What we learned, Monday 27 July
What a jam-packed news day! That’s where we’ll leave today’s live coverage.
Before we go, let’s recap the top headlines:
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Australian swimmer Cam McEvoy has dominated the 50m freestyle final in Glasgow, breaking the Commonwealth Games record.
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Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has lost the majority caucus support after an overnight meeting of state Labor factions.
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Barnaby Joyce suggests One Nation could accept some refugees while barring other migrants, in a worth-watching interview with Guardian Australia’s community affairs reporter Adeshola Ore.
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The 12.5% tariff imposed on Australia by the US government is “unjustified” and should be reconsidered, the shadow defence spokesperson, James Paterson, has said.
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AusAlert rang across the country as virtually every phone in the country just blared an emergency siren as part of the first Australia-wide test of a new national warning system.
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Victoria police have launched an investigation into an alleged knife assault on a Jewish teenager in Melbourne’s south-east.
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The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) has begun its Operation Rosny hearings into allegations of corruption in the NSW Liberals today. Read our full report here.
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Seven new suspected detections of deadly bird flu have been identified in local birds in South Australia.
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The family of a young Aboriginal man who died in custody has launched legal action in the NT supreme court after the officers involved were not prosecuted.
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The comedian and radio presenter who hosted Anthony Albanese’s ‘shag marry date’ interview has spoken out – in a way – saying the moment was “taken out of context”.
Thanks for joining us, see you bright and early tomorrow morning!
Man accused of secretly recording people in public toilets charged with 148 counts
Queensland police have charged a man accused of using a covert camera to record people in a unisex bathroom at a trucking warehouse.
Authorities launched an investigation in April after the camera was found at the property in Redbank.
A police search of another property uncovered multiple hard drives and more covert cameras.
The three-month investigation identified 24 alleged victims who were recorded.
The 34-year-old Sunnybank Hills man has been charged with 148 counts of breach of privacy and two counts of stalking. He will appear before the magistrates court in September.
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NSW Icac hearings adjourn as witness admits to ‘fake arrangement’ for donations
The NSW Icac’s hearings have concluded for the day, with witness Michael O’Hara describing being approached by members of a group of young Liberal power brokers, called the Reformers, who are accused of soliciting illegal donations to support branch-stacking efforts.
O’Hara, who has previously also donated to the Christian Democrats party, was a foundation member of conservative lobby group Advance Australia, making donations through his company Paslibdan Pty Ltd of at least $150,000 between 2023 and 2025 to the group.
He says he remembers first being approached by one of those named in Icac’s allegations, Christian Ellis, in 2018. Under questioning, he has admitted that an arrangement in which Paslibdan paid registered lobbying company Beckington, of which Ellis was the founding director, for “strategic wealth strategy investment advice” was a fake arrangement. O’Hara said:
From my point of view, the consultancy was that he was to go and do his best to get my conservative values into the Liberal party.
O’Hara is prohibited from donating to a political party because of his involvement in the liquor and gambling industries, but has questioned whether donations to the Reformers would be considered as donations to the NSW Liberals, and whether the Reformers would meet the definition of a political party.
Earlier O’Hara, who has resigned and rejoined the Liberal party multiple times, told the inquiry after the announcement of Icac’s allegations at the start of this month, he received a letter in the post telling him his membership had been suspended.
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David Littleproud criticises delay of AusAlert testing
Federal shadow emergency management minister David Littleproud has called today’s national emergency alert test a learning moment ahead of its October rollout.
Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, he said:
It’s important that if you’re going to get to that October 1 deadline, that you do test these systems, the redundancies and learn from them. And I think that that should be commended.
He questioned the amount of time it took for the government to orchestrate the test. Littleproud said:
The reality is that this actually was a recommendation out of the royal commission back in 2021-2022. I was the emergency services minister when that started this process. The fact that it’s taken the Albanese government four years to get it together probably is the more concerning aspect to it.
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Witness tells NSW Icac Dominic Perrottet ‘went woke’
Returning to the NSW Icac inquiry, the first witness, hotelier Michael O’Hara, is now appearing. O’Hara is a former colleague of NSW upper house Liberal, Damien Tudehope, from the time they both worked as lawyers.
While Damien Tudehope is not accused of any wrongdoing, he is connected to a number of the individuals named in allegations by the watchdog, some of whom worked as staffers in his office.
This morning the inquiry heard that Tudehope’s son, James Tudehope, has declined a request to appear at the inquiry, and has moved to work in New Zealand. He is not named in Icac’s allegations but has legal representation at its hearings.
Damien Tudehope stepped aside as shadow attorney general and leader of the Liberals, announcing he had been called as a witness during the inquiry.
Icac alleges that O’Hara, prohibited from being a political donor because of his involvement in the liquor and gambling industries, made donations through his company Paslibdan Pty Ltd to support branch stacking efforts against centre-right Liberals.
Under initial questioning, O’Hara confirmed that he has been a member of the conservative right faction of the Liberal party. Asked if former premier Dominic Perrottet was part of this faction, O’Hara says:
Initially, he was, but then he went woke.
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Comedian claims Albanese taken ‘out of context’ in ‘shag, marry, date’ video
The comedian and radio presenter who hosted Anthony Albanese’s ‘shag marry date’ interview has spoken out – in a way – saying the moment was “taken out of context”.
Albanese joined the Bush Deep podcast, hosted by Nikki Osborne, where he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories when he was put on the spot. The prime minister later apologised “unequivocally” but the incident drew days of condemnation and debate in federal politics.
Osborne has stayed mostly quiet about the controversy that followed her interview, but in a new YouTube video, she responded – in rhyme – about the interview and the reactions. She said.
