What we learned, 18 August 2025
With that, we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from today:
Qantas must pay a $90m penalty for illegally firing more than 1,800 ground workers during the early period of the pandemic, taking the full cost of its controversial outsourcing decision to more than $200m.
Australia’s largest steelmaker, BlueScope, repeated calls for an east coast gas reserve after reporting that its profits tumbled to $84m in 2024-25, just over a 10th of the previous year.
Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset for the far-right party Religious Zionism, lashed out against the Australian government after he was barred from his upcoming “solidarity tour” in Sydney and Melbourne.
Queensland police announced it will go to court in an effort to halt a planned pro-Palestine march over Brisbane’s Story Bridge.
Twenty of Australia’s leading environment groups have written to treasurer Jim Chalmers asking for better representation for the environment at this week’s economic roundtable.
Rosalie Woodruff, the leader of the Tasmanian Greens, said the party would not back a motion of no-confidence in the state’s Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff.
NSW Surf Life Saving has closed Cabarita beach at Norries Headland after a shark bit a large chunk out of a surfer’s board this morning.
Thanks for your company today. We’ll be back early tomorrow.
Updated
Homophobia must be stamped out of the game, Collingwood vice-captain says
Homophobic incidents have happened too often in the AFL and need to be stamped out of the game, says Collingwood vice-captain Brayden Maynard.
Adelaide ace Izak Rankine is under investigation for an alleged homophobic slur towards a Collingwood opponent and faces being banned for the AFL finals. No findings have yet been made.
It is the fourth such alleged incident at AFL level in the past two seasons, and sixth involving AFL-listed players. Maynard said the issue must be taken seriously:
We clearly need to stamp it out and I think we’re doing a great job of that, I think we’re doing as best as we can to stamp all that stuff out of the game.
So yeah, it’s not good to see. And I think we’re doing everything we can, both from a women’s program and a men’s program to stamp it out.
Adelaide has confirmed that one of their players is under investigation:
We are aware of an alleged matter involving one of our players in Saturday night’s game and we are in discussions with the AFL.
The AFL has handed out suspensions ranging from three to five matches in the past two seasons to players found guilty of conduct unbecoming.
– with AAP
Read more here:
Updated
Far-right Israeli MP lashes out at Australian government after visa denied
Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset for the far-right party Religious Zionism, has lashed out against the Australian government after he was barred from his upcoming “solidarity tour” in Sydney and Melbourne.
In a social media post on X and written in Hebrew, the Israeli politician described the Albanese government’s decision as “clear and blatant antisemitism”.
Rothman said the Australian government considered positions that most of the Israeli Knesset had adopted as “defiance and agitation”.
Those positions include a recent symbolic motion, spearheaded by Rothman, in July to “apply” Israel’s sovereignty to the occupied West Bank territory. The motion passed 71-13.
According to Google Translate, Rothman finished the post saying:
This antisemitic decision is not directed at me. It is directed at the Jewish community in Australia, at the state of Israel and at the people of Israel. The state of Israel learned the hard price of surrendering to terrorism on 7 October – the Australian government has not yet learned that lesson and the prices to be paid for it will be heavy.
The state of Israel must teach the entire world how not to surrender to terrorism.
I will not be deterred, and I will continue to raise the proud voice of the Jewish people wherever I am.
Updated
The local bourse has achieved a new record finish in a choppy start to the trading week, as investors continue to weigh company earnings against their valuations.
The S&P/ASX200 increased by 24.4 points, or 0.27%, to a fresh record close of 8,963. The broader All Ordinaries gained 24 points, or 0.26%, to 9,236.1.
Eight of 11 local sectors finished higher, led by a 1.1%rally in communications stocks as REA Group surged roughly four per cent after appointing Cameron McIntyre to replace exiting veteran chief executive Owen Wilson.
– AAP
Updated
Liberal senator criticises behaviour of protesters during Sydney Harbour Bridge march
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has criticised the conduct of some people who marched over the Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
On the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program, Bragg was asked for a response to the federal government’s decision to deny entry to a far-right Israeli politician who has described Palestinian children in Gaza as “enemies”.
Bragg did not comment on the case as he had not been briefed on it, but raised concerns about the conduct of some protesters who held images of the Ayatollah and chanted “from the river to the sea” while marching over the bridge.
I think the idea that you can propose the erasure of Israel, and that be seen as something that no one even takes as a serious affront shows that we are in a very bad spot with some of these debates.
New South Wales police said initial estimates put the crowd at 90,000. A spokesperson for rally organisers, the Palestine Action Group, said police had informed them 100,000 people were in attendance – but the group estimated the figure was closer to 300,000.
There were no arrests or reports of antisocial behaviour on the day.
Updated
Joe Aston, a former columnist with the Australian Financial Review who wrote a book on Qantas, says the union that brought a legal case against the airline should be congratulated.
As we told you earlier, Qantas has been fined a record $90m for illegally firing 1,820 baggage handlers and other ground staff in 2020, taking the cost of its controversial outsourcing decision to more than $200m.
