What we learned today, Monday 13 October
This is where we’ll wrap up for today, but let’s recap the main events:
Qantas warned against scam claims after millions of customers became subject to the latest data leak.
Tony Burke urged “turning temperature down” after Lidia Thorpe’s comment at a Melbourne pro-Palestine rally. Thorpe said her “burn down parliament” comment was a metaphor. The Australian federal police said they were investigating whether comments made by Thorpe breached legislation.
The under-16s social media ban will be ‘extremely difficult to enforce’, Google said.
The social media ban will create a “social gap” for young people, a youth advocate said.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealed surprise changes to super tax rules. Paul Keating hailed the new super tax rules a “huge policy achievement”, but the Greens said they were concerned the new rules were “a gift to the super-rich”. The opposition’s Ted O’Brien said the super tax changes were a “victory for common sense”.
One in seven Australians are living in poverty, a report found.
The Victoria police executive is to be “slimmed down” in a significant restructure amid crime surge fears.
Police said the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont will resume tomorrow in South Australia.
Victoria police said they don’t know if Dezi Freeman is still alive.
We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
Australian shares fall amid new chapter in trade woes
Australian shares have tumbled on the back of a resumption of US-China trade tensions, stoking worries about global growth and tech company valuations, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 75.5 points on Monday, down 0.84%, to 8,882.8, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 81 points, or 0.87%, to 9,183.3.
While investors had increasingly discounted US public trade announcements as negotiating tactics in recent months, China’s call to initiate export controls on rare earths was different, Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
Updated
You can now read the full story on the AFP investigating Lidia Thorpe’s comments here:
Nacc deputy says public hearings will come ‘when the right matter’ arises
Another quick update from the deputy commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Kylie Kilgour.
When questioned about the watchdog’s transparency and the lack of public hearings, Kilgour asked for patience:
Absolutely, we will do a public hearing when we have the right matter. We just don’t have that right matter, today. I can tell you, none of the investigations we are doing would be justifiable to have a public hearing. When we get to that stage, we’ll do it. We are ready to do it. We’ve got all the procedures in place. We’ve got people trained.
Kilgour told the Centre for Public Integrity conference that Nacc needed to carefully balance the task of protecting witnesses, privacy and reputation when holding public hearings.
Updated
Nacc deputy acknowledges concern over robodebt handling and pledges transparency
The deputy commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) has acknowledged community concern about how it handled the illegal robotdebt scheme and has committed to being transparent when appropriate.
The Nacc’s original decision not to investigate was heavily criticised, with its own watchdog, inspector Gail Furness, revealing she had received more than 1,000 complaints.
In February, the Nacc said five public servants and one public official would be investigated to determine whether or not they “engaged in corrupt conduct”.
Kylie Kilgour told a conference organised by the Centre for Public Integrity that she was aware of frustration about the speed of the Nacc’s investigations. She declined to comment on the details of the robotdebt investigation, but said that would change in time:
I will speak more about that investigation when it is done. I will be as transparent and as public and as open as I can be, when I can be, about that investigation. I do understand the community sentiment about what happened in robotdebt and our decision not to investigate.
Updated
Nacc’s robotdebt investigation progressing at ‘decent pace’, deputy commissioner says
The National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (Nacc) deputy, Kylie Kilgour, has told a conference in Melbourne that its investigation into the illegal robotdebt is progressing “at a decent pace”.
Earlier this year, the independent MP Helen Haines, who helped craft legislation to establish the Nacc, called for a public update on the investigation and warned community confidence in the watchdog was on the line.
In February, the Nacc said five public servants and one public official would be investigated to determine whether or not they “engaged in corrupt conduct”.
Kilgour told a conference hosted by the Centre for Public Integrity that “the investigation is under way”:
I am the deputy commissioner that is conducting that investigation with a dedicated team down here in Melbourne. That investigation is happening. It is happening at a pretty decent pace. I can’t comment much more than that at this stage. But people can be assured that it’s been taken extremely seriously, and I take the task of conducting that investigation extremely seriously.
Updated
Coalition unveils reshuffle after Hastie's resignation
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has announced another reshuffle after Andrew Hastie vacated the shadow ministry earlier this month over an immigration policy dispute.
Tasmanian senator Jonathan Duniam, who was formerly the shadow education and early learning minister, will replace Hastie in the home affairs portfolio while Berowra MP Julian Leeser moves from shadow attorney general to education and early learning.
Andrew Wallace, a former house speaker in the Morrison government, will take up the opposition’s attorney general portfolio and leave his place as deputy chair of the powerful parliamentary intelligence and security committee. That move frees up the position for Herbert MP Phillip Thompson, who also maintains his shadow assistant ministry roles for the NDIS and defence.
Other changes include Zoe McKenzie’s appointment as the shadow cabinet secretary and Aaron Violi’s promotion to the opposition ministry as shadow assistant communications minister.
Updated
Up to 3m people signed up for VPNs in UK following age assurance rollout
The executive director of the UK-based Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), Ian Corby, has said between two or three million extra people began using a virtual private network (VPN) to bypass age assurance measures that rolled out in the UK earlier this year.
Corby told the Senate committee on age checks for search engines and the social media ban:
We think probably two or three million extra people are using a VPN, based on some analysis we’ve done, out of obviously, sort of 60 million, and those are hopefully mostly adults, of course, because VPNs tend to come with a cost.