Those who took the time to watch, who’ve mastered thinking critical, laughed in spite of their own views; the rest though, got political.
They sifted through with blinkers on, a headline for their page. An angle that could feed their clicks, spark recreational outrage. And there it was; a silly game of shag marry date. A moment taken out of context. Some turbo fuel for hate.
Osborne claimed she received vile abuse online after the interview, including someone commenting “I hope cancer finds you soon”. She said:
What’s happened to my country where we cannot take a joke?
In a description of the video, she also wrote: “Australia used to be a country who could have a laugh about anything but are those days over?”
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AusAlerts ‘another tool in the tool belt for emergency service agencies’, McBain says
State and territory governments will eventually be given control over when AusAlerts are issued, emergency management minister Kristy McBain has said.
Addressing concerns that the new warning system could be misused by other government agencies, such as the ATO, McBain said:
We would never want to dilute the effectiveness of a system like alert. It is incredibly important for us that this technology remains for the context it’s required in – and that is for emergencies.
We’ve worked really closely with our state and territory partners, and we’ll continue to do so.
While she said AusAlert is a “far more effective and resilient capability” than the current setup, McBain warned that technology hasn’t been designed to replace situational awareness:
There is no silver bullet in emergency management communication. This is another tool in the tool belt for emergency service agencies … people need to understand their local context.
Nobody is sitting around waiting for a message to come as their first point of contact ... They have to continue to listen to the local advice from their emergency service authorities.
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Developer thought he had ‘covered himself politically’ after allegedly paying for removal of building commissioner, NSW inquiry hears
Returning to the NSW Independent Commission against Corruption (Icac), the inquiry has heard a number of additional details about the allegations it is investigating under Operation Rosny.
They include Icac’s second allegation, that between 2020 and 2023, fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and his company, Toplace, made donations solicited or accepted by senior Liberals in exchange for outcomes sought by Nassif, including damage to the political career of then Liberal MP David Elliott, the removal of the then building commissioner, David Chandler, and “preventing [Chandler] from exercising his official functions in respect of Mr Nassif’s developments”.
During her opening statement this morning, counsel assisting the commission, Peggy Dwyer, played legally intercepted phone calls featuring Nassif. In one call, Nassif discuss issues with financial regulators with a friend and fellow developer. Dwyer alleges Nassif “was at pains to suggest that there was no need for either of them to worry about regulators now”, as he believed he had paid for Chandler’s removal. Nassif allegedly said:
I’m gonna step on his neck and strip him from his job. Just give me two months, because the Consumer Affair Minister, she’s gonna be my girl and the Fair Trading Minister she’s gonna to be one of my girls too, you know?… So, I’m gonna fuck him sideways.
The inquiry heard that two months after the October 2021 call, the then Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet, appointed Eleni Petinos as NSW minister of fair trading in a cabinet reshuffle. In July 2022, Chandler handed in his resignation following an investigation into his conduct that had been requested by Petinos, which later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
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Emergency management minister says ‘don’t worry’ if you didn’t receive AusAlert
Minister for emergency management, Kristy McBain, says “don’t worry” to the Australians who did not receive an emergency alert today at 2pm.
Don’t worry if you did not receive an alert.
This could be because you are not in a coverage area … Your software was not up to date or your device was incompatible …
… The fact that we have reached and exceeded the target that we set shows that the technology works.
McBain said that 6% of phone towers were “offline for maintenance”, being upgraded or otherwise not operating when today’s AusAlert test signal was sent.
That means 94% of targeted cell towers successfully broadcast the AusAlert message this afternoon, which McBain says is above the National Emergency Management Agency’s target of 90%.
We’ve already touched base with telco partners around those, and we’re getting feedback that’s coming in already.
As I said before, the average that we thought we might get and we’ll continue to work with them in the coming weeks as we refine this system before it goes live in October this year.
The Government has urged people to submit feedback through an online form on it’s AusAlert website.
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Pauline Hanson loses bid to overturn Mehreen Faruqi racial discrimination finding
A court has upheld the finding that Pauline Hanson engaged in racial discrimination against Mehreen Faruqi when she tweeted the Greens senator should “pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan”.
The One Nation leader launched the appeal in November, almost a month after Justice Angus Stewart found Hanson engaged in “seriously offensive” and intimidating behaviour against Faruqi in the September 2022 social media post that breached the Racial Discrimination Act.
On Monday, Stewart’s decision was upheld by federal court justices Melissa Perry, Geoffrey Kennett, and Elizabeth Bennett.
Faruqi was in court for the judgment, but Hanson did not make an appearance.
Read the full report:
Family of Indigenous man who died in custody launch legal action over decision not to charge police
The family of a young Aboriginal man who died after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket has launched legal action after the officers involved were not prosecuted, AAP reports.
Kumanjayi White, 24, died in the Coles supermarket in the Northern Territory city on 27 May, 2025 after two plainclothes police officers held him down in the confectionary aisle, sparking national outrage and rallies calling for an independent investigation.
His family were told on the eve of the first anniversary of White’s death that no charges would be laid.
On Monday, the family confirmed that they had launched legal action in the NT supreme court seeking answers over the decision.
Read the full story:
Response by NSW police force to Bondi terror attack ‘tremendous’, royal commission hears
A counter-terrorism expert, Scott Wilson, has told the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion that the Bondi Hanukah celebration “obviously” had a high threat level but praised the response time of first responders and emergency services.
One of the alleged shooters was shot within five minutes of the attack, and the second alleged shooter was apprehended within eight. Wilson, who has more than three decades of experience in the UK’s police force leading counter-terrorism initiatives, said:
It’s probably one of the most iconic places in Australia, it is one of the largest Jewish celebrations in Australia. So when you add all these pieces together, it was obviously, to me, going to be a very high level of threat at that event.
