What we learned today, Wednesday 22 April
Thanks for staying with our live news coverage today. We’ll leave the blog there for this evening. Here were the day’s top stories:
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced major changes to the NDIS to help manage costs. Queensland’s disability minister said there would be “significant disadvantage to participants”.
The New South Wales premier said “we don’t have billions” to cover federal NDIS savings.
Australia’s gas industry is running a multimillion-dollar campaign of ads against proposals for a new tax, a parliamentary inquiry heard.
The independent running in the Farrer byelection said the Coalition preferencing One Nation was “not for the good of our community”.
The eSafety commissioner has sought answers on grooming and radicalisation on Roblox and Minecraft.
The prime minister said the government has secured shipments of an additional 200m litres of diesel.
Consumers and businesses are not cutting back on fuel as prices rise, Ampol reported.
Mouse numbers are reportedly increasing across regional Australia, the agriculture minister said.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption found a former CEO of a government agency was corrupt.
The NSW police commissioner warned Sydney is dealing with a new organised crime environment after a fourth man was charged over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Chris Baghsarian.
Updated
Air around Geelong’s Corio refinery is safe after blaze, Fire Rescue says
Fire Rescue Victoria has dropped its warning to Corio residents to avoid the refinery area and limit airflow from outdoors.
After the Geelong refinery blaze last week, residents were advised to close doors and windows and make moves to limit smoke inhalation. That has now been downgraded to a community information message, “in line with the reduced risk,” an FRV spokesperson said.
FRV has conducted air quality, surface and water runoff testing and there are no contamination concerns for the community, the spokesperson said.
Firefighters are still at the refinery site, which is being made safe to allow investigations into the cause of the fire. FRV’s spokesperson added:
Once the scene has been made safe, the incident will be handed over to Viva Energy for the beginning of recovery activities and the continued operation of the site.
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NSW deputy premier blames corruption findings on prior Coalition government ‘mismanagement’
Prue Car, the NSW education minister and deputy premier, has said findings of corruption against a senior executive in her department have shown the failures of the former Coalition government.
Anthony Manning, the chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW from June 2017 until February 2024, was today found to have engaged in corrupt conduct by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Manning was appointed the inaugural head of School Infrastructure by Rob Stokes, a minister in the state’s Liberal-National government. An ICAC team raised concerns at his behaviour in 2021 and the ICAC assigned an investigation team in April 2023, soon after the Coalition lost government to Labor.
The ICAC also found the NSW Department of Education’s executive was aware of the agency’s poor financial practices but failed to respond to red flags.
Car’s statement on the findings focused on one episode where Manning was found to have attempted to suppress population data and projections to protect his agency’s funding. She said:
Today’s ICAC findings highlight the leadership failures in School Infrastructure NSW under the former Liberal National Government …
Families in NSW’s rapidly growing suburbs were ignored, while school planning was mismanaged, and data was ignored or misrepresented, leaving families without public schools in their communities …
It is clear the former Liberal National Government’s mismanagement let families across NSW down. Since being elected, the Minns Labor Government has worked to strengthen and improve schools planning, oversight, and accountability, to support every child’s right to education.
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Queensland opposition tables bill to make churches legally responsible for abuse
Queensland’s Labor opposition has tabled a bill to make churches and other institutions legally liable for the actions of people such as priests.
If passed, it would close a loophole created by the 2024 high court decision Bird v DP (a pseudonym). The court ruled that a person who was abused by a priest at his Port Fairy home in the 1970s could not sue because the priest was not an employee of the church.
The shadow attorney general, Meaghan Scanlon, said the high court’s decision was a distinction “so clinical” that it would be incomprehensible to most Queenslanders.
Scanlon said:
Right now in Queensland, there are hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse who have been told by the law – the cold operation of the law – that they cannot pursue justice through one of the legal, key legal pathways once available to them.
Not because of what happened to them, that it wasn’t real, not because they weren’t devastated, not because they don’t deserve accountability, but because of a technicality.
The bill makes an institution responsible for those who are akin to its employees, even if they don’t receive a wage.
Scanlon said both Victoria and the ACT had already acted to overturn the case with similar legislation.
The bill has been referred to a parliamentary committee, which will report back in nine months, after government MPs blocked a move to expedite the inquiry.
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Husic tells gas companies to stop ‘defending the indefensible’ with anti-tax ads
The Labor backbencher Ed Husic has described gas producers’ anti-tax reform advertising campaign as “defending the indefensible” and told them to quit it.
A parliamentary inquiry today heard the gas lobby group, Australian Energy Producers, likely has at least $5m to spend on its campaign with Shell Australia contributing about $1m and “six or seven” other large AEP members chipping in.
Husic, who has been championing calls for the tax within Labor, told the ABC:
You can’t turn a blind eye to missed revenue at a time where it really matters, and it shows that the system needs major reform.
So of course the gas industry would be opposed to this. They’re spending millions, it’s come out today in the inquiry, on advertising, and my message to them is quite simple.
