What we learned; Tuesday 2 September
It’s time to wind down our live news blog for the day. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy this Tuesday:
Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell crashed a press conference held by Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan. He was arrested hours later with police confirming the arrest was made in relation to the attack on Camp Sovereignty.
Allan said she was “unharmed and undeterred” after the incident – she also posted a video to Instagram, saying she “never expected to come face-to-face with a neo-Nazi”.
Senator Lidia Thorpe called for neo-Nazi protesters who targeted Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty to be investigated for hate crimes – while the federal Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy said the attacks were “reprehensible”.
The Albanese government’s bill to expedite the deportation of about 280 members of the NZYQ cohort will face a snap committee inquiry tomorrow night.
Dave Sharma said Bob Katter’s behaviour towards a journalist who questioned him about his Lebanese ancestry was “pretty menacing”. The Greens said Katter “should apologise or resign” over the altercation with Channel Nine reporter Josh Bavas, seeking to refer his conduct to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
The government announced it would work to restrict access to so-called “nudify” apps and undetectable online stalking tools that use generative AI to create deepfake pornographic images.
Australia’s migration intake won’t change for the financial year 2025-26, with the permanent migration program to be set at 185,000 people, the same as last year.
In parliament, aged care minister Sam Rae was asked whether he would apologise to the families of “vulnerable elderly who have died” waiting for home care packages. The Greens, crossbench senators and the Coalition are losing patience with the government on aged care and could force a vote on important amendments tomorrow.
Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back with more breaking political news first thing tomorrow.
Updated
Only 62 GPs across NSW classed as ADHD ‘continuation prescribers’
Tweaks permitting general practitioners to prescribe ongoing ADHD medication have been hailed as “life-changing”, despite less than 1% of eligible doctors undertaking the required training.
GPs in New South Wales can now prescribe continuing medicines to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in a move designed to spare patients the long wait times and high cost of specialist doctor consultations, AAP reports.
It mirrors a move Queensland made in 2017, with Western Australia expected to follow suit.
More than one million Australians are living with the condition, amounting to about one-in-20 people.
But only 62 GPs across NSW have completed the required training to be classed as ‘continuation prescribers’, out of about 9,500 GPs across the state.
Dr Rebekah Hoffman, who chairs the NSW division of the GPs college, has encouraged ADHD patients to ask their doctors to do the required training.
“Over time, the GPs will do the training, will jump on board” she said.
If you’re a patient known to a GP, talk to them about it. Say, ‘Can you do this for me?’ We want to look after our patients, and we absolutely can.
Updated
Dave Sharma: Katter’s behaviour towards a journalist ‘menancing’ and ‘unfair’
Dave Sharma says Bob Katter’s behaviour towards a journalist who questioned him about his Lebanese ancestry was “pretty menacing”.
The Liberal senator told the ABC a short time ago:
I watched the exchange and I think it was pretty menacing. And it was unfair to the journalist concerned [who] was asking a legitimate question.
Joining him on Afternoon Briefing, Labor MP Josh Burns agreed.
“In no way do I think the journalist was being out of order. I also agree that the standards that apply to us as elected representatives should [never] depend on who the representative is,” he said.
Read more here:
Updated
Allan: ‘I never expected to come face-to-face with a neo-Nazi’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has posted a video on Instagram after being confronted by neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell at a press conference earlier today.
I never expected to come face-to-face with a neo-Nazi in the early parts of a Tuesday morning at a press conference, but it reminded me of the work my government is doing every single day to continue to support Victorians – regardless of which background they’re from, whoever they pray to, whoever they love – that they have the right to do so freely and safely in our great state. And I’ll continue to fight for every single Victorian and push back against this odious, evil behaviour of such a small number of people who I know that’s not who Victorians truly are.
Allan said over the course of the day she had been reminded Victoria is a “fair” “united” and “strong society”.
There is no place for this evil behaviour. There is no place for this division, and I’ll keep fighting for the strong, fair Victoria we all know and love.
In a separate post on X, Allan revealed she met with multicultural and multi-faith groups in Hampton Park, in Melbourne’s south-east.
“Memo to no one in particular: this is what the real Victoria looks like. And we’re better for it,” her post read.
Different families, different faiths, but the same Victorian values: love for our neighbours, respect for each other, and pride in ourselves.
Updated
Lidia Thorpe calls on federal police to intervene over Camp Sovereignty incident
Senator Lidia Thorpe has called for neo-Nazi protesters who targeted Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty to be investigated for hate crimes.
“This is a hate crime and it needs to be seen for that,” she told the ABC just now.
The senator continued:
Camp Sovereignty is a sacred space; it is our place of worship. If it were a mosque or a synagogue, it would be taken more seriously, and people would be up for hate crimes.
I’m calling on the federal police to step in here and investigate hate crimes related to Camp Sovereignty.
Updated
Thomas Sewell and associates arrested for attack on Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty, police say
Victoria police have confirmed Thomas Sewell and two associates were arrested outside court in relation to the attack on Camp Sovereignty, an Indigenous protest site, on Sunday.
In a statement, they said:
Detectives from Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit attended Melbourne magistrates court about 3.20pm this afternoon. Officers arrested a 32-year-old man from Balwyn, a 23-year-old man from Mooroolbark and a 20-year-old man from Ardeer. They are being interviewed in relation to an ongoing investigation into alleged assaults in King’s Domain about 5pm on 31 August.
Updated
Opposition senator Paul Scarr: immigration putting pressure on housing, services
Senator Paul Scarr, the shadow immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs minister, says the Albanese government’s decision to keep the permanent migration intake at 185,000 comes with “no explanation” as to how the figure will reflect “the very real pressures” faced by Australians.
In a statement, Scarr says “Labor’s decision to bring in one million people in just its first two years of government has put enormous pressure on housing, infrastructure and essential services. Families are struggling to find a home, communities are feeling the strain, and the cost of poor planning is being carried by every Australian”.
He added the delay in the government’s announcement of the figure was “unacceptable”:
There is no explanation regarding how this announcement of the permanent migration intake reflects the very real pressures facing modern Australia. It is made on 2 September, more than two months after the financial year began. That delay is unacceptable and shows a government with no plan for one of the most important portfolios shaping our future.
Updated
‘I will not be intimidated by those buffoons’ says Labor’s Josh Burns
With the government’s permanent migration intake set to remain at 185,000 people, Labor MP Josh Burns suggests a “sensible conversation about migration” is needed – but that recent anti-immigration rallies were not the right way to have that conversation.
“We need to find the right balance of skills, of workers, making sure we have enough people to serve the different parts of our economy” the Labor MP told the ABC just now.
Outside the steps of parliament, having neo-Nazis giving the keynote address – that is not a sensible conversation about migration. That is an ugly, bigoted and hurtful display.
You cannot have neo-Nazis running up and down the street [in] black uniforms pretending that they are tough. These people have no place – that sort of behaviour has no place, those attitudes have no place in Australia and they must be confronted … Victorians will not be intimidated, Australians will not be intimidated, I will not be intimidated by those buffoons.