He said the response and speed by the NSW police officers was “tremendous”, but limited by the fact “they weren’t the right officers to be there”. In the UK, general duties officers don’t carry firearms, but specialist, highly trained officers do - which requires 12 weeks of dedicated, intensive training, compared with nine days for an average Australian officer.
Wilson:
You should have specialist officers there as quickly as you can to be able to deal with a terrorist attack with long arms ... These specialist officers are in police cars patrolling … 24 hours a day. So in Bondi, that would be their patch … The numbers we have are very low, but they’re trained to a very high specification and to be there quickly.
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Listen: Inside the violent online network coercing children to self-harm – Full Story podcast
This year the FBI issued urgent warnings to parents about 764, a global online community where children are manipulated into acts of violence.
With hundreds of investigations under way worldwide, including in Australia, 764 and groups like it are accused of using coercion to turn vulnerable minors into victims and, in some cases, predators.
In today’s episode of Full Story, Nour Haydar speaks to investigations reporter Ariel Bogle about the dangers to children these networks pose.
Domestic violence advocates warn AusAlert test could expose hidden safe phones
Ahead of today’s AusAlert test, domestic and family violence advocates raised concerns about the risk of the alert exposing “safe phones” and urged people to keep devices hidden for safety reasons.
Guardian Australia received reports during the alert that some phones which had been turned off still received the loud warning after being switched back on.
The Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre has raised concerns about the implications of an “alert that unexpectedly sounds at full volume” for people experiencing domestic and family violence.
Deputy CEO Althea Mackenzie said:
For many women escaping violence, a hidden safe phone can be vital. They are often used to call for help, speak to a support worker or make plans to leave safely.
These emergency warning systems save lives, and it’s important that they’re tested. However, it’s also critical that Australians understand the unintended risks they can pose. A little awareness could make an enormous difference for someone whose safety depends on a phone remaining hidden.
Guardian Australia reporter Jack Larkin turned off his phone while attending a court hearing for work and said he still received the alert after switching it back on.
After leaving court, I switched on my phone to receive the alert almost 10 minutes after the initial alarm.
AusAlert interim coordinator general Pat Hetherington said earlier this week the advice for people who have safe phones and hidden phones is for them to be switched off for a 24-hour period.
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Terror attack contingency planning for Bondi Hanukah event would have been required in UK under new bill, royal commission hears
A counter-terrorism expert, Scott Wilson, has told the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion that the Hanukah celebration at Bondi would have required terrorist attack contingency planning if it had taken place in the United Kingdom under new legislation to boost community safety.
Wilson has more than three decades of experience in the UK’s police force leading counter-terrorism initiatives and is the director of Crisis Management Solutions.
He said there had been significant changes to the way events are planned and managed in the UK in the past two decades, driven in part by the 9/11 terror attack. That includes the introduction of local safety advisory groups, who provide advice to police and emergency services on events. Counter-terrorism security advisers are present for large-scale events, like major concerts or festivals.
Following the Manchester suicide bombing in 2017, the UK also introduced Martin’s Law, named after one of the victims, which requires venues and hosts of public events to take steps to prepare for a terrorist attack and ramp up counter-terrorism training for staff.
Wilson said the Bondi event would have required planning under the new legislation because it was ticketed and pre-planned.
The regime that’s put in place under Martin’s Law in the UK … for an outdoor public park event with hundreds of attendees, it would require the organisers or the owners of the site to get in touch with local authorities and consult with one of the safety advisory groups … That would include security cordons [and] how an evacuation or lockdowns would take place.
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Emergency alert sound not played by some phones
Australia’s new emergency warning system, designed to prepare Australians for natural disasters and other crises, did not go off on all phones when it was tested on Monday afternoon.
Guardian Australia has been told owners of various devices including iPhone XRs, iPhone 12s, Apple watches and others, did not receive the AusAlert notification.
Others received the pop-up but their phones did not blare the accompanying sound.
There have also been reports of phones which had been turned off blasting the sound minutes after being turned back on.
Guardian Australia is seeking comment from the federal government.
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Blaring AusAlert test surprises cramming students
Gasps, laughs and surprised murmurs cut through the wall of silence at the NSW State Library as the federal government’s emergency test alert blared.
Year 12 students frantically drilling through past papers, university students writing notes from their lectures and other diligent lunch-hour workers were interrupted by the AusAlert test notification on Monday afternoon.
One high school student, seen nodding off at their laptop, awoke with a jolt, while other library users scrambled through their bags, hoping to cut the ringing short.
Many just opened their phones, looked at their screens, and smiled at each other before putting their heads back down.
Delayed alerts intermittently rang for the next few minutes. Within moments, the quiet had returned.
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AusAlert rings across the country
Virtually every phone in the country just blared an emergency siren as part of the first Australia-wide test of a new national warning system called AusAlert.
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Pro-Palestine protesters compared to pro-German protesters in Nazi Germany at royal commission
Robert Gregory, the president of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), has said antisemitism became “socially acceptable” after the 7 October 2023 terror attack in Israel and likened pro-Palestine protestors to participants in Kristallnacht.
He told the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion that he compared people protesting for Palestinian rights with people protesting for German rights after Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany.
Gregory said:
Sometimes I make the comparison … Some of these protesters will say that they’re for Palestinian rights, which as a concept, you know, sounds quite benign. But after Kristallnacht, people started protesting for German people’s rights. I mean, of course, German people have rights but there is a significance in the events and the atrocities if you are now to all of a sudden come out and promote this cause.
