What we learned: Thursday, 26 June
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Thanks so much for reading along, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow for all the latest.
Here were today’s major developments:
The federal government has imposed sanctions on a further 37 Russians and seven groups in response to the war in Ukraine. Australia will also send 100 defence force personnel to Europe to assist Ukraine, helping deliver humanitarian and military assistance from the United Kingdom.
Fire ants have been found in a shipping container that had arrived in Perth, the government agency in charge of eradicating the invasive species has said.
The senior Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor said he didn’t support gender quotas as a mechanism to grow the number of women in its ranks, after Sussan Ley put all options on the table to lift the party’s female representation. Meanwhile, Ley said the Liberal party did not “meet modern Australians where they are” at the last election.
Three men found guilty of the “horrific” murder of two people who drowned in a toolbox have been given a 30-year life sentence.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, lashed the former Labor figure turned One Nation turned independent, Mark Latham, in NSW parliament’s question time, calling him one of the “most bigoted MPs in the country”.
And David McBride will take his case to the high court in an attempt to challenge his conviction and reduce his five-year, eight-month prison sentence.
Updated
Chalmers to take Chinese-linked company to court over critical minerals stake
Jim Chalmers will take a Chinese-linked company to the federal court for an alleged breach of foreign investment laws over its stakes in a critical minerals company.
In June 2024, the treasurer ordered five foreign investors, including the Indian Ocean International Shipping and Service Company Ltd, to sell their shares in Northern Minerals Limited to people not associated with them, saying their links to the critical mineral exploration company were not in Australia’s national interest.
On Thursday afternoon, Chalmers announced he would take the Indian Ocean International Shipping and Service Company to federal court over an alleged breach of the foreign investment laws. It’s understood the company failed to sell off its shares to an unassociated person or company.
The case will mark an important test for Australia’s foreign investment framework as nations around the world bid for influence and access to critical mineral resources.
In June 2024, Chalmers told Bloomberg that Australia’s critical minerals were the “opportunity of a century”.
There’s a lot of interest from around the world, not just from China, in our critical minerals, and that’s because they are such a crucial part of the future economy ... we want to make Australia an indispensable part of the global shift to net zero, this big energy transformation that’s happening around the world, and critical minerals are an important part of that.
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Animal charity files lawsuit over aerial culling of koalas in Victoria
Wildlife charity Australians for Animals NSW has sought a judicial review in Victoria’s supreme court of the state government’s aerial culling of koalas back in April.
Lawyers are seeking a declaration that the decision under the Wildlife Act was invalid.
Australians for Animals NSW coordinator, Sue Arnold, said:
The precedent set by the horrific killing of more than 1,000 koalas, potentially with joeys, is not only unacceptable but a shocking indictment of the Victorian government’s cruelty to wildlife.
The state government said the action – the first time wildlife have been shot by air for welfare reasons in Victoria – was taken to prevent further suffering of the animals, after a fire in Budj Bim national park burned through 2,200 hectares.
At the time Victoria’s chief biodiversity officer, James Todd, said the culling involved specialist staff working with experienced vets, wildlife carers and animal welfare experts:
Due to direct impacts of the fire, the poor health and low likelihood of survival of many animals due to the ongoing drought conditions and lack of food post-fire, many of the animals are requiring euthanising.
This explainer provides further detail about the aerial cull:
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Bridget McKenzie on Trump as ‘Daddy’ at Nato
Hill and McKenzie were also asked about the likening of Donald Trump to “Daddy” by the Nato general secretary.
McKenzie said “far be it from me to disagree with the general secretary of Nato”.
I think the situation between Israel and Iran is much more serious and has more far-reaching consequences than a schoolyard fight, which I think was the context for the comments.
Germany said that Israel was doing the world’s dirty work, and that essentially the US has mopped up and now if the ceasefire holds that will be a good thing for everyone. Iran is a backer of state sponsored terrorism, ask the women or the gay community in Iran what freedom looks like. This is not only an illegal regime, but one that has been incredibly immoral as well.
Hill called the Iranian regime “odious, an egregious abuser of human rights for decades” that had “murdered tens of thousands of its citizens”.
This is a moment of bipartisanship, we don’t have to take sides and pick teams in the interests of peace, we want dialogue, de-escalation and diplomacy. It’s deeply human for Australia. What happens in the world impacts daily life here, because we’re a globally connected society.
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Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie v Labor’s Julian Hill on lifting defence spending
Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, has continued to press the government to ramp up its defence spending after Nato members agreed to commit 5% of GDP on defence.
Earlier, she said the federal government should be spending 3.5% of GDP on defence, a large increase from the current figure of 2.3% and in excess of the Coalition’s own position of 3%.
McKenzie told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing anywhere between 3% and 3.5% was what she meant.
At the end of the day, we need to be spending more … and make sure it’s spent on the right thing … that our ADF can defend us in the modern geo-strategic environment we find ourselves in where the threat is growing.
Appearing alongside her, assistant multicultural affairs minister, Julian Hill, said Nato had made the “right decision” in its own context, and Australia would operate on its own national interests “based on the assessment of the threat, the geopolitical landscape, and talk to our friends”.
Bridget, if you want to commit to spending more, which your party is clear about, before and after the election, the key question is how you will pay for it. It means you have to tax people more, doesn’t it?
McKenzie said you could tax people more or “prioritise spending appropriately”.
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YouTube v eSafety commissioner continued
Earlier we brought you comments from the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, responding to YouTube’s response to her call not to exclude the video-streaming platform from the under-16s social media ban.
Inman Grant argued children could still access YouTube if the platform is banned by not logging in.
And now YouTube has responded to the response to the response.
Rachel Lord, YouTube’s ANZ public policy and government relations senior manager, said telling younger people to use YouTube logged out “deprives them of the age-appropriate experiences and additional safety guardrails we specifically designed for younger people”.
YouTube is not a social media platform; it is a video streaming platform with a library of free, high-quality content. eSafety’s advice to include YouTube in the social media ban is in direct contradiction to the government’s own commitment, its own research on community sentiment, independent research, and the view of Australian parents, teachers and other key stakeholders in this debate.
Updated
Continued from previous post:
Prof Sara Bice, an expert in social licence at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, said when communities voiced opposition to major infrastructure it usually reflected concerns about how decisions were made, or negative local impacts, and didn’t mean people were opposed to the energy transition.
This is especially the case when it comes to overhead transmission lines, which are the most opposed transition infrastructure, according to Australian research from CSIRO and the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner.
Things go wrong when community concerns are ignored, when projects are pushed through at a speed that makes genuine participation difficult or impossible, and when ‘benefits’ are seen as unequally distributed, short term in focus or do not meet priority needs of local communities.
Neighbour payments could be a positive step, Bice said, as an economic acknowledgement of what people were trading off. Co-benefits and benefit-sharing agreements – common in European developments – were another important option for developers to consider.
Australia’s electricity market operator has signalled it would “revisit” transmission line projects – apart from those already committed or under way – in the next iteration of the integrated system plan, the nation’s electricity transition roadmap, in part due to the challenge of gaining community acceptance.