It is: do not spend millions advertising and defending the indefensible. Pay your corporate tax, respect the fact that Australians want a better deal on their resources and they are entitled to get it.
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Where will people cut from the NDIS go, Coalition asks
The Coalition’s NDIS spokesperson, Melissa McIntosh, has said Labor has not sought her support for its reforms and asked whether everyone cut from the scheme will realistically receive new supports in its place.
McIntosh said her “heart was breaking” as Mark Butler announced significant cuts today. She told the ABC:
Mark Butler said every single participant on the NDIS needs to be reassessed, so does that mean somebody who is on a breathing tube, or needs to have a feeding tube? I think that’s pretty unfair if that’s the way we are going here …
All I’m seeing right now is a targeting of participants. If we have these potentially hundreds of thousands of people coming off the NDIS, where are they going to go? …
There doesn’t seem to be a strong indication that [the states] are [stepping in], so I’m concerned about the psychosocial services, those people with severe mental health issues.
While Labor may require the Coalition’s votes in the Senate to pass its reforms, McIntosh said the government has not contacted her office to discuss the legislation. Asked whether the Coalition would vote through the reforms, McIntosh said:
Bit of a tough question right now because I’ve not seen any detail, I’ve not received a call from Mark Butler or Jenny McAllister … But who knows with this government, they’ve got the control of the house, they could be doing anything they like right now.
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States are ‘paranoid about cost-shifting’ in NDIS, Bill Shorten says
Bill Shorten, the former Labor minister for the national disability insurance scheme, has said alternatives to the NDIS need to be developed even if state governments are “paranoid” about their costs.
Asked whether the 160,000 people set to be cut from the scheme would find it “hard”, Shorten said:
It is only hard if there is not somewhere for them to go. I mean, to be fair to the current government, the first time we did a review, we spoke to tens of thousands of people and what was clear is the NDIS can’t be the only lifeboat in the ocean …
What we need to do is make sure there other support is out there for people who may not need the full NDIS.
The state governments have warned they cannot cover the shortfall from NDIS cuts. Shorten said:
There are a lot of people of goodwill in the states. They are paranoid about cost-shifting, and I guess that’s right, they have their own budgetary challenges, but I think what we’ve got to do is not start with a question of the budget, although that’s always very important, but start what’s in the best interest [of] people with disability.
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NSW ICAC finds former CEO of government agency corrupt
NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption has found the former chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW, Anthony Manning, engaged in corrupt conduct.
The ICAC found Manning pushed millions of dollars, meant for school projects, to his friends and associates who were consultants and contingent workers. It recommended the government ask the director of public prosecutions for advice on the potential prosecution of Manning and two others.
The NSW Department of Education’s executive was aware of the agency’s poor financial practices but failed to respond to red flags, the ICAC found.
The ICAC did not find Manning obtained a personal financial benefit. In his time as chief executive from June 2017 until February 2024, School Infrastructure spent $344m on contingent workers, 26 of whom were paid at a rate of more than $360,000 a year and one of whom was paid about $644,000 a year for a role that did not have proper recruitment processes.
The ICAC found the workers’ money was sourced mostly from funds for school projects, which had hidden the agency’s overall spend on recruitment. Manning also arranged the removal of staff who questioned his decisions, the ICAC found.
The commissioner, Paul Lakatos SC, said it was “a clear case of cronyism”, adding:
Public money that had been put aside to build and improve schools for NSW children was instead spent on jobs for friends and associates of the chief executive.
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Labor’s estimate of 160,000 people cut from NDIS ‘preliminary numbers’ but ‘best estimate’
The minister for disability and the national disability insurance scheme has been on the ABC discussing the cuts announced today to the scheme.
Jenny McAllister said the government’s estimate that 160,000 fewer people would be on the NDIS by 2030 were “really preliminary numbers”. Asked if the true number could be higher, she said:
Our best estimate is the one we have provided.
Asked about who would still be left on the scheme, McAllister said:
It is a scheme for people with permanent and significant disability … I don’t use the word profound actually because it has some particular meanings and some particular history, but what I would say is that the definition of permanent and significant has never really been defined …
We are going to work with the disability community and receive technical advice, expert advice about the approach that we need to take to make sure that this scheme offers support to the people it was originally intended for.
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At least 160,000 people to be cut from NDIS within four years, minister says – video
Watch the key moments from Mark Butler’s announcement today about NDIS cuts here:
Cochlear loses 40% of its market value as implant sales slow
Australian company Cochlear has reported a major slowdown in sales of cochlear implants, sending its share price plummeting in its worst-ever one-day fall.
The company had been steadily growing its global sales until this year, with revenue flat in the first three months of 2026, it reported today.
Fewer people with hearing aids are being referred by doctors to switch to implants, while hospitals have had less capacity to carry out surgery, especially in western Europe, Cochlear told the market.
Consumers also appear to be cutting back on optional healthcare spending as the US-Israel war on Iran sends confidence plummeting.
