What we learned today, Wednesday 29 April
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
Barnaby Joyce acknowledged One Nation may have made a mistake by not asking a star candidate about his past ties to the Labor party. Nine newspapers on Monday reported the minor party’s nominee for the Farrer byelection, David Farley, sought preselection for Labor in 2021 and donated to the party in 2023.
Electric vehicle chargers could be installed in the basements of more than 400 apartment buildings around Australia as part of a $3.4m investment in the technology, AAP reported. Sydney-based charging company ReadySteadyPlug announced plans to expand its charging network on Wednesday after securing a $1.5m investment from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).
A majority of surveyed Australians approved of Pauline Hanson’s leadership of One Nation, giving her a higher job approval rating than Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor, a Guardian Essential poll found. The rightwing populist party is outperforming the Coalition for the first time.
NT police said more than 100 people were assisting with the search for Sharon, a missing five-year-old they believe was abducted from her home in Alice Springs last weekend.
A pro-Palestine protester refused to enter a plea to a charge of displaying a prohibited expression on the basis that his charge is “insane”. Jim Dowling appeared in Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday, charged with holding a sign reading “from the river to the sea” at a protest on 18 March. He appeared without a lawyer, representing himself.
The US lobbying firm representing tech companies, including Meta and Google, has said Australia should face “targeted trade remedies” from the Trump administration to stop the government implementing the news bargaining incentive, which would force Meta, Google and TikTok to make commercial deals with Australian media outlets or pay a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues.
The mother of a police officer who allegedly murdered Luke Davies and Jesse Baird two years ago was charged over allegedly tampering in her son’s trial. NSW police said Coleen Lamarre, 63, was charged with perverting the course of justice in her son’s high-profile double murder trial after she allegedly attempted to influence a key witness to change their evidence.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow to do it all again.
Updated
Closure of 40 childcare centres ‘deeply concerning’ for workers and families, says union
The United Workers Union says today’s announcement that G8 Education will close approximately 40 childcare centres across Australia is deeply concerning for workers, families and communities.
UWU’s director of early childhood education, Carolyn Smith, said the union was focused on supporting affected members through the uncertainty ahead:
These are dedicated, hard-working people who have shown up every day to care for children and families. We are still waiting to understand which centres will be impacted, and we will be working closely with our members every step of the way as that becomes clear.
Our message to workers right now is simple: we are here, we are watching this closely, and we will make sure your rights and entitlements are protected.
The union is calling on the federal government to urgently intervene to ensure affected workers receive their full entitlements and that no family is left without access to childcare.
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Timor-Leste’s president issues second statement over proposed crypto resort linked to ‘scam’ empire
Timor-Leste’s parliament continues to discuss a joint investigation between Guardian Australia and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which raised questions about a proposed crypto resort in the capital of Dili.
The report uncovered alleged links between three individuals involved in the resort project and Prince Group, a multibillion-dollar Cambodian conglomerate accused by US authorities of running “industrial-scale” scams.
A spokesperson for the Prince Group denied all claims of criminality and said the US allegations were “nothing more than a cash grab”, while the resort’s current shareholders said the alleged Prince Group associates had been immediately dismissed following US sanctions in October.
Timor-Leste’s opposition has questioned how foreign investors in a proposed cryptocurrency resort obtained prime beachfront real estate in the country’s capital, among other concerns.
The office of the president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, has now issued a second statement, rebutting statements made by a Fretilin opposition party MP on Monday that questioned why a diplomatic passport was issued to a Chinese businessman involved in the project, named Lin Xiaofan. There is no suggestion Lin is under sanction or is a member of Prince Group, and he is not accused of any criminality.
Ramos-Horta previously defended his decision to grant the diplomatic passport, telling Guardian Australia he hoped Lin could attract investment into one of the world’s newest and most impoverished nations.
The 28 April statement said:
The President remains committed to democratic oversight and welcomes responsible debate. But let that debate be rooted in fact, not fear; in legal evidence, not allegations; in ethics, not insult.
According to Ramos-Horta, the matter is now being handled by the public prosecutor.
Updated
Beau Lamarre-Condon’s mother charged after allegedly attempting to influence key witness in double murder trial
The mother of a police officer who allegedly murdered Luke Davies and Jesse Baird two years ago has been charged over allegedly tampering in her son’s trial.
