What we learned, Wednesday 23 September
That’s a wrap on our live coverage for today!
Before we go, let’s recap the day’s top headlines:
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has denied Australia’s proposed digital duty of care laws are about government control after the Trump administration accused the legislation of being “viewpoint-based censorship”. Despite the row, Albanese posed for a selfie with Trump at the UN assembly in New York.
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Anthony Albanese has met Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, at the United Nations – the first time the pair have been together since Albanese’s comments about melons in a controversial podcast.
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Parenthood chief executive, Georgie Dent, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra today on new research that shows the cost for Australian families of raising two or more children has risen to at least $36,500 a year.
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The royal commission into allegations of corruption on Victorian government construction sites has begun, with commissioner Chris Kourakis kicking off proceedings by asking his associate, Peter Tantalos, to read out the letters patent, which formally established the inquiry in August.
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Randwick council announced it intends to ban smartglasses across Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches. Sydney’s inner west council has also moved to ban smartglasses and other wearable recording devices in its facilities, including pools, change rooms, childcare centres and public toilets.
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Sydney airport saw some flights delayed or cancelled this morning amid a blanket of fog that settled over the harbour city.
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Continuing on aviation, Qantas announced its 18-hour direct Sydney-New York flights will start in mid-2028, predicting it will cut travel time between the two cities by three hours.
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A $1m reward has been offered for information about four-year-old Gus Lamont, who went missing almost a year ago.
Thanks for sticking around, we’ll see you tomorrow morning.
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Shoebridge accuses US of overreach in Australia’s online safety laws
The Greens senator David Shoebridge has accused the United States of interfering in Australia’s domestic politics after the Trump administration criticised the government’s proposed opt-in algorithm reforms.
In a submission overnight, the Trump administration warned the measures risked becoming a mechanism for “viewpoint-based censorship” and called for American platforms to be exempted.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Shoebridge said:
It’s an extraordinary intervention in our domestic politics, that’s what we have seen.
The US embassy issuing, basically, a slap down to the Australian government on a piece of domestic legislation that the Australian parliament should be deciding on, not Washington.
It is almost unprecedented in my experience to see a foreign government in this country through their embassy … so overtly try and dissuade the Australian parliament from taking actions to protect the Australian public.
Shoebridge said the US “needs to be brought to heel by the rest of the world” as global discussions continue over artificial intelligence safeguards and the power of major technology companies.
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NAB says it is working to fix online bank outages affecting customers
Continuing our coverage of the NAB outage, the bank said it is aware of the reported issues and has launched an investigation.
NAB said the issues have affected “a number of our digital channels” including internet banking, its mobile app and broker digital services.
In a statement to social media, the bank said the issues “are not limited to” its online services:
The issue is also affecting our phone services, and customers may be unable to contact us by phone at this time.
Our teams are investigating and working to fix this as quickly as possible. NAB ATMs remain available.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. We’ll share updates as they become available.
A NAB spokesperson said:
Most services have now been restored. Some business customers are continuing to experience login issues via NAB Connect, and we’re working as quickly as possible to resolve the remaining impacts.
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NAB customers report online banking outage
National Australia Bank (NAB) customers are reporting an outage affecting access to the bank’s online services.
According to DownDetector, reports began at about 1pm, peaking at more than 2,000 reports at about 3.30pm.
Users have taken to social media to say they are unable to access their accounts.
NAB has been contacted for comment.
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‘Chaos, confusion’: cop recalls jumping castle tragedy
A veteran police officer has described the chaos and mistakes that followed a deadly school jumping castle tragedy, saying unclear chains of command created confusion, AAP reports.
An inquest which began on Monday is examining the circumstances of the tragedy, safety processes and whether there were any departmental deficiencies.
Tasmania Police constable Dean Wotherspoon was one of the first officers to attend the Hillcrest primary school accident on 16 December 2021.
Students Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor died after a freak “dust devil” wind gust lifted the jumping castle into the air above the Devonport school grounds.
The leading forensic officer told an inquest on Wednesday:
I think the phrase perhaps is organised chaos.
There were a lot of people doing their utmost to save children.
Police officers, school staff, paramedics all doing what they could. It was nothing like I had seen.
Rosemary Gamble, the operator of Taz-Zorb, which set up the inflatable equipment, was in 2025 cleared of criminal workplace safety breaches.
