What we learned, Wednesday 18 February
Thanks for staying with us today. We’ll leave our breaking news blog there. Here were Wednesday’s top stories:
The royal commission on antisemitism will hold its first public hearing next Tuesday, but no evidence will be given or testimony heard.
Politicians condemned Pauline Hanson’s comments about Muslim Australians, which Chris Minns described as a “racist intervention” and Matt Canavan said showed she was “not fit to lead a major party”.
The Returned Services League said it had been told bulldozed Australian war graves in Gaza would be repaired.
One of the 34 Australians held in a Syrian detention camp has been temporarily banned from Australia.
The eSafety commision lost its appeal over an informal warning it sent to X over tweet about a queer club.
The Northern Territory government has released an area five times the size of Singapore for petroleum exploration.
Real wages fell in 2025 as wage growth held steady but prices surged.
The writer Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear at the Sydney writers’ festival this year.
Updated
Antisemitism royal commission to hold first public hearing in February
The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion will hold its first public hearing on 24 February, but no evidence will be given or testimony heard.
The royal commissioner, Virginia Bell, will provide a short opening statement where she will explain how she will approach the terms of reference. Senior counsel assisting Richard Lancaster will also make a short opening statement.
Bell said:
I acknowledge the importance of addressing antisemitism within the Australian community. I plan to conduct the inquiry as expeditiously as possible so that I can deliver a report containing my findings and recommendations not later than the first anniversary of the antisemitic terrorist attack that took place at Bondi Beach.
The government reluctantly agreed to set up the commonwealth royal commission in January, after facing sustained public pressure after the Bondi terror attack.
The commission will provide an interim report by 30 April, and a final report by 14 December.
Updated
Shadow treasurer says public sector pay rises leave economy ‘out of kilter’
Tim Wilson has said the strong pace of public sector wage growth shows the economy is “out of kilter”.
Wilson is making some of his first media appearances as shadow treasurer after being appointed to the role by Angus Taylor yesterday. He has taken aim at the government over wages data today showing public sector wages rose 4% while private sector wages rose 3.4%, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Wilson told the ABC:
Those that are getting a pay rise are those who are working for the public sector, and it’s been paid for by those who create wealth in the private sector. That’s why our economy is out of kilter now. …
You’re getting better wages if you’re on collective agreements. They sit in one of two areas, in the public sector specifically, or the areas where people are being paid wages that have been financed by the taxpayer.
Wilson said the government needed to encourage people to start their own businesses instead of earning taxpayer-funded wages, if it wanted to improve productivity. He said:
We should empower people to want to be their own CEOs, not simply allow people to survive on the safety of a salary.
Updated
Labor’s war of words with former RBA governor
The former governor of the Reserve Bank, Philip Lowe, is under fire from Labor after he said government spending was forcing up interest rates.
The Australian Financial Review today published Lowe’s comments, saying the economy would “remain weak” if the government was not “more ambitious”. Lowe was quoted as saying the government wanted to keep spending money and offering handouts, which under current circumstances would drive up interest rates.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said he was “not interested” in arguing with Lowe and noted he had not criticised Lowe’s tenure at the RBA, when asked about the comments.
Chalmers then suggested his refusal to extend Lowe’s term as RBA governor had motivated the criticism. Chalmers told reporters:
Obviously, I think it’s a matter of public record, Phil Lowe would have liked to have been reappointed by the government. After he wasn’t reappointed by the government, he’s become a fairly persistent critic of the Labor government in the pages of the Financial Review and elsewhere. I think, to some extent, that’s just human nature.
The prime minister also reportedly dismissed Lowe’s comments, while Labor backbencher Ed Husic said RBA governors “rarely” admitted their own failures, with the exception of Lowe’s successor, Michele Bullock. He told the ABC:
One thing about Reserve Bank governors is their willingness to point out stuff, never admit they’re wrong themselves.
Updated
X loses appeal over court battle about Islamophobic tweets
Social media company X has lost an appeal in a long-running legal fight over whether it should be held responsible for Islamophobic tweets by an American white supremacist due to the harm caused to local Muslims.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Qcat) ruled in 2024 that state authorities had jurisdiction in the matter. But X then lodged an appeal, raising constitutional arguments and claiming they had not been properly served.
Last Thursday, Qcat dismissed X’s appeal, meaning the matter will be heard by the tribunal.
Qcat will determine whether the material in a complaint lodged by the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) in 2022 constitutes religious vilification under Queensland law.
AMAN had argued that as a publisher the company is responsible for content posted by an accounted cited in the manifesto of the extremist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011. X argued it was a foreign entity and had no responsibility for tweets under Queensland legislation – an argument commonly used by US tech companies facing court challenges in Australia.
In a statement, AMAN said:
For too long, global tech platforms have operated with impunity, claiming they are beyond the reach of Australian laws designed to protect our communities from vilification and harm.
Updated
Tim Wilson says super for housing was ‘too timid’
The shadow treasurer has signalled his support for super for housing policies and opposition to capital gains tax reform.
Tim Wilson said the Liberal party was “too timid” when proposing to let people use their superannuation to buy a home at the 2022 and 2025 elections. He denied such policies would inflate house prices.
He also said he opposed isolated changes to taxes on housing. When asked whether he opposed changing the capital gains tax discount, which the government is said to be considering, he said:
Absolutely, until there’s a compelling case about how adding more taxes is somehow going to improve.
Wilson said he instead supported tax reform that made it easier to start businesses:
I think tax reform should be focused on how we incentivise the type of behaviour that we want to grow the economy, … [and] to broaden the constituency of Australians who fundamentally believe their best interests are aligned with starting up a small business, a family business, or becoming self-employed.
Updated
Liberal says Hanson not ‘fit to lead’ but won’t rule out One Nation deals
Tim Wilson, the Liberals’ new shadow treasurer, has said Pauline Hanson is unfit to lead a political party, after the One Nation leader made false claims about Muslims which have been described as offensive.
Wilson told the ABC:
[I] never believed she is fit to lead a political party. What she said is clearly designed to draw attention to herself and, you know, that’s politics. It’s been her way for a very long period of time. So, I don’t see any fundamental change. I think she’s becoming desperate and revealing her true personality and character.
He declined to say the Liberals should rule out preference deals with One Nation at elections, when asked. He instead said:
The challenge we have is a lot of political parties on the fringes like the Greens, One Nation, even some of the teals.