Aston said no one believed the Transport Workers Union, which launched legal action, had a chance of victory at the time.
Here’s what he told the ABC:
I think that the Transport Workers Union should be lauded, frankly. They took on this risk entirely on their own shoulders. I can tell you, when they launched this case, it looked like a hopeless case. Nobody thought that they would win. Nobody thought that it would be so spectacular, that’s for sure.
Updated
Andrew Leigh backs cancellation of Israeli MP’s visa
The assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, has defended the government’s decision to deny entry to a far-right Israeli politician who described Gazan children as “enemies” and called for Israel’s total control of the West Bank.
As Sarah Basford Canales reports, Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset for the far-right party Religious Zionism, was scheduled to appear at two public events in Sydney and Melbourne in August and two private events billed as a “solidarity tour”.
Leigh did not comment on the specifics of the decision to deny him a visa but said the government would not allow people to “sow discord in Australia”.
Here’s what he told the ABC a few moments ago:
Social cohesion is important and the home affairs minister [Tony Burke] has said he makes no apology for taking a hard line on intolerance and sowing division.
We want to make sure those coming to Australia are doing so to contribute to the public conversation in a positive way and we don’t want to see that conversation become nasty and more divisive than it is already.
Updated
Shadow treasurer attending productivity roundtable ‘in good faith’
The shadow minister for productivity, Andrew Bragg, says the Coalition will attend this week’s economic roundtable in good faith.
The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, will attend the three-day summit at Parliament House.
Bragg says the Coalition is open to suggestions about cutting regulation and that the summit would help inform the Liberal policy platform.
Ted is going to the roundtable in good faith.
We are the alternative government and we need to develop our own policies over the course of this term.
This is an opportunity for us to have some inputs into our own process, but also look to find common ground where we can help the Australian people have a better economy.
Updated
Productivity roundtable chance to ‘set us up for the future’, AI Group chief says
Business lobby groups are framing this week’s productivity roundtable as a “legacy moment for Australia”.
The summit will run from Tuesday to Thursday in Parliament House, with a focus on productivity, resilience and budget sustainability. But with the government already having ruled out large changes to tax, spending or contentious settings like negative gearing, some critics in the Coalition and media have said the summit risks devolving into a talkfest without the chance of meaningful outcomes.
But Innes Willox, the AI Group’s chief executive, believes it could be a transformational moment for the economy and workers:
We have a real chance here to get things right, to set us up for the future, a future which is better for all of us at a time of massive change across the economy.
We’re seeing huge changes occur around technology, around our move towards a net zero economy and our complete decarbonisation of the economy that we need at the moment, all of these things are making change imperative.
What got us to this point and what brought success to our economy in the past is no guarantee of doing so in the future.
Updated
More from Ampol’s annual report, released today
Australia’s big-brand petrol retailer is doubling down on service stations and hedging its bets on direct petrol production, even as tobacco sales crumble.
The company overall saw profits slide to $180m after tax excluding one-offs, with declining oil prices and sales dragging underlying earnings at its fuel refining and trading business down from $225m to $118m.
Oil markets have been up and down in 2025 thanks to conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine. That “unpredictable geopolitical backdrop” ate into fuel market earnings and left convenience stores accounting for nearly half of all underlying earnings, at $182m.
The company last week bid $1.1bn for the EG Australia service station network, with plans to roll out even more Foodary snack shops. Matt Halliday, the chief executive, said that would strengthen the business by shifting it towards “more predictable, retail driven sources and reducing exposure to … refining and trading”.
Service stations have their own trouble, though, with Ampol’s convenience sales slipping in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, from $527m to $491m.
Tobacco sales fell almost a third over the year to June, and now make up less than a fifth of Ampol’s convenience store sales. Smokers are swapping to cheaper black market products, hitting businesses across the country (and the federal budget).
But Ampol’s stores are now earning a 40% pre-tax profit margin, up from 37% in 2024 and less than 30% in 2020 – in part because consumers traded up to higher-margin tobacco products, even as they cut total spend. Matt Halliday, the chief executive, said:
We’ve continued to successfully outrun the industry’s decline in tobacco.
Updated
Far-right Israeli politician denied entry into Australia
A far-right Israeli politician, who has described Gazan children as “enemies” and called for Israel’s total control of the West Bank, has been denied entry into Australia ahead of an upcoming “solidarity tour”.
Simcha Rothman, a member of the Knesset for the far-right party Religious Zionism, was scheduled to appear at two public events in Sydney and Melbourne in August and two private events billed as a “solidarity tour”.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed on Monday Rothman’s visa application had been rejected and he would not be able to apply for one for three years. Guardian Australia first put questions to his office on Friday morning.
Burke’s statement said:
Our government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division. If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don’t want you here. Under our government, Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe.
Read more:
NSW SES warns of wet weather that may cause flash flooding and riverine rises
The NSW State Emergency Service issued new warnings for residents in the northern part of the state to prepare for hazardous conditions linked to a forecast full of rain in the coming days.
