What we learned today, Wednesday 15 October
That’s it for today, but let’s recap the big events:
James Paterson said Liberals must end their post-election ‘apology tour’.
Education ministers considered new national standards to combat bullying.
IMF warned of slow Australian economy and AI bubble risk.
Planning reforms were set to pass NSW parliament.
A record number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died in custody in NSW in 2025, the state coroner announced.
The head of Aboriginal Legal Service said the NSW government should be ‘ashamed’ by deaths in custody figures.
Victoria experienced a triple-zero computer outage overnight.
The AEC revealed harassment and intimidation at the 2025 election.
Victoria’s premier said Sussan Ley only focused on “politics and division” with comments about crime.
Rightwing US commentator Candace Owens lost her appeal over her 2024 visa rejection.
Australian parents are having kids later, ABS data showed.
Thirteen-year-old boy was among five teenagers charged with murder over alleged stabbing near Wollongong.
Achieving Labor’s 1.2m homes target requires “nearly a miracle”, experts said.
Trump administration and Congress have shown “strong enthusiasm” for Aukus, Pat Conroy said.
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Updated
Queensland government blames police for overstated figures on drop in crime
Queensland’s LNP state government has admitted overstating a reduction in crime, blaming the state police force for the error.
The police minister, Dan Purdie, told parliament on Wednesday that claims by the premier and minister for youth justice that the number of victims of crime had declined by 10.8% in recent stats were wrong. Purdie said:
The actual reduction in victim numbers per capita is 6.5%.
Purdie said the error had only been brought to his attention by the police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, “in the last few hours”. He blamed “human error” in the “manual compilation and analysis of the rate of the victims between the period of January and September 2025”. He said:
Ahead of the media event on October 7, my office raised concerns with the verification of data when it was provided, but was reassured by police on multiple occasions that it was accurate.
The methods and processes applied to the analysis of this data will be examined and improved ahead of next month’s reporting. We have asked for the updated figures to be added to the forward facing public website as soon as possible, transparency and accuracy are fundamental to maintaining public trust.
The premier, David Crisafulli, promised during last year’s election campaign to resign if the number of victims of crime didn’t decline over his term, and each year.
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‘Serious concerns Racing NSW engaged in conduct’ to do with witnesses, privileges committee says
Following on from that last post, the report by the privileges committee said:
This committee has serious concerns that Racing NSW has engaged in conduct that may have had the effect of deterring potential inquiry witnesses from coming forward to give evidence for fear of reprisals – the so-called ‘chilling effect’.
The chair, Labor’s Stephen Lawrence wrote:
While not finding contempt in this instance, this committee is concerned by the conduct of Racing NSW in a number of respects, particularly its deeply personal depictions of third-party individuals.
The committee is also concerned that similar material to that provided by Racing NSW to the Select Committee was broadcast on a radio program just after this inquiry was established. While not making any finding about this, the committee considered it a significant and questionable coincidence.
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Racing NSW reprimanded for conduct that could have interfered with Rosehill racecourse development inquiry
Racing NSW has been reprimanded by the NSW Legislative Council’s privileges committee for conduct that could have interfered with witnesses to the select inquiry into the Rosehill racecourse development.
But it has stopped short of ruling the racing regulator was in contempt.
The investigation by the privileges committee stemmed letters from Racing NSW executives that attacked several employees.
In a submission to the privileges committee, Mark Latham a participating member on the select committee, asserted that the correspondence from Graeme Hinton and Michael Cleaver, which named individuals who Racing NSW believed had made or encouraged negative submissions about Racing NSW, was “part of a series of attempts by Racing NSW to identify and intimidate whistleblowers, interfering in the work of the Rosehill Committee”.
Latham drew attention to the “particularly personal and brutal” characterisations of the individuals identified by Racing NSW.
Latham stated that the people identified had not, in fact, provided information to the select committee and therefore Racing NSW was mistaken in its allegations.
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Former ADF member charged with possessing violent extremism material
A former member of the Australian defence force was charged in August with six counts of possessing violent extremism material.
Court documents show the 25-year-old Sydney man was also charged with three counts of possessing child abuse material, one count of distributing it, and two counts of accessing the material – with the first of these offences allegedly committed in 2021.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that the man had remained in the service for more than eight months after police found he had been involved in a gathering of the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group.
Footage of the gathering, seen by Guardian Australia, shows about a dozen men clad in black exercise clothing in a public park. It is believed they had been conducting a “training” session.
It remains unclear when his employment with the Australian defence force began.
On Wednesday, the man was due to appear before Campbelltown local court via video from custody, but his matter was adjourned to December.
Court documents show he was charged with two counts of using a mobile to access child abuse material, with the first offence allegedly occurring in 2021 and the second in 2022.
He was also charged with one count of using a mobile to publish or distribute child abuse in 2023.
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SA police say no new evidence in search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont
No new evidence has been found on the second day of the renewed search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont in South Australia’s mid-north.
South Australian police released a statement saying:
More than 100 search team members, including SA Police, ADF members and SES volunteers, have each been walking between 20 and 25 kilometres each day in hot, harsh conditions.
With temperatures of 36 degrees and strong northerly winds expected in the search area on day 3, Thursday 16 October, searching is expected to start at sunrise and conclude at midday.
Gus was last seen at his family’s homestead on Saturday 27 September. The continued search for the little boy is being conducted as part of Task Force Horizon.
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‘It is about time we stopped this worldwide apology tour’: Hume praises Paterson’s speech
The Liberal senator Jane Hume has also praised James Paterson’s speech, saying it is “so dull and boring when Liberals talk about themselves”.
I read it and thought it was excellent, reminding us that the Liberal Party when it began in the 1940s brought together 11 different political groups that were non-Labor and those group sorted out their differences, worked at the values that bound them together and the objectives they had of presenting a solid opposition, an alternative government to a Labor government what we are facing today and what we should be doing.
