Coles takes ACCC to court in bid to open second supermarket in Kalgoorlie
Coles has taken the competition watchdog to court in its bid to open another supermarket and liquor store in Kalgoorlie.
The supermarket giant is appealing in the federal court a decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to stop it from opening a second site in the West Australian mining hub.
The first case management or directions hearing in the matter will take place tomorrow morning in the federal court in Melbourne.
This type of hearing usually deals with administrative matters between the parties to determine a timeframe for providing further documentation and potential trial dates.
At the same time tomorrow, the federal court will hold a concurrent directions hearing relating to Coles separate appeal to the Australian Competition Tribunal against the ACCC’s decision.
The ACCC has determined another Coles in Kalgoorlie is likely to push out a smaller rival, reduce consumer choice and leave shoppers worse off.
Kalgoorlie has six supermarkets – two IGAs, a FoodWorks, Woolworths, Coles and Spudshed – and has previously had seven, including two Coles stores for much of the past decade.
What we learned today – Monday 20 July
That’s all for today – we’ll leave our live coverage there and thanks for following along.
Before we go, let’s recap the day’s top headlines:
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Anthony Albanese said Pauline Hanson should not be talking the country down as she appeared at a string of conservative political events and holidays with billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart in Europe.
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Independent Schools Australia, the peak body for private schools, launched a campaign today to increase government funding, targeting key Labor and teal seats across the country.
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Lee Hanson, the daughter of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, said her mother’s comments about the White Australia policy have been “misinterpreted”.
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One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce claimed Pauline Hanson’s party did not support the White Australia policy but backed the idea of “mass deportations”, including people seeking medical appointments after overstaying their visas.
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The federal MP for Isaacs and former attorney general Mark Dreyfus has told the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion about the “breach of that sense of safety” experienced by Jewish Australians since 7 October.
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Friends and family of the late Derryn Hinch have continued tributes at the state funeral service for the former journalist and senator in Melbourne today.
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Mia Freedman’s son Luca Lavigne, 28, has been appointed CEO of her family-owned podcasting and media empire Mamamia.
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A prominent academic and Palestine advocate Randa Abdel-Fattah who withdrew from last year’s Bendigo writers’ festival over a controversial code of conduct for speakers has launched legal action against the event’s hosts.
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An LGBTQ+ inclusive arts space hosted inside a former Sydney church has been formally evicted by its landlords, according to the venue’s promoter, who described the move as feeling like “bigotry masquerading as moral victory”.
Thanks for joining us – see you again tomorrow morning.
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Liberal MP rejects Tony Abbott’s claim that multiculturalism has failed
The Liberal MP Dan Tehan has rejected claims by the former prime minister and party president Tony Abbott that “multiculturalism in Australia has failed”.
In a video shared on X last week by former deputy prime minister John Anderson, Abbott targets Muslim communities and argues that “diversity is not our strength”.
Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Tehan said:
Tony is a former prime minister and he has his views on various issues.
I have always said, and will continue to say … multiculturalism has thrived in Australia.
But one of the problems that we’ve got at the moment is that the Labor party, through walking away from the essence of Australia’s values and making sure that everyone who comes here and makes up the wonderful rich fabric of Australia, needs to also understand the values which are so crucial to who we are as a nation. And my view is that that’s where we’re failing.
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‘It’s over’: Divine Playhouse evicted from former church after protests
An LGBTQ+ inclusive arts space hosted inside a former Sydney church has been formally evicted by its landlords, according to the venue’s promoter, who described the move as feeling like “bigotry masquerading as moral victory”.
Less than two weeks after it opened, Divine Playhouse’s landlord had terminated the venue’s lease.
Divine Playhouse’s promoter and founder of Heaps Gay Events, Kat Dopper, said:
It’s over: our lease terminated, our artists cancelled, our venue being cleared out.”
That’s freedom of expression in Australia right now: some voices get amplified, others get evicted. In this case, it feels like bigotry masquerading as moral victory.
The pop-up was located in Sydney’s central business district inside a former church, which was deconsecrated in the 1930s and has spent most of the years since as a theatre.
Christian groups protested its opening night, claiming the venue’s organisers and performances were mocking religious faith, and pointing to social media images of drag queens dressed as nuns and a performer dressed as a pig offering French fries as holy communion.