A co-convener for Students for Palestine Yasmine Johnson, who is Jewish, told the commission earlier this month that they were calling for an “end to violence” in protest of more than 70,000 people who have been killed by the IDF in Gaza, and were an “anti-racist movement”.
Gregory also said Labor’s national conference last week, when Ed Husic failed in a push for the party to recognise claims of a genocide against Israel, had created a “hostile environment” for Jews.
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T minus 20 minutes: AusAlert test
In about 20 minutes, a national emergency test alert will be sent to compatible mobile devices.
Most phones, and some smartwatches and tablets, will receive a pop-up notification and an alert sound that cannot be silenced, even if the device is on Do Not Disturb or silent mode.
Read more:
Updated
Family of Kumanjayi White take legal action after death in custody
The family of a young Aboriginal man who died in custody has launched legal action in the NT supreme court after the officers involved were not prosecuted, AAP reports.
Kumanjayi White, 24, died in Alice Springs in May 2025 after two plain-clothes police officers held him down in a supermarket, sparking national outrage and rallies calling for an independent investigation.
His family were told in May, on the eve of the first anniversary of White’s death, that no charges would be laid, marking “an incredibly traumatic experience”.
White’s grandfather Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said there has been a lack of transparency from authorities since his grandson’s life was “violently cut short”. He said:
We said from day one that we did not trust this process.
Nobody will tell us who actually made the decision [that no charges would be laid].
We deserve to know all the information about his death and about the process including who decided that no one should be charged and why.
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Experts say new SA bird flu cases suggest disease has begun to spread in local birds
South Australia has seven new suspected cases of deadly H5 bird flu and experts warn the disease has likely begun to spread in local bird populations.
All seven birds are greater crested terns, with one found at Cape Jaffa, one at Port MacDonnell and five around Southend Jetty, near Beachport on the Limestone Coast.
Kate Millar, chief executive of BirdLife Australia, said:
If we were in a bushfire scenario, those sub-antarctic birds that arrived with the disease initially were like the embers. Now having it in crested terns, that’s the smoke.
This is now taking hold and is evidence of spread.
Governments have been saying it hasn’t spread, this is evidence of spread.
South Australia’s primary industries minister, Clare Scriven, told media on Monday the development was concerning. Samples have been sent to the CSIRO for verification the birds had the deadly H5N1 strain. That analysis will also help determine whether the disease has begun to spread between local birds, the government said.
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Man accused of crashing Ballarat iftar dinner charged by police
A 37-year-old man has been charged over an alleged disturbance at an iftar dinner gathering in Ballarat in March.
The man allegedly forced his way into the community hall in the suburb of Alfredton during the Muslim meal at sunset, marking the end of the day’s fast during Ramadan.
Police were called to the scene and found the man being detained. No physical injuries were reported.
Since the incident, police say they have engaged with local Islamic community groups, local government and people who attended the event.
The man has now been charged with several offences, including assault, disturbing a religious assembly and other related matters. He is due to appear in the magistrates court in September.
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Australian Jewish Association calls for security guards to be armed to protect attenders of Jewish events
Robert Gregory, the president of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), says there should be a government review of the protective capabilities of licensed security guards so there can be armed security at Jewish events that aren’t attended by the police.
He told the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion:
If the police can be there, that’s great, but they can’t be all the time. And even if they can be, it’s a huge cost on taxpayers … I think it just makes sense that you allow [security guards] to have the capabilities to protect the community.
He said members of the organisation have been subject to “abuse and intimidation”, pointing to one incident in 2024 before he was due to appear before a Senate committee into misinformation laws.
The day before we received some threats, the nature of one of them was something like “kill all Jews”. Another was a hangman’s noose and the words, “you appear at the Senate inquiry tomorrow … you will die”.
The committee reported it to the police, and an arrest was made. Last week, the AJA received another “serious threat” in an email, which Gregory said “didn’t meet the threshold” of an offence according to the Australian federal police, until it was reported in the media.
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‘Entire Jewish religion’ revolves around Israel, royal commission hears
The president of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) Robert Gregory has told the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion that the “entire Jewish religion” revolves around Israel. The AJA is a self-described centre-right advocacy group. This block of hearings is examining the security arrangements for the Jewish community. Gregory said:
It is inherent in every part of Judaism from the Jewish festivals … to Jewish weddings, where we break a glass to remember the destruction of Jerusalem, to even the burial of Jewish people who are buried with sand from Jerusalem … Judaism doesn’t exist without Zionism.
The commissioner, Virginia Bell, asked Gregory about other groups who didn’t subscribe to the idea of Zionism being inherent to their Judaism, including Hasidic Jews. She said Israel was “significant” in Judaism but there were “a variety of views about the expression of that significance”.
Gregory said that was a “small sect” in Judaism and a “minuscule” part of the Jewish community in Australia:
Some other people who these days call themselves anti-Zionists actually have more of a difference, but they’re obviously not keeping Judaism as it’s been practised for thousands of years.
The royal commission has heard from members of the Jewish community with opposing views, including the Jewish Council of Australia, who separate Jewish identity from the state of Israel.
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NSW police charge two British nationals after seizure of 107kg of ketamine
New South Wales police have charged a man and woman after allegedly seizing 107kg of ketamine, cash and other illicit substances on Sydney’s north shore.
The charges come after authorities allegedly found the drugs during a search of a rented short-stay unit in Artarmon, a hotel in North Sydney and a vehicle parked in the hotel’s car park.
A 30-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman, both UK nationals, will face drug charges.
Police will allege they travelled to Australia for “the sole purpose of taking part in the distribution and supply of large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs”.
The pair will appear in court on Wednesday and remain in police custody after being refused bail.