I always do warn people that cheap or free VPNs are stealing more of your data than you could ever possibly imagine. So only ever use a good quality VPN.
Greens senator David Shoebridge said that figure “shows a potentially very, very large gap or window” through which people are avoiding age verification.
Corby said social media platforms under the Australian requirements would need to take steps to prevent users from using VPNs to bypass the check.
[Social media] need to look at the nature of the traffic they’re getting from VPNs. And you can always spot VPN traffic and see whether it looks as if it’s likely to be from a user who is underage in Australia, and if it turns out that they’re never using the social media platform during school hours in Australia, that their currency on their browser is set to the Australian dollar, that they’re using AEDT as their time zone, then you would ask them to prove that they’re not in Australia, or to do an age check.
Updated
Victoria police don’t know if Dezi Freeman is still alive
After announcing his plans to restructure the Victoria police force, the commissioner was asked for an update on the search for Dezi Freeman, who fled into the bush after killing officers Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson on 24 August.
Bush said:
Unfortunately, we have no updates. Of the three likely scenarios we’re considering what weight we put to each of them. Is he still alive? We don’t know. Is he alive and still in the area? We have no real information to suggest that it’s occurred, but we never discount. Or has he been unable to leave the area and is being looked after by others? We don’t know. All of those are assumptions, possibilities, and we plan and resource for those three.
He said there had been 1,400 tips to police with “every one of those pursued twice”.
We encourage anyone who believes they have any information that could help us find this person, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
Updated
AFP investigating Lidia Thorpe’s comments at pro-Palestine rally
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are investigating whether comments made by Independent senator Lidia Thorpe at a pro-Palestine rally breached legislation.
Thorpe had told the rally:
We stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day, and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends.
An AFP spokesperson said it was aware of comments made at a protest regarding Australia’s Parliament House.
The AFP’s National Security Investigations team in Victoria began investigating almost immediately into whether the comments breach legislation. This will be done methodically.
It is not the usual practice of the AFP to provide a running commentary on matters. However, noting the public commentary and concern, the AFP is seeking to reassure the community that this issue is being appropriately considered and undertaken in a timely manner.
Thorpe said her words about burning down parliament house were “clearly a figure of speech”.
Updated
Search resumes for missing boy Gus Lamont in South Australia
The search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont will resume tomorrow in South Australia.
Police announced on 3 October that search efforts had been scaled back for the boy who disappeared from his family’s sheep station in the remote South Australian mid-north at the end of September.
South Australia police released a statement this afternoon, saying the search would resume at Oak Park Station, 43km south of Yunta, on Tuesday.
The search, which will involve police and ADF personnel, will concentrate on an expanded area outside of the zone already searched extensively following Gus’ disappearance on Saturday 27 September.
There continues to be regular and close engagement with the Lamont family who are continuing to assist with the investigation.
Oak Park Station is private property. The family has asked that media refrain from contacting them and [entering] their property.
Updated
That’s all from me. Natasha May will guide you through the rest of Monday. Take care!
Medical watchdog says 95% of notifications on Gaza conflict required no regulatory action
About 95% of complaints to Australia’s medical watchdog about health professionals sharing views on the Gaza conflict required no regulatory action.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) received 188 complaints related to the Gaza conflict between 1 October 2023 and 12 September 2025. The complaints related to 95 practitioners. The chief executive of AHPRA, Justin Untersteiner, told Senate estimates last week two cases of health professionals facing allegations of professional misconduct had been referred to the relevant tribunals.
A spokesperson for Ahpra told Guardian Australia that of the 173 notifications about the conflict that had been closed, seven required regulatory action.
In addition to the tribunal referrals, three practitioners were cautioned, while two had conditions imposed on their registrations.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners wrote to AHPRA in August, urging the regulator to fast-track the investigations of GPs who made public comments about the Gaza conflict.
Updated
‘No one should live in fear of people breaking into their homes’, Victoria’s police commissioner says
Back to Victoria where its police chief commissioner is starting the press conference on the complete restructure of the force amid concerns over increasing crime in the state.
Bush has begun his press conference by saying Victoria police “have exceptional people who do a wonderful job under challenging circumstances”, but the force is facing two significant issues.
Firstly, he noted a “major crime problem in Victoria”, with the state “way overrepresented” and that there are “far too many victims”.
No one should live in fear of people breaking into their homes overnight, stealing cars, violence in the street, violence at retail outlets, knife crime.
The second problem, he said, was “the lack of trust and confidence in the Victoria police”:
In terms of those two very significant issues, we need to police differently. We need a reset. We need to reorganise ourselves.
Updated
Ted O’Brien says super tax changes a ‘victory for common sense’
Deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien says treasurer Jim Chalmers’ new superannuation tax plans are a “victory for common sense”.
O’Brien just said during a press conference:
I welcome today’s decision, to dump a tax which was always super big and super bad. …
We have known for a very long time that this tax is very bad for Australians. But the treasurer refused to budge. Now, finally, the government has made the right decision, to dump its superannuation tax regime.
Today is indeed a humiliating day for the treasurer. But it is a victory for common sense; it is a victory for everyday Australians who are otherwise going to be stung by this tax which was fundamentally unfair.
