What we learned today, Monday 29 September
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. We’ll be back early tomorrow morning with more breaking news for you. Until then, I hope you have a great night, and here were today’s top stories:
The federal opposition went on the attack after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese – who had been in London following his visit to the US – travelled to Liverpool to speak at a UK Labour conference, saying it was inappropriate for him to participate in a political forum overseas.
In his speech, Albanese defended the UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s struggling leadership, insisting the Labour government has an “absolute resolve” to stand up for democracy and fight far-right forces in Britain.
Back in Australia, Optus reported another triple-zero outage overnight and the communications minister, Anika Wells, was preparing to confront the boss of the telco’s Singaporean owner, Singtel at a meeting.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said she didn’t believe Liberal colleague Andrew Hastie was after her job, and brushed off his claims about immigration.
Four teenage boys were arrested after a car chase through Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and into the city centre, which ended when they abandoned the allegedly stolen BMW in the middle of Bourke Street mall.
And Freya Leach’s Sky After Dark program was axed after only six weeks on air, following a decision to let on a far-right guest who wore a shirt festooned with raw bacon rashers and went on a diatribe about Islam while the show was being broadcast live.
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PM tours Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque during UAE visit
In more news from the prime minister’s overseas trip, Anthony Albanese has toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, as he begins a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, were shown the huge mosque complex, including its grand central square and colonnade, some of its more than 80 domes, about 1,000 columns, 24-carat-gold gilded chandeliers and the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet.
Albanese will meet with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during the visit.
He said:
It is a great honour for me to be here at the Grand Mosque, and it is very humbling.
You get the real feeling when you are here about the human experience and how humbled we are before the glory of God.
It is just a beautiful building that has also architecture and art from all around the world, [by people] who have contributed to make this such a glorious place.
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The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has issued a statement following the police car chase through the CBD earlier.
Allan says:
I thank Victoria Police for their work apprehending these offenders in the CBD quickly and keeping Victorians safe.
My thoughts are with the pedestrian who was injured as well as those who witnessed this event.
This is disgraceful, dangerous behaviour. Victorians won’t tolerate it and neither will we.
Labor and Coalition MPs duel over Albanese’s speech at UK Labour conference
The opposition’s finance spokesperson, James Paterson, has also criticised Albanese’s participation in the Labour conference.
During an interview on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing earlier, Paterson said:
I’m not aware of any precedent of a prime minister travelling overseas to speak at a party political conference, a partisan conference.
The prime minister had legitimate business in New York, he had legitimate business in the UK, including his meetings with government, but this side trip to a political conference is inappropriate.
Labor MP Andrew Leigh, who appeared on Afternoon Briefing after Paterson, defended Albanese, saying the PM’s “national interest” speech strengthened longstanding links between the UK and Australia. Leigh told the ABC:
The prime minister spoke about the importance of defending democracy at a time when populism is on the rise, the strength of the relationship between our two countries, and the important initiatives like Aukus being pursued.
We need to be bolstering the sensible centre at a time when there’s extremist movements seeking to fuel discord and zero sum thinking on the fringes of politics.
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Ley criticises Albanese for 'campaigning' at UK Labour conference
The federal Coalition has been attacking the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, for speaking at a UK Labour party conference in Liverpool on Sunday.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has posted this video on Instagram, accusing Albanese of “campaigning” for UK Labour while Australians are struggling at home.
In the video, Ley questions why Albanese would give a “partisan political speech” overseas and labels his decision “totally unacceptable”.
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Most Victorian state MPs and local councillors think corruption is a problem, Ibac survey finds
A survey of state MPs and local councillors by Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found the majority believe corruption is a problem among elected officials.
The annual survey by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) showed that most MPs (81%) and councillors (68%) believe corruption is a problem in Victoria.
The majority of MPs (53%) and councillors (57%) also perceive it to be a problem among elected officials. Almost 90% of MPs and 57% of councillors believe their organisation is moderately or highly vulnerable to corruption.
Councillors said they believed that favouritism or nepotism, followed by inaction, breach of professional boundaries, collusion and misuse of resources were the top five corruption risks among elected officials.