The environment effects statement for the Western Renewables Link will go on public exhibition from 30 June.
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Neighbour payments up to $40,000 for people living near Western Renewables Link
Energy network company Ausnet said it will pay neighbours of the Western Renewables Link in Victoria up to $40,000, as the high-voltage power line approaches the final stages of the environmental approvals process.
The payments recognised neighbours near transmission lines often experienced similar impacts to landowners, without receiving financial compensation, Ausnet said.
Manager of major projects, Gerard Carew, said the approach recognised the role of communities in enabling the energy transition, and aligned with VicGrid’s draft community benefits framework.
Our engagement on the proposed Western Renewables Link project has highlighted that neighbouring landholders are seeking greater recognition.
The announcement also included higher payments for landowners and increased funding for pre-construction community projects.
Tony Goodfellow, policy and engagement manager for RE-Alliance, a not-for-profit focused on community advocacy during the energy transition, said:
RE-Alliance has been calling for wider, tangible benefits outside of payments to host landholders for years.
There will always be people in the community who don’t want transmission to go ahead. But if the projects do get up, it’s important that the wider community can benefit - as would be the case with these neighbour payments.
Continued in next post:
Updated
And with that, I’ll hand over to Caitlin Cassidy, who will take you through the rest of the day’s news. Have a great evening, wherever you are.
Fire ants discovered and destroyed in Perth
Fire ants have been found in a shipping container that had arrived in Perth, the government agency in charge of eradicating the invasive species says.
In a statement released today, the National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) said the ants had been “successfully intercepted” and “immediately destroyed” after they were discovered earlier this month.
The NFAEP said that on 17 June a staff member from a Hope Valley business spotted suspect fire ants on a pallet in a shipping container that originated from south-east Queensland.
The agency said the business treated the ants with household insect spray and contacted the NFAEP and Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (WA DPIRD).
After WA DPIRD officers took ant samples from the premises – and applied a precautionary chemical treatment – the NFAEP said it confirmed the ants were fire ants on 24 June.
The NFAEP said:
On behalf of all Australians, the NFAEP and the WA DPIRD thank this staff member for their vigilance – their actions stopped the spread of fire ants.
Fire ant detections outside the Queensland’s containment boundary do happen from time to time. The NFAEP, along with all state and territory governments, has procedures in place to manage them.
Marni Manning, the NFAEP’s general operations manager, said the “interception” was a reminder that community and industry vigilance could stop the spread of fire ants, and that:
It is vital that individuals and businesses transporting and receiving machinery or materials from Queensland’s fire ant biosecurity zones check that fire ant-safe practices are in place.
Please also stay alert, check deliveries, and follow movement controls to help protect our communities.
It only takes one missed shipment to put an entire community at risk. Fire ants don’t stop at borders – neither can we.
The venomous insect, which can inflict a painful bite on humans and colonise vast areas, has infested much of south-east Queensland after it was first detected in 2001.
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Australia is Solomon Islands’ ‘security partner of choice’, Pat Conroy says
The defence minister, Pat Conroy, is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing amid a trip to the Solomon Islands, where he has announced $20m in federal government support for the nation to hold the next Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Asked if the funding came with conditions, including the nation’s relationship with China, Conroy said “not at all”.
We do this regularly for most PIF hosting countries, recognising the obligation to support them to host an important thing. There are no conditions. We are the primary security partner for Solomon Islands, their partner of choice and that’s something we work hard at every day to make sure we have that trust and confidence.
Pressed on whether he had reiterated a view that China should not be part of policing in the Solomons, Conroy said he had “made it clear” that was the Australian government’s view.
We respect the sovereign right of any nation to decide who they partner with. I’m reassured by the prime minister of the Solomon Islands’ commitment, we’re the security partner of choice … I’m convinced he’s serious about our undertakings.
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Rents in Tasmania up 43% in five years, new report finds
Rental costs have increased by 43% since 2020 in Tasmania, according to a new report from the Tasmanian Council of Social Service (Tascoss).
For the second year running, Anglicare Tasmania’s Rental Affordability Snapshot 2025 also found that 0% of properties listed in late March 2025 were affordable for people on the lowest incomes.
The Tascoss CEO, Adrienne Picone, said:
With rent as a proportion of income continuing to blow out – far more than the 30% ‘rental stress’ threshold – Tasmanians are being forced on to the social housing waitlist or into unsuitable and unsafe lodgings, and in the worst cases, homelessness.
Finding a rental in a tight market remains near impossible, with Burnie’s rental vacancy rate sitting at 0.7% and Launceston and Hobart not far behind, well short of a healthy vacancy rate of up around 3%.
Picone said the take-up of the Private Rental Incentive Scheme and Family Violence Rapid Rehousing programs was going backwards, and that:
A combined total of 258 homes affordable rental homes have been delivered by these two programs, but with around 44,000 private rentals in Tasmania it will have little to no impact on improving rental affordability in Tasmania and more must be done.
Tasmanians deserve better. Without government intervention to limit rent rises and increase the availability of appropriate, affordable rental properties, more and more Tasmanians will face homelessness.
Updated
Hello. I hope you’ve had a good day so far. I’ll be with you on the blog for the next little while.
Thanks for joining us on the blog today. Handing over now to Catie McLeod, who will keep you posted with the afternoon’s news.
‘Best air ever’: 18-year-old Australian wows surfing world
A step change in the evolution of surfing brought about by an Australian teenager has electrified the world of extreme sport and drawn praise from the doyen of skateboarding, Tony Hawk.
Eighteen-year-old Central Coast surfer Hughie Vaughan produced what has been dubbed a “stalefish flipper” at a competition in a wave park in Texas this week that has already been viewed millions of times on social media.
The aerial had the teenager from Bateau Bay launching into a backflip on a right break, holding his board with his right hand and landing smoothly on the top of the wave.
Read the full story:
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Usman Khawaja refuses SEN interview after radio station’s sacking of journalist
Cricketer Usman Khawaja refused an interview with Australian sports radio station SEN after the first day’s play of the first Test against West Indies in Barbados, four months after the station sacked the journalist Peter Lalor due to his outspoken support of Palestinians.
Read the full story here:
Trent Curtin appointed commissioner of NSW RFS
Trent Curtin has been appointed new commissioner to lead the NSW Rural Fire Service.
“Curtin has extensive experience as an emergency services leader in NSW and Victoria, where he has been involved in managing significant fires and large-scale natural disasters and working with volunteers,” the minister for emergency services, Jihad Dib, said.
RFS volunteers are at the forefront of the state’s natural disaster response. From the 2019-20 bushfires to more recent flood events, they are a reassuring presence for communities in need.
Mr Curtin started his firefighting career 30 years ago as a volunteer and I look forward to working with him as he brings his emergency service expertise to an organisation at the frontline of bushfire response.
I thank the outgoing commissioner Rob Rogers, who will finish in the role on 4 July, for his four decades of service to NSW communities.”
Curtin said “the RFS plays a vital role in our communities, responding in the most difficult circumstances to help others in their time of need”.
