What we learned, 22 August 2025
With that, we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are today’s big stories:
A woman in her 30s has been charged by Western Australia police with concealing the birth of a baby boy, whose body was found inside a storm water drain.
Peter Dutton was hailed as a “great son” of the Liberal National party after making a surprise appearance at its annual convention.
Ultra Violette has announced it will immediately withdraw its Lean Screen Skinscreen product from the market after additional testing found a “pattern of inconsistency” in its SPF results.
The education minister, Jason Clare, has detailed a range of measures to make children safe in childcare, including a trial of CCTV and a ban on mobile phones.
A postal worker has been charged after allegedly stealing bank cards from the mail in well-heeled suburbs before handing them off to criminal syndicates in a scheme worth nearly $1.5m.
Queensland Liberal National party members will debate banning gender-affirming care for children and repealing a ban on conversion practices at its conference this weekend.
Debris balls have again washed up along the New South Wales coast as officials warn residents not to touch the mysterious spherical globules and to avoid beaches where they appear.
Thanks so much for your company today.
Updated
Cocaine discovered in shipment of flour at Port Botany, federal police say
The Australian federal police are calling for help to identify the group that allegedly imported 54kg of cocaine found in a shipping container of flour at Port Botany.
The AFP says the drugs were shipped from South America via China and discovered after x-rays identified “internal anomalies during a routine inspection”.
AFP detective superintendent Peter Fogarty said the drugs had a potential street value of $17.5m:
The AFP is committed to targeting, identifying and disrupting criminal syndicates which attempt to import harmful illicit substances into our country.
We are pleased we were able to prevent these drugs from reaching our communities
We will be relentless in pursuing the syndicate responsible for this importation. We are watching, we are ready, and we will bring you to justice.
Updated
Let’s get a little more from the shadow minister for education, Jonathon Duniam, on the trial of CCTV in childcare centres to improve security.
He was on the ABC a short time ago:
I accept that there are going to be privacy concerns and we know for a fact that, sadly, those who prey on our most vulnerable, on children, have utilised CCTV and other systems to their own ends, which is something we need guard against.
So, this trial, informed by law enforcement officials and cyber experts, in partnership with the childcare sector, will be about getting it right. We support that.
Every measure put in place to protect children in childcare centres, we support. There is no way we can let our guard down when it comes to these predators and what they do. It has to be stopped.
Updated
Australian shares slip but secure record weekly close
Australia’s share market has been sold off a day after notching another record close, taking a breather after three straight weeks of gains.
Seven of 11 local sectors finished the day lower, led by slumps in consumer staples, health care and real estate stocks.
Financials and consumer discretionary stocks outperformed this week, each up more than four per cent thanks to some impressive financial scorecards and signs of rebounding consumer confidence in the broader economy.
The Australian dollar lost ground against the greenback, buying 64.16 US cents and trading at three-week lows as shrinking hopes of incoming US interest rate cuts bolstered the US dollar.
– AAP
Updated
Jewish group criticises ‘reckless’ Netanyahu attacks on Albanese
Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Max Kaiser said recent verbal attacks from the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not represent the views of the Australian community.
Here’s what Kaiser told AAP:
Benjamin Netanyahu does not speak for Australian Jews. His attack on prime minister Albanese is baseless, reckless and endangers our community.
We are appalled but not surprised that Netanyahu would try to exploit fears in our community to defend Israel’s ongoing atrocities.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has also criticised Netanyahu’s recent comments as “inflammatory and provocative”, adding that the “clumsy intervention” showed a “woeful lack of understanding of social and political conditions in Australia”.
Updated
Woman charged after baby found in storm water drain in WA
A woman in her 30s has been charged by Western Australia police with concealing the birth of a baby boy, whose body was found inside a storm water drain.
The baby’s body was discovered by two workers on Monday afternoon.
In an update a short time ago, police said the woman would appear before court “at a later date” and is “continuing to receive appropriate care and support”:
This of course, is highly distressing for the entire community, detectives and as you can imagine, the family of the infant.
The assistance of the community in this matter has been invaluable.
The support has been ongoing and the family and community members have provided us with so much information, and we’re thankful for that.
I wish to add that if this matter has adversely affected or impacted you, there are support services out there, please engage them. They’re there to help you.
Updated
Coalition says agreed education measures need to be implemented ‘with urgency’
The shadow minister for education, Jonathon Duniam, says governments at all levels must “act with urgency to implement measures that have been agreed at the education ministers meeting today”:
This is a step in the right direction, but the real test will be the actual implementation by the Commonwealth, states and territories of measures to protect kids in childcare.
We will hold all governments to account on their commitments today. That includes the February deadline for a national register of early education workers that the Coalition has been calling for.
Parents will not forgive anyone for any delays or bureaucratic excuses. The states and territories cannot resort back to the old, fragmented approach that has clearly not worked.
They must embrace reforms and put their words into action by helping create a truly consistent national register, enforce penalties for non-compliance regarding personal phone bans, and a nationally consistent working with children check.