For MPs, it was inaction, followed by collusion, misuse of resources, favouritism or nepotism and breach of professional boundaries.
However, Ibac noted just 27 of the state’s 128 MPs participated in the survey, with results for this group “considered indicative only.” Almost 200 councillors participated.
The Ibac executive director of prevention and communication, Dr Linda Timothy, said:
Hearing directly from MPs and councillors that the majority believe their organisations are vulnerable to corruption means Ibac has work to do strengthening corruption resistance in the public sector.
Learning how they view their organisation’s corruption vulnerabilities, allows us to directly target those risk areas with support and prevention efforts.
Latest triple zero outage ‘routinely encountered’, Optus parent company says
Optus’s parent company has said the latest triple zero outage affecting a mobile tower in Dapto in NSW is “a type of outage that carriers ... routinely encounter” and not a result of upgrade or maintenance, as the earlier outage was.
Singtel said in a media release on Monday that the outage at Dapto was limited to one cell site out of 3,140 in NSW, and was different to the outage that hit parts of NSW, WA, SA and NT earlier this month:
Given the heightened sensitivity in Australia around triple zero calls, Optus communicated this incident to demonstrate full transparency of a type of outage that carriers around the world routinely encounter.
This incident did not arise from any upgrade or maintenance action being conducted.
The statement comes before the Optus and Singtel bosses meeting with the communications minister, Anika Wells, on Tuesday over the company’s handling of the earlier outage.
WA police also reported a Telstra mobile outage in the south-west region of the state earlier today.
The southern western district police initially reported it may affect triple zero calls, but later clarified Telstra had confirmed triple zero calls were unaffected.
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Albanese government urged to protect Australians on board aid ships bound for Gaza
Muslim community groups are urging the federal government to protect Australians aboard a coalition of aid ships bound for Gaza.
Eight Australians, including Muslim activist Abubakir Rafiq, are part of the Sumud flotilla coalition which is hoping to reach Gaza this week.
A statement released today by more than 240 imams and Muslim groups, including the peak body Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, say the federal government has a “moral duty and legal obligation” to protect its citizens on the ships.
The groups have called on the government to release a statement affirming the rights of Australians to participate in humanitarian missions and engage in diplomacy to ensure Israel does not endanger the flotilla.
The statement also calls for the government to provide consular support and advocate for Israel to respect international law.
Activists on the flotilla, which is attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, allege some of the ships were attacked by drones earlier this month.
Israel blocked two earlier attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July.
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Police search for Dezi Freeman scaled back five weeks after fugitive vanished
The manhunt for Australia’s most wanted fugitive has been scaled back, five weeks after two police officers were gunned down at a rural property, AAP reports.
Police have said more than 200 police remain in the Victorian high country searching for Freeman, who allegedly killed Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart on 26 August as they carried out a search warrant at his home in Porepunkah.
The 56-year-old has not been seen since the alleged shootings, after which he fled into dense bushland from the mountainous town about 300km north-east of Melbourne.
More than 400 police had been deployed in the initial search, as well as Australian Defence Force personnel who joined the operation at the request of Victoria Police.
Despite no confirmed sighting of the trained bush survivalist since the alleged shootings, Victoria Police commissioner Mike Bush said authorities were determined to find him.
Speaking to reporters earlier today following a service to commemorate National Police Remembrance Day, Bush said:
We will not give up until we find that person.
This has really damaged our police service and the community and we are determined to bring this matter to a conclusion.
The police chief conceded the search was “absolutely” becoming more challenging as time goes on as the force rotated officers conducting the search and providing reassurance to the local community.
He said police had received 1,400 pieces of information from the public and daily offers of resource support from commissioners around Australia and New Zealand.
Officers, including specialist teams from interstate and abroad, have searched more than 40 square kilometres of land by foot and air in the hunt for Freeman.
Deputy commissioner Bob Hill attended a memorial service in Wangaratta on behalf of the force, where the aftermath of the local officers’ deaths remains raw.
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Woman’s family finally gets answers more than 13 years after she disappeared
More than 13 years after a vibrant and “fiercely free-spirited” young woman disappeared without a trace, a coroner has found she was killed by her controlling lover, AAP reports.
