What we learned: Sunday, 29 June
With that, we will wrap the blog for the afternoon. Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Here were today’s major developments:
A group of inmates held a peaceful protest over the death of a 41-year-old Aboriginal man who had been held at Parklea prison in Sydney. The man died on Friday evening after being transferred to hospital.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the high legal threshold for the preventative detention of some stateless asylum seekers was stopping the federal government from locking them up. Burke also said he was concerned about the safety of members of parliament and other public figures after attacks on US and UK politicians and the rise of online organising tools for terror groups.
Tanya Plibersek told ABC Insiders that Israel should turn its attention to ending the war in Gaza. Plibersek has laughed at suggestions that Labor’s quotas for women have “subverted democracy” in the party.
Police in Melbourne are investigating the death of an unidentified person whose body was found on a CBD street in the early hours of Saturday. Also in Victoria, police have arrested a 27-year-old man after human remains were allegedly found at a home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Updated
Burke’s complaint over legal barrier for asylum seeker preventative detention ‘an admission of a catastrophic failure’: Hastie
The shadow home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie, has jumped on comments from Labor’s Tony Burke suggesting the high legal threshold for the preventative detention of some stateless asylum seekers is stopping the federal government from locking them up.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Hastie called the comments “an admission of a catastrophic failure” from Labor.
They repeatedly assured Australians they could keep the community safe. Now, after rushing through a preventative regime 18 months ago, they admit it doesn’t work at all.
This government has spent more than $20m on its flawed community safety regime and doesn’t have a single application to show for it.
The government must act immediately to keep Australians safe. We don’t accept that there is nothing that can be done, and the Coalition stands ready to assist if urgent legislation is required to clean this mess up and keep these dangerous individuals off our streets.
Updated
Protest held inside Parklea prison after Aboriginal inmate dies
A group of inmates have held a peaceful protest over the death of a 41-year-old Aboriginal man at Parklea prison in Sydney.
The man died at Westmead hospital on Friday evening after being transferred from the correctional centre for treatment about 12.55pm.
A spokesperson for Management & Training Corp (MTC), which runs the prison, extended sympathies to the man’s family and friends and the Aboriginal community.
We are working with Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police, who investigate all deaths in custody regardless of the circumstances.
As the matter will be subject to a coronial inquest, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
The spokesperson said a group of inmates held a “peaceful protest in an accommodation unit” in response to the man’s death about 9am on Saturday.
After a period of negotiation, the majority of inmates were voluntarily secured in their cells. A small number of inmate representatives then spoke with centre management.
At about 12.30pm, inmates were released from their cells, and normal routine recommenced.
There were no injuries to staff or inmates during the incident, and nothing was damaged.
Updated
South Australia joins nationwide crackdown on dangerous knives
Owners of machetes or swords have three months to surrender their weapons as another state falls into line with an Australia-wide crackdown on dangerous knives.
The surrender of the blades, to be classified as prohibited weapons, takes effect in South Australia from July.
They can be handed in anonymously until the end of September following the passage of tough new laws after a spate of stabbings in neighbouring Victoria.
The SA move comes after Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA all introduced tough laws in recent months in a bid to combat the growing number of knife crimes.
Along with the ban on machetes and swords, the SA government is raising the purchase age for all dangerous knives from 16 to 18.
Here’s the state’s attorney-general, Kyam Maher:
We have acted swiftly and decisively in response to incidents interstate to prepare the strongest laws in the country to protect our community from the menace of knife crime.
We haven’t gotten to that stage in South Australia with some of these incidents ... interstate but that’s the exact point of passing these sorts of laws to make sure we don’t get to that point.
– AAP
Updated
All the changes coming on 1 July
A wage increase for low-paid workers, changes to superannuation and significant reforms to the pension are part of sweeping changes being made on 1 July.
The end of the financial year is typically when state and federal governments change a range of legislation, implementing new policies.
This year there is a lot happening so let’s take a look at the big-ticket items. All the details are this story:
Updated
Dodgy smoke dens shut down and owners jailed and fined proposes new NSW opposition plan
Shutting down dodgy tobacco shops, hefty $1.5m fines and seven-year jail terms have been floated to curb an illicit economy of smoke dens triggering gang wars and firebombings, AAP reports.