Updated
Former financial adviser extradited from New Zealand back to Australia over alleged theft of $4.1m
A former financial adviser charged with allegedly misappropriating $4.1m of her clients’ money has been extradited from New Zealand more than a decade after an investigation began, Australian authorities say.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission opened an investigation into former adviser Marion Joan Pearson in July 2014, but she travelled to New Zealand shortly thereafter and never returned to Australia. She was later charged with 136 counts of stealing, and an arrest warrant was issued in December 2018. Officials allege she misappropriated the millions from 13 of her clients over a period from 2009 to 2013.
The extradition came after several years of appeals against it, but Pearson lost her final appeal in May this year.
Pearson appeared before a magistrates court in Perth yesterday and will remain in custody until her next appearance on 1 October. The maximum penalty for each offence is 10 years in prison if the property has been received by the offender with a power of attorney for the disposition thereof.
Updated
‘This is what productivity reform looks like’
That’s the verdict from Danielle Wood, the chair of the Productivity Commission, at the end of a gruelling three days locked (not literally) in a cabinet room with, in her words, no phones and no natural light.
And of course, Wood lives for this stuff.
Jim Chalmers stood up on Thursday evening and outlined a range of measures that the Albanese government will pursue in the wake of the economic reform summit:
We’ve got to do a lot of things simultaneously.
But there was no “big bang” reform announcement that some may have been hoping for.
Speaking to Guardian Australia, Wood said that this was not a failure, but simply reflected the “game of inches” that is productivity reform in the 21st century.
She backed the list of measures to come out of the roundtable:
You have to pick off reforms across a range of different fronts, and the government has picked a range of areas where there are productivity impediments.
That means delivering on faster environmental approvals, a more streamlined construction code, and supporting the opportunity of AI.
These are all things that will shift the dial on productivity.
Updated
Children’s commissioner welcomes childcare reforms but says broader action needed
The national children’s commissioner, Anne Hollonds, has welcomed an agreement from federal, state and territory governments to improve child safety in childcare.
Here’s part of what she told the ABC a few moments ago:
We haven’t worked in this collaborative fashion before. That really helps to explain why we’ve been waiting for so long for these reforms.
But Hollonds has made a broader point that governments have a lot more action to take, beyond childcare centres:
Today we’re talking about the childcare sector and the children in the childcare sector. But of course, that’s not the only place where you find children. I think it’s important to remember that right now, there are still decades of recommendations from previous royal commissions and inquiries that are designed to help children in other sectors, like the child protection systems and the youth justice systems, which are failing right across the country.
Updated
That’s all for me, Henry Belot will take over for the rest of your Friday arvo. Enjoy the weekend!
World’s largest crypto platform to be audited for money laundering controls
The Australian arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform will be audited over concerns its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls are too weak.
The financial intelligence regulator, Austrac, said it brought the action against Binance, the biggest global exchange by trade volume, after engaging across the digital currency sector.
Binance had faced high staff turnover and a lack of local resourcing and senior management oversight, the regulator alleged in a statement.
Austrac said it was also concerned Binance’s most recent independent review was too narrow given the platforms’ size, range of offerings and risks.
Brendan Thomas, the chief executive of the regulator, said digital currencies were increasingly vulnerable to criminal abuse and Austrac was working to prevent their exploitation by criminals moving and concealing illicit funds.
Thomas said Austrac expected major global platforms with large transactions to impose tighter controls. He said:
This is a global company operating across borders in a high-risk environment. We expect robust customer identification, due diligence and effective transaction monitoring.
Austrac gave Binance Australia 28 days to nominate external auditors. The platform is approved to operate in 20 different countries, including Australia since 2020.
Updated
AI research and development grows by 142% since 2021-22
Business expenditure on research and development funding surrounding AI grew by 142% in 2023-24 when compared with 2021-22, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Robert Ewing, the head of business statistics at the ABS, said:
Businesses more than doubled their investment, putting $668.3m into AI R&D in 2023-24, compared to $276.3 million in 2021-22. This shows how rapidly Australian firms have begun investing in AI.
Overall, business expenditure on R&D in 2023-24 grew 18% to $24.4bn, driven by investment in professional, scientific and technical services ($9.2bn), manufacturing ($5bn) and financial and insurance services ($3.5bn), the ABS said.
Updated
Sydney's Warragamba Dam spilling after week of heavy rain
WaterNSW says Warragamba Dam began spilling at 1pm today after reaching full capacity due to a week of heavy rainfall.
A spokesperson said earlier today the dam was set for a “small” spill, and the agency currently estimates the spill will peak at a rate of 30 gigalitres per day. WaterNSW said the community should monitor advice on river levels and heed any flood warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology.
The catchment that feeds into the dam has seen 90mm of rain over the past few days.
Updated
Peter Dutton gets standing ovation at LNP convention but says he’s ‘too old’ to make political comeback
Peter Dutton was hailed as a “great son” of the Liberal National Party after making a surprise appearance at its annual convention, AAP reports.