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Ben Carroll says he will nominate for Labor leadership
The Victorian deputy premier, Ben Carroll, has issued a statement confirming he has told Jacinta Allan he will run against her for the Labor party leadership.
In a statement on X, Carroll said:
A group of my colleagues have approached me today, to inform me that Jacinta Allan no longer has the support of our Caucus and have asked me to nominate for the leadership of the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Party. It is clear that the Premier has lost the majority of our Caucus. As such, I have since visited the Premier to inform her that I will be nominating for the leadership of the Labor Party.
He said the decision is “not easy, but the stakes at the upcoming election are simply too high”:
The prospect of a Liberal-One Nation Government that will cut schools, health and front line services is simply too high a risk too ignore.
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Queensland police arrest and charge man with attempted bribery of a public official
Queensland police have extradited and charged a man accused of attempting to bribe a public official for business gain.
The 39-year-old Chinese national is accused of attempting to bribe a Commonwealth public official during a business meeting in Camp Hill.
It is alleged that during the meeting, the man handed the woman a bag of tea later found to contain $20,000 in cash.
After a joint investigation with federal authorities, police arrested the man as he attempted to board an international flight from Sydney last week. He was extradited to Queensland the following day.
The man is expected to appear before Brisbane magistrates court today.
Updated
Seven new suspected detections of deadly bird flu in local birds in South Australia
South Australia has seven new suspected cases of H5 bird flu in local birds.
The state government is expected to hold a press conference shortly but has confirmed the suspected detections are in greater crested terns. Samples are still to be verified by the CSIRO.
The new detections follow two more confirmed cases in local birds over the weekend, also greater crested terns.
We will bring you more details shortly.
Updated
NSW corruption inquiry hears of lengths allegedly gone to by witnesses to avoid scrutiny
The counsel assisting NSW Icac’s Operation Rosny, Peggy Dwyer SC, has detailed the lengths that those named in corruption allegations allegedly went to avoid giving evidence to a NSW parliamentary inquiry.
A 2023 parliamentary inquiry preceded Icac’s current examination of “possible offences under the Electoral Funding Act”, prompted by allegations that Liberals had been paid significant funds to arrange for new councillors to be elected to the Hills Shire council.
Dwyer has said the inquiry could not reach firm conclusions about allegations, “in part because key figures central to the allegations were found to have left the jurisdiction, and/or to have deliberately avoided cooperating with process servers”.
Charles Perrottet resided in Melbourne by the time the parliamentary inquiry convened and declined to return to NSW. Jean-Claude Perrottet, with financial assistance from others named in the allegation went to Fiji to sit out the month of the inquiry. Christian Ellis went to significant lengths to avoid process servers by staying near the NSW-Victorian border.
As Guardian Australia revealed today, former Liberal powerbroker Christian Ellis has moved to the UK and is not expected to give evidence to the commission. Dwyer says:
Thus far, Mr Ellis has declined to give oral evidence to this public inquiry, during which he would be subject to cross-examination. He cites family responsibilities and different time zone.
The commission has proposed methods to accommodate his evidence by video link at times acceptable to him, but we await further response from his legal representatives.”
Ellis has previously declined to comment on his relocation or Icac’s allegations. Jean-Claude and Charles Perrottet have previously denied any wrongdoing.
Updated
I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Achol Arok now, who’ll take you through what promises to be a news-filled lunch hour.
More on the Victorian Labor delegation who met with Jacinta Allan
We have some more information on the ministers and MPs who met with the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, to inform her that she has lost the majority of support in the caucus and urge her to stand down.
The group included MPs from the premier’s own socialist left faction, including ministers Ingrid Stitt and Gabrielle Williams, and MP Mathew Hilakari, as well as right-aligned frontbenchers Lizzie Blandthorn, Colin Brooks, Anthony Carbines and Enver Erdogan, recently appointed minister Luba Grigorovitch and MP Ella George.
Guardian Australia understands Allan refused their request and asked the ministers at the meeting to resign, given they had lost faith in her leadership – but they refused.
The group then met with the deputy premier, Ben Carroll, to urge him to stand against Allan.
Updated
Sydney developer sought to leverage the influence of brothers of Dominic Perrottet, Icac hears
Returning to the NSW Icac’s Operation Rosny, counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer SC, has described the allegations being investigated in greater detail.
In describing the timeline of the watchdog’s investigations, she has revealed that police referred WhatsApp communications from Jean-Claude and Charles Perrottet, two of the brothers of the former premier, Dominic Perrottet, two days before the premier himself referred allegations of corruption to Icac.
The former premier made that move after a 2022 speech in parliament by the Liberal MP for Kellyville, Ray Williams, claiming that fugitive property developer Jean Nassif had met with senior Liberals, who were allegedly paid significant funds to arrange for new councillors to be elected to the Hills Shire council.
Dwyer has told the hearing that the day before Williams’ speech, police referred legally intercepted communications from “not one but two of Dominic Perrottet’s brothers” to Icac.
That lawfully intercepted information also indicated that Mr Nasif had an association with not one but two of Dominic Perrottet’s brothers, and that he was seeking to leverage their connections with Dominic Perrottet to assist in having the building commissioner David Chandler removed from office.
Dominic Perrottet is not accused of any wrongdoing. Jean-Claude and Charles Perrottet and Nassif have previously denied any wrongdoing.
Updated
Landmark inquiry into corruption allegations in NSW Liberals begins
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) has begun its Operation Rosny hearings into allegations of corruption in the NSW Liberals today.
As part of Operation Rosny, Icac is investigating three allegations, firstly that senior Liberal figures “solicited or accepted” donations, including from prohibited donors, in amounts which were undeclared or exceeded caps, to recruit or renew members to the party – a practice known as “branch stacking”.