The NSW opposition is ramping up its tough on crime rhetoric with a bill to be introduced in parliament, vowing to stamp out a ballooning hidden market of cheap cigarettes and vapes.
The move would give the health ministry and magistrates the power to close down businesses selling products clandestinely and penalise landlords if their tenants carry the illegal items.
For serious offenders, the coalition wants prison sentences of up to seven years or $1.5m fines, opposition leader Mark Speakman said:
These dodgy shops are all over our suburbs, run by criminals selling illegal tobacco and vapes like it’s completely normal.
The coalition’s plan comes as the state government kicks off a mandatory licensing scheme on Tuesday, requiring all retailers selling tobacco and smoking products to hold a valid permit or risk fines more than $10,000.
Tobacco prices have been driven by a federal excise topping $1.40 a cigarette in March, excluding shop mark-ups, with the average pack of 20 costing about $40. Along with the tobacco tax, landmark federal laws that took effect in October mean vapes can only legally be sold through pharmacies.
Updated
Search for missing hiker on NSW south coast enters third day
A multi-agency search is continuing for a hiker who has been missing from the New South Wales south coast since Friday.
Christopher Moore, 38, was last seen on Twelve Mile Road, about 32km south of Nowra, on Wednesday morning when he was dropped off for a camping trip.
He was due to be picked up at the same location on Friday, but when he didn’t arrive, officers were notified and a search commenced.
The NSW Police Rescue Squad has been searching alongside local police, Polair, the SES and the Rural Fire Service in bushland around Jerrawangala and Wandandian.
Police and family hold concerns for the man’s welfare.
The man is described as Caucasian in appearance, about 180cm tall, with a thin build, short light brown hair, a beard and a moustache. He was last seen wearing khaki and black pants and a khaki hooded jumper.
Updated
Retail sales forecast to recover after warm weather slowed winter shopping
Retail sales figures are expected to bounce back slightly after unseasonably warm weather put Australian consumers off buying winter clothes, AAP reports.
After a 0.1% fall in retail spending in April, ANZ Bank economist Aaron Luk expects to see a 0.2% rise in May figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
We expect a modest recovery in clothing sales this month and food-related spending is expected to continue its upward trajectory.
Even accounting for the weather-impacted 2.5% drop in clothing sales in April, the Australian consumer has experienced a subdued start to 2025, despite falling inflation and interest rates boosting disposable income.
Consumer sentiment was hit by global uncertainty stemming from Donald Trump’s threatened trade war, and although tensions are now easing, confidence remains muted.
Elsewhere, Australia’s never-ending wealth-creation engine powers on, with home prices likely to show further growth in Cotality’s home value index report on Tuesday.
Median dwelling prices hit a record high in June, with the median home in Australia now worth more than $830,000.
Updated
Queensland to build 20,000 new homes in Logan in $2bn residential fund’s first project
The Queensland government will build 20,000 new homes in Logan as the first project to benefit from the state’s $2bn residential activation fund.
It says $135.98m will be rolled out to support the construction of the Chambers Flat wastewater treatment plant and the new Logan homes from 2028.
The state’s fund has received 178 submissions – 64 from the state’s south-east and 114 from regional, rural and remote areas.
Round one funding focuses on the construction of truck infrastructure, including water supply, sewerage, and storm water systems, as well as roads for residential developments.
The deputy premier and minister for state development, infrastructure and planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said the fund would “transform the housing landscape in South East Queensland as well as rural, regional, and remote Queensland”.
In the coming weeks, I will be announcing further projects to be delivered through the residential activation fund – helping more Queenslanders pursue their home ownership dreams.
Updated
Hundreds more bus services announced for Sydney’s west
The New South Wales government has introduced hundreds more bus services to western Sydney, with extended operating hours in the first stage of the investment.
An additional 244 trips will be added to the timetable from Sunday, with the extra services connecting Penrith, Blacktown, St Marys and Mount Druitt.
The government said the additional services would improve service frequency, resulting in the four routes operating a daytime frequency of 30 minutes, seven days a week.
The minister for transport, John Graham, said the community had been “crying out” for more bus services.
Shift workers rely on commuting outside of standard business hours and these changes provide more services to get them to and from home after hours and Sundays.