Updated
Thomas Sewell arrested outside Melbourne’s magistrate court
Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been arrested outside court just hours after he confronted the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, at a press conference.
Footage shows a large group of police and protective services officers handcuffing Sewell and an associate outside Melbourne’s magistrate court on Tuesday afternoon.
Victoria police have not confirmed the reason for Sewell’s arrest.
Updated
Procedural motion could force progress on aged care
The Greens, crossbench senators and the Coalition are losing patience with the government on aged care and look set to force a vote on important amendments tomorrow.
Labor has reorganised bills in the Senate this week to delay votes on its aged care legislation, coming as non-government senators expect to pass amendments which would immediately allocate home care places.
Labor is delaying those allocations until after new rules come into force on 1 November.
The new rules were originally slated to start on 1 July but were put off to allow extra time for the transition.
Greens spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne said a procedural motion planned for tomorrow could force the issue.
“Every day that Labor delays action is another day that our parents and grandparents are going without the help they need,” she said.
Labor needs to act on this now, and if they aren’t prepared to do so, the Senate will do it for them.
The aged care minister, Sam Rae, faced another round of questions in the lower house this afternoon. He was pushed to say how many older Australians have died while waiting for home care packages.
“In the last financial year that number was 4,812 as provided by the department to the Senate in the hearings last week,” Rae said.
Updated
‘This has nothing to do with the release of home care packages’ says Ruston
In Question Time a little earlier, the minister for aged care, Sam Rae, would initially not provide a number for how many elderly Australians had died waiting for a home care package – but he did say the deferral was previously supported by the opposition.
When asked why she had changed her mind, shadow minister, Anne Ruston, told the ABC just now:
No, let’s be clear, I haven’t changed my mind at all. I did agree that the government wasn’t ready for the reforms to be in place by the first of July, and that was through their own fault. They had been warned, but nonetheless, we didn’t want to see older Australians adversely impacted by a change in system before it was ready.
This has got nothing to do with the release of home care packages. Home care packages have been released for many, many years, and the only thing standing in the way of the government releasing home care packages right now to older Australians … is the government’s refusal to release them.
So I think the minister’s being a little disingenuous today to try and suggest that the reform framework, in any way relates to providing care.
Updated
Good afternoon and thank you, Krishani Dhanji. Let’s get straight on with the remainder of the day’s live news coverage.
Fatima Payman: ‘a rizz-less, aura-less, unc prime minister is running the show’
That’s it from me today. Thanks so much for following the blog, you’ll now be in the very capable hands of Daisy Dumas.
But before I go, I leave you with Labor turned independent senator Fatima Payman’s ‘brainrot 2.0’ speech to the Senate.
Labor is still “capping” she says (which means lying in Gen Z speak) and calls Anthony Albanese a “rizz-less, aura-less, unc” prime minister, (unc is basically an out of touch uncle).
“When a rizz-less, aura-less, unc prime minister is running the show, a chopped government is what follows,” Payman says.
“It’s so performative,” she continues, of the government (unironically).
There are too many references to you sigmas of Australia – so I’ll let you watch the video here.
We got Brainrot Speech 2 before GTA 6 🥀 pic.twitter.com/sKjX0kMiYO
— Fatima Payman (@SenatorPayman) September 2, 2025
Updated
Here’s what happened in question time
The opposition used all their questions – bar one – to pile pressure on aged care minister Sam Rae about the government’s decision to defer the rollout of more than 80,000 additional home care packages.
It was a tactic the Coalition also followed yesterday – and tried to get the minister to apologise, and say how many elderly Australians have died waiting for a home care package since he became the minister (he wouldn’t do either).
Energy minister Dan Tehan was kicked out of the chamber, after a verbal brawl with the prime minister, and Anthony Albanese begrudgingly withdrew an unparliamentary remark he made.
The government used its first couple of dixers to taunt the Coalition, after Matt Canavan revealed he would try to introduce a bill to scrap the 2050 emissions reduction target in the Senate.
There were two climate questions from the crossbench – Monique Ryan tried to press Chris Bowen on the 20-year methane leak at a Santos plant in Darwin, while Allegra Spender pushed Albanese on tackling climate change before the Pacific Islands Forum next week.
Updated
Snap committee to examine bill to fast-track deportation of NZYQ cohort
The Albanese government’s bill to expedite the deportation of about 280 members of the NZYQ cohort will face a snap committee inquiry tomorrow night.
A motion, put forward by the Coalition in the Senate, was agreed to shortly after the upper house’s question time today, which means there will be a hearing tomorrow from 5pm for about two hours.
The Coalition had already agreed to pass the bill subject to the short committee hearing.
It was introduced last Wednesday before the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, announced on Friday a $400m deal with Nauru for it to accept more members of the NZYQ cohort.
The bill would remove natural justice and procedural fairness for non-citizens on a pathway for removal from Australia. This means the changes could affect more than the original 280 within the NZYQ cohort
Updated
Indigenous affairs minister getting security briefing on far-right attack on Aboriginal protest site
Far-right attacks on Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty were “reprehensible”, federal Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy say.
Circling back to the Labor party room meeting a few hours ago (it’s been a big day), one Labor MP asked about startling footage of violence and damage at the Indigenous encampment, after rallies on Sunday against immigration.
The discussion in Labor’s meeting came after Anthony Albanese said “not everybody there was associated with neo-Nazis”, but raised concerns about polarisation, radicalisation and people going down “rabbit holes” to extremism.
One Labor MP asked McCarthy, the Northern Territory senator, about the attacks at Camp sovereignty in Melbourne. The minister described the events as “absolutely reprehensible”, and added “I have never seen this kind of attack in my parliamentary career”. She claimed those responsible did not care if they were seen.
The minister said she was receiving security briefings on the topic.
Updated
After a final dixer on Medicare – where Mark Butler says ‘neglect’ what feels like a near record number of times in two minutes, question time is over for another day.
Updated
Albanese says he will attend Pacific Islands Forum next week ‘not as a block to climate action’
Allegra Spender asks the PM next what the government is doing to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees, and what – before attending the Pacific Islands Forum next week – assurances he’ll provide to the Pacific that Australia is doing enough to reduce emissions.
It follows more warnings from ex-defence force chief Chris Barrie, who joined Spender and other cross benchers today, urging greater action to tackle climate change.
The government is also under pressure with a decision on the 2035 targets and the release of the climate risk assessment due this month.
Albanese says he’ll be attending PIF next week as a participant, “not as a block to climate action”.
The PM mentions the agreement with Tuvalu to bring 280 Tuvalu citizens to Australia each year under a climate migration deal.
The member quite rightly quotes Adm Barrie and the fact this is a national security issue and it is.
Updated
Rae asked about home care package waiting times and elderly death rate
Sam Rae’s back and this time his answer is even shorter than the question he’s asked.
Liberal MP Simon Kennedy asks Rae whether research from the national ageing research institute that “people waiting for longer than six months for a home care package had an 18% higher chance of death than those who wait 30 days or less” – is true.
Rae – this time without notes – says he’s already canvassed these questions.