Liberal claims government helping Syrian camp detainees return to Australia
A Liberal shadow minister has claimed the government is working to repatriate women and children detained in a Syrian camp, despite repeated government denials.
The home affairs minister today issued a two-year ban on entering Australia, called a temporary exclusion order, on one of the members of a group of 34 detained Australians, who are the wives, widows and children of ISIS members.
Jonno Duniam, the opposition’s home affairs spokeperson, said issuing just one order raised “more questions than answers”. He said in a statement:
How can only one member of this group be deemed a risk and the rest somehow okay?
The reality is that the minister and the government have been heavily involved in assisting third parties to repatriate these [people] to Australia, so much so that the chief organiser of the campaign group ‘Friends of Burke’ Dr Jamal Rifi, is himself reportedly in the Middle East assisting with the passage of these [detainees] back to Australia.
The opposition has grave concerns that the minister is not acting in the interests of our nation and its security, and is instead supporting these efforts to bring [the group] back to Australia.
Government ministers have repeatedly denied Australia is working to repatriate the Australian women and children in Syrian detention camp. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has denied coordinating with Jamal Rifi. The Guardian has sought contact from Rifi.
Updated
RSL told bulldozed Australian war graves in Gaza will be repaired
The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) says it has been given assurances that Australian graves in the Gaza war cemetery will be repaired.
The Guardian revealed earlier this month that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had bulldozed a section of the cemetery where Australian soldiers from WWI and WWII were buried. The damage has prompted outrage from families of the dead, who have been left in the dark about the fate of their relatives’ remains.
RSL Australia issued a statement on Wednesday saying it held deep concerns about the “significant damage” to the cemetery.
The RSL Australia national president, Peter Tinley, said his organisation had been assured the graves would be repaired as soon as it was safe to do so.
The Office of Australian War Graves shares our concerns at the damage to the cemetery and the Australian war graves and is committed to ensuring the restoration of all affected graves as soon as feasible.
Unfortunately, the conflict is not yet fully resolved, with ongoing actions, and this makes it extremely difficult to actively monitor the status of the war graves and the cemetery as a whole.
Updated
Home affairs minister denies speaking to doctor about group in Syria
Tony Burke said that he was not aware of the movements of Dr Jamal Rifi, a Sydney doctor who it has been claimed in media reports is assisting the group.
Burke said he had “no information other than what I’ve seen in the media about whether Dr Jamal Rifi is in Australia or overseas. He has not discussed any plans with me, nor would he have any reason to.”
The Guardian has made attempts to contact Rifi.
Updated
Home affairs minister ‘diligently working through the issues’, Ayres says
Tim Ayres also responded to the news the government has issued a two-year ban on coming to Australia to one person among the group of 34 Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp.
The Labor minister’s colleague, Tony Burke, announced the temporary exclusion order had been issued today.
Ayres suggested the government had been considering taking that action yesterday, saying it was “not the case the government wasn’t entertaining it” when asked. He told the ABC:
The home affairs minister is discharging his responsibilities in a careful way, that’s legally robust, and he’s responding to the security advice. And thus far, I have seen the statement that you’re referring to, thus far one such order has been made. Tony will be diligently working through the issues with the security advice, and making sure he makes decisions in the national interest and of course that are defendable …
The prime minister has been very clear: we have no truck with these people.
Updated
Industry minister wants wages to keep growing at same rate
Tim Ayres, the industry minister, has said the government wants to see wage growth keep steady, after data today confirmed price rises have overtaken wages.
Wages rose by 3.4% in 2025, as forecast, but economists have warned that pace is too high and could force the RBA to raise interest rates again. Ayres told the ABC he was happy with the rate of wage growth:
If wage growth was lower, it would be a worse outcome. And of course, we want to see wages continue to grow at around the rate that they are. We’re seeing that is delivering real benefits for Australian workers.
The last three months of 2025 saw real wages go backward, having risen for the previous eight quarters. Ayres said government policy was helping drive wage growth:
That’s been as a result of deliberate government policy, including lifting up the wages of female-dominated sectors of the economy.
Updated
Wage growth still too high for RBA, economists say
Economists say wages are growing steadily at a rate too high for the Reserve Bank’s liking.
Wages have fallen behind inflation for the first time since 2023, with price growth at 3.8% over 2025 while wages grew just 3.4%, new data today has shown.
ANZ economists expect wage growth to slow to 3% over 2026, which would see real wages fall further.
But even that level of growth would be too high, according to AMP economist Diana Mousina. The RBA wants prices rising at just 2.5%, but wages are rising faster than that, implying businesses will in turn hike prices at a higher rate. Mousina said:
For wages growth to become more sustainable to the 2-3% RBA inflation target we need to see more jobs record wage rises of 2-3%.
A growing share of jobs are getting pay bumps of less than 3%, but most jobs are getting more than 3% pay rises, according to the Australian Bureau of statistics wage data released today:
If wages don’t slow to that level, the RBA would come under pressure to hike interest rates again, according to UBS economists.
Updated
eSafety responds to court ruling on social media warnings
More on the federal court dismissing an eSafety commission appeal:
An eSafety spokesperson acknowledged the decision of the court, and said it was considering the ruling:
Platforms often have material that may breach their terms of service drawn to their attention informally by a range of parties, rather than by formal statutory notifications, and it reduces regulatory burden on service providers compared to formal processes.
Guardian Australia understands since the ART ruling, eSafety has adjusted the language on these notices to state they’re not required to take action, and they’re not statutory notices.
The Online Safety Act review recommended legislative clarity on informal requests, noting that these requests often lead to quicker resolutions for people who may be in severe distress.
On appeal, last year the ART found that the informal notice had constituted a formal decision that the ART could review.
eSafety loses appeal over informal warning it sent to X over tweet about queer club
The full federal court has dismissed an appeal by the eSafety commissioner against an earlier ruling that an informal notice about an allegedly bullying tweet from a user about a queer club at a school constituted a formal notice to X.
The user had posted on X and Instagram about a person who ran a queer club for primary school students, which eSafety described as a student-led initiative. The person featured in the user’s post complained to eSafety that it was cyber abuse under the Online Safety Act.
eSafety judged that it was not, but sent an informal notice to X stating it may violate X’s policies on harassment.