The company’s chief executive, Dig Howitt, said:
Addressing hearing loss in adults and seniors continues to be treated as a discretionary intervention, highlighting the importance of our strategy to medicalise hearing loss so that treatment is recognised as an important health priority.
Outside western Europe and the US, Cochlear said demand for implants was still high, except in the Middle East where it expected more order cancellations and delivery delays in the wake of the conflict.
The company downgraded its expected profits for the financial year from a range of up to $460m to a range up to $330m.
The share price has tanked from $167.94 to $102.50, dragging its market value down almost 40% from $10.98bn to about $6.71bn.
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CTM to repay up to $242m over UK overcharging
The ASX-listed Corporate Travel Management says it expects to repay UK clients, including the British government, up to £128m ($242m) after a review found customers were overcharged.
CTM said in a statement today it first became aware some UK customers were being incorrectly charged after its British arm “was requested to rapidly source accommodation for thousands of people” in 2021.
The contract was designed to house asylum seekers in hotels.
The following year, the company identified a £54.6m ($103m) difference between the amounts charged to the customer and amounts paid by CTM to hotels.
A subsequent investigation found further evidence of overcharging dating back to 2019.
CTM owes more in refunds than it has available cash, according to its shareholder update. As at the end of March, CTM had $115m in cash and $75m in undrawn debt.
Shares in CTM have not traded since August last year and remain suspended.
The company said:
CTM is committed to a just and proper resolution with impacted customers in the UK and is in the process of negotiating commercial arrangements.
The ongoing trading suspension and its impact on shareholders is deeply disappointing and a matter of serious concern for the board. We sincerely apologise to our shareholders and to affected clients in the UK for the circumstances that led to this situation.
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Queensland minister says federal NDIS reform will create 'significant disadvantage'
Queensland’s Amanda Camm says there will be “significant disadvantage” as a result of commonwealth reforms to the national disability insurance scheme announced today.
The state’s disability services minister has refused to sign up to the commonwealth Thriving Kids scheme, which shifts some children out of the scheme to be covered by the states. She told parliament that the state “holds very firm” to that position on Wednesday.
Camm told parliament:
The minister spoke about genuine partnership and goodwill. But Mr Speaker, that is why we have not signed the Thriving Kids agreement, because the state holds very firm in our belief that there will be significant disadvantage to participants right across our state, particularly young people, particularly in rural, regional, remote and First Nations communities, based upon these reforms.
Camm criticised the commonwealth for lack of detail and lack of consultation on its policy, poor design of the original scheme and a lack of regulation to keep out “dodgy, shonky individuals and companies” from the scheme.
She said the NDIS was a “runaway train” and the federal Labor government had “decoupled the carriages and sent them the state’s way”.
It will be our state and other states and territories that will pay for the failures.
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Thanks Nick Visser, and hello all. I’ll be taking you through the rest of the afternoon’s breaking news.
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That’s all from me, folks. Luca Ittimani will take things from here. Enjoy your Wednesday arvo.
Tasmanian smelter’s wage lifeline fails to allay viability fears
Hundreds of workers at Australia’s only manganese alloy smelter, which is under administration, have been given short-term pay assurances that unions say do nothing to address long-term security concerns, AAP reports.
The federal and Tasmanian governments’ 50-50 loan of up to $3m was announced on Wednesday and will cover the entirety of the facility’s 200-strong workforce.
It comes about a week after administrators told some 175 workers they would soon need to either take leave without pay or face redundancy.
The Liberty Bell Bay smelter in northern Tasmania has been sitting idle since May when it paused operations, citing ore supply issues and global price volatility. The smelter, which was a subsidiary of GFG Alliance owned by the controversial businessman Sanjeev Gupta, went into administration in March.
The federal industry minister, Tim Ayres, said the $3m of new support was a good step, and governments were working to support a transition to a new owner. The Australian Workers’ Union assistant national secretary, Chris Donovan, said the funding was welcome, adding:
But let’s be clear: this is a short-term lifeline, not a long-term solution. This site needs its workforce in place to be sold, and that process is likely to require months, not weeks.
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My colleagues Tom McIlroy and Sarah Basford Canales have a full report on the changes to the NDIS. You can get a full debrief from them here:
Farrer independent says Coalition preferencing One Nation 'not for the good of our community'
The independent candidate for Farrer, Michelle Milthorpe, has responded to news that the Liberals and Nationals will preference One Nation above her in next month’s federal byelection.
As we reported last night, the decision of the two Coalition parties is a potential blow to Milthorpe’s hopes of defeating One Nation’s David Farley, given Liberal and Nationals preferences could determine the final outcome.
In a statement, Milthorpe said:
The Coalition has done a deal with One Nation because they are worried One Nation will wipe them out. We will never know what One Nation offered the Liberal/National Parties to strike this deal, but what we do know is this isn’t about Farrer. This is a decision made for the good of the Coalition, not for the good of our community.
The parties have not been listening to us, so I expect most voters will return the favour by not listening to their suggestions of who to vote for.