I refer you to my previous answers.
Updated
Government pressed on healthcare spending gap between metropolitan and regional areas
What is the government doing about the gap in healthcare spending between metropolitan areas and the regions?
Independent MP Rebekah Sharkie asks Mark Butler why the gap in spending has increased from more than $6bn last year to a more than $8bn gap now.
Butler says the latest bulk-billing incentives are higher for regional areas, and that the government has been working on encouraging GPs to live and work in the regions.
The tyranny of distance has been one that bedevilled our healthcare system for the entire history of our nation. Technology does help that, that is providing some relief to Australians living outside our major cities. We are doing all we can to support particularly general practice, making sure that they can really run a thriving viable business.
Updated
Sam Rae asked to apologise for deaths of vulnerable elderly waiting for home care packages
Back to aged care, Liberal MP Phil Thompson asks Sam Rae whether he will apologise to the families of “vulnerable elderly who have died waiting for you to do your job?”
Rae gives a short answer.
He says the delay in the implementation of the new aged care act has been broadly welcomed, but that stories of elderly Australians passing away in the aged care system are sad.
He doesn’t apologise. Overrepeated questions, he adds:
I have canvassed these matters very extensively in the parliament over the last couple of days. I refer the member to my previous answers.
Updated
Catherine King: national approach being taken on e-bikes, lithium ion batteries
Will the government adopt minimum quality standards for e-bikes, asks independent MP Sophie Scamps, who has a bill before parliament to ensure imported e-bikes meet international best practice standards.
Infrastructure minister Catherine King says the bikes are the subject of inquiries in Queensland and WA, but it’s clear that a broader and coordinated national system is needed.
We have seen recently a number of tragic incidents involving e-bikes and scooters.
At the meeting of state and territory transport ministers last month, I placed this issue on the agenda. At the meeting, state and territory ministers agreed to develop an integrated regulatory framework for these devices to improve rider and pedestrian safety.
King says concerns have also been raised about lithium ion batteries which have caught fire, and she says work is being done to form a national approach on the safe use of those batteries.
Updated
Sam Rae: in last financial year, 4,812 older Australians died in care or waiting for care
The focus is back on the aged care minister, as Coalition frontbencher Angie Bell asks Sam Rae – how many older Australians have died waiting for a home care package since he was sworn in as the minister.
Rae tries to quote some aged care providers who have provided supportive feedback on delaying the implementation of the aged care act, and Bell gets up to make a point of order.
Then we finally get a number – but it’s a number for the number of deaths in the previous financial year, not since Rae took on the aged care portfolio.
Sadly, we have lost a number of older Australians in care or waiting for care. In the last financial year that number was 4,812 as provided by the department to the Senate in the hearings last week.
Updated
PM withdraws unparliamentary term after Tehan ejected from question time
Moving away from aged care, Nationals MP Anne Webster asks the prime minister why he was chased out of Ballarat by tractors last Friday.
A bit of context here. Albanese was in the regional Victorian town for a Daily Telegraph bush summit. A video obtained by the Herald Sun shows Albanese’s motorcade being chased by a convoy of tractors after the summit.
Albanese initially tries to pin the blame on Angus Taylor, for his support of the VNI west transmission link between Victoria and NSW.
The protesters in Ballarat on Friday were protesting against a program that was initiated and given regulatory approval by the former government, something that I pointed out at the time.
That doesn’t go down particularly well with the opposition, and particularly Dan Tehan who shouts so much he gets kicked out by the speaker under 94a.
There’s a bit of drama here because some tense words are exchanged and the opposition tries to get the Albanese to withdraw – Albanese says he said the same unparliamentary term that Tehan said (who is by now out of the chamber).
Basically dragged kicking and screaming, Albanese withdraws (we’re still not sure exactly what was said).
Updated
Sussan Ley: how many Australians have died waiting for a home care package?
The opposition is going hard again on aged care today. Sussan Ley takes the next question and asks Sam Rae again, how many Australians have died waiting for a new home care package since he was sworn in on 13 May.
Rae says he is saddened to hear of any older Australian passing away, whether they’re in care or waiting for care.
There was “overwhelming feedback” says Rae during his consultations with elderly people, providers and workers, that the rollout of the new bill should be delayed.
Rae won’t provide a number for how many elderly Australians have died waiting for a package, but he does say the deferral was previously supported by the opposition.
I want to provide one of these most important quotes from the period where the decision was made. “The decision to delay the start date for the new aged care reforms is the right decision for older Australians, aged care providers and home care operators.”
This is a quote that I think concisely and clearly summarises that decision … and it’s a quote from the media release published by the shadow minister for health and aged care, Senator [Anne] Ruston.
Updated
Bowen says waiting to hear from experts about methane leak at Santos Darwin LNG facility
Monique Ryan gets the first cross bench question and asks the energy minister if he will deny gas company Santos any further approvals, after it was found Santos’ Darwin LNG facility has been leaking massive methane for almost 20 years.
Chris Bowen starts by saying the government’s safeguard reforms have been reducing emissions, but on the Santos methane leak, the energy and climate change minister says he is “concerned”.
I am concerned to read about that. I asked my department to ensure the expert review of methane emission management which I commissioned, the government commissioned, led by the former chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley, examines the matters, ensures it is considered and I will update the honourable member and the House when I have received the report from the former chief scientist.
Updated
Labor tries to wedge Coalition on its zet zero position
The government is trying to take full advantage of Nationals senator Matt Canavan announcing he’ll introduce a bill in the Senate to repeal net zero. It’s separate to the bill Barnaby Joyce has in the House.
It won’t go anywhere, but Labor is trying to wedge the Coalition with it.
In the first two dixers – one to Anthony Albanese and one to Chris Bowen, they’ve both attacked Canavan’s bill and the disunity in his party.
Albanese pointed out earlier that Canavan’s supposed to be doing a review of net zero, but seems to have already come to a conclusion.
Those opposite are having a review, but today we know that Senator Canavan, the person in charge of reviewing net zero for the Nats, announced he’s introducing a bill in the Senate to abolish it.
He’s reviewing it but he will already legislate to abolish it, to mirror the member for New England. Spoiler alert, I reckon the review will stay it will go. Spoiler alert. That’s what we see, the Liberals fighting with the Nats and they’re fighting each other.
Updated
Opposition continues to press aged care minister about delay in home care packages rollout
Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie directs the opposition’s second question to aged care minister Sam Rae, and says 85-year-old Kevin, who has been told he is on the urgent list, had registered for a home care package in March this year, but was told by the department that he couldn’t get an assessment until early next year. She asks whether anyone like Kevin had asked the government to delay the home care packages.
Rae (with his single sheet of notepaper) tells McKenzie to provide him with Kevin’s details to follow up his case.
The aged care minister says the new system will help to reduce wait times and that the current assessment waitlist includes people who are now accessing a lower level of care in the aged care system (he also said this to the House yesterday).