Dopper vowed to continue fighting as she announced a “sing-in” protest, set to take place at 12pm on Saturday at Hyde Park.
If we walk away, they’ll believe that intimidation works and they’ll come back, again and again, for every other group they don’t agree with.
Divine will rise again.
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Anne Aly rejects ‘competitive’ framing of government responses to Islamophobia and antisemitism
The multicultural affairs minister, Anne Aly, has called for an end to the “consistent comparison” between government responses to Islamophobia and antisemitism.
It comes after the secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association questioned the difference between the government’s recent announcement on tackling Islamophobia and its full adoption of the antisemitism special envoy Jillian Segal’s report in December.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Aly said she takes “a bit of an issue” with the “consistent comparison”. She said:
Both are worthy of pursuit in their own right. Both the elimination of antisemitism and the elimination of Islamophobia and racism in all its forms are worthy pursuits, so I don’t want to get into a competitive kind of environment of Islamophobia v antisemitism, and I take issue with that.
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Palestinian academic launches discrimination claim against writers’ festival organisers
A prominent academic and Palestine advocate who withdrew from last year’s Bendigo writers’ festival over a controversial code of conduct for speakers has launched legal action against the event’s hosts.
In a post to social media, Randa Abdel-Fattah announced she has filed a discrimination lawsuit against La Trobe University and Bendigo council on the grounds of political belief or activity. She said:
Universities and cultural institutions must be held accountable for their discrimination and anti-Palestinian racism.
Our fight against anti-Palestinian racism is only escalating. Efforts to silence our voices are expanding, with the goal of purging Palestinians and anti-Zionist voices.
The claim has been filed in the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal.
A spokesperson for the city of Bendigo declined to comment. La Trobe University has been contacted for comment.
• This post was amended at 4.09pm. An earlier version incorrectly stated Abdel-Fattah had launched legal action against the organisers of Adelaide writers’ week.
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‘A journalistic James Bond’: mourners continue tributes at Derryn Hinch’s state funeral
Derryn Hinch’s longtime friend and colleague Darren James led mourners through a state funeral for the former broadcaster and senator on Monday. James said:
He was a journalist, a newspaper reporter, a TV presenter, a godfather, an author, a senator and, a prisoner … he did it all.
Some people pass through life without leaving a ripple, he created tsunamis.
His ex-wife and friend, actor Jacki Weaver, sent a video tribute from America describing Hinch as a wonderful stepfather and companion. She also referenced Hinch’s reputation as a notorious ladies’ man, saying:
I’d like to pay my respects to all the women who loved Derryn, and who loved him back.
I won’t name them all … we don’t have time.
Former 3AW colleagues Denis O’Kane and Tony Tardio spoke of their love for Hinch, who was well known for his hatred of child sex offenders and those that shielded them. Tardio said:
There will never be another like him, even his name was unique.
He was a journalistic James Bond, drama followed him everywhere – even to his first wedding. And then he went on to marry three other times.
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Australian woman who allegedly travelled to Syria to join Islamic State granted bail
An Australian woman accused of travelling to Islamic State-controlled Syria and being a member of the terror group has been granted bail, AAP reports.
Mother-of-four Rayann El Houli was charged in May with travelling to a declared conflict zone and joining IS.
The 34-year-old’s bid for bail was successful on Monday, with Melbourne magistrate Brett Sonnet accepting a combination of factors including the historical nature of her alleged offending and her role as primary caregiver.
He also took into account her compromised health including post-traumatic stress disorder and potential multiple sclerosis, a lack of prior offending and stable support in the community.
Sonnet also pointed to her living within the community for eight months without incident and her cooperation with authorities. The magistrate said on Monday:
In my view, the risk of reoffending is relatively low.
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That’s all from me today – I’ll hand you over now to my colleague Achol Arok who’ll take you through the rest of the afternoon.
One dead after Sunshine Coast blaze
A woman has died from her injuries after escaping a fire that gutted a Sunshine Coast apartment and prompted neighbours to evacuate, AAP reports.
The 21-year-old fled the blaze with another woman and was helped by neighbours before being taken to hospital.
She succumbed to her injuries, however, as police declared a crime scene at the Buderim site, with authorities yet to determine the cause of the fire.
