What happened Friday 6 June, 2025
With that, we’ll end our live coverage of the day’s news. Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
The families of the six children killed in a primary school jumping castle incident are angry after the operator who set up the castle was found not guilty of a workplace safety charge.
Police allege Pheobe Bishop’s housemates moved her body twice after murdering her, with investigations indicating the missing 17-year-old is in a national park.
Erin Patterson, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, has told a Victorian court she cannot recall searching online for death cap mushroom sightings.
Incoming independent MP Nicolette Boele says Labor should send clearer signals to investors about climate change and energy supply, warning business confidence on the transition to renewables is being held back.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has walked back claims that an interest in numerology was the reason she added an extra “s” in her name, claiming her comment she made to a journalist in 2015 was a “flippant remark” and not correct.
Thanks for reading. Have a pleasant evening.
Updated
Reserve Bank tipped to cut interest rates again in July
After a week of disappointing economic data, hopes are rising that the Reserve Bank will lower its key interest rate again in July.
Markets have upped their bets to a near-90% chance that another rate cut would arrive when the RBA board next meets in one month’s time. The minutes of the last meeting in May, released on Tuesday, showed the bank was seriously considering a supersized cut just weeks ago.
That was before this week’s data showed the economy growing just 0.2% in the first three months of 2025.
It was enough for analysts to up their bets on a cut next month. Economists at AMP added a July cut to their existing call for two more this year and another in early 2026.
Commonwealth Bank reckons the RBA will wait until August but July is firming as a possibility, according to economist Lucina Jerogin:
July very much remains live, however, as the softer growth data and strong market pricing shifts the balance of probabilities towards a cut.”
But whether or not there’s a reduction in July, markets are expecting three more rate cuts this year with a strong chance of another in 2026. A month ago, they were only sure of two cuts.
Updated
Australian Robert Pether released from Iraq prison after more than four years
Australian engineer Robert Pether has been released from his Iraq jail cell more than four years after he was arbitrarily detained.
Pether was working on a project to help build the new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq when he was detained in Baghdad in April 2021.
In a 2022 report, the United Nations working group on arbitrary detention found Pether had been arbitrarily detained in breach of international law.
It also heard allegations that Pether and his Egyptian colleague’s trials were compromised and that he had been subjected to torture-like practices.
After more than four years in prison, Pether has now been released.
Pether’s wife, Desree, welcomed the development and said her family were “grateful to everyone who contributed to this happening”.
But she also warned her husband remains trapped in Iraq due to a travel ban, and urgently needs medical care. She told the Guardian:
He’s unrecognisable. So frail and weak. He needs urgent medical care and that’s not possible in Iraq.
Updated
Gisele Kapterian not conceding in Bradfield
The unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the seat of Bradfield, Gisele Kapterian, has refused to concede defeat in the Sydney electorate, saying she is still considering advice about potentially disputing the results of the vote recount.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) declared teal independent Nicolette Boele had won Bradfield by a wafer-thin margin of 26 votes, following a nail-biting recount process.
The AEC had said Kapterian won on the initial distribution of preferences by eight votes, before a recount was ordered, with the recounted result coming after rulings on ballot formality.
Kapterian is yet to concede defeat in the seat, and on Friday afternoon, told ABC TV that Boele had acted similarly after the initial count found the inverse result.
Asked about potentially going to the Court of Disputed Returns to challenge the result, Kapterian said:
I am just taking a moment to breathe, it has been a really, really tight result with two different outcomes. 26 votes between us after 118,000 ballots were cast, and it is the two different outcomes that we are having a look at now, taking a moment to breathe, taking advice, having a look at, to really understand where the numbers lie and what might lie ahead.”
Kapterian then added:
We’re just taking a moment to have a look. We have a really robust process in Australia that looks at upholding the vote of the voter, and so it is about paying respect to that process, so just taking a moment to breathe and have a look at what has occurred.”
Updated
Families of children killed in Hillcrest jumping castle incident left ‘shattered’ by not guilty verdict
The families of the six children killed in a primary school jumping castle incident are angry after the operator who set up the castle was found not guilty of a workplace safety charge.
Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt died after the incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport in December 2021.
They were enjoying end-of-year celebrations on the Tasmanian school’s oval when a wind gust lifted the castle into the air. Three other children were seriously injured.
Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb which set up the equipment, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty. She was accused of failing to anchor the castle properly.
She was found not guilty by magistrate Robert Webster in Devonport magistrates court on Friday.
Read more:
Updated
Sussan Ley walks back numerology explanation for extra ‘s’ in name
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has walked back claims that an interest in numerology was the reason she added extra “s” in her name, claiming her comment she made to a journalist in 2015 was a “flippant remark” and not correct.
Ley told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday that the name change came during her “punk phase” as a teenager, shooting down a long-running story that she had added the extra letter because of a belief it would make her life more exciting.
In a 2015 profile with The Australian newspaper, Ley was quoted as saying: “I read about this numerology theory that if you add the numbers that match the letters in your name you can change your personality.”
Read more:
Updated
ADF warship accidentally blocked wifi to parts of New Zealand this week
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has conceded one of its warships inadvertently blocked wireless internet services across swathes of New Zealand’s north and south islands.
The incident occurred on Wednesday morning, with one local tech boss claiming disruptions began shortly after 2am local time, as HMAS Canberra, the largest ship in the Royal Australian Navy, was on its way to Wellington, where it ultimately arrived on Thursday.
During its approach to Wellington, HMAS Canberra’s navigation radar interfered with wireless and radio signals over a large area spanning Taranaki in the North Island to the Marlborough region in the south.
The New Zealand Defence Force said it contacted its Australian counterpart after the issue was reported. An ADF spokesperson said:
HMAS Canberra became aware that their navigation radar was interfering with Wi-Fi in the Taranaki to the Marlborough region on approach to Wellington.
On becoming aware, HMAS Canberra changed frequencies rectifying the interference. There are no ongoing disruptions.
Matthew Harrison, the founder of NZ telecommunications company Primo, said “it’s not every day a warship takes your gear offline”.
Harrison wrote in a post on LinkedIn:
This wasn’t just a blip. It was full-scale, military-grade radar triggering built-in safety protocols designed to protect airspace … and it rolled across our network in sync with the ship’s movement. We’ve never seen anything like it here before!
Harrison then joked: “Hey Royal Australian Navy … where can we send the bill?”
Updated
Boele says clear signals from Labor on climate change could supercharge investment in renewables
The incoming independent MP Nicolette Boele says Labor should send clearer signals to investors about climate change and energy supply, warning business confidence on the transition to renewables is being held back.
In an interview for Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics podcast, Boele said Labor should consider implementing a price on carbon or other decisive policy settings to supercharge renewables investment. She said:
This Labor government, so far, is still walking both sides of the fence and it’s confusing as hell for the private sector in terms of investing their money.
If we just had some certainty – some long, loud and legal signs from the government about a direction and pace of travel on climate – we could have literally tens, if not hundreds of billions of [dollars of] investment from superannuation, private wealth, flowing into those solutions in large-scale wind, and solar, and storage and batteries, and energy efficiency, and all of those things.
Read more here:
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Tasmania Police seeking information about missing tourists
Police in Tasmania are appealing for information about two missing tourists. An official said Leannedra Kang and Takahiro Toya, both in their 20s, were believed to be visiting the St Helens/Scamander area recently.
The pair were scheduled to leave Tasmania and fly home to Brisbane from Launceston on Wednesday, 4 June, but never boarded their flight or returned their rental car. Police said they may be travelling in the car, a white Toyota Corolla, with registration L67GW. Police included a note in a media release:
Leannedra and Takahiro if you see this, you’re not in any trouble, please phone police or family to let them know you’re OK.
Updated
Nicolette Boele speaks to Guardian Australia about climate, business and making a difference
Nicolette Boele was declared the winner in the Sydney seat of Bradfield this week. She is preparing to take her seat in parliament after a wafer-thin victory of just 26 votes.
Boele speaks to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy about why Labor needs to stop “walking both sides of the fence” on climate and energy and where she thinks the government could improve productivity.
Endangered sharks being killed at alarming levels in the Pacific, Greenpeace claims
Endangered sharks are being killed at alarming levels in the Pacific and industrial fishing is putting marine biodiversity at increasing risk, Greenpeace claims, after its activists disrupted a Spanish vessel operating north of New Zealand.
