Day of high drama in Tasmanian politics – as it happened

Albanese stands firm in trade talks to get ‘damn fine’ products into Europe

Australia has stood firm in free trade negotiations with the European Union in the new environment of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Trade minister Don Farrell walked away from the bloc’s previous offer following rounds of negotiations because it failed to give Australian agricultural products greater market access, which remains the sticking point.

Farrell met face-to-face with the EU’s trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris.

Anthony Albanese said there was bipartisan support for free and fair trade.

The PM said:

We will seek a deal that is good enough for Australia.

If it benefits us, we’ll be in it. If it doesn’t, we’ll continue to not sign up to something that is not in our national interest.”

Albanese said Australia’s free trade agreement with the UK had led to an increase in meat exports, in addition to wine.

“Why is that the case? Because our products are damn fine and they are in demand right around the world,” he said.

Australian Association Press

Rental crisis eases for inner city tenants

Some renters have received a reprieve from years of relentless increases, with rents falling in about one-third of suburbs around Australia over the last quarter, according to market data company PropTrack.

The falls were steepest in inner-city areas, where investors have been buying properties, adding rental stock to the market.

Median rents in Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, have fallen in about one-third of suburbs, in line with the national average.

The PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said: “While an increase in investor activity is bad news for owner occupier buyers who are competing with investors, it does help add to the stock of rental properties.”

Overall, rents have still trended higher across the country over the past quarter, although the pace of increases has slowed.

Tenants have suffered the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis amid a tight supply of housing that has led to sharp increases in rent.

PropTrack data shows that Sydney renters are paying an average of $13,000 a year more now than they were five years ago. After a brief lull, home prices have started to rise again, fuelled by lower interest rates.

Man charged over mini pistol in luggage at Perth airport

A Western Australian man travelling through Perth airport has been detected allegedly carrying a foldable pistol in his backpack.

The man was charged with allegedly carrying a foldable pistol in his luggage, after federal police – who have jurisdiction in airports – were notified on Wednesday that airport security had allegedly found a firearm during an X-ray screening of a passenger’s backpack.

“Police searched the backpack and found an unlicensed foldable single-shot pistol weighing less than 1kg. No ammunition was found in the luggage or in the man’s possession,” police said.

The 37-year-old was charged with one count of possessing an unlicensed handgun; and one count of carrying a weapon through a screening point.

The maximum penalty for each offence is seven years’ imprisonment. The man was scheduled to appear before Perth magistrates court on Thursday.

The AFP Det Acting Supt Peter Brindal said “carrying a firearm in an airport is a serious offence”.

Security screening staff at the airport were vigilant and, along with AFP officers, acted quickly to ensure the safety of the travelling public and stop weapons entering the aviation environment.

Attorneys general are considering if reform needed on child abuse liability

The nation’s attorneys general are considering whether reforms are needed following a high court decision limiting the liability of churches and other institutions for child abuse.

The high court ruled last year that the Catholic church couldn’t be held vicariously liable for abuse committed by a parish priest because the priest wasn’t a formal employee of the church.

The ruling had broad consequences in limiting institutions from being held vicariously liable for abuse committed by individuals who are associated with them but are not considered formal employees, such as parish priests and volunteers.

The ruling has prompted multiple crossbench attempts for reform, including in Victoria and New South Wales, attempting to extend the concept of vicarious liability to “persons akin to employees”.

A bill by Jeremy Buckingham, a NSW upper house crossbencher, was voted down on Wednesday night. In voting down the bill, the state finance minister, Courtney Houssos, revealed the issue was being considered by the standing council of attorneys general, a body comprising federal and state attorneys general. She said:

The Standing Council of Attorneys-General is the most appropriate forum for consideration of the impacts of this decision, and the New South Wales Government believes we should not progress reforms ahead of this process.

It is important that all jurisdictions are given the opportunity to consider potential reform options as any changes in this space would benefit from a uniform national approach, if possible, to ensure that victim-survivors across Australia have equal opportunities to seek justice.

Any reforms progressed in this sensitive area of law must also be developed in close consultation with key legal stakeholders and victim-survivors to ensure that there are no unintended consequences.