Emergency services were called to the address at about 7:30pm on Sunday after reports one of the complex’s units was fully engulfed in flames. A 32-year-old woman was able to flee the fire uninjured, police said.
Residents of neighbouring units were evacuated as the fire engulfed the unit. Fire crews took about an hour to extinguish the blaze, police said.
An investigation into the blaze was in its early stages, Detective Senior Constable Robert Lowry told reporters in Maroochydore on Monday.
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Jewish community security volunteer describes feeling of being ‘always on call’
The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion has heard from another witness from the Victorian Community Security Group (CSG), appearing under the pseudonym ACR.
ACR, a CSG volunteer of almost 25 years who is involved in assisting national coordination, has described a feeling of being “always on call” following the escalation of antisemitic incidents since October 2023.
In emotional testimony, ACR has said they “very much discourage my family from attending Jewish community events”:
Particularly when I’m there in a CSG capacity, because selfishly I don’t want to put myself in a position where I would have to decide between extracting them or dealing with a threat if something arose, and so that’s that’s incredibly difficult. And then even when we do attend Jewish events from time to time when I’m there in a personal capacity as a member of a community, I’m never fully there is the reality, I’m always on alert.
ACR said by coincidence they were at Melbourne airport on the way to Sydney on the night of the Bondi terror attack in December:
I walked out of the airport and I drove straight to CSG headquarters, where I assisted with the operations and the crisis management that was occurring there, and remained there until the early hours the next morning.
Mia Freedman’s 28-year-old son to lead Mamamia
Mia Freedman’s son Luca Lavigne, 28, has been appointed CEO of her family-owned podcasting and media empire Mamamia.
Freedman and her husband, Jase Lavigne, co-founded the women’s digital media company in 2007 and now have the No 1 women’s podcast in Mamamia Out Loud.
Luca, who has been working in the business for a decade, most recently as chief operating officer and chief product officer, takes on the CEO role after Nat Harvey resigned to join Southern Cross Media Group as chief revenue officer.
Luca Lavigne said in a statement:
On behalf of the entire company, I wholeheartedly thank Nat for her outstanding leadership through a period of great opportunity and momentous change for the industry. Her leadership is defined by expertise, passion and dedication. This is a better business today because of her, and Nat will always have our friendship and our gratitude for everything she’s done during her time with Mamamia.
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Guardian political reporter Josh Butler has wrapped together all the latest news on One Nation and party leader Pauline Hanson’s comments regarding “mass deportations” and the White Australia policy. Catch up on it here:
Pocock (not that one) challenges Farage in UK byelection
An Australian-born candidate has joined a record number of candidates challenging Nigel Farage in the byelection for the UK seat of Clacton.
A total of 34 candidates are standing, which is believed to be a record, according to Tendring District Council.
The list includes Daniel Pocock, a Swiss-Irish-Australian software engineer, born in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg. He gave an Australian address on the nomination form and is one of two foreign candidates (the other is from Belgium).
He will be running against candidates who include Baron von Thunderclap, Howling Laud Hope and Nick the Incredible Flying Brick (both from The Official Monster Raving Loony Party) and Woke Trump Carrzee – as well as, of course, the inestimable Lord Binface.
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Jewish community security group requirements have doubled since 2023, royal commission hears
Jewish community security group protection requirements have doubled in the three years since the start of the conflict in Gaza, the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion has heard.
A volunteer for the Victorian Community Security Organisation (CSG), which like other CSGs in Australia, monitors threats to the Jewish community and provides security for schools, synagogues and events, has appeared under the pseudonym ACO at today’s hearing.
ACO, who holds a leadership role in the Victorian CSG, said national combined data showed the total number of volunteer hours had gone from 86,000 in 2024 calendar year to almost 114,000 hours in 2025.
Asked by counsel assisting, Tamara Philips, how much they estimated the total commitment per person across volunteer and paid members had increased since October 7, they said:
It’s fair to say that the requirements have nearly doubled in that period of time. Certainly, when it comes to the protection of events in our community; those numbers have doubled. When I look at the number of staff we have, that’s tripled.
When I look at the number of synagogues we’re protecting, that’s well over double the numbers that we used to protect. And whilst our volunteer numbers they do continue to grow, it’s nowhere near what we need in order to meet the operational requirements for our community.