X geoblocked the post to prevent Australian users from seeing it. The user then launched an appeal in the Administrative Review Tribunal, leading to X lifting the geoblock. On appeal, last year the ART found that the informal notice had constituted a formal decision that the ART could review.
eSafety appealed to the full federal court, and on Wednesday, the court dismissed the appeal. The full court stated that X “saw this as a legal direction to remove content” and was therefore an exercise of eSafety’s power, despite it being an informal notice.
Updated
One Australian in Syrian detention camp temporarily banned from Australia
Home affairs minister Tony Burke has announced one person among the group of 34 Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp has been issued with a temporary exclusion order, banning them from coming to Australia for up to two years.
The group – the wives, widows and children of Islamic State fighters – have been attempting to leave the al-Roj camp on Monday, but were turned back. The government has faced criticism and questions over how it has responded to the group, but Albanese government ministers have said they’re not providing repatriation or assistance to the group.
Burke has been taking advice from security agencies as to whether any should be subject to a temporary exclusion order, which can be levelled on Australian citizens if the minister “suspects on reasonable grounds” that such an order would prevent a terrorist act or supporting a terror group.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Burke confirmed one temporary exclusion order had been issued, but that others in the group have not been assessed to meet the necessary threshold. He said:
I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a Temporary Exclusion Order, which was made on advice from security agencies. At this stage security agencies have not provided advice that other members of the cohort meet the required legal thresholds for temporary exclusion orders.
Updated
Army base in Townsville lifts lockdown after ‘incident’ at barracks
Australia’s defence force is launching an investigation after a major army base in Queensland’s north went into lockdown earlier today.
The defence force confirmed Townsville’s Lavarack Barracks faced an “incident” today that required personnel to enact security protocols. It declined to specify the nature of the incident.
A defence spokesperson said Queensland police attended the barracks and the incident was resolved with “minimal impact” to personnel and operations at the base. They added:
Defence treats all security matters seriously and will conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
Lavarack Barracks is one of northern Australia’s major military establishments, the home base of elements of multiple brigades as well as Singapore armed forces personnel.
Updated
Thanks Nick Visser, and good afternoon readers. Let’s get on to the rest of today’s breaking news.
Thanks all, that’s it from me. Luca Ittimani will take things from here.
Video: helicopter crew sounds siren as 4.5-metre white shark spotted off WA coast
A 4.5-metre white shark was spotted off Cape Naturaliste on Sunday. Lifesaving Western Australia posted the video on their Facebook page, saying the crew on the Westpac Life Saver rescue helicopter saw the shark circling two divers.
The divers were alerted and exited the water.
Updated
Two people found dead inside home in Rockhampton
Queensland police are investigating the deaths of two people found inside a home in Wandal, a suburb of Rockhampton, on Tuesday night.
Officials said they were called to an address to carry out a welfare check around 8pm last night. On arrival, a woman, 76, and man, 37 were found dead.
A crime scene has been established and investigations are ongoing.
Updated
Chris Minns accuses Pauline Hanson of ‘racist intervention’
Minns added he wanted to make it clear, “particularly after the racist intervention of Pauline Hanson in recent days” that “New South Wales is full of wonderful, great Australians of Muslim faith who care about our country”.
The NSW premier said:
The police are there for every Australian in need. The last two months have shown that they will place their own safety at risk to protect another Australian. They have a major role in security for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan so that our Muslim communities are safe and can celebrate their religion in peace and security.
Updated
NSW premier hopes Ramadan a period of ‘happiness, family and community’
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has said he hopes the Ramadan holy month is a time of “happiness, family and community” for the state’s Muslim community following a protest earlier this month at Sydney’s Town Hall.
Minns said he had met with many Muslim leaders over the last week, saying they were “difficult conversations” after NSW police officers disrupted a group of men praying during the protest against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia.
The Muslim community have told me of their sadness and hurt following the events of last Monday night.
I said privately what I have said publicly: that NSW police would never have intentionally interrupted a prayer service or religious observance, that it was an incredible difficult event to police, but no offence was intended.
The premier said he agreed there were steps “we can all take” to ensure that the events during the protest don’t happen again, “so our community is not wrenched apart as a result of protests, international conflict or disharmony”.
Updated
Race commissioner calls on Pauline Hanson to apologise to Muslim community
Australia’s race discrimination commissioner says One Nation leader Pauline Hanson should apologise for her comments about the Muslim community, calling them “Islamophobic”.
Giridharan Sivaraman said the comments on Sky News on Monday – in which Hanson said she didn’t know any “good Muslims” – were offensive and would cause lasting damage.
“I hesitate to respond to remarks like these because doing so risks giving further oxygen to sentiments that should have no place in our public debate,” he said, going on:
But comments that single out and diminish any community have real and lasting impacts.
Words that stigmatise and devalue people do not strengthen our society. They increase fear, deepen division, and intensify pain and harm that many in our communities have experienced for far too long.
Sivaraman challenged political leaders talking about the importance of social cohesion to take action.
Australia’s Muslim communities – like all our communities – deserve to feel safe, respected and included. Public figures have a responsibility to elevate our national conversation, not inflame tensions, divide us or undermine the dignity of others.
I call on Senator Hanson to withdraw her remarks and offer an apology to Muslim Australians.
Updated
Crisafulli says hate speech bill will ‘stand the test of time’
David Crisafulli has wrapped up his press club address after a question on his government’s hate speech bill.
The laws, which will also deal with a national push for gun reform, will give the attorney general the power to ban particular political slogans. She has said she intends to ban only two: “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”.
Crisafulli was asked whether he had consulted with Muslim communities concerned about their right to protest being restricted and whether he would consider tightening the legislation to make it apply more narrowly to incitements to violence or hatred rather than just “offence”.
He said the bill was already tight and would “stand the test of time”.
“I think as people go through they will see that those arguments don’t hold water and that it’s tight,” he said.
Crisafulli was also asked if he had consulted on the two specific phrases to be proscribed under the legislation:
There’s only two phrases that put in there, deliberately. We put the two that were the ones that were most inciteful towards hatred and we wanted to deal with that antisemitism.
A parliamentary committee will consider the legislation for 17 days, including a 7 day window for public submissions.
Updated
‘The US needs Queensland’: Crisafuli calls for quad meeting in Brisbane
Queensland premier David Crisafulli says he will make a pitch to US president Donald Trump for a meeting of the quad in Brisbane.
