What we learned today, Monday 27 October
With that, we will shut the blog for the evening. Thanks for reading. Krishani Dhanji will be back with you first thing tomorrow for all the latest in the world of Australian politics.
Until then, here were today’s major developments:
Microsoft “deprived” Australian consumers of informed choice, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has alleged. The body will take federal court action against Microsoft over allegedly misleading about 2.7m Australians with Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
More than 100 scientists and researchers have urged the PM to tackle widespread deforestation that is driving an extinction crisis across the country when the government introduces environment reforms this week.
The Business Council of Australia has rejected Sussan Ley’s call to split the environment bill into separate pieces, saying the legislation should be passed as one “holistic” package dealing with both pro-environmental and pro-business sections.
An RAAF flare incident was directly raised with the Chinese premier, Anthony Albanese has confirmed, without giving details as to what he said. He told reporters his meeting with Li Qiang was “positive”.
And the Coalition is calling for an inquiry into the CFMEU administration after Nine newspapers reported its efforts have been hampered by a lack of investigative capability.
Updated
Taxpayers fork out $75m for embattled Spirit ferries
Taxpayers will fork out $75m to help the beleaguered operator of two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries navigate ongoing financial issues, AAP reports.
It has also been revealed human error is to blame for $9m worth of upgrades needed for the vessels and their yet-to-be-completed berth in Tasmania.
The two replacement vessels are not expected to be in service until late 2026, years behind schedule, because a berth in Devonport was not built in time for their arrival. The saga, which caused one of the new ships to be kept in Scotland for months, has been dubbed one of the biggest infrastructure stuff-ups in Australia’s history.
Tasmania’s government on Monday announced it would give the ship’s state-owned operator TT-Line an injection of $75m in the November 2025-26 budget. The funds would deal with “medium-term” financial issues, the TT-Line chair, Ken Kanofski, told reporters:
What we said is ‘we need a buffer’, we don’t want to run too close to the wind.
The Labor opposition MP Dean Winter said Tasmanians were being forced to pay the price for incompetence. The state government has not ruled out giving TT-Line the remaining $25m of the company’s request if needed.
Updated