I look forward to honouring the legacy of the RFS as a community-centred agency, while ensuring we remain ready to meet the challenge of more frequent and intense natural disasters.
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Australia offers fresh Solomons aid ahead of PIF summit
Australia has announced $A11 m in support to improve roads in Solomon Islands as it prepares to host the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit.
Pacific Island minister Pat Conroy unveiled the pledge in Honiara today along with a condition aimed squarely at Australia’s geopolitical rival China.
Australian officials are privately critical of Chinese foreign aid delivered by migrant workers in the Pacific, with Conroy saying this funding would avoid the practice.
“We are making sure our projects are delivered by local companies,” he said.
This is the best way we can ensure economic benefits flow to Solomon Islands from day one, and that these projects create more jobs for locals.
China is also delivering road upgrades in the notoriously choked-up Honiara, which relies on one key arterial road to service the capital’s business districts and airport.
Australia’s fresh funding will go towards 12 roads: four in the northern island of Malaita and eight in Honiara, the host of the regional summit in September.
“We know the impact of deteriorating roads for getting to work, getting produce to market, getting children and family members to school or health services,” Conroy said.
Communities along Malaita’s South Road were effectively cut off from essential services for over two years due to the South Road being impassable …
The reopening of the South Road last year – with support from Australia and the great work of local contractors – has restored that vital link from Auki to Bina and beyond.
Conroy announced another $A7m in aid for the Tina River Hydro scheme, taking its total support for the renewable energy project to $A70m.
When complete, the mighty dam is expected to power two-thirds of Honiara’s energy needs.
The government has also pledged to double funding for surveillance of illegal fishing in the region.
- Australian Associated Press
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Angus Taylor says he’s not a supporter of gender quotas
Senior Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor says he doesn’t support gender quotas as a mechanism to grow the number of women in its ranks, after his new leader put all options on the table to lift the party’s female representation.
The new opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has declared herself a “zealot” for action to attract more women to the party but was “agnostic” about the method.
Labor introduced gender quotas more than 30 years ago, with women now comprising more than half of its caucus. In contrast, women make up fewer than 30% of the Coalition party room.
But Taylor – who Ley defeated in the post-election Liberal leadership ballot – said quotas were not the answer.
He told Sky News:
I’m not a supporter of quotas. As Sussan said, this is going to be a matter for state divisions [of the Liberal party]. It’s not something that I think is necessary in order to get the outcome. I think attracting, mentoring, retaining great people and great women in the party is incredibly important work for absolutely everybody, for all leaders. And I take that very seriously.
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Australia’s eSafety commissioner corrects YouTube’s ‘mistaken’ claims
The eSafety commissioner has responded to what she says were YouTube’s “mistaken” claims about her position that the video streaming service should be included in the under-16s social media ban.
The commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, on Tuesday revealed she had recommended to the communications minister, Anika Wells, that YouTube’s planned exemption from the ban be removed from the rules currently under development, pointing to eSafety research highlighting that children encounter potentially harmful content on YouTube more than any other platform.
In response, YouTube pointed to the high number of teachers who use YouTube in classrooms on a monthly basis, and urged the government to “ensure young Australians can continue to access enriching content on YouTube”.
Inman Grant fired back on Thursday in a statement, and said YouTube “currently employs many of the same features and functionality associated with the harms that the legislation is seeking to address” like autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations. But she said eSafety’s advice would not mean children would no longer be able to access educational content on YouTube.
Inman Grant said:
The new law will only restrict children under the age of 16 from having their own accounts – not accessing content on YouTube or any other service through links from the school or in a ‘logged-out’ state.
There is nothing in the legislation that prevents educators with their own accounts from continuing to incorporate school-approved educational content on YouTube or any other service just as they do now.
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Angus Taylor calls for transparency on US military operations in Australia
The government should be more transparent about US military operations in Australia, according to the shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, who says he’s seeking briefings from Labor about whether Pine Gap or other facilities were used in the bombings of Iranian nuclear sites.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong would only say that the US bombings were “unilateral” action, when pressed multiple times this week about what involvement – if any – Australian assets or facilities had in the US military strikes.
Andrew Hastie, the shadow home affairs minister, said on Tuesday there should be “greater transparency” about the US military presence in Australia. Asked about this at a doorstop today, Taylor agreed.
“I do think the government needs to be very clear with us about what our involvement is or might be, in both the Ukraine and the Middle East. I think that is something that we do want to see,” he said.
I’ve personally asked the defence minister for a briefing on this, and I do think it’s incumbent on the government to make sure that we are fully informed as to what that situation might be.
Taylor said he was still seeking briefings, adding “I think it’s important that we be able to understand what that situation is.” Asked if he would be concerned if Pine Gap had been part of the US strikes, he replied: “it’s speculative, because we don’t have any information about what might have happened or how it might have been used, but we do think it’s appropriate that we’d be briefed on that.”
Asked on Tuesday about Hastie’s comments, Marles countered that he believed “there is actually a high degree of transparency in relation to the United States presence in Australia.”
We have long had full knowledge and concurrence arrangements in relation to America’s force posture in Australia, not just in relation to Pine Gap, but in relation to all of its force posture in Australia.
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Naplan analysis finds student writing skills declined for more than a decade
Student writing skills have declined for more than a decade, new Naplan analysis reveals, prompting the creation of new resources to explicitly teach writing across all subject areas.
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) analysis, released on Thursday, found average Naplan scores for persuasive writing skills had fallen since 2011, with particularly pronounced dips in years 7 and 9.
In response, AERO has released a framework to provide professional learning for teachers to explicitly teach and assess writing across different subject areas such as maths and science.
The AERO chief executive, Jenny Donovan, said improving students’ writing skills was a “national challenge”.
Teaching writing isn’t just the task of English teachers; it is an important skill in all subject areas and requires explicit and systematic instruction by both primary and secondary teachers.
When teachers have a shared language for discussing sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, it supports a cohesive and consistent approach to teaching writing and assessment.
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Australia sanctions more Russian individuals and groups
The federal government has imposed sanctions on a further 37 Russians and seven groups, in response to the war in Ukraine.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the defence minister, Richard Marles, said it was part of “further action to support Ukraine and hold Russia to account for its illegal and immoral war”, in addition to sending an aircraft and 100 ADF personnel to Europe, as we brought you earlier.
“As part of the Albanese government’s ongoing work to hold Russia to account for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, Australia has also today imposed another wave of sanctions designed to further weaken Russia’s war economy,” the ministers said.
This includes new targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on 37 individuals, and targeted financial sanctions on seven entities. These sanctions target Russia’s defence, energy, transport, insurance, electronics and finance sectors, as well as promulgators of Russian disinformation and propaganda.
Individuals sanctioned include some involved in shipping companies, a Russian oil producer, banking firms and entities including electronics manufacturers.
Wong said: “Australia remains steadfast in our support for Ukraine and in our commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
Our targeted sanctions reflect our close coordination with key Nato partners, including the UK, Canada and the European Union.