NSW police said Coleen Lamarre, 63, was charged with perverting the course of justice in her son’s high-profile double murder trial after she allegedly attempted to influence a key witness to change their evidence.
Beaumont Lamarre-Condon was charged with double murder after police found the bodies of Qantas flight attendant Davies, 29, and former TV presenter Baird, 26, in February 2024.
Lamarre-Condon, who is in custody, is alleged to have shot the men with his service weapon at Baird’s inner-city home before attempting to dispose of their bodies. The couple’s bodies were found on 27 February inside surfboard bags at the fence line of a rural property in Bungonia, near Goulburn, about 200km south-west of Sydney.
Police said in a statement on Wednesday that Coleen was arrested in Balmain and refused bail. She will appear before the bail division court on Thursday.
Lamarre-Condon is due to face trial in September, with it estimated to go for two to three months.
Updated
Trump administration urged to use ‘trade remedies’ to stop news bargaining incentive
The US lobbying firm representing tech companies including Meta and Google has said Australia should face “targeted trade remedies” from the Trump administration to stop the government implementing the news bargaining incentive, which would force Meta, Google and TikTok to make commercial deals with Australian media outlets or pay a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues.
After the release of the draft proposal yesterday, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said the levy was “coercive” and suggested it was an “illegal performance requirement”.
The organisation called on the US government to “publicly and forcefully challenge the draft measure, including through targeted trade remedies, if legislation passes”.
The CCIA president, Matt Schruers, said:
Australia’s proposed News Media Bargaining Incentive is a thinly veiled discriminatory tax on US digital services that is inconsistent with its commitments under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement … If enacted, it would mark a further step away from predictable, rules-based digital trade and risk inviting reciprocal measures.
The United States should make clear its opposition to such a measure and be prepared to use all available trade tools to facilitate its removal, and encourage Australia to embrace non-discriminatory policy approaches that support journalism without undermining the open internet.
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That’s all from me. Cait Kelly will be your guide for the rest of the arvo. Take care.
Ed Husic says reining in capital gains tax discount a ‘good thing’
Labor MP Ed Husic said he believes it’s a “good thing” the country is looking at reining in the capital gains tax discount when it comes to housing affordability.
Husic spoke to Sky News earlier this morning:
I have said previously that while I understand people will want to build a nest egg for themselves by investing in homes, and I certainly appreciate the importance of that, I think, you know, if you’re getting to your fifth or sixth home that you’re investing in, how long should the Australian taxpayer support that?
I reckon a lot of Australians would be thinking about whether or not that’s right and fair. But appreciating that people will want to be able to, you know, build a strong future for themselves through those investments.
Read more about the CGT discount and its effects on housing here:
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Police sent crime scene items for forensic analysis in search for missing five-year-old
Police said they seized a number of items from a crime scene near the Old Timers camp where Sharon was last seen, including a doona cover, the shirt Jefferson Lewis was allegedly wearing and a pair of child’s underwear.
Those items have been transported to a police facility for forensic analysis, with results expected tomorrow.
Police said the search for Lewis had been difficult as he doesn’t have a phone or a bank account, saying they had to rely on “old-style policing”. That effort has included speaking to Lewis’ wife and children, who have cooperated with investigators and know they are looking for the man.
This man does not have a telephone, a bank account, a car, so some of the usual practices that we do in 2026 are not applicable, hence the amount of resources we have on the ground.
We are knocking on doors, going through houses, old-style policing – and it is a hard slog.
Officials had a message for Lewis: “Hand yourself in, go to your closest police station or give us a call and we will come get you.”
Updated
Unleaded petrol at or below prewar levels in most cities
The price of unleaded fuel has returned to around pre-Iran war levels in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, and is now about 20 cents per litre cheaper in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Motormouth data shows Perth is the only one of the country’s six biggest cities where motorists are paying more than they were before the start of the conflict.
The pump prices would be higher were it not for the government’s 26-cent temporary cut to the fuel excise, and the decision to forgo the 10% GST on petrol sales.
The news is not as good for diesel: prices have come down from their heights but are still 65-80 cents higher than before the closure of the strait of Hormuz from 28 January.
Data earlier this morning showed inflation jumped to 4.6% in the year to March, from 3.7% in February. Those figure pre-dated the fuel excise cut.
Updated
Police still believe Sharon is alive. An official said:
“We still think she’s alive and our number-one mission is to find her safe and well.”