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Good afternoon!
I hope today has been nice to you. I’ll be here to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
That’s all from me today folks.
The blog is now in the capable hands of Achol Arok.
See you next time!
Inner west council to ban AI smartglasses in public facilities
Sydney’s inner west council has moved to ban smartglasses and other wearable recording devices in its facilities, including pools, change rooms, childcare centres and public toilets.
Inner west councillor Kerrie Fergusson said that the technology is likely “just the beginning of many new challenges for local councils”.
For people with vision or hearing impairments, they offer a new level of independence. But they can also discreetly record high-definition video and live-stream, creating genuine privacy concerns …
This isn’t tearing down new technology like a bunch of 19th-century luddites, but ensuring AI technology properly serves our community without compromising its privacy or civil liberties.
Council staff have been asked to report back on how the ban will be implemented, including conditions of entry and signage requirements.
Exemptions will be provided to people who rely on the technology as accessibility devices.
As reported earlier this morning, smartglasses could soon be banned across Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra under a motion put forward to Randwick council. It has already banned the technology at the Des Renford leisure centre, citing “growing community concerns” about their potential misuse.
It also follows City of Sydney councillors voting to ban smartglasses at council gyms, childcare centres and pools on Monday.
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Police appeal for information after Wagyu cow ‘unlawfully’ shot and butchered in Queensland
Detectives from Queensland’s Rural and Stock Crime Squad are appealing for public information, after a Wagyu cow was “unlawfully shot and butchered for meat” on a property in Queensland.
Police believe trespassers entered the property in Farnborough on 13 or 14 June.
Investigators urge anyone who noticed suspicious activity or captured dashcam footage along Fishing Creek Road, off Farnborough Road, between 13 and 16 June to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
Parenting advocate Georgie Dent tells National Press Club that Australians should get 52 weeks paid parental leave
More on the national press club address today by Georgie Dent, Parenthood chief executive …
Dent cited Treasury data showing that having children reduces the earnings of Australian women by an average of 55% over the first five years of parenthood.
Dent said families need two incomes to stay afloat in the current economy and even with both parents working, they have less breathing room in their household budget.
For many families it feels like a cruel game of whack-a-mole …
For parents of young children seeking to raise and provide for their family one obstacle towers over the others: early childhood education and care.
Too many face an impossible bind. They cannot access it, they cannot afford it, or they cannot trust what is available. This isn’t perceived: the options families have are largely determined by what the market has delivered.
Dent will call for a policy pathway from government for the provision of 52 weeks of paid parental leave, up from 26 weeks currently paid for by taxpayers, and meaningful parental leave for fathers and partners.
The speech comes after Monday’s intergenerational report showed that, for the first time, more Australians will be dying than being born in 40 years’ time.
Read more here:
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Press Club says it will never ban journalists from ‘doing their job’
The host of today’s national press club momentarily interrupted question time to say it will never ban journalists from “doing their job”.
Just another message, we’re going to depart for our theme for a second.
[There is] a lot of news at the moment, and in recent months, about journalists not being able to, you know, attend press conferences, et cetera.
Just a note on behalf of the national press club that no journalists will ever be banned from doing their job here.
The message was greeted by applause, before returning to the topic of childcare costs.
This press club comment comes after US president Donald Trump banned journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House.
In Australia, the ABC and the Guardian have called on One Nation to reverse its ban on select media outlets from press conferences amid warnings the party is practising censorship and actively avoiding public scrutiny. Journalist Peter Greste has written for Guardian Australia about how these circumstances show “why Australia urgently needs a media freedom bill”:
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Anthony Albanese meets Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi in New York
Anthony Albanese has met Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, at the United Nations – the first time the pair have been together since Albanese’s comments about melons in a controversial podcast.
The PM has repeatedly rejected suggestions he made offensive comments about a gift of two melons from Takaichi on the Bush Deep podcast in early July. Japan’s ambassador to Australia downplayed any possible offence and said Tokyo had been reassured by the Australian government that Albanese’s comments had been misunderstood.
Albanese wrote on social media, in a post that included a photo with world leaders including Takaichi:
Working with our international partners. Standing up for Australian interests. Finding global solutions to global challenges.
Australia’s voice matters at the United Nations. And it’s here that we’re delivering for Australians back home.