It is so dull and boring when Liberals talk about themselves, it is about time we stopped this worldwide apology tour and started getting together that legislative agenda, alternative policy agenda we can take to the next election and hold this terrible government to account for its failures to deliver on its promises, whether it be lower energy prices or cheaper housing or lower cost to go to the doctors, all those things they are failing on. That is what we should concentrate on, not talk about ourselves.
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Trump administration and Congress have shown ‘strong enthusiasm’ for Aukus, Conroy says
Pat Conroy says there is “strong enthusiasm” in both the Trump administration and Congress around Aukus.
Congress is a co-equal branch of the government and they are very enthusiastic about it and I’ve had good engagement with the Trump administration, obviously being respectful and giving them space to conduct their review and not prejudging it.
But I’ve had very successful meetings with senior members of the Trump administration about how Aukus is meeting every milestone and giving the ADF access to the best equipment in the world but supporting US efforts to upgrade their submarine force and solve some challenges they have.
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Conroy says defence partnership with US gives Australia control of selling missiles built here
Asked to explain how the new defence partnership provides more independence if it is being done in concert with the US, and what capacity is there for Australia to operate these facilities independently or sell them to other countries, Pat Conroy says:
Well we will be building the missiles ourselves rather than relying on long supply lines – so the first factory being built is the first that builds these missiles – the joint naval strike missiles … outside of Norway.
We will be … just building them for our region and the second factory will be the first factory outside the US building what’s called the guided multiple rocket system.
We won’t be relying on imports for these missiles. It gives us more sovereignty and ultimately we will have control of who we sell them to but the logical partner of the factory is the United States since there is a 14,000 backlog there …
This is a definition of a win-win. We get more independence by building missiles we use in Australia and more jobs but we contribute to our Alliance – and this is an example of a shift to a co-designed coproduction co-sustainment model.
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Defence industry minister says deal with US will give Australia greater manufacturing capacity at home
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, is in Washington DC, meeting with senior Trump administration figures and announcing the progression of a defence partnership, which will see Australia prepare to begin producing guided missiles.
Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Conroy explained the two strategic objectives behind it:
The first is self-reliance and greater sovereignty in Australia. We’re at the end of very long supply chains and both the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have demonstrated you need to be able to manufacture more defence equipment than previously we have.
We’ve committed to building two missile factories in this country to equip the Australian Defence Force with long-range strike, to help deter conflict in our region.
The second is recognising we have a strong partnership with the US, who faces their own constraints and a large backlog of orders – so by building factories with excess capacity beyond what we need, we have the opportunity to be a second supply source for the United States and other partners which means more jobs for Australians, more security for our ally and greater options for the Australian Defence Force.
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Australian shares eye record as banks and miners rally
Strong performances from the banking and mining sectors have helped lift Australia’s stock market to a second-straight session of gains, as gold hit yet another record high, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 gained 80.1 points on Wednesday, up 0.90%, to 8,979.5, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 79.4 points, or 0.86%, to 9,287.9.
Nearly all 11 local sectors ended higher, led by a bounce in banking stocks and continued strength in the raw materials segment, which notched a record close for a second-straight session.
Iron ore giants BHP and Rio Tinto were strong, along with goldminers as the precious metal topped $US4,190 ($A6,433) an ounce for the first time, buoyed by safe haven inflows and dovish talk from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
The Australian dollar is slightly stronger against the greenback, buying 65.15 US cents, up from 64.69 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.
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Achieving Labor’s 1.2m homes target requires ‘nearly a miracle’
New figures confirm that the government’s goal of building 1.2m homes in a decade was always a “pipe dream”, experts say.
We needed to build an average of 240,000 homes a year for five years starting in mid-2024 to reach Labor’s self-styled “ambitious” 2029 target embedded in its housing accord.
Given the country has never built that number of homes in a year before and there are well-known issues with the high cost and complexity of construction, expectations were already rock-bottom.
So it’s no surprise that in the first year, we are already running 65,700 homes behind.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 174,271 new homes were completed in the 2024-25 financial year.
Cameron Kusher, an independent property expert, said the housing accord “was always a pipe dream and remains so”.
Shane Garrett, the chief economist at Master Builders Australia, said the bar was now “significantly” higher for the remaining four years if Labor hoped to reach the 1.2m homes target. He said:
It would take nearly a miracle for them to actually hit the target.
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Bruce Lehrmann argues government should foot legal bill for anti-corruption raid over ‘James Bond-like allegations’
Disgraced former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann will head to mediation to push his bid to have the government foot his legal bill after a raid on his home, AAP reports.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission raided his home in June 2024 amid an investigation into claims he misappropriated secret documents related to French submarines.
Read the full story here:
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Bronte Adams appointed as new chair of Australian Press Council
The Australian Press Council has appointed a new chair, Dr Bronte Adams, who will take over the watchdog in December.
Adams has held senior roles in government, was a consultant at McKinsey & Co, and is the founder of consulting firm Dandolo Partners.
Adams succeeds Neville Stevens, who has served as chair since January 2018.
Stevens said:
Dr Adams’ breadth of expertise in governance, innovation and the media landscape, combined with her deep commitment to public service, will be an invaluable asset to the Press Council as it continues its vital role in upholding high editorial standards and protecting freedom of expression.
The press council is the self-regulatory complaints body for most of the Australian print and digital media.
Newspapers have been regulated by the industry-funded Australian Press Council since 1976. News Corp Australia is the body’s largest funder.
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Thirteen-year-old boy among five teenagers charged with murder over alleged stabbing near Wollongong
Police have upgraded charges against five teenagers to murder after an alleged fatal stabbing near Wollongong earlier this year.