Officials said the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting rainfall across the central and northern coast from Wednesday, with moderate to heavy rainfall totals of 40-90mm likely in 24-hour periods, with isolated falls exceeding 120mm possible. The state’s north-west could see smaller but still significant rain events.
All that water could lead to minor to moderate flooding for coastal catchments, with an initial flood watch declared for Orara, Bellinger, Nambucca, Macleay, Hastings, Peel and Namoi rivers.
NSW SES assistant commissioner Colin Malone said:
We know that catchments in northern NSW are saturated from recent weather events and will respond quickly to this rainfall.
It’s important that everyone understands their own flood risk and has an emergency plan in place. That means knowing where you will go and what you will do if flooding affects you and your family.
Updated
Queensland police to ask court to halt pro-Palestine protest in Brisbane
Queensland police will go to court in an effort to halt a planned pro-Palestine march over Brisbane’s Story Bridge.
A spokesperson for the Queensland police service confirmed that mediation had taken place on Monday morning, “however, an agreement could not be met”:
Under provisions of the Peaceful Assembly Act, police will lodge documentation with Brisbane magistrates court for a decision to be made with respect to the notice of intention to hold a public assembly.
Justice for Palestine spokesperson Magan-djin Remah Naji said the group is expecting at least 7,000 people to march over the bridge on Sunday.
Our march is still authorised and is protected under the Peaceful Assembly Act and also Human Rights Act. And if the police want to challenge this, the onus is on them to take us to court.
Naji said they already have a lawyer briefed to defend their right to protest:
We’re very much willing to defend our fundamental right to peaceful assembly. If they want to go down this path, we’re ready.
Updated
That’s all for me. Henry Belot will guide you through the rest of the day’s news. Take care.
Michelle O’Byrne to be Australia’s next gender equality ambassador
Former Tasmanian Labor MP Michelle O’Byrne will be Australia’s next gender equality ambassador after years of advocacy to advance women’s rights, AAP reports.
O’Byrne served as the federal member for Bass from 1998 to 2004 and then as the state member for Bass in the Tasmanian parliament from 2006 to 2025.
The ambassador for gender equality aims to drive Australia’s efforts to end gender-based violence, promote economic equality and inclusive trade, support women’s participation in climate and humanitarian action, and champion women’s leadership across the Indo-Pacific.
Updated
Icac chief commissioner appears before Victoria parliamentary inquiry
The chief commissioner of the New South Wales anti-corruption watchdog, John Hatzistergos, says if Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire’s secret relationship had occurred in Victoria, his counterparts in the state would not have had the power to investigate it.
Hatzistergos made the comparison at a hearing of a Victorian parliamentary inquiry looking at the adequacy of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) framework.
He said NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) – has a broader definition of “corrupt conduct” than Victoria. This allows it to investigate substantial breaches of the codes of conduct that govern ministers and MPs, as well as allegations of disciplinary offences and criminal offences.
Hatzistergos said:
Your [Victoria’s] offences are very limited to bribery and some of the other public offences, common law offences, so it’s a much more restrictive remit than we have in our legislation … In the Operation Keppel case involving former premier Gladys Berejiklian and the former MP for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire, those circumstances arguably would not have fallen within the remit of Ibac, but the conduct itself was quite serious.
Operation Keppel was set up to examine the conduct of Maguire between 2012 and 2018. It was widened to include Berejiklian after she revealed she was in a “close personal relationship” with Maguire.
It found Berejiklian “engaged in serious corrupt conduct” by not declaring a conflict of interest between her personal life and her public duties. She also breached public trust in the awarding of funding to two projects Maguire had lobbied for in his electorate.
Updated
Tasmanian Greens will not back no-confidence motion in premier Jeremy Rockliff
Rosalie Woodruff, the leader of the Tasmanian Greens, said the party would not back a motion of no-confidence in the state’s Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff.
Woodruff just spoke to reporters as both Rockliff and the Labor leader, Dean Winter, have vied for crossbenchers to form government when the Tasmanian parliament opens tomorrow. Woodruff said while the Greens do not have confidence in the Liberal government, they had failed to reach a deal with Labor, which had promised to see the motion moved tomorrow. She said:
It is with great disappointment and frustration that the Greens have come to a united decision that we do not have confidence in Dean Winter’s Labor being the next government for Tasmania. And to be very clear, neither do we have confidence in the Liberal government.
So, if Dean Winter does move the motion that he’s foreshadowed in parliament tomorrow – a motion of no-confidence in the Liberal government and a motion of confidence in himself – then the Greens will be voting against that motion.
Updated
Officials investigating after small plane crashes on Sydney’s Mona Vale golf course
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is urging witnesses to come forward with any video after a small aircraft crash-landed on Mona Vale golf course in Sydney’s northern beaches yesterday.
Officials said the small plane left Camden airport and was conducting a training flight with a pilot and instructor on board. The plane reportedly experienced engine power loss before it crashed dramatically on the grounds of the course.
Video footage shows the plane skidding along the grass near the green of one hole, as passersby run to assist. AAP reported that the pair on board sustained only minor injuries.
ATSB will investigate the incident, including conducting interviews with the pilots.