The former opposition leader received a standing ovation at an LNP gathering in Brisbane on Friday after being saluted by his successor, Sussan Ley, and outgoing president Lawrence Springborg.
He has been rarely seen since a devastating federal campaign, when the coalition lost the election and he was dumped from his seat of Dickson in Brisbane.
But he enjoyed the spotlight on Friday, as Springborg called him a “great son of the party”. Ley added that she often thought of Dutton while she was walking through Parliament House, saying today:
Your record is one of courage, commitment and conviction. I’m proud to have been your deputy for three years. I think about Peter often as I walk the corridors of Parliament House. What would Peter say? What would you do?
The ABC adds Dutton said he won’t return to politics again, saying: “no, mate. I’m too old for that”.
Updated
Is Sydney’s ‘plan B’ housing solution in sight? NSW treasurer plays coy
A potential new train station and apartment blocks in Sydney’s east could still be part of the solution to the New South Wales housing shortage, with the state treasurer dodging questions on the proposal.
Labor’s Daniel Mookhey and his premier, Chris Minns, are yet to announce a promised “plan B” after the Australian Turf Club voted against selling the Rosehill racecourse site to make way for 25,000 new homes.
The opposition in budget estimates claimed the government would soon announce the redevelopment of a mothballed unfinished station in Woollahra on the eastern suburbs rail line, surrounded by apartment blocks. Read more about the proposal here:
Asked a dozen different ways over a 15-minute exchange whether Woollahra was the way ahead, Mookhey gave a series of indirect answers:
We are building infrastructure, particularly when it comes to supporting housing … I don’t have any policy announcement to make to you today … Whether it’s in Woollahra, or whether it’s elsewhere in the city or the state, the fundamental truth is this, New South Wales needs to build more homes.
Liberal MP Damien Tudehope pressed for specifics, suggesting $193m had already been set aside for the Woollahra rebuild and the train line would have to close, but Mookhey did not oblige:
You’re accusing me of a secret conspiracy to help deal with the housing crisis … There’s no conspiracy. It’s the open intent of the government to look for every available opportunity to build.
Updated
Governor general Sam Mostyn shares lessons about diversity
Australia’s governor general, Sam Mostyn, has delivered the Diversity Council Australia’s Anna McPhee memorial oration in Melbourne.
Mostyn spoke about the lessons she has learned since she was appointed to the role last year. She says first and second generation Australians she meets tell her “please just talk about us as Australian”.
Mostyn says Anthony Albanese asked her to be a “modern, visible and optimistic” governor general:
What my first year has taught me is that modern Australia is a place where tradition and modernity sit comfortably together, where diversity is almost not a big enough word for the multitudes we contain, where people are migrants or the children or grandchildren of migrants.
McPhee, who died in 2017, was the director of the federal Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace agency.
Updated
Guzman y Gomez cracks $1bn in sales and will open 15 US stores despite losing millions on effort so far
Mexican-themed chain Guzman y Gomez plans to open at least 15 restaurants in the US to demonstrate proof of concept, despite losing $13m in the past year on its bid to expand into the competitive American market.
Despite its struggles in the US, the company has recorded more than $1bn in sales across its network – a $14.5m profit – since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in June last year and today paid its first dividend to shareholders.
The company’s co-chief executive officers, Steven Marks and Hilton Brett, told investors they were “relentlessly focused on demonstrating proof of concept” in the US.
In a joint letter published this morning as the company released its results for the past financial year, Marks and Brett said each US restaurant would need to make at least $3m US a year to be sustainable. “That’s the bar, and while it will take time, we are seeing momentum,” they said.
The CEOs said Guzman y Gomez was “on track” to be opening 40 new restaurants in Australia per year within four years.
However, the company has had a slower-than-expected start to the new financial year which, combined with the doubling of its losses in the US in the 12 months to July compared with the year before, appears to have rattled investors.
Shares in Guzman y Gomez had tumbled 21% on the ASX as of 12.26pm, down to $22.88.
Updated
Can the government keep kids safe in childcare? – Full Story podcast
Calls for childcare reforms have become louder since revelations surfaced of multiple sexual abuse charges laid against a Victorian worker. Federal and state education ministers are set to meet on Friday in an attempt to restore faith and safety to a service few can live without – but is real change possible?
Senior reporter Kate Lyons talks to Reged Ahmad about whether the government’s next moves will give parents and carers the reassurance they desperately need:
NSW government was not told about NDIS replacement program, treasurer says
The NSW government did not know how the Albanese government planned to reform the national disability insurance scheme until it was announced on Wednesday, the state treasurer has said.
The federal health minister announced a program to divert children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism from the NDIS would launch by mid-2027, jointly funded with the states and territories.
Daniel Mookhey today joined other state government ministers who have said the federal government did not give them a preview of the new program, called Thriving Kids, before the announcement. He told budget estimates:
Personally, I was not consulted … The state’s first proper description of what’s now termed Thriving Kids was announced on Wednesday.