While in New York, Albanese has met Britain’s Andy Burnham, the French president Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sanchez of Spain and the US president Donald Trump.
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Plan to shift $4bn of NDIS spending snagging on lone holdout state
Health minister Mark Butler says he is frustrated that Queensland is the only state or territory not to sign up to the government’s Thriving Kids program, a week before the first phase is due to begin.
The health minister told ABC Radio on Wednesday:
I’m a little frustrated they haven’t signed because all other states and territories, Liberal and Labor alike, CLP government in the NT has signed on.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, was shirking a responsibility he had previously promised to accept, according to Butler. He said:
I can’t imagine a Queensland government that, for the next 15 months, would sit on its hands and pretend it does not have a very serious obligation to follow the rest of the country.
Frankly [it should] implement commitments that the premier made at the national cabinet meeting earlier this year.
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Gus Lamont’s parents make teary plea for information about missing boy
Gus’s parents, Josh Lamont and Jess Murray, have spoken in a video shown by police.
Williams said Gus was “learning so much and had such a bright future ahead of him”:
He should have celebrated his fifth birthday and his little brother’s first birthday with us.
Lamont thanked family, friends, the community and those who were part of the search for Gus, and said:
We believe someone knows something. Someone knows what happened to Gus. Someone knows where he is.
Fielke emphasised that neither of them are suspects and vowed to keep searching for answers.
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Police offer $1m reward for information about missing boy Gus Lamont
A $1m reward for information about missing four-year-old Gus Lamont is on offer, as police say they have found no evidence to suggest he is still alive.
It has been almost a year since four-year-old Gus went missing from his family’s enormous sheep farm in the South Australian outback.
He was last seen playing outside at 5pm on Saturday 27 September. Half an hour later, he was gone.
His disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches the state has ever undertaken, with new searches launched as new information or theories came to light.
Volunteers, police, emergency service and defence personnel, along with dogs and divers and drones scoured the 60,000 hectare Oak Park Station, about 300km inland from Adelaide.
One of the biggest moments in the saga came in February this year, when the South Australian police declared his disappearance a major crime, and said they had identified a suspect.
Det Supt Darren Fielke said at the time they had effectively ruled out Gus wandering off or being abducted, and that they were now investigating someone in his household.
The suspect was not one of his parents, Fielke said.
The SA premier, Peter Malinauskas, said they stand ready to do “everything they can” to help police. He said it would go to anyone who had information leading to a body or a conviction. He said it was a “crystal clear” message:
If you know something you’ve gotta speak.
The disappearance of Gus Lamont has deeply shocked and saddened all South Australians. I cannot imagine the anguish that Gus’s parents Jess and Josh are going through, and my thoughts remain with them.
Fielke said the police would do everything they could “to locate Gus and reunite him with his family”.
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Police arrest Melbourne man who allegedly pledged allegiance to Isis
Counter-terrorism police have arrested a Melbourne man, who they allege acted as an Isis propagandist.
The 65-year-old was arrested during a raid of a home in Carlton this morning.
Police allege he pledged allegiance to Isis and has played a significant role in spreading propaganda for the terrorist group, sending about 10,000 files of violent extremist material.
The man is alleged to have shared information about avoiding detection from authorities and instructions on how to plan and conduct mass casualty attacks.
AFP acting assistant commissioner counter-terrorism, Paula Hudson, spoke to reporters just after midday.
We will allege the videos, photographs, audio files and documents contain messages relating to current content, being executions, mass murder, torture and propaganda ….
Let me be clear, terrorist propaganda is not harmless online content. Terrorist organisations like Isis rely on online platforms to distribute propaganda and recruit supporters.
Hudson added that police launched an investigation after Australian Border Force officers found suspicious material on electronic devices seized as the man flew out of Melbourne.
She said the man was a “principal distributor of Isis propaganda within the group”.
The man lives with his wife and is an Australian citizen, according to police.
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Supermarket roast chicken taste test: ‘Ham-flavoured chook is extremely divisive’
On a lighter note, Nicholas Jordan has conducted a taste test of supermarket roast chickens, or “bachelor’s handbags” …
Who will rule the roost as the tasters decided on a pecking order of eight roast chooks?
