What we learned, Sunday 20 September
We’re closing our live coverage there today. Here’s what we covered:
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A child has died in a stabbing attack in NSW’s Blue Mountains, with two other children and a woman in hospital in critical condition.
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The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, says women are being failed “across our country and [by] every level of government” after the deaths of three women just hours apart in separate incidents.
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Anthony Albanese says he hopes for engagement between the US and Chinese presidents on AI at the UN general assembly next week. He also said Apple’s executive chair, Tim Cook, had praised Australia’s under-16 social media ban.
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The prime minister said One Nation’s immigration policy would be “diabolical” for the economy.
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Angus Taylor said the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, should “get on board” with opposition promises to introduce a “fuel price shield” and lower the tobacco excise.
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Melbourne tram drivers finished second last, just ahead of London, at the European TramDriver Championship held in Poland.
Thank you for joining us, we’ll be back again tomorrow.
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One child dead in Blue Mountains stabbing, two children and woman in critical condition
A child has died in a stabbing attack in the Blue Mountains today, with two other children and a woman in hospital in critical condition, New South Wales police say.
In a statement this afternoon, police said emergency services responded to reports of three children and a woman with stab wounds in a vehicle on Waratah Road, Valley Heights. They said:
Officers from Blue Mountains Police Area Command have been informed that several members of the public performed first aid on the woman and three children whilst contacting Triple Zero.
One of the children was located deceased in the vehicle.
Police said NSW Ambulance treated the two children, who are believed to be under five, and the woman, believed to be in her 40s, at the scene before they were taken to hospital, where all three are listed as being in a critical condition.
“A crime scene has been established, and police are not looking for any other people at this time,” they said. Police are urging anyone with information or mobile phone or dashcam footage of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers.
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Plibersek says ‘we owe these women more than our sorrow’ after deaths in NSW
The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, has made a statement after the deaths of three women in alleged domestic violence-related murders in separate incidents in a 12-hour period in NSW.
Three men have now been charged with domestic violence-related murders. They include a 37-year-old man charged today after the body of a woman in her 70s was found at Mole River in the state’s north yesterday evening.
In a statement, Plibersek said her thoughts were with the families and loved ones of the women:
We owe these women more than our sorrow.
Every level of government, every community organisation, our schools and workplaces, every family – all of us need to work together to keep women and children safe.
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Treasurer warns of ‘confronting’ 40-year economic outlook
Australia’s 40-year outlook will be “confronting”, treasurer Jim Chalmers says, but not a “pessimistic story” as AI looks to transform the global economy.
Chalmers will present the seventh intergenerational report tomorrow afternoon, detailing forecasts for the impact of new technologies on society and the economy, along with more warnings about the country’s ageing population and declining fertility rates.
It comes as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is visiting the United States this week to discuss a “global framework” for the rollout of AI, urging the “big two giants” – the US and China – to work in the interest of humanity.
At a press conference this morning, the treasurer warned the report will show Australia is “dealing with serious risks to our economy and serious pressures on the budget” but he believed the government’s policies were well-equipped to handle it.
The intergenerational report is a really important way that we plan for the future to make sure that Australians are beneficiaries and not victims of all this accelerating change that’s come at us from around the world.
AI will be the most “transformative influence on our society and our economy over the next 40 years”, Chalmers said.
Artificial intelligence does present us with very substantial risks that we will manage. I’m very confident that we can maximise the economic upside of technological change at the same time as we minimise the very substantial risks and concerns that people legitimately have about how this part of our economy is changing.
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Melbourne finishes second-last at world tram driving championships
Despite having one of the largest tram networks in the world, Melbourne tram drivers finished second last, just ahead of London, at the 12th European TramDriver Championship held in Warsaw yesterday.
A team from Prague finished first out of 26 teams, at the highly demanding course, which included: smooth stop and go, speed control at 25 km/h, target braking, tram bowling, lateral distance, basketball, a perfect stop with the second door, and a reverse ride guided by whistle commands.