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Gas industry runs multimillion-dollar ads against new tax
The gas industry is running a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to fight the push for a new tax, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
Shell Australia’s country chair, Cecile Wake, told the inquiry her company was contributing about $1m to the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) campaign defending the amount the industry pays in tax.
Wake – who was appointed AEP’s board chair earlier this year – said “six or seven” other large AEP members had chipped in similar amounts, meaning the campaign would probably have at least $5m at its disposal.
Under questioning from the independent senator David Pocock, Wake said the campaign was necessary to “counter-balance” the “very selective” claims pushed by gas tax advocates.
She claimed the campaign’s budget was “orders of magnitude” smaller than the amount that the industry’s opponents were spending.
What we are trying to do through that (the campaign) is to counter-balance the very selective and misleading representations of a number of other social commentators. It is a modest and proportionate amount to spend to put some salient facts in front of the Australian public. It is balanced, it is fact-based.
I am comfortable that it is an appropriate and commensurate figure that is simply putting facts in front of the Australian people and they can draw their own conclusions from that.
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About 160,000 people to be cut from NDIS within four years, figures show
A lot of figures are being thrown around in Mark Butler’s speech at the National Press Club but let me try to break that down.
The health minister says the “hard choices” he needs to make are “unavoidable and urgent”.
Butler says unreleased modelling shows yet-to-be-announced changes to eligibility for the scheme will result in around 600,000 participants by 2030. Right now, there are 760,000 on the scheme, so it means 160,000 will no longer be able to access the NDIS within four years. It’s not entirely clear right now who those people will be, but Butler says people with lower support needs will be taken off the scheme and returned to programs and services outside the NDIS.
As for the budget costs, the NDIS is expected to cost $50bn this year. It’s projected to cost more than $70bn by 2029-30. Butler says his changes now will mean the cost of the NDIS will only rise by around $5bn over four years. That’s around $15bn in savings by curbing the scheme’s growth.
Back in 2023, national cabinet agreed to limit the annual growth to 8% by 2025-26. Butler last August flagged a future growth rate of 5 to 6%.
But now, he says the scheme’s growth will be slashed to roughly 2% each year until 2030, and then returned to a 5% growth rate. That’s a considerable change when you consider it grew by 24% per year on average between 2020 and 2024.
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Government to tackle ‘honeypots’ within the NDIS
Butler said the measures announced today will mean 90% of all payments from the NDIS will go to registered providers, part of a broader effort to cut down on fraud.
It’s about building a series of measures that, together, will give taxpayers and participants more confidence that the money from taxpayers is going to where it needs to be.
He said it will not be a process that happens immediately, adding that it was “sobering” that organised crime had been attracted to so-called “honeypots” within the NDIS.
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Butler takes questions after NDIS announcements
The health minister was just asked why the cuts are coming during an ongoing cost of living crisis. He said essential areas of support, including essentials for daily living, medication management, transportation and hygiene, will not be changed.
We’ve worked very carefully to identify where we think we can control spending growth and areas where we think we need to essentially preserve existing supports.
He said there will be impact for some, and he did not take that lightly.
An area that has tripled in the last five years alone and [is] projected to grow to $20bn in itself is not something we can continue to sustain.
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NDIS is a ‘statement of our national values’, Butler says
Butler said the NDIS can be safeguarded with action now, but it will be under threat, as will its ability to help Australians, without action. He said:
The NDIS will be accounted for in the budget – but this is bigger than the budget. The NDIS is a statement of our national values, it’s a measure of our national character.
If we act now, we can safeguard and strengthen it, so that it serves Australians it was created to help.
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NDIS changes are 'hard decisions' but will stop scheme becoming ‘ATM for crooks’, Butler says
Butler said the NDIS needs change as part of its good management:
These are hard decisions – but they’re unavoidable and urgent. … The deeper reform – rebuilding how the NDIS will operate into the future – will be done through genuine and respectful work with the states, and with the community …
Australians expect the NDIS to support people with a disability and their families and to continue to transform their lives in the way we’ve seen happen over the past 13 years.
Not for it to be an ATM for shonks and grifters, fraudsters and crooks.
Butler will move to see passage of the immediate spending controls in the next budget session of parliament.
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Government to tackle low-quality third-party intermediaries operating within NDIS
The government will move to improve the quality and reduce the cost of third-party intermediaries in the NDIS. Butler said that would see a reduction in spending in the area of 30%.
Many of these people provide valuable support to participants.
Others have no qualifications or background in disability services, and are more interested in clipping the ticket.
The government will work to create a list of “accountable, quality providers” that people can choose from. The effort will target competition in the market, which Butler says results in cut corners.
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Government aims to rein in NDIS spending growth to 2% over next years
The government will slash the growth of the NDIS down to 2% each year until 2030, Butler says.
In 2022, the growth trajectory was 22%, Butler says, adding in the following year, the national cabinet agreed to bring that figure down to 8%. But even at 8% growth annually, he says the cost of the NDIS would be “unsustainable”. Butler said:
At that rate, by the end of decade, spending on the NDIS would cost more than Medicare and the PBS combined, the backbones of our universal healthcare system.