You’ll need to read the full report to find out:
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Wong warns nuclear test ban under ‘serious strain’, condemns Russia at UN
Foreign minister Penny Wong has said the global norm against nuclear testing is under “serious strain”.
Wong criticised Russia’s decision to pull back from the test ban treaty, while speaking at a UN meeting marking 30 years of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). She called on remaining nations to ratify the agreement “without delay”.
Any nuclear explosion – of any yield – could have irrevocable consequences …
In this context, we must make it clear that Australia strongly opposes Russia’s revocation of its ratification of the CTBT.
That Russia would even countenance a return to nuclear tests is an affront to all who want a world without nuclear weapons.
Australia and partners continue to call on Russia to reverse this course of action.
Wong also welcomed Tonga’s recent ratification, marking full treaty coverage across the Pacific.
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Hume backs ‘Wilson’s version of events’ over Joyce’s claim of power-sharing talks
If you were following the blog earlier this morning, you would have seen the spat between One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce and Liberal Tim Wilson.
A quick recap: Joyce claimed he had been speaking with “senior Liberals” about a potential power-sharing arrangement should Pauline Hanson’s One Nation win enough seats at the next federal election.
Wilson rebuked this, and now Liberal senator Jane Hume has also poured cold water on Joyce’s claim.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, Hume was asked if she had any knowledge of Joyce’s supposed negotiations. “No, I’m afraid I don’t,” she said.
Pretty sure that I guess [Angus] Taylor doesn’t. Pretty sure that Matt Canavan doesn’t either, but Barnaby may persist and we’ll see what happens …
But yeah, I think we’re probably closer to Tim Wilson’s version of events than Barnaby’s at this point in time.
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Albanese and Trump pose together for a selfie in New York
Anthony Albanese has posed for a selfie with Donald Trump at the UN assembly in New York.
Posted to Albanese’s Instagram account, the selfie of the pair was captioned “Always good to catch up with @potus. We spoke tonight on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly”.
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Chris Young KC went on to say that the royal commission would also work to uncover the “wastage, misdirected funds, and inflated costs” on the Big Build – a pipeline of more than 100 projects with a combined value of about $150bn.
Every wasted, misdirected, or inflated dollar is $1 that could have been used to fund a hospital bed, a classroom, or another vital state service.
Young said everyone named in the commission will have a “fair opportunity to respond to the evidence” and no adverse finding would be made “unless they’ve first been told of it and given a proper opportunity to answer.”
He said where the evidence warrants it, they will refer matters to the special prosecutor, Victoria police, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac), and the relevant regulatory and licensing authorities, and “any decision about charges is for them”.
It is too soon to say what the commission will recommend. We must first examine what happened and why.
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Corruption not a ‘crime without victims’, counsel assisting royal commission says
Counsel assisting the Big Build royal commission, Chris Young KC, said while corruption has often been described as a “crime without victims”, that is “not what we have been told”.
He cited several examples, including the directors of a small Indigenous-owned labour hire business who wrote to the minister responsible for these projects and to the premier in April 2022, saying they had been “threatened with violence and banned” from a state government project. Young said:
They said they had recordings. They asked for help … They got a reply a year later, which referred them elsewhere. By then, their business was all but finished, and it was closed a few months after.
He said a woman working in traffic management on a public hospital was “locked in a storeroom by a man recently released from prison for stalking and threatening to kill a woman” who “smoked ice and blew the smoke in her face”.
She reported it. She says that what happened next was that she lost her job … There are others. Workers were reportedly told they no longer had jobs on a state tunnel project because they belonged to the wrong union. Some subcontractors say they lost work because they would not pay. Some people were seriously injured. Others had their property destroyed.
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Big Build royal commission to pursue ‘every person’ involved in corruption
Commissioner Chris Kourakis says the royal commission’s job is to bring those responsible for delivering the Big Build – the Victorian government’s pipeline of more than 180 major road and rail projects – “to account publicly”.
He went on:
It’s also the job of this commission to pursue every person who is reasonably suspected of being complicit in the abuse of entrusted power for private gain and to expose and to refer for prosecution whoever is implicated by the evidence the commission receives. The commission will do so from those who carried the highest level of responsibility down and without exception
Kourakis also provided a warning to “all those who have done wrong” that the commission will leave “no stone unturned in search for whatever is hid or whomever lurks underneath it”:
Anyone who has an ambition to remain in the industry will be better served by early voluntary disclosures to the commission than by waiting to be found out.
