you will see from his public comments, someone who is interested in Australia. He is interested in the state of the world … and the future of the world, including for younger generations.
He’s someone who I take a great deal of benefit from his insights into issues, and it’s always good to have these one-on-one discussions with him.
Asked about his engagement with Trump, given their sharply contrasting worldviews, Albanese emphasised his “very warm” relationship with the US president and praised his “very generous” comments after his election win earlier this year.
He described the relationship between Australia and the US as “not a relationship of unequals”, saying that Australia “punches above its weight”.
Updated
Anthony Albanese meets King Charles at Balmoral
Anthony Albanese has met King Charles at Balmoral Castle, attending a private audience with the monarch at the historic estate in Scotland.
On the second full day of his visit to the UK, and before visiting Liverpool for the Labour party’s annual conference, the Australian prime minister flew from London to the Scottish Highlands to meet the monarch.
Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, presented the king with a photo of his visit to Australia with Queen Camilla in October 2024.
The royals are pictured signing the visitor’s book at Parliament House in Canberra. The frame is made from Australian timber.
Albanese had previously met the king in London when he attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. Albanese also visited for the king’s coronation in May 2023.
For more on this story, read the full report from Guardian Australia’s Tom McIlroy, reporting from London:
Updated
Albanese speaks to media after royal meeting in Scotland
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Scotland where he has given an interview to ABC Insiders host David Speers following his meeting with King Charles, which will air later this morning.
Albanese has already sat down for an interview with Sky News that was aired earlier on Sunday morning.
He was followed by Coalition senator Michaelia Cash.
We will bring you more from those interviews shortly.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Scotland where he has met with King Charles, capping off a week of international diplomacy. Earlier this week the PM addressed the UN and met briefly with US president Donald Trump.
Brisbane Lions fans have had a big night celebrating their back-to-back AFL grand final win in a crushing 47-point victory over the Geelong Cats. The win continues the Lions’ dominance after a similarly overwhelming 60-point demolition of the Sydney Swans last year.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