More mourners arrive at Derryn Hinch’s state funeral
3AW presenter Denis Walter, the master of ceremonies for broadcaster Derryn Hinch’s state funeral, has arrived at the Timber Yard in Melbourne, as has 10 News journalist and presenter Jennifer Keyte.
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South Australian electorate renamed after Lowitja O’Donoghue
Lowitja O’Donoghue, a trailblazing Aboriginal nurse turned Indigenous rights advocate, has been honoured with the renaming of a federal electorate, AAP reports.
The vast division of Grey, which covers the majority of South Australia, is being renamed as O’Donoghue, the Australian Electoral Commission announced on Monday.
O’Donoghue, a member of the Stolen Generations, was the first Aboriginal woman to be trained as a nurse and served as the founding chairperson of both the National Aboriginal Conference and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Her advocacy was pivotal to Australia’s native title legislation.
O’Donoghue was a Yankunytjatjara woman, with the electorate of Grey taking in most of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands.
The AEC determined the name change despite 235 of the 310 community submissions arguing to retain Grey, named for Sir George Grey. The AEC found the arguments for change were “well detailed, informative, convincing and ultimately persuasive. This contrasted with most of the submissions objecting to the renaming of the electorate.”
The commission noted Sir George spent “a comparatively small part of his life” in Australia, with longer service to the British empire in South Africa and New Zealand, and the AEC decided “the time had come to recognise the outstanding contribution to Australia and its people made by a distinguished Australian”.
The decision comes after an AEC proposal last week to rename the southern Tasmanian seat of Franklin to Tongerlongeter, after an Indigenous warrior who fought colonisation, then took on a leadership role for Aboriginal Tasmanians exiled to Flinders Island.
The AEC has opened consultations on the Franklin switch, which comes after a radical re-drawing of the electorate’s boundaries.
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First arrivals for state funeral of broadcaster Derryn Hinch
Former colleagues, friends and associates of the late Derryn Hinch have begun arriving at the state funeral service for the former journalist and senator.
The media personality died earlier this month after a long battle with poor health.
Greg Evans, Ray Martin and Denis Walter have been spotted arriving at the Timber Yard in Melbourne for the midday service.
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Dreyfus says he feels ‘freer as an MP’ to support Jewish community after leaving cabinet
Mark Dreyfus has described feeling “freer as an MP” to represent the Jewish community after he was replaced as attorney general by Michelle Rowland.
He said one of the reasons he had given evidence to the commission was the “unique position” his role as a Jewish member of the federal cabinet had put him in after the start of the conflict in Gaza. He said:
I wasn’t in a position to respond fully, or perhaps at all, to the attacks and demands that have been made of me by some Jewish Australians, simply because I was a cabinet minister and the constraints of the office meant that I was not in a position to respond or comment.
Dreyfus said since leaving the cabinet in a reshuffle after the 2025 federal election, “I’ve been much freer as an MP”.
I was able to respond after the Bondi attack … able to respond publicly, able to appear in the media, able to give speeches, able to make representations to cabinet ministers about what the government might be able to do, and it’s certainly, to some extent, been liberating compared to what I experienced, the constraints I experienced as a cabinet minister.
Dreyfus also described an incident in May 2024 in which his office was covered with red paint and “Who does AG Mark Dreyfus serve?” written on the front pavement as a “deeply wounding attack”.
He said:
No one ever should make that suggestion about a member of the Australian parliament, let alone someone who had been sworn to administer a portfolio as the attorney general of the commonwealth, but it invokes all of those old antisemitic tropes about dual loyalties and treachery to Australia, all of which are false. It’s a deeply wounding attack … and probably intended to be.
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Andrew Charlton says he was part of class action after book scraped by AI company
More on AI from Andrew Charlton. He told Sky earlier this morning that he was part of a class action in the United States after a book he wrote was scraped by a major AI company.
By way of explaining the jurisdictional constraints on copyright law in relation to AI companies already scraping the work of Australian creators, Charlton gave the example of his own work:
You know, I wrote a book nearly 10 years ago. That book was scraped by an AI giant from a pirated website. My book was the subject of a piece of litigation, and that litigation was found in favour of me and the other authors. But that occurred in the United States and that litigation happened in the United States. And the award is occurring in the United States … It was a class action. My book was part of that class action.