Updated
NT police appeal for information in search for missing five-year-old
Martin Dole, the commissioner of the NT police, is holding a press conference into missing five-year-old Sharon.
Dole is issuing a community-wide appeal for information, saying officers’ priority remains finding the child. He said during the media conference:
We will follow up every single piece of information that we receive. The smallest detail could be the one that unlocks this investigation.
He added that officers are still searching for Jefferson Lewis. Officers say they still believe the man is in the nearby area:
We believe that there are members of the community that absolutely know where Jefferson Lewis is. What I want to say to you is: tell us. Tell us what you know. Tell us where he is. Tell us how to contact him.
Dole added that community support and the “collective effort” in the search for Sharon had made a “real difference”.
Updated
eSafety commissioner says women in leadership roles may need security protections
As more women take on public leadership and regulatory roles, Australia’s first eSafety commissioner warns they could require security protections similar to elected parliamentarians due to plausible online threats made against them, AAP reports.
Julie Inman Grant made history when she was appointed to lead Australia’s eSafety Commission in 2017, a world-first government regulatory body dedicated to keeping citizens safer online.
She has driven significant regulatory reform, including developing industry standards to address illegal content, age-restricted material and emerging AI harms online. But it is for her role in leading the implementation of Australia’s landmark social media ban, which prevents children’s access until they are 16, that Inman Grant has endured the most significant online threats.
After the ban announcement, billionaire Elon Musk, who owns social media platform X, made a public post calling Inman Grant a “censorship commissar”. Within 24 hours, 75,000 posts had been directed at her, 80% of which were toxic, harmful or contained plausible death threats.
“It is gendered and it is designed to wear you down, just like any other form of sexualised, violent online abuse that plays upon gendered standards,” she told the former prime minister Julia Gillard for a live podcast recording.
My issue is when they dox my children and my family members … it makes you sit back and go, am I putting my family and my kids in danger, and how do I protect them?
Inman Grant noted there were security protections for elected officials, who can face similar threats due to their work, but not the same for regulators.
Read more from our story last year here:
Updated
Second man charged over alleged offensive behaviour on Bondi beach footbridge
NSW police have charged a second man after an investigation into offensive behaviour on a pedestrian bridge at Bondi beach earlier this year.
Officials said the investigation began amid reports that two men had engaged in the behaviour around 7pm on 31 January. Police were told at the time one man was allegedly mimicking firing upon people near the bridge, six weeks after the Bondi beach terror attack.
After inquiries, that man, 23, was arrested in Coogee in February. He pleaded guilty to three counts of offensive behaviour in a public place and two counts of intimidation and has since been jailed for 12 months, with a non-parole period of nine months.
NSW police said the second man, also 23, was arrested in Double Bay on Tuesday. He has been charged with behaviour in an offensive manner near a public place and stalking or intimidating with the intent to cause fear of physical harm.
The second man appeared before the courts today and was granted conditional bail before another appearance next month.
Updated
Senate inquiry into CSIRO report calls for clarification on further job cuts
A Senate inquiry into funding and resourcing at the CSIRO has published its final report, recommending that the Albanese government clarify whether there will be further funding cuts or job losses at the national science agency.
The inquiry was jointly set up by senators including the ACT independent David Pocock, whose campaign to prevent further job losses at the CSIRO last year gained significant public support, after hundreds of job cuts in recent years.
The report made six key recommendations, including that the CSIRO continue to engage with staff who “feel there is a lack of consultation and dialogue around job losses or when programs are to be discontinued or redirected”.
In his additional comments, Pocock said job losses at the CSIRO were:
… the consequence of a long-term, bipartisan failure to fund Australia’s national science agency at a level commensurate with what Australians want and expect the organisation to do.
Pocock recommended a permanent, ongoing increase in CSIRO’s base appropriation, with an immediate uplift of $252.3m in the 2026-27 budget.
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, the Greens spokesperson for science, said:
Evidence to the inquiry makes clear that the challenges facing the CSIRO are the direct consequence of chronic underfunding by governments.
These funding pressures are driving a shift toward short-term, applied work at the expense of deep, long-term climate science. This is not an incidental outcome, it is a direct consequence of policy and funding choices, and it carries significant national risk …
With public good science funding under siege globally, it has never been more important for the Albanese government to invest in the CSIRO.
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Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital completes transition to public health system
Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital is officially entering the public system, ending a troubled eight-year public-private partnership, although uncertainty about the future of private services remains.