Leisl Smith, 23, was last seen alive on CCTV getting into a white ute at Tuggerah railway station on the NSW Central Coast in August 2012.
The vehicle belonged to her accused killer, James Church, who was charged with her murder and faced trial 10 years later.
But the trial verdict was sealed after Church died by suicide on the eve of it being delivered in the NSW supreme court in July 2022.
Smith’s family have now finally received answers to painful questions about what happened to the vibrant 23-year-old after the inquest findings were handed down. Coroner Harriet Grahame determined Smith died by homicide at the hands of Church before midnight on 19 August.
Although a body has never been found, the coroner found it was likely the 23-year-old was killed at a remote location in the NSW Upper Hunter region.
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Four teens arrested after car chase involving allegedly stolen BMW in Melbourne’s CBD, police say
Victoria police say they have arrested four teenage boys after a car chase in Melbourne’s CBD this afternoon in which a pedestrian was struck.
In a statement, police said they saw a BMW being driven erratically on the Eastern Freeway in Doncaster about 12.30pm and followed it into the CBD.
A woman was struck on Exhibition Street who was taken to hospital for observation with no life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police said the BMW, which they believe was stolen from the Boroondara area yesterday, was dumped a short time later on Bourke Street Mall, where the four boys fled on foot.
They were arrested a short time later outside a shopping centre on Lonsdale Street, police said.
Two 17-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old from the Bendigo and Yarra Ranges areas were being interviewed as of 2.45pm, police said.
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Hi, I hope you’ve had a nice day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of this afternoon’s news.
That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will be your guide for the rest of the arvo. Take care!
Former Optus CEO gets new top job at Australian Unity
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, the former CEO of Optus, has been named the new chief executive of Australian Unity after she resigned from her previous post in 2023 amid criticism over the company’s handling of a national outage.
Bayer Rosmarin will begin her role on 15 December after a transition period alongside current head Rohan Mead. The chair of Australian Unity, Lisa Chung, said in a statement:
A dynamic and adept contemporary business leader, Kelly possesses the values alignment and credentials to advance the group’s vision of positively impacting the wellbeing of its members, customers, employees and the community.
Bayer Rosmarin resigned at the end of 2023 in the wake of the nationwide outage, which took down phone and internet services for close to 14 hours. Optus was ultimately fined $12m over the matter.
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Multiple people arrested in Melbourne CBD after police pursuit
Victoria police arrested a number of people in the Melbourne CBD this afternoon after a pursuit.
Police said in a statement they would provide more information when it comes to hand, but added “there have been no injuries during the incident and there is no threat to the community”.
Aerial footage obtained by the ABC appeared to show a white car stopped near tram tracks near the city’s Bourke Street Mall.
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Dismay in New Zealand after government fails to recognise Palestinian statehood
Opposition parties, Palestinian groups and a former prime minister have expressed dismay over New Zealand’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying it places the country on the wrong side of history and puts it at odds with its traditional allies.
Last week, the UK, Canada, Australia and others formally declared their recognition of statehood ahead of a special UN conference in New York. As of this month, 157 of the 193 UN member countries have recognised a Palestinian state.
It had been anticipated that the New Zealand coalition government would follow suit, particularly in light of previous comments from prime minister Christopher Luxon and other senior ministers that recognising statehood would be a matter of “when, not if”.
But during his address to the UN general assembly on Saturday, foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said while New Zealand was committed to a two-state solution, it would not yet recognise the state of Palestine.
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Three charged with murder in WA after missing man’s body found in bushland
Two men and a woman have been charged with murder after the body of a missing 33-year-old man was found in bushland during an intensive police search, AAP reports.
Police deemed the disappearance of Jayden Stewart Selfe suspicious and launched an intensive search of a bush area and a residential property in Perth for clues. Officials said they had “grave concerns” for Selfe’s welfare and believed his last known contact with people known to him was in May 2025.
Police said Monday they had found Selfe’s body after a two-week search.
A 42-year-old man from Banksia Grove, a 40-year-old man from Attadale and a 39-year-old woman also from Attadale have been charged with murder.
They have been remanded in custody to appear before Perth magistrates court on Monday.