Milton Dick tells everyone to quiet down, before McKenzie tries to make a point of order – she says Rae hasn’t answered her question, which is whether any elderly Australians told the government to delay the rollout of the home care packages. (Dick tells her she can’t raise a point of order just because she doesn’t like the answer she’s hearing). Rae continues:
Big reforms don’t happen overnight but we are working hand in hand with assessment organisations, including states and territories, to minimise impacts to older Australians and get them the care they deserve.
Updated
Question time begins
Leader of the opposition Sussan Ley starts, and she directs her first question to Sam Rae, the aged care minister.
Rae got a real workout yesterday, with every single opposition question – and two from the crossbench – directed to him.
Ley says Rae yesterday gave three different answers about delays in releasing home care packages. “First he blamed the sector. Then he blamed elderly Australians. By the end he seemingly blamed the now minister for communications and her legislation.” She asks whether the delay was approved by cabinet.
Rae goes back to his lines from yesterday, and says the legislation (which the government says must come into force for the additional 83,000 home care package places to come online) was supported by the opposition.
Older Australians waiting for in-home care, at present we’re releasing more than 2,000 packages a week, ensuring the support continues to flow to those who need it most. As I said, we will continue to ensure that those assessed with a clinical assessment process as high priority receive their home care packages within a month.
There’s nothing new in his answer.
After his answer, speaker Milton Dick tells the chamber there’s “far too much noise”, and singles out Dan Tehan for interjecting eight times during Rae’s answer.
Updated
Minns says giving inmate access to voluntary assisted dying was ‘justified in the circumstances’
Chris Minns says giving an inmate in New South Wales access to voluntary assisted dying is “justifiable in the circumstances”.
The New South Wales premier was this morning asked by a reporter whether he was worried the decision would set a “dangerous precedent”.
“I’m not. I think the reasons and the story behind it … are justifiable in the circumstances,” Minns replied.
He added NSW had criteria to access voluntary assisted dying.
I understand that criteria was followed, and I’m not proposing that we change the law.
In a first for the NSW prison system, sex offender Daniel Hume died in hospital last week after an application for VAD was approved by Justice Health officials, the SMH reported.
Updated
Minns says name-calling over housing development plans ‘a waste of time’
Chris Minns says he will not engage in name-calling after a deputy mayor said the New South Wales Labor government’s plans to develop Woollahra train station and deliver 10,000 new homes to the affluent suburb “random and peculiar acts of toxic masculinity”. He said this morning:
The blame game is just not going to work any more. Us blaming the councils, the councils blaming us, us blaming the commonwealth government. We’ve tried that. We’ve tried that for 20 years, and it hasn’t worked.
He said the government was spreading out housing development and that it was not fair to ask Penrith, Blacktown and Albion Park to shoulder the development of new homes alone.
I’m not going to get into a name-calling exercise with deputy mayors or mayors or councillors. I just think that’s a waste of time.
In a series of posts on X on Sunday, Woollahra deputy mayor Sean Carmichael said “Sydney’s housing crisis won’t be solved through random and peculiar acts of toxic masculinity.
And what else is this, really, other than old-fashioned Labor toxic masculinity? I had thought Labor had moved on from that approach by now – but evidently not.
Sydney’s housing crisis won’t be solved through random and peculiar acts of toxic masculinity.
— Sean Carmichael (@carmichael_sean) August 31, 2025
He ended by evoking the words of corrupt councillor Bill Heslop from the Australian film Muriel’s Wedding, who quipped: “You can’t stop progress.” Read more here:
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Greens call for Bob Katter to ‘apologise or resign’ after incident with Nine reporter
The Greens say Bob Katter “should apologise or resign” over the altercation with Channel Nine reporter Josh Bavas, seeking to refer his conduct to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
“Mr Katter’s threats of violence towards journalist Josh Bavas are completely unacceptable. Threats of violence have no place in Australian political discourse, especially coming from a member of parliament,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement.
Mr Katter has doubled down because he hasn’t received any sanction. He seems to think that the normal rules of respectful engagement don’t apply to him. This is not ok.
Mr Katter should unreservedly apologise to Josh Bavas or resign from parliament.
She called on members of parliament “from all sides of the political spectrum” to “stand together in holding Mr Katter to account.”
I have written to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to ask them to investigate this matter.
Guardian Australia reported last week that Nine Entertainment was considering legal action against Katter. Nine and Katter have been contacted for comment.
Updated
Canavan to introduce repeal net zero bill in Senate
The Nationals backbencher Matt Canavan will introduce a bill to the Senate to repeal net zero, mirroring Barnaby Joyce’s push to abolish the target in the lower house.
Canavan – one of the Coalition’s loudest anti-net zero campaigners – confirmed his intentions to colleagues in the Coalition’s party room meeting today.
Once introduced, it will mean there are bills in both houses of federal parliament seeking to rescind Australia’s legislated commitment to net zero by 2050.
Joyce’s version was introduced in July, with Labor taking the unusual step of allowing it to be debated on the Monday of each sitting week as a means of highlighting the Coalition’s deep divisions on climate policy.
During this Monday’s round of speeches, the former Nationals leader and now-net zero opponent Michael McCormack told green energy companies seeking to buy land for projects to “frankly go to hell”.
It remains to be seen if Canavan’s senate bill gets as much airtime as Joyce’s.
Guardian Australia understands that, unlike in the House of Representatives, it is up to the parties themselves to decide which private members’ bills are debated during the allocated period each sitting week.
That means it will be up to the Coalition to determine if it wants to platform Canavan’s bill – and thus its own division on net zero.
Interesting times.
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Communications minister says ‘digital duty of care’ will help rein in platforms and apps
The government this morning announced it would work to restrict so-called “nudify” apps that use generative AI to create deepfake pornographic images.
Speaking to reporters in parliament house, the communications minister, Anika Wells, says there’s no timeframe on when these restrictions will be implemented.
In the announcement, Wells said that like the social media ban, it will be up to social media companies to prevent the availabilities of these tools.
Wells tells reporters that laws have not kept pace with the technological changes, but that putting a “duty of care” on to platforms will help.
All of the ‘whatabout’ questions direct you to a digital duty of care.
It’s about what we expect of platforms who choose to conduct business in this country, we expect them to have a duty of care for their users, they haven’t had to have one [until] today … it’s been entirely self-nominated, what they choose to do and not do, [and] we don’t think that’s good enough.
While there are laws against publishing illicit material, there are no Commonwealth restrictions or offences regarding the use or distribution of nudify services.
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Gun laws will not be watered down by hunting bill, says NSW premier
NSW premier Chris Minns has given a “categorial assurance” gun laws will not be watered down in the state, after gun control advocates have warned a hunting bill will weaken the national firearms agreement enacted following the Port Arthur massacre.
The Minns government has agreed to support a “conservation hunting” bill – albeit with amendments – introduced by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, which will expand access for the hunting of feral animals in state forests and crown land.
Family members of victims of the 1996 tragedy say they have been “blindsided” by the legislation, while gun control advocates say the bill’s recognition of “the right of citizens to hunt for cultural and recreational reasons” could signal an intent by the NSW government to depart from the national firearms safety framework.
Minns has told reporters he supports the existing national firearms agreements.