The transition and legal handover of the hospital from private operator Healthscope to New South Wales Health occurred at 7am on Wednesday. The state health minister, Ryan Park, said it was a “historic day”.
“It’s been a challenge, but today is the start of a new hospital,” he told Guardian Australia.
The issue of the quality of services was brought into focus after the death of two-year-old Joe Massa in September 2024 after a three-hour wait in the hospital’s emergency department.
His parents, Elouise and Danny Massa, campaigned for the end of the public-private partnership, and were instrumental in the passing of Joe’s Law, which bans all future partnerships being imposed on the state’s acute care hospitals.
Elouise Massa told Guardian Australia Wednesday’s handover was “one of the final pieces of the puzzle for us as Joe’s parents”.
Read more here:
Updated
Queensland pro-Palestine protester refuses to enter plea over ‘insane’ banned phrase charge
A pro-Palestine protester has refused to enter a plea to a charge of displaying a prohibited expression on the basis that his charge is “insane”.
Jim Dowling appeared in Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday, charged with holding a sign reading “from the river to the sea” at a protest on 18 March. He appeared without a lawyer, representing himself.
“I was charged with saying ‘from the river to the sea’, great crime of the century,” he told the court.
He refused to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, saying the charge was insane.
Magistrate Ross Mack entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. He adjourned the case to 25 June for a review.
Updated
Inflation being driven by oil crisis, Chalmers says
Chalmers said inflation was being driven by high oil prices. He said:
Even with the spike in inflation from higher fuel prices coming out of the Middle East, we still have inflation substantially lower than what we inherited and what we saw in 2022.
We understand that people are under pressure, that is why we cut the fuel excise and providing cost of living help, why we are providing additional tax cuts and why we are providing a standard deduction to provide a bit more tax relief and cost of living help, and at the same time we are making medicines cheaper and making bulk billing more accessible.
We know the Australian economy is not immune from all of this global uncertainty and volatility and unpredictable conditions, but we are better placed and better prepared and have faster growth than any other advanced economy to finish up 2025.
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Jim Chalmers addresses inflation figures
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking in Brisbane after the release of the latest inflation figures.
Since we have halved the fuel excise, after this period we are talking about now and the inflation data, we have seen petrol and diesel prices fall by at least 70 cents in most capital cities and it shows how important the fuel excise relief is for the next couple of months.
Our excise cut has been a very important factor in taking some of the sting out of fuel prices and that is reflected in the movement of fuel prices in April.
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Labor ‘placating resources sector’ by ruling out gas tax, Zali Steggall says
Independent Zali Steggall has said Labor ruling out a gas export levy “raises serious questions about who this government is really serving”. In part, she said:
At a time when Australian households and small businesses are under intense pressure from rising energy costs, the Albanese government is more focused on placating the resources sector than addressing the cost-of-living crisis for ordinary Australians.
Australians are being asked to pay more for energy while watching billions in national resource wealth flow offshore with limited return to the public.
Experts are clear: Australia is not getting a fair deal from its gas resources. It is widely recognised that the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax fails to capture a fair share of resource wealth for Australians.
Australians deserve a Government prepared to act in the national interest, not one aligned with corporate fossil fuel interests.
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Inflation jumps to 4.6%
Inflation jumped to 4.6% in the year to March, from 3.7% the month before, in what experts say is the start of an Iran war-linked fuel shock that will ripple through the economy over coming months.
Financial markets are betting the Reserve Bank will hike interest rates for a third straight meeting next Tuesday, as officials struggle to manage the “nightmare scenario” of containing inflation even as growth is expected to slow sharply.
The international oil price pushed back above $US110 a barrel overnight amid dimming hopes of an end to the US-Israel instigated conflict that has closed the strait of Hormuz, a critical arterial for the global flow of oil and other key commodities such as fertiliser.
Analysts predict consumer price growth will continue to climb from here as the surge in petrol and diesel costs flows through to the price of other goods and services.
Westpac economists, before the release of the latest data, expected inflation to reach as high as 5.8% in May, and only retreat to 4.7% by the end of this year.
Updated
Albanese defends petroleum resource rent tax regime
Advocates for a 25% export tax want the new levy to replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PPRT), which they argue is broken and failing to extract enough revenue from the gas giants.
In a Q&A after the speech, Albanese defended the existing regime as he criticised the “dishonesty” of the campaign against it.