The state has long pushed for a meeting of the quad – the alliance between Australia, the US, India and Japan – to be held in Brisbane. He refreshed the call at his National Press Club address on Wednesday.
“The US needs that relationship, and the US needs Queensland and Queensland needs the US,” he said.
With India the next scheduled host, Crisafulli said he would like Queensland to host it “in the next few years”.
He said it would be an opportunity to spruik the state’s critical minerals sector.
In many cases the US are sourcing their minerals from locations that may not be as stable as Queensland, and when you’re talking about minerals that might be used for night vision goggles or hard facing for military equipment, it’s big business but it’s also in terms of security it’s very important.
Updated
Man charged with Sydney stabbings will be behind bars for three months
The Sydney man charged with murder after a stabbing attack has not applied for bail at a court hearing this morning, AAP reports.
Setefano Mooniai Leaaetoa had absconded from health care while being transferred between hospitals, 10 days before the attack, which left one man dead and two people critically injured, authorities said.
The 25-year-old did not face Parramatta Local Court as his matter was called on Wednesday morning, when his Legal Aid lawyer indicated there would be no bail application.
Leaaetoa, who is charged with murder along with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, will remain behind bars until at least May 13.
His lawyer asked that a Tongan interpreter be made available.
Read more here:
Chalmers says persistent inflation having impact on real wages
Treasurer Jim Chalmers just spoke about the latest data that shows real wages fell in 2025. As reported earlier, wages rose 0.8% in the last three months of 2025, taking the annual pace to 3.4%. Consumer prices rose 3.8% over the full year of 2025.
Chalmers said ongoing inflation had weighed down wages:
Of course, with inflation higher than we would like, that has applications for the real wages calculation. But the overwhelming story of this Labor government has been real wages growth.
Our focus as a government is on fighting inflation, addressing these longstanding productivity issues in the economy and dealing with this global economic uncertainty. That’s the focus of the government.
We see strong and sustainable wages growth as part of the solution to cost-of-living pressures, not part of the problem.
He added it was clear that the inflation number will be a “little higher than we like” into the middle of the year.
Updated
Queensland premier says ‘I don’t agree’ with Pauline Hanson on immigration
Crisafulli has responded to a series of questions about Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, without ever using her name.
Asked about such comments, he said:
I don’t agree with them. And I never engage in the extremes of politics. I never do. When you have blanket statements, it never works. No blanket statement is ever true.
The premier, the grandson of an Italian migrant to north Queensland, often talks about his ancestry and has broadly embraced multiculturalism and avoided the politics of migration.
Crisafulli said Queensland is a “tolerant state and a tolerant place for people to come”. But he said the migration debate was being fuelled by the housing crisis, and pressure on the hospital system and roads:
And I think that’s a very fair and reasonable conversation … that’s the conversation we have to have. What’s a good migration level, how can we deliver facilities for a growing state in the country? That’s dealing with the issue. I don’t deal with the extremities.
Updated
Crisafulli’s NPC address moves into questions
Crisafulli has been asked about Queensland’s challenges with inflation.
Brisbane has the country’s highest inflation rate at 5.2%. Sydney Morning Herald journalist Shane Wright asked about an IMF recommendation for better infrastructure coordination between the states, saying competition is driving up prices.
Crisafulli didn’t commit to anything:
Why would you not wanna be in Queensland? The other states can just get in the queue – look, Shane, I think there’s a fair realisation at the moment that, for example, there’s not as much happening in Victoria as what there might have been a couple of years ago, and I think that’s to our advantage.
We have a deadline of (the Olympics in) 2032 that we have to build things.
Updated
Crisafulli to lead US trade delegation, makes pitch for federal investment in minerals
Crisafulli will lead a trade delegation to the US to whip up more investment in the state’s new minerals sector.
Continuing his address at the National Press Club, he also made a pitch for millions in commonwealth investment in the sector.
Crisafulli said that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and US President Donald Trump had “opened the door” to the industry through a critical minerals framework inked in October.
I can announce today Queensland will push hard to secure investment from the US as part of the deal and I will lead a delegation to the US to make it happen. The prime minister and the president opened the door. We are the only state ready and willing to walk through it and capitalise today.
The state has 51 critical minerals, one of the richest supplies in the world, he said.
The premier asked for commonwealth funding for four projects: a tungsten mine near Cairns, a rail line to Mount Isa, a resource common user facility outside Townsville and a critical minerals processing centre in Mackay.
Updated
Queensland premier speaks at National Press Club
David Crisafulli has been speaking at the National Press Club this afternoon. A Queensland premier has not addressed the NPC since Anna Bligh in 2009.
Crisafulli has spent most of his speech so far talking up election promises and what he says is the state’s strong economy.
Queensland’s LNP government is self-consciously moderate, with Crisafulli just the second person from his party to form government. He said the speech was intended to achieve two things:
I see my address today in two parts. The first is to show the fourth estate what a good centre-right government looks like and is delivering for a great state on the cusp of something very, very special.
The second is a message to the country. We are on a raid to bring opportunities north of the border. There’s never been a better time for people to do so. There is a buzz at the moment in the sunshine state.
Updated
NT government releases area five times size of Singapore for petroleum exploration
The Northern Territory has released 4,000 sq km of land for onshore petroleum exploration, a move criticised by environmentalists.
The release area – more than five times the size of Singapore – is located within the Beetaloo basin, near the Amadeus gas pipeline and the Stuart Highway.
The Finocchiaro government announced the release at the North American Prospect Expo, a summit for oil and gas companies being held in Houston, Texas. Applications for exploration are open until 31 July.
The Environment Centre NT is concerned about the involvement of fracking companies across the newly released area, which “could see fracking brought to the doorstep of the town of Daly Waters, including the iconic Daly Waters pub”.
Dr Kirsty Howey, the executive director of ECNT, said:
At a time when the world is moving away from fossil fuels, the NT government is travelling overseas to sell off more of the Territory to overseas frackers.
Territorians have held fracking at bay for nearly 20 years, and for good reason … Full-scale fracking in the Beetaloo would unleash a climate bomb, generating 1.2bn tonnes of carbon pollution and increasing Australia’s emissions by up to 20%.
She added:
This decision prioritises fossil fuel expansion over the long-term health and prosperity of the Territory.
Updated
Santos to cut about 10% of jobs
Santos will cut about 10% of jobs as it seeks to “rightsize” its business, the oil and gas company said in a letter to investors today.