I can’t be clearer, we’re not going to water down gun laws in NSW. We’re not going to support any provision that makes it easier to buy guns in the state, or have access to heavier weapons. We’ve been down that road, I can give a categorical assurance in relation to that.
Both the Shooters party and Minns have denied the government’s support is an attempt to gain votes on an unrelated workers compensation reform bill in the upper house, in which the government does not have a majority.
Labor resists releasing climate national risk assessment plan despite Greens pressure
Over in the Senate, the Greens are trying to order the government to make public the national climate risk assessment and national adaptation plan.
The minister representing the energy minister, Tim Ayres, calls the order a “political stunt” and says the minister is claiming public interest immunity to avoid making that report public – including that the report would reveal cabinet deliberations.
He says it will be made public when the government has deliberated on it. It is expected to be released by the end of this month.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, says the government has avoided making this report public for nine months, and it would not reveal any cabinet deliberations.
There is no legitimate reason to keep hiding this climate risk report. It’s a cover-up , it’s a cover-up from a government that keeps revealing itself as anti-transparent. Labor must announce Australia’s 2035 climate target this month, but they are hiding the true impacts of climate change from the public.
People need to know the true impacts of what awaits them before the government announces the new climate targets.
David Pocock also chimes in to say that the government is making “secrecy its default setting”.
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Coalition to support Labor's deportation bill
The House is debating the government’s legislation to strip natural justice of non-citizens after the Albanese government signed a deal last week to send hundreds of former immigration detainees in the NZYQ cohort to Nauru.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, visited Nauru last week before quietly announcing a $400m deal late on Friday to send up to 280 former detainees to the Pacific nation.
Burke has said the bill would mean that actions taken by government in order to resettle someone in a third country “are not conditioned on an obligation to afford procedural fairness”. The shadow home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie, is up first:
The minister needs to pull his act together and use the power the parliament gave the government to get those high-risk offenders off the streets.
The opposition announced during the party room briefing that it will support the passage of the bill, subject to a short Senate inquiry that will scrutinise the legislation.
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Opposition leader raises concerns on FoI fees at party room meeting
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has raised concerns with her party room this morning about the Albanese government’s bill to dramatically curb access to government documents under freedom of information rules.
The Coalition met on Tuesday morning to discuss the proposed changes, which would introduce new charges for FoI requests to government departments and ministers, as well as tougher rules related to cabinet confidentiality.
The shadow cabinet has indicated it will oppose the proposal subject to further debate and information, with Ley telling party room members the Albanese government’s record had been worse than the former Coalition Morrison government.
Ley also raised other changes regarding changes to how matters of public importance are organised within parliament to offer the governing party “self-congratulatory” motions.
The opposition party room also dealt with other matters including cost of living and the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, spoke about the bush summit.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan told his colleagues he would be introducing a private senator’s bill to repeal net zero to the upper house - an identical bill to Barnaby Joyce’s in the House of Representatives.
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Australia’s permanent migration intake to stay at 185,000
Australia’s migration intake won’t change for the financial year 2025-26, with the permanent migration program to be set at 185,000 people, the same as last year.
Migration has been under the spotlight after anti-immigration rallies over the weekend. There have been some claims being bandied about around how many migrants have come to Australia over the last year – but you can read the facts from my colleague Josh Butler here:
In a statement the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says the number was set following consultation with the states and territories:
[The consultation] recommended maintaining the size and composition of the program, with a focus on skilled migration.
The Department of Home Affairs has been processing visas based on last year’s level, so there has been no disruption to the delivery of the program.
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‘I am not afraid’ says ‘undeterred’ Allan after neo-Nazi interrupts presser
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has issued a statement after self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell approached her mid-press conference, saying she is “unharmed and undeterred”.
The statement went on:
It comes as no surprise that Nazis oppose me and my government. I wear that with a badge of honour. But this isn’t about me. It’s about all the other people in the community who Nazis target - like multicultural people, LGBTIQA+ people, First Peoples, and Jews. They’re the Victorians who are on my mind right now, and they’re the Victorians who our anti-hate laws will protect when they come into force later this month.
Allan says there is “no place for hate in our state”:
Whoever you are, whoever you love, whoever you pray to - I’ll always fight for your right to belong. As premier, I’ll always be out and about in public fighting for you, like I am all day today. I am not afraid.
We know how these goons operate. They whip up fear to divide our society. They will fail. Because Victorians are fair, and our values are strong.
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Albanese calls neo-Nazi gatecrashing of Allan press conference ‘horrific’
Anthony Albanese has branded the neo-Nazi gatecrashing of Jacinta Allan’s press conference as ‘horrific’.
In a party room meeting with Labor MPs this morning - around the time news broke of the Victorian premier’s press conference being interrupted - Albanese was asked about the incident by a colleague. He was unaware of it at the time, having been chairing the meeting, but it’s understood the PM called it “horrific”.
Albanese went on to say he was shocked to see people at the weekend’s anti-immigration rallies “openly in uniform” and said it needed to be called out.
Another MP asked Albanese about the apparent recruiting that neo-Nazi groups are undertaking. Albanese said it was important to give potential targets “space” to not go down “rabbit holes” and also raised concerns about polarisation online.
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Almost all Bangladeshi garment workers paid below living wage, Oxfam finds
A report from Oxfam Australia this week found widespread evidence of child labour and abusive conditions across Bangladesh’s garment industry.
Based on surveys with more than 400 workers, the Unravelling Exploitation report found widespread evidence of children being employed in subcontracted settings outside of factories, while forced labour was reported by 28% of workers.
Almost all – 95% of workers – were paid below a living wage (rising to 100% among women), while other workers reported consistent job insecurity, coercive financial control, physical violence and verbal abuse.
“Our research serves as a stark reminder that the clothes Australians buy may come at the cost of someone else’s safety and dignity,” Oxfam Australia’s campaign and advocacy lead Nina Crawley said.
For too long, Australian fashion brands have relied on opaque and exploitative supply chains to maximise profit. Workers must be placed at the centre of reforms to build a fashion industry where exploitation has no place. We urgently need strong, enforceable laws to hold them accountable and protect workers from harm.
The Guardian reported yesterday that Australia risks becoming a dumping ground for goods made with forced labour, because of weak laws and poor enforcement.
Read more here:
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Ex-defence chief urges ‘courageous and bold’ 2035 emissions reduction target
Former defence force chief Chris Barrie wants the Albanese government to be “courageous and bold” as it prepares for an imminent decision on its 2035 emissions reduction target.
Barrie was in Parliament House on Tuesday morning to launch the Australia Security Leaders Climate Group’s latest report, which called for climate action to be positioned at the centre of Australia’s foreign policy strategy.
The report argues that as Australia doubles down on the alliance with the United States, principally through the Aukus submarines deal, it has failed to invest in the “diplomatic, economic and humanitarian” policies needed to respond to its greatest security threat – climate change. Barrie said:
It [focus on climate policy] will not only be good for us here in Australia, it will be good for our region too, where a lot of people expect countries like ours to step up when there’s a need. And looking at the tea leaves right now, that need is very apparent to me. We’re entering a very dangerous period where the United States simply does not care about all of us.