NSW police said emergency services were called to Dunmore, NSW, in January after a man, 25, was found suffering serious stab wounds. He later died at the scene, despite treatment from paramedics.
Police initially charged a boy, 15, and a woman, 38, with murder. Both of their cases remain before the courts. Six other teens, aged between 12 and 15, were also charged in relation other the incident.
Officials said today five of those six have now been charged with murder. They will appear before children’s court at various dates later this month.
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That’s all for me, Natasha May will be your blog extraordinaire for the rest of the day. Take care!
‘Only the commies in Victoria support pill testing,’ Queensland deputy premier says
Queensland’s deputy premier has claimed “only the commies in Victoria” support pill testing, defending his government’s decision to ban the practice without debate in parliament last month.
Two people have since died of overdoses, with Queensland Health issuing a health alert over new synthetic opioids last night. The deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, said:
[The] South Australia Labor government don’t support pill testing, only the commies in Victoria support pill testing, OK? No other state or territory is supporting pill testing.
Pill testing is common around the world, available in 28 European countries, many for decades, and New Zealand. It is also available in the ACT, Victoria and New South Wales on a trial basis. It was also available in Queensland at music festivals this year until the state government banned the practice in order to head off a plan by a private charity to operate a fixed site at no cost to the taxpayer last month.
It is supported by the Australian Medical Association, other health experts, recommendations from a string of coroners and decades of research evidence.
Bleijie said his government instead supported a policy of encouraging young people not to use drugs. He said the state government also plans to repeal drug diversion laws for people arrested for drug possession.
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Works to kick off Brisbane’s Olympic stadium to start in ‘mid-2026’
Construction on Brisbane’s Victoria Park Olympic stadium will get under way in the middle of next year, or even sooner, according to the head of the project.
The project has yet to have a public budget, or location, has not undertaken community consultation or master planning and does not have development approval.
The Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority started geotechnical work in Victoria Park today.
CEO Simon Crooks said he’d like to be doing earthworks mid-2026 “or even earlier if we can; time is important”.
He said they planned to appoint an architect by the end of the year. Crooks said they could consider beginning digging before there is a final design:
You don’t need an architect to have a full design to do the earthworks. You have to have a siting … the world doesn’t operate nowadays, where you’d perfect the design, and then you say, we’re going to build it.
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Paterson’s speech is ‘excellent reading’, says opposition leader
Sussan Ley says everyone should hear shadow finance minister James Paterson’s speech calling on the party to stop the post-election “apology tour” and urgently shift its focus to holding Labor accountable and devising a policy agenda.
At a press conference in Melbourne earlier today, Ley said her party was working on policy development through its five policy committees.
Delivering the Thomas Hughes oration last night, Paterson said the party must “maintain the classical liberal-conservative fusion that Menzies built and make it relevant for the modern world”.
In response to the speech, Ley said:
What it does is remind all Australians of our values, where we back aspiration, where we back hardworking Australians that want to get ahead, and play by the rules, develop a good future themselves and their families, Australians who built this country. So yes, I draw everyone’s attention to the speech. It’s excellent reading.
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Home affairs minister hails high court ruling on Candace Owens as a ‘win’
The high court’s decision to back the government in rejecting a visa application for rightwing provocateur Candace Owens in 2024 is a “win for social cohesion”, says the home affairs minister, Tony Burke.
To recap, in October 2024 Burke denied Owens’ visa application to enter Australia, ahead of a planned national speaking tour. He argued the US conservative influencer, who has advanced conspiracy theories and antisemitic rhetoric, had the “capacity to incite discord”.
This morning, the full bench of the court supported the government’s decision.
In a short statement, Burke said:
This is a win for social cohesion. Inciting discord might be the way some people make money but it’s not welcome in Australia.
Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.
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Cost of living, career and childcare all factors in low fertility rate, experts say
Amid an ongoing debate about migration levels, the fertility rate sits well below the commonly assessed natural replacement rate of 2.1 to keep the population steady over coming years.
The last time Australia’s rate was at those “natural replacement” levels was in the mid-70s, the ABS figures showed
Pelin Akyol, a research manager at the e61 Institute and an expert on fertility, said parents were having fewer children, starting families later and a rising share were having no kids:
In recent years, three factors have increased in importance, particularly for young women: the cost of raising children; time and energy for one’s career; and availability and affordability of quality childcare.
Our research shows that government-funded financial incentives, such as the Howard government’s baby bonus, can meaningfully raise fertility for some groups, but they cannot fully counter broader demographic trends.
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Aussie parents are having kids later, data shows
Australian parents are having children at a later age as the country’s fertility rate fell further in 2024, according to new figures released by the ABS.
The new statistics reveal an ongoing trend in parents delaying the decision to have children, with the median age of mother rising to 32.1 years, and fathers to 33.9 years.
The average age of mums has climbed from 30.9 years a decade ago, and 33 years in 2014 for dads.
The fertility rate inched below 1.5 babies per woman in 2024, with the ACT recording the lowest rate of 1.3, and Northern Territory the highest at 1.6.
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Brisbane siege ended yesterday after a man was shot by police
A man was shot and injured in a siege in Brisbane’s CBD, after police closed a major inner-city park for hours on Tuesday.
The Botanical Gardens, on Albert Street, was closed off from 1.35pm for several hours as police confronted a man alleged to be carrying a large hunting knife. The park is next to state Parliament House and the Queensland University of Technology.
About 10 shots were heard from within the park on Tuesday afternoon, before an ambulance drove out the main gate, followed by officers of the special emergency response team.
A spokesperson for the police said the man was taken into custody with “minor injuries” at about 4.35pm. He was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital.
Investigations are ongoing.
A Queensland University of Technology student left the exclusion zone shortly before the end to the incident. She said she has been studying inside the whole day and had no idea of the standoff.