The company announced its full-year results for 2025, saying net profit after tax was $898m, with free cashflow generation of $1.8bn. Kevin Gallagher, the CEO of Santos, said the results showed the “strength of our base business, built through continued commitment to the disciplined low-cost operating model”.
But, he said, as major growth projects end, “we are targeting a head count reduction of around 10%, rightsizing our business”.
Our base business has performed exceptionally well with production maintained and the best unit production costs in a decade, achieved through continued commitment to the disciplined low-cost operating model.
A landmark greenwashing case against Santos was dismissed by a federal court on Tuesday.
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Australia needs to rebuild trust in vaccines as parents affected by messages from US, researchers say
Continuing on from that last post, the study’s lead researcher, Dr Jess Kaufman, from the Vaccine Uptake Group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) said:
Parents still face practical challenges, such as the cost of vaccination and getting to appointments, but these issues are no longer the main drivers of missed or delayed childhood vaccinations in 2025.
The greater challenge now is rebuilding trust and ensuring supportive, empathetic conversations with healthcare providers who can respond to parents’ concerns.
Senior author and the Vaccine Uptake Group’s leader, Prof Margie Danchin, said vaccine-related messaging from the United States may be contributing to shifts in vaccine confidence.
In the last year, parents reported hearing increasingly negative sentiment about vaccines, including from the current US administration. This shows that trust in vaccine safety and healthcare providers can be eroded by global factors, not just local information.
Updated
Vaccine confidence declining among Australian parents, survey shows
Parents are becoming less accepting of routine childhood vaccines, according to new findings from the National Vaccination Insights project released today.
The nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 parents of children under five conducted in 2025 found the top barrier was parents feeling distressed about vaccinating (32%).
Compared to the same survey carried out in 2024, lack of trust in the information from healthcare providers rose from 6.4% to 8.8% while not believing vaccines are safe rose from 6% to 8.3%.
This year’s study showed the proportion of children who were fully vaccinated was relatively high at 93.7% and 92.7% nationally in 2024 according to the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. However, while practical issues like cost or travel used to be the most significant reasons for not vaccinating children, the study shows parents are now more influenced by beliefs and concerns about the vaccines themselves.
Updated
NSW Labor minister says Hanson trying to ‘rip apart’ community
A Labor minister in the New South Wales government, Steve Kamper, has rebuked Pauline Hanson for her inflammatory comments about Muslim Australians.
Kamper, a member of Chris Minns’ frontbench, issued this statement this morning:
The statements from Pauline Hanson are reprehensible, bigoted and wrong.
Her comments are aimed to rip apart our community for her own political gain, to attack the very multicultural and multifaith foundation our society is built on … We must never give in to hate or those that would seek to divide us.
Updated
‘Long haul’ in search for missing Gus Lamont
Police are in the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont for the “long haul”, the South Australian police commissioner, Grant Stevens, told radio station FiveAA this morning.
Gus went missing on 27 September last year, and initially police believed he had wandered off from his remote home at Oak Park station in South Australia.
But earlier this month, SA police declared it a major crime and said they had a suspect who lived with Gus.
Police launched a new search on Monday, but it concluded on Tuesday with no new evidence found.
This morning, Stevens said “we’ll be spending more time up there”, in reference to the station, which is about 300km inland from Adelaide. He said:
Probably, sadly, I think the case of Gus Lamont is going to feature quite frequently in the news cycle as major crime continue to do their work.
This is going to be a, probably, a long haul for us … we’ve always said that we are exploring every possibility, and that remains the case.
The investigation led to police arresting a 75-year-old on unrelated gun charges earlier this week. Stevens said that was likely “around storage, ammunition, registration, licensing, those sorts of offences”.
Updated
Did the Victorian premier intervene in health workers’ pay deal?
The premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference at Footscray hospital this morning where she was asked about her intervention in the HWU deal.
Allan would not say whether she directly intervened to make it happen:
We’re really pleased to say we have reached an in principle agreement. There’s still a bit of a process to be worked through here, but this is part of our workforce that deserves a pay rise. We always had that view, and we’ve negotiated in good faith.
I’m not going to be invited to go into the back and forth of the negotiation process, other than to say we’ll always back our hard-working healthcare workforce.
Updated
Victorian government and Health Workers Union close to deal
Victorian healthcare workers have been offered a new pay deal by the state government in a bid to bring their weeks-long industrial action to an end.
The deal proposes a 12% pay increase over two-and-a-half years, which the Health Workers Union (HWU) lead organiser, Jake McGuinness, says was a “significant improvement” on previous offers. He told reporters:
It allows these workers to get ahead of some pretty tough times financially. The offer has not come through in writing yet, so we’re still waiting on the full details before we can put it to members, but at an initial glance it’s a good offer, it’s a respectful offer, and it’s one that the union will be happy to commend to our members.
McGuinness says the offer came just hours before a planned protest at the opening of Footscray hospital. The event will still go ahead, though it is planned for during workers’ lunch break to minimise disruption. He says the premier’s intervention led to the new offer:
The premier has really taken this issue on in the last couple of weeks and championed it and made clear that the priorities of her government are getting a fair, liberal increase to low-paid healthcare workers. From what I know, the premier is the reason this has gotten over the line.
Once the offer is received in writing, the HWU will take it to members for a vote. In the interim, the workers’ industrial action, which involved not supporting category 2 and 3 elective surgeries, closing one in four hospital beds, ceasing cleaning of non-clinical areas including offices, staff rooms and cafeterias and suspending the training and onboarding of new staff, will end.
McGuinness says “hundreds” of elective surgeries have been affected.
The HWU represents most hospital staff other than nurses and doctors. This includes cooks and cleaners, orderlies and security guards, ward clerks, allied health assistants, theatre technicians and phlebotomists.
Updated
Real wages fell in 2025
Australians’ real wages fell in 2025 as the pace of wage growth held steady while prices rose.
Wages rose 0.8% in the last three months of 2025, taking the annual pace to 3.4%, as expected by markets and the Reserve Bank.
Consumer prices rose 1% in the month of December alone, and 3.8% over the full year of 2025.
Private and public sector wages both rose 0.8% in the December quarter, the seasonally adjusted data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
Over the full year, public sector wages were up 4% while private sector wages were up 3.34%, which the ABS attributed to new state government agreements delivering both backdated and new pay rises in 2025.