The campaign group said activists on the Rainbow Warrior this week observed a longline fishing operation by the Playa Zahara in the South Fiji Basin.
Georgia Whitaker, a senior campaigner with Greenpeace Australia Pacific, was on board during the operation. She claimed the activists watched as the vessel hauled in and killed three endangered mako sharks in half an hour. Whitaker said:
It was devastating seeing these beautiful creatures being caught, often on their gills, in their mouth, by huge baited hooks. They were fighting for their lives and then minutes later you’d see blood spilling over the side of the boat.
Read more below:
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Cattle Australia says it is vitally important biosecurity system ‘not compromised’
Cattle Australia released a statement earlier today in response to the ongoing talk about US beef, noting that while American producers have had access to the Australian market for years, any imports must remain subject to strict rules. Chris Parker, the chief executive of the group, said:
Under current arrangements, United States beef producers have had access to Australian markets since 2019 if they can ensure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered in the US. These are the same standards that Australian beef exporters adhere to in order to sell beef into the US.
Cattle Australia added the US “needs to be able to demonstrate it can either trace cattle born in Mexico and Canada, or has systems that are equivalent to Australia’s traceability, before imports of meat could occur from non-US cattle”.
The group says it is in contact with the Albanese government to stress “the vital importance that our science-based biosecurity system is not compromised as part of trade discussions with any country”.
Sunday forecast to be 'coldest day of the year' for some areas
The BoM is forecasting a cold, windy and wet long weekend for much of south-eastern Australia, although it may be good news for skiers going into the official first day of ski season tomorrow.
Jonathan How, a forecaster and senior meteorologist for the agency, said many people across NSW and Victoria will feel a wind chill coming through from Saturday as two cold fronts push across the region.
For many people Sunday will be the coldest day of the year.
How said the forecast showed the possibility for the most significant amount of snow in the south-east of the country so far this year. In good news for ski resorts, some parts of the alpine mountains could see “very high accumulations” between 30cm and up to 70cm.
On Sunday, there may be snow across central parts of NSW, including the Blue Mountains and Oberon, although the cold conditions bring the risk of black ice across parts of Victoria and NSW.
Updated
Police execute search warrants linked to arson attack at Melbourne synagogue
Victoria police and the Australian federal police executed “a number” of search warrants in Melbourne this morning as officials investigate an arson attack on a synagogue last year.
Police have been investigating the fire at the Adass Israel synagogue on 6 December 2024 as a terrorist attack, and say they are still seeking to speak with anyone “who observed any suspicious activity in the area either in the lead up to or following the fire”.
The AFP said last month investigators had combed through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. The agency released video of three people dressed in hoodies and masks who allegedly drove to the synagogue in a blue VW Golf before using an axe to damage the entrance to the building.
Footage then shows the individuals allegedly pouring the contents of red jerry cans inside, which they then ignited.
The building was heavily damaged in the incident.
Updated
Virgin Australia will move ahead with new IPO
Virgin Australia has confirmed its intention to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) and re-list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), five years after it left the stock market as part of its pandemic-induced restructure.
In a heavily anticipated development, the airline confirmed on Friday it had lodged a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and filed with the ASX, as its owners Bain Capital move ahead with a $685m initial public offering.
The IPO is comprised of an offer of 236.2 million fully paid ordinary shares at an offer price of A$2.90 a share. On completion, investors participating in the offer are expected to hold 30.2% of shares in the airline. It’s expected trading of shares on the ASX will begin on 24 June.
The Virgin Australia chair, Peter Warne, said:
We believe it is now appropriate for the business to transition to a publicly listed company. This provides an opportunity for new investors to share in the success of Virgin Australia as the airline enters its next phase.
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Littleproud says Australia should not ‘be trading its beef industry away’
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said Australia should not “be trading its beef industry away” and urged the Albanese government to look elsewhere to negotiate around Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The health minister, Mark Butler, confirmed earlier today the government is reviewing a ban on imports of American beef into Australia, saying the restrictions had been under review “for some time”. The remarks come just a week before the PM heads to the G7 meeting in Canada, where he is expected to advocate for an easing of Trump’s punishing tariffs. The beef restrictions could be a bargaining chip in those talks.
Littleproud said Australia should remain focused on its biosecurity:
The United States uses cattle from Mexico and Canada in their supply chain that poses a potential risk to our industry and ignoring those risks would be dangerous.