Updated
Burke flags democracy threat if MPs ‘can’t move around freely’ after attacks in US and UK prompt safety concerns
Burke also said he was concerned about the safety of members of parliament and other public figures after attacks on US and UK politicians and the rise of online organising tools for terror groups:
I’m very conscious of it, and I’ve had this exact conversation with my UK counterpart, where I’m making sure we’re getting all the information from them.
British politicians Jo Cox and David Amess were both killed by attackers in recent years, while earlier this month, Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democrat, and her husband were murdered in the US.
Burke was asked on Sky News about an alleged plot to harm NSW state Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp in 2024:
I don’t want Australia to become a country where members of parliament can’t move around freely and engage with the community. It’s not good for democracy.
Last week Labor moved to list the encrypted online platform Terrorgram as a prescribed terrorist organisation in Australia. Burke said it was necessary because the chat application also shared how-to guides on conducting terrorist attacks, and members encouraged other people to cause harm.
Updated
Burke says Labor hamstrung by high court ‘legal thresholds’ on asylum seekers' preventative detention
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says the high legal threshold for the preventative detention of some stateless asylum seekers is stopping the federal government from locking them up.
Labor was rocked by the political fallout from the NZYQ ruling in late 2023 when the high court found the indefinite detention of people seeking asylum in Australia who were considered a community safety risk was illegal.
On Sky News this morning, Burke said he was aware of the case of a Melbourne photographer who died earlier this month after he was allegedly assaulted by a former immigration detainee, released as a result of the NZYQ ruling.
But he said no individual case was yet to “come close” to reaching the threshold set by the court for preventative detention on public safety grounds:
The reality is the legal thresholds that we are stuck with, because of some decisions of the high court, are more difficult to be able to reach than I want them to be. I’m not giving up. I’m going to keep doing it.
Burke said he would prefer individuals who pose a risk to community safety to be removed from Australia:
If your visa’s cancelled, you shouldn’t be in Australia.
Negotiations to resettle three individuals released from immigration detention on Nauru are continuing. Those released from detention included 12 murderers or attempted murderers, more than 60 sex offenders, and more than 100 people convicted of assault and domestic violence.
Updated
Suburban Rail Loop to save Victorian commuters up to 40 minutes, new data shows
Victorian commuters will save up to 40 minutes on their journeys to work and university when the state’s Suburban Rail Loop project opens, new data shows.
The Allan government released new data today showing how its signature infrastructure project, due to open in 2035, will cut certain travel times.
The report showed the most significant time savings were from Cheltenham.
A student in this suburb will be able to travel to Deakin University in 19 minutes by public transport, slashing their commute by 40 minutes, according to the report. The loop will connect two universities – Deakin and Monash – to trains.
The government estimates that the loop will take 600,000 cars off the road each day by making train travel a more attractive alternative to driving.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said:
Victorians want to spend less time stuck in traffic or stuck on the train – and I’m on their side.
Updated
Pedestrian dead after car performing burnouts allegedly hits three people
A pedestrian has died and a driver remains at large after a car performing burnouts allegedly hit three people in the NSW Hunter Valley overnight.
Police are searching for the driver after they allegedly hit and killed a man while performing the burnouts in Stockrington, southeast of Kurri Kurri, about midnight overnight.
Officers were told the modified sedan allegedly hit three people before it was driven away from the scene.
A 53-year-old man suffered critical head injuries and died a short time later. Two women – who police have been told were also hit by the car – also left the scene before emergency services arrived.
The alleged vehicle was found torched about 2.40am. Police are searching for the driver.
Updated
Defence budget to be based on need not GPD like Nato allies, says Burke
Lifting the federal defence budget will be based on what Australia’s military can achieve, rather than an arbitrary dollar figure, a senior minister says.
Pressure has mounted on the Albanese government to lift defence spending, after Nato allies agreed to boost theirs to 5% of GDP.
While Australia has pledged to increase its spend to 2.3% by 2033/34, the US has called for a rise to 3.5%.
But the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said Australia was already lifting its military spending, which would also focus on enhancing the armed forces’ ability to protect the country. He told Sky News:
We start with the capability, we don’t start with the dollars, and that’s how we work with every financial decision that the government makes.
With those capability decisions, we are already spending more than was spent before we came to office.
– AAP.