Surging pay for healthcare workers in New South Wales and federal funding for aged care and early childhood workers were the biggest contributors to December’s steady result.
Updated
Some stats behind Australia’s migration policies
The new leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor, has promised an “immigration policy that puts Australians first, raises the standards, reduces the numbers and says to people who don’t accept our way of life that the door is shut”.
It’s reported that Sussan Ley’s draft migration policy would have aimed to reduce net overseas migration (Nom) to 170,000 a year, compared to about 240,000 leading into the pandemic, and 305,570 in the most recent financial year.
To be clear, we do not have a Nom “target” – we have a permanent migration program of 185,000 people a year, most of whom are already in the country.
Experts say precise targeting on Nom is impossible, as it reflects both arrivals and departures; you can limit the first, but not the second.
Net overseas migration is high but has been trending down for some time. Arrivals are more or less back to where they were before the Covid-19 border closures, but departures are still low.
Beware those who deliberately conflate overseas arrivals and departures data (which count border crossings) with Nom to make exaggerated claims about “mass migration”.
The ABS has said “this data does not reflect the official ABS definition of migration and may lead to inaccurate conclusions on migration”.
Far from “out of control”, experts like Alan Gamlen from the ANU’s migration hub say the wildly oscillating net overseas migration figures reflect the delayed adjustment from the global shock caused by the pandemic.
Updated
Family of kidnapped 85-year-old says they are living ‘through a nightmare’
The family of Chris Baghsarian, the 85-year-old kidnapped from his home apparently by mistake, said last night they are “living through a nightmare” and the man’s abduction “feels surreal”.
Baghsarian was alone in his North Ryde home when he was taken and bundled into a dark-coloured SUV on Friday morning, allegedly by underworld figures. Police say it was a case of mistaken identity and they hold grave concerns for the grandfather, who needs daily medication.
The family said last night:
Chris’s kidnapping feels surreal, and we are struggling to make sense of the fact that he has been taken and that our family has been caught up in something that has nothing to do with us.
Chris is a devoted father, brother, uncle, and grandfather. He is deeply loved, gentle, and the kindest person we know – someone who would never hurt a fly.
As we wait for some form of closure or resolution, we ask for privacy and respectfully request that the media stop publishing photos of our extended family.
This is an extraordinarily distressing time, and we need space to support one another and focus on navigating what comes next.
Updated
Man charged with murder after Merrylands stabbing spree had allegedly absconded from hospital
A man has been charged with murder after a stabbing attack in Sydney’s west that killed a man and left two people critically injured.
The 25-year-old accused had absconded from health care 10 days before the attack while being transferred between hospitals, authorities said. Western Sydney local health district said the man had escaped from care 10 days before the stabbings.
“The district is aware a person alleged to be involved in the incident is a recent patient of Cumberland hospital, which provides acute inpatient care for people with complex mental health needs,” a spokesperson said, adding:
On 7 February, this person absconded from care while being transferred from Cumberland hospital to Westmead hospital emergency department for further medical assessment.
Read more here:
Government defends use of algorithm to assess aged care supports
A spokesperson from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has defended the government’s use of an algorithm to assess elderly people for aged care support, saying the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) “ensures service recommendations and referrals are tailored to an individual’s needs”.
It follows a report from Guardian Australia today, where aged care workers described the IAT as “inhumane” and “cruel,” locking elderly people into a classification of need that must be accepted by assessors to secure support. But aged care professionals say the IAT often gets this assessment wrong, recommending lower levels of support and therefore funding to elderly people.
“The IAT classification algorithm does not replace assessor input and relies on assessors documenting their advice in the IAT first,” the department spokesperson said, adding:
Assessors still play a critical role in achieving high quality assessment outcomes by using their clinical judgment and strong communication and engagement skills to complete the IAT during the assessment.
But independent MP Dr Monique Ryan says this “misses the point”.
“The input (by the assessor) might be right, but the algorithmic output can be entirely wrong,” Ryan said.
Ryan said she is increasingly hearing from constituents concerned that the IAT “is stripping the sector of clinical judgment and nuance” and leaving elderly people with inadequate care.
The department did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia about how the IAT algorithm assesses people including complexities and other factor.
Read more:
Updated
PM maintains Australia will do ‘nothing to assist or repatriate’ women and children stuck in Syria
Albanese maintains the government will not assist any repatriation efforts for the group of women and children stuck in Syria to return home. He said:
We take national security advice and we will do what we can to keep Australians safe within the law. We will implement the law to its fullest capacity that we can.
We want to make sure that Australians are kept safe. These are people who chose to go overseas to align themselves with an ideology which is the caliphate, which is a brutal reactionary ideology, and that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life.
So what we will be doing, and are doing, is nothing to assist or repatriate these people.
Albanese was asked about children stuck overseas and how they would be treated. He said:
We are doing nothing to repatriate or assist these people. I think it’s unfortunate that children are caught up in this. That’s not their decision, but it’s the decision of their parents, or their mother, and we want to make sure that we continue to be very clear about the government’s position. And I can’t be … clearer.
Updated
Albanese says new shadow ministry ‘reheated leftovers’ of Morrison government
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Tasmania about the government’s efforts to open urgent care clinics and expand access to health services.
He offered up a jab at the new shadow cabinet following the elevation of Angus Taylor as the opposition leader, saying:
That is what we have been focused on front and centre while the Coalition are just focused on themselves and this week, yesterday, we saw an announcement of the shadow ministry that is essentially the reheated leftovers from the Morrison government.
Read more about the opposition frontbench here:
Updated
Not safe to return to bushfire area north of Melbourne
VicEmergency says it is still not safe to return to an area south of the Victorian town of Seymour, about 75km north of Melbourne.
This Watch & Act - Bushfire - Not Safe to Return is for North of Strath Creek, South of Trawool and West of King Parrot Creek Road Kerrisdale.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) February 17, 2026
If you have left the area, it is Not Safe to Return. Be aware of potentially dangerous hazards.
More details at https://t.co/AJT5BRChSW pic.twitter.com/RRDApgaZUm
The area, encompassing parts of Strath Creek, Trawool and Kerrisdale, are still being impacted by a bushfire that has yet to be controlled. The fire is now slow moving due to a change in weather conditions.
If you have left the area, it is not safe to return. Be aware of potential dangerous bushfire and tree hazards and emergency vehicles.