Updated
Petrol purchases ease as budget buyers desert Ampol
Australian motorists bought less petrol in the first half of 2025 and moved away from major retailer Ampol as they looked for bottom-priced fuels.
The country’s largest service station network, with nearly 1,700 stores, sold less fuel in the first half of 2025 than in the same period a year prior – a 4.6% fall, even bigger than the industry decline of 3%.
Ampol’s service station petrol sales fell from 1.82bn litres to 1.74bn litres, taking fuel revenues from more than $2.3bn to $2bn, according to its mid-year report released this morning.
The company said Cyclone Alfred and back-to-back public holidays in April cut traffic flows and petrol demand.
Customers cut back on premium fuels at half the rate they did on low-grade petrol, though, cushioning the blow for the retailer’s bottom line but suggesting budget-conscious motorists are looking elsewhere for their 91 unleaded.
Ampol’s CEO, Matt Halliday, told investors he hoped to regain price-focused customers with the self-serve U-Go brand, which launched its first 34 sites this year, and with the EG Australia brand, which Ampol announced last week it would buy for $1.1bn.
The company is also chasing the electric vehicle market by putting in some on-the-go charging stations, with 180 bays now installed across 69 sites in Australia, though Halliday said they would keep an eye on slowing energy grid development and bumpy EV sales.
Updated
Qantas accepts landmark $90m fine and says it ‘holds us accountable’
Qantas just responded to the $90m fine it received this morning for illegally firing 1,820 baggage handlers and other ground staff in 2020. The country’s largest airline said it accepted the decision, adding the judgment “holds us accountable for our actions that caused real harm to our employees”.
Vanessa Hudson, the airline’s CEO, said in a statement:
We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result.
The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families. The impact was felt not only by those who lost their jobs, but by our entire workforce.
Qantas said the $90m penalty would be paid in accordance with the orders of the court.
Read more here:
Updated
We have some photos of the shark-bitten surfboard we reported on earlier from NSW’s Cabarita beach:
And with a foot for scale:
Updated
AFL integrity unit investigating Crows’ Rankine over alleged homophobic slur
Adelaide star Izak Rankine is under AFL investigation for allegedly using a homophobic slur during the game against Collingwood on Saturday night.
The AFL confirmed on Monday that its integrity unit is looking into the alleged on-field incident. A league spokesperson said “the AFL is aware of an alleged matter, with the integrity unit making [inquiries]”.
Adelaide have confirmed that one of their players is under investigation. Rankine has been critical to the Crows’ rise into premiership contention after the club finished 15th last year.
The AFL has handed out suspensions ranging from three to five matches in the past two seasons to players found guilty of unbecoming conduct.
Read more here:
Updated
PM says any peace deal must include Ukraine in negotiations
Albanese said his meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy overnight was “constructive”, and that Ukraine must be part of any negotiations toward a ceasefire and peace deal with Russia. He told Sky News:
We heard reports of what had occurred at Anchorage, at Alaska, the summit. I think everyone was enthusiastic about, of course, pushing and pursuing peace.
We know that Mr Putin has designs on not just Ukraine. The concern is certainly there, and there is certainly a lack of trust between Mr Putin and European and other leaders of democracies.
We stand with Ukraine, we want to see peace in the region. Ukraine must, of course, not have a solution imposed on it. They need to be a part of those negotiations.
Albanese said Australia would “consider” any request for UN peacekeepers, but cautioned there was a long way to go before such a discussion.
Updated
Ideas at roundtable will not be limited and ‘the job of reform is never done’ – Albanese
Anthony Albanese has said while the Labor government has a “clear policy agenda” going into the upcoming productivity roundtable, that would not be the “limit of our ambition”, even if both he and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, have tamped down expectations of major reform coming out of the summit.
Albanese spoke to Sky News this afternoon, a day before the event kicks off. The prime minister said:
You need to engage with people … One of the things that’s defined, I hope, my prime ministership, is we’re an inclusive government, we’re open to engagement. And that is how you bring people with you on the journey to reform …
There’s a range of things that could be done immediately … And there are other things that might be longer term. The job of reform is never done.
We have a clear policy agenda, but we’ve also said that’s not the limit of our ambition.
Updated
Ukraine welcomes Australian commitment
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, welcomed the prime minister Anthony Albanese’s commitment to the country on Monday, issuing renewed calls for further international pressure on Russia ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with the US president, Donald Trump, on Monday.
AAP reports the coalition of more than 30 nations united in their support for Ukraine held a phone call overnight. Albanese participated in that event and said Australia “remains committed to supporting Ukraine” and working to achieve “a just and enduring peace” in the region.
Myroshnychenko welcomed Australia’s support, saying international pressure needed to remain on Russia, including by choking its economy with sanctions to impede its ability to wage war. He told AAP:
It’s important you’re part of it and Australia is committed. The main purpose of the coalition of the willing was to help Ukraine win the war on just terms and the way to do it is to put pressure on Russia, put new sanctions on Russia.
What’s important is the consistency of that. What’s important is Australia keeps on going it.