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NSW police seize $260m in illicit drugs during series of police searches
NSW police seized an alleged cache of 415kg of illicit drugs yesterday, with a combined street value of more than $260m.
Officials said detectives with the organised crime squad executed multiple search warrants yesterday on alleged safe houses in Mays Hill, Bankstown, Campsie and Bonnyrigg Heights. During the searchers, police allegedly found the drugs, three firearms, more than 300 rounds of ammunition, $450,000 in cash and a ballistic vest.
The cache allegedly included 287kg of methamphetamine, 47kg of cocaine, 81kg of heroine and 838g of MDMA. Police said the seizures were part of an investigation into the supply of prohibited drugs across NSW by a group coordinated by a larger transnational network based out of south-east Asia.
Three men have since been charged with multiple counts, including supplying prohibited drugs in a large commercial quantity. Two men, 26 and 19, were refused bail. The third man, 26, was granted conditional bail and will appear at court next month.
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Sydney Metro workers to begin first phase of industrial action over pay dispute
Sydney Metro workers represented by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) will begin the first phase of industrial action on Friday amid a pay dispute with the network’s private operator.
From 12.01am on Friday, workers will wear union-affiliated clothing on the network, and be authorised to place union material, including stickers, on trains and stations, as long as they do not impact safety.
Although these actions are not expected to disrupt commuters, RTBU metro workers last week voted 97% in favour of authorising a suite of measures similar to those taken by heavy rail workers during late 2024 and early 2025, which caused major disruptions and commuter delays.
They include taking an unlimited number of stoppages of work between a minute and 72 hours and other work bans and restrictions.
Metro workers, who were not part of RTBU action earlier this year or a pay agreement with the government signed in July, have been authorised by the Fair Work Commission to go ahead with protected action after negotiations broke down with operator Metro Trains Sydney (MTS).
They have asked for a 24% pay increase over three years, as well as so-called “drivers cabins” for staff who work on the driverless trains and staff seating at all metro stations.
Queensland follows other states with plans to update defamation laws
Queensland’s attorney general, Deb Frecklington, has introduced new legislation updating the state’s defamation laws.
The state follows New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory, which have already passed the changes into law.
The legislation was introduced on Tuesday and will now go through a parliamentary inquiry before going before parliament for a final vote. Frecklington said:
It is vital that Queensland’s laws keep pace with the changing ways Australians communicate, particularly the evolving influence of digital and social media.
Bringing our laws in line with other states and territories is crucial to prevent forum shopping and provide certainty when publications are made across borders.
The laws make minor changes to the law, allowing moderators of social media pages to avoid a lawsuit by taking down defamatory content. Courts will also have a slightly expanded power to take down defamatory content online.
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AEC says increasingly challenging to monitor social media influencers around elections
The Australian Electoral Commission says it’s becoming “increasingly challenging” to monitor online communications around elections, including social media influencers, and says parliament should consider new rules about online content around elections.
In the AEC’s submission to the federal parliament’s electoral inquiry, it said it reviewed more than 7,400 pieces of electoral communications during the 2025 election period, finding 1,677 breaches of authorisation rules.
That included reviewing 2,606 social media communications including 18 podcasts or influencer posts. It found 38% were in breach of electoral rules.
The AEC’s submission said issues around electoral communications had “changed significantly since the authorisation requirements were updated” last in 2018, noting evolving communication methods and technology issues.
The AEC commissioner, Jeff Pope, told the committee it was becoming “increasingly challenging” for the AEC to address the issue.
The AEC suggested the parliamentary committee should consider updates such as changing electoral communication rules, strengthening the AEC’s powers to investigate and make quicker decisions about non-compliant material including removing offending signs, requiring disclosures of “deepfake” or AI-generated material, and deciding whether podcasts and influencers should be subject to electoral rules.
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Victorian opposition leader says Ley ‘only pointing out the facts’ about crime in the state
Victorian Liberal leader, Brad Battin, has backed Sussan Ley’s visit to Melbourne to talk about “out-of-control crime”.
Asked about the premier’s criticism of the trip as “purely politics”, Battin says Jacinta Allan would’ve also criticised Ley if she didn’t visit the state:
Sussan Ley’s got a role across the whole of Australia, and if she doesn’t come to Victoria, the premier says she’s not the prime minister for the whole country. Now she’s here, she wants to bag her. Sussan Ley is only pointing out the facts, and the facts are, crime is up. We’ve got 106,000 victims here in this state in the last 12 months. More and more people are afraid in their own homes. Car thefts are at the highest level, double that of New South Wales. These are all issues here in Victoria under Jacinta Allan’s watch. Of course, people are going to start pointing it out.
Asked why he wouldn’t appear with Ley at a press conference this afternoon, Battin says he has responsibilities at parliament:
I was out with Sussan, and I can’t remember the exact date, but it was only in the last two or three weeks when I was out with Sussan Ley. I’ve been with her, I’ll always go out with her. I support her. I think she’s doing a fantastic job. But today she’s come down here on a parliamentary sitting day. It’s obviously very difficult to get out.
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Huge spike in child homelessness in Brisbane: report
There are more than 2,000 homeless children in Brisbane, an increase in 48% in the last financial year. About half of them are under four.
The number of families facing homeless has also nearly tripled, according to the new figures, released today by homeless service Micah Projects.
The chief executive officer, Karyn Walsh, said the city had recently recorded a new record low rental vacancy rate of 0.7%, the lowest since 2023, which means the problem with get worse over the next week.
She said the crisis had been “brewing for 10 years, ever since, probably the floods [in 2022]”:
I think poverty is growing in Australia, inequality is a major issue, and we can’t take our eye off it. People’s lives are impacted. People die from it. It’s something that we’ve really got to not take our attention from, because it’s getting harder for everyone to get a house.