South Australia police not ruling ‘anything out’ in search for Gus Lamont
South Australia police say they are not ruling “anything out” in the ongoing search for Gus Lamont, the four-year-old who went missing on 27 September.
Grant Stevens, the commissioner of SA police, held a press conference earlier, where he maintained officials would continue to use “every resource available to us, if it will contribute to resolving the disappearance of Gus Lamont”. He said:
Little Gus went missing on 27 September and we still don’t have clarity as to exactly where Gus might be. So I think it is fair to assume there is more work to be done. As with any major crime investigation, we don’t rest until we have a resolution.
It is a fair assumption that we will be working on the [search for] Gus for some time to come yet.
Updated
Randa Abdel-Fattah celebrates inclusion in Sydney writers’ festival program
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah confirmed her inclusion at this year’s Sydney writers’ festival, sharing a brief comment on Instagram:
In the midst of suffocating repression and racism, celebrate the wins. May we all remain undisciplined.
The festival will run from 17-24 May at venues across the city, including Carriageworks and town hall.
Updated
Building 1.2m homes will barely put a dent in Australia’s housing affordability, one expert says. Here’s why
Is building more homes the answer to Australia’s housing crisis? No, it’s not. Not even close.
In fact, delivering an unrealistically massive overbuild of homes over the next two decades would barely put a dent in housing affordability, according to Christian Nygaard, a professor of housing economics at the UNSW’s City Futures research centre.
Despite best efforts at federal and state level, nobody thinks we will get there.
Read more here:
Updated
Hanson ‘not fit to lead major party’ after Muslim comments, Canavan says
Outspoken Nationals senator Matt Canavan has pushed back on Pauline Hanson’s increasingly inflammatory statements about Australian Muslims this week, saying she is not fit to lead a major political party.
Hanson was on Sky News on Monday night, discussing the thwarted attempts by Australian women and children stuck in Syria to return home.
The One Nation leader said the group hated westerners, saying: “You know, you say, ‘oh, well, there’s good Muslims out there’. Well, I’m sorry, how can you … tell me there are good Muslims?”
Speaking on Channel 9 this morning, Canavan called remarks by his fellow Queensland senator “totally un-Australian”.
“This statement from Pauline was divisive, inflammatory,” he said, going on:
Totally un-Australian, for someone to say that of all those Australians who are Muslim, there’s no good people among them.
Clearly, I think she went too far, and now she won’t apologise because she doesn’t do that … She’s not fit to lead a major political party with these types of ill-disciplined statements that she won’t correct that insult [to] hundreds of thousands of Australians.
On ABC radio, Hanson walked back some of the comments on Wednesday, mentioning that a Muslim candidate had run for her party. But she refused to apologise.
Updated
Are Lime bikes fit for purpose?
Would you trust your life to a bike that’s been dropped and left in the rain by a stranger?
There are thousands of share bikes scattered across Sydney right now, competing for your next ride. Guardian Australia’s Luca Ittimani met up with a bike mechanic and hit the streets to find out: are Sydney’s share ebikes actually fit for purpose?
Deaths in 50km/h zones surge as infrastructure group urges rethink of safety measures
Governments are being urged to bolster road safety measures as the number of deaths in local streets rise dramatically, AAP reports.
Roads Australia says an urgent review and more federal and state support for councils are needed as the nation veers away from achieving a key road toll target, echoing calls from road safety advocates.
More than 155 road deaths have been recorded in the first seven weeks of 2026, and in a report released on Wednesday, Roads Australia spotlighted fatalities on roads with 50 km/h speed limits, which have risen significantly in recent years.
More than 150 people were killed in those zones in 2025, almost 20% higher than the year prior.
Vulnerable road users were disproportionately affected, with pedestrian deaths up 13% year-on-year in 2025 and cyclist deaths up 32%.
The group, whose members include major road infrastructure players such as Downer, John Holland and Transurban, said the report showed a need to rethink how urban streets were designed and managed.
That included reducing some areas’ limits to 40 or 30 km/h.
Updated
Byelection date set for Sam Groth’s seat in Victoria
A date has been set for the byelection sparked by the resignation of the former deputy Victorian Liberal leader Sam Groth.
The speaker, Maree Edwards, has confirmed writs have been issued for a 2 May byelection in the Mornington Peninsula seat of Nepean. Writs will be issued on 13 March, the electoral roll will close on 20 March and the final day for candidates to nominate is 10 April, Edwards said in a statement last night.
Groth, a former professional tennis player, had planned to quit politics at the November election amid party infighting, but brought his resignation forward to last week, triggering the byelection.
Nepean is considered a safe Liberal seat with a 6.4% margin, but challengers are circling: One Nation has confirmed it will field a candidate, and the Independents for Mornington Peninsula group is searching for a contender.
The Liberal’s state executive (formerly known as the administrative committee) will bypass a vote of the local branch to choose its candidate, citing a lack of time.
As we revealed on Monday, most of the executive is set to back the Mornington Peninsula mayor, Anthony Marsh, as Groth’s successor in a vote planned for 24 February, much to the anger of local branch members.
We’ve already heard from members of the branch this morning who want the executive to reconsider a local vote given a May byelection.
You can read more here:
Updated
Pauline Hanson says people ‘warming to our policies’ amid frustrations with two major parties
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, was just interviewed on the ABC after a surge in popularity in recent polls.
Hanson said she believes the newfound support comes as people “don’t feel major political parties are really listening to them, so they’re looking for change”:
I think people are looking at our policies, what we want to do for the country and for people … People are warming to our policies and I am pleased to see that they want to vote for One Nation now because they don’t trust the two major political parties.
She said Barnaby Joyce, who recently defected to One Nation from the Nationals, has “enhanced” the party.
You don’t have a former deputy prime minister to come across to a party, with his credentials, and it doesn’t enhance the party.
People are drawn to Barnaby. He is just an average bloke out there fighting for the Australian people and he is so pleased to be on board with One Nation now.
Updated
Shadow defence minister questions allowing Australians in Syria to return
James Paterson, the shadow defence minister, said the government has a duty to protect Australians at home amid discussion about 34 women and children stuck in Syria who are the wives and children of dead of jailed Islamic State fighters.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said yesterday the country would not facilitate or assist in repatriating the group, who were held for years without charge and were recently forced to return to a detention camp after being released by Kurdish forces.