Mookhey said NSW hadn’t determined how much it would spending on the new program but he expected the state governments would have to contribute more funding for people with disabilities after the reform.
We want to see a lot more detail of what the commonwealth is asking us to do … for us to determine our position on what we can contribute to the Thriving Kids [program].
States are going to need to spend more, particularly when it comes to schools as well.
Read more about the reforms here:
Updated
More from Ultra Violette on its Lean Screen product
Here’s some more of that message from Ultra Violette, which is signed off by the company’s co-founders, Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd, and was emailed to customers as well as posted on Instagram and the brand’s website:
We want to make it clear that this only concerns the performance of Lean Screen.
Additional testing on all Ultra Violette products has reinforced our confidence in the rest of our line.
Unlike the majority of our range, Lean Screen was created by a third-party manufacturer and was the only sunscreen they made for us. We will no longer be making any SKINSCREENS™ with that manufacturer.
Chandler-Matthews and Jefferd said Ultra Violette would make several other changes to its manufacturing process including that it would work with a “new and wider network” of testing facilities and would test every new product at a minimum of two different independent labs prior to launch.
Customers have been offered refunds regardless of where they bought the product.
Updated
Clare signals more information for parents on childcare centre regulation
Clare has just provided some more detail about the additional information that will be available to parents about the centres they send their children to.
The big problem is parents do not know what is going on.
Today we agreed that on the Starting Blocks website, the national website for the childcare sector, there will be more information available for parents in terms of conditions that have been imposed on centres and also information about when was the last time the regulator was there? That will all go up from September.
Clare said the next step after that would be ensuring that childcare centres also have this information displayed in their foyers for parents to view. This would include regulatory actions that have been imposed. But Clare flagged legislative change may be needed to force that:
We may need legislation to do that, and so we will make a further decision about that when we meet in October.
Updated
Clare says childcare CCTV can’t become ‘honeypot for bad people’
Jason Clare says the trial of CCTV cameras in childcare centres will carefully consider the privacy implications and to make sure any regulation does not create “ a honeypot for bad people”.
Clare said ongoing reviews would consider how to ensure the CCTV footage could not be “hacked by pedophiles for all of the nefarious reasons that we talked about”.
He said the government would also carefully consider:
Who holds the data? Where is the information stored? [We need] to make sure we keep our kids safe and don’t do the opposite of what we were all intending here and create a honeypot for bad people.
That is what the assessment or the trial is all about.
Updated
More details on what the national register of childcare workers will look like
Jason Clare is now proving more information about what the national register of childcare workers will actually do.
He says to begin with, the register will include the names of everyone working in childcare and their locations along with their working with childrens checks. But it coming months, it will begin to identify red flags:
Over time, we want to build all that information … so we can see employment history and the information needed to identify red flags to tell if someone is moving quick from centre to centre to centre.
[This will help us to] be able to identify that somebody might be up to no good, that is an important part of what we want to do here.
We underline the point that … this is not a silver bullet, none of this is. None of it is a guarantee. It is essential component of what we need to do if we will keep our children safe.
Updated
Ultra Violette withdraws Lean Screen Skinscreen from market
Ultra Violette has announced it will immediately withdraw its Lean Screen Skinscreen product from the market after additional testing found a “pattern of inconsistency” in its SPF results.
Ultra Violette undertook additional testing of the Lean Screen product after consumer advocacy group Choice in June released an investigation it carried out into the SPF claims of several leading sunscreen brands.
In Choice’s test, the Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF 50 plus Mattifying Zinc Skin Screen, a higher-end product that retails for upwards of $50, returned a result of just 4 in Choice’s test. A second test returned a result of 5, Choice said.
Ultra Violette had fiercely and publicly disputed Choice’s findings - until now.
In a social media post, Ultra Violette said:
We had multiple, independent labs conduct new tests of Lean Screen. This week, we received results from those tests that demonstrated significant and, candidly, atypical variability. Across eight different tests, Lean Screen has now returned SPF data of 4, 10, 21, 26, 33, 60, 61, and 64. That wasn’t good enough for us, and it isn’t good enough for you.
Given this pattern of inconsistency in testing, we have decided to withdraw Lean/Velvet Screen from the market, effective immediately.
We are deeply sorry that one of our products has fallen short of the standards we pride ourselves on and that you have come to expect of us.
Updated
Some more on the national register of childcare workers
Some more detail on the national register of childcare workers that was just announced by Jason Clare in agreement with all states and territories.
Work on the national register will begin immediately and, according to Clare, will “be developed from scratch”.
The register will require a change in federal legislation. The current plan is for the register to be trialed in December before being rolled out in February.
The register will allow childcare centres to better understand the employee’s previous workplace history and to increase information sharing between states and territories.
Work on the national mandatory training will also begin immediately and be delivered by the Australian Centre for Child Protection, which is based at the University of South Australia.