The report proposes a raft of measures to reorientate Australia’s approach around foreign policy, including leading a global push to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies.
Speaking alongside several crossbench MPs, Barrie said the Albanese government’s forthcoming decision on a 2035 emissions reduction target – expected later this month – presented an opportunity to “make an example for the rest of the world”.
The Climate Change Authority, whose advice will inform cabinet’s decision, has suggested a target of between 65% and 75% below 2005 levels could be ambitious but achievable. Barrie said:
I think the government, which has got a huge mandate now, ought to be courageous and bold and take these steps. By 2028, that is the [scheduled date of] the next federal election, it’ll be too late to make the difference that we need to make.
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It’s a party room meeting morning …
Those FoI changes are no doubt being discussed in the various party room meetings taking place around parliament this morning.
We’ll get a briefing on what goes down in the Labor and Greens party rooms, and we’ll wait to see if we get a briefing or a press conference from the opposition.
It all means we won’t hear those bells ringing for a little bit longer – the houses will begin sitting from midday.
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Transparency advocates raise alarm over plans to charge for FoI requests
Transparency advocates are alarmed at the government’s plans to impose application fees on freedom of information requests. Kieran Pender, associate legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the current FoI system is “not working”.
“Any steps to limit access to the FoI regime must be carefully scrutinised,” he said.
The Albanese government should prioritise fixing whistleblowing laws and winding back draconian secrecy offences, rather than making government information less accessible and more expensive.
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Allan convenes anti-hate taskforce over attack on Camp Sovereignty
Before Sewell crashed the premier’s press conference, Jacinta Allan was asked what she made of the scenes at Sunday’s rally and the attack at Camp Sovereignty. She told reporters:
I ... absolutely condemn those people who engaged in those despicable acts of violence and racism. There is absolutely no place for that, and that is why, over the course of this week, alongside Victoria police, I will be convening the anti-hate taskforce to both look at the incidents over the weekend, but also understand too, that this goes beyond just being a law and order issue.
Allan told reporters there was “something deeper going on” with the rally. She went on:
People’s sense of economic security is being exploited by a small number of people, who are wanting to use cracks in our society and exploit them to drive division in our society. There is no doubt that over the past few years, Australians have endured a lot. It’s been a tough time.
But the solution to those tough times is not in a quest to divide us… That is not the solution ... it makes us weaker, it makes us poorer, it makes us less resilient.
She said she saw the pathway to social cohesion through “building a stronger society”:
A place where people have jobs, people have rights and are respected. And that’s certainly the pathway my government is building here in Victoria, building literally for the future, making sure there is that sense of economic certainty and security, but also seeing Victoria as a place where everyone has the right to be who they are and do so safely, protected by the law.
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Age assurance report a ‘sales pitch’ for biometrics industry, digital rights group says
The chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, John Pane, has said the release of the age assurance technology trial report on tech to keep under 16s from social media vindicated his concerns raised last month about the project.
Pane, who was on the stakeholder advisory board overseeing the trial prior to quitting last month, said the social media ban is “bad policy, bad law, and a gap-ridden technological solution that is easily circumvented by technical means or third-party collusion”.
It does not solve the problem of algorithmic manipulation that steals users’ attention and engagement, nor does it fix the inherent shortcomings in our privacy and online safety laws through a mandated digital duty of care.
He said the report reads “like a sales pitch or marketing material for the age authentication, identity verification and biometrics industry”. The “inevitable” errors in tech such as facial age estimation would bolster the case for the government to deploy ID verification technologies, Pane said.
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Shadow attorney general says Labor talked ‘big game’ on transparency but has not lived up to promises
Labor talked a “big game” on transparency but has delivered anything but, says the shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, attacking the government’s move to charge for freedom of information requests.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Leeser says that under Labor’s watch, transparency has decreased, the number of FoI refusals has increased and the government has deliberately avoided Senate orders to release documents:
We’ve seen increases in refusals of FoI [requests] since they came to office. We’ve seen stakeholders being forced to sign agreements in relation to non-disclosure agreements in relation to legislation as diverse as workplace relations and religious discrimination, we’ve seen the government deliberately flouting Senate orders for production of documents.
We’re now seeing changes to the standing orders to make the government less accountable, and we’ve seen the staff of members of parliament, whose job it is to hold the government to account, slashed.
Leeser says he’ll get a briefing from the government on the changes later today, and is open to reforms for the FoI system, to tackle issues identified by the government around bots and ‘nefarious actors’. But he says he’s “very concerned about a transparency tax”.
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Thomas Sewell crashed Victorian premier’s press conference
Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has crashed a press conference held by Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, and the state treasurer, Jaclyn Symes.
As Allan was asked about Sewell’s involvement in Sunday’s March for Australia rally in Melbourne, he approached the premier and began yelling at her.
He was separated from her by the premier’s security detail and she and Symes quickly left, with the press conference abandoned.
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Australia assisting UN and partners to examine damage and establish relief efforts aftter earthquake in Afghanistan
The impacts of the earthquake in Afghanistan are “devastating”, says the foreign minister, Penny Wong, as the international community helps to establish the extent of damage in the region.
At least 800 people have been killed by a magnitude 6 earthquake that struck close to the Pakistan border on Sunday.
In a statement, Wong said Australian officials are in contact with the UN and international partners.
The impacts of the earthquake in Afghanistan and the loss of life are devastating. Our thoughts are with the Afghan people, as well as the Afghan community in Australia.
Australian officials are in contact with the United Nations and other international partners to establish the extent of damage and status of relief efforts.
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ABC apologises for airing claim Nine reporter was warned not to ask about Katter's Lebanese heritage
The ABC has apologised for airing an incorrect claim by news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden on Insiders that a Nine reporter was warned not to ask Bob Katter about his Lebanese heritage before a Brisbane press conference.
The independent MP called Nine’s Queensland reporter Josh Bavas a racist and threatened to punch him at a press conference on Friday when he asked him “You’ve got Lebanese heritage yourself … ” before being cut off.
The member for Kennedy walked up to the Channel Nine reporter and shook his fist at him.
Maiden made the remarks when the incident was discussed by a panel of journalists on the Insiders episode on Sunday. The comments have been edited out of the program on iview.
On the Insiders episode broadcast on 31 August the panel discussed Independent MP Bob Katter’s threatening behaviour towards Nine journalist Josh Bavas at a press conference in Brisbane,” the correction said.
During the discussion news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden said the two had a conversation before the press conference about what was going to be asked and suggested Mr Bavas was warned not to ask about Mr Katter’s Lebanese heritage. The ABC wishes to clarify that no conversation took place. Insiders apologises for the error. The comment has been removed from the on-demand versions of the program.
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FoI charges a ‘truth tax’, opposition says
Tim Wilson is calling the government’s plan to put a fee on FOI requests a “truth tax”, and says Labor needs to provide hard evidence that the system is being overrun by bots or nefarious actors.