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Chalmers backs communications minister’s trip to New York
Chalmers hit back at opposition leader Sussan Ley’s criticisms that communications minister Anika Wells travelled to New York during Albanese’s visit to the UN general assembly.
Anyone who knows minister Wells knows that she would have been taking her responsibilities in the Optus matter very seriously at the same time as she advanced on the global stage our world-leading new regime to protect kids in social media.
It’s possible to do both of those things at once, and that’s what Anika has been doing.
It’s not surprising that the opposition leader will be playing politics with something like this.
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Chalmers says government is holding Optus to account after triple-zero outages
Chalmers was asked about the latest string of triple-zero outages after Optus said this morning nine calls in the Dapto region of NSW failed. The telco said an issue with a mobile phone tower affected calls made between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday.
Chalmers said:
Optus is accountable for the outage that we saw on the 18th of September, and also what’s happened with the tower in New South Wales. The government’s holding it to account. We have directed ACMA, the communications watchdog, to investigate.
This can’t happen again. This is an absolutely shocking failure from Optus, and the most appropriate course of action for the government to take to get to the bottom of this is to ask ACMA to conduct a very thorough investigation.
Chalmers added Australians shouldn’t lose faith in the triple-zero system, saying the government will sort out what went wrong.
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Chalmers says Australians should be ‘proud’ after final budget outcome shows $17bn improvement over pre-election outlook
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher are speaking about the release of the final budget outcome, which shows a deficit of $10bn. That’s more than $17bn better off than the forecast at the pre-election outlook.
Chalmers said:
We’ve been able to achieve this outcome because we have found savings, we’ve shown restraint, we’ve banked upward revisions to revenue, we’ve kept unemployment low, we’ve got real wages growing again, and you can see the dividends of all of that in the final budget outcome.
This gives us one of the strongest budgets and economies in the G20. Australians should be proud of the progress that we’ve made in our budget and in our economy – but we acknowledge, as a government, that there is more work to do.
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Bad Bunny to headline Super Bowl half-time show
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny will headline next year’s Super Bowl half-time show in northern California.
The event, on 8 February, is watched by millions. Last year’s half-time festivities, featuring Kendrick Lamar, drew an audience of 133.5m people.
Bad Bunny said in a statement:
What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.
The Latin artist is bringing his world tour to Australia early next year, with two shows in Sydney on 28 February and 1 March.
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Is Ley worried Andrew Hastie is going for her job?
During Ley’s presser earlier, a reporter asked if she was worried Andrew Hastie was going for her job. The opposition leader had a terse reply:
No. I’m not.
Hastie has maintained he is a “team player” and that he supports Ley’s leadership. The Western Australian MP said his firm stance on abandoning net zero was just part of his effort to be “a little bolder” on policy.
Asked about Hastie’s recent social media posts that migration was making Australians feel like “strangers in their own homes”, Ley said any strain on infrastructure had “nothing to do with any migrant or migrant community”, but said there as a “reprehensible failure of government” to develop projects that Australians “deserve”.
A reporter also asked the leader if Hastie’s remarks were helpful to the Coalition. Ley replied:
I’m very confident all of my colleagues are expressing strongly held views and they do that in many ways.
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Ley says latest Optus outage shows need for urgent inquiry into ‘entire triple-zero ecosystem’
Opposition leader Sussan Ley issued a call for an independent inquiry into the “entire triple-zero ecosystem” after Optus reported another outage in NSW that saw multiple call failures in NSW yesterday.
Ley spoke to reporters in Albury, NSW a moment ago, criticising the communications minister, Anika Wells, who was in New York last week accompanying prime minister Anthony Albanese as he visited the UN general assembly. Ley said:
The Optus crisis is getting worse here in Australia. We have had three catastrophic failures and we are calling for an independent inquiry into the whole triple-zero ecosystem.
It isn’t good enough that the minister responsible was swanning around in New York, was absent and appears missing in action on this critical matter where Australians who are relying on 000 have lost their lives and communities everywhere are desperately looking for answers.
Ley said the entire triple-zero system needed an inquiry, saying Australians deserved answers after multiple outages:
The entire triple-zero ecosystem needs an urgent inquiry, not just by the regulator, not just this tip-toeing around by the government, not this ‘too-late to actually explain what’s going on’ attitude that this minister has. But to stand up there and fight for Australians who deserve answers.