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Big Build royal commissioner says closed hearings already held, detective appointed
Commissioner Chris Kourakis said that while this is the first public hearing of the inquiry, work began immediately after it was stood up in August. He says this work has included appointing Victoria police detective supt Daniel Ryan to lead the commission’s investigation team.
He said prior to joining the commission, Ryan worked in professional standards in Victoria police and had earlier worked in the homicide squad, the joint organised crime taskforce, and the criminal proceed squad.
Kourakis also confirmed the commission had already held a number of closed hearings:
They were closed because their purpose was to obtain sensitive information to guide the commission’s investigations. Early disclosure of that information would have compromised the commission’s ongoing investigations.
He said it would continue to hold closed hearings when necessary, but it would also “deliver on the just expectation of the Victorian public that there will be full disclosure of all matters touching on the integrity of the infrastructure projects the commission is charged to investigate.”
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Politics, really: send us a question
This week, Jim Chalmers released Treasury’s economic forecast for the next 40 years. The outlook predicts major challenges on geopolitics, the AI transformation, and for the first time, deaths will overtake births in Australia within a few decades.
Do you have a question about the state of economy you’d like to ask our economics editor Patrick Commins?
Send us a question and get your answer in our brand new newsletter, Politics, really.
Email your question to [email protected], and don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter here.
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Victoria’s Big Build royal commission begins
The royal commission into allegations of corruption on Victorian government construction sites has begun, with commissioner Chris Kourakis kicking off proceedings by asking his associate, Peter Tantalos, to read out the letters patent, which formally established the inquiry in August.
Kourakis joked that reading it out would take Tantalos some time – about 26 minutes – which he said would “seem a lot longer to him than it will to the rest of us”. But he said it was not a “tedious formality”.
The commissioner said:
It is the document which constitutes this commission. By having it read, all who hear it will appreciate, and I and the staff of the commission will be reminded of the breadth and depth and importance of the inquiry we have been charged to conduct. It may also prompt members of the public who may have helpful information for the commission to come forward and provide that to us.
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Big Build royal commission about to begin opening hearing
The royal commission into allegations of corruption on Victorian government construction sites is about to hold its first hearing.
Officially called the Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria, it will investigate allegations of corruption, criminal conduct and serious misconduct by the CFMEU, construction companies, subcontractors, labour hire firms and others on the Big Build – the Victorian government’s pipeline of more than 180 major road and rail projects.
Today’s hearing, which will be live streamed, will be largely procedural. Commissioner Chris Kourakis is expected to outline his plans for the inquiry, alongside Chris Young KC and Christopher Carr SC, his counsel assisting.
Here’s how we got here:
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Joyce calls Wilson a ‘clown’ after Liberal MP denies power-sharing talks
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce has branded Liberal Tim Wilson a “clown” after the latter said discussions about a power-sharing agreement between the two parties were a “figment of Barnaby’s imagination”.
Speaking to News24, Joyce sarcastically said:
I just made it up, I get bored, mate … clown. Of course we’re having conversations.
Joyce said there was “no prospect” either the Coalition or One Nation could form government judging off polling, but ruled out any official coalition between the two parties.
We do not want to be in a coalition with Tim [Wilson] to be quite frank.
He’s supposed to be the [shadow] treasurer it’s a shame he can’t count … how are you supposed to get supply and confidence Tim, if you don’t have the numbers?
Joyce said he wouldn’t confirm which senior Liberals he said he had spoken to.
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Albanese defends social media crackdown against White House criticism
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has denied Australia’s proposed digital duty of care laws are about government control.
Ahead of a meeting with Donald Trump at the UN general assembly in New York on Tuesday, the US administration warned Australia that its digital duty of care laws risked becoming “viewpoint-based censorship”, calling for American platforms to be exempt.
Speaking to reporters after the assembly, Albanese said he would “stand up for Australia’s national interest”:
The digital duty of care is something that we have foreshadowed for some period of time. It is not about giving government control, it’s about giving people back control over what they received on their devices. Which is why it is framed in that way …
We listened and we participate respectfully and I look forward to immediately after this in a few minutes going to the reception held by president Trump, I look forward to engaging with him there.