The prime minister said the design of the PRRT – which Labor tweaked in 2023 – meant the tax revenue was expected to increase over time.
Albanese said:
The changes are designed to lift up the amount of revenue over a period of time, which makes sense, because you have an upfront investment of tens of billions of dollars, and so therefore the design is a sensible one that makes sense.
Without that investment, it’s not just about international … there’s a lot of focus on exports. Without that investment you wouldn’t have a domestic gas reservation here in WA because you wouldn’t have the gas. And that’s a pretty important point that is lost in some of the populist rhetoric, whether it be the sort of coalition of the far left or the far right.
Updated
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking now in Perth. He said the government had been “very clear” in its position on gas. He told reporters:
We’ve made very clear our position. The only thing I am concentrating on when it comes to fuel is supply.
Australians want to ensure that they have access to their gas. … We need to make sure that those supply issues are dealt with.
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PM rules out new gas export tax on existing contracts
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed next month’s federal budget will not include a new tax on gas export contracts as he criticised the “dishonesty” of the campaign calling for a levy on producers.
As reported last week, Albanese was poised to reject pressure to introduce a 25% tax on gas exports amid concerns the intervention could alienate the same Asian trading partners Australia is relying on for supplies of diesel and petrol.
In a speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA on Wednesday, the prime minister directly tied gas exports to Australia’s fuel security amid the global energy crisis.
Albanese said:
And the middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise these partnerships, or the investment that underpins them. This is why I can confirm that the budget will not undermine existing contracts on gas exports.
Advocates for a 25% export tax want the new levy to replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT), which they argue is broken and failing to extract enough revenue from the gas giants.
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Childcare owner to close about 40 centres after allegations of abuse by former worker
A major early childhood education and care provider at the centre of a shocking case of alleged abuse by a former worker plans to shut about 40 centres across the nation, AAP reports.
The decision means parents using the “underperforming” centres will need to move their children to another nearby facility as staff are also redeployed “where possible”.
G8 Education, which has almost 400 early learning centres, made the announcement on Wednesday ahead of the for-profit’s annual general meeting of shareholders in Brisbane.
In 2025, former educator Joshua Dale Brown was charged with more than 150 sex offences against children. The abuse is alleged to have happened at multiple childcare facilities, including G8 centres, between 2017 and 2025.
G8 chief executive Pejman Okhovat said on Wednesday that G8’s focus remains on safety and providing high-quality care, while noting its occupancy rates are down.
Read more here:
Updated
More than 100 people searching for missing five-year-old girl near Alice Springs
NT police said this morning more than 100 people are assisting with the search for Sharon, a missing five-year-old they believe was abducted from her home in Alice Springs last weekend.
Search and rescue teams have covered about 5 sq km of a 20 sq km search area near the Old Times Camp where Sharon lived. Officials have been searching for a 47-year-old man, Jefferson Lewis, who was recently released from prison. They said they believe Sharon was led away by the man, who was last seen holding her hand late Saturday night.
Police officials said there had been a “huge turnout” in the search, including many official resources and volunteers. Police are happy for those in the community to join the effort, saying volunteers had been of “great assistance”.
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Protester charged over Palestine slogan pleads not guilty
Liam Parry pleaded not guilty to charges of reciting a banned expression at a rally on 11 March at a court hearing on Wednesday morning.
He appeared in Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday morning, charged with reciting “from the river to the sea” in a way that menaced, harassed or offended.
Parry pleaded not guilty to the charge in a brief hearing.
His lawyer, Emma Higgins, from Robertson O’Gorman solicitors, said the firm had briefed a senior counsel to defend the case. She said other people charged with the same offence, or third parties, such as the Human Rights Commission, might also appear in the case.
Magistrate Ross Mack adjourned the case for a mention on 2 July.
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Key event
More Australians approve of Hanson’s party leadership than Albanese or Taylor’s
A majority of surveyed Australians approve of Pauline Hanson’s leadership of One Nation, giving her a higher job approval rating than Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor, as the Guardian Essential poll finds the rightwing populist party is outperforming the Coalition for the first time.
The results come as Australians are becoming more pessimistic about the country and the economy, with the majority of respondents saying they expected things to get worse in the coming months.
The latest Guardian Essential poll, of 1,067 Australians conducted last week, found 23% of respondents strongly approved of the job Hanson is doing as leader of One Nation, with another 29% saying they approved. Only 11% said they disapproved and 23% strongly disapproved, giving a total of 52% approving and 34% disapproving.