Paterson told RN he had sympathy for children who were taken against their will. But he said Australia had to take the case of adults who may have joined Islamic State willingly “very seriously … even if they now regret their decision”:
The truth is, allowing people to return to Australia who left our country to join a reprehensible, violent terrorist organisation like Isis does pose a risk to Australians.
As the Guardian has reported, humanitarian groups and security analysts have argued against leaving IS-affiliated women and children in the Syrian camps.
Updated
Randa Abdel-Fattah to appear at Sydney writers’ festival
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear in two sessions at this year’s Sydney writers’ festival, part of a program of about 200 events.
Brooke Webb, the chief executive officer of the festival, and Ann Mossop, its artistic director, said in a joint statement Abdel-Fattah is a “significant Sydney writer with a new book that speaks to the here and now”.
Sydney is a highly diverse city, and the Festival aims to reflect the many and varied communities of writers and readers in its program. That commitment to breadth and representation sits alongside national and international voices across fiction and non-fiction.
A festival like ours, which holds freedom of expression as a core value, is not in the business of cancelling or censoring writers. We think a writers festival provides a rare and welcome opportunity for readers and writers to come together for nuanced conversations about complex and sometimes difficult topics.
Readers can make up their own minds about what they would like to attend. Without writers, there is no festival.
Webb and Mossop added that they respected some may hold different views, saying the festival is “always” in conversation with major stakeholders, including government.
The 2026 event will release its full program on 10 March.
Abdel-Fattah was disinvited from Adelaide writers’ week earlier this year, prompting resignations and the event’s cancellation. A replacement board apologised to Abdel-Fattah and invited her to participate in the 2027 writers’ week.
Updated
Man charged with murder after three stabbed in Sydney’s west, one fatally
A man has been charged with murder after a person died and two others were critically injured in Sydney’s west on Tuesday.
NSW police said emergency services were called to the suburb of Merrylands around 10am yesterday, where they were told a man had allegedly stabbed multiple people before leaving the area on foot. Upon arrival, paramedics treated a man, 38, who died at the scene.
Two others, a 47-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, were taken to hospital, where they remain in critical condition.
Police later arrested a man, 25, and allegedly recovered a knife nearby. The man was taken to Granville police station and charged with murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, with the intent to murder.
He was refused bail and will appear before court later today.
Updated
Could Tony Abbott be about to return to federal politics?
As the Liberals turns rightward under Angus Taylor’s leadership, the party is gripped by speculation that Tony Abbott is positioning himself to become its new federal president. Some even hope he could contest the Farrer byelection and return to parliament.
Either way, the former PM is “itching” to return to the fray, writes Dan Jervis-Bardy, and it seems his influence will only grow after the coup by his protege Taylor.
Read Dan’s analysis here about a possible comeback by one of the most polarising figures in Australian politics:
Good morning
Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s dive in and see what Wednesday holds.
Updated
Indonesian men convicted of illegally fishing in Australian waters acted out of ‘desperation’, lawyer says
An Indonesian boat crew caught illegally fishing in Australian waters have been handed suspended jail sentences after a trial in which lawyer argued they acted out of desperation to support their families, Australian Associated Press reports.
Six crew members arrested by border force officers in mangroves on the Australian mainland on 29 January pleaded guilty to illegal fishing when they appeared in the Darwin local court on Tuesday.
Indonesians Kasman, Syamsudin, Ramli, Adisianadna, Anton and Hasba, the oldest aged 60, were all charged with using a foreign boat to fish in the territorial seas of Australia.
Kasman, the master of the unseaworthy boat, which has been destroyed, was charged with an extra count of being in charge of a boat equipped for fishing within the Australian fishing zone.
The men’s lawyer, Lyma Nguyen, told judge David Woodroffe her clients were from poor island villages, many of their families deep in debt just to survive and their fishing venture was “born out of desperation”.
They also faced the prospect of having to reimburse the boat’s owner for the equivalent of $20,000 for the loss of the vessel, she said.
Wage growth expected to remain on hold
Wage growth is expected to remain on hold, despite large pockets of the workforce receiving a pay bump, Australian Associated Press reports.
Data for the December quarter will be released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with annual growth set to be steady at 3.4%.
Annual growth has been at 3.4% since the March quarter, despite a rise in quarterly figures.
Should the forecasts hold true, wages would be trending below inflation, which ticked up to 3.8% in the year to December.
The December quarter will take in a pay rise for aged care workers across Australia, which came into effect from October.
The increase in salary was the final stage of wage rises for the sector following a case lodged by the Health Services Union to the Fair Work Commission at the end of 2022.
Last quarter of 2025 saw record-breaking renewable energy added to grid
Record-breaking amounts of new wind, solar and storage were added to Australia’s electricity grid in the final quarter of 2025, enough new renewables to power Brisbane 1.5 times over.
After a slower start, the year culminated in a rush, with nine wind and solar farms – 2.1GW in all – brought online in the final three months. The result outperformed all previous quarters, breaking the previous record of 1.3GW added in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Clean Energy Council’s latest quarterly investment report.
Four new utility-scale batteries were deployed in Q4 – totalling 1GW/2.3GWh – tripling the record set in the previous quarter (Q3 2025). The largest was Victoria’s Melbourne renewable energy hub with a size of 600MW/ 1,600MWh.
The CEC chief executive, Jackie Trad, described the result as an “Aussie first” that coincided with renewable energy supplying more than half of grid electricity for the first time.
The final quarter of last year saw many new renewables records broken. Sixty-three per cent of total renewable generation capacity that was switched on in 2025 was delivered in Q4.
The seasonal rush to close out on projects before years’ end, together with more political stability in the second half of 2025, ended the year on a stronger note than where it started. However, there is still much work to be done to accelerate future investment in large-scale generation.
Overall the year ended on a high, with 3.3GW of renewable energy brought online. That made 2025 the second largest year for new projects commissioned after 2021. More battery storage was added in 2025, than the previous eight years combined.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before Nick Visser steps up.
Record-breaking amounts of new wind, solar and storage were added to Australia’s electricity grid in the final quarter of 2025, enough new renewables to power Brisbane 1.5 times over. We’ll have more details in a moment.
Wage growth is expected to remain on hold at about 3.4% when the ABS releases figures for the December quarter later this morning. That means wage growth is running behind inflation – or to put it another way, real wages are falling. More to come.