The US intervention will embolden the Coalition, which opposes the duty of care laws on the grounds they would hand too much power to the government to regulate online content.
Asked if he was disappointed that Trump had “forcefully rejected the need for international safeguards on AI”, Albanese responded:
We will wait and see what comes out of the meeting between president Trump and the Chinese president, it is good they are meeting and it is on the agenda.
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Qantas confirms 2028 launch of Sydney-New York direct flights
Qantas says its 18-hour direct Sydney-New York flights will start in mid-2028, predicting it will cut travel time between the two cities by three hours.
The ultra long-haul flights, part of the airline’s Project Sunrise, will follow the launch of Sydney-London direct flights in October 2027.
The company has ordered 12 specially designed Airbus A350-1000ULRs with extra fuel tanks. The first is expected to arrive in Australia in April 2027.
The planes were designed to fly up to 22 hours nonstop for Qantas, to complete some of the longest commercial flights in the world. Qantas said a test model had completed a 24 hour, 24 minute flight from Melbourne to Airbus’ manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France, believed to be the longest-ever commercial flight.
Tickets are set to go on sale in August 2027, Qantas said.
Its chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, said:
Conquering the tyranny of distance has been part of who Qantas is from the very beginning. Reaching New York non-stop completes a vision we set out many years ago, and it’s a moment of enormous pride for the thousands of our people who have been working hard to make Project Sunrise a reality.
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Wilson says One Nation power-sharing talks are ‘figment of Barnaby's imagination’
Wilson also told News24 any chatter from Barnaby Joyce about a power-sharing deal between One Nation and the Liberals was a “figment of Barnaby’s imagination”.
He went on:
This is a man who has previously gone to his electorate and said that he’s going to be a Nationals MP throughout the life of this term. He broke that promise to his electorate. He said he’d support his leader. He broke that promise. He said he’d support his party. He broke that promise.
I understand Barnaby has regrets about jumping over to a new political party where he doesn’t pull the strings and is now just operated by others. I think it’s a figment of his imagination.
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Ima Caldwell is going to step in to blog for now! Thanks!
Wilson says Bragg ‘more than entitled’ to put forward novel housing ideas
Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, says his colleague Andrew Bragg is “more than entitled to raise important issues” around housing.
Wilson spoke to News24 this morning, saying he always believed “it should be home first, super second, in terms of the structure of priority”:
The problem at the moment is the Labor party wants a nation of people who are retired renters. They don’t want homeowners with a superannuation balance. The intergenerational report outlined there’s been a 10% increase in the number of Australians going to retirement renting. That’s a huge jump, and frankly, the Labor party’s answer to that is to say keep renting, we want your money.
When pressed if he supported Bragg’s idea to use superannuation as collateral for a house purchase, Wilson said he wasn’t there yet:
The key point that we’ve always believed is that home ownership is central to a dignified retirement, as is a superannuation balance as an income stream, and the fall back of a pension, and we need to get the hierarchy properly in order.
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Joyce speaking with ‘very, very senior Liberals’ about power-sharing deal
Barnaby Joyce says he’s been in talks with “very, very senior Liberals” over a power-sharing arrangement should One Nation win enough seats at the next federal election.
Speaking to News24 yesterday afternoon, the Nationals-turned-One Nation MP said there would be an expectation that the Coalition and the minor party would work together if they had the numbers to beat the Albanese government at the polls.
I think we’ve been pretty clear on this. We’ve said our job is to get rid of the socialists. So either we would offer supply and confidence to the Coalition … on the premise of solid policy outcomes that we would want for that to happen, and we would want there to be clear acknowledgment that they are our policy outcomes, and we’d have a regime then of looking at legislation that came forward … we’d expect the same deal if we had greater numbers than the Coalition.
Joyce said he’d had discussions with “very, very senior Liberals” as recently as Tuesday morning on a possible deal.
He added “we’re now cutting dice, and we’ll find out where we end up”.
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Many flights delayed or cancelled at Sydney airport this morning amid fog
Sydney Airport says some flights will be delayed or cancelled this morning amid a blanket of fog that settled over the harbour city.
The airport’s website already shows a slate of domestic flights that have been delayed by an hour or more, with many others cancelled.
An international Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was also diverted to Brisbane instead.
“We advise passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline,” a Sydney Airport spokesperson.