Updated
Lactose-free milk helps A2 sales surge
Lactose-free milk has powered a 10% jump in A2 milk sales in 2024-25, as milk formula sales slumped.
The New Zealand-based company says it now has nearly a fifth of the Australian lactose-free market, up from 12.7% to 18.5% over the year to June. It has about a 10th, or 11%, of the standard milk market, according to its annual report, published today.
The product accounted for much of the company’s NZ$20m rise in Australian milk sales, to NZ$209m (A$190m) worth of milk across Australia. Standard milk sales also rose, outperforming falling revenues across the milk industry over the year amid what the company described as heavy competition and sales.
Revenue across Australia and New Zealand still slipped a little to NZ$316m after milk formula sales fell by nearly a fifth for the year.
The company recorded a 13% leap in global revenue to NZ$1.9bn, generating a 21% profit boost to nearly NZ $203m.
A2 makes most of its money from selling instant milk formula in east Asia, the majority of which is sold in China, where A2’s sales rose despite the market shrinking as China’s birthrates decline. US sales also rose by a fifth.
Updated
Second shark bite at Cabarita beach in less than two months
Surf Life Saving NSW has issued a statement after a surfer’s board was bitting by a shark at Cabarita beach on the state’s far north coast.
A spokesperson for the organisation said a boy was bitten by a shark at the same location less than two months ago.
Just after 8am this morning the Surf Life Saving NSW state operations centre was alerted to an incident at the unpatrolled Cabarita beach which was called in through Triple-0.
Australian Lifeguard Service lifeguards were tasked and immediately worked with council to close the beach and put up signage to warn the public not to enter the water.
SLSNSW [drone] assets are currently in the air surveilling the scene.
Updated
ACCC sues Google over search engine deals with Telstra and Optus
The consumer watchdog has commenced federal court proceedings against Google Asia Pacific after the technology company admitted it reached a deal with Telstra and Optus to pre-install Google search on Android mobile phones.
In a statement, the chair of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said Google has “admitted liability and agreed to jointly submit to the court that Google should pay a total penalty of $55 million”. The court will ultimately decide whether that penalty is appropriate.
Cass-Gottlieb said the deal was in place between December 2019 and March 2021 and required Telstra and Optus to only pre-install Google Search on Android phones they sold to consumers, and not other search engines.
She says Google has now committed to removing certain pre-installation and default search engine restrictions from its contracts with Android phone manufacturers and telcos.
Today’s outcome, along with Telstra, Optus and TPG’s undertakings, have created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future, and for competing search providers to gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers.
Updated
NSW beach closed after shark takes chunk out of surfer’s board
NSW Surf Life Saving has closed Cabarita beach at Norries Headland after a shark bit a large chunk out of a surfer’s board this morning.
Tweed shire council confirmed the beach was currently closed, noting no one was injured in the incident. The council’s Facebook page noted that “fortunately, the bite missed the rider”.
Photos posted online show the surfer on the beach with a large, bite-shaped mark missing from his board. Video footage taken from a local beach cam shows a commotion in the water just before 7.30am.
American surfing legend Kelly Slater chimed in on one post on Instagram, writing:
Incredible he’s ok. Great example of why I fear open ocean swimming so much. Surfboards have saved quite a few surfers with that tiny barrier.
Updated
Federal court ruling confirms Qantas workers ‘sacked in a ruthless, calculated act’, says Labor senator
NSW Labor senator Tony Sheldon says today’s federal court penalty against Qantas confirms workers were “sacked in a ruthless, calculated act of corporate cost-cutting”.
Sheldon was the national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union from 2006 to 2019, before he was elected to federal parliament.
In a statement, Sheldon criticised the former Coalition government’s treatment of the airline.
Rather than help thousands of staff and their families, they effectively condoned the biggest illegal sacking in corporate history – calling it a ‘commercial decision’, handing Qantas $2.7 billion in no-strings-attached taxpayer bailouts during COVID, voting against closing the very loophole that enabled the illegal sacking, and cheerleading the replacement of workers with lower-paid staff doing the same job.
Updated
Josh Bornstein, a barrister representing the TWU, called the ruling the “darkest day in Qantas’ 105-year history’.
Head of Transport Workers’ Union says $90m Qantas penalty reflects ‘gravity’ of airline’s actions
Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union, just spoke after the historic penalty levelled against Qantas today.
Kaine said the workers impacted have been through “hell and back”, calling the $90m penalty the “most significant industrial outcome in Australia’s history”. He said:
Justice Lee has absolutely smashed Qantas today for its illegal conduct and rightly so. This penalty of $90 million, an unprecedented amount for an industrial breach, reflects the gravity of this. This is the largest breach in industrial relations history and it devastated these workers and their colleagues and their families. …
It sends a really clear message to Qantas and to every employer in Australia – treat your workforce illegally and you will be held accountable. Yes, we do feel vindicated today.
Updated
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist ‘very grateful’ to be granted asylum in Australia
Ted Hui, the former pro-democracy Hong Kong legislator who was granted asylum in Australia this weekend, said earlier this morning he is “relieved” after the decision.