Wong said it meant Australia had now imposed more than 1,500 sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion and that the government “will continue to work with partners to disrupt Russia’s ability to fund its illegal and immoral war”.
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Melbourne’s Scotch College writes poem to ‘solicit dough’
One of Australia’s wealthiest and most exclusive private schools, Scotch College in Melbourne, has written a poem to solicit donations from its financial supporters.
As Guardian Australia reported earlier today, the Albanese government has been urged to end an “outrageous” and “cruel joke” that incentivises donations to Australia’s richest private schools in return for a tax deduction.
That view isn’t shared by private schools and their peak body, which argues these tax deductible donations to finance school buildings are “essential” and that they benefit the broader local community.
On Wednesday morning, the Scotch College Foundation sent its supporters a six paragraph poem to “solicit your dough”. The email, sent days before the end of the financial year, noted donations to the school’s “archive and museum fund are tax deductible”.
At the risk of violating Guardian Australia’s word count, here is the poem in full:
Walk With Us
In stone, in gate, in path and name, The echoes of our founders flame. Their vision, bold, still lights our way— A beacon burning bright today.
Beneath the trees where stories grow, Where reverence and progress flow, We raise our hands to give, to build, To shape the dreams that they once willed.
Let Forbes arise in sculpted grace, A founder’s soul etched into place. At Glenferrie’s gates, let heritage gleam— A centenary reminder of Littlejohn’s dream.
In Ballarat, where Lawson lies, Restore his rest beneath the skies. For all who lead must be revered, Their memory held, their purpose clear.
Along the trail in Hawthorn’s heart, We’ll walk the past as future’s start. Each step, a lesson, our path well known. A history proudly claimed, our own.
So join this cause, stand side by side, With faith, with pride, in grateful stride. Your gift upholds the legacy— A story shaped by you and me.
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Chris Minns accuses Mark Latham of being ‘one of the most bigoted MPs in the country’
It’s all been pretty fiery in NSW parliament’s final question time before the winter break.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has lashed the former Labor figure turned One Nation turned independent Mark Latham, in NSW parliament’s question time, calling him one of the “most bigoted MPs in the country”.
And three people were thrown out of the public gallery for protesting against the ongoing military activity in Gaza.
An attack by Latham on the independent Alex Greenwich on Tuesday night under privilege seems to have been the final straw for the premier but certainly not the only reason.
Minns also cited his attacks on domestic violence campaigner Rosie Battie; his “odious” X account, which he said was “filled with antisemitism”, and his support for the Dural caravan inquiry, which has induced Minns’ personal staff to appear under threat of being arrested for failing to comply with summonses.
Latham has also been siding with the opposition and the Greens (plus other independents) and has blocked several key pieces of legislation that the government dearly wanted to pass, including reforms to the workers’ compensation Laws. Minns said:
I am reminded of the old adage: never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty. But this is one of the most bigoted MPs in the country.
His attorney general, Michael Daley, warned that Donald Trump was the albatross around former Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s neck and that Latham would be similarly a lead weight for NSW opposition leader Mark Speakman.
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Life sentences for ‘horrific’ toolbox murders
Three men found guilty of the “horrific” murder of two people who drowned in a toolbox have been given a 30-year life sentence.
Cory Breton, 28, and Iuliana Triscaru, 31, were killed at Kingston in Logan, south of Brisbane, on 24 January 2016.
The pair had been beaten, stabbed and choked before they were stuffed into a 2-metre-long toolbox.
Stou Daniels, Davy Malu Junior Taiao and Trent Michael Thrupp were found guilty of the pair’s murder for a second time after a retrial.
Justice Glenn Martin said they had engaged in “appalling conduct” when he sentenced the trio in the Queensland supreme court on Thursday.
“It is difficult to imagine the immense terror they felt in the hours leading up to their deaths,” he said.
Justice Martin accepted crown prosecutor Nathan Crane’s submission that the three defendants should serve 30 years instead of the mandatory 20-year minimum.
All three defendants have already spent more than nine years in custody, which was recognised as time served.
- Australian Associated Press
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Job vacancies up nearly 3% in three months to May
Nearly 340,000 jobs are unfilled in Australia, including an extra 10,000 positions left vacant in February as worker shortages remain difficult to fill.
The near 3% increase in the number of job vacancies in the three months to May followed a small fall over the three months to February, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data out today.
Construction jobs and those in professional, scientific and technical services contributed the most to the uptick, with thousands of skilled positions left unfilled.
Health workers are still in high demand but the number of vacancies has declined from nearly 62,000 open jobs in May 2024 to nearly 55,000 last month.
Businesses’ struggle to find workers is a key risk the Reserve Bank has warned of as it contemplates cutting interest rates at its next board meeting in July, with governor Michele Bullock warning in May a persistently tight labour market and strong job growth would be a sign it could be too soon for more rate cuts.
Unfilled jobs spiked in 2022 to a high of 474,000 before falling below 330,000 in August 2024, but instead of continuing their fall, they’ve stayed at that high ever since. Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said:
Compared with May 2024, the number of job vacancies in May 2025 was down by 9,600, or 2.8 per cent. This was the smallest annual fall in job vacancies in the last two years.
Over the year, the number of unemployed people for each job vacancy grew from 1.7 to 1.8. This is well below the pre-pandemic level of 3.1 in February 2020, indicating there is still high labour demand.
A rate cut is expected in July, with markets almost fully pricing in a full 25-basis-point cut this morning after inflation data yesterday fell lower than expected, but economists have warned the meeting will be a “close call”. Read more here:
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Queensland budget in reply speech ends with ‘small target’ attack
And Queensland’s budget reply has come to an end after about an hour.
Its main theme was a criticism that the LNP in government and opposition tents to shy away from big fights and instead presents a “small target”. All the good ideas in the budget, Steven Miles said, were rebranded Labor ones, and he said there was little else.
It’s a line of attack he’s prosecuted from his time as premier before losing last October’s election.
The elephant in the room is that Queensland’s conservative parties have a historically terrible record of re-election. The last non-Labor premier to win a second term was Joh Bjelkie-Petersen - in 1969.
Miles said “this is the budget of a government that cares only about itself and its longevity”. He said:
I know this premier’s ego is obsessed with not being a one term LNP premier. Instead of focusing on his re-election campaign in 2028 though, I call on the premier to focus on the now, here today, when people are struggling to pay the rent or turn the lights on.
It strikes me that the premier has gotten so good at being a small target that he doesn’t even know what he stands for any more. He’s mastered the art of saying nothing so well. I’m not even sure he remembers what he believes in. You can’t be a small target in government. You can’t fix big problems by playing small. But that’s all he knows how to do. You can’t just show, you can’t show up here just because you like the sound of your own voice.
I say to Queenslanders: don’t let them treat you like this.
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Steven Miles reveals housing commitments in budget in reply speech
The budget in reply speech by the Queensland opposition leader, Steven Miles, continues.
He’s made two major commitments, both of them relating to the state’s housing crisis.
A Labor government elected in 2028 would extend 50% land tax concessions for build to rent projects which include a social housing element, he said.