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NSW domestic violence offenders could be forced to report dating app profiles and activity to police
High-risk domestic violence offenders in New South Wales may be forced to inform police when they use dating apps under new protections for abuse survivors, AAP reports.
The courts have been given the power to impose serious domestic abuse prevention orders to restrict the behaviour of perpetrators in NSW for up to five years.
These powers have just come into effect but were part of a package of domestic violence reforms that passed the NSW parliament a year ago.
Conditions could include scheduled reporting to a police station and requirements to notify police when they begin new intimate relationships or create and use dating profiles.
The orders apply to offenders convicted of two or more domestic violence offences that carry maximum jail terms of at least seven years, and people who have been charged with a serious domestic violence offence against a relative or a current or former intimate partner - even if they’re acquitted.
People found to be in breach of these orders can be fined $33,000 or face a prison term of up to five years.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491
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Threatened kārearea falcon wins New Zealand’s 2025 bird of the year
New Zealand’s fastest bird, capable of flying 200km/h in its pursuit of prey, has been crowned bird of the year – a long-running annual competition that has previously been a lightning rod for scandal and hijinks.
The threatened kārearea is New Zealand’s only falcon. It is small and tawny, with impressive talons and large dark eyes. Kārearea are powerful aerial hunters and watch other birds, lizards or small mammals – sometimes larger than themselves – from a high vantage point before diving at high speed to snatch their prey.
There are between roughly 5,000 to 8,000 kārearea left, according to the Department of Conservation. They live in forests around the country and nest on the ground, typically under boulders or fallen trees. The birds are “very vulnerable” to predation by introduced mammals such as cats, hedgehogs and stoats who feast on their ground-dwelling eggs, Emma Blackburn, the chair of the Karearea Falcon Trust said
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Eight skydivers leapt from a plane minutes before it crashed this weekend, killing the pilot
Eight skydivers leapt out of a light plane minutes before it crashed and killed experienced pilot Paul Smith, AAP reports.
The light plane crash landed in thick bush near Moruya airport on the NSW south coast on Saturday afternoon, with Smith the only remaining occupant of the aircraft. The 54-year-old pilot and skydiving instructor died at the scene.
The crash happened roughly two minutes after the skydivers exited the plane at roughly at 14,000 feet to start their descent.
All eight landed safely within the airport grounds.
Det Insp Justin Marks said yesterday:
[Smith] was a very well respected, very experienced, and very well liked local resident. The death or sudden death of anyone in a small community is very tragic.
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How will a new long-duration battery change Australia’s energy grid?
Australia’s longest duration battery will come online this year, a major milestone as the power grid charges towards a mostly renewable energy future.
When fully charged, the Limondale battery in south-west New South Wales will be able to pump 50MW of power back into the grid over eight hours.
But what is a long-duration battery, and why does it matter? And can it help with rare and unpredictable periods of renewable shortage, known as “dunkelflaute”?
Read more:
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NSW police not informed of latest Optus outage until welfare check sought
NSW police were first informed of the latest Optus triple zero outage when the telco asked police to do a welfare check on those in the Dapto area.
Optus confirmed overnight that an issue with a mobile phone tower in Dapto had affected calls in the area between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday, including nine triple-zero call failures.
A spokesperson for NSW police confirmed the first they were informed of the outage was when Optus made the request to conduct welfare checks on those who had attempted to dial triple zero. The spokesperson said:
On the morning of Sunday 28 September, NSWPF received a request from Optus to conduct welfare checks on a number of callers in the Dapto area that had attempted to contact Triple Zero and were unable to connect.
Four welfare checks were referred to police. None required an emergency services response and no further police action was required.
Optus has had opt-in real-time notifications for outages for emergency services since the end of June, ahead of mandatory notifications coming in November. The company previously argued providing such notifications would be a “huge burden”.
Optus was approached for comment.
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Snoop Dogg heads to Sydney for DJ gigs after AFL grand final
Snoop Dogg gave Sydneysiders a taste of his DJing abilities this weekend after his appearance at the AFL grand final.