Here’s how Clare framed this goals of this training:
We are very conscious in everything that we do here that training people who work in our centres to be able to spot a person who might be hiding in plain sight … could be the most crucial and important thing to do here to keep our kids safe.
Updated
Jason Clare says further measures will be needed to improve the safety of children in childcare, but that these are important next steps:
Is it everything we need to do? No, of course it is not. But it is the next thing we must do and we have agreed to do today.
This is not the end… The awful truth is this work will never end because there will always be bad people who try to poke holes in the system and find vulnerabilities.
I thank again my state and territory colleagues for the work we have done together today. I think the work we have done will make a real meaningful difference.
States and territories agree to national childcare worker register and other safety measures
The education minister Jason Clare has just detailed a range of measures he and his state and territory counterparts have agreed to make children safe in childcare.
They include:
A national register of childcare workers.
National mandatory child safety training for all workers in early education and care centres.
A national assessment of CCTV and a trial of cameras in up to 300 centres across the country, which will be held later this year with funding from the federal government.
The banning of mobile phones in childcare centres from September, with proactive enforcement by state and territory regulators.
The provision of more information for mums and dads so they know the conditions of the centres that their children are attending.
An extra 1600 spot visits by the federal department of education.
Updated
Clare flags more changes to be announced on childcare safety
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, is speaking after a meeting with his state and territory counterparts about changes to improve safety in childcare centres across the country.
Australians have been shocked and sickened by the revelations over the last few weeks and months.
Over the course of the last few weeks, we have made some changes to keep our kids safe but not enough and not fast enough. That is obvious. We have all got to step up here if we are serious about keeping our kids safe.
Clare has flagged some changes to be announced as a result of this morning’s meeting. We will bring you those details soon.
Updated
‘Gender ideology’, quotas and anti-discrimination laws on the agenda for Queensland LNP state conference
At this weekend’s state conference, Queensland Liberal National party members will debate banning gender-affirming care for children, repealing a ban on conversion practices and adopting a policy “whereby batteries, solar panels and wind turbines should no longer be deemed as renewables”.
Seven separate motions reference “gender ideology”, gender-affirming care or transgender people, but the word “abortion” does not appear on the agenda for the LNP’s first convention since winning last year’s state election.
Last October, party leader David Crisafulli became just the second modern Liberal elected as premier of Queensland to last longer than a week.
Read more here:
Small spill at Warragamba dam expected later today
Sydney’s Warragamba dam is expected to start spilling later today, the fourth time the reservoir has done so this year, WaterNSW said in a statement.
The agency said that heavy rainfall this week across the catchment has seen the dam “very close to capacity” with rainfall of 90mm recorded over the past few days. A spokesperson described the likely spill as a “small” event akin to three others this year, which have been “much smaller than the two larger ones last year”.
Modelling estimates the spill rate will peak at about 30 gigalitres a day. The two major spills last year were much higher in April (220GL/day) and June (240GL/day).
WaterNSW said the community should monitor advice on river levels and any flood warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Smaller dams in the greater Sydney area, including Woronora, Cataract, Cordeaux, Nepean, Avon, Wingecaribee and Tallowa, continue to spill.
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Postie charged on allegations he stole bank cards used for more than $1.4m in fraud
A postal worker has been charged after allegedly stealing bank cards from the mail in well-heeled suburbs before handing them off to criminal syndicates in a scheme worth nearly $1.5m, AAP reports.
Police raided the homes of the 56-year-old postie and two other men, aged 35 and 27, in southern Sydney where they found an alleged trove of stolen goods.
These allegedly included wads of Australian and US cash totalling more than $14,000, a Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton handbags, a taser, electronic items and cartons of cigarettes.
NSW police allege the postal worker rifled through mail and then supplied the stolen bank cards to two separate organised crime syndicates. It is estimated the allegedly stolen cards were used for more than $1.4m worth of fraud.
The postal worker was charged with more than 140 fraud and postal offences. The 35-year-old man has been charged with more than 60 fraud counts and one count of receiving stolen mail, and the 27-year-old was charged with 80 offences including fraud and attempted fraud.
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Stamp duty and insurance taxes flagged as ‘most inefficient’ at roundtable, NSW treasurer says
The NSW treasurer says Albanese government’s economic reform roundtable has hardened his resolve to reform the state’s inefficient tax on insurance, but not stamp duty or payroll tax.
Daniel Mookhey, the NSW treasurer but who attended the federal roundtable representing every state government, said the three-day summit discussed reforming state taxes that reduce economic activity. You read what exactly that means from economics editor Patrick Commins here:
Appearing at NSW budget estimates, Mookhey said roundtable participants pointed to state taxes on housing purchases (stamp or transfer duty) as a contender for the worst state tax, an assessment which was “slightly contested,” he said.
The roundtable also discussed reform to insurance levies, Mookey said:
The other candidate for worst state tax was state insurance taxes, and in large part that is, we would concur that they are very inefficient taxes.
The NSW government is looking to reform an insurance tax, called the emergency services levy, which rose in August and imposed higher costs for homeowners and businesses.