Updated
Getting ahead of crime ‘problem’ will require ‘fundamental shift’, commissioner says
Bush said in a statement before the press conference that there was “no escaping” the fact that there was a “crime problem here in Victoria”.
Getting ahead of this crime problem requires consequences for those offenders who drive fear in our communities combined with ongoing swift arrests and proactive operations. But it will also require a fundamental shift in how Victoria Police operates. We need to change how we police, so that we can get ahead of the criminals and stop the offending before it happens.
He said there were 22,000 police, protective service officers and public sector staff across the state, but those on the frontline were not being given enough support. Bush said:
While specialist services within Victoria Police have benefited from considerable investment – and necessarily so – our general duties officers, the backbone of our organisation, have not received the same levels of focus or investment.
They are loaded past their capacity, burdened by bureaucracy and systems that don’t talk to each other. Our structures do not support them as effectively as is needed and nor do our back-of-house functions, technology or processes. If we are to prevent crime, then it starts with properly resourcing and enabling our frontline police officers.
Updated
Victoria police executive to be ‘slimmed down’ in significant restructure amid crime surge fears
Victoria police’s chief commissioner, Mike Bush, is holding a press conference at 2.30pm to announce a complete restructure of the force amid concerns over increasing crime in the state.
Under the plan – the most significant structural changes to the force in years – Victoria police’s executive team will be “slimmed down”. There will be a reduction in centralised commands and departments, and frontline police will spend less time on administrative work, such as manning reception desks.
The restructure will also include the following measures:
A new state crime coordination centre, described by Victoria police as a 24/7 “high-tech hub, that will bring together information, intelligence, and operational capability under one roof” to “identify links between crimes, uncover patterns, and provide real time insights to frontline police”.
A trial to release sworn officers from police station reception counter duties and replace them with “alternate staff”.
A trial of “investigation support units” – dedicated admin staff, including former police officers, who will complete arrest paperwork in stations to free up members.
If the trials are successful, Bush said they would be implemented statewide as quickly as possible.
Updated
Two legal challenges to Woodside’s North West Shelf extension filed on environmental and cultural grounds
Two groups have filed separate legal challenges to the federal environment minister’s approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension, one of the world’s biggest liquified natural gas projects.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Friends of Australian Rock Art have commenced federal court proceedings in a bid to have the decision overturned.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, gave final approval last month to Woodside’s proposal to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas processing plant, on the Burrup peninsula in northern Western Australia, from 2030 to 2070. ACF’s general counsel, Adam Beeson, said:
We’re challenging the lawfulness of Minister Watt’s approval of this gas hub extension, which is the centrepiece of the most polluting gas project in the southern hemisphere.
Read more here:
Updated
Greens concerned new super tax rules ‘a gift to the super-rich’
Nick McKim, the Greens’ economic justice spokesperson, says the party remains concerned the government’s new superannuation tax plan will “further [weaken] what should be a tax to ensure the super wealthy top 0.5% pay their fair share”.
McKim said in a statement the proposal made it clear Labor “doesn’t have the guts to tax big corporations and billionaires fairly”, adding:
Of course low income people need some tax relief on their super contributions. This is something the Greens have called for for some time, so we will run the ruler over the changes to low income earners’ superannuation.
Labor has stripped out the tax on unrealised gains and indexed the $3 million threshold, a gift to the super-rich that will cost the budget billions. This is a capitulation to the wealthiest people in the country, and a slap in the face to everyone else who pays their tax straight out of their pay packet.
He said the Greens would look at the full legislation when it is introduced.
The Greens said earlier this year that the party would support a shift in taxation rules to a lower threshold of $2m rather than $3m, but also called for indexation rules to be added to the proposal.
Updated
Keating hails new super tax rules a ‘huge policy achievement’
The former prime minister Paul Keating has just responded to the new superannuation tax changes, saying they will resolve a political “impasse” and ensure “that superannuation accumulations will be successfully taxed”.
Keating released a long statement, pointing to changes by John Howard and Peter Costello in 2007 to abolish the Keating government’s “reasonable benefit limits” for superannuation that placed an upper limit on the tax benefits you could obtain in the system. He wrote:
The government and Treasurer Chalmers have spent well over a year seeking to [devise] a method whereby the Howard/Costello runaway scheme could, with all reasonableness, be brought under control by setting new permissible limits and above which taxation applied at a higher rate. …
The Treasurer’s success in working through and resolving this impasse will now mean that superannuation accumulations will be successfully taxed but taxed only on a basis of realisation, but more than that, taxed at a new limit and at a higher rate, restoring much needed equity following the Howard/Costello rampage of 2007.
Keating went on to say there was little doubt Chalmers had seen “great difficulty” setting new upper limits, but said the changes would be a “huge policy achievement”.
It is reform of a kind that shares substance with necessity. Necessity that every government since 2007 has conveniently overlooked or simply regarded as too difficult.
Importantly, these decisions solidify superannuation tax arrangements in a manner the community can now rely upon for the long-term security of their retirement savings and with it, their peace of mind.
Updated
Yahoo probed on ‘inappropriate’ bald heads on site
Yahoo, which was a popular search engine years before Google’s domination but is now considered a “challenger” site, has faced questions from Liberal senator Sarah Henderson over a BuzzFeed article featured on its homepage during a Senate inquiry.