Rather than jeopardise our beef industry, Australia should be leveraging off our strong historical ties and areas such as critical minerals and Aukus, using real leadership to obtain a fair deal.
Albanese stressed earlier today he had no plans to ease biosecurity rules, calling them his “first priority”:
If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don’t just say no.
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Apple warns against Australia’s proposed changes to boost competition on digital platforms
Australians could lose more money to fraudsters, miss out on cutting-edge tech features, and fail to see lower prices under changes proposed to boost competition on digital platforms, Apple has warned.
The US tech giant issued the warnings today, urging the government not to “follow a handful of untested laws” from other countries in its submission to a Digital Competition Regime consultation.
But experts say consumers could benefit from greater competition, with the pushback coming as Apple fights regulatory changes in Europe and the US that could force it to allow third-party payments without taking commissions.
Changes were proposed to rules governing digital platforms after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms inquiry, with consultation on regulations closing in February.
Australian businesses and consumers needed greater rights on digital platforms and upfront rules to govern their conduct, the consultation paper said, as a concentration of power could lead to “higher prices, reduced choice and lower innovation”.
Apple rejected these outcomes in its submission and, in a separate statement, insisted the company’s ecosystem helped developers and security features protected consumers from fraud and scams.
Australian Associated Press
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Olympian Ian Thorpe files police report after alleged home robbery
Ian Thorpe reported an alleged robbery to NSW Police yesterday after watches, jewellery and some personal items were taken from his home.
James Erskine, Thorpe’s manager, confirmed the incident to 2GB’s Ben Fordham:
He has had some things stolen from his house, watches jewellery some personal items. He called up his insurers, they said you have to go make a police report. … That’s all I know.
He hasn’t lost Olympic medals or things like that, but you know it’s not very nice.
Erskine could not speak to the value of the items taken, but Fordham reported the figure could be around $150,000.
I wouldn’t imagine he’d have cheap watches, but I have no idea the value.
NSW Police confirmed a 42-year-old man reported an alleged theft incident on Thursday at Paddington police station. Officials have opened an investigation into the incident.
Updated
New Zealanders turn to butter churning as price of dairy staple soars
New Zealanders are driving cross-country for hours in pursuit of cheap butter while some are ordering it from Australia or even churning their own cream, as the country battles sky-high dairy prices. Despite dairy being the country’s largest export industry, recent figures show domestic butter prices surged 65% in the year to March.
People have been queueing at Costco in Auckland to bulk buy its cheaper blocks, prompting the wholesaler to cap shoppers’ purchases.
Kaleb Halverson – who has earned the nicknames “Costco cowboy” and “butter bandit” – has started a side-hustle driving the 10-hour round trip from Taranaki to Auckland to stock up on cheap butter for his community.
Read more here:
Chris Dawson loses effort to overturn carnal knowledge conviction
Ex-teacher Chris Dawson’s legal losses continue after he failed to overturn his conviction of carnal knowledge with a female student, AAP reports. The 76-year-old has already failed in his bid to overturn a separate conviction over the murder of his wife, Lynette, in January 1982.
Dawson was convicted in 2023 of one count of a historical charge of carnal knowledge as a teacher of a girl over 10 and under 17. The conviction was upheld by the NSW court of criminal appeal on Friday.
Two justices ruled to dismiss Dawson’s legal challenge while a third justice dissented, saying he would have allowed the appeal and quashed the conviction. The full reasons of the court have yet to be published.
Dawson has been sentenced to a maximum of 24 years for the homicide. The carnal knowledge conviction added one year to his non-parole period.
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Australia’s critically endangered alpine tree frogs use sex to fight killer fungus
The number of critically endangered alpine tree frogs, found only in the Australian alps, has crashed by about 80% since the 1980s.
Populations have been hit by chytrid fungus, a disease that has devastated amphibian populations globally. But a new study has found a surprising silver lining that – for now – is helping the species hang on in the face of extinction.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne found that male alpine tree frogs with the deadly chytridiomycosis breed more prolifically than healthy frogs. The infected frogs produce higher-quality sperm, display brighter throat patches during mating displays and sire nearly a third more offspring.