In her opening statement, the counsel assisting the commission, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, has said:
Money in politics, as in other spheres of life, has the potential to corrupt.
At a local, state, and federal level, electoral funding laws play a vital role in minimizing. minimizing the risk of corruption by ensuring transparency and attempting to level the playing field. They also promote public confidence in a fair go for politicians and political aspirants, and for the public they are entrusted to serve.
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Victorian Labor ministers, MPs meet with Jacinta Allan to tell her she does not have their support
A group of Victorian ministers and MPs from across Labor’s left and right factions have gone to see the premier, Jacinta Allan, to inform her that she has lost the majority of support in the caucus and urge her to stand down.
Updated
‘You can’t do this to us’: Taylor urges Albanese to push back against latest Trump tariffs
Federal opposition leader Angus Taylor has said the prime minister should be “sitting down with” US president Donald Trump after the US hit Australian exports with new 12.5% trade tariffs, claiming the country is not doing enough to combat forced labour.
Speaking in Brisbane earlier this morning, Taylor said the tariff “shouldn’t be happening”:
I tell you what should be happening, the prime minister should be sitting down with the president of the United States and saying this is not good enough. He needs to be clear to the president of the United States this is an unacceptable thing to do with one their very greatest friends and allies. You can’t do this to us.
The Australian trade minister, Don Farrell, immediately called for the US to change course last week when the tariffs were announced, saying they were unjustified:
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Israeli siblings who fear breaking law in Gaza under IDF owed protection by Australia, tribunal finds
Three Israeli citizens facing conscription into the Israel Defense Forces have been granted the right to reapply for protection visas in Australia, after a government tribunal found they held a genuine fear they would be forced to break international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The Administrative Review Tribunal found the punishment the young adults could face from the state of Israel – including imprisonment as conscientious objectors – would amount to persecution.
Part of a family group, three siblings faced mandatory national service if they were returned to Israel, and held a genuine belief they would be forced to “engage in breaches of international humanitarian law”.
The tribunal found there were “credible allegations that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip are in breach of international humanitarian law” and that international opinion was that the IDF’s actions in Gaza were disproportionate. It found the three siblings were refugees facing persecution from the state of Israel, and Australia had a legal obligation to protect them.
Read more:
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Jacinta Allan indicates she will fight any leadership spill
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has indicated she will fight any attempt to oust her as Labor leader despite the party’s factions agreeing overnight that she lacks the support of the majority of her caucus.
Under Labor’s rules, if Allan does not step down as leader and is challenged, a weeks-long process will occur in which both parliamentary Labor caucus and rank-and-file members vote. Votes are split evenly: 50% of the weight goes to MPs and 50% to party members.
In a letter to the Victorian Labor state secretary, Steve Staikos, obtained by Guardian Australia, Allan said she intended to be a candidate if such a ballot occurred.
The letter reads:
I refer to media speculation regarding the leadership of the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Party and am writing to request that you ensure that the Victorian Labor Party is prepared to conduct an election for the leadership of the State Parliamentary Labor Party in the event an election is required.
As you are aware the Victorian Labor Party rules require State Secretary to provide administrative support to ensure the effective conduct of a ballot of all eligible party members. I would also like to formally notify you of my intention to be a candidate for the leadership of the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Party in the event that an election is required.
The letter quashes the party’s factional leaders’ hopes that the premier would stand down before a vote, which would have allowed her deputy, Ben Carroll, to run for the position unopposed.
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Australia’s ‘most progressive’ census comes at personal cost to April – but it means their family will finally be counted
Self-professed “data nerd” April Long was excited to fill in their first census after welcoming their son, Kai, to the world. But as they opened the 2021 survey, they quickly realised it wasn’t made for them.
It excluded Long’s role as a parent, made assumptions about their gender and asked where Kai’s mother and father were born, when he has two mums.
Many “rainbow families” echoed similar experiences of the census being unable to fully capture the LGBTQ+ community.
But for this census on 11 August, Australians over the age of 16 will be asked to identify their sexual orientation and given separate questions on their sex at birth and gender for the first time. The 2026 iteration also introduces non-gendered terms to questions on household and family relationships, among other changes.
Read the full story here:
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Police investigating after Jewish teenager allegedly assaulted in Melbourne
Victoria police have launched an investigation into an alleged knife assault in Melbourne’s south-east.
In a statement, they said officers were stationed to Bentleigh just after 2pm on Friday where an 18-year-old man reported that he had been assaulted by a man he’d approached on the street while performing his door-to-door Jewish outreach work:
He reported being threatened with a knife and punched in the stomach. Police spoke to a 69-year-old man who was subsequently searched, and two pocketknives were located and seized. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Jewish organisation the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADF) said the man who was allegedly assaulted was studying at a Melbourne yeshiva and spent every week doing Jewish outreach. They alleged he was “menaced with a knife, told he would be killed, and punched in the stomach in broad daylight”.
Dvir Abramovich, chair of the ADF, thanked Victoria police for their “swift response” but said the man had faced a “knife for a question”:
That is the going rate in Melbourne for being openly Jewish … If prejudice drove this alleged attack, the charges must say so.
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AusAlert warning system ‘another tool in the toolkit’, minister says
The emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, has said the AusAlert system that will be tested this afternoon is “much more accurate than the current system”, following several outages from major telco companies in recent months that saw hundreds of people unable to access triple zero.
McBain told ABC News Breakfast today:
[AusAlert] doesn’t rely on any one telco provider, it’s not subject to network congestion, and we can geolocate an alert down to 160 metres of where an incident is actually occurring.