Mookhey said he took no position on negative gearing to the roundtable, and did not push for any change to states’ payroll taxes on businesses, of which he said:
This is the tax that business hates, but tax designers don’t hate as much.
Updated
Victoria’s mountain ash forests could lose a quarter of giant trees as temperatures rise
Victoria’s mountain ash forests are thinning rapidly as the globe heats up, and could lose a quarter of their “giant” trees that grow up to 80m tall in the coming decades, research has found.
Forests of Eucalyptus regnans – one of the tallest tree species in the world – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, according to a University of Melbourne-led study published in Nature Communications.
“These are giants,” said lead author Dr Raphael Trouve. “They are the tallest flowering plant on Earth – that means they regularly reach 60 to 80m tall.”
Read more here:
NSW and southern Queensland in for ‘much more settled’ weather this weekend after pounding rain
Christie Johnson, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, says the intense weather system that settled over NSW and parts of southern Queensland this week has largely moved on, meaning the weekend will see much better conditions.
In a daily media update Johnson says parts of the NSW coast may get showers today, including Sydney, the Hunter and the mid north coast, with a few light showers over the weekend in those regions. But the spate of heavy rainfall is now finished.
Thankfully there’s not too much more rain to come for the rest of today. The weather system that’s been bringing all this heavy rainfall has now moved off the east coast … Over Queensland the system has cleared offshore now.
We will see potential for a couple of light showers over the NSW coast, the Hunter, Sydney, the Illawarra. These totals are going to be much lighter.
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Giving Australians $2,700 tax back while widening GST could help generate $152bn windfall, economist says
Giving the average worker a $2,700 income tax cut in return for widening the GST would be part of a major tax overhaul that could add a combined $158bn to the Australian economy.
Chris Murphy, an economist who provided the modelling for the introduction of the GST and Ken Henry’s 2010 tax review, has outlined a $91bn shift in the tax mix, which includes replacing stamp duties with a land tax and taxing corporate super profits. Murphy says in a newly released paper:
Comprehensive tax reform stands out as a way of delivering large benefits compared to other areas of economic reform.
The proposed tax package would be budget neutral, according to Murphy’s estimates, but would lift real GDP by about 6%, boost business investment by 11% and increase the number of homes by 8%.
Read more here:
Updated
NSW SES has responded to 10 flood rescues after days of heavy rain
The weather in New South Wales is clearing after a long spell of heavy rain that has led to flash flooding, with emergency crews responding to 10 rescues, AAP reports.
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has been dispatched to nearly 630 incidents across the state in the past 24 hours, including 10 flood rescues.
There are 42 warnings in place for residents from Wollongong to Goondiwindi. People in Gunnedah have also been warned to prepare to isolate.
The Bureau of Meteorology is keeping a close watch on the Namoi River, which could reach major flood levels on Saturday. The bureau’s Christie Johnson said:
There’s a lot of water moving through that system and that is the most significant flood warning we have.
Updated
Debris balls wash up along NSW beaches again
The Central Coast council said yesterday debris balls are washing ashore along a slate of beaches, and has urged residents not to touch any of them. The balls are grey-coloured and about 10-40mm in size.
The pollution has been spotted at The Entrance beach, Grant McBride baths, Blue Bay beach, Toowoon Bay beach, North Shelly beach, Shelly beach and Blue Lagoon beach.
🚨 NOTICE: Debris Balls washed ashore The Entrance Beach, Grant McBride Baths, Blue Bay, Toowoon Bay, North Shelly, Shelly Beach, Blue Lagoon
— CentralCoastCouncil (@CCoastCouncil) August 21, 2025
Advice is:
• Avoid these beaches until further notice
• Do not touch
• Report sightings to Council, 4306 7900https://t.co/kTA4mfCZj8 pic.twitter.com/WC6STtSvx7
Current advice is to avoid those beaches until further notice.
Authorities do not yet know what the balls are made of, or if they’re related to the debris balls that washed up on Sydney beaches over the past year. The council said:
There is no evidence available at this stage to confirm the source of origin of these debris balls. Debris balls washed ashore could be from a variety of sources or locations such as stormwater, sewerage networks, ships from local or international locations.
Council is taking a precautionary approach in managing a potential risk of these items. We will keep the community updated.
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Queensland police vow to arrest pro-Palestine marchers
Police are vowing to arrest or charge pro-Palestine protesters if they unlawfully block traffic on a big city bridge after a magistrate denied legal protection for a proposed march, Australian Associated Press reports.
Chief magistrate Janelle Brassington ruled yesterday that Sunday’s planned march by up to 10,000 people across Brisbane’s Story Bridge would be declared an unauthorised protest.
Rally organiser Remah Naji said outside court that participants would still gather at the march’s planned starting point in a nearby park.
“The plan is still to go ahead with a peaceful assembly … we are considering our options at this stage,” she said.