Read more here:
Updated
Tasmania jumping castle operator not guilty of breaching workplace safety laws
The operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a tragedy that killed six children has been cleared of breaching workplace safety laws, AAP reports.
The children were enjoying end-of-year celebrations at a Tasmanian school’s oval when a wind gust lifted the castle into the air. Three other children were seriously injured in the accident.
Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb which set up the equipment, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty. Magistrate Robert Webster handed down his decision earlier today:
I found the charge is not proven. It is dismissed. Ms Gamble you are free to go.
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Ley says Liberal party needs to work on housing policy
Ley admitted that housing was a key issue the opposition had to work on, especially to win the votes of younger Australians. She also nominated childcare, aged care and policies around students as issues that would be priorities.
They [young people] are worried about work. Of course, they’re worried about studying but they’re worried about housing too, and if we can’t find a pathway, or articulate a pathway into housing for young people, then they’re not going to support our political party.
We had some policies at the last election. We’ll review those. I’m always very frustrated by what state governments are not doing when it comes to supporting young people in housing. But I’m not saying that it’s only in their court. There are things the federal government can do as well.
Asked about energy, and the Coalition’s nuclear plan, Ley said her team would “take the time to develop an energy policy” and review what they took to the last election.
We’ve said that we will, as a first step in terms of policy around nuclear, remove the moratorium on building nuclear power in this country and then there’s obviously a suite of options following that.
If you look at countries around the world that are bringing their emissions down, they are going nuclear. And we will consider that, of course, and it may well look different from what we took to the last election.
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More from Sussan Ley’s 3AW interview: ‘We must listen, we must change’
Elsewhere in that 3AW interview, Sussan Ley said there was “disappointment” from female voters at the Liberal party’s offering at the May election and promised the opposition would “modernise”.
She also flagged the potential for major changes to the Coalition’s energy policy offering at the next election, saying it “may well look different” from the nuclear-heavy program under Peter Dutton.
The Liberal leader told the radio station:
We must listen, we must change, we must develop a fresh approach and we must take the time to get this right.
That listening is very important in what we do next. We will modernise. We will rebuild. We’ve got to have a party that respects modern Australia, reflects modern Australia and represents modern Australia. And we’ve got to meet modern Australia communities, the people who listen to your program, where they are.
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Bishop’s family ‘devastated’ after arrests
Police say Pheobe Bishop’s family are “devastated, as expected” after the arrests. Mansfield said:
Whilst we always hope to find Phoebe alive, our investigations have progressed that clearly showed us that’s not going to be a viable outcome.
You can read more about the case here:
Police detail allegations of murder after disappearance of teenager Pheobe Bishop
Queensland police have detailed the findings that led to murder charges against two housemates of missing teenager Pheobe Bishop. James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, will appear in court today after being charged with the 17-year-old’s murder yesterday. The pair also face two counts each of interfering with a corpse.
Bishop was reported missing three weeks ago after she never appeared for a flight to Western Australia.
DI Craig Mansfield said during a media conference this morning:
Our investigation will detail facts that we believe Pheobe was murdered and then her body was moved.
Mansfield said police will allege that three people arrived near the airport on 15 May but no one exited the vehicle. He said authorities could not speculate on the motivation behind the alleged murder but said “we do have information that will suggest some form of motivation”.
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Extra ‘s’ in ‘Sussan’ came from ‘punk phase’, not numerology, Ley says
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has shot down a long-running fun fact about herself, saying she added the extra “s” in her first name during her “punk phase” as a teenager – and that it wasn’t related to numerology, as she had once told a journalist.
Ley was on 3AW radio in Melbourne for a long interview about the Liberal party and its rebuild (more on that in a second) but the host, at the end, asked a lighthearted question about the double “s” in the middle of her name. Ley, in a 2015 profile with the Australian newspaper, was quoted as saying:
I read about this numerology theory that if you add the numbers that match the letters in your name you can change your personality. I worked out that if you added an ‘s’ I would have an incredibly exciting, interesting life and nothing would ever be boring. It’s that simple. And once I’d added the ‘s’ it was really hard to take it away.
On 3AW on Friday morning, she claimed it was a “flippant remark” and numerology was “actually not the reason”.
It was something I did during my rebel teenage years and, you know, I went through a punk phase in those years and added the extra ‘s’. People have been fascinated by the numerology angle but it’s actually not correct.