That’s why the national cabinet agreed to work to get spending growth down to 5 to 6% or lower. But our efforts to get to 8% are still hitting hurdles.
Moments later, Butler revealed his planned changes, some yet to be announced, would actually bring the growth of the scheme to 2% each year until the decade’s end until 2030 when it would return to a 5% annual yearly growth rate.
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NDIS ‘costs too much’ and must be made sustainable, Butler says
Mark Butler said the NDIS has “changed lives, and changed our country, both for the better”. But he added the NDIS is costing the country too much and it must be made sustainable.
Right now, the NDIS costs too much and is growing too fast, put alongside any comparable government program.
The NDIS is one of Australia’s great human rights achievements. And unless we take action to make it sustainable, it simply will not be there in the future for the Australians who need it most.
We can’t afford for the NDIS to continue growing at its present rate. But far more importantly, we can’t afford for the NDIS to fail.
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Providing dignity to older Australians ‘profound generational challenge’
Mark Butler is beginning to lay out the government’s new priorities when it comes to the NDIS and aged care. He said older Australians “who built the country” need the government to invest “in their dignity and care at the end of their long lives”.
Butler said:
Dignity in older age – through a world-class aged care system – is the least that our parents and grandparents deserve.
We want to deliver that, with our aged care package, but it will require serious investment, and honesty about where taxpayer dollars are best spent.
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Health minister Mark Butler is standing up to speak about changes to the NDIS. We’ll bring you live updates from his address at the National Press Club.
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Customers not cutting back on fuel as prices rise, says Ampol
Service station operator Ampol has reported customers are still steadily purchasing fuel despite recent price rises.
Both of Australia’s fuel refinery operators have now reported their financial results for the first three months of 2026.
Ampol today said its fuel sales rose more than 100m litres to 3.46bn litres, excluding sales to other fuel companies, with most of the increase coming from the wholesale market. Consumer demand had remained stable into April, it said.
Its Lytton refinery produced 1.4bn litres of fuel from January to March, and its margin quadrupled from just over US$6 a barrel to US$25.45 a barrel.
Viva on Monday reported its Geelong refining margin nearly tripled from US$7.90 a barrel to US$22 a barrel, before the fire that limited its production. Viva similarly said its commercial and industrial customers had kept up stong demand, but warned aviation companies were likely to cut back on fuel purchases.
Ampol and Viva both confirmed they had steady import supplies lined up until the end of May, with Ampol already locking in petrol to the end of June and Viva expecting June purchases to be lined up soon.
Ampol said its convenience store sales at petrol stations have held up, but Viva’s convenience store sales have been crunched. They fell from $428m last year to $402m, but margins picked up a little, which Viva said was due to customers skipping buying cheaper items with their petrol due to cost of living pressures, but keeping up purchases of other higher-margin products.
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Landmark ACCC v Woolworths trial enters second day with supermarket executive in the stand
The second day of the landmark trial between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Woolworths is under way in the federal court in Sydney.
This morning, the consumer watchdog’s barrister, Michael Hodge, is cross-examining Woolworth’s chief commercial officer, Paul Harker.
Harker has agreed he had ultimate responsibility for the “Prices Dropped” program, which the case is scrutinising
The ACCC has accused Woolworths of misleading customers into thinking they were getting genuine discounts on hundreds of everyday products that were sold on “Prices Dropped”, when the supermarket was actually using the promotion in many cases to disguise pre-planned price spikes.
The ACCC alleges both Woolworths and Coles intentionally increased a product’s price for a short period, before discounting them to a price that was more than, or the same as, the initial price.
In court yesterday, the ACCC alleged Woolworths “contravened” its own internal policies, known as “guardrails”, which set out how long a product’s price had to remain set before it could be placed on a promotional program and put on sale.
The ACCC is arguing these rules were relaxed to between three and six weeks when previously prices had to be set for two or three months before a product could be put on sale.
We’ll bring you more updates a little later today, but in the meantime you can catch up on what the court heard yesterday:
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NSW premier says ‘we don’t have billions’ to cover NDIS savings
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says the state cannot afford to fully fund NDIS services funded by the commonwealth if the federal government implements saving measures which shift responsibility on to states and territories.
Speaking ahead of federal health minister Mark Butler’s expected announcement on the NDIS at the National Press Club today, Minns told reporters he supported reform, but NSW could not match commitments if the commonwealth reduces eligibility for its programs.
On the NDIS, Minns said:
It’s too expensive, and if you want to see it in place for longer then it needs to be on a firmer financial and economic footing. So I accept that principle.
The only thing I’d say is that we can’t provide the kinds of services in the public system, in the state system, that are currently being provided by the NDIS, if someone’s taken off that program. ...
I’m not going to throw sand in the gears of the federal government. I think ... that they’re grappling with an issue that, if I were in their shoes, I’d be doing the same thing.