Snoop had two sets booked as Snoopadelic, one late Saturday night at the Bella Vista hotel in north-west Sydney on Saturday, and another at the Greenwood hotel in North Sydney yesterday.
The Saturday gig reportedly didn’t kick off until after 2am, leaving some fans who booked expensive tickets frustrated. But footage from Sunday shows a packed venue as the rapper sang his song Drop It Like It’s Hot and rapped over tracks from Journey and Akon.
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Opposition says triple zero outages ‘putting Australian lives at risk’
Melissa McIntosh, the shadow communications minister, said the string of outages on the triple zero network was putting Australian lives “at risk”, saying the government had an obligation to ensure the network was “always fully operational”.
McIntosh responded to reports Optus had another outage in the NSW Illawarra region yesterday, with nine calls to triple zero not going through. Police have since confirmed those callers are all OK. She said in a statement:
The Government has a responsibility to ensure the triple zero network is always fully operational, and when there is a fault communities must be notified immediately – not after the fact. …
While Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister, Annika Wells [sic] have been overseas at taxpayers expense, we have a crisis unfolding here at home that is being ignored. On behalf of the Coalition, I am calling for an urgent, independent investigation, into not just Optus but the full triple zero ecosystem.
Australians must have confidence they can call Triple Zero, our most essential telecommunications service, when they need it.
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Police recover man’s body from boat in Sydney harbour
NSW police discovered the body of a man on board a boat in Sydney harbour on Sunday evening.
Officials said they were responding to reports or a concern for welfare when they found the body of a man, thought to be in his 60s, aboard the vessel that was moored in Little Sirius Point, near Taronga zoo.
Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident and will prepare a report for the coroner.
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South Australian police continuing search for missing four-year-old boy
Police in South Australia are still searching for a missing four-year-old boy who was last seen at his home near the town of Yunta on Saturday night.
Police say Gus, who has long, blond curly hair, was last at his homestead around 5pm on Saturday wearing a grey sun hat, a blue T-shirt with a yellow Minion on the front and light grey pants and boots.
Officials have been searching the area since that night with the assistance of PolAir and infrared cameras, but they have not been able to locate him. A large ground search began yesterday with the aid of SES volunteers and a drone, looking at a 2.5km area around the site he was last seen.
Water operations police will head to the scene this morning to search dams and tanks on the property as the effort continues.
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Woman dies after unit fire in Sydney
A woman died yesterday after a unit fire in Sydney’s west.
Police said emergency services were called to a unit in the suburb of Kingswood around 5.45pm on Sunday amid reports of a fire. On arrival, firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze before pulling the woman, 50, from the unit in an unresponsive condition. The unit suffered what’s described as “extensive” damage.
She was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to a local hospital in critical condition. She could not be revived and died.
Two police officers were also taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and have since been released.
Officials have established a crime scene and have opened an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Starmer says his relationship with Albanese ‘really matters’
Sir Keir Starmer lavished praise on Anthony Albanese at the UK Labour conference in Liverpool.
Starmer called Albanese “a real inspiration” to politicians on the left and praised his landslide victory at the 3 May election, saying:
Our two nations don’t just share history and values, a monarch and even our language, but Albo and I are actively working together to make our world more secure and to improve the lives of people in our countries.
From our Aukus partnership, to the Australian soldiers who are standing shoulder to shoulder with British troops training Ukrainians for the frontline, from our free trade deal and our investment in each other’s countries, creating wealth, jobs and opportunity and boosting our economies.
Starmer said his relationship with Albanese and federal Labor “really matters”.
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Albanese speaks at UK Labour’s annual conference
Anthony Albanese addressed UK Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool overnight, seeking to buck up his friend and fellow prime minister, Keir Starmer, and defend government and institutions as the best way to solve complex problems.
Albanese received a standing ovation from delegates at the conference, which comes against a backdrop of tricky political waters for Starmer and Labour. Outside, hundreds of supporters of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party demonstrated against the Labour government.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard was present, along with former treasurer Wayne Swan and Labor’s national secretary, Paul Erickson.