Hui has been living in Australia for four years and said the protection visa extends to his wife, children and parents. He has faced intimidation and police bounties of nearly $200,000 over his vocal criticism of Hong Kong and Beijing authorities. He told RN Breakfast this morning:
It means we can be relieved because we’ve been living here more than four years without knowing which country we’ll be staying and where we’ll be studying, working, and my parents, whether they will end up here.
We have the answers now, so we have the assurance that we will be protected by the Australian government. So that’s why we are very grateful to the government and the people here.
Updated
More on last night’s deadly shooting outside a Sydney pub
New South Wales police just shared some more information after a deadly shooting outside a pub in Sydney’s Forest Lodge last night.
Det Supt Alfio Sergi said “numerous” shots were fired outside the Harold Park hotel, with some being described as “whizzing by” a woman working there while she was picking up glasses outside. One man was killed and another is in critical condition who has just finished a second round of surgeries this morning.
Sergi said during a press conference it was an “extremely dangerous” situation with narrow streets around the area. He said the investigation is in its early stages, but he believes it was a “targeted attack”:
Obviously we’ll be looking at the links with organised crime networks, that will be a focus of our investigation.
Police are appealing for information as they search for the alleged perpetrator.
Updated
Qantas hit with $90m penalty after illegally firing ground workers
Qantas must pay a $90m penalty for illegally firing more than 1,800 ground workers during the early period of the pandemic, taking the full cost of its controversial outsourcing decision to more than $200m.
Justice Michael Lee handed down his decision on the airline’s penalty in the federal court in New South Wales.
Lee said the carrier would have to pay “no less than $90m” which he said was “slightly less than 75% of the maximum penalty”, and that $50m of the penalty would go to the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU).
He reserved his decision on to whom the $40m balance should be paid. Lee described the lengthy legal battle between the TWU and Qantas as “no ordinary case” and said:
As to whether Qantas is truly contrite or rather engaging in performative remorse, I have hesitation in reaching a conclusion.
I do think persons of responsibility within Qantas do now have some genuine regrets, but this more likely reflects the damage this case has done to the company, rather than a remorse for the damage done to the affected workers.
Lee’s decision comes about nine months after Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union agreed on a $120m payout for the sacked workers.
Qantas is due to release its financial results for the past year on 28 August, and the true cost of the outsourcing saga has far eclipsed the $70m the carrier had previously budgeted to cover it.
• This post was amended on 18 August 2025. Justice Michael Lee referred to the $90m penalty as being “slightly less than 75% of the maximum penalty”, not “slightly less than 75% off the maximum penalty” as an earlier version said.
Updated
BlueScope profits tumble to about a tenth of previous year
Australia’s largest steelmaker, BlueScope, repeated calls for an east coast gas reserve after reporting that its profits tumbled to $84m in 2024-25, just over a tenth of the previous year.
The company, which is leading a bid for the struggling Whyalla steelworks in South Australia, saw its net profit after tax fall from 2023-24’s $806m after taking a $440m hit to the underperforming coated steel products arm of its American business. Sliding global steel prices also dragged down revenue.
BluesSope still earned most of its revenue in the US, producing nearly 3m tonnes of steel at its North Star mill in Ohio, which was boosted by Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, later hiked to 50%.
The company’s annual report, released this morning, did not point to significant tariff impact on its Australian business, which saw lower earnings as prices slipped, despite rising domestic sales due to increased construction work.
BlueScope remains interested in expanding locally by buying out the Whyalla plant. The company earlier in August announced it was leading a consortium but would only make an offer if it could see a return on investment. Bluescope told investors it had submitted a non-binding, indicative expression of interest and believed the plant had potential for low-emissions iron productions.
But the company gave a warning to investors (and the Albanese government): “NO GAS, NO ‘FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA’”. Electricity costs also dragged down BlueScope’s Australian earnings in the 12 months to June, seeing it repeat its calls for an east coast gas reserve and criticise the sector’s current approach: “prioritising massive exports over domestic market, since 2015”.
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Terence Stamp, star of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, dies at 87
Terence Stamp, one of the stellar faces of British 60s cinema, who had a second act from the late 1970s as a character actor in the likes of Superman: The Movie, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Limey, has died aged 87.
His family said in a statement that he died on Sunday morning. “He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer, that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come,” they said. “We ask for privacy at this sad time.”
Stamp became one of British cinema’s glamour figures in its most fashionable decade, scoring early high-profile roles in Billy Budd and The Collector for the directors Peter Ustinov and William Wyler respectively.
In 1994 he played the trans cabaret performer Bernadette Bassenger in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, for which he received Bafta and Golden Globe nominations, followed by a lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s revenge thriller The Limey.
The subsequent decades saw more high-profile castings as interest grew in his earlier work, including roles in Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Wanted and The Adjustment Bureau.
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Environment groups say nature ‘too important’ to leave out of reform conversations
The environment sector, which has been given limited representation at the summit, held its own roundtable last Friday. A representative from Watt’s office attended. The groups said half of Australia’s GDP and 75% of export earnings were reliant on nature.