Read more here:
Updated
Jarome Luai confirms move to PNG Chiefs
Jarome Luai will be the face of Papua New Guinea’s NRL team after confirming he will leave Wests Tigers to take up a tax-free contract with the PNG Chiefs in 2028, AAP reports.
Luai has signed a two-year deal with the Chiefs, which includes an option for a third year, after he and his family flew to Port Moresby on a private jet over the weekend where he was wooed by PNG’s prime minister, James Marape.
Upon his return from Port Moresby, the Samoan international indicated to the Tigers his eagerness to join the Chiefs as a foundation player for their maiden NRL campaign in 2028.
Luai is permitted to leave the Tigers because of the clauses he was given in his five-year deal.
The five-eighth is in the second season of that contract – which permitted the playmaker to activate an option to stay or leave after years three, four and five. Luai, 29, has told the Tigers he will take up his option to stay at Concord on a $1.2m a season deal in 2027 but has indicated he will then move to the Chiefs for their first campaign.
As part of PNG’s introduction, Luai’s salary will be completely tax free.
Read more here:
Updated
Labor’s tech levy could entrench big news outlets’ dominance, local media warns
Local and community media have warned large commercial outlets could be the lone beneficiaries of the Albanese government plan to force big tech companies into media deals.
The news bargaining incentive, announced yesterday, will tax tech platforms if they don’t negotiate with news publishers.
The Local & Independent News Association and Community Broadcasting Association of Australia represent a host of smaller outlets and some bigger names like Crikey and The Conversation.
The two groups said the incentive could leave out smaller publishers and entrench Australia’s status quo of media concentration. They said it could be redesigned to send tax revenue to grants for new publishers, supporting publications addressing diverse and underserved communities.
LINA’s executive director, Claire Stuchbery, said:
The news media industry has been through the fire and needs support to regroup and produce news that is helpful to communities.
Read more here:
Victoria opposition would cap public sector executive pay if elected
The Victorian opposition will today announce it will cap public sector executive pay if elected in November.
Jess Wilson will announce that if elected, the Coalition would cap base salaries for new senior public sector contracts at the same level as the chief justice of the supreme court – currently $598,248.
The cap will apply to new hires and any renewed or renegotiated contracts, increasing each year in line with wages across the state. The opposition estimates this would save the government more than $20m by 2036.
The announcement follows reports on Tuesday that special approval was given by the Victorian independent remuneration tribunal to bypass the state’s maximum remuneration bands for three executives. It includes an executive program director at the state’s infrastructure delivery authority, whose salary is $834,319 a year – more than $260,000 above the maximum band.
Wilson said:
Under Labor, the number of public service executives has tripled but crime is up, our roads are in disrepair and it takes longer to get an ambulance. It’s time for a fresh start that prioritises the basics. Only a Liberal and Nationals government I lead will restore financial discipline and put the focus back where it belongs.
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NSW to open two regions for gas exploration
The NSW government announced on Wednesday it will open two regions in the state’s far west for gas exploration, AAP reports.
Bancannia and Pondie Range troughs, north of Broken Hill, will be opened for gas project applications to complement the existing Narrabri Gas Project.
The government says the move is necessary to ensure reliable power in the coming decades, with the Australian Energy Market Operator forecasting gas shortfalls across the east coast.
The fee to apply for an exploration licence will also be slashed from $50,000 to $1,000 in an effort to attract investment.
The state’s natural resources minister said any prospective project would still be subject to independent planning assessment, including consultation with traditional owners and being consistent with the state’s emissions targets.
NSW aims to cut emissions to 50% of 2005 levels by 2030 but this can only be achieved through further decarbonisation of the state’s power supply, the independent Net Zero Commission says.
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EV chargers could be installed in apartment buildings after $1.5m investment boost
Electric vehicle chargers could be installed in the basements of more than 400 apartment buildings around Australia as part of a $3.4m investment in the technology, AAP reports.
Sydney-based charging company ReadySteadyPlug announced plans to expand its charging network on Wednesday after securing a $1.5m investment from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The cash will allow the firm to target up to 428 electric vehicle charging points in a bid to remove a hurdle to EV adoption.
The announcement comes after Australians bought a record number of new electric cars in March, and after automotive groups issued a statement calling for certainty about charging infrastructure.