Speaking to Sky News, Wilson says Labor is putting a “veil of secrecy” over the government.
As Josh Butler just brought you a little earlier, the federal government will start charging for freedom of information requests, an accountability and transparency tool used widely by politicians and journalists.
Wilson doesn’t hold back in his criticism of the idea.
The claim they put out there is that there are bots out there doing things, now that may be happening, but… this is dealt with by software platforms every day. If there’s other information that’s being accessed by nefarious actors, provide evidence where this is a problem, but again, provide an alternative solution.
Instead, they’re just imposing a veil of secrecy over the entire government. It seems sort of like what you get when you have a government with a 94 seat majority and doesn’t want scrutiny.
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Butler suggests FoI system overrun by AI bots possibly linked to ‘foreign actors’ or ‘criminal gangs’
Cabinet minister Mark Butler has defended planned changes to the FOI system to make journalists and politicians pay for seeking government information, claiming departments were “being inundated by anonymous requests” – suggesting some may be coming from overseas adversaries or criminals.
Butler stood behind the government’s plan to put what he called a “modest charge” on the system, which currently permits free applications. He said that someone had to pay for requests:
“Either taxpayers pay for them, or people seeking access to that information, whether it’s to populate the media that they earn money from, or whether it’s a business group,” he said at a doorstop this morning.
Asked why it was needed, Butler claimed the system was being overrun.
Many of them, we’re sure are AI bot-generated requests. They may be linked to foreign actors, foreign powers, criminal gangs... we don’t know where those requests come from.
We’ve taken the view, as state governments have, that a modest charging environment is consistent with usual cost recovery principles.
Butler noted, as had attorney general Michelle Rowland, that people seeking their own personal information which was held by the government would remain able to do so free of charge.
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Government to charge for Freedom of Information requests
The federal government will start charging for freedom of information requests, in a major change to the fundamental accountability and transparency tool used widely by politicians and journalists.
It is likely to face a fierce backlash in the parliament and from accountability advocates. The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, tomorrow will introduce legislation the government says will “improve Australia’s broken FoI system”, claiming the changes would prioritise “genuine” requests and prevent taxpayer money being used on “frivolous and automated requests”.
Currently anyone can make a request for government information, from the prime minister’s diary and emails with foreign leaders down to personal information held about oneself.
Making a request is free, but departments can level charges for the time to process a request – from searching for documents and redacting them to ensure they don’t contain sensitive information.
Rowland said the government would ban anonymous requests, “strengthen” application requirements to “deter vexatious and frivolous requests” and add a “new fee-structure”.
Her office said there would be fee exemptions for personal information, which accounted for 72% of requests in 2023-24.
But for journalists, politicians and other experts seeking access to government information, a fee will apply. The government has not said exactly how much, but it is likely to reflect modest charges at the state level – around $50 per request.
Rowland’s office claimed the FoI system was under strain from websites or artificial intelligence in “enabling large volumes of vague, anonymous, vexatious, abusive and frivolous requests – tying up resources, costing taxpayers money and delaying genuine requests”.
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Evidence to aged care inquiry ‘traumatic and shocking’: Greens senator
The Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne says the Senate is willing to act if the government isn’t to force Labor’s to release more home care packages immediately.
The party’s aged care spokesperson said the inquiry last Friday found that more than 200,000 people are on a waitlist for a home care package and heard from witnesses who had family members die whilst waiting for care.
Senator David Pocock has said 20,000 extra packages are needed right now. Allman-Payne says that would be the “bare minimum”.
Every day that the government delays is another day that somebody … [is] not getting the care that they need. So we have legislation before the parliament. The government could actually fix this today. They budgeted to release home care packages on the 1st of July. [Providers have] told us they are ready to go. There is no reason for this delay.
As one of the other witnesses at the inquiry said, eight weeks is a long time for an older person. Six months to two years is catastrophic.
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No clarity on tariffs for pharmaceuticals: Butler
Mark Butler says the Trump administration is focused on trying to get their drug prices down and has not given Australia any more clarity on whether our pharmaceuticals are going to get hit with tariffs.
The US president flagged a possible 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals earlier this year.
Butler says, as the prime minister has, that the government won’t negotiate on the PBS.
The honest answer to that is no … the patients in America pay some of the highest prices for medicines, as your listeners probably know in the world. But quite how they’re going to do that, what the impact for the rest of the world would be, is something we’re still, as every other country is trying to do, trying to understand a little bit better.
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Butler defends aged care delay as ‘relatively short’ as calls for early funding intensify
The aged care legislation delay is “relatively short” says Mark Butler, facing questions on RN Breakfast over why the government won’t bring more home care packages online now.
Speaking to RN Breakfast, Butler is asked how many senior Australians will die waiting for assessments and packages between now and November. Butler says he can’t predict that figure, but is working to get the waitlist figure down.
[This is] a relatively short delay. Really, four months … we’ve pushed the new system down the road from the 1st of July to the 1st of November, as you say. The sector wanted it. They didn’t think they were ready to do this.
We’ve now got to get this last part of the legislation through the parliament this week, because if we don’t, we will not be able to introduce the new system on the 1st of November.
The Coalition and crossbench will work together to force the government to bring forward funding for more home care packages, with an amendment to the bill currently being debated in the Senate.
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Shadow energy minister: Coalition will ‘take our time’ in determining party’s energy policy
Dan Tehan is a man under pressure. While members of the party including Barnaby Joyce push for a more immediate position on net zero and nuclear, the shadow energy minister has been charged with reviewing the Coalition’s energy policy, which he says will take nine to 12 months.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, Tehan says he won’t be rushed in setting the Coalition’s energy policy.
Asked whether the Coalition can come to an agreed position when Nationals like Joyce and senior Liberals like Andrew Hastie are pushing for net zero to be scrapped. Tehan doesn’t give us an ironclad promise that they’ll come together:
That’s what we’ve got to work through over the next nine to 12 months. And we’ve got to make sure that we land this in the best interests of the Australian people. And that’s what I’m seeking to do. And that’s why we’ll work methodically through it. Take our time to make sure that we get it right.
Sally Sara puts former Liberal frontbencher and now OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann’s plea to the Coalition to focus on how to meet net zero.
Tehan says “everyone’s comments are always helpful” in this debate, but that Cormann is concerned about where the Australian economy is going (completely steering clear of Cormann’s call to the Coalition).
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Rallies ‘deeply unsettling for many Australians’: Mark Butler
Mark Butler is continuing his media rounds and has moved across to ABC News Breakfast.
The protests over the weekend dominated parliament and morning media yesterday, and the reaction to some of the scenes seen on Sunday continues today.
Butler says state police are investigating whether there were hate speech laws that were breached, and that appropriate laws “need to be enforced”. But the main thing the parliament needs to do is reinforce the message of social cohesion, Butler says.
I think these rallies were deeply unsettling for many Australians. For most Australians who saw from that rally, a message of division, intolerance and in some cases, violence - including violence against police.
I think what we want to do from a federal government [point of view] is just reinforce the importance of social cohesion – the importance of us being a really successful multicultural community with all of the benefits.