I just think we need to be clear. We can’t provide at the state level the same services that were currently provided by the NDIS.
Minns says he is open to a deal with the federal government to expand state-based services, but adds:
This is going to be billions. We don’t have billions. We don’t have billions to throw into it.
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Sydney dealing with new organised crime environment, NSW police commissioner says
Back to the fourth man charged over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Chris Baghsarian.
The New South Wales police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the man, 19, was arrested on Tuesday and was allegedly involved in Baghsarian’s initial abduction. He told 2GB radio this morning:
We’re alleging this 19-year-old actually provided a firearm that was used in his initial kidnapping.
Investigators are continuing to look into other possible suspects, Lanyon said, adding that Sydney was now dealing with a very different organised crime environment.
We are seeing young people predominantly being contracted online to conduct very serious criminal activity. There are a lot of young people who are seeing what they believe to be an easy dollar but not understanding the ramifications … the crime of murder carries life.
Read more here:
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Condom prices could rise 30% due to Iran war
The world’s top condom producer, Malaysia’s Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain disruptions drag on due to the Iran war, its chief executive said.
Reuters reports Karex is also seeing a surge in condom demand as rising freight costs and shipping delays have left many of its customers with lower stockpiles than usual, CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
“The situation is definitely very fragile, prices are expensive … We have no choice but to transfer the costs right now to the customers,” Goh said.
Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as national health systems such as the UK’s NHS and global aid programmes run by the United Nations.
Read more here:
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Greens leader says party won’t support NDIS changes
Larissa Waters, the Greens leader, said changes to the NDIS, set to be detailed later today, amount to a “cynical political exercise” from the Labor party.
Waters wrote on social media the Greens would not support the effort, saying:
Pitting people who genuinely need care against each other while leaving $17bn in the pockets of gas corporations they’re too cowardly to tax is shameful.
Our system of care is being diminished, while Labor wastes billions on AUKUS and let the 1% opt out of paying their fair share.
The Greens will not support Labor trying to balance the budget off the back of disabled people.
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Takeaway coffee sales plunge as fuel and living costs dent Australian spending
For many coffee drinkers, takeaway orders are changing from a habitual purchase to an occasional treat, as elevated petrol prices and other living costs leave households feeling glum.
This rapid shift in behaviour has disappointed cafe owners and surprised economists, raising an uneasy question: if takeaway coffee sales are falling, is the economy next?
Changes in coffee purchases are an early indicator of consumer attitudes because Australians are generally unwilling to give up their daily habit until absolutely necessary.
National Australia Bank research shows that more than 50% of consumers are cutting back on treats such as coffee and snacks, which the bank says are usually among the most resilient purchases.
Read more here:
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Queensland premier predicts pushback from ‘a chorus of states and territories’ over federal NDIS changes
Queensland premier David Crisafulli says there will be “a chorus of states and territories” pushing back against federal reforms to the national disability insurance scheme.
The changes, which will be announced by health minister Mark Butler at the National Press Club later today, are expected to tighten eligibility for the scheme, shifting responsibility for more kids on to states and territories.
“I want the federal government to accept responsibility for what they control,” Crisafulli said, at a press conference in Brisbane this morning.
I want the federal government to deal with the system, deal with the rorters, but make sure that every single person who deserves support, deserves compassion, gets it. And that’s not what’s happening at the moment.
You’re going to see a chorus of states and territories from different sides of the political fence, and I’ve got a feeling most of them are going to be saying something very, very similar.
The minister for families, Amanda Camm, yesterday criticised the federal government’s proposed package of reforms, badged as “thriving kids”, as “failing kids”.
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Recreations of troubling events like mass shootings reported to eSafety commissioner
There have been recreations of mass shootings on Roblox, and Islamic State-inspired games, Inman Grant said, as well as recreations of concentration camps and the January 6 US Capitol building riots on Fortnite.
Guardian Australia reported on Friday that “gamified” versions of the Bondi terror attack were found online, and reported to the eSafety commissioner.
Roblox recently introduced age assurance technology, and now groups similar child and teen groups in together, meaning adults on the service – if using adult accounts – can no longer message those users.
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eSafety seeks answers on grooming and radicalisation on Roblox and Minecraft
The Australian online safety regulator has written to the companies behind gaming platforms including Roblox, Steam, Fortnite, and Minecraft asking them to explain how they’re preventing children being groomed by sexual predators or by extremist groups on their services.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said offenders often use these platforms as the first point of contact with children before moving to private messaging services.
She said:
Gaming platforms are amongst the online spaces most heavily used by Australian children, functioning not only as places to play, but also as places to socialise and communicate.
Predatory adults know this and target children through grooming or embedding terrorist and violent extremist narratives in gameplay, increasing the risks of contact offending, radicalisation and other off-platform harms.
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A spokesperson for the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has addressed the crowd outside Sydney’s Downing Centre court. He said:
This has to be the line we draw, NTEU members unanimously agree that governments can’t decide where we protest … we stand with you that charges must be dropped ….