Rather than billing owners’ corporations or residents to install high-speed charging equipment, the company uses standard power outlets and software to deliver load management and metered charging to car parks.
“It’s just like charging your mobile phone,” the ReadySteadyPlug chief executive, Jukka Sintonen, told AAP.
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One Nation remiss to miss candidate’s Labor ties, Joyce says
Barnaby Joyce has acknowledged One Nation may have made a mistake by not asking a star candidate about his past ties to the Labor party.
Nine newspapers on Monday reported the minor party’s nominee for the Farrer byelection, David Farley, sought preselection for Labor in 2021 and donated to the party in 2023.
Joyce, the former deputy prime minister and One Nation convert, said Farley was not asked if he had been involved with Labor.
Joyce told the ABC’s 7.30 last night:
What we did know about David is the process that he went through. We didn’t ask that question so maybe that’s remiss of us. And even if we had, it wouldn’t have made a difference. We’re more interested in where you are now than where you have been in the past.
Joyce also said politicians should accept One Nation as a real political force or “get run over by it”. He said the party would demand its key policies be adopted if it won the balance of power in a minority Coalition government.
James Paterson, the Liberal frontbencher, acknowledged the Coalition would find the Farrer byelection “very challenging”, telling 7.30:
We know we are not at an electoral high point nationally and we know that One Nation’s appeal at the moment appears to be, especially concentrated in regional and rural electorates …
[But] if people do want to see change … vote for a Liberal or National who can actually change the government.
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Queensland health minister still has major concerns about Thriving Kids
Tim Nicholls, the Queensland health minister, said the state still has major concerns about the federal government’s Thriving Kids program, which will move children under nine years old with mild development delays and autism off the NDIS. Queensland is the only state yet to sign on to the plan, which is expected to be fully set up by 2028.
Nicholls told RN Breakfast this morning:
We want to make sure that any system that does replace what the Commonwealth is trying to do – and let’s face it, the Commonwealth is cost shifting to the states in regard to this – is able to provide the adequate supports that people need in those circumstances in those early years. …
We’re not going to sign up to that until we’re convinced that there is a program that can be done.
He said Queensland and New South Wales had major obligations when it came to the number of people affected when compared to other states and territories:
We want to make sure we get it right and don’t leave kids who need support and their families out of the considerations we’re taking.
Read more here:
Australian journalism ‘critical to our democracy’, assistant treasurer says
Daniel Mulino, the assistant treasurer, said journalism is “critical to our democracy”, adding the effort to get tech companies to pay for Australian reporting was meant to combat the internet “undermining” the way news companies traditionally made money.
Mulino spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the new plan was about getting tech giants to enter into commercial arrangements with media companies so they pay a “fair amount” for the content they use.
Mulino said:
We know that journalists tell Australian stories. They inform us about what’s going on in our community and the broader world, but also public interest journalism in particular. Independent, high-quality public interest journalism is critical to our democracy.
He said some sites, like LinkedIn, were excluded as they didn’t have the same market power as others and were of a “different nature” than platforms like Facebook. AI platforms are also excluded, Mulino said, as they are being “dealt with through other processes”.
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Nationals leader welcomes effort to get Google, Meta and TikTok to pay for local news
Nationals leader Matt Canavan said he welcomes the plan to get tech giants to pay for Australian news after Anthony Albanese urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with local media outlets to avoid a dedicated levy on their local revenues.
Canavan spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying he was disappointed to see the previous Morrison government’s news media bargaining code “wither on the vine”.
I absolutely do think that the large overseas big tech companies should be contributing to the new services of all Australians. Especially here in rural and regional Australia.
We have seen a lot of our media collapse, especially since Covid. That has had a very big effect on the town I live in, lots of other country towns, where you can’t get your issues elevated as much as you used to without a daily newspaper.
Printed newspapers are really important. Old technology is really important. It just doesn’t work online.
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US alliance still 'robust' despite voter disapproval, Paterson says
James Paterson, the Coalition’s defence spokesperson, was asked on ABC’s 7.30 last night about how the opposition would deal with the Trump administration and he said it was “inarguable” that Australians have less support for the US alliance under the current US government.
But the Liberal frontbencher said public opinion did not affect the “robust” alliance.