He continued:
The prime minister has been very clear that [AI] training that occurs in Australia will support Australian artists. That is what we have control over.
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Dreyfus tells royal commission of ‘breach of sense of safety’ for Jewish Australians
The federal MP for Isaacs and former attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has told the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion about the “breach of that sense of safety” experienced by Jewish Australians since 7 October.
The fifth block of hearings, starting in Melbourne this week, is examining security arrangements for the Jewish community, including the role of Jewish community security groups (CSGs) and their coordination with law enforcement agencies.
At the start of this morning’s hearing, counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC said evidence to the commission would show “a substantial and ongoing threat to the safety and security of the Jewish community in Australia”.
Dreyfus, today’s first witness, has told the commission about his father, who arrived in Australia from Nazi Germany 1939 as an 11-year-old, later followed by Dreyfus’ grandparents. He said:
It’s a great thing that that refuge was provided in Australia, and I think that’s a knowledge shared by Jewish Australians that Australia did that, and it’s it informs in part the shock that I have tried to relate in my witness statement to the commission about the breach of that sense of safety that was created by the providing of refuge.
Dreyfus told the commission that antisemitism in Australia had not “come out of nowhere” but said he had been shocked by an upsurge in antisemitism since Hamas’ 7 October attack, including an incident in which a man approached him outside Victoria’s state library in April 2024 and called him a “genocidal Zionist”.
Dreyfus said:
No one had ever hurled abuse at me because I am Jewish. This was a new development in my engagement in Australian politics and I know I’m not alone.
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Parents were told asbestos in play sand was low risk unless ‘pulverised’. But regulators hadn’t tested it themselves
Schools, retailers and government agencies assured parents that asbestos-contaminated play sand posed a low risk to their children’s health based on a supplier’s own assessment which was not independently verified, the Guardian can reveal.
The now-contested public messaging spread quickly after a range of Educational Colours children’s sand products were pulled from shelves in November 2025 after samples were found to contain asbestos, which was followed by more than 20 similar recalls across different brands and retailers.
Consumers were sold tens of thousands of boxes of potentially contaminated sand over a period of at least five years and the products were used in hundreds of schools and childcare centres in Australia and New Zealand.
Until this month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) advised toxic asbestos fibres were “unlikely” to be released into the air unless the sand was “processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising”.
This advice originated from a risk assessment that Educational Colours itself commissioned, which did not involve any additional testing or even a visual inspection of the contaminated products, and was never made public.
The supplier’s safety claim became the official position of the Australian and New Zealand governments even though they had no additional evidence to support it.
Read the full exclusive story here:
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Tanya Plibersek says Pauline Hanson ‘very clearly’ said problems began after White Australia policy ended
Just back on that Sunrise interview, Tanya Plibersek, who was also appearing alongside Barnaby Joyce, also made some comments about Hanson’s interview.
Plibersek said she had seen the Spotlight interview, and continued:
[Hanson] very clearly said that the problems started after we got rid of the white Australia policy and she also backed in “mass deportation” and said that all of her members of parliament support her in that call for mass deportation.
I think it’s extraordinary that whenever she gets challenged on what she’s actually said, that we’ve all seen and we’ve all heard, she says ‘nah, nah, never said it’ … Go figure.
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Joyce suggests details of ‘mass deportation’ policy
In Barnaby Joyce’s interview on Sunrise, he didn’t distance himself from Hanson’s comments about “mass deportations” of illegal immigrants to Australia.
He said:
As it becomes apparent that they’re not supposed to be here, they’ll be put on a plane and sent back to where they’re supposed to.
Appearing alongside Joyce on a panel segment, Labor minister Tanya Plibersek claimed “literally everybody agrees” with deporting people who were in Australia illegally but asked how One Nation planned to carry out “mass deportations”.
Joyce replied:
We’ve got to make sure, as people present themselves for medical issues or other things, they’re removed from the country. I mean, obviously you’re going to come across them from time to time. They should be removed.
Plibersek agreed with deporting people in Australia illegally, saying Labor is “absolutely focused on removing people when we find them”.
And we’ll continue to do that. We’ll continue to do that because everybody agrees, when people are illegal, they should be removed as quickly as possible.