The inquiry is examining search engine and social media age verification, as well as other incoming internet codes.
Henderson asked Yahoo’s director of public policy, Logan Smith, why the BuzzFeed article, which featured the bald heads of two men behind a woman, was on the website’s homepage:
I’ve just had a look at your website, and you’re displaying on the front page, the homepage of the website, a photograph which looks like a woman exposing her buttocks. Then when you go into it, you see that there are two bald heads in front of the woman. But it was clearly designed to look as if a woman was in a very inappropriate and sexually explicit position, can I ask you to explain why that’s on your homepage?
Smith replied that it was likely partner content from a third party. Henderson said:“It shouldn’t matter, it’s on your homepage.” She said:
I’m concerned, based on your assurances that there is, there isn’t inappropriate content on your homepage, and that Yahoo is not taking that obligation seriously enough.
Smith said no policy or filter was foolproof, meaning Yahoo would rely on manual user reports.
Henderson also said she saw an ad by Temu “promoting what I can only say is an explicit BDM type costume, which I won’t describe in detail, but I would put to you is also very inappropriate for a younger audience”.
Smith took the questions on notice, but said there were ad policies in place.
Updated
‘No good reason’ for high and low income earners to get same super tax concessions, Chalmers says
Chalmers just summed up one of the baseline ideas behind some of the changes in a quick sentence:
Really what I’m saying here is there is no good reason for people with hundreds of millions of dollars in super to get the same kind of tax concessions as people with smaller balances, and that’s what this change reflects.
Updated
Chalmers has had ‘initial’ conversation on changes with the Greens
Chalmers said he has had an “initial conversation” about the changes with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, after cabinet agreed to the recommendations. The treasurer said Waters would confer with her colleagues and the Greens would make their position on the matter known “in due course”.
Chalmers said:
I have appreciated throughout and I appreciate today the opportunity to engage constructively with the Greens in the Senate …
It was a constructive conversation [and] I do not want to pre-empt the Greens party room. They will consider this.
Guardian Australia has reached out to Waters for comment.
Updated
Chalmers says government always takes feedback ‘seriously’, reflecting changes to super tax plans
Chalmers was asked if this is a major retreat from the initial plans to change the superannuation tax system. He said:
As treasurer and as a government we always try to take feedback seriously. We always try to find the best way through …
We found another way to satisfy the same objectives. It means a fairer superannuation system from top to bottom, and means a better outcome for people on the lowest incomes and better targeted concessions for people with the biggest balances.
And that is a good outcome from our point of view.
Updated
Fourteen times more people will benefit from new super thresholds than be adversely affected, Chalmers says
Summing up these changes (and justifying them), Chalmers says:
This is a government which takes feedback seriously, which works through issues and advice in a methodical and a considered way, and you’re seeing the fruits of that today. Our superannuation system is the envy of the world. It is a proud Labor creation, but it has its imperfections, and today, with these announcements, we are addressing at least two of them – the sustainability of concessions in the highest balances, and also adequacy for women and low income earners. And in doing that, we are reinforcing the objective of super as a vehicle for decent retirement savings. This goes hand in hand with our other reforms. We’ve actually done a lot to strengthen super, to make it fairer and more sustainable. We’ve legislated the objective. We got super to 12% – we’re making the changes so that we have payday super, we’re paying the superannuation guarantee on paid parental leave, and we’ll also make sure that the performance test is doing its job as well.
I wanted to leave you with this comparison: 14 times more people will benefit from the low income super changes than will be impacted by the better targeted tax concessions. This is a fairer superannuation system from top to bottom, and it’s another part of us ensuring, as a Labor government, that more Australians are earning more, keeping more of what they earn, and also retiring with more.
Updated
Chalmers signals more consultation on treatment of earlier capital gains
Chalmers says the third area of further consultation is to “find the best way to adjust the treatment of capital gains accrued prior to the start of these new arrangements, to make sure that we’ve got the base appropriately captured when it comes to the new calculations”.
Updated
Chalmers flags more work ahead on super tax realised gains
Chalmers says the second area where they will do “more work” is on the calculation and attribution of the realised gains.
We are anticipating that it will be calculated at the fund level and then attributed to members with balances above $3m and $10m, but we want to be upfront with you and say that we will do a little bit more work on that. We’ve done some work behind the scenes in the lead-up to this announcement, but there is a bit more work to do.
Updated
Defined benefit schemes one of three main areas requiring more work and consultation, treasurer says
Chalmers says there are three main areas where “we will do a bit more consultation and a bit more work”.
The first one is to make sure that we have commensurate treatment of defined benefit in these arrangements we’re announcing today, as we had in the original proposal. For example, we want to make sure that federal politicians are in when it comes to these changes. But more broadly, we want to make sure that defined benefit schemes are appropriately calculated and included in these changes in a way that they were in the original proposal.
Updated
Exemption schemes for federal judges to better align with state counterparts
Chalmers says the sixth change is to better align the treatment of federal judges’ defined benefits interests with the existing constitutional exemptions for state judges:
Judges might have a bunch of different super accounts. This is really about the judges’ pension scheme, to make sure that there is better aligned treatment of federal and state judges when it comes to their defined benefit interests.