Updated
New laws to crack down on misleading rental ads and renters’ data protection in NSW
The NSW government has introduced new laws cracking down on misleading rental advertisements and protecting the personal data of renters.
The legislation will require mandatory disclosure when images in rental advertisements have been altered to conceal faults to mislead rental applicants. It will also stop the unnecessary collection of personal information.
Around a third of people in NSW rent their homes, and it’s estimated that about 187,000 pieces of identification information are collected from renters in the state every week, the government said. This included personal photos, social media account details and the number of tattoos a person had.
If passed, a standard rental application form will be introduced to clarify what information can and cannot be collected, and altered photographs would have to be disclosed. This includes using artificially generated furniture that shows a double bed in a bedroom that is only large enough to fit a single one, or digitally modifying photos to obscure property damage.
The legislation introduces penalties of up to $11,000 for individuals and $49,500 for corporations for agents and landlords who fail to adhere to the privacy rules, or $5,500 for individuals and $22,000 for businesses for non-disclosure of misleading or altered photographs.
The minister for better regulation and fair trading, Anoulack Chanthivong, said: “Renters are entitled to dignity and privacy when living in a rental property – and this extends to their personal information too.”
Updated
Cyberbullying and sexually-explicit deepfakes top concerns in school bullying review
Back to the state education ministers’ meeting, bullying was also on the agenda as a review into the problem attracted more than 1,300 submissions.
Ministers were briefed by co-chairs of the review, Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson AM, and agreed that the use of electronic devices, including creating sexually-explicit deepfakes, would be addressed in the review. The eSafety commissioner will attend the next meeting in October.
Compulsory year 1 numeracy checks will be brought forward to next year in all jurisdictions except Western Australia, and finalised bilateral funding agreements will be made public, but “timing will be settled between the commonwealth and respective jurisdictions”.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, told reporters on Friday the eSafety commissioner had written to all education ministers with a toolkit for schools in response to the growing problem of deepfakes.
He said bullying could “cause teachers to quit or young people to think about not wanting to go to school or worse”.
At the end of this year, the ban on access to social media for young people under the age of 16 will come into effect … which I think is a crucial part of helping young people grapple with this issue.
When the bell rings and school finishes, the phones come back out, and … young people get thrown back into that toxic cesspit of social media. So, what we do next in terms of banning access to social media is important.
Updated
More money in pockets as financial year changes begin
Australians will get a boost to minimum wages while more will be squirrelled away into retirement nest eggs under changes taking place at the start of a new financial year.
This 1 July marks brighter news for the hip pockets of Australians with increases to wages and welfare payments and continued energy bill support.
The national minimum wage will increase 3.5%, with the lowest-paid workers taking home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week.
The rate at which superannuation is paid into workers’ nest eggs will increase from 11.5% to 12% and will be expanded to working parents who take leave to care for their babies.
A mother-of-two’s retirement savings will see a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually.
- AAP.
Updated
Crackdown on rogue early childhood care providers after education ministers meet over sector safety concerns
Education ministers will increase penalties for non-compliant early childhood care providers and strengthen regulations in the sector following safety concerns.
In their first meeting since Adelaide’s federal election on Friday, state education ministers were briefed by the CEO of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), Gabrielle Sinclair, and the author of a recent New South Wales sector review, Chris Wheeler.
They agreed on a range of further actions, including strengthening regulatory responses to poor service delivery by increasing the availability, transparency, and national consistency of compliance and safety data, as well as implementing stricter rules on entry to the sector and fitness and propriety testing.
In a communique published after the meeting, ministers agreed that “strengthening child safety, quality and regulatory responses may require consideration of funding and resource implications by all governments”.
The federal minister for early childhood education, Jess Walsh, told reporters on Friday there was “more to do” to keep children safe in early learning:
Our work … will be informed by the work that has just been done in NSW. We welcome the Wheeler inquiry and we welcome the work that NSW has done in the area of child safety in early learning.
Updated
Plibersek rebukes Coalition over quotas for Nationals on frontbench but not Liberal women
Tanya Plibersek has laughed at suggestions that Labor’s quotas for women have “subverted democracy” in the party.
The remarks were a reference to comments made by senior conservative Angus Taylor on Friday, who opposes quotas to lift the number of women in the Liberal party.
