Coles marks new phase of profitability as half-year revenue climbs to $23.7bn
Coles has recorded a lift in its half-year revenue to $23.7bn, and rapidly expanded its margins across its supermarket business, marking a new phase of profitability.
The result coincides with reigniting inflation, led by rising housing costs including groceries.
Australia’s second biggest supermarket chain reported a 12.5% jump in underlying profit to $676m for the six-month period, according to its earnings report released this morning.
After a brief period of subdued profitability, Coles and Woolworths have started expanding their profit margins again, which often indicates there is a growing disparity between the prices paid to suppliers, and prices charged to customers.
The supermarkets tend to defend growing margins by arguing they are running more efficient businesses.
Coles has lifted the margins on its supermarket business from 5.2% to 5.8%, which is significantly above pre-pandemic levels.
Coles is currently defending a federal court action brought by the consumer regulator over claims it offered “illusory” discounts on hundreds of products.
The judge has reserved his decision.
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Nine childcare centres face loss of government funding over safety standards
Nine childcare centres could have their government funding taken away for failing to meet minimum standards, under a crackdown aimed at better protecting young Australians, AAP reports.
Since August, the federal government has issued notices to more than 60 centres which have either broken the law or put children at risk.
Thirty of those are required to show they have fixed the issue by the end of February. The government says it is working with nine centres – the majority of which are day-care providers – that have failed to resolve the issues raised.
The operators could be blocked from receiving the government’s childcare subsidy as a consequence.
Friday also marks the start of mandatory child-safety training for staff in the early learning sector, and a national register of workers. More than 100,000 employees across Australia have already registered for the training, the government said.
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NSW shadow health minister says fungus deaths at Sydney hospital ‘shocking’
Sarah Mitchell, the NSW shadow minister for health, said revelations two people had died after an outbreak of fungal infections at a major Sydney hospital were “shocking”, calling for more transparency from the Minns government.
As reported yesterday, the Sydney local health district said the two deaths and four other infections resulted in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital closing its transplant unit temporarily. The infections occurred between October and December, and the SLHD is investigating the source. A spokesperson said yesterday fungal spores of the common mould aspergillus could be stirred up by construction works. RPA has been undergoing a major redevelopment since 2023.
Mitchell released a statement this morning, saying:
The revelations that multiple patients died due to a fungal outbreak at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital are shocking. Patients go to hospital to be cared for, not to be exposed to life-threatening infections.
The staff, patients and families of those who lost their lives deserve transparency.
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Victim-survivors need financial support to leave
More than two in three Australians want women to get direct Centrelink payments for 12 months to get their lives back after fleeing violence, research commissioned by Single Mother Families Australia (Smfa) has found.
The survey found about 72% of participants did not realise the struggles of women trying to get financial support. While there are support programs available, many applications are rejected, and Smfa wants to see ongoing help that gives women and their children shelter, safety and stability.
The Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee 2025 report found victim-survivors are more likely to leave a violent relationship if they have a steady income.
The Smfa chief executive, Terese Edwards, said:
We must recognise that violence has an immediate and long-term cost for all – therefore reforming the systems that currently harm or inadequately protect women and children must be a priority – and simply money makes a difference.
Edwards will appear at the 2026 Family Violence Symposium today.
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NSW SES conducts dozens of flood rescues after heavy rain lashes Sydney
NSW State Emergency Service responded to nearly 500 calls for help after heavy rain in the Sydney region overnight.
That figure include 42 flood rescues as a deluge settled over the city. More than 100mm of rain fell in three hours in some suburbs, causing flash flooding, road closures and traffic impacts, the agency said.
In one part of Fairfield in western Sydney, about a dozen properties were evacuated due to flood waters inundating homes and six people were rescued in a nearby park after becoming stranded.
NSW SES assistant commissioner Dean Storey said the flash flooding showed how quickly dangerous conditions can develop in a storm, saying in a statement:
Flash flooding is a real risk and can occur quickly, without much warning.
That’s why we urge people to steer clear of flood waters and never drive through a flooded road – regardless of how safe you think it may be.
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Character references to be scrapped in Victorian sentencing hearings
Offenders convicted of any crime in Victoria will no longer be able to rely on character references during sentencing under changes being introduced by the state government – just weeks after NSW made the same move.
The Victorian attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, will use a meeting of the Standing Council of Attorneys General on Friday to announce she will bring legislation to parliament later this year to scrap the use of so-called “good character” references at sentencing.
She said this is currently happening in some cases of child sexual abuse but it will now become system-wide. Under the change, judges will still be able to consider a person’s prospects of rehabilitation, likelihood of reoffending and lack of previous convictions as mitigating factors.
Kilkenny said:
Victim-survivors of crimes are having to sit in court and hear that the person who harmed them is a ‘good person’ – that compounds the trauma, diminishes their experience and can’t continue.
Under Labor, safety comes first, and perpetrators must be held accountable for their crimes without excuses.
New South Wales was the first state to commit to scrapping character references earlier this month after a recommendation from a sentencing council review.
The review said good character was “based on a vague and uncertain concept, lacks evidence in support of its value in predicting a risk of reoffending or prospects of rehabilitation, and engages an unjustified form of moral and social accounting”, adding it can have a re-traumatising effect and encourage victim blaming.