Updated
Changes to come into effect from 1 July 2026
Chalmers says the fifth change is made necessary by those other changes, which is a one-year delay “to consult and bed down the changes”:
And then, ideally, legislate them as soon as we can in 2026. So pushing the start date from the middle of this year to the middle of next year, in order to do a bit more consultation, to bed down the changes and to legislate the changes.
For all of these changes we’re announcing today, the new start date becomes 1 July 2026 except for the [low income superannuation tax offset] change, which is timed in 2027 to coincide with the government’s third tax cuts.
Updated
New super tax arrangements will only apply to realised capital gains, Chalmers says
The fourth set of changes Chalmers says is to apply these new tax arrangements to realised gains:
And I’ll come back in a moment to the future work, the extra work that we will do in consultation with the sector to implement that change.
Updated
New super tax thresholds will be indexed, Chalmers says
The third change Chalmers says is to index both of these thresholds to maintain relativity with the transfer balance cap, which was introduced by the Coalition:
The transfer balance cap is indexed to CPI. These thresholds will be indexed to the transfer balance cap to maintain an appropriate relativity between the two sets of thresholds.
We have always had in our back pocket this indexation, or an indexation like this, in order to get it through the parliament. We have also always said to you, publicly and privately, that we expect future governments would have lifted the old threshold. Here we are indexing that, to make that clear, indexing both thresholds.
Updated
New $3m and $10m thresholds for super tax concessions
The second change, Chalmers says, is to introduce two thresholds for the better targeted superannuation tax concessions:
The first threshold is $3m, the second threshold is $10m. For earnings on super balances between $3m and $10m the rate remains 30%; the rate for over $10m becomes 40%.
So this is still a concessional tax arrangement, but it’s better targeted. It will still only impact less than 0.5% of Australians. With the updated years and taking into consideration earnings, this means about 90,000 Australians next year will have more than $3m in their super, and about 8,000 will have more than $10m. And you’d be aware in recent weeks and months that people have been recommending a cap to us for super – this second threshold, at $10m is really instead of going down that path.
Updated
Low-income super tax offset to increase from $500 to $810 for those earning under $45,000
Chalmers goes on to “run through the main changes.”
The first one is to increase the low income superannuation tax offset (Listo), to increase it from $500 to $810 and also to raise the eligibility from $37,000 cut off to $45,000 in 2027 to coincide with the government’s third tax cuts, this will mean more superannuation for 1.3 million Australians, of whom, 60% are women. It means the total number of eligible Australians for the Listo will become 3.1 million, and by one realistic calculation, it means about an extra $15,000 at retirement.
Updated
Chalmers:
This morning, on my recommendation, the cabinet agreed practical changes to make the superannuation system stronger, fairer and more sustainable. There are six main changes to the proposal that we put forward a couple of years ago, including one entirely new element, which is an increase to the low income superannuation tax offset. These are sensible changes, which take more than two years of feedback into account. We have worked through the issues, and we found another way to deliver on the same objectives. This means a better deal for low income workers and also better targeted concessions for the biggest balances. This will make the superannuation system fairer from top to bottom.
Updated
Chalmers reveals surprise changes to super tax rules
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has just stepped up to announce some surprise changes to the super tax rules.
Updated
Patients of Sydney dentist warned to get tested for blood-borne viruses
Patients of a Sydney dentist are being warned by NSW Health to get tested for blood-borne viruses due to poor cleaning and inadequate sterilisation of equipment at his practice.
The Chief Health Officer has advised current and former patients of Safuan Hasic (also known as Steven Hasic) that works performed may have posed a low risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
NSW Health has issued a closure order for his dental surgery in Mortdale and his registration as a dental practitioner has been suspended by the Dental Council of NSW.
In a statement, NSW Health said they have been able to identify a small number of his patients and is contacting them, but a “large proportion” of his patients are unknown and are unable to be contacted directly.
Dr Vicky Sheppeard, the director of South Eastern Sydney Local Health District’s public health unit, said while the potential risk of infection is low, blood-borne viruses can have serious health impacts.
Any current or former patients of Mr Hasic should see their GP as soon as possible and ask to be tested for blood borne viruses as a precautionary measure.
Blood borne viruses can be spread between clients on dental instruments where there isn’t stringent infection control.
People infected with blood borne viruses may not show symptoms for many years, so it is important to be tested to see if there is silent infection. There are effective treatments for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Updated
Social media ban will create a ‘social gap’ for young people, youth advocate says
The Senate committee looking at the under-16s social media ban and other age checks coming online has heard from youth advocacy organisation Project Rockit on what the ban will mean for young people when they’re kicked off social media from 10 December.
Caitlin Blanch, a member of Project Rockit’s national youth collective and a young disabled person from Tamworth, NSW, said social media was a “pivotal way” for her to make connections with other people she could relate to, to find health information and share her story.
She said:
I think that it’s been pivotal for my friend groups in finding representation of queer people that’s not stereotypical of finding cultural content that is not stigmatised. It’s had an incredibly impactful role on connecting otherwise isolated communities to places that they would not have access to, and for young people in regional Australia who perhaps have that physical isolation.