The union movement will continue to protect freedom of speech.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has argued that because the anti-Herzog protest was also covered by a major events declaration, charges would still stand for those who did not comply with police directions.
Advocates for protesters who were charged at the demonstrations have criticised Minns’ comments.
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Protesters rally at Downing Centre demanding anti-Herzog protest charges be dropped
A group of at least 40 protesters gathered on the steps outside Sydney’s Downing Centre court this morning to stand in solidarity with those facing charges from the recent demonstrations against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit.
The rally called for the state government to scrap its anti-protest laws and drop all charges against the demonstrators. There were at least five uniformed police officers standing to each side of the group.
An array of symbols were on display, including the Palestinian, LGBTQI and National Tertiary Education Union flags. Other protesters held signs that read: “RESIGN CHRIS MINNS, SCRAP THE ANTI-PROTEST LAWS” and “DROP THE HERZOG PROTEST CHARGES.”
There was a sign at the front of the protest area that reads: “Sanction Israel now, Scrap the anti-protest laws, GLOBALISE THE INTIFADA.”
Last Thursday, the NSW court of appeal ruled in favour of the Palestine Action Group and Blak Caucus, finding an anti-protest law that gave police the power to restrict marches was unconstitutional.
The now defunct law, known as the public assembly restriction declaration (Pard), was introduced after the Bondi beach terror attack last year. Protesters could not use the “form 1” system to legally march in police-designated areas for up to three months after a terrorist attack.
After Thursday’s court finding, NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said officers were reviewing the charges against the anti-Herzog protesters.
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World experiencing ‘volatile, turbulent period’, Albanese warns
Albanese said the government was continuing to work against an extremely volatile political climate. He added:
What we can do here in Australia is to do everything we can to secure supply … that is precisely what we are doing.
This is an extremely volatile period for the entire world. There is no getting away from it. And Australia is not immune from the consequences. …
This is a volatile, turbulent period in the world. We have been very upfront about that. We are not trying to pretend that is not the case.
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New shipments of diesel to give Australia ‘an extra buffer’, Bowen says
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the new diesel would serve as “extra supply to give us an extra buffer”, with the additional fuel focused on the regions.
The new shipments will come to Australia by the last week of May or the first week of June. Another 61 ships, laden with fuel, are now at sea on their way to Australia.
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Albanese announces shipments of additional 200m litres of diesel
Prime minister Anthony Albanese just announced the government has secured an additional 200m litres of diesel.
That figure includes four cargoes of diesel coming from South Korea, Brunei and Malaysia. Albanese said at a press conference in Sydney:
We will continue to use every measure at our disposal to make a difference. … What we can control is how we respond and we are responding by throwing everything at it.
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Farmers promised more fertiliser imports
Australian farmers are being promised more fertiliser imports under a deal struck between the federal government and two major companies, aimed at securing supplies in response to a global bottleneck, AAP reports.
The federal government has reached an agreement with chemical companies CSBP and Incitec Pivot, to underwrite the financial risk of importing fertiliser from overseas.
The deal was struck using the government’s strategic reserve powers – designed to shore up supplies of crude oil, fuel and fertiliser, which have been impacted by the closure of the strait of Hormuz.
Much of the world’s fertiliser usually travels through the key waterway, and the Iran war has sent prices for the crucial agricultural commodity soaring.
Under the new agreement, government funds will effectively be put up as insurance for importers who are facing rapid, volatile price changes because of the war.
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Reversal on co-payments for showering and dressing help came after listening to older Australians, aged care minister says
Sam Rae, the minister for aged care, said the system for older Australians needed to be “sustainable for generations to come”, saying government reform was centred on creating a robust program.
Rae spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the government had listened to older people when it decided to reverse controversial changes that have required some co-payments for “independent support” for home care, including help with showering and dressing. The change, which costs some older Australians up to $50 an hour for basic care, began in November. The co-payments will no longer apply from October this year.
Rae said:
We’ve always said through this generational reform process that we’d listen to older people and we’d respond to their experiences. … What they’ve made clear is that they want showering and dressing.
We’ve got a $40bn aged care system … and it needs to be sustainable for generations to come. And that’s what this reform process has been about. … We can’t be in a situation where we’re making a promise to the people of Australia about the dignity that they’ll receive through the aged care system if we can’t deliver on it and we can’t keep it sustainable.
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Mouse numbers reportedly increasing across regional Australia, agriculture minister says
Julie Collins, the federal minister for agriculture, said the government has been hearing reports of an increase in the number of mice around the country.
Collins said Australian farmers were some of the “best on the planet”, but admitted there is a lot on their plates already with the effects of the war in the Middle East. Collins told RN Breakfast this morning:
Obviously, you know, the more things that are impacting our farmers, the harder it is for them to keep farming.
… They’re very innovative and they’re able to deal with a whole range of issues. This war is an additional issue. And then, when you talk about things like additional mice, obviously, impacting, they’re also dealing with that too. And we know that there’s a lot on their plate. What we want to do is keep them farming.