Acting assistant commissioner Rhys Wildman said police would act to protect the safety of the community and maintain access for emergency vehicles to the large arterial road crossing the Story Bridge.
We have to make it quite clear that anyone participating in a protest which is not authorised faces the prospect of enforcement action being taken against them, whether that’s on the day or post-event.
There are a range of offences that are open to investigators to utilise, and we will have a significant policing presence this weekend to manage whatever response the protest organisers wish to take.
Read our story on yesterday’s ruling here:
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Tech Council chief says AI presents opportunities for Australian artists
Damian Kassabgi, the CEO of the Tech Council of Australia, said earlier there was a “degree of national unity” at the roundtable on the future of AI, but he noted that artists and creatives had benefited greatly from technology that had already been developed. He told RN Breakfast:
Certainly there is going to be change in the arts world. … There are more clicks, there are more audiences, there are more opportunities for Australians to reach international audiences than ever before due to technological change …
From our perspective, we do want to see AI models trained in Australia … but at the same time we see there’s no reason why we can’t be partnering with industry to ensure that we get a good outcome for all …
There is a national sovereign argument here to ensure the models that are being trained are being trained based on Australian content, which is what we want. But we want that to be done in a fair way with opt-in, opt-out rules.
Kassabgi said Spotify’s royalty payments to Australian artists was an example, adding:
Artists have benefited from the internet, and there’s no reason that they can’t benefit from the next generation.
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ACTU secretary says agreement with tech sector on AI use of creative content ‘really positive thing’
Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, says an agreement with the tech sector about AI use of creative content is a “really positive thing”, and says tech companies seem prepared to “deal in a fair way” with Australian artists.
McManus spoke to RN Breakfast this morning after saying yesterday a “breakthrough” agreement had been reached amid concerns by creative professionals that AI companies have used their content to train their models. She said:
I thought it was a really positive thing that the Tech Council recognised what the problem was and are prepared to deal in a fair way. It’s not that they weren’t before, but it was recognising that this had to be resolved and saying, ‘yes, you know, there should be compensation’.
And so starting those talks is a really positive thing, obviously, for artists and obviously for academics and dare I say, journalists.
McManus says it is still too early to say what that breakthrough would mean practically.
We want the best for people out of this, so I wouldn’t want to start limiting or for that matter, you know, starting those negotiations here on RN.
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Paterson says Tony Burke’s comments during Israel-Australia row ‘reckless and inflammatory’
James Paterson was asked what Australia should do to repair relations with Israel after home affairs minister Tony Burke struck back at Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of Australia.
Paterson says Burke’s remarks amount to “incredibly reckless and inflammatory rhetoric at the worst possible time, both domestically and internationally,” adding:
We need to be turning down the temperature, not turning it up. And I don’t think Tony Burke contributed to that. … I respect the intent of a Labor colleague to want to defend the prime minister. But to use the inflammatory language that Tony Burke used, I think was grossly irresponsible. …
I do not think it helps social cohesion to use the kind of inflammatory language that he did. I think he should frankly apologise.
He was asked about Netanyahu’s own criticism and if the Israeli leader had gone too far, too. Paterson says:
I think Benjamin Netanyahu is entitled to protect his own position as well, but I don’t think it’s been constructive to the Australia-Israel relationship, the contribution he’s made, or the public debate here in Australia. But I note that this is not the first time that foreign leaders have criticised Australian prime ministers.
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Coalition says if Labor tries to raise taxes after roundtable it would be ‘major breach of faith’ with Australian people
James Paterson, the shadow minister for finance, says if the government moves to increase taxes it would be a “major breach of faith with the Australian people”. Paterson spoke to RN Breakfast after the conclusion of yesterday’s roundtable, where Chalmers said there was a longer-term process to consider major reform on the matter.
Paterson says:
No Australian voted for higher taxes at the election, and so it seems that Jim Chalmers isn’t on the same page as the prime minister because he was unwilling to repeat that commitment at his press conference yesterday. And he is leaving open the door to higher taxes, and particularly on people’s retirement savings, on family trusts, on a whole range of other things.
When those questions were raised during the election campaign, Jim Chalmers and the Labor party said that was a Liberal Party scare campaign. So, if they go ahead and try and increase taxes, that’ll be a major breach of faith with the Australian people.
Paterson adds that the Coalition agrees there are “inefficiencies” in the tax system that could be improved, but pointed to Albanese’s election pledge that the government would only move on policies he campaigned on.
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Angus Taylor joins Netanyahu in attacking Albanese
Benjamin Netanyahu continued his attacks on Anthony Albanese last night in an interview on Sky News, calling him a “weak” leader who had “forever tarnished” his reputation.
Mark Butler led the fight back for the prime minister and called Netanyahu’s comments “frankly ridiculous”, adding Australia would not change its position “because of a particular position taken by any other world leader”.
The shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, told Sky that Albanese’s decision to recognise Palestine showed he had “capitulated to the left of his party” and was “unrealistic” for Israel to accept while Hamas remained in control of Gaza.