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One Nation doesn’t support White Australia policy, Joyce claims
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce claims Pauline Hanson’s party does not support the White Australia policy but has backed the idea of “mass deportations”, including people seeking medical appointments after overstaying their visas.
On Sunrise this morning, Joyce said “we don’t support the White Australia policy” but claimed there was a “chain of events” from its abolition that he said had led to bad outcomes.
Joyce said:
It’s a statement of fact, and Pauline herself said that at the start, it started from [Harold] Holt, actually the wind-down of the White Australia policy, a very good thing. And at the start there was really no issues with it.
But over time we got a section of people who didn’t want to really assimilate with Australia, didn’t work within the guardrails of Australia and therefore we started moving away from Australian culture to having to encompass a whole range of views, some of which just are not conducive to an egalitarian, easygoing society.
One Nation has had to issue multiple clarifications over the weekend after Hanson’s interview with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson, where she blamed the end of the White Australia policy for creating what she sees as problems with migration.
Asked by Robinson about “the changing face of Australia due to Islamic immigration”, Hanson replied:
They opened up and got rid of the White Australian policy, then they started bringing in the different migrants.
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Andrew Charlton says Labor does not want robodebt-type situation due to AI use
We brought you news earlier about the federal government’s plan to subject the use of AI in automated decision-making by government departments to new rules.
Andrew Charlton, the federal assistant minister for science, technology and the digital economy, has said this morning that the government’s priority is to ensure “we have humans in the loop”, suggesting that the public can expect AI integration into government services, albeit subject to “transparency and accountability”.
Speaking to ABC Sydney, Charlton said:
When it comes to the use of automated decision-making, which is using technology in government services, the government’s priority is to make sure that we are fair, that we have humans in the loop, that we have transparency and accountability.
We do not want to go back to the type of situation that we had in robodebt. We think that these tools, if they have the right governance around them, the right transparency around them, the right oversight around them, humans in the loop, can improve services for citizens, make those services better, fairer, quicker.
The attorney general has been doing a lot of work on this and the purpose of that work is to give Australians confidence that, as these types of automated technologies are introduced into government, they will be delivering them benefits, not delivering them risks.
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Nearly 2.2 million Australians 15 years and older are living below the wellbeing poverty line, with the share of people reporting very low life satisfaction doubling over the past decade.
In 2025, 9.7%, or about one in 10 Australians, rated their general satisfaction with life at four or below out of 10, according to Guardian Australia’s analysis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’s (ABS) general social survey.
That compares with one in 20, or 4.8%, reporting very low overall life satisfaction in 2014.
The initial surge of Australians reporting dissatisfaction with their lives came during 2020’s Covid lockdowns and has persisted over the intervening years amid soaring cost of living.
The ABS data echoes other surveys, such as Westpac’s consumer confidence index, which has languished at around 50-year lows since failing to recover from the pandemic blow.
Amid an explosion of support for far-right and populist politics, those reporting life satisfaction scores of four or below are more likely to feel alienated and disempowered in their community, and express lower support for multiculturalism, the ABS figures show.
Read more about the survey’s findings here:
The use of AI in automated decision-making by government departments and agencies will be subject to tough rules under a new national plan, expected to extend to consumer protections, workplace safety and privacy.
As the Albanese government grapples with the rapid growth in the use of artificial intelligence and a boom in datacentre construction, senior ministers have begun work to draw up new rules to ensure safety is built into AI processes inside government, prioritising fairness, accuracy and transparency.
Federal departments and agencies continue to rely on automated decision-making in some service delivery functions, prompting fears increasingly sophisticated AI systems could replace more human-led processes.
Though the saga of the illegal robodebt scheme revealed the unreliability of some automated processes, the rise of AI is already dramatically changing the way data is used across the economy.
Labor said that the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, will lead development of the new rules – coming as AI giants including Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft and Google eye major developments in Australia.
Read the full story here:
Lee Hanson says her mother's comments about the White Australia policy were misinterpreted
Lee Hanson, daughter of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, has said her mother’s comments about the White Australia policy have been “misinterpreted”.
In an interview on a podcast hosted by the far-right British activist Tommy Robinson, Pauline Hanson blamed the end of the White Australia policy for creating what she sees as problems with migration.