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New Zealand MP suspended over haka says she would perform it again
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the co-leader of New Zealand’s Māori Party who was suspended for three weeks over a protest haka, said the punishment is among the harshest taken against a member of parliament, but said she would perform the haka again. Three MPs received record suspensions this week.
Ngarewa-Packer told RN Breakfast:
We’ve felt aggrieved in the fact that for doing our haka that it has received such a harsh penalty. But also, I think, almost relieved that we’ve been able to show the world what this particular government’s behaviour is and its overreach and its discomfort. …
It’s not unprecedented. We’ve done the haka before … It’s just that this government has decided that we’re in the way of a bigger agenda.
Read more here:
Health minister confirms government reviewing ban on US beef imports
The health minister, Mark Butler, has confirmed the Albanese government is reviewing a ban on imports of American beef into Australia.
A possible easing of biosecurity laws comes as Australia pushes Donald Trump for an exemption from punishing trade sanctions, after years of complaints from US farmers about a ban on their meat coming into the country. Australia banned imports of some US beef during the mad cow disease outbreak back in 2003.
Speaking on Channel Seven this morning, Butler said the restrictions had been under review “for some time”. He said:
This is US beef that’s raised in Canada or Mexico, not cattle that are raised in the US itself, but then brought into America, slaughtered there and then proposed for exports.
But this will be a decision taken on its merits, not for convenience, not to get a deal. We’ll be taking a decision in the national interest in this area, as your viewers would expect us to.
Liberal senator Jane Hume warned against any weakening of biosecurity laws. She said:
This isn’t about protecting an industry’s prosperity, it’s about protecting an industry’s integrity. So if you are tweaking biosecurity laws by watering them down, that’s something that I think that we would be very concerned about.
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PM says Australia will not ease biosecurity rules amid discussions over US beef
Anthony Albanese says Australia has no plans to ease biosecurity rules in negotiations with the Trump administration over planned trade tariffs.
US beef could be allowed into Australia for the first time in decades, after it was banned in the mad cow disease outbreak back in 2003.
Some beef originating in Canada or Mexico, but slaughtered in the US, could be allowed into Australia under a possible concession. Albanese is expected to meet the US President on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada later this month.
“We’ll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity,” Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne. He went on:
If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don’t just say no … but our first priority is biosecurity.
Pushed for detail, Albanese stressed he would not weaken any of the existing protections.
Full stop. Exclamation mark. It’s simply not worth it.
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Key event
Albanese says he ‘expects respect back’ before he heads to G7 next week
Anthony Albanese is speaking on ABC radio in Melbourne this morning, before his visit to Canada next week for the G7 leaders’ meeting. Albanese is expected to meet with the US president, Donald Trump, at the summit.
He said he is looking forward to the talks, the first time the two leaders will meet face-to-face. But the meeting comes with some risk and follows rough receptions for some world leaders from Trump, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa. Albanese said:
I deal with people, whoever they are, in the same respectful way. I expect respect back. I’m the prime minister of Australia.
We don’t have a subservient relationship to any nation. We’re a sovereign nation that stands on our own two feet.
He said his job during the visit is to speak up for Australia’s national interest.
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NSW police will launch Operation Snow Safe today with opening of ski season
NSW police and the state’s national parks service will announce the start of this year’s Operation Snow Safe later today, which will run through early October. The launch coincides with the opening of ski season tomorrow.
Officials announced a “surge” in additional officers will be deployed to the Snowy Mountain region. Police have warned in previous years they would be monitoring for alcohol-related crime in venues, dangerous and distracted driving in the area and “risky behaviour” on ski slopes.
The launch also coincides with the long weekend for the King’s birthday holiday, with double demerits in force from today through Monday at midnight.
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Victoria police searching for missing $70,000 caravan
Victoria police are appealing for information after a $70,000 caravan was allegedly stolen earlier this year. Authorities say a truck equipped with a crane drove on to a property in the Melbourne suburb of Braybrook in April, hooked the caravan up and drove off.
The caravan, a Spaceland heritage model, had been used by its owner until his recent death and contained personal belongings that were important to his family.
Investigators have released CCTV footage and images in hopes of finding the caravan.