Thorpe says PM ‘should have done his homework’ before saying bullying in parliament not an ongoing issue

Conversation turns to Dorinda Cox’s defection to the Labor party, which followed Lidia Thorpe leaving the Greens to become an independent prior to the last election.

Asked if the Greens have a “problem with Indigenous women”, Thorpe says the two senators left the party for “very different reasons”, particularly on the referendum and her stance on the voice to parliament.

The Greens still have … a staunch and active group of blackfellas from around the country, so as long as they have the Blak Greens I think they just need to listen to them and they will be able to get it right eventually.

It is disappointing to see Senator Cox go to the Labor party to become a backbencher that obviously will not have a voice and no say in policy development.

Thorpe confirms she made a complaint with the parliamentary workplace support scheme in relation to Cox because the PM “told the people of this country that there was no ongoing issues with bullying and he was wrong”.

He should have done his homework before he opened his mouth because there is still an ongoing issue with bullying in the workplace and there is a lot of work to do and Labor need to take that seriously.

You cannot force people to mediate, so I am always open to a conversation and conciliation, so until that happens, it is still open.

Asked if Cox should resign, Thorpe says that’s for her to decide, “not for me”.

Cox’s office was approached for comment on Thorpe’s allegations but referred Guardian Australia to the prime minister’s media team, which did not respond to questions.

Cox has been the subject of a number of workplace behaviour complaints, as first reported by the Nine newspapers last October. At the time, the WA senator apologised for “the distress this may have caused” but said there had been “significant missing context” in the reports of bullying allegations within her office.

‘It just has to stop’: Thorpe calls for action on Aboriginal deaths in custody after death of Warlpiri man

The independent senator Lidia Thorpe is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing after revelations she made a bullying complaint about the former Greens senator Dorinda Cox which remains unresolved.

First, she is asked about the death of Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White in police custody in Alice Springs last week.

Thorpe says the federal government needs to “take very seriously” what community members have been calling for, which is an independent investigation into his death, rather than “cops investigating cops”.

It is very clear that we have had so many deaths in custody, almost 600 deaths in custody, and nobody ever is held accountable for any of those deaths. We need to enact those royal commission recommendations from 1991 which clearly states that we need independence and accountability of these killings … it is another member of the Yuendumu community who has lost their life at the hands of the police.

Thorpe adds that state, territory and federal governments have worked together on issues such as vaping, kids on social media and the pandemic.

Why can’t we call the state and territories together on stopping Aboriginal deaths in custody? It just cannot continue. Our families and communities are reeling in the trauma every time we lose somebody in our communities. It just has to stop.

Collins has also provided more practical details about the state of transport arrangements in central Sydney in the interim:

There is no [light rail] service, obviously, between Circular Quay and Moore Park. We are working now pretty hard to reinstate the service between Central Station and Circular Quay.

We have a few buses travelling on the L2 and L3 route to just make sure that we can hoover up, particularly those schoolchildren and others who are trying to get home.

Police found the man in his 40s trapped under the carriage. They performed an operation where they lifted the carriage up to “extricate” the male on to the platform, Lessing said.

Emergency services then provided medical care, but unfortunately the man was pronounced dead, he said.

Howard Collins, the coordinator general for Transport for NSW, said the rail regulator would work with the operator to review the incident.

They will establish that and work with the operator as to whether there are any recommendations, or is this a case of really unfortunate misadventure, but we are very clear that we can’t comment on that, and the operator can’t comment, as we work with a regulator who’s still on site.

Man dies after being hit by Sydney tram while crossing between two carriages

Turning to New South Wales, police say the man who died after being hit by a light rail carriage in Sydney this afternoon was attempting to cross over the light rail between two carriages.

Insp Anderson Lessing, from the Surry Hills police area command, has just spoken at a press conference providing details of the incident:

Initial inquiries show the male was attempting to cross over the light rail between two carriages. At that time, the light rail commenced this journey, trapping the male underneath the light rail.

Lessing said the initial CCTV review showed the man had been waiting on the platform and then stepped off to try to cross the tram line.

His next of kin had not yet been notified, and he had not been identified formally at this stage, Lessing said.

Meanwhile, Tasmania’s opposition leader, Dean Winter, told the media he couldn’t “stand by” while the state’s budget deteriorated.