A group of homelessness services operating as the Brisbane Zero collaboration assisted 2,125 children and 1,230 families in emergency crisis accommodation such as hotels and motels in the last financial year, compared with 734 children and 403 families the year before.
Walsh said that, as a result of state government changes, not all homeless people were eligible for state funding support, forcing services to pay to house them with charitable donations.
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Three dead after house fire in Gladstone, Queensland
Three residents have died in an early morning house fire in Gladstone, Queensland.
Ch Supt Luke Peachey confirmed the three deaths in a press conference on today. He said they have yet to be identified.
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the police said police were investigating the fire.
Police and emergency services were initially called around 5.56am to reports the Whiting Street property at Toolooa was on fire.
Upon arrival, the house was fully engulfed.
The fire has since been extinguished and a crime scene has been declared.
Mustafa says he has to be ‘hopeful’, but worries about flow of aid, medicines and doctors needed in Gaza
Israel rejects a UN commission of inquiry finding of genocide and denies allegations of wrongdoing, justifying its actions as self-defence following Hamas’s 7 October attacks that killed about 1,200 people, AAP reports.
Dr Mohammed Mustafa, better known as Dr Mo or his Instagram handle “Beast from the Middle East”, became globally known by posting heartbreaking clips while working at Gazan hospitals.
He remains worried about the flow of aid, medicines, doctors and machinery needed to start the massive rebuild, which remains under Israel’s control.
Still, “I have to be hopeful,” he said:
Three years ago, many people didn’t understand Gaza or the occupation or the history. Now, world opinion has changed.
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Doctor who worked fly-in, fly-out in Gaza worried about prospect for peace
Dr Mohammed Mustafa, the Perth-based doctor who shared video clips of his work as a fly-in, fly-out emergency medico in Gaza, holds grave fears for the prospect of peace.
A ceasefire is in effect but Mustafa said it shouldn’t be mistaken for a long-term solution.
“It’s a ceasefire, not a peace plan,” he told AAP.
Central to his concerns are the lack of accountability for Israel’s military offensives, both before and after Hamas’s 2023 attack that began the two-year war.
“It is important to understand that this peace plan does not address the conditions that led to 7 October,” he said, adding:
It has nothing on Palestinian self-governance, the end of occupation or lifting the siege. There’s nothing in this peace plan addressing two years of war crimes.
My people, family, have been through a genocide by the neighbours, as recognised by the UN and every major human rights organisation. You can’t have peace without justice.
Victorian emergency services minister says ‘every call got through’ during triple-zero power outage
Victoria’s emergency services minister, Vicki Ward, has provided a further update on the power outage at triple zero overnight, which meant call takers weren’t able to use the service’s computer-aided dispatch system for several hours.
She told reporters outside parliament:
There was a power outage last night at triple zero. Call takers, dispatchers responded very quickly, they were straight on to it. They were able to use the systems that they have in place when such a situation happens, and that’s exactly what they did.
She says the power was off for “about an hour and a half”, with an investigation into the matter now under way. She says a key focus will be finding out why the backup power system didn’t take over during the outage:
We’re investigating that at the moment. It’s never happened before … What should happen is the backup service should come in and work. We don’t know why it didn’t.
She said the dispatch system was incrementally brought back on line over a couple of hours.
The issue is unrelated to an outage on 18 September, when Optus customers were unable to call triple zero.
Ward said “every call got through” during this power outage.
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Central bank will be slower to cut interest rates in the future, RBA chief economist says
Poor productivity growth means the central bank will be slower to cut interest rates in the future, the Reserve Bank’s chief economist, Sarah Hunter, says.
In a speech this morning, Hunter outlined how Australia’s poor productivity growth meant that “trend” economic growth – essentially the economy’s speed limit – was now 2% per year, versus a previous estimate of 2.25%, and well down from more than 3% in 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
Once upon a time a quarterly GDP growth rate of 0.5% would have been “seen as subdued”, she said, but “would now signal demand and capacity growing largely in line with each other and inflationary pressures holding steady”.
Hunter said weaker productivity growth means the RBA will be slower to cut rates in response to slower growth, and faster to hike when the economy expands more quickly.
Similarly, the bank assesses that the sustainable wages growth is now 3.2%, against 3.5% previously.
Financial markets and a number of economists have pushed back expectations for the next rate cut until 2026.
With their forecasts already baked in, Hunter said the updated assessment on Australia’s potential growth rate had “very little” impact on what the RBA would do over the coming year or two.
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Rightwing US commentator Candace Owens loses appeal over 2024 visa rejection
Rightwing commentator Candace Owens lost her high court appeal against a decision to deny her an entry visa to Australia. The court found the minister for home affairs, Tony Burke, was within his right to knock back the visa after saying the provocateur may “incite discord” during her planned national speaking tour.
Australia rejected Owens’ visa application last October, ahead of a planned five-date tour in November, with events proposed in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Owens, whose full name is Candace Owens Farmer, has courted controversy with incendiary claims about Jewish, transgender and Muslim people, and Burke said last year it would be better for Australia’s national interest “when Candace Owens is somewhere else”.
Owens filed a suit earlier this year saying the rejection went against implied freedom of political communication.
In a lengthy ruling, the high court upheld Burke’s findings. The court said:
In the absence of evidence, or agreed facts, it is not obvious that the opportunity to hear Ms Farmer speak in Australia (the so-called “lightning bolt” effect) could add anything to political communication in Australia.
Owens will have to pay the costs of the appeal.
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Victoria premier says Sussan Ley only focused on ‘politics and division’ with comments about crime
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, accused the federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, of following in Peter Dutton’s footsteps as she visits Melbourne today to talk about crime.
Ley told the Today Show earlier this morning she was in Melbourne to call for tougher sentencing laws and described crime in the state as “out of control”.