Melbourne will host the next event in 2027. In 2022, Australia was the first ever non-European country chosen to compete in the competition.
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Damaging winds expected throughout Tasmania and parts of Victoria today
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings in both states with north-westerly winds expected to increase on Sunday ahead of a strong cold front.
Peak wind gusts around 90-100km/h were forecast, and already recorded in some locations. A 109km/h wind gust was recorded at kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Hobart earlier this morning. While in Victoria, a 95km/h wind gust was recorded at Mount Gellibrand, about 130km south-west of Melbourne.
Maximum temperatures on Sunday were expected to reach 8C to 15C above average across south-east Australia, the BoM said.
By midday, temperatures had already exceeded 35C at several locations across the country, including Oodnadatta in South Australia, Birdsville in Queensland and at Roebourne airport west of Port Hedland, in WA.
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Ten historic Sydney train stations ready for metro extension opening
The stations are now ready to reopen as metro stations ahead of the extension of the wildly popular line later this year, the NSW government says.
The ten stations – Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Canterbury, Campsie, Belmore, Lakemba, Wiley Park, Punchbowl, and Bankstown – used to form part of the 130‑year‑old heavy rail line. They have been closed since September 2024 in favour of rail replacement buses.
The government says the now complete metro refurbishment has required the installation of 360 automated platform screen doors, and more than 1,300 gap fillers to fill the spaces between the trains and curved platforms.
The NSW transport minister, John Graham, says:
These 19th-century stations have transformed to meet the standards of the 21st century public transport.
These station upgrades are the culmination of years of hard work, investment and patience from their communities. Along with every person living in this corridor, I can’t wait to see these stations in full swing.
The government has declined to provide a state date for the Sydenham to Bankstown extension before the national rail safety regulator approves the line. The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Sydney Metro is targeting a public opening date in mid-October.
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Sloane says says women being failed after three deaths hours apart
The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, says women are being failed “across our country and [by] every level of government” after the deaths of three women just hours apart in separate incidents in NSW.
They include the death of a woman in her 90s, who was found with stab wounds inside her unit at Sydney’s Bondi beach at about 5.15pm yesterday. A 47-year-old man has been charged with murder.
In a statement this morning Sloane said she was horrified by the deaths.
These deaths are not isolated. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, a woman was killed every 11 days in 2024-25 by her intimate partner. Even more women lose their lives when you include other family members …
Because these matters are before the courts, I won’t comment on the circumstances. But we cannot treat this as background noise. We are failing women across our country and every level of government, and every one of us, has a responsibility to act.
In a statement today, the premier, Chris Minns, said “these are shocking crimes and families are today dealing with unimaginable grief”.
My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the women who have died, and the communities affected by these events.
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South Australian algal bloom caused sea dragon mass mortality event
Thousands of sea dragons, pipefishes and seahorses died during South Australia’s devastating algal bloom, in what ecologists say is the worst mass mortality event for the fish family globally.
More than 1,600 weedy and leafy sea dragons, 1,400 pipefishes and 160 seahorses washed up as the harmful algae spread along the state’s coastline, according to analysis of citizen scientist records by Dragon Search SA.
The state is home to more than 30 species of Syngnathidae, a family that includes sea dragons, seahorses, pipefishes and more. At least 13 were affected by the toxic bloom, which began in March 2025 and still lingers at one site in southern Spencer gulf.
Weedy and leafy sea dragons, found only in Australia, were often some of the first mortalities observed, as the algal bloom spread up and down the coast.
Read more here:
Opposition leader says treasurer should ‘get on board’ with his tax cut plans
Angus Taylor has continued to spruik his double tax cut policy this morning, which he claims will lower petrol prices and put the budget in better shape.
On 2GB radio, the opposition leader said the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, should adopt the policy to halve the fuel excise when the two-week average price of oil exceeds US$100 a barrel and cut the tobacco excise to take back cigarette sales from the black market.