Tasmanian Labor needs to stand up. Stand up for Tasmanians who want good healthcare and an education system that supports the young people of Tasmania. Who want a government focused on supporting them.

I want to bridge the gap between Tasmania and the mainland. I want to make sure that this is a state that has the best education facilities possible. I want this to be a state where you can get the healthcare you need anywhere you live. That is not what we have.

The governor of Tasmania is currently overseas, so Rockliff will be driving to Government House to meet with the lieutenant governor.

If there is another election, it will be the state’s fourth in just seven years.

Rockliff confirms he will advise the governor of the vote in the house and the context of it. If the opposition cannot form a majority, Tasmania will head to a snap early election.

He also issues a clear warning to the leader of the opposition:

You might get rid of me, mate. But I’ll tell you what. They’re coming for you as well. Because you will always be known as a wrecker.

I saw the honourable member’s statement today where he would not do a deal with the Greens. Well, what’s this all about? You refuse to do a deal and take the treasury benches when you probably could have … but we had the courage with just 14 members of a 35-seat of the house of assembly to give it a crack.

If an election does take place, he says it will be one “Tasmanians don’t want, and Tasmania cannot afford”.

This has been a selfish grab for power, which we will fight and we will do our darndest to win.

Rockliff then takes aim at Labor, accusing the opposition leader of “recklessness”.

What I find most disappointing is the personalisation of the vote, if you like. And I’ll be damned if the Labor party is going to choose the leader of the Liberal party that I love.

At the end of the day, this was just a grievance debate, which we could have had any other day.

He also turns to the AFL, and debate over the new Tasmanian team and controversial stadium in Hobart.

The large majority of this discussion, particularly from the Greens side of the parliament, talked about the stadium and the AFL and AFL team. And I’ve been advised by all the hardheads in my party not to go down that track. Why? Because it’s bad for votes. Well, I’ve always said stuff votes. I said it when I moved for the 35-house seat of parliament, and I’ll say it for the stadium for as long as I damn well live. Because I believe in it. And I have a right to believe in it.

Rockliff says he is “so disappointed, if not brokenhearted”, by the decision. He says it “wasn’t easy” to work in minority but he knew it was the “right thing to do”, and still does.

What we have in this parliament … is an eclectic mix of people from all backgrounds, which is how parliament should be … I wanted it to work. I believed in it, and I actually still do.

I still do, because of the results that we’ve had over the course of the last 14 months, where everyone in the parliament has got something through that they feel passionate about and believed in.

Rockliff acknowledges it hasn’t been a “100% Liberal minority government success”, but its agenda has been furthered because of “negotiations between each other”.

And this hasn’t been 100% Liberal minority government success. We’ve got most of our agenda through simply because of our negotiations between each other. And that’s why I’m so disappointed. If not brokenhearted, frankly … not everything’s gone to plan, name a parliament in the state of Australia where everything goes to plan. And it’s been difficult.

Taking you to the Tasmanian parliament now, the premier has the call.

He acknowledges and respects the vote of the house, while calling it a “sad day”.

I have respected every single vote that has taken place in this house in my 23 years. And I thank you, Speaker, for your very eloquent reasoning. And our friendship. That goes back to the early 1990s.

There is an interjection of: “We might not want to point out what pub that was in, premier.”

I was Liberal and I always respected your Labor values and that of your family, which will always be Labor values. And you respected mine and we’ve been foes in this place, but always friends outside of it. In my personal opinion, this is a very sad day for Tasmania.

And I want to thank honourable members for their contributions and within those contributions, even those that have voted for this motion, I thank you for at least acknowledging some of my contributions in this place. It’s a sad day as well, because I put a lot on the line for this parliament.

Australia Post to arm posties with citronella spray to ward off dog attacks

Man’s best friend has a common enemy but their employer has a new plan to help cut down on the scores of attacks every week.

Australia Post will arm posties with citronella spray to ward off dog attacks after more than 1,150 dog-related incidents since November.

The water-based citronella spray has been introduced as a defence measure to protect posties, after repeated appeals for dog owners to secure them during deliveries failed to quell attacks.

The spray temporarily distracts the dogs and allows posties to move to safety.