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Bragg says it’s ‘fine’ for US to weigh in on Australian tech proposals
Andrew Bragg says he agrees with the Trump administration claiming there is a risk of censorship in Labor’s social media crackdown.
He told RN:
There is a risk of bestowing too much power on to unelected bureaucrats. And I think there is a risk of too much regulation, which may not actually have any great impact on our economy or our society.
So I have to say, I share some of the concerns, but obviously Australia will make its own judgments on these things.
Bragg said it was “fine” that the US embassy was weighing in on the proposed laws.
I mean, we live in a free society, or at least we used to, and people are allowed to express a view.
Maybe they’ll be censored by the new laws, but look, I think it’s OK for us to hear from our colleagues in other countries.
That’s often the case when law reform is being undertaken.
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Bragg says proposal to use super for mortgages not 'controversial'
Andrew Bragg, the shadow housing minister, said he believes in “big debates” about housing after pushing his new proposal yesterday to allow people to use their superannuation as collateral to get a home loan.
The policy hasn’t been adopted by the opposition, and leader Angus Taylor said yesterday it wasn’t Coalition policy.
Bragg told RN this morning the housing system needed a revamp, and lawmakers were responsible for hosting those ideas:
We’re a great country, and we should be able to have big debates, as we had in the 80s and 90s about national savings and housing and the like, which led, in fact, to the super guarantee. …
It’s very important that we look to calibrate the retirement and housing and superannuation systems to make sure that they’re getting the best outcomes for the Australian people.
I don’t think that’s controversial. I think that’s just our day job.
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Labor says no intention to exclude US tech platforms in digital duty of care
Daniel Mulino, the assistant treasurer, maintained Labor plans to put in place “appropriate” protections on big tech after warnings from the White House against any “censorship” of protected speech.
The US warned Australia overnight its plan to boost online safety through digital duty of care laws risked becoming a method for “viewpoint-based censorship”, saying US platforms should be exempted.
Mulino told RN Breakfast this morning the duty of care shifts are meant to combat “what can at times be addictive algorithms, algorithms that can create harm”.
When pressed if Australia would consider a US carve out considering most of the big tech companies are based in the US, Mulino said the digital duty of care proposals would apply regardless of country of origin.
I would expect … that we would apply this to digital platforms no matter where their origin is, and that’s the right position to take when it comes to regulating technology in a way that is achieving the right policy outcomes.
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Over 200 homes under construction for Sydney’s essential workers in inner west
The NSW government has begun construction on 220 new build-to-rent apartments for Sydney’s essential workers in the inner west.
Paul Scully, the state minister for planning, and Rose Jackson, the minister for housing, said the units would be available at discounted market rates for health workers, teachers, police officers, firefighters and others “so they don’t have to choose between an affordable home and a long commute”.
The building sits in Annandale, about a 15 minute bus ride from the Sydney CBD.
The NSW government will retain ownership of the properties, which will be built on a vacant site left empty following construction of the WestConnex tunnel.
The building is expected to see its first residents by 2029.
Jackson said in a statement:
Every essential worker priced out of the community they serve is a failure of the housing system we inherited, and this is what fixing it looks like.
The Joinery Annandale means a nurse or a teacher in the Inner West does not have to choose between living near their job and being able to afford rent.
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Smartglasses ban on Sydney’s eastern suburb beaches on the cards
Smartglasses could soon be banned across Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra under a motion put forward to Randwick council.
Councillor Philipa Veitch told the council meeting on Tuesday that the devices created a “gross violation of privacy and a safety risk for children and women” on beaches.
The council has already banned the technology at the Des Renford leisure centre, citing “growing community concerns” about their potential misuse.
Veitch suggested provisions for those with significant vision impairment or other disabilities.
It follows City of Sydney councillors voting to ban smartglasses at council gyms, childcare centres and pools on Monday.
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Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s get into it.
Australian parents legally empowered by digital safety reform, PM says at UN general assembly
Anthony Albanese has told the UN general assembly that “retaining sovereignty must have a digital dimension” as he spruiked his teen social media ban, opt out algorithm and AI statement.
In a speech to the coalition for children’s rights and protections in the age of AI, in New York, the prime minister said Australian parents were legally empowered by the digital safety reform.
The conversations they have had together confirm the common concerns they have about their children, that social media is robbing them of their childhood, addicting them to algorithms [and] encouraging anxieties, eating disorders and other harms.