When Allan was asked about the visit, she acknowledged there was “more to do” in tackling the “repeat pattern of brazen, dangerous and shocking behaviour” causing community concern but described Ley’s visit as “purely politics”.
She went on:
We’re seeing from the current leader of the opposition that she’s following the same anti-Victorian pattern of behaviour that the federal Liberal party have perpetrated on Victoria year after year after year … We know she’s not focused on what’s best for Victoria. She’s only focused on bringing politics and division, which is so typical of the Liberal party, whether it’s the federal Liberal party or the state Liberal party, they’re all about punching down on Victoria and Victorians.
We’ve got a lot of work to do here in Victoria and Victorians deserve better than this reckless, divisive politics that we’re seeing time and time again from federal and state Liberal party members.
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Pill-testing service says ability to test drugs ‘first line of defence’
Cameron Francis, CEO of The Loop, which operated one of Queensland’s pill-testing services, said pill-testing is the “first line of defence”:
Without pill testing, we don’t know that these dangerous drugs are circulating until it’s too late and someone has overdosed.
When governments shut down harm-reduction services, the drug market doesn’t disappear – it just becomes even more dangerous and unpredictable.
Nitazenes are becoming more common across the community. Without pill-testing, we have no way to track their spread, and respond with information and alerts for the community.
Coroners and health professionals have repeatedly recommended adopting pill-testing as an early warning system for dangerous drugs on the market. One person has died as a result of synthetic opioids since the ban so far.
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Queensland Health issues health warning of new dangerous drug, weeks after state bans pill-testing
Queensland Health has issued a public health alert after discovering new synthetic drugs, weeks after the state government banned pill-testing.
State parliament stepped in last month to prevent a charity providing the service at no cost to the taxpayer, after the new Liberal National party government closed two state-funded services. The party did not permit debate on the decision in parliament before passing the law on party lines late at night by amending an unrelated bill.
Queensland Health warned of the discovery of 5-cyano isotodesnitazene, a new, rare type of nitazene. Nitazenes are a form of synthetic opiate, akin to heroin or fentanyl, but are stronger and can produce life-threatening toxicity in small amounts.
The sample is a white powder in a plastic bag marked “opioid 5F”. The drug has only been previously discovered in Australia at Canberra’s pill-testing clinic and is so novel there is limited data on its potency or toxicity.
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AEC told of harassment and intimidation at 2025 election
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) received thousands of complaints about political campaigners at the last election including harassment, spam texts and voter intimidation.
The AEC is appearing before the federal parliament’s joint standing committee on electoral matters this morning. Its written submission to the hearing says it received more than 2,200 complaints about political parties, “including spam SMS messages, postal vote applications, advertising and campaign worker behaviour”. The submission said:
Of those complaints, 550 related to voter harassment and intimidation by campaign workers. This included aggressive and pushy behaviour, being bombarded with signs, blocking walkways, asking individuals their voting intentions, and yelling.
The AEC commissioner, Jeff Pope, told the committee chair, Labor MP Jerome Laxale, that some voters may have been intimidated by a “sea of corflutes” – or plastic election signs – at some polling booths. He said he had “never seen more corflutes” at some polling places, and that the AEC received reports of voters saying they found that environment intimidating or difficult to navigate.
Pope also said the 2025 election had seen a rise in “issue-based groups” outside of political parties, becoming a bigger feature of the election system. He didn’t name any specific groups, but noted that third-party campaign groups were becoming more common in backing certain issues, candidates or just seeking “media attention”.
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Victoria experiences triple-zero computer outage overnight
A power outage in Victoria knocked out triple-zero’s dispatch software overnight, with call-takers forced to use pen and paper to take notes.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, says she has been advised there were no impacts during the outage, which lasted several hours and is being investigated.
She says:
At triple zero, there are extensive and intensive backup protocols for the highly trained staff to deploy should a situation like this arise, as it has overnight. The cause of the power failure is still being investigated. I’ve not got any advice that there was any impact on the community. If there is, of course, that information will be updated over the course of today.
Allan thanked staff for responding quickly:
They’re also highly trained to respond to situations when they arise, and the advice is that the call-taking was not interrupted as a result of this power outage, because the backup protocols were quickly enacted.
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Australia Post announces deadlines for sending holiday mail
Australia Post has announced its deadlines to see deliveries make it in time for Christmas.
Within Australia, parcels sent via Parcel Post need to be mailed by 22 December for same-state arrivals and 19 December for interstate. Sending to and from Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Tasmania or regional and remote locations should allow for a few extra days.
Christmas letters and cards need to be posted by 18 December for same state and 16 December for interstate.
Internationally, AusPost needs your parcels by 21 November to 5 December for Economy Air, depending on location. International Express parcels have a bit more wriggle room and need to be received by 5 to 18 December.
All sending dates are available here.
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SA premier says ‘perception’ of algal bloom now doing as much damage as ‘the bloom itself’
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, spoke to RN Breakfast this morning about the state’s new, $102m effort to protect coastlines and support coastal communities amid the ongoing algal bloom.
He said the state had established a communication system to track beach safety during the bloom, but stressed for many regions swimming was safe:
First and foremost, we’re seeking to provide the community, both South Australian but also visitors from abroad, that by and large it is safe to swim in our beaches unless there’s reason not to … you know, the overall majority of our coastlines are unaffected.
I think we’re at a point now in South Australia where the perception of the algal bloom is probably doing as much damage as the bloom itself. That’s not to downplay the bloom. It’s real and having an impact and continues to in the marine environment. But it’s also true that the perception of it in some quarters is exaggerated.
Malinauskas was asked when residents and travellers should expect the bloom to end. He said:
We just don’t know what’s going to happen. The trend is heading in the right direction, it’s impossible to account for what happens.