“Dog-related hazards” – about 35,000 of them – are also flagged in the devices carried by posties.

Queensland led the nation in recent post-related dog incidents, with 388, slightly more than the 329 that took place in NSW, according to Australia Post data.

Australian Associated Press

Climate group chief predicts more Coalition seats will fall after Boele victory

Climate 200’s executive director has praised the independent candidate Nicolette Boele for prevailing in Bradfield, and said the fundraising vehicle had already “started thinking about 2028” and the next federal election.

Byron Fay, in an email to supporters this afternoon, said the Coalition couldn’t form government without the seats won by teal independents, and predicted more seats would keep falling.

Fay called Boele’s close win – a margin of 26 votes – a “hard-won victory”, which he said proved “every single volunteer, every cent, and every conversation matters for independent campaigns”. Fay wrote:

[Boele is] a bona fide expert on decarbonisation and energy transition and she’s going to be a brilliant addition to the crossbench. I’m so excited to see what she brings to the conversation.

It’s easy to think of a seat like Bradfield as just a number in parliament, but it’s so much bigger than that. It’s clear now that the seats won by independents are an ideological firewall. The Liberal Party cannot form government without them, and if they continue to tear themselves apart over net zero and climate policy in general, they will continue to lose seats like Bradfield to extraordinary community independents like Nic.

Fay told supporters to “savour the win”, adding that Boele had put in a lot of work over the whole period since she came up short in Bradfield in 2022.

“We’ve started thinking about 2028 and our first strategy briefings are kicking off next week,” Fay wrote, inviting supporters to get involved.

Study finds family violence program focused on perpetrators effectively reducing rates of abuse

A perpetrator-focused family violence program being run out of Melbourne is effectively reducing the rates of abuse, an RMIT study has found.

The Alexis Family Violence Response Model is an integrated program with Victoria police and the Salvation Army targeted at hard-to-reach victim-survivors and perpetrators through a coordinated police and social services response.

A report on the program has found 78% of victim-survivor participants saw a reduction in family violence in their lives. Further to this, there was an 80% drop of perpetrators considered “serious risk” after the program’s intervention.

The CEO of No to Violence, Phil Ripper, says:

We need the Government to take men’s violence seriously and put domestic, family and sexual violence at the centre of their leadership.

We all want to live in safe and happy families and communities. Violence and abuse are preventable. We need the government to commit to radically reshaping responses to stop family violence at its source and address this national emergency.

Tasmanian Labor leader defends no-confidence motion: ‘I have to stand strong’

Dean Winter, Tasmania’s opposition leader, defended the motion of no-confidence against the premier, Jeremy Rockliff. Winter spoke to reporters just hours before the vote, saying he couldn’t “stand idly by and let this premier ruin Tasmania’s budget”. Winter said:

I’m the leader of the opposition. I have to stand strong for Tasmanians, for the people that rely on us.

He won in minority. It was up to him to hold those agreements together. He can’t do it. Those agreements have fallen apart. That’s why the premier will be the one, later today, potentially going to the governor and asking for an early election.

A brief note on trade deficits and surpluses

It should be noted there is nothing inherently wrong with a trade deficit. Trade is of benefit to both the sending and receiving nations.

At an individual level: someone has money and wants to buy something, someone else has that thing and wants to sell it. It is a win-win: the buyer gets the product they want, and the seller gets money for the goods they produced. No one is forcing anyone to buy (or sell) anything.

America’s trade deficit with most countries occurs for the simple reason that America is a rich country: Americans have a lot of money to spend and they buy more stuff from overseas than they sell to foreigners.

Trump has consistently said he doesn’t like trade deficits, but most government leaders don’t believe it is a valid metric to judge economic policy.

ABS confirms trade surplus with US in January 2025

The Australian Bureau of Statistics issued this statement (along with this data) today:

Historically, Australia has had an annual trade deficit with the USA, importing more from the USA each year than it exports. In 2024, imports from the USA reached $50.6b and exports to the USA reached $23.8b resulting in a trade deficit with the USA of $26.9b.

Trade balances between countries are typically assessed on an annual basis due to the volatility of monthly trade data. However, it is worth noting the monthly trade balance with the USA moved into surplus for the first time in January 2025 following a sharp rise in exports of non-monetary gold. The monthly surplus was maintained for three consecutive months but returned to deficit in April 2025, when gold exports returned to regular trading levels.