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Government to work on restricting ‘nudify’ deepfake apps
The government will work to restrict access to so-called “nudify” apps and undetectable online stalking tools that use generative AI to create deepfake pornographic images.
The restrictions will be put in place in consultation with industry, and the communications minister, Anika Wells, says that like the social media ban for under-16s, the onus will be on tech companies to prevent the availability of these tools.
In a statement, Wells said these “abusive technologies” are widely and easily accessible:
These new, evolving, technologies require and a new, proactive, approach to harm prevention– and we’ll work closely with industry to achieve this.
While this move won’t eliminate the problem of abusive technology in one fell swoop, alongside existing laws and our world-leading online safety reforms, it will make a real difference in protecting Australians.
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Migration figures: Butler says he doesn't know 'number off the top of my head'
Mark Butler is doing the media rounds this morning. He’s popped up on the Today show and is being asked about Australia’s migration figure for this year.
The weekend’s protests, centred on anti-immigration sentiment, have led to some false claims about Australia’s migration numbers. My colleague Josh Butler has done a deep dive on what the actual numbers are, which you can read here.
Butler says the overseas migration figure, published by the Treasury department, has been coming down from a post Covid surge.
Asked what the permanent migration numbers are for the 2024-25 year, which the government had set to 185,000, Butler doesn’t have “that number right off the top of my head” but says the number is higher than that – though it is around 40% lower than the number of migrants coming in during that post-Covid peak.
I think there is a real tension between recognising that there are real pressures on our housing system and other parts of the economy, while also, I know, intimately recognising we’re really struggling to get the workers we need to deliver the hospital services, the aged care services and build the houses.
Karl Stefanovic isn’t happy that the government isn’t handing over the current migration numbers and says this interview “is a bit like an episode of Frontline”.
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Labor and Liberal frontbenchers agree: public land should be public land
There’s at least one thing that Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth and Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson have in common, and that’s an opposition to a Sydney council’s idea to charge large groups – including schools, dog walkers or personal trainers – to pay to use public parks.
North Sydney council is considering a new fee for groups of 21 people or more at parks that are heavily used by private schools and commercial operators.
On the Today show earlier, Rishworth said “public land should be public land”:
Public land should be public land … from time to time councils might need to manage how that public land is shared. But ultimately public land should be public land.
Wilson said the idea “doesn’t pass the pub test”, but there were exceptions.
Unless you’re using it for a commercial purpose, and then, of course, if you’re part of a small business using it for commercial purpose, then there should be some discussion.
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Australia must modernise its health system and chase productivity gains in the care field, the Business Council has said in a major new report, saying hospitals must upgrade from systems sometimes based on paper copies and fax machines.
The BCA says the healthcare sector must also look to maximise benefits from artificial intelligence, which the business group says could free up big chunks of doctors’ time so they can see more patients or avoid burnout.
Its Supporting A Healthy and Productive Nation report says without greater innovation, the health system will face poorer service delivery in future. It notes the number of retirees to working-age people rising, the gap between Medicare levy revenue and benefits paid out and increasing expediture on aged care and the NDIS.
A major recommendation is for the health system to invest more in digital technology in a bid to increase productivity and eliminate duplications or errors.
Rohan Mead, chair of the BCA’s Health committee and CEO of banking and insurance firm Australian Unity, said:
In 2025, it would astound many Australians that the majority of hospitals are still paper-based and that up to 75% of global fax traffic comes from medical services.
AI has the potential to free up 30% of a clinician’s time, allowing them to spend more time with Australians, while telehealth already saves Australians up to $895m per year in reduced travel – these are improvements that make everyone better off.
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Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you for what will be another busy sitting day in parliament, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
There’s plenty coming up, so let’s get straight into it!
Arguments to reduce tobacco excise 'simplistic' and 'misguided': AMA
Calls to reduce the tobacco excise as a way to tackle the illegal tobacco industry are a “simplistic, misguided and ineffective solution”, Australia’s peak medical body says.
The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Danielle McMullen, said there had been a “worrying increase in calls to reduce tobacco excise, with the idea, not surprisingly, backed by big tobacco.”
The scheduled rise in the tobacco excise occurred earlier this week after criticism from the NSW premier, Chris Minns, and Victoria’s minister for casino, gaming and liquor regulation, who blamed high tobacco prices for a spike in violent crime related to the illicit trade - an idea which was rejected by federal ministers, citing overseas evidence.
McMullen said:
There’s absolutely no evidence to support the idea that reducing excise will impact illegal tobacco — in fact the evidence says the opposite, with jurisdictions that have reduced the excise seeing a horrible combination of increased smoking rates and no tangible impact on the illegal tobacco trade.
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Crackdown on advertising idealising or sexualising cosmetic procedures
Changes to the rules around Advertising for cosmetic surgery will focus on higher-risk procedures, requiring advertisements only use real images and avoid airbrushing or editing that misleads the public.
The guidelines also specify that the use of photographs, videos and images in advertising must not “idealise or sexualise higher risk cosmetic procedures through the use of sexualised images, such as poses suggestive of sexual positions, parting of legs, hands placed near genitals or positions that imply sexual readiness, or gratuitous nudity.”
Ahpra says the guidelines will also offer greater protection for young people, with those under the age of 18 considering non-surgical cosmetic procedures required to have a mandatory seven-day cooling-off period between their first consultation and any procedures, while advertising by practitioners aimed at under 18s will also be banned.
Ahpra’s CEO, Justin Untersteiner, said practitioners have had since May to get their houses in order and make sure their practice and advertising complies with the new guidelines.
“Practitioners have been warned. If we find practitioners prioritising profits over patient care, we will not hesitate to act.”
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New guidelines for Australia’s cosmetic industry
Australians having cosmetic procedures will have stronger protections from today, with new guidelines for health practitioners coming into effect.
The guidelines, published by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), target unsafe practices and misleading ads for non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as injections and fillers.
Under the new rules, further training or education will be necessary for many health practitioners wanting to expand the services they provide into these procedures. Many will need more than just the foundational qualifications - nurses, for example, will be required to complete a set period of practice before they are allowed to perform these procedures.
The nursing and midwifery board of Australia chair, adjunct Prof Veronica Casey, said the guidelines are the robust response needed to safeguard consumers in the growing industry.
A lot of people might think of these procedures in the same way they’d consider getting a facial or a haircut. But these are clinical procedures and require appropriate training and experience to be performed safely.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will take you through another busy day in Canberra and beyond.
Australians undergoing cosmetic procedures should have more protection from rogue operators under new guidelines released today by the regulator. The new rules crack down on misleading ads and will require better training for practitioners.
Elsewhere in health, calls to reduce the tobacco excise as a way to tackle the illegal tobacco industry are a “simplistic, misguided and ineffective solution”, Australia’s peak medical body says.
And the Albanese government will face renewed pressure today from opposition parties to release immediate in-home aged care funding; while there will also be more scrutiny on the government’s Nauru deportation plan – though Anthony Albanese has denied there is anything secret about it. We’ll have all the developments as they happen today.