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Head of Aboriginal Legal Service says NSW government should be ‘ashamed’ by deaths in custody figures
Karly Warner, the chief executive of the Aboriginal Legal Service, just spoke to ABC News about the record deaths in custody. She said:
The New South Wales Government should be absolutely ashamed of this record, but they also can’t say that they didn’t know.
We warned them and have continued to warn them that as a result of the New South Wales government driving increases in incarceration of Aboriginal women and children and men through punitive laws and policing practices, that it would lead to tragic consequences and we are seeing those tragic consequences.
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Aboriginal Legal Service says figure a ‘crisis and a preventable tragedy’
The Aboriginal Legal Service has responded to the news that a record number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody in New South Wales this year.
The service’s chief executive, Karly Warner, said:
We call on the Government to stop passing laws which contradict its obligations to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in police cells, courts and prisons, and instead work in partnership with Aboriginal communities to implement evidence-based, community-led solutions to reduce imprisonment.
This is a crisis and a preventable tragedy that should deeply alarm everyone in NSW. A prison sentence should not be a death sentence.
Despite committing to reduce the mass incarceration of Aboriginal people under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the NSW Government continues to double down on laws and policing which guarantee increased imprisonment – instead of preventing people from entering prison in the first place by meeting their needs and investing in vital community-based supports.
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Highest number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people die in custody in NSW
A record number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody in New South Wales so far in 2025, with more than two months still left in the year.
The NSW state coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, took the rare step of releasing a statement about the “profoundly distressing milestone” of reaching a record 12 deaths in custody this year:
These are not mere statistics. Each of these deaths represents a person whose life mattered and whose loss is felt deeply by families, loved ones and communities across the state. They are individuals whose deaths demand independent and careful scrutiny, respect and accountability.
She said the surging prison population showed “underscores the scale of the issue”:
Over the past five years, the number of Aboriginal people in custody has increased by 18.9 per cent, while the non-Aboriginal prison population has declined by 12.5 per cent. Nearly half of Aboriginal adults in custody (45.6 per cent) were on remand or refused bail awaiting further court outcomes. The number of Aboriginal people on remand has surged by 63 per cent over the same five-year period.
These figures reflect the entrenched over-representation of First Nations peoples in the criminal justice system – a systemic issue that compounds the risks and vulnerabilities contributing to the rising number of deaths in custody.
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Employers prefer candidates from ‘elite’ universities, survey reveals
More than half of human resources and diversity practitioners say their employers prefer candidates from “elite” universities, a survey reveals.
Diversity Council Australia’s latest study of class inclusion at work, released today, found 58% of HR and diversity practitioners surveyed said their organisation favours candidates from elite universities, with some saying they use this to filter out applications during recruitment.
The council’s research also found “class marginalised workers” – those in the lowest 20% of household incomes – were less likely to experience inclusion at work.
DCA’s chief executive, Catherine Hunter, said these findings challenge the notion that Australia is a class-free society:
Your social class shouldn’t determine your career opportunities, yet our research shows class bias still impacts who gets ahead and who is left behind.
The findings are drawn from survey responses of about 1,400 Australian workers and diversity practitioners and a nationally representative sample of 3,000 Australian workers.
More on the opposition’s proposed amendments to NSW housing reforms
Under the opposition’s proposed amendments, the Housing Delivery Authority – a body that decides what major projects should be deemed state significant and decided by the planning department – will be subject to a full statutory review.
District and regional planning panels would also remain despite the government having proposed to abolish them.
This was a particular concern of the Nationals.
The new targeted assessment pathway would not apply to major non-residential developments such as mines, waste incinerators, transmission lines, windfarms and solar farms.
Environmental groups have warned that as the bill is now worded, the targeted assessment pathway would effectively lead to a lack of environmental scrutiny of other major projects including mines and power stations.
The minister for planning and public spaces, Paul Scully, rejected this view. He said that targeted assessment would apply to a class of development where assessment and community consultation has already occurred upfront, not major proposals that have significant potential impacts.
However the bill may require amendments to achieve this aim.
Green groups have also raised concerns about the corruption risks in this and other changes, because they concentrate decision-making with the minister and the department, instead of independent panels.
The minister rejected these assertions.
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Planning reforms set to pass NSW parliament
Measures to further stimulate housing development in NSW by streamlining the planning system look set to pass the NSW parliament after the opposition said it would support the bill – with amendments.
The Minns Labor government has proposed substantial changes to speed up housing approvals, both for major projects such as high rise apartment blocks and for residential renovations and individual housing projects.
The opposition said last night it would support the bill provided changes were made to ensure development in the regions is sustainable, more accountability is introduced and the proposed fast-track changes did not impact scrutiny of other types of projects, such as mines and solar and windfarms.
“Planning law reform can’t be about politics or spin in the middle of a crisis,” the opposition leader, Mark Speakman said. “Our amendments are practical, responsible and aimed at cutting red tape while keeping government accountable.”
The NSW Greens had hoped to send these major changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. But this appears doomed to fail.
But the opposition said it believed a bipartisan approach could work.
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NSW to use $70m in dormant Opal card funds to invest in active transport
The NSW government plans to use about $70m in unused balances on long-dormant, unregistered Opal cards to invest in active transport options such as bike lockers and a better system for shared e-bikes.
The government said it will introduce a new bill that will allow it to, for the first time, make use of such funds that have been dormant for five years or more. There are about 17m Opal cards with positive balances that have’t been used in that time, many thought to be linked to interstate or international visitors who bought one-off cards and never registered them.
The average balance on those cards is $4.
The bill will also propose amending rules to allow Transport for NSW to recover unused balances under a new scheme.