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Don Farrell says Trump’s 10% tariffs ‘unjustified’
The trade minister, Don Farrell, is speaking to RN Breakfast about Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on Australian goods.
Farrell is in America to meet with his US counterpart, Jamieson Greer, where he will argue for the tariffs to be removed as he believes they do not benefit either country. He told RN:
We don’t think it was justified in the first place.
My argument to my counterpart tomorrow will be that we want these tariffs removed. Firstly, because it’s in Australia’s interest to have them removed, because it simply pushes up the price of our product in the United States, but it also pushes up the cost of living for ordinary Americans.
Farrell added that “obviously, America is a very important ally for Australia, but they have to honour the terms of our agreement, just as we did with China”.
I think, as time goes by, it will be increasingly clear to the American government that the actions they’ve taken has taken them down the wrong track.
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Remains found in Tasmania provisionally identified as Celine Cremer, missing Belgian hiker
Tasmania police confirmed this morning remains found near the state’s Philosopher Falls last month have been provisionally identified as those of missing Belgian tourist Celine Cremer.
Cremer, who was 31, disappeared in June 2023 after heading to an ancient rainforest for a hike.
Police said expert reports had provided “compelling evidence” that the remains were likely hers, extending their condolences to her family.
“While this provisional confirmation will not ease their loss, we hope the outcome will provide them with some measure of clarity and closure,” Nathan Johnston, a commander with Tasmania police, said.
We want to thank community members for their ongoing support and interest in Celine’s case, and I want to acknowledge the extensive efforts of search and rescue personnel, partner agencies and volunteers who dedicated significant time and resources during the many search phases,
A report is being prepared for the coroner, who will officially identify the remains.
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Rowland says today’s meting reflects need for coordination between all states and territories
Michelle Rowland, the attorney general, said the meeting today will focus on online hate and that it is important all states and territories work together in coordination to better protect Australians.
Rowland told RN Breakfast:
It was very important for states to bring forward not only initiatives that they wanted to focus on, but how we can renew our shared commitment to protect all Australians from the spread of hate, regardless of where they live.
All states are looking at ways in which they can keep their citizens safe and it’s important we do this in a coordinated way.
Rowland went on to speak about key proposals after the Bondi attack, including a national gun buyback program. Some states and territories have resisted the scheme but Rowland said there remained “widespread community support” for it.
We have established a national gun buyback scheme that’s going to purchase surplus or newly banned or illegal firearms. And it’s going to be the largest buyback since the Howard government.
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Attorneys general meet to discuss antisemitism, online hate
State and federal attorneys general will meet in Sydney on Friday, with antisemitism and online hate at the top of the agenda. For the first 2026 meeting of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG), the group will discuss protecting Australians from the spread of hate, the federal attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said.
Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal and the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will present briefings to the group. SCAG will discuss rising antisemitism in Australia, which Rowland’s office said needed “a coordinated and sustained response”, including in fighting hate via social media.
“There is no place in Australia for hatred of any kind – online or offline,” Rowland said.
Online platforms play a significant role in the prevalence and spread of hateful content – a borderless challenge that demands coordinated national action.
Segal said antisemitism was becoming “more organised, more visible and more harmful”, requiring responses in law, education and enforcement.
Inman Grant said the eSafety office was looking at online hate.
“I am also pleased to have the opportunity to canvass a range of aligned, systemic and individual redress initiatives that could further target the perpetuation of this caustic and corrosive content, and provide education and training for Jewish community leaders and educators,” she said.
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Banks’ cheaper mortgages pushing up the cash rate, RBA research finds
The Reserve Bank will be forced to keep the cash rate higher than it would have before the Covid pandemic because the banks have cut costs to offer cheaper mortgages, according to new RBA research.
Intense competition between banks has produced a cheap loan market, which banks have funded in part by skimping on customers’ savings accounts interest rates, the research suggests.
Banks now fund almost half of their lending with savers’ at-call deposits, up from 30% in 2011, researchers Sarah Jennison, Josh Spiller and Peter Wallis found. This has helped cut banks’ lending costs to their lowest levels since the global financial crisis, in part because, post-pandemic, banks did not lift the interest paid on those savings by as far as the RBA lifted the official cash rate.
At the same time, banks have competed for mortgage customers by offering lower rates and bigger cashbacks and discounts, the analysts found.
The average outstanding variable rate in December was about 5.5%, while the cash rate was 3.5%. In 2019, the same typical home loan rate was about 4% but the cash was about 1% – implying banks’ profit margin on home loans has shrunk.
With mortgage rates now lower compared with the cash rate, the so-called “neutral” level of the cash rate has automatically become higher, the researchers found. That implies the RBA now has to keep the cash rate higher than it would have pre-pandemic to enable the same level of lending growth.
Lending surged after just three rate cuts in 2025, adding to inflationary pressures and surprising the RBA, according to its deputy governor Andrew Hauser. This research helps solve part of that puzzle.
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Good morning
Hello, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to guide you through the morning’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:
In Sydney today, a meeting of state and federal attorneys general will address antisemitism and online hate.
In global news, high-stakes talks between the US and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program have ended with the Omani mediators claiming that “significant progress” – though observers found the brevity of Thursday’s second session ominous.
And Coles is in the spotlight again as it reveals its next set of profit results this morning, after spending the week defending allegations it misled shoppers during a marketing campaign.
We’ll have more soon.
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