And he would bring back a free Tafe program in order to train the workers he said would be needed to build them. He said:
Unfortunately, young Queenslanders researching Tafe training today are faced with a web page telling them that free Tafe has run out under this government.
Miles said the government had instead taken a Nimby approach, cancelling a number of housing projects and undermining his government’s “state facilitated development” process, reducing approvals.
How can we expect to deliver the homes of the future if this LNP government is standing in the way of progress, literally canceling projects and winding back planning short cuts? It’s like the government is playing a game of stakes and ladders with itself but removing all the ladders.
That’s why this government should direct the planning department to continue to pursue state facilitated development as one mechanism to increase housing supply.
Updated
Queensland Labor claims LNP has banned land acknowledgments from some public service email signatures
Queensland’s Labor opposition claims the government has banned members of the public service from making land acknowledgements in their email signature.
An internal departmental directive shows that members of at least one agency have been given a “strict directive” about branding in emails.
“Departments are no longer permitted to add additional departmental branding elements such as the First Nations acknowledgment” to email signatures, it says.
The shadow minister for reconciliation, Leanne Enoch, asked the minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Fiona Simpson, if the government had consulted on the decision.
“I have been consulting with the communities of Palm Island about the fact they want to have the dignity of owning their own homes. I have been consulting with communities such as Kowanyama ... where they were indicating that there is more than just a gap. There is a hole in regard to frontline services,” Simpson said.
Nobody brought up signature blocks.
The Liberal National party’s first act in government was to cancel the state’s pathway to treaty process and close its truth telling and healing inquiry.
Updated
Steven Miles begins Queensland budget reply speech
Labor leader Steven Miles has kicked off his budget reply speech in Queensland parliament.
Last year’s pre-election budget was absolutely packed with cost of living relief, and Miles has focused on the relative lack of giveaways in Tuesday’s.
It was the first LNP budget in a decade, since premier Campbell Newman lost office in 2015. Partly through enormous borrowings
The speech is tipped to focus on housing and putting food on the table, but it’s unclear if it will include new major policy announcements. Miles’ speech has been much less awaited than Crisafulli’s address last year, in which he announced much of the party’s agenda in government. With the state election not due for three years it’s unlikely Labor will do the same thing this year.
With an election slated for Tasmania next month – which may lead to a toppling of the state’s year conservative government after 11 years in power – Crisafulli may wind up the only Coalition premier in the country.
Labor spent much of question time demanding answers on capital projects supposedly unfunded by the new government, and complaining about a change in colour in state branding from maroon to blue, supposedly an act of treason in State of Origin season.
Updated
Trio to learn fate over killing of Indigenous teenager
Three men who killed an Indigenous teenager after a series of violent incidents are set to be sentenced.
Cassius Turvey, 15, died in hospital 10 days after he was chased into bushland and beaten with a metal pole in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.
Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, were convicted in May of murdering the Noongar Yamatji boy after a mammoth 12-week trial.
Mitchell Colin Forth, 27, who was also on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for Cassius’ murder, was found guilty of manslaughter.
The trio’s two-day sentencing hearing is set to start today.
The trial heard Brearley delivered the fatal blows while “hunting for kids” because somebody had smashed his car windows.
It was alleged Forth and Palmer aided him, and had a common purpose on the day.
The jury was told the attack on Cassius in bushland near a creek was “the end point of a complex series of events that had absolutely nothing to do with him”.
- Australian Associated Press
Total value of Australians’ superannuation savings falls
The total value of Australians’ superannuation savings has dropped for the first time in two-and-a-half years, as global turmoil hit sharemarkets in the first three months of 2025.
But the March quarter household wealth statistics from the ABS, released this morning, showed that a solid lift in property values helped boost combined household wealth by $137.1bn, or 0.8%.
Property prices have climbed for eight consecutive quarters, the ABS said, and while they were growing more slowly than this time last year Reserve Bank rate cuts would likely spur further growth.
Total household wealth now sits at $17.3tn, according to the data.
Updated
The extension of the scheme to community workers was welcomed by Australian Services Union (ASU) branch secretary Angus McFarland.
“This is a win for workers, a win for the community sector and a win for the people of NSW who rely on the essential supports the sector provides them,” he said.
By tying long service leave to service in the sector rather than for one employer, we can properly value workers and give them a well-deserved break to help reduce burnout.
Portable entitlements are particularly important for workers in the NDIS where one in four disability support workers change jobs each year, and many work for multiple employers.
Workers who are registered by their employers in the first six months of the new scheme (commencing 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2025) will be able to access long service leave one year earlier – after six years of service rather than the current seven years.
According to the Fair Work ombudsman, a worker on an average annual income of $65,000 would accrue over $9,000 in long service leave.
NSW has lagged other states in introducing portable long service leave for community workers.
Updated
Long service leave to be expanded for 250,000 NSW community service workers
A quarter of a million workers in New South Wales who work in disability services, domestic violence and other community services will see their paid leave rights expanded from 1 July, through a scheme to secure their long service leave.
The workers in these fields, three-quarters of whom are women, are often on short-term contracts. They will now become eligible for a scheme that makes their long service leave entitlements portable.
Under the scheme, which was extended in this week’s state budget, they will soon be able to access six weeks of long service leave after seven years of service to the industry, regardless of who they work for and how long they work with a particular employer.
Chantel Moffat, who has worked in the disability sector in Newcastle for 25 years, said it would make an enormous difference to her but more particularly to young people in the industry.
“I started in this industry young, had children and then came back in. I lost 10 years of long service leave I was entitled to,” Moffat said.
If you work in this sector, you often change employers. You follow your participants.
The minister for industrial relations, Sophie Cotsis, said the Minns government was expanding the scheme to community service workers to ensure those who dedicate their lives to supporting others gain the recognition and stability they deserve.
The scheme means people working in community services across NSW can take a well-earned break and access financial support when they need it, no matter the number of employers they have worked for in the industry.
The new scheme is entirely funded by employer contributions through a levy, making it a cost-free and equitable program for people working in community services across the state.
More to come in the next post.
Updated
ATO gives tax return advice
The looming end of the financial year means the Australian Taxation Office and many workers are preparing for tax time and lodging of annual returns.
In new advice to taxpayers this morning, the ATO says Australians shouldn’t rush to lodge paperwork until the required employee income statement is marked as “tax ready” and other pre-filled financial information has been uploaded.
About 142,000 people lodged their tax return in the first two weeks of July last year and had to make amendments or update information such as undeclared income.
The ATO assistant commissioner, Rob Thomson, said that waiting until late July is a smart approach because it allows for pre-filled information to be automatically included in your tax return.
“We know doing your tax return is something to tick off your to-do list each year but there’s no need to rush. The best time to lodge is from late July once everything is ready,” he said.
We pre-fill information from your employer, banks, government agencies and health funds into your tax return to help you get it right the first time – regardless of whether you use a registered tax agent or lodge yourself.
Once an employee’s income statement is ready to go, it will be marked as “tax ready” in the ATO online system called myTax or in the ATO app.