Despite the clear signal of disapproval for Trump in Australian polls, he told 7.30:
I don’t think that actually changes the fundamentals of the US-Australia alliance. It’s still incredibly robust at other levels but I think we should be adult and be honest and acknowledge that that has had an impact on how Australians view the United States. . … It doesn’t mean, though, that Australia’s national interest has changed, even if Australians disapprove of this administration.
Paterson said Australia’s bases for US submarines and the Pine Gap intelligence base tied the countries together.
The alliance is about more than just the personalities of any one commander-in-chief … Frankly, it’s in America’s national interest. What Australia offers the United States, it cannot get from elsewhere.
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Good morning, Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s see what the day has in store.
The projects would need to comply with proposed new national environmental standards, which government sources insist will be in place before the bilateral agreements are negotiated.
Albanese has previously explained that instead of a costly two-stage, two-track process, the government wants a one-step process, “with one, clearer, faster, yes or no” that can act as a “circuit breaker”.
The prime minister will address the miners following reports last week that he had ruled out introducing a new tax on gas exports in the 12 May federal budget – a policy the industry vehemently opposes.
In the speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA, Albanese will frame the budget as the most ambitious and important since Labor returned to power in 2022 as the government grapples with the impact of the Iran war and global fuel crisis.
Albanese will say:
None of us here can determine when this war will end. But all of us can choose how we respond to the economic challenges it is creating. We can choose what we learn from this global crisis, even before it ends. And we can choose what we are going to do differently, as a country. What we will build and change and reform, so that Australia does more than weather this storm, we emerge from it as a stronger, fairer and more resilient country.
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Albanese to announce ‘circuit-breaker’ to fast-track mining, energy and housing applications
The federal government has pledged new funding to help the states and territories strike agreements that would allow them to assess and approve projects themselves under new federal nature laws.
Anthony Albanese will make the four-year, $45m announcement in a speech to a mining industry event in Western Australia, describing the deals as a “circuit-breaker” that will fast-track mining, energy and housing applications.
The new “single-touch” regime was a feature of Labor’s rewrite of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), which passed the parliament last year under a deal with the Greens.
Labor had previously opposed handing federal environmental approval powers to state and territory governments, including iterations of the policy that were put forward by the Abbott and Morrison governments.
If deals are struck, the states and territories would be able to greenlight projects without requiring a separate commonwealth assessment.
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Markets braced for inflation shock
Consumer price data released later this morning will confirm the Iran war is delivering a major inflationary shock to the economy thanks to soaring fuel prices.
Economists at Westpac predict inflation jumped by 1 percentage point to 4.7% in the year to March, based on the monthly consumer price index figures.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reports more established quarterly figures, and by this measure annual inflation will jump to 4.2%, from 3.6% in the year to the December quarter.
Inflation was already running too high for comfort before the US and Israel began the Middle East conflict on 28 February, and the latest numbers will underline the case for another Reserve Bank interest rate hike next Tuesday.
Economists say inflation is set to accelerate from here as higher fuel costs spread through the economy and drive a broader lift in prices.
For example, the Westpac economists expect inflation to reach 5.8% in May, and only retreat to 4.7% by the end of this year.
For context, the RBA’s official target is 2.5%.
But central bank officials will be aware that the Iran war will smash economic growth, and the RBA’s board will be weighing this against the need for more rate hikes.
Read more here:
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King Charles praises 'ambitious' Aukus in speech to US Congress
King Charles’s address to the US Congress has been covered over in our US politics blog (check it out here).
But it’s worth noting that Australia got a shout-out, and specifically the Aukus nuclear submarine program, in a section of the speech that pointedly dwelt on the importance of defence ties between the US and UK (and Nato more broadly).
The king said:
Our defence, intelligence and security ties are hardwired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades.
Today, thousands of US service personnel, defence officials and their families are stationed in the United Kingdom, as British personnel serve with equal pride across 30 American states.
We are building F-35s together.
And we have agreed the most ambitious submarine programme in history, Aukus.
And we do so in partnership with Australia, a country of which I am also immensely proud to serve as sovereign.
We do not embark on these remarkable endeavours together out of sentiment.
We do so because they build greater shared resilience for the future, so making our citizens safer for generations to come.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
Consumer price data coming out today is expected to show the sharp shock that the US-Iran war has dealt to our economy (and our wallets).
And overseas, King Charles has addressed the US Congress and found time to praise Australia and spruik the Aukus nuclear submarine program, in a section where he dwelt on the importance of defence ties between the US and UK.
More on these stories, and more, coming soon.
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