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IMF warns of slow Australian economy and AI bubble risk
The International Monetary Fund has confirmed its predictions of slower Australian economic growth as the global economy battles trade tensions and faces risks of an AI bubble.
The Australian economy will grow at a pace of about 1.8% on average through 2025 and then 2.1% through 2026, according to the IMF’s latest projections, released today.
The IMF in August predicted growth of 2.2% in 2026, so today’s call is a downgrade. However, the IMF is now expecting stable unemployment and slightly lower inflation in 2026 than it had predicted back in April amid Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, now making similar forecasts to those made by Australia’s Reserve Bank in August.
The world economy is now expected to grow at 3.1% in 2025 in 2026, still a little slower than the IMF’s predictions a year ago. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist of the IMF, said the global economy was still unstable, writing in a note:
The outlook remains fragile, and risks remain tilted to the downside. The main risk is that tariffs may increase further from renewed and unresolved trade tensions.
Gourinchas also warned surging AI investment could pop like the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and political pressure on central banks could destabilise financial markets – a reference to sustained demands the US Fed cut interest rates from Trump.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will meet his overseas counterparts later this week and said he planned to discuss the global economy’s volatility and “fragile state” highlighted by the IMF.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take things over. Let’s dive in.
Education ministers to consider new national standards to combat bullying
Federal, state and territory education ministers will consider a proposal for a new national standard on anti-bullying when they meet on Friday.
The communications minister and eSafety commissioner are also set to brief the ministers ahead of the social media ban taking effect on 10 December.
The government announced the anti-bullying rapid review in February, with co-chairs Dr Charlotte Keating and Professor Jo Robinson to present their findings and recommendations to the meeting.
The education minister, Jason Clare, says the review shows the prominence of bullying in and out of school hours.
Complaints about online bullying to the eSafety commissioner have increased by 450% in the last five years ...
The review reminds us bullying doesn’t stop when the school bell rings any more. Today it can follow you all the way home after school. The internet means that you can be bullied now at any time, day or night, and anyone can see it.
Murray Watt to spruik proposed rewrite of nature laws to WA miners
Faster environmental approvals could save proponents hundreds of millions of dollars, according to analysis the federal environment minister will use to sell his planned rewrite of nature laws to Western Australian miners.
Murray Watt wants to speed up assessment times for projects as part of changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), which he plans to introduce to federal parliament in November.
A combination of measures to “streamline” approvals – including the introduction of special “go” zones to accelerate green energy projects – are designed to reduce the timeframe for decisions by at least 20 days.
New departmental analysis released by Watt’s office found that would save applicants about $440m.
Watt will promote the analysis in a speech to Western Australian business leaders, hoping to secure their support after their fierce resistance to the Albanese government’s first attempt to overhaul the EPBC Act.
The minister will tell the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia:
Having modern, fit-for-purpose environmental laws in place will protect Australia’s precious natural environment, while also supporting speeding up assessments and approvals for national priorities like more homes, jobs, renewable energy, critical minerals and the economic prosperity Australia needs in the future.
We know that time is money – our new streamlined assessment process, as well as other reforms and initiatives, will deliver substantial cost savings for businesses and bring forward important economic development.
While in Perth, the environment minister plans to meet with the Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, who personally lobbied Anthony Albanese to shelve Labor’s nature laws in the last term of parliament.
‘Our solemn task is to get ourselves in a state where we are capable of governing again’: Paterson
The Liberals have been locked in an extended period of public blood-letting and infighting after suffering the worst election defeat in its 80-year history at the May poll, with sackings and resignations from shadow cabinet, damaging leaks and frequent outbreaks of disunity all testing Sussan Ley’s authority.
In the speech, the shadow finance minister said a period of “reflection and self-examination” was necessary after the election loss, particularly given MPs’ regret with how robust internal debate was sacrificed for unity under Peter Dutton’s leadership.
But Paterson said it cannot “drag on for ever”.
An ongoing mass public therapy session doesn’t exactly scream ‘ready for government’.
Paterson acknowledged the Liberal party – unlike Labor – granted backbench MPs freedom to speak their mind on policies, reflecting on how he had threatened to cross the floor to oppose the Turnbull government’s proposed extradition treaty with China in 2017.
But, without naming any rogue MPs on his side, he said that “freedom must be exercised judiciously”.
The Liberal party is not a thinktank. Or an activist group. Or a debating society. We are a political party designed to win and hold government. Those of us who remain in parliament have a special obligation to our party and our country. And our solemn task is to get ourselves in a state where we are capable of governing again. The consequences if we fail are dire.
James Paterson says Liberals must end post-election ‘apology tour’
A senior Liberal frontbencher has called for an end to the naval-gazing that has plagued his party since its disastrous federal election defeat, warning a prolonged “mass public therapy session” makes the opposition appear unfit for government.
The Victorian senator James Paterson said the party must stop the post-election “apology tour” and urgently shift its focus to holding Labor accountable and devising a policy agenda that applies traditional Liberal-conservative values to modern Australia.
In a speech laying out his vision for the party’s future, the Victorian senator said the Liberals must reject the “false choice” that it must turn into either a “free market version of the teals” – in doing so rejecting culture wars – or adopt Nigel Farage-style populism.
Delivering the Tom Hughes Oration last night, a speech in honour of the former Liberal attorney general, Paterson said:
The alternative to these false choices is to maintain the classical liberal-conservative fusion that Menzies built and make it relevant for the modern world.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before our day’s blogger steers the news ship through the oceans of live updates.
James Paterson, the shadow finance minister, has called for an end to the naval-gazing that has plagued his party since its disastrous federal election defeat, warning a prolonged “mass public therapy session” makes the opposition appear unfit for government. We have more details in a minute.
The International Monetary Fund expects Australia’s economic growth to slow in the coming months as the global economy battles trade tensions and faces risks of an AI bubble. More coming up.