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One in 30 current workers will pay new super tax, modelling suggests
Just one in 30 Australians employed today would end up paying Labor’s proposed super tax, new modelling suggests, though experts say the true number will likely be even lower.
The government is planning to raise taxes for earnings on the part of balances above $3m from the standard 15% to 30%, which it says will affect 80,000 people, representing the top 0.5% of accounts.
The number of people who hit that $3m threshold by the time they retire will rise over time to include 500,000 people currently working, according to Financial Services Council modelling released last night.
Those 500,000 represent just 3.5% of all employed people in Australia, totalling 14.6m in April.
The FSC’s calculations don’t include people who are yet to join the workforce. Once you add them in, the Treasury expects the reform to hit 10% of Australians by the 2050s, while AMP economist Diana Mousina predicts that would rise to more than 30% of people by the 2060s.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said he expects a future government would lift the new tax’s threshold, which would mean a smaller share of workers would be captured by the tax. The Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates has said the threshold would need to be lifted above $3m by 2040 to avoid contradicting an existing cap on the tax-free transfer of super balances.
If the threshold were instead set at a lower $2m but lifted annually in proportion with inflation, as proposed by the Greens, an even smaller share of the workforce would pay the tax: just 1.2% of today’s workers, or 200,000 people, the FSC said.
But the FSC said it did not believe future governments would be able to afford lifting the threshold, or indexing it to inflation. Its chief executive, Blake Briggs, said:
The FSC is concerned that the absence of indexation is a deliberate and cynical design feature of the new tax, that targets younger Australians.
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Science minister says AI presents ‘enormous’ opportunity for Australia
Tim Ayres, the minister for industry, innovation and science, said the government may look at imposing new laws around artificial intelligence but described the technology as an “enormous” economic opportunity Australia could not afford to fall behind on. Ayres told RN Breakfast:
This is a really important contribution to the productivity agenda and really important contribution to our plan for economic growth. We are, of course, as you say, going to have to attend carefully to managing risks and harms, you know, potential risks, potential harms.
Ayers described AI as a “whole of nation endeavour” that would require coordination between unions, workers and their employers. He said the government was working “carefully” through any potential changes to laws surrounding AI to address any potential harms of the technology.
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Court decision coming today after Tasmania jumping castle tragedy
The operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a tragedy that killed six children is expected to find out whether she is guilty of workplace safety breaches, AAP reports.
The children were enjoying end-of-year celebrations on at a school’s oval when a wind gust lifted the castle into the air. Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb, which set up the equipment, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty.
Magistrate Robert Webster is expected to deliver his decision on Friday morning in Devonport magistrates court, following a 10-day hearing in November.
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Asic says it is still going after financial wrongdoing despite call it be split up
Sarah Court, the deputy chair of the Australian Security and Investment Commission (Asic), says the agency has spent years “rebuilding its enforcement focus and capability” despite a parliamentary inquiry last year that said it should be split in two after “comprehensive” failure.
Court spoke to Radio National Breakfast to respond to criticism about the sharpness of Asic’s teeth:
Asic has been rebuilding its enforcement focus and capability over many years. In fact, ever since the royal commission, we have really taken a very different approach to our enforcement work.
This is a continuing progression of increasing our enforcement activity. And right at the heart of what we’re doing is looking at financial institutions across the sectors we regulate, whether it’s banks, superannuation funds, or insurance companies, and really looking at the way that they are treating or engaging with their customers.
A parliamentary committee inquiry delivered a scathing overview of Asic’s role countering corporate misconduct last year, saying the agency had “comprehensively failed to fulfil its regulatory remit”.
You can read more about those findings here:
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Good morning
Good morning, we’ve made it to Friday. Nick Visser here to guide you through today’s breaking news. Here’s what we’ll have an eye on:
The deputy chair of the Australian Security and Investment Commission says the agency has been “rebuilding” its enforcement capability and pursing banks for wrongdoing, despite a parliamentary inquiry last year that recommended the watchdog be split into two for “comprehensively” failing its role.
A court is expected to issue a ruling after the jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania in 2021. Six children died and three others were seriously injured after a wind gust lifted the structure into the air during a party.
We will continue to follow the political crisis in Tasmania after the state’s lower house passed a vote of no-confidence. The Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has requested an early election, which would be Tasmania’s fourth state election in seven years.
Stick with us.