Read our full story here:
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Roundtable agrees environmental laws review should be sped up
Guardian Australia’s Tom McIlroy and Patrick Commins dug into some of Jim Chalmer’s plans for reform, including a rapid overhaul of the country’s environmental laws.
Chalmers said the three-day event had agreed the environment minister, Murray Watt, should proceed more quickly than a planned 18-month timeline. It was one of a flurry of announcements, including progress on road user charging for electric vehicles and a longer-term process to consider major tax reform.
Read more here:
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Chalmers says Australia will work to make intergenerational fairness ‘defining’ principle of the country
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said one of the “defining moments” to come from the economy roundtable was making “intergenerational fairness” a defining principle of the country.
He told RN Breakfast this morning:
I’d say we’ve made a lot of progress in our economy the last few years and the best way to sustain that progress, to lift living standards, to make people better off over time is to make our economy more productive, more resilient and make our budget more sustainable. And those were the three major issues that we grappled with over the course of the last three days …
One of the defining outcomes of this economic reform roundtable was building consensus and momentum around ensuring that intergenerational fairness is one of the defining principles of our country, but also of our government. And that’s certainly something that we will pick up and run.
Chalmers wouldn’t say if the government would consider changing the treatment of family trusts or reducing the capital gains discount.
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Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to take over for Martin Farrer. Let’s get started.
Early education operator calls for national system to track workers
Still with that childcare summit, our team are reporting this morning that one of Australia’s largest early education providers says a national system to track childcare worker misconduct is the key to keeping children safe.
Every worker in every state should be subject to mandatory reporting, they say.
Read the full story here:
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Education minister commits $189m for childcare safety package
The education minister, Jason Clare, is putting $189m on the table at today’s meeting with his state and territory counterparts to fund a childcare safety package, including a national education register, mandatory safety training, and CCTV for a limited number of services.
The register, training and CCTV are at the top of the federal government’s agenda for the meeting and have been flagged as important areas of reform by Clare.
He’s putting forward a national assessment for CCTV in up to 300 services – in 2024 there were almost 15,000 childcare subsidy approved childcare services. Services have raised concerns about the cost of installing CCTV cameras.
The government is also proposing a mandatory mobile phone ban from 1 September this year for all childcare services – although Guardian Australia understands there may be some hold out from Queensland on a full ban.
Clare says the government will fund 1,600 additional unannounced spot checks by commonwealth officers at centres, and look at tougher penalties to deter breaches and to provide more information for parents on the condition of childcare centres.
No parent should ever have to wonder if their child is safe when they drop them off at childcare. We need a national register to ensure we know who is caring for our children, and their work history.
We also need mandatory child safety training. The overwhelming majority of childcare workers are awesome at what they do caring for our children. They are just as angry as everyone else.
We also need to ban personal phones and ramp up inspections to make sure centres are up to scratch.
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Australia signs international statement to allow media access to Gaza
It’s been a busy night for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Before the release of the statement about the West Bank, it also emerged that the government had signed a letter with 26 other countries demanding that the international press be given immediate access to Gaza.
Germany and the UK were among the other nations who signed the statement from the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), an international advocacy group that the UK helped to create.
It said:
In light of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, we, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition, urge Israel to allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza.
Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively. We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts.
Read our full story here:
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Australia calls West Bank settlement plan 'unacceptable'
Australia has joined 20 other countries in condemning Israel’s plans to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank.
In a move likely to further enrage Benjamin Netanyahu and his right wing-dominated ruling coalition, foreign minister Penny Wong said the Israeli plan for the E1 area east of Jerusalem was “unacceptable and a violation of international law”.
She was joined by the foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the European Commission.
In a statement posted on her government webpage overnight, Wong said:
The decision by the Israeli higher planning committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law.
We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms.
[Israeli defence minister Bezalel] Smotrich says this plan will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem. This brings no benefits to the Israeli people. Instead, it risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace.
The government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan.
Unilateral action by the Israeli government undermines our collective desire for security and prosperity in the Middle East. The Israeli government must stop settlement construction in line with UNSC Resolution 2334 and remove their restrictions on the finances of the Palestinian Authority.
Here’s the full story from our UK colleagues:
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best breaking stories before Nick Visser picks up the slack.
Jason Clare will meet state and territory education ministers today to discuss how to reform the childcare sector after a series of abuse scandals. The federal minister will pledge $189m at today’s meeting to fund a childcare safety package, including a national education register, mandatory safety training and CCTV for a limited number of services. More details shortly.
Australia has joined 20 other countries in condemning Israel’s plans to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank. It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Sky News last night alleging that Anthony Albanese had “forever tarnished” his reputation by backing Palestinian statehood. The government also signed an international statement demanding international media be given access to Gaza. More shortly.
Queensland police chiefs have said that pro-Palestine protesters will be arrested if they try to march across the Story Bridge in Brisbane on Sunday. The planned march was banned yesterday by the chief magistrate, who said it would not be safe. More coming up.
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