Albanese said he wanted Australian children to “be playing football or netball, making music or reading books, finding friends face to face”.
Put simply, we must give children back their childhood.
Albanese also spoke of AI risks, including the “exploitation of children, the potential to enable biological weapons, or even the loss of control of AI systems themselves”.
In this digital age, retaining sovereignty must have a digital dimension.
It comes after the prime minister signed a declaration with 20 other world leaders urging safeguards over AI, including maintaining human control over the rapidly evolving technology.
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‘Super intelligence’: Trump says AI should be renamed and rejects calls for further protections for it
Donald Trump has lashed out at countries seeking to rein in artificial intelligence, even suggesting the technology’s name should be changed to lessen anxieties, Australian Associated Press reports.
Trump’s broadside came at an awkward moment for Anthony Albanese after he urged further safeguards against AI the day before, and as his government was warned about “censorship” by the Trump administration over plans to curb the algorithms of big tech.
In an address to the UN general assembly overnight, the US president said AI should be renamed as “super intelligence”, rejecting calls for further protections for it.
He said AI had a potential to be bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet.
The use of the word artificial makes intelligence sound fake. It is not fake, it’s actually amazing,
The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control the artificial intelligence being spoken of.
He said the use of the technology should be actively encouraged, instead of being curtailed.
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‘Culture of secrecy’ and ‘inadequate factchecking’ at Four Corners criticised by ABC watchdog
A culture of secrecy and inadequate factchecking at the ABC’s leading investigative program has been criticised by an independent watchdog, Australian Associated Press reports.
The ABC ombudsman yesterday found two episodes of the Four Corners program led by a bikie turned journalist had breached editorial standards.
Mahmood Fazal was sacked in May and has denied any wrongdoing after questions were raised regarding the anonymous sources used in the Cocaine Nation and Meth Highway episodes aired during 2023 and 2024.
Both were removed by the ABC due to accuracy concerns.
ABC chair Kim Williams elevated the allegations to ombudsman Fiona Cameron who found the national broadcaster had failed to meet its own editorial standards for accuracy, fair and honest dealing, and independence and integrity.
Audiences were given a misleading impression of who key contributors were, alleges the report from Cameron.
In both episodes, a masked figure who purportedly dealt cocaine to Sydney’s elite was featured.
Media Watch later reported Sydney-based rapper Charissa Habkouk played the role as a favour to Fazal.
Cameron confirmed this was “materially misleading” to the audience and recommended a full investigation in the use of anonymous and confidential sources.
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Crack down on big money donations to parties, Grattan Institute says
Major parties should get less money to spend at elections, and new independents should get drastically more, says the Grattan Institute, urging a rethink of donation caps to prevent an election spending “arms race”.
Labor and the Coalition negotiated a new set of donation laws that independents called a “stitch up”, giving major parties a cap of $90m each to spend, and placing a per-electorate cap of $800,000.
A new Grattan Institute report says the major party cap should be more than halved, to $40m. It argues the $800,000 seat cap should remain for incumbents and established-party candidates, but new entrants should get an extra 50% to spend.
Grattan says the Australian Electoral Commission and Australian Bureau of Statistics spend around $30m on big campaigns such as getting Australians to enrol to vote – so they argue $40m for big parties is pretty generous.
And to give you a sense of what $90m buys – Clive Palmer spent $89m during the 2019 election.
The report says:
Big-money elections mean politicians spend more time and effort on fundraising, and political parties become reliant on major donors to fund their campaigns. This creates fertile conditions for wealthy interests to have undue influence over policy making. Capping electoral expenditure puts a ceiling on money in politics.
Political parties collectively declared almost half a billion dollars in expenditure in the year leading up to the 2025 federal election. And this was not a one-off. They declared expenditure of more than $400 million in the lead-up to both the 2022 and 2019 federal elections as well.
Under the government’s newly legislated rules, the taxpayer funding for parties increased from $3.38 for every first preference vote for parties and independents that achieved at least 4% of votes, to $5 – which Grattan argues won’t be necessary if the overall spending cap was reduced, saving public money.
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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 it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
A culture of secrecy and inadequate factchecking at the ABC’s leading investigative program has been criticised by an independent watchdog. More coming up.
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