Updated
Wealth of top 1% surges by over $52.4tn in the past 10 years – enough to end poverty 22 times over, Oxfam finds
The wealth of world’s richest 1% has increased by more than A$52.4tn since 2015, according to new Oxfam analysis.
“This is more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $12.83 a day,” Oxfam said. Their numbers come ahead of the International Conference on Financing for Development happening in Seville, Spain.
The wealth of 3,000 billionaires has surged US$6.5tn since 2015, now making up equivalent to 14.6% of global GDP.
The statement from Oxfam reads:
Ten years ago, in a landmark agreement, Australia joined other wealthy countries in committing to increase aid to achieve the Sustainable Development goals. Since 2015, the aid budget has been cut from 0.98% to 0.65% of the Federal Budget. While Australia is no longer cutting its aid budget, cuts by the previous government have left Australia amongst the lowest aid providers in the OECD, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals being off-track.
Meanwhile, failures in our tax system to properly tax wealth accumulation at the top, mean the wealth of the richest 1% continues to grow.
This post was amended at 3.42pm AEST to clarify that the $52.4tn figure is in Australian dollars while the $6.5tn figure is in US dollars
Updated
Australia to send 100 defence force personnel to Europe to help Ukraine
Australia will send 100 defence force personnel to Europe to assist Ukraine, helping deliver humanitarian and military assistance from the United Kingdom.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, announced overnight, at the Nato conference in the Netherlands, that Australia would help Nato operations by sending a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to Europe in August under Operation Kudu. Marles said it would “help protect a vital international gateway for humanitarian and military assistance into Ukraine”.
Operation Kudu is the ADF mission helping train Ukraine personnel in the United Kingdom. It is understood no Australian forces will deploy to Ukraine specifically.
A Wedgetail aircraft and up to 100 ADF personnel were previously deployed to Germany for six months, returning in April 2024, according to the defence department.
“Under Operation Kudu, up to 100 ADF personnel will deploy alongside the aircraft. The aircraft deployment is expected to conclude by November 2025. This deployment of ADF aircraft and personnel complements Australia’s overall support to Ukraine of more than $1.5bn since the start of Russia’s invasion,” Marles said.
Marles did not announce a major defence spending commitment at Nato, as other world leaders did. The Australian government has said it won’t jump at the Trump administration’s request that it raise military spending to 3.5% of GDP, from its current level of about 2%, but Anthony Albanese and Marles have not ruled out spending more on defence capabilities if it was deemed that it was necessary.
“Australia is proud of its longstanding operational partnership with Nato,” Marles said.
The deployment of an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft will again showcase our ability to operate from Europe, alongside Nato and partners, in support of Ukraine and international peace and security.
Updated
David McBride to take appeal to high court
David McBride will take his case to the high court in an attempt to challenge his conviction and reduce his five-year, eight-month prison sentence.
The former army lawyer was sentenced in May 2024 for taking and leaking classified defence material to the ABC, which formed the basis of an exposé on alleged war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
McBride’s appeal against the sentence and conviction was unsuccessful in May and has now lodged an application with the high court to hear the case.
His legal team is arguing against the lengthy prison sentence, saying it failed to take into account McBride was motivated by “bravely and selflessly” attempting to right what he saw as a “serious wrong”.
McBride told Guardian Australia from jail last October he took issue with what he perceived as defence leadership not applying the law equally to soldiers accused of potential war crimes, or at all, if it wasn’t convenient.
McBride took 235 documents from defence offices – mostly in the ACT – between May 2014 and December 2015 with 207 of them classified as secret. He later leaked documents to the ABC.
McBride, who is in Canberra’s only prison, is eligible for parole in August 2026 with his full sentence ending in January 2030.
Read more here:
Updated
David Littleproud tells shadow cabinet to ‘come out swinging’ after election defeat
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is convening her shadow cabinet in Canberra as the Coalition gets down to business after its thumping federal election defeat.
A day after sketching out her agenda in a speech to the National Press Club, Ley told her shadow cabinet colleagues that the election result was “sobering” and the “message from Australians was clear”.
She said:
So our task is now to rebuild with humility, to listen with purpose, to go forward with conviction and every voice in this room has a role to play.
In his opening message to colleagues, the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said the Coalition had to “cop the election result on the chin”.
But Littleproud said while the opposition had to be humble, it also had to be “aggressive” in prosecuting the case against Labor, assuring colleagues that the “mob” (read: voters) would eventually turn and “turn big time” against the Albanese government.
So while it’s humbling and disappointing, the election result, you can do one of two things. You can get in the foetal position and give up or you can come out swinging. Being from western Queensland, we always take the latter. So let’s come out swinging
Updated
Uni student charged with alleged hacking for cheaper parking, better grades
An attempt to save on parking has allegedly put a university student on a path to altering her marks and threatening to sell other students’ data after a series of cyber-attacks.
The 27-year-old woman is due to face court today after being charged with a slew of fraud and hacking offences.
Police allege she was behind a series of cyber-attacks on Western Sydney University, beginning in 2021.
They say it began with system exploits in an attempt to secure unauthorised discounts for parking on campus. But police further allege it escalated into alterations to her academic results and threats to sell other students’ confidential data on the dark web.
The university suffered a series of hacks involving unauthorised access, data exfiltration, system compromises and unauthorised use of the institution’s infrastructure, police allege. Hundreds of staff and students were affected.
The former student was arrested as police seized computer equipment and mobile devices during a raid on a Kingswood unit yesterday.
The woman is due to face Penrith Local Court charged with 20 offences including 10 counts of modifying or accessing restricted data.
She is also accused of dishonestly obtaining property and financial advantage by deception.
A Western Sydney University spokesperson said the university has been working with NSW Police to assist their investigations:
These cyber incidents have had a significant impact on the University community and we are thankful for the support of NSW Police. As this matter is now before the Court, the University cannot provide further comment.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Australian navy destroyer conducts freedom of navigation exercise in South China Sea
The Australian navy destroyer HMAS Sydney has conducted a freedom of navigation exercise in the South China Sea, joining a British patrol vessel in sailing around the contested Spratly Islands.
China claims a vast swathe – more than 3.5m sq km – of the South China Sea within its so-called nine-dash line that Beijing claims represents its historical maritime domain over thousands of years. China has also built military infrastructure on a number of contested islands within the sea – including the Spratlys.
But the areas asserted by Beijing to belong to China are also variously claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
In 2016, the Philippines took its dispute to the permanent court of arbitration in The Hague, which sided with the Philippines, saying there was no legal or historical basis for China’s claim.
HMS SPEY and HMAS SYDNEY have just conducted Freedom of Navigation Activity around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in accordance with UNCLOS.@RoyalNavy @Australian_Navy pic.twitter.com/rx9kTCGghh
— Defence Operations 🇬🇧 (@DefenceOps) June 23, 2025
The Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific.
Its earlier passage through the Taiwan Strait has been controversial, with a spokesperson for China’s navy criticising the UK for “publicly hyping up” its operation, in particular using the term “freedom of navigation” to describe its passage.