Plibersek said quotas had lifted the percentage of women in the party from 14% in 1994 to 56% today:
They’ve got a quota of National party MPs that have to be on the frontbench. So they’re happy to have quotas for National party MPs. It’s just quotas for women that they’re not prepared to use.
Does Angus Taylor really want people to believe that the 28 most talented Liberals in the whole country are the people who’ve made it into the federal parliament?
Updated
Plibersek announces permanent $5000 payment to women fleeing violence
Tanya Plibersek, the minister for social services, says making a $5000 payment to women fleeing a violent relationship a permanent scheme will make a “substantial difference”.
The payment, introduced by the Morrison government as a trial, will now be made available indefinitely.
Plibersek said the payment was just one measure the federal government provided to address violence against women:
This is a start. This is the thing that gives you the confidence that you can walk out and there’ll be some help available to you very quickly.
Is it enough? I will never say it’s enough until we stop losing women and children to violence in the family home. I’ll never say that we are doing enough.
Updated
Plibersek says Israel should focus on ending ‘catastrophic’ war in Gaza
Tanya Plibersek has told ABC Insiders that Israel should turn its attention to ending the war in Gaza:
We want to see a return of Israeli hostages, absolutely we do.
But when you look at the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing conflict in Gaza; the humanitarian aid being prevented from entering Gaza and being distributed, the number of deaths we continue to see, I think it’s important.
Most people see that these two conflicts are related and we need to make sure that we are urging peace in both circumstances.
Updated
About 3000 Australians remain stuck in Iran, Tanya Plibersek says
Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek says about 3000 Australians are still in Iran, and that the government faces a challenge to relocate them safely.
As reported by Daisy Dumas earlier this week, many Australians have struggled to get out of Iran and found themselves marooned at its border with Azerbaijan.
Here’s what Plibersek told ABC Insiders:
Australia’s interest in this is predominantly in making sure that Australians who are caught up in this conflict are able to get safely out of Iran.
We’ve still got about 3,000 Australians in Iran at the moment. It is very difficult to assist them to safety.
Updated
AFP seizes 100kg of methamphetamine ingredients in Sydney’s west
The Australian federal police (AFP) says it has seized more than 100kg of products related to methamphetamine and its production after dismantling a drug lab in Sydney’s western suburbs.
According to police, the investigation began in October 2023 after the US Customs and Border Protection agency detected 27kg of methamphetamine destined for Australia concealed in blankets from South America, and passed intelligence and evidence to the AFP.
The “clandestine laboratory” was discovered at a Fairfield East home on Saturday, police said.
AFP Det Supt Morgen Blunden thanked the officers who assisted in the operation.
I want to acknowledge the dedication and professionalism of all the AFP members involved in these investigations, from investigators and intelligence members to all of our other support capabilities.
Updated
Arrest made during search for missing Melbourne man
Police in Victoria have arrested a 27-year-old man after human remains were allegedly found at a home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The remains were discovered by police while investigating the suspicious disappearance of 23-year-old Joshua Bishop, who was reported missing by his mother in late May.
Bishop’s family described his disappearance as out of character.
In a statement, Victoria police said they found human remains in a Westmeadow home on Saturday as part of the investigation into Bishop’s disappearance.
The human remains are yet to be formally identified.
Police arrested a 27-year-old man who will be interviewed about the discovery.
Updated
Body found on Melbourne CBD street
Police in Melbourne are investigating the death of an unidentified person whose body was found on a CBD street in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Patrolling police came across the body on Collins Street shortly after 4.15am and the area was cordoned off while officers “processed the scene,” Victoria police said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
At this stage the circumstances surrounding the death of the person, who remains unidentified, are unclear.
Police asked anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Parklea prison inmate dies
An inmate at Sydney’s Parklea prison has died in hospital after paramedics were called to provide urgent medical assistance.
NSW emergency services were called to provide assistance to the 41-year-old male inmate shortly before noon on Friday.
The man was treated by paramedics at the jail before being taken to Blacktown hospital. He was then transferred to Westmead hospital for further treatment.
A police statement said the man died in hospital on Friday night.
In a statement, the force said: “Initial inquiries have led police to believe the man’s death is not suspicious.”
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to the Australia news live blog this Sunday, 29 June.
I’ll be with you for most of the day, including a flurry of political interviews expected this morning.