Dr Jody Gunn, the chief executive of the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, said:
Nature’s economic role is too important to leave out of national reform conversations. If we ignore nature, productivity suffers. If we invest in the solutions it brings, we all win – with stronger regional economies, better disaster resilience, and healthier communities.
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Conservation groups call for better representation at economic summit
Twenty of Australia’s leading environment groups have written to treasurer Jim Chalmers asking for better representation for the environment at this week’s economic roundtable.
The groups, including the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, BirdLife Australia and WWF Australia, warned that without nature-based investment and reform, the ongoing decline of Australia’s natural capital would erode productivity, economic growth, and disaster resilience.
In a communique to Chalmers and environment minister Murray Watt, they’ve called for measures including:
Phasing out subsidies that harm nature.
Strengthened environment laws and an independent environmental regulator.
Treating nature like other critical economic assets by measuring and maintaining its condition and forecasting how its loss will impact jobs, exports, and the cost of living.
More nature funding from both government and business.
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Most Australians think climate crisis making cost-of-living rise
Three-quarters of Australians believe the climate crisis is increasing the cost of living, and nearly two-thirds think coal, oil and gas companies should pay for the damage they’ve caused, new polling suggests.
Timed for release ahead of this week’s economic reform roundtable, the Essential polling was commissioned by the Make Big Polluters Pay Alliance, a new coalition of environment, aid, political and social justice organisations, including Oxfam Australia, Greenpeace, Climate Action Network Australia, Uniting Church of Australia, Human Rights Law Centre and more.
The alliance is calling for the Australian government to enact a climate pollution levy on coal, gas and oil corporations, and says the money raised from the levy should be put into a climate compensation fund to “meet the needs of communities on the frontline of climate impacts, and support everyday households facing rising costs from climate change and the clean energy transition”.
Essential surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2029 Australian residents aged over 18 in June and found that 77% of respondents accepted that major fossil fuel companies are contributing to climate change, 83% believe climate change is increasing the cost of insurance premiums and food prices, while 75% believe it is increasing the cost of living overall.
Some 62% of respondents thought fossil fuel companies should pay for climate damage.
Julie-Anne Richards, from Make Polluters Pay Alliance, said in a statement:
Australia’s coal, oil and gas corporations are making around $370 billion in revenue per year, but often pay little or no tax. They are pushing the costs of the climate pollution they produce and the climate change it creates onto communities. Everyday Australians are paying through higher insurance, food and other bill costs, as well as the costs of recovery from climate disasters. It’s time these big corporations pay their fair share.
Man dead and another wounded after shooting outside Sydney pub
One man is dead and another has been taken to hospital with serious wounds after a shooting outside a Sydney pub.
Emergency services were called to the Harold Park hotel on Ross Street in Forest Lodge in Sydney’s inner west at about 6.40pm on Sunday.
New South Wales police said two people had been shot multiple times by unknown assailants who left the scene by car.
One man died at the scene while a second was treated by paramedics for gunshot wounds before being taken to hospital in a serious condition.
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Shadow education minister says childcare safety reforms should come more quickly
Jonno Duniam, the shadow minister for education, said governments on both sides of the spectrum had failed for years to institute reforms on the childcare sector, issuing calls for the Labor government and states to act quickly to make such changes.
Duniam told RN Breakfast this morning:
Both governments of all persuasions have dropped the ball. The government I was a part of dropped the ball. We should have acted on that at the time. The fact that we didn’t and the fact that we are now hearing these stories means we failed. But regardless of who was in power and who didn’t do what, here we are today and we need to act.
The federal attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said Friday all states and territories had agreed to introduce new reforms on working with children checks by the end of the year.
Duniam said this morning that timeline should be quicker:
With the resources of eight states and territories and the commonwealth combined, I would be absolutely stunned if we could not get this thing off the ground in the next few weeks. So I hope that things do speed up. I hope that the end result is a national system.
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Albanese spoke with world leaders about remaining ‘committed’ supporter of Ukraine
Anthony Albanese joined world leaders in a phone hook up overnight, discussing Ukraine’s talks on ending Russia’s invasion.
European leaders are set to accompany Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to the White House this week for talks with the US president, Donald Trump.
Overnight, I joined a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing convened by @Keir_Starmer and @EmmanuelMacron, alongside President @Zelenskyy_Uaa other democratic leaders.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 17, 2025
Australia remains committed to supporting Ukraine and it was an opportunity to discuss next steps in…
The talks overnight follow Trump’s Friday summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin, which, despite a lot of hype, failed to produce any major new outcome.
Albanese said he spoke with British prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron, part of the so-called coalition of the willing, the group of countries committed to helping Ukraine. The Australian PM wrote:
Australia remains committed to supporting Ukraine and it was an opportunity to discuss next steps in achieving a just and enduring peace.
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Qantas awaiting court decision on fine for unlawfully sacking staff
The federal court may soon hand down a hefty penalty to Qantas today in what would be the latest court blow for the nation’s largest airline, AAP reports.