Albanese said the hard road was essential for governments, “because it is the only one that takes us anywhere”:
In Australia, our election came against the backdrop of the worst global inflation since the 1980s and the biggest international energy crisis since the 1970s.
And there was no quick fix, no easy answer. These same circumstances had brought about the defeat of incumbents around the world and had some predicting that our first-term Labor government would be defeated, or reduced to minority.
But one of the reasons we won re-election and, indeed were able to increase our majority is because in difficult times, we offered people real hope.
We didn’t pretend that we had solved every problem in just three years. But we could point to an economy that was turning the corner: inflation down, wages up, unemployment low and interest rates starting to fall.
And we offered a second-term agenda that built on the patient and disciplined work we had done in our first term.
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Latest Optus triple zero outage ‘disappointing’, finance minister says
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said news of the latest Optus triple-zero outage was “disappointing” but said Australians should still have faith in their ability to call emergency services.
Gallagher spoke to ABC News this morning:
I imagine for many Optus customers this is more disappointing news off the back of the major disruption that happened the week before. Look, I understand it is slightly different to the major outage that you’ve been covering over the last week but, yes, it’s still disappointing and, although I understand Optus did make the necessary reports over the weekend, there’s clearly more work to be done.
The minister said government reviews of telcos were meant to ensure the triple-zero system was “in the best shape possible”:
It’s not satisfactory at all to have people unable to connect in their time of need … We need to make sure that’s as strong and robust as possible. That’s the work that minister [Anika] Wells and the regulators are leading.
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Final budget outcome better off than forecast, but still $10bn in the red
The final budget outcome will show the budget is $10bn in the red, more than $17bn better off than forecast at the pre-election outlook.
A strong labour market has been credited by the government as the main driver of the budget improvement.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, released in April, forecast an underlying cash deficit of $27.9bn for 2024-25, which the treasurer and finance minister will today announce has been improved to $10bn.
But the budget will remain in the red over the next decade.
The government says the fiscal position is now $209bn better off over the three years to 2024-25, and has returned almost 70% of revenue upgrades since coming into government. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the deficit is “a fifth of the forecast we inherited from the Coalition”:
In dollar terms, we’ve made more progress on the budget in three years than any government in history. It’s a reminder that we have one of the strongest budgets in the G20.
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Two sailors rescued after catamaran goes missing off NSW coast
Two sailors suffering from extreme exhaustion were rescued off the coast of NSW after the catamaran they were on went missing this weekend.
Police said they were called on Saturday evening after the two men, aged 50 and 68, reportedly left Yamba harbour earlier that morning en route to Southport, Queensland. When they did not arrive as scheduled, emergency services began a search of the area.
The men were able to call for help about 9pm last night, saying they were about 22 nautical miles offshore from Sandon, NSW, about an hour south of Yamba.
A search aircraft was able to locate the catamaran and volunteers with Marine Rescue NSW have been towing it back to Yamba, and were expected to arrive this morning. The two men are reportedly uninjured, but suffering from extreme exhaustion.
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Optus reports new triple zero outage, this time in NSW
Optus said it is investigating a fresh triple-zero outage, this time in the Illawarra region of NSW yesterday.
The telco said an issue with a mobile phone tower in Dapto had affected calls made between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday, including those to the triple zero network. Nine triple-zero call failures were identified, including a caller who required an ambulance and used another phone to contact emergency services.
One person tried to call emergency services but could not get through. Police have since confirmed they are OK. Four of those calls were referred to NSW police to undertake welfare checks.
The telco said all callers who tried to use the triple-zero network have been reached and are fine.
Optus said in a statement:
We have investigated the impact of the issue on calls made between 3am and 12.20pm yesterday, including calls made to the Triple Zero network, and have confirmed with police, all callers who attempted to contact emergency services are OK.
We sincerely apologise to any customers who were impacted.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, is set to meet with Optus executives today.
Updated
Good morning
Nick Visser here. It’s Monday, welcome to the first live blog of the week. Here’s what’s on deck:
Optus reported more triple-zero outages overnight, this time in the Dapto region of NSW. The telco said it identified nine triple-zero call failures in a coverage area with a population of about 4,500 people. Police confirmed all callers who attempted to reach emergency services are OK.
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