“Such actions are intentional provocations that disrupt the situation and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the spokesperson said.
Under its “One China” policy, Beijing regards Taiwan as its territory – a claim self-ruled Taiwan rejects – and has not ruled out the use of force to “reunify” the island with the mainland.
China monitored the Spey throughout its journey in the strait, the spokesperson said, warning that Beijing “will resolutely counter all threats and provocations”.
Later, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson clarified that while China respects the right of other nations’ navies to sail through the Taiwan Strait, it also “firmly opposes any country using the name of freedom of navigation to provoke and threaten China’s sovereign security”.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry praised the UK patrol as safeguarding the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.
Updated
Shots fired at home in Sydney’s north-west
Investigations are under way after shots were fired at a home in north-west Sydney last night.
Police were called to Nangar Crescent, Kellyville, just after 11pm following reports of shots fired at a house.
The front door and windows of the home were damaged, NSW police said in a statement. Two men and a woman were in the home at the time but were uninjured.
Emergency services were called to Watergum Close, Rouse Hill, after reports of a car fire a short time later. Fire and Rescue NSW officers extinguished the fire but the vehicle was destroyed.
Police believe the two incidents may be linked. The fire is being treated as suspicious.
Detectives are also investigating whether the house involved was the intended target of the shooting, police said.
Updated
‘What worries me is that [the ABC] thought they were in the right’: former ABC editorial director on Lattouf v ABC
The former editorial director of the ABC does not think Antoinette Lattouf’s post would have breached any of the national broadcaster’s policies.
Alan Sunderland tells ABC RN that although he advises reporters “the less you say personally on controversial issues, the better”, Lattouf did nothing problematic in her work for the ABC:
The key message to take out of this … is that nothing Antoinette did in her professional work for the ABC was in any way problematic, and the social media post was never found to have breached the ABC policies, and I personally suspect it wouldn’t have breached any ABC policies. So what happened, as the judgment said, was panic. Panic in the wrong way for the wrong reasons.
The ABC clearly believed it was in the right or it wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, have pursued the issue for as long as it did. What worries me is that they thought they were in the right, because I think in the calm of day, when the dust had settled on that moment, it should have been possible to look at the situation and say, you know we probably didn’t do the right thing, we probably didn’t follow our processes. There was a bit of panic. Let’s walk away from this now while we can. And I think it’s a pity for everyone involved, both the ABC and Antoinette, that that didn’t happen.
Lattouf was removed from an ABC program in December 2023 after she shared an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch that said Israel had used starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
The federal court ruled yesterday that the ABC unlawfully terminated Lattouf after an “orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists”.
You can read more from Sunderland on Lattouf v ABC in the Guardian here:
Updated
ABC under pressure from Israel defenders, former Human Rights Watch head says
Antoinette Lattouf has been completely vindicated, former head of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, says.
Roth appeared on ABC Radio National this mornin, following the federal court ruling yesterday that the ABC unlawfully terminated Lattouf after an “orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists”.
Lattouf was removed from the ABC program in December 2023 after she shared an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch that said Israel had used starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
Roth says:
On the question of whether ABC basically retaliated against her for having criticised Israel, for having shared a Human Rights Watch video describing Israel’s starvation strategy in Gaza, this is a complete vindication.
What she did … was to repost something that was 100% accurate, that reflected a Human Rights Watch report that ABC had already reported on. There was nothing wrong with what she did. And what amazes me is that ABC spent some million dollars fighting this when I just don’t know what its case was. Clearly, it was under pressure from defenders of the Israeli government. It was undoubtedly embarrassed at having succumbed to that pressure. But at this point, they’ve made a bad situation.
He says Lattouf’s post was “almost uncontroversial”:
It is so clear that the Netanyahu government is using the starvation of civilians as a way to put pressure on Hamas. This is what Netanyahu and the former defence minister Gallant have been charged with by the international criminal court. You know, this is ongoing to this day. So, you know, the real question is: you know, why did ABC feel the need to suppress, to retaliate against her for posting this pretty straightforward material?
Read about the 185-page Lattouf judgment and its forensic critique of the ABC’s top brass, from Amanda Meade, here:
Updated
Pictures of Australians leaving Israel
Government sources said Australian defence personnel and diplomats supported the departure of another 29 Australians and family members from Israel.
Here’s a look at some pictures:
Updated
Finance minister asked about lifting defence spending
Asked on ABC TV how difficult a decision it would be to lift defence spending, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said:
I mean, these are the balancing decisions that governments have to take. But I would again say in the last three years we put $11bn across the forward estimates and $57bn into defence over the medium term. We’ve been able to do that at a time we have put increases into health, and other important social programs. So, you know, it is a balancing act. But the government’s job is to make sure that all areas of government are funded properly, including defence. But then all of the other programs that Australians deserve and rely upon and that continues.
It’s on my desk every day, really, those choices. We’ll continue to make them in the best interests of Australia. That’s the PM’s view and that’s what we take to defence funding. But we also take it to all those other important areas.
Updated
‘We’ve put billions of dollars into defence,’ says Katy Gallagher
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says Australia takes advice on defence spending from agencies seriously.
Asked on ABC TV if Australia is looking at defence spending and security arrangements as other nations lift defence spending, Gallagher said:
We have been increasing defence spending. When we came to government, it wasn’t what it should have been and delivering the capability needed. There have been a lot of press releases but not a lot of equipment or capability delivered. Pat Conroy and the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, have been trying to turn that ship around. We’ve put billions of dollars into defence. We understand the environment we’re working in. We take the advice of our agencies seriously. When they come to us and say, this is the capability we need, and this is the funding that’s required, we have provided that funding and that’s the approach we’ll continue to take.
Updated
Emissions reduction not about 'landing on a certain date', opposition leader says
Sussan Ley says emissions reduction is not about “landing on a certain date”.
The opposition leader was asked on ABC RN a short while ago about the committee she set up to develop a new energy and climate policy:
It’s iterative and it’s continuous, and it will develop a plan … underpinned by two goals. That we have a stable energy grid which provides affordable and reliable power for households and businesses, and that we reduce emissions so that we’re playing our part in the global effort and the global challenge of climate change.
So it’s not ending at a certain point in time. It’s not landing on a certain date. It’s an important working group, and it will reflect the wide range of views on energy policy across Australia, and it will also hold up a mirror to this government, because they’ve made big promises on energy. We’re going to hold them to account, and we’re going to make sure that they explain to the Australian people how they are on track to reduce the cost of electricity. We haven’t seen that so far.
Updated
Ley says Liberal party has to recruit more women but ‘agnostic’ about using quotas
Sussan Ley continues to be “agnostic” on methods to get more women into the Liberal party, including quotes. But the opposition leader reiterates that she is “a zealot that it does actually happen”.
She tells ABC RN:
I am agnostic on the specific methods to make it happen, but I am a zealot that it does actually happen.