Chalmers told News24 this morning the government had no plans to again halve the fuel excise as oil prices continue to rise in response to the US’s protracted conflict with Iran.
Taylor said:
Let’s just lock it in, and let’s stop this silly carry on. And the treasurer should just get on board. He should just get on board, and this is a treasurer who’s in denial about the state of the economy.
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Taylor insists fuel price shield policy is ‘anti-inflationary’ after Chalmers labels it ‘uncapped, unfunded’
The federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has insisted his “fuel price shield” policy is “anti-inflationary” after criticism by the federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
As we reported earlier, the opposition’s policy would see the federal fuel excise halved when the two-week average price of oil exceeds US$100 a barrel.
Asked what he thought of the idea on News24 earlier, Chalmers accused Taylor of coming up with an “an uncapped, unfunded policy”.
Angus Taylor’s not trying to save Australian motorists from higher petrol prices. He’s trying to save the Liberal party from One Nation.
At a press conference this morning, Taylor rejected Chalmers’ comments, saying the opposition would fund the policy through increased revenue created by controversial proposed cuts to the federal tobacco excise.
We can bring down taxes, fully fund it through the budget, and ensure that we provide the relief Australians want at the bowser: $15 a tank, 27 cents a litre … So this is anti-inflationary, and it’s been done in a way which is responsible for the budget.
The opposition has estimated the policy would cost around $950m each month, and would have been triggered twice in the past five years, during oil price shocks in early 2022 and March this year.
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Albanese says One Nation migration policy would be ‘diabolical’ for economy
The prime minister has defended the government’s proposed immigration enforcement rules, as One Nation and the Coalition call for a tougher crackdown on net migration.
The government has announced long-awaited changes to immigration rules, under which foreign nationals without a valid visa face new measures to force them to leave the country. It has promised to bring down net overseas migration to 245,000 this financial year, and 225,000 in 2027-28.
One Nation says it is targeting net-negative arrivals over three years, while the federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, told the NSW Liberal state council yesterday he would introduce one of the “biggest immigration cuts in Australian history”.
Albanese told the ABC’s Insiders One Nation’s policy would be “be diabolical for our economy, and have real consequences for issues such as aged care, healthcare, the hospitality sector, the agricultural sector”.
A poll by The Sydney Morning Herald suggested 40% of voters thought the government’s 2027-28 target was still too high. Asked about recent polling on immigration, Albanese said:
We will put forward the case, for example, of our farmers need the areas to come in if they’re going to have their crops picked. That is just something that the farming sector are telling us, and it’s something that’s a reality, as well as [in] a range of other areas as well, including in the care sector.
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PM focused on free trade agreement with Europe, not EU membership
The prime minister has been asked if Australia has any plans to join the EU, after the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, welcomed the offer of Canada becoming the EU’s first associate member.
Anthony Albanese says “we’re a long way from Europe, of course”, but after it is pointed out that Canada is too, he says:
Our relations, of course, are also in areas that Canada doesn’t have. So Asean, for example, and the centrality of Asean in our region is important. The Pacific Island Forum, where I was just a couple of weeks ago, is very important as well. Our priority when it comes to Europe and our engagement with the EU is, of course, Australia-EU free trade agreement.
Asked if he is keeping EU membership “open as an option”, Albanese says: “My focus is on the free trade agreement and getting that in place, both in Australia and in Europe”.
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Social media companies compelled to provide information under changes to minimum age ban, Albanese says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says social media companies have already been compelled to provide information to the eSafety commissioner following amendments to social media minimum age legislation this month.
Albanese is returning to the UN’s General Assembly a year after he addressed it about social media to promote Australia’s ban for under-16s. Asked on the ABC’s Insiders if he is happy with the progress of the ban, with many children still on social media, Albanese says:
It was never going to be perfect, but in the legislation that we passed just in the last sitting fortnight, I can tell you … that already the eSafety Commissioner has used that strengthening of the laws to require some of the social media organisations to provide information to it, so they’ve already been compelled.