When the ban comes into effect, she said it will change how young people interact with the world:
It creates a social gap, but it also sends a narrative that young people don’t have the power to articulate their own narratives, that they can’t be in control of their agency online, and that they are responsible for the harmful content that they’re exposed to. And I don’t think that’s fair. I think there should be greater emphasis on the corporations that are in control of the algorithms.
Updated
Australia’s household energy bills will halve by 2050, modelling suggests
Australian household energy bills will halve by 2050 as solar panels, batteries and electric cars and appliances become the norm, reducing pressure on the federal government over living costs and creating room for more climate action, a thinktank study suggests.
Modelling by the Grattan Institute finds that cutting greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in line with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 will cut average household energy costs from about $5,800 today to about $3,000.
The report says a fall of roughly this magnitude will happen under existing policies as households use less gas and petrol and more clean energy. The biggest savings are expected in gas-reliant Victoria, where the modelling suggests average annual spending on petrol, gas and electricity could fall from $6,036 to $2,767.
Read more here:
No, Albanese is not getting married while he’s on leave this week
Anthony Albanese is on leave this week, but speculation about whether his holiday will coincide with a quiet wedding date is inaccurate, according to government sources.
The prime minister’s office announced on Saturday that he would be on leave for seven days from 11 October, with Richard Marles to act as PM in his stead. The PM’s office didn’t say where he would be holidaying, as is normal custom for security and privacy reasons, but News Corp reported he was taking a “tropical” holiday and had been spotted on an international flight.
It’s understood to be his first overseas holiday since becoming PM in 2022.
Guardian Australia has been told by government sources that a snap wedding to fiance Jodie Haydon is not on the cards, and that the holiday is just a break before a hectic end to the year. Albanese returns from leave on Saturday, then immediately jets off to Washington DC to meet the US president, Donald Trump, before more international summits and a busy parliamentary calendar takes us into December. Albanese said on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Saturday:
I’m having a whole week off before I head next Sunday afternoon … to Washington DC to meet President Trump and his administration. I’ve had a very warm invitation to the White House. I am very much looking forward to it.
But I’m also looking forward to having a bit of a rest over the next week.
Albanese and Haydon got engaged in February 2024 but have not publicly announced a wedding date. The PM is regularly asked about wedding plans in TV and radio interviews. He said in August that “we’ve decided it will be this year … we’ve got a couple of options” and that it would be “something that’s not enormous” with a “pretty small” guest list.
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Google won’t say whether legal challenge to under-16s ban still planned
Guardian Australia reported earlier this month the legal threat Google had made to the government over YouTube being included in the under-16s social media ban.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson sought to clarify with Google and YouTube’s senior manager of government affairs and public policy in Australia and NZ, Rachel Lord, whether a legal challenge was still planned, but Lord would not answer directly.
She said:
To be clear, at this point in time, we are continuing to speak and engage constructively with the eSafety commissioner and the government on this issue.
Henderson said the inclusion of YouTube in the ban was a “betrayal” of young people, given the platform had previously been given an exemption, and something she said the Coalition – which campaigned for the broader under-16s social media ban – was receiving a lot of complaints about.
Lord said Google maintains the view it should be exempt.
Asked whether Google was lobbying the US government on the matter ahead of Anthony Albanese’s visit next week, Lord said the company had alerted Google colleagues in the US about a “range of issues” being dealt with in Australia, but could not say if the US government was lobbied on those issues.
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Lidia Thorpe says 'burn down parliament' comment was a metaphor
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe downplayed what she called “mock outrage” over her remarks at a rally yesterday, saying her words about burning down parliament house were “clearly a figure of speech”.
Thorpe told a pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne on Sunday: “We stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day, and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends.”
Those remarks were strongly condemned by conservative politicians in the Coalition and One Nation. Liberal senator Maria Kovacic told Sky News that Thorpe “should consider whether she is right to be sitting in our parliament”.
In a statement this morning, Thorpe shrugged off the criticism, saying: “My rally remarks were clearly a figure of speech – a metaphor for the pain in our communities and the urgent need to end genocide in Palestine and everywhere.”
They were obviously not a literal threat. This mock outrage is ridiculous. While people are dying and starving in Gaza, politicians and media are once again clutching their pearls and chasing a scandal instead of focusing on what really matters. This is just another political game designed to distract from the real issues.
I have always rejected violence. Any suggestion otherwise misrepresents my longstanding commitment to pursuing justice and self-determination for First Peoples and all oppressed peoples through peaceful, democratic means.
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Critics say Labor government has failed to raise payments and help alleviate poverty
Kristin O’Connell, a spokesperson for the Antipoverty Centre and a disability support pension recipient, said federal Labor’s failure to raise payments had made things more difficult for those with low incomes.
She said in a statement the group had regularly heard from people who say “life has gotten harder since the Albanese Government came to power”:
Centrelink payments are still hundreds of dollars a week below the poverty line. It’s no wonder poverty is rising. People can’t keep up when the basics are unaffordable and support has been frozen in real terms. …
There’s no such thing as a responsible budget that keeps people in poverty. If you’re proud of balancing the books while people go hungry, you’ve lost sight of what good government means.
Read more here:
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One in seven Australians living in poverty, report says
About one in seven Australians were living in poverty in 2022-23, according to a new report by the Australian Council of Social Services (Acoss) and the University of NSW released for the start of anti-poverty week.