Lee Hanson told Sky on Sunday night that “snippets” of her mother’s comments were “misinterpreted”:
I know who Pauline is, Mum is, and I know that’s not what her intention was in any way. I do think snippets of it was misinterpreted. Under no way, shape, or form did she say she wished the White Australia policy hadn’t have been changed. She does not support it and she does not want it back. So I do believe it’s been taken out of context.
We know that media grabbed their snippets and their grabs, and it’s all about clickbait, and then Labor’s obviously jumped on it, and so are the Liberals, right? That’s how they try to better themselves, by picking out a little slogan when she was talking about the history of immigration and the change that has occurred.
She may not be the most eloquent person in the world but that is also a positive about her too, because she’s not necessarily the polished politician that speaks the talking points as everybody else. She is authentic but, yes, it was misunderstood, that’s for sure.
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The arrest unfolded in real time, behind a bank of television microphones at Perth’s busy Mirrabooka bus station. As Western Australia’s police commissioner, Col Blanch, spoke to reporters on Thursday 2 July, a camera mounted on a nearby marked police van had been quietly panning across the interchange.
It can scan hundreds of faces a minute, instantly cross-referencing their profiles against a database of about 4,000 people: those with outstanding arrest warrants, registered child sexual abuse offenders and people reported missing.
Midway through the media conference, the algorithm pinged. Officers stepped into the crowd and led away a woman wanted for failing to appear in court.
“Commissioner, can we just get your reaction? There’s just been an arrest from the cameras behind you right now,” a reporter said.
“Been happening all week,” Blanch said. “I’d love to say I planned that but I think that’s exactly what the technology is … People are being arrested because they are wanted.”
Read more on this story here:
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State funeral for Derryn Hinch to be held this afternoon
The state funeral for veteran broadcaster Derryn Hinch will be held in Melbourne this afternoon. Hinch died on 10 July, aged 82, after long-term health struggles.
The Victorian government-hosted service begins at midday at the Timber Yard events space in Port Melbourne, and is expected to be attended by notable figures from politics and the media. The service will also be livestreamed from the Victorian government website.
Hinch’s friends and former colleagues, including Ray Martin, will appear and 3AW’s Darren James will be master of ceremonies.
As the Guardian’s obituary of Hinch describes, his was a life that featured imprisonment, politics, a rags-to-riches twist, multiple marriages and several serious health challenges, all played out in the public sphere, earning the Australian journalist, broadcaster and former senator his nickname: the human headline.
His death drew tributes from a broad range of public figures, including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Angus Taylor.
A statement released by the Victorian government remembered Hinch as living a life defined by his principles and an unwavering commitment to stand up for what he believed was right.
– With AAP
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Corporate cop wins record $830m for government coffers
The corporate regulator won $830m in civil penalties from courts over the past year, more than it did in the past six years combined.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has reported its enforcement figures for 2025-26 and found courts had demanded companies pay a record total in civil penalties. That included the biggest penalty ever awarded in an Asic case, a $300m penalty against collapsed foreign exchange broker Union Standard in June.
From 2019-20 to 2024-25, Asic won an average of just $137m of civil penalties against companies.
Asic said its action would lead to $643.5m worth of remediation, refunds and payments to tens of thousands of customers and investors. Penalties will also prop up the federal budget.
The regulator also issued $12m worth of infringement notices, double the amount from 2024-25. Asic’s chair, Sarah Court, said:
Our enforcement work is focused on misconduct that causes real harm and we are delivering results, forcing change, strengthening accountability and returning money to consumers and investors.
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Seven’s Spotlight on Pauline Hanson an awkward affair
Perhaps the most telling moment in Channel Seven’s special Spotlight episode on Pauline Hanson last night came right at the end.
After an hour of watching the One Nation leader revive her “greatest hits” – including divisive comments about Muslim Australians, attacks on multiculturalism and her claims to be sticking it to “the establishment” – she told reporter Liam Bartlett that he wasn’t getting an exclusive.
The show must have spent tens of thousands following Hanson to Britain, where she met with former Neighbours star Holly Valance, far-right activist Tommy Robinson and Reform MP Robert Jenrick, but in the final segment Bartlett conceded he had never expected exclusive news from Hanson and instead anticipated only “a robust conversation”.