Asked which social media companies have been compelled to provide documents, the prime minister says he cannot go into a “commercial issue”.
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Albanese doesn’t rule out changes to copyright law for AI scraping
The prime minister has been asked if it his still his policy, following his speech in July to announce the government’s AI framework, that companies should not be able to use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control.
He says, “absolutely, that’s our position,” adding that his statement was welcomed by AI companies. The ABC’s David Speers says that two of those companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, want copyright laws watered down, asking if the government’s policy means there will be no changes to copyright laws.
Albanese says:
What it means is control and monetisation of [copyright]. You know, [AI] is a global phenomenon, so we have a national interest in leaning in here and being proactive, and that’s precisely what we’re doing.
Asked again if he will rule out changes to copyright laws, the prime minister says there will be “no change to the principles that I’ve outlined very clearly”.
“I’ve said what the principles are, which are there, and we’ll engage constructively on all of these issues,” he says.
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Albanese asked about Trump comments calling AI safety fears a ‘hoax’
Anthony Albanese has been asked about comments from Donald Trump in which the US president described safety fears about AI as a “hoax”.
The comments came in the face of multiple industry figures sounding the alarm about AI’s dangers. Trump has since announced the creation of an artificial intelligence tsar and “AI force”.
Asked if he is concerned Trump’s approach, Albanese says:
Well, President Trump, of course, will act in the interests of the US, but also there’s a need for all of us to act in the interests of humanity … I think President Trump knows that at the moment the US is essentially ahead of China when it comes to the race that is on for the development of this new technology. But it is in the world’s interests that there be engagement. I think it’s a positive sign that President Trump is meeting President Xi [Jinping] this week, and I am hopeful that there will be positive engagement out of it.
Asked if is he saying that Trump is putting US interests over humanity’s interests, the prime minister says:
Well, no, I don’t think that’s a contradiction … there’s not a contradiction because it is in the US’s interests for social licence to occur here. They have the big companies that are based here. It’s a driver of economic growth. When we look at future growth, it is estimated that AI is already potentially adding about 1% to GDP in the world’s largest economy, so it is certainly in the US’ interests for there to be that recognition of human interests. And President Trump, I’m sure, understands that.
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Albanese says Apple chair praised Australian social media ban
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is appearing on the ABC’s Insiders this morning, amid a visit to the US where he has met Apple’s executive chair and former CEO, Tim Cook.
It comes amid warnings about the rapid growth of AI, and the federal government’s announcement of its own regulatory framework for the technology and the datacentre industry.
Asked if he shares fears of an existential threat for humanity posed by AI, Albanese says:
Well, it’s a very big deal. I certainly see that. And Tim Cook gave us a lot of time this morning. He regards the work that we’ve done on social media to be world-leading, and it was terrific to be able to be here at Apple …
Artificial intelligence is moving so fast, and I think there are three issues really. One is the companies themselves. What safeguards are they putting in place? How are they being transparent? What are the protocols to make sure that it doesn’t get … beyond their control? The second is nation states need to engage and need to act, and that’s why I’ve said we’ll introduce AI standards, Australian standards in our national interest by the end of the year. And the third issue, which will be discussed this week, no doubt, is: what are the international protocols which are there now?
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Coalition pledges ‘fuel price shield’ for when crude oil exceeds US$100
The federal opposition says a “fuel price shield” policy under which the excise would be halved when the two-week average price of oil exceeds US$100 a barrel would save drivers 27 cents a litre.
Under the policy announced today, a two-week average closing price on a barrel of Brent crude of more than $100 would trigger the federal fuel excise being automatically halved from the following Monday. It would also see the removal of a 32c/L heavy vehicle road user charge.
The price shield would lapse within three months or when the eight-week average crude price fell below US$100, unless the government decided to extend it.
In a statement today, Angus Taylor said:
When global events send oil prices through the roof, Australians should know there is a clear automatic safeguard in place to provide temporary and targeted relief.