In an actual emergency event (not a test, like today), the alert would explain what the type of emergency is, where it’s located, how serious it is, the emergency organisation that sent it, and where to get more information.
McBain emphasised the system would work alongside existing warning channels such as websites, radio, social media, television, and community outreach, and that it was “another tool in the toolkit”.
McBain also said on Monday the government had “done a lot of work” with domestic violence groups to limit harm, and that anyone with a concealed or hidden phone should place it in flight mode or keep it switched off before the alert sounds and for at least 24 hours.
– with AAP
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Emergency warning siren to blare across most phones today at 2pm AEST
A reminder that today’s the long-awaited AusAlert day! The day when every phone in the country (except for those who take specific precautions) will – or should, at any rate – blare an emergency siren at 2pm AEST as part of the first Australia-wide test of a new national warning system.
A recap: this afternoon, most phones, and some smartwatches and tablets, will receive a pop-up notification and an alert sound that cannot be silenced – even if your device is on “do not disturb” or silent mode. The warning system will be deployed to prepare Australians for fires, floods, terrorist incidents or health emergencies.
Here’s a backgrounder we prepared earlier on the nationwide test:
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Man charged with murder after woman fatally injured at home in Melbourne
A man has been charged with the murder of a woman in Melbourne’s outer south-east last night, according to police.
Emergency services were called to a home in Clyde North on Sunday evening at about 6.30pm after reports a woman had been seriously injured.
The woman was found critically injured in the home and was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries, where she later died.
Police arrested a 32-year-old man at the property. They believe he was known to the woman. He was charged with one count of murder and will appear in the Melbourne magistrates court today.
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Paterson again hoses down possibility of Liberal-One Nation coalition
Paterson also sought to hose down the possibility of a Liberal coalition with One Nation, after Liberal senator Andrew Bragg appeared to leave the door open to it, in some roundabout comments on the Today Show.
Paterson said:
I think Angus Taylor’s made the position of the Liberal party very clear. My assessment is it’s widely supported by colleagues. We have one coalition partner already, which is the National party, our traditional coalition partner, and we are not in the market for any other coalition partners …
I’d be surprised if Andrew Bragg is advocating for a coalition with One Nation. That’s not my understanding of his views. I think he made a sensible point that we’ll work out our preferences in the normal time, in the normal way, closer to the election.
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Latest US tariffs on Australia ‘unjustified’, James Paterson says
The 12.5% tariff imposed on Australia by the US government is “unjustified” and should be reconsidered, the shadow defence spokesperson, James Paterson, has said.
The tariffs were imposed after a US trade investigation into forced labour and international supply chains. Speaking to ABC RN, Paterson said:
It’s unjustified. Australia is not a haven of slave labour-produced goods and it’s inconsistent with the spirit and the letter, in my view, of our free trade agreement and the partnership that we have with the United States, which is very deep and very sincere and very important. And I’d really hope that the administration reconsiders applying tariffs like these to countries like Australia.
Paterson, who has recently been in the US and met with Pentagon officials, said the US sentiment towards Australia on Aukus, however, was “very positive”:
[The US has] had their very well-publicised review about Aukus and they’ve made an active decision to proceed with Aukus. And so the focus is now delivering … Everybody acknowledges there is more work to be done on increasing those submarine production rates to make them where we all want them to be.
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Culture of debate ‘not valued as it should be’ within Labor, Husic says
Labor’s Ed Husic has said there was “an extraordinary amount of energy expended” at Labor’s national conference last week on stopping his motion to recognise Israel’s campaign in Gaza as a genocide from even reaching the floor, rather than allowing it to be debated.
Husic told ABC’s RN this morning:
I am concerned … the climate that exists in the party at the moment about having a different view is one that’s not valued as it should be. We bring perspectives from constituencies we represent on issues we feel strongly about, and that you want to be able to have those voices represented, particularly at the floor of conference.
He said there’s a large constituency that want this issue to be “ventilated and importantly, responded to”.
There’s a lot of support. I have to say, I’ve been really grateful for the support that I’ve received from rank-and-file members, from our supporters, from people in the public who believe it’s right to be able to have – you may not agree with the issue but believe it’s important to speak about. But a lot of party members feel strongly on this issue about what’s happened in Gaza, what’s happening in the West Bank, and they do want the government to be part of a process to stand up to that.
He continued:
I’ve been forward about the ideas that I believe strongly in, and on this issue in particular, that when Israel undertook a campaign in Gaza during our last term of government in the Rudd Gillard years, my son had just been born and I saw a father in Gaza taking a two-year-old out of rubble. And I rang the Israeli ambassador at that point and said, where do you think this ends? Like, my view is there’s got to be space for both Israelis and Palestinians.
It’s something I’ve spoken about for ages. It’s something I’ve spoken about as a minister. And while I don’t necessarily ascribe my faith to all the things that I do in public life, on this, as Australia’s first minister of Muslim faith, and where I express views early on, and where I come from a Bosnian Muslim background, where we have witnessed genocide – that took 10 years to establish as a genocide. Like, I am going to have views about it. And I think it’s only fair that I be able to express them.
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Barnaby Joyce suggests One Nation could accept some refugees while barring other migrants
It’s also well worth watching this video of Guardian Australia’s community affairs reporter Adeshola Ore’s interview with Barnaby Joyce about Armidale’s refugee resettlement program and One Nation’s policy positions on immigration.
One Nation’s policy is that immigrants who do not speak English should “under no circumstances … be able to settle in Australia”.
However, Joyce told the Guardian there could be an exemption for refugees under a One Nation government because they are a different cohort than “general immigration”.