Qantas outsourced its baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff in 2020, in a move the court ruled was designed to curb union bargaining power in wage negotiations. The airline said in December it would pay $120m in compensation to more than 1,800 people it illegally sacked.
The Transport Workers’ Union has since sought an additional penalty of $121m over the move to outsource those jobs, while Qantas has urged the court to impose a “mid-range” penalty between $40m and $80m.
The airline has argued the actions were a mistake, not a deliberate breach of the law.
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Study finds e-bike delivery riders breaking rules in Melbourne
Delivery riders on e-bikes caught speeding and riding the wrong way down city streets have triggered calls for tougher safety and compliance regulations, AAP reports.
Research published on Monday found widespread non-compliance among commercial delivery e-bikes across Melbourne. E-bike riders were recorded reaching speeds of up to 54kmh in some city hotspots, with almost one in five exceeding 25 kmh.
More than 27,000 vehicles were monitored in the study, with almost half being delivery worker e-bikes.
Published by Monash University and commissioned by the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce, the data focused on hotspot areas. They included Swanston Street in the CBD and Swan Street in nearby Richmond, which had the highest rates of speeding.
The highest levels of footpath riding and wrong-way travel were on Elizabeth and King streets, in the CBD.
Peter Jones, the chief of the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce, said:
This report confirms what riders, pedestrians, and other road users have suspected – many of these delivery e-bikes are operating as unregistered motorbikes, without the safeguards or enforcement that applies to other vehicles.
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Anzac Bridge fully open after crash
An update from our earlier post for Sydneysiders: The Anzac Bridge is back to normal after a crash snarled commuters this morning.
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Chair of Productivity Commission optimistic about this week’s economic summit
Danielle Wood, the chair of the Productivity Commission, spoke to RN Breakfast this morning to say she’s optimistic the economic summit will be a catalyst for meaningful change. Wood said:
When I think about just the amount of productivity conversation we’ve had over the last month, I think it’s pretty extraordinary. But within that, I think the breadth of ideas coming forward really matter.
She was asked about the commission’s proposal to cut the company tax rate for all but the biggest businesses, an idea the government doesn’t seem thrilled by. Wood said:
Look, you know, governments will always have to make their own calls on hard decisions like tax. What we are trying to do is put some ideas out there about how you actually do reform, but you do it in a sensible way for the budget.
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Gallagher says productivity roundtable will be ‘genuine meeting’ of all sectors
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said this morning the productivity roundtable, set to kick off tomorrow, will be a “genuine meeting” between different coalitions that will hopefully reach a consensus on ideas to boost productivity around the nation. Gallagher told RN Breakfast:
It is a genuine meeting of civil society, the union movement, industry leaders and government to look at some of these challenges we have got across our economy and see if there is areas of consensus and in the last couple of weeks with the coverage of the ideas and submissions that are coming forward to that meeting, there is no shortage of ideas.
She went on to point to the hope for “excellent” discussions around AI and an effort to figure out new ways to tackle the housing crisis.
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Lambie says UN should send peacekeepers to distribute Gaza food aid
The independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says the United Nations should send peacekeepers into Gaza to help protect and distribute food, as Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians continues amid growing alarm over starvation and malnutrition.
Lambie made the call in an email to supporters overnight. She said it would be a “protective mission”:
The ‘blue helmets’ – as we call them in our militaries around the world- could be sent in with the sole job of securing food aid and making sure that it is distributed to the people who need it. To make this happen would require UN authorisation
Because this is a protection mission and not a peacekeeping or peace enforcement mission, the international community should have no hesitation in supporting it.
The senator said she would seek to take out advertising in newspapers and online calling for the move, with her email seeking donations for an ad push.
Children are starving, mothers are sobbing because they can’t feed their children, let alone themselves.
UN peacekeepers have a long history of assisting in humanitarian efforts, including providing security for the delivery of aid. If we are to ease the starvation of children in Gaza, we need blue helmets protecting those aid convoys.
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Crash closes part of Sydney’s Anzac Bridge during morning commute
A crash between a car and a motorcycle on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge has snarled traffic during the Monday morning commute. Transport for NSW reports the crash took place just after 6.30am, with at two of four lanes closed into the city and one closed westbound.
The agency is cautioning there will be major delays this morning.
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Good morning
Good morning and happy Monday. Nick Visser here as we dive into another week of news. Here’s what’s on deck:
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says the UN should send peacekeepers into Gaza to help distribute food, saying the effort would be a “protective mission”. Lambie said because it would not be a peace enforcement mission, the international community should have “no hesitation” supporting it.
New research on e-bike safety found widespread non-compliance with regulations among commercial e-bike delivery across Melbourne. Some riders were recorded travelling far above speed limits, the wrong-way on streets and driving on footpaths in city hotspots.
Qantas will find out today if it will face a hefty fine for outsourcing baggage handling at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Transport Workers Union has urged a court to levy the maximum penalty of $121m, which would come on top of a $120m compensation payment it made to ground staff who lost their jobs.
Let’s get to it.
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