The program included awkward moments for the Queensland senator too. Crowd sizes for her speech at the CPAC conference in London were slim, and she and Nationals defector Barnaby Joyce had to defend previous comments attacking one another. A street tour of Robinson’s home town, Luton, nearly devolved into a fight with a local resident. Robinson also denied ever trying to come to Australia, despite previously having visa applications refused because of his criminal record.
Voters considering One Nation learned little that was new, except perhaps a newfound appreciation by Hanson for so-called mass deportation policies. Asked about Reform UK’s policy to remove hundreds of thousands of people from Britain, Hanson said she favoured a similar policy for people living in Australia illegally.
“I love it,” she said, before promising to plan implementation of the policy with bureaucrats if One Nation wins government.
Despite controversy about Hanson’s tour, and her visit to Italy with donor Gina Rinehart, Monday’s Newspoll shows One Nation with a primary vote of 30%, equal with Labor and ahead of the Coalition on 19%.
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Private schools pitch for more government money
Independent Schools Australia, the peak body for private schools, is launching a campaign today to increase government funding, targeting key Labor and teal seats across the country.
The body will roll out digital advertising, billboards and posters on buses in inner-city federal seats including the Labor-held Brisbane and Griffith in Queensland, Melbourne, as well key teal seats including Mackellar and Wentworth in Sydney, and Curtin in Perth. It will also target Goldstein, won by Liberal Tim Wilson, who was previously ousted by the teals.
The slogan? “Parents are choosing, families are contributing, and policy needs to reflect that reality.”
The campaign comes before Labor’s national conference this week, with the group arguing that as more parents choose private schools and make other sacrifices to pay for it, the government should pitch in more.
But according to Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) data from 2023, 98% of private schools were funded above the schooling resource standard (SRS) recommended by Gonski and more than 98% of public schools were funded below it.
The ISA chief executive, Graham Catt, says:
Independent school families have been stereotyped for too long. They are parents and taxpayers making careful decisions about their children’s education, often under real financial pressure.
They deserve to be seen, they deserve to be heard and they deserve policy settings that recognise the choices they are already making.
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Albanese helps launch major air combat exercise
Anthony Albanese has announced the official opening of Exercise Pitch Black 2026, Australia’s premier international air combat exercise, which is happening in Darwin.
Over the next three weeks, 100 aircraft and about 2,500 personnel from the Royal Australian Air Force and 20 countries overseas will take part in training activities and exercises in the skies over Australia’s north.
The biennial exercise is designed to strengthen cooperation using high-end training from Raaf Bases Darwin and Tindal in the Northern Territory, and Raaf Base Amberley in Queensland.
Aircraft from the United States, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, India, Singapore, Germany, France and Spain as well as embedded personnel from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, Brunei, Malaysia, Finland and Sweden will all take part.
Albanese said:
Australia is strongest when we work closely with our partners.
Exercise Pitch Black strengthens those partnerships and demonstrates Australia’s commitment to working closely across our region to support peace, stability and security.
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Hanson ‘talking Australia down’ on rightwing tour: Albanese
Anthony Albanese says Pauline Hanson should not be talking the country down as she appears at a string of conservative political events and holidays with billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart in Europe.
The One Nation leader attended the CPAC conference in London on the weekend, after recording a podcast with far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Albanese was asked about her tour during a visit to Tiwi Island on Sunday.
He said:
When I have the opportunity to represent Australia overseas, I talk Australia up.
I don’t talk Australia down. I go as someone who’s proud to represent our nation and proud to talk about what we are as a nation. There’s nowhere you’d rather be than Australia and I think that it is up to our representatives, no matter where they stand in the parliament, when they’re overseas, to talk Australia up, not talk Australia down.
We have created in this country an extraordinary nation and it is something that the world is envious of because of what we’ve created here. And that is why, in my view, it is the responsibility of people when they travel overseas to talk Australia up and to be proud of who we are and what we have created as a nation.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to the first live news blog for this brand new week. I’m Stephanie Convery and I’ll be with you until early afternoon today.
First up, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says Pauline Hanson should not be talking the country down as she appears at a string of conservative political events and holidays with billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart in Europe. The PM’s comments also come as an awkward interview with the One Nation leader airs on Seven.
Longtime broadcaster Derryn Hinch will be farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne this afternoon. The so-called “Human Headline” died earlier this month, aged 82.
All that and much more to come.