Our Liberal party is a federated body, and it doesn’t have a top-down instruction method … We’ve got state divisions. Now, some state divisions might choose to implement quotas. If they do, that’s fine. If others don’t, that’s also fine. What I made very clear yesterday is what is not fine is not having enough women. So as the first woman leader of our federal party, let me send the clearest possible message: we do need to do better. We’ve got to recruit better. We’ve got to retain better. We’ve got to support better.
Updated
Sussan Ley says she is taking up the fight for women in the Liberal party
Asked if she still calls herself a feminist, Sussan Ley says she is someone who “stands up for women every single hour of every single day”.
The opposition leader tells ABC RN:
I know that when it comes to our party and our representation of Australian women, I am going to be the number one flag flyer for that, because it is so important that as the first female leader of our party, which sends a signal – it’s about more than that, clearly – but I do take up this fight when it comes to women in our party and the representation of the women of Australia.
Updated
‘We’ve got to be a Liberal party that is proudly for women’: Ley
Reviews will look into where the Liberal party went wrong in their recent failed election campaign, Sussan Ley says.
The opposition leader is speaking to ABC RN:
I stood on polling booths during the election, and I spoke to a lot of women, and women said to me they weren’t confident that the Liberal party had their back when it came to understanding and putting policies in place, about work-life balance, about getting it right, between dropping the children at childcare, doing the best by your family, managing struggles at work, paying your mortgage, cost of living, and so on. And as I said yesterday, we’ve got to be a Liberal party that is proudly for women, made up of women standing up for women.
Updated
Liberal party did not ‘meet modern Australians where they are’, Sussan Ley says
The Liberal party did not “meet modern Australians where they are” at the last election, opposition leader Sussan Ley says. She is speaking on ABC RN this morning:
We have to meet modern Australia where they are. And clearly we did not do that in the last election.
We’re going to listen. That’s the first and most important thing. And yesterday, I outlined two important reviews that are part of that first stage of listening. We’re going to fix our policies. We’re going to work hard every single day for the Australian people.
Updated
Another 29 Australians helped to leave Tel Aviv overnight
More on that latest group of Australians evacuated from Tel Aviv:
Another 29 Australians and family members have been helped to leave Israel as the Australian defence force assists on further departure flights from Israel.
Government sources said Australian defence personnel and diplomats supported the departure. More than 300 people who were registered as wanting to leave the region were spoken to by consular staff.
The government is trying to take advantage of windows that open, to safely help people depart the Middle East. Israeli airspace is open, and the government is urging people to investigate commercial options or keep speaking with airlines if they’ve had flights cancelled – which may be the fastest way to leave.
The government will keep talking to Australians who’ve registered as seeking help.
Australians in need of urgent consular assistance should contact DFAT’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (within Australia).
Updated
More Australians land in Sydney after evacuation from Israel
Overnight, a group of Australians landed in Sydney after getting out of Tel Aviv on a RAAF jet.
Sky News aired images of passengers running into the arms of their families in the airport arrivals area. Another group is expected to arrive later on Thursday.
A total of 119 Australians were taken out of Israel by the Australian government on the first flight on Tuesday and travelled to Dubai and then to Sydney.
About 1,000 Australians have registered with the government for help to leave Israel, and 3,000 have asked for assistance to leave Iran.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is still trying to help Australians trapped in Iran, but has advised them to head to the border with Azerbaijan if they can.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
KPMG reviewing Australian Education Research Organisation
KPMG is undertaking an independent review of Australia’s leading education evidence body, the federal government has confirmed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the “independent performance evaluation” of the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) was under way at the request of the commonwealth, state and territory education ministers.
AERO was publicly launched in December 2020 by all Australian governments as one of the policy initiates under a review into education. It was tasked with conducting research to improve learning outcomes for Australian children and young people, which have been lagging or going backwards in national and international tests.
The government-funded body has been a strong backer of evidenced-based teaching models including explicit instruction, which has now been rolled out in most jurisdictions in Australia.
The spokesperson said it was “best practice” that government bodies be periodically assessed “to determine whether they are achieving their intended purpose”.
This process ensures accountability, promotes good governance, and is a normal part of continuous improvement. KPMG has been commissioned through a competitive procurement process to conduct the evaluation.
Updated
Thank you Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’ll be rolling it from here – let’s go.
Key event
Social media report has nuanced findings for teens
Our technology reporter Josh Taylor has an exclusive report today on a large survey of 17,480 young people across Australia aged between 15 and 19.
The survey, carried out by Mission Australia, comes amid the public debate over restricting access to social media for people aged under 16.
The findings are nuanced with a link between excessive use of phones and poorer mental health outcomes. But moderate users report being in better shape than those using their devices for only one hour a day.
Read Josh’s full report here:
Banks predict July interest rate cuts
Half of Australia’s big four banks are predicting a cut in interest rates when the Reserve Bank next meets following better-than-expected inflation numbers, Australian Associated Press reports.
Despite predictions of inflation remaining steady, headline inflation for May fell to 2.1% from 2.4% the previous month.
The fall was driven largely by a drop in the cost of fuel as well as rental prices.
Trimmed mean inflation, which removes volatile price movements, also dropped from 2.8% to 2.4%.
The figures have bolstered predictions of a cut when the Reserve Bank hands down its next cash rate decision on 8 July.
The Commonwealth Bank has joined with NAB in forecasting the next cut to be in July, while Westpac and ANZ predict a lowering of the cash rate in August.
Commonwealth Bank economist Harry Ottley said the May data had made a rate cut in July all but certain, with both inflation sets being in the Reserve Bank’s target range of between two and three per cent.
Calls for urgent action on rising energy debt
Anglicare Australia is calling for urgent action to address rising energy debt as a new report shows a full-time minimum wage worker has just $33 left after paying for rent, food and transport.
Anglicare Australia’s 2025 cost of living index also found that a single parent on the minimum wage has just $1 left, even with government assistance. A family with two full-time workers and two children has only $5 remaining each week.
Anglicare Australia’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said the results were “bleak” and many were left with nothing for energy bills.
We’re seeing more people trapped in energy debt. They are skipping meals, going without heating, and falling behind on bills they’ll never be able to repay.
Too many households are falling behind and staying behind. Over 330,000 people are struggling to pay back more than $300 million in energy debt – and the number of people with debts over $3,000 is surging.
Chambers said people were forced into payment plans they could not sustain.
They carry energy debt from one bill to the next with no chance of catching up, even though energy retailers are making record profits.
That’s why we’re calling for energy debt relief for people in hardship, and better regulation to stop the gauging of energy costs and helps people to start afresh.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then Rafqa Touma will take the helm.
Half of Australia’s big four banks are predicting a cut in interest rates when the Reserve Bank meets a week from Tuesday, following better-than-expected inflation numbers yesterday. It would ease pressure on household budgets and comes as Anglicare calls for action to stop the poorest slipping into more debt. More coming up.
Plus: Australian teenagers who spend between one and three hours on social media a day report similar or better mental health outcomes compared with those on for less time, a new survey shows. Those who spent more than three hours said they had less control over their lives, suggesting that moderate use is the key to wellbeing. More coming up.