The fuel price shield would provide certainty. When a serious oil shock hits, the tax comes down automatically. When oil prices return to more normal levels, the ordinary rate is restored.
The opposition has estimated this would save $15 on a typical tank of fuel, with the price shield costing the federal government around $950m each month. It says its analysis shows it would have been triggered twice in the past five years, during oil price shocks in early 2022 and March this year.
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Premier and opposition leader pay tribute to ‘thoroughly decent’ Tim Read
The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, said in a statement Tim Read was a man of principle and compassion who had dedicated his life to being “a voice for Brunswick”.
I always valued his intelligent and humane contributions to the public debate. I always respected his convictions and his determination to make life better for others.
He knew his values. He lived them.
Carroll said he had spoken to Read last week.
“We spoke about something on which we have always agreed: integrity in public life and the need for reform,” Carroll said.
“Despite his health challenges, he was positive and optimistic for a better world.”
The Victorian opposition leader, Jess Wilson, also offered her condolences:
Tim was a man of conviction and a thoroughly decent person. He brought sincerity, compassion and a strong sense of public duty to his work, earning respect across the Parliament. His commitment to integrity in public life was unwavering.
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‘Vale, our brilliant friend’: Victorian Greens MP Tim Read dies
The Greens MP for Brunswick, Tim Read, has been remembered for his kindness and integrity after his death on Saturday at the age of 64.
Read was diagnosed with melanoma in November and earlier this year announced he would retire from politics at the state election.
On Saturday, Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell announced he had died surrounded by those he loved.
“Tim was a brilliant local MP, doctor and scientist – but to those who knew him, he was also the kindest, funniest and most fundamentally decent of people,” Sandell said.
He could always see the moral question at the heart of every political issue. It’s why he was so outspoken when it came to supporting the cause of the Palestinian people and why he continued to remind us all about how much coal was being burned in Victoria each day. He never lost perspective about what was truly important …
Vale our brilliant friend. We will miss you.
Sandell recalled Read’s advocacy on pill testing, tobacco licensing and a statutory ban on solitary confinement in prisons, and praised his contribution to Victoria’s anti-corruption and integrity laws.
“Victoria is a bettter and fairer place, and politics in the future will be much more accountable and transparent because of Tim,” she said.
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Angus Taylor vows ‘one of the biggest cuts to immigration in Australian history’
The federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has vowed to deliver one of the biggest immigration cuts in Australia history and called Labor “socialist in all but name” in a bid to rally the party faithful, six months out from the New South Wales election.
In a wide-ranging address to the NSW Liberal party state council in Sydney on Saturday, Taylor admitted the previous coalition government had its shortcomings, but said Labor was “utterly failing the nation”.
He said:
For the past four years, we’ve had a government in Canberra which is socialist in all but name.
Taylor said it was “divisive” for Labor politicians to “stand in front of three different flags instead of our one national flag”, referring to press conferences where leaders would deliver speeches with the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the national flag behind them.
After Labor unveiled its new immigration plan, which includes transforming a former quarantine facility into a new detention centre, and preventing international students from bringing their family members to Australia, Taylor offered to go further.
I will deliver one of the biggest cuts to immigration in Australian history.
The opposition leader also promised to protect Australia’s national flag and Australia Day, and change laws regarding gender.
We will not allow the ideologues and activists to deny the truth … Under a Coalition government I lead, we will end this lunacy.
The Coalition will be hoping to win back voters from One Nation at the NSW state election in March.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our Sunday live blog. I’m Penry Buckley to take you through the day.
The federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has pledged to deliver one of the biggest immigration cuts in Australia history and called Labor “socialist in all but name” in a bid to rally the party faithful, six months out from the NSW election.
And politicians from all sides of Victorian parliament have paid tribute to the Greens MP for Brunswick, Tim Read, who died on Saturday at the age of 64.
More on both of those stories and plenty more to come.
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