What happened Wednesday 26 March, 2025
With that, we’ll end our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
Labor is seeking to quickly pass its budget night tax cuts through the parliament this week, in an apparent bid to wedge the Coalition, which has said it does not support the changes and voted against the bill on Wednesday.
In criticising the Coalition’s response to his budget, Anthony Albanese said the opposition “is delulu with no solulu”.
Australia’s inflation rate has eased again, in data that will buoy Labor heading into an election and raise hopes for mortgage holders another interest rate cut is not far off.
Australia will redirect more than $100m in foreign aid toward the Indo-Pacific region to urgently plug funding gaps after Donald Trump announced the US would cancel around $US54bn worth in overseas development assistance programs.
Heavy rainfall has closed nearly 200 roads and cut off multiple towns in Queensland as already saturated rivers risk more flooding.
Thanks for reading. We’ll be back again tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening.
Allegedly armed man crashes car into Qantas call centre in Hobart
A Qantas employee is being treated in hospital after an allegedly armed man crashed a car into the airline’s Hobart call centre building.
About 9:30am on Wednesday, police responded to a report of a man carrying a knife behaving erratically in Claremont, a suburb north of central Hobart.
The man then allegedly stole a vehicle and drove to the Goodwood area, police said, “where he crashed into a building on Longreach Avenue and entered the premises”.
The building at the Technopark area at Goodwood is home to a Qantas and TPG call centre. The man reportedly crashed into the reception of the Qantas office.
It is unclear if it was a targeted incident. Qantas are liaising with Tasmania police who are investigating the incident.
Guardian Australia understands one employee sustained minor injuries and has been taken to hospital.
“Police were at the scene within minutes and took the man into custody,” police said.
The building was evacuated and people have been asked to avoid the area. There is no ongoing risk to the community, police said.
“This is a very distressing incident for our employees,” a Qantas spokesperson said. “The safety of our people is our priority and we are providing immediate support to those impacted.
Updated