AAP reports the study found 3.7 million people, or 14.2% of the population, were living in poverty in that period, equating to one in seven Australians. That includes 757,000 (or one in six) children. The report shows poverty has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic, when the jobseeker rate was temporarily doubled.
Cassandra Goldie, the CEO of Acoss, said:
While the Albanese government has taken some steps to reduce poverty, such as supporting minimum wage increases and small income support increases, it must do so much more to turn this trend around.
The government must fix woefully inadequate income support payments, set targets and boost social housing and commit to full employment. It should also adopt time-linked targets for poverty reduction to hold us all to account.
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Sydney rolls out upgraded trains on Blue Mountains Line
The first upgraded Mariyung train rolled along Sydney’s Blue Mountains line this morning after years of delays and more than $1bn in cost overruns. The first carriages left Central station at 6.24am after the government had to wide tunnels and expand train platforms to accommodate the new trains.
The trains will gradually replace the V-Sets that have run along the line since the 1970s, which officials said have become a “magnet” for vandals and graffiti. The Mariyung carriages offer two-by-two seating, a quieter, air-conditioned ride, charging ports and digital information screens on board.
Jenny Aitchison, the minister for regional transport, said in a statement:
From Lithgow to Sydney, the Blue Mountains Line is a vital link for thousands of regional commuters. The new Mariyung trains will make those journeys safer, smoother and more enjoyable – connecting people to jobs, education and essential services.
This rollout is about more than new trains, it’s about investing in regional infrastructure, creating local jobs, and ensuring our transport system meets the needs of communities outside the city.
The Mariyung fleet has already been operating on the Central Coast and Newcastle lines since December last year, and will be rolled out on the South Coast line in 2026.
The Blue Mountains line has seen decreases in punctuality in recent years. Data from Transport NSW shows the trains are running on time less than 70% of the time.
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Under-16s social media ban will be ‘extremely difficult to enforce’, Google says
Google has told the Australian parliament that the under-16s social media ban will be “extremely difficult to enforce” and will not fulfil the intention of keeping kids safer online.
At a senate committee hearing this morning on the raft of age verification measures being implemented on the internet in Australia, Google and YouTube’s senior manager of government affairs and public policy in Australia and NZ, Rachel Lord, said the under-16s ban, which is expected to include YouTube, will have “unintended consequences”.
She said:
The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, it also does not fulfil its promise of making kids safer online.
YouTube has invested heavily in designing age appropriate products and industry leading content controls and tools that allow parents to make choices for their families, forcing kids to use YouTube without an account removes the very parental controls and safety filters built to protect them across sport, music, creative learning and classrooms.
She said the ban, due to come into effect on 10 December, would impact safer access to YouTube’s services, and she repeated Google’s claim that YouTube is not social media but “a video streaming platform that Australians use as a content library and a learning resource.”
She said features such as no autoplay, break reminders, and turning off personalised advertising would not be available to teens accessing YouTube in a logged out state once the ban on under-16s holding an account is in effect.
Read more on what YouTube and other social media platforms look like when logged out:
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NSW to begin $200m pothole blitz across greater Sydney
The NSW government said this morning it will fast-track $200m in spending to fix potholes and maintain roads across the Sydney region.
Officials said more than 5,100 potholes have already been repaired on Sydney’s roads in August and September alone. That’s nearly half of the 10,879 that were fixed in all of 2024.
Potholes will be prioritised in areas by traffic volume, location and severity and the road’s importance to freight, bus services and emergency access.
The premier, Chris Minns, said in a statement:
We know how frustrating it is for drivers to deal with damaged roads and potholes, especially after one of Sydney’s wettest winters on record. This $200 million blitz will help make sure our roads are safer and more reliable, while supporting the crews who are already working hard every day to keep Sydney moving.
A report in May from the NRMA estimated there was a road repair backlog in NSW of about $3.4bn in 2023-4, with the worst problems in regional areas, though the backlog for metropolitan councils was also rising.
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Child injured in Queensland shark attack remains in hospital
A 14-year-old boy injured in a shark attack off Thursday Island in far north Queensland remains in hospital.
The boy was attacked by a shark before 6.23pm on Saturday at Cook Esplanade. He reportedly suffered significant abdominal injuries as a result of a shark attack.
He was taken to the Thursday Island hospital before being airlifted to Townsville university hospital with reported life-threatening injuries.
A spokesperson for Townsville hospital said the boy was in a critical but stable condition on Monday morning.
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Jewish community holds vigil, hopeful Gaza ceasefire will hold
Jewish Australians are hopeful that Israel’s two-year war in Gaza is coming an end as a ceasefire holds for another day ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages, AAP reports.
Many gathered on Sunday in a vigil organised by Jewish groups in Sydney attended by thousands of people. The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said had he emphasised to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, that Hamas must have no role in Gaza’s future governance. Maimon said:
We will not forget October 7, nor its victims, including members of my own family. We collectively hold our breath, cautiously optimistic that tomorrow our prayers will be answered and our brothers and sisters will be returned home to their families.
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Public service employees now able to seek orders and receive damages over workplace bullying and harassment
Reforms for New South Wales workers come into effect today, with public service employees now able to seek orders and damages from the industrial tribunal to stop workplace bullying and sexual harassment.