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Thousands of traffic fines linked to AI cameras withdrawn in WA
Officials in Western Australia have withdrawn thousands of AI-camera traffic fines for seatbelt misuse in the six months since the technology went live in the nation’s largest state, Australian Associated Press reports, but the government will press ahead with more of the controversial devices.
More than 53,000 seatbelt infringements worth more than $29m have been issued to Western Australian drivers since the cameras went live in early October.
The state’s transport department has withdrawn about 2,050 of those, meaning about $1m in fines have been waived.
But WA police and road safety minister, Reece Whitby, told ABC Radio yesterday that the cameras were saving lives and the system was working.
These new safety cameras have actually changed [driver] behaviour … on our roads. We’re seeing offences being picked up at a scale we’ve not seen before because the cameras actually look down into the [vehicle] cabin. That’s a good thing.
Less than 4% of all seatbelt fines issued had been withdrawn, he said, and the vast majority of fines are accurate.
A total of 3,381 fines were appealed and about 60% of those were cancelled.
Drivers are unhappy about the cameras with some caught multiple times for the same offence.
The road safety commissioner would conduct a review of all infringements issued across the state, Whitby said, but AI traffic cameras would continue to be rolled out.
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Greens say community has ‘no confidence’ proposed savings from NDIS will help disabled Australians
Jordon Steele-John, the Greens’ spokesperson for disability inclusion, said there is “no confidence” in the community regarding proposed savings from the NDIS, set to be revealed by health minister Mark Butler today.
Steele-John told RN Breakfast this morning:
People cannot understand, quite rightly, in my opinion, why a government facing a budget, which is ultimately always about choices, would choose to cut their services rather than make the gas exporters pay their fair share of tax, tax Gina Rinehart or Clive Palmer a bit more, or maybe … buy one fewer submarine from Donald Trump rather than take away their ability to connect with their community or get the absolute basics they need to live.
Steele-John went on to say disabled people and their families are “sick of being used as political footballs”.
We’re in a situation right now where the state government is saying we cost too much. The federal government is saying we cost too much. And in the middle are disabled people and our families who will end up receiving less services and support. We will end up without the supports that we need to live.
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And while we’re on the subject of a tax on gas exports, check out more on the views coming out of Labor’s environment action network (Lean).
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Pocock calls for government to put ‘Australians ahead of gas companies’
Independent senator David Pocock has said a 25% tax on gas exports is not a “radical idea”, and has urged the government to put “Australians ahead of gas companies”.
Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 last night, Pocock said:
We’re one of the biggest gas exporters in the world, and yet we feel poor every time gas prices go up internationally. And then we look at Norway, and they’ve got a $3 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Australians know that this just comes down to political leadership, political courage, to actually put Australians ahead of the gas company.
Pocock said he is not “demonising the gas industry”, adding that “we need this industry for the transition” to renewable energy. He said:
This is gas that belongs to all Australians. And a 25% gas export tax would not only raise $17bn in a normal year, probably far more, when we see the kind of windfall profits that we’re likely to see, but it would actually reduce the price of gas for Australian manufacturers, businesses and households, and that is a very good thing at the moment.
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Labor changes course on aged care funding
The health minister, Mark Butler, will detail savings from the NDIS on Wednesday, as well as new arrangements for care services like showering, dressing support and continence management.
Labor is backing down from elements of its aged care reforms, removing out-of-pocket costs for non clinical services in the Support at Home scheme.
The government has faced criticism from advocates for elderly people, experts and aged care providers, who said these personal care services are essential for people’s independence and ability to stay at home.
The minister for aged care, Sam Rae, said the changes will be effective from 1 October this year.
Showering, dressing, continence care – these aren’t optional extras. They’re the basics of ageing with dignity, and no older Australian should miss out because of cost.
Older Australians, their families and providers told us these services needed to be protected. We’ve listened, and we’re acting.
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Fourth man charged over alleged kidnapping and murder of Chris Baghsarian
NSW police have charged a fourth man over the alleged kidnapping and murder of Chris Baghsarian.
The 85-year-old disappeared from his North Ryde home on 13 February and his remains were found on 24 February near a golf club in Pitt Town.
Police do not believe he was the intended target of the kidnapping but was taken in a case of mistaken identity.
Three people have already been charged with Baghsarian’s murder.
In a statement issued early Wednesday morning, police said they arrested a 19-year-old man on Tuesday morning at Mt Druitt police station.
He was charged with murder and take/detain in company with intent to ransom occasion actual bodily harm.
The man was refused bail to appear in Mt Druitt local court today.
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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 Nick Visser will be your guide through the morning.
Today the health minister, Mark Butler, will detail major changes to the NDIS including significant funding “savings”. The government says the savings, in part, from the national disability insurance scheme will go to funding improved aged care including showering and dressing.
And there has been a development in the case of the alleged kidnapping and murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian earlier this year, with a fourth man arrested and charged.