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Nine years ago, as deputy prime minister and Nationals MP for New England, Barnaby Joyce was instrumental in supporting a resident-backed campaign for Armidale to be a site for resettling refugees, spruiking its benefits for reducing regional skills shortages.
Last December, the area’s federal MP, Barnaby Joyce, defected from the Nationals to One Nation, saying he was “philosophically aligned” with the rightwing party.
On a national level, One Nation is pushing a vision of a “monocultural” Australia alongside an anti-immigration agenda. But in the electorate of the party’s most high-profile recruit, a different story is playing out.
Read the full story here:
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Key figure in Icac NSW Liberal inquiry will not appear
A key figure at the centre of an anti-corruption inquiry involving the New South Wales Liberal party has moved to the UK and is not expected to give evidence during eight weeks of public hearings.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) will start its Operation Rosny hearings on Monday. The first witness will be hotelier Michael O’Hara, followed later in the week by former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw and consultant Robert Assaf.
O’Hara and Assaf are among 10 individuals Icac has said it is investigating. Whitelaw is not named in the Icac allegations.
Christian Ellis, a former registered lobbyist and Liberal powerbroker who once received a glowing endorsement from the federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is named in two Icac allegations but is not expected to appear.
A 2023 parliamentary inquiry preceded Icac’s current examination of “possible offences under the Electoral Funding Act”. Since that parliamentary inquiry, Ellis has moved to the UK, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Read the full story here:
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Jacinta Allan loses majority caucus support after meeting of state Labor factions
Speculation has been mounting overnight that Victoria’s Labor premier Jacinta Allan will face a leadership challenge this week, just four months from an election.
Factional conveners from Labor’s left and right met on Sunday night to discuss whether Allan still had the support of a majority of the caucus. It is understood the group agreed she did not.
But the pathway to a leadership challenge remains unclear as Allan’s most likely opponent – the deputy premier, Ben Carroll – has indicated to colleagues he would only run if the position was vacant.
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Morning folks, Stephanie Convery with you here to bring you all the live news today. Thanks so much to my colleagues for kicking us off this morning.
Commonwealth Games swimming record for Australian sprint ace
Cam McEvoy has dominated the 50m freestyle final in Glasgow, breaking the Commonwealth Games record, AAP reports.
McEvoy, who broke the world record in March, was the only finalist to crack 21 seconds as he led home an Australian medal sweep.
The 32-year-old dad clocked 20.97 seconds to beat Flynn Southam’s 21.44, while Jamie Jack took bronze in 21.47.
It is McEvoy’s first individual Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Read more about Australia’s overnight medals scoop here:
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Two more bird flu cases confirmed in South Australia
Two local birds in South Australia suspected to have a deadly bird flu, greater crested terns found in Robe and Semaphore, have been confirmed positive for the H5N1 virus by CSIRO.
This takes the total of H5 confirmed or presumed positive detections to 20 nationally, Australia’s acting chief veterinary officer, Dr Sam Hamilton, said in a Sunday statement.
All of these have been individual wild seabirds found in coastal locations.
There remains no evidence of any mass mortality events and there are no detections in poultry or in our agricultural production system.
The risk to human health remains low.
NSW planning minister calls for bill to allow commercial activity around new pool
The planning and public services minister, Paul Scully, said the Callan park upgrades represented a “new era”.
“The new tidal baths and return of 1.6 hectares, or the equivalent of 4,000 large picnic blankets of green open space, to the community will mean more people can enjoy this great parkland,” he said on Monday.
Scully argued Callan park would be further improved by the Parklands bill, which passed the state’s lower house in May and was now before the Legislative Council. Legislation currently prevents any commercial activity in Callan park.
“For the park to be able to host your new favourite café and reach its full potential, we need the … bill to pass parliament,” Scully said.
When opened, the Callan park baths will be the latest of Sydney’s new or re-animated public swimming spots. Marrinawi Cove at Barangaroo was dubbed Sydney’s first city beach in 50 years when it opened in 2023.
Bayview park on the Parramatta River reopened for swimming in 2022 after being closed for more than five decades. The river also boasts Chiswick baths and Cabarita beach, while “Pondi” – Penrith beach – was opened in Castlereagh in 2024.
New Sydney Harbour pool to open this summer
Sydney’s latest harbour swimming pool, on the banks of Callan Park in Lilyfield, will open for swimmers this summer, the state government says, with construction now under way.
The new tidal baths on the Iron Cove foreshore, along the popular Bay Run and close to sports fields like Leichhardt Oval and King George Park, is expected to attract thousands to the southern banks of the Parramatta River.
Demolition work has also started on nine unsafe buildings in Callan park “which were neglected for so long that they have become not only an eyesore but a safety hazard”, the Minns government said on Monday.
“The removal of these long cordoned off buildings will unlock central parts of Callan Park, delivering the equivalent of two football fields of green space back to free community use,” the government said in a statement.
The baths will include a shark net, a fixed jetty, a pontoon, and an accessible pathway and ramp into the water.
Construction of the new tidal baths was expected to take six months, meaning it should open for summer 2026. The building demolition in Callan park was also expected to be completed by the end of this year.
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Good morning
Stephanie Convery will be with you soon to take you through today’s news as it unfolds.
At 2pm AEST today, most phones in the country will blare an emergency siren as part of the first nationwide test of the new AusAlert warning system. People who may have secret “safe phones”, kept hidden for personal safety reasons, have been advised to consider turning off their devices for up to 24 hours after the test and drivers have been warned not to touch their phones during the alert.
The Royal Commission on Anti-semitism and Social Cohesion continues in Sydney.
And Ed Husic is up on ABC Radio soon to talk about fallout from the national Labor conference.