The damages can go up to $100,000 and can also include ordering an employer to take specified actions to stop the conduct, and requiring a public apology be made to the harassed worker.
From today, gender equality will also be included in the Industrial Relations Act, alongside improved wage theft laws and new powers for the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW to resolve workplace disputes.
NSW minister for industrial relations, Sophie Cotsis, said:
This major reform focuses on gender equality as well as the elimination of workplace bullying and sexual harassment which are new key objectives of the IR Act.
Achieving gender equity across workplaces is now a significant component of the NSW IR system. This is part of the Government’s commitment to pursuing gender equity in NSW.
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NSW SES gets more than 200 calls after extreme wind across Sydney region
NSW SES received more than 230 calls across the Sydney region yesterday amid extreme wind that felled some trees and dropped branches on to properties and roads.
Sydney Airport saw wind speeds up to 72kmh, with some gusts up to 102kmh in the afternoon.
The agency said the busiest areas for emergency crews were Bayside, Parramatta and Bankstown.
Burke urges 'turning temperature down' after Lidia Thorpe comments at Melbourne pro-Palestine rally
Tony Burke responded this morning to senator Lidia Thorpe’s remarks yesterday at a pro-Palestine rally, saying he did not want to inflame the debate.
Thorpe had told the rally:
We stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day, and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends.
Burke, the minister for home affairs, said Thorpe’s remarks were “of course” unacceptable, adding he believes lawmakers should be working to turn down the temperature now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the terms of a ceasefire deal.
Burke told RN:
The concept of wanting to inflame, push the temperature up, is not what anyone should be doing, least of all a member of parliament. I’m not going to respond to that by increasing the heat in the opposite direction.
I really think it’s a time for just turning the temperature down because there are two things, and we’ve got a chance of getting both. There are two things that Australians have been wanting. They’ve been wanting the killing to end, and they’ve been wanting to make sure that the conflict’s not brought here. We might be looking right now at the chance for the killing to end. So, let’s also try to calm things down here.
Burke added the world had finally reached a point with the war in Gaza where “despair is turning to hope”.
There’s been many false starts, but I can’t remember a time where there has been a greater level of hope than there is right now.
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Minister to meet with big tech companies this week ahead of under-16 social media ban
The communications minister, Anika Wells, will meet with social media companies, including Meta, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok, today as the clock winds down on implementing a social media ban for under-16s.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will join the minister for the meetings set to re-enforce expectations that big tech companies must work proactively with the government to enforce the laws when they come into effect from 10 December.
A meeting with Elon Musk’s X, which has been critical of the changes, is scheduled for next month.
Wells said:
In two months our world-leading social media minimum age laws will give children a reprieve from the persuasive pull of platforms and those platforms must work closely with eSafety to ensure their systems comply with the law.
There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms damaging children.
Read more here:
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Tony Burke says government will use ‘all the laws available’ to deal with Qantas data breach
Tony Burke, the minister for cybersecurity, said government authorities will use “all the laws available to them” to deal with the Qantas data breach, saying the airline has a responsibility to protect customer data.
Burke spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:
There was some conversation around the fact that it was an outsourced company where the breach had occurred – that doesn’t get you off the hook on your obligations. You can outsource parts of your business, but you don’t outsource the law. So the obligations that are there in Qantas, and they know this, to make sure that they provide cybersecurity.
Burke had a simple message for any Qantas customer affected by the breach, as well as Australians he said are sure to receive more sophisticated scam calls and emails as time goes on:
If you’re getting a call you’re not expecting, hang up, call back through the official line. These sorts of styles of attack will increase. We’re used to cyber being something that’s done at the technical level, but with the improvements in artificial intelligence, increasingly, you’ll hear a friendly voice, sometimes a familiar voice, on the other end of the phone. And when it’s a call you’re not expecting, hang up, call back.
He would not say if Qantas should compensate customers, saying he was focused on the “offence” part of the breach.
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Qantas warns against scam claims after millions of customers subject to latest data leak
Millions of Australians have been cautioned not to fall for bogus Qantas compensation claims after having their personal information leaked online, AAP reports.
The flying kangaroo was one of six global companies to have their data released at the weekend after hackers from Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters made good on a ransom threat.
The leak stemmed from up to 5.7 million Qantas customers having their data compromised in one of its offshore call centres that used Salesforce software. Details included full names, email addresses and frequent flyer details, as well as business and home addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, gender and, in fewer cases, meal preferences.
Qantas has offered a support line and specialist identity protection advice to affected customers.
The airline also obtained an injunction from the NSW supreme court to prevent the stolen data being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone.
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Good morning
Hello there, and welcome to Monday. It’s Nick Visser here to get you up to speed with the morning’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:
Qantas is warning millions of Australians to be on guard against fake compensation claims after their personal data was leaked online this weekend. Data shared on the dark web includes full names, emails and frequent flyer details, as well as personal information like birthdays and phone numbers.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, will meet with social media companies today alongside the eSafety commissioner before the country’s landmark social media ban for under-16s goes into effect in December.
The NSW government will spend $200m to repair potholes and maintain roads across Sydney, which will come as welcome relief to drivers after one of the wettest winters on record. The state repaired nearly 10,900 potholes last year, and has already tackled more than 5,100 in August and September alone.
Stick with us.