Australia’s exports of non-monetary gold to the USA have historically risen during periods of economic uncertainty such as the global financial crisis in 2008, and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite these previous peaks, the current rise in non-monetary gold far exceeds previous export levels, and has driven the Australia-USA trade balance into a monthly surplus for the first time on record.

Australia’s trade deficit with the US has been one of its key arguments to the US for relief from Trump’s universal tariff regime (along with a decades-old Free Trade Agreement, and being an unswerving security ally). Australia has been hit with a 10% tariff on most goods going into the US. Steel and aluminium imports attract a 50% tariff.

Albanese will argue that tariff-free trade with the US benefits America (and Americans): these figures from the ABS support that argument.

Australia’s trade deficit could help Albanese’s tariff talks with Trump

As Anthony Albanese prepares for talks on tariffs with Donald Trump later this month, he has an extra arrow in his quiver of arguments: Australia has returned to trade deficit with the US.

Australia has, for decades, run a consistent – and large – trade deficit with the US. Put simply, Australia imports more from America than it exports to America. (This is a trade surplus from the US perspective: as Donald Trump would like it).

But, for the first time on record, in January this year, Australia started running a trade surplus with the US (a trade deficit, from Washington’s perspective) driven by a massive spike in gold being sold to the US.

Investors typically turn to gold in times of economic uncertainty, which the Trump Administration 2.0 has inarguably been. Australia shipped a record amount of gold to the US in January – worth US$2.9bn – the highest figure on record.

However, normal levels of gold trading have resumed and the more typical trade imbalance (in America’s favour) has returned.

Marine heatwave engulfed area of ocean five times the size of Australia in 2024

Almost 40 million sq kilometres of ocean around south-east Asia and the Pacific – an area five times the size of Australia – was engulfed in a marine heatwave in 2024, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report has revealed.

WMO scientists said the record heat – on land and in the ocean – was mostly driven by the climate crisis and coincided with a string of extreme weather events, from deadly landslides in the Philippines to floods in Australia and rapid glacier loss in Indonesia.

The WMO secretary general, Prof Celeste Saulo, said ocean heat and acidification had combined to “inflict long-lasting damage” to marine ecosystems and economies. Saulo said:

Sea-level rise is an existential threat to entire island nations. It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide.

Read more here:

Share market flirts with highest-ever close

Australia’s share market is within ten points of its highest close despite a mixed Wall Street session after weaker-than-expected US economic data, AAP reports.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 4.4 points, or 0.05%, to 8,546.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 4.9 points, or 0.06%, to 8,775.1.

In early trading the top 200 pushed ahead of its record close of 8,555.8 on Valentine’s Day, but had slipped by lunchtime.

The index has not yet pipped its intraday record level of 8,615.2, also set on 14 February.

On Wednesday, Commonwealth Bank became the first ASX-listed company to be valued at $300 billion as its share price cracked $182 for the first time.

ANU investigates possible hack after vice-chancellor’s account liked ‘highly offensive’ LinkedIn posts

The Australian National University (ANU) has contacted authorities about a possible hacking incident after its vice-chancellor’s account liked a number of “highly offensive” LinkedIn posts about Gaza and Julie Bishop.

One of the posts liked by Genevieve Bell’s account was an inflammatory post about Gaza, while another made negative comments about Bishop, the ANU chancellor and a former foreign minister.

A spokesperson for ANU said it was made aware on Wednesday morning that Bell’s LinkedIn account had been “compromised”.

Read more here:

Pocock says companies ‘taking the piss’ after reform to petroleum resource rent tax

Independent senator David Pocock and teal MP Zali Steggall say Labor’s 2023 reforms to the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) did not go far enough and that major gas exporters are still not paying their fair share.

The PRRT is anticipated to generate $4bn less than when it was tweaked two years ago to ensure the east-coast LNG giants paid some measure of the tax.

Pocock told the ABC that the PRRT needed to be revisited as companies were “taking the piss”, and that the government had chosen the weakest of a range of reform options, backed by the Greens.

Steggall also called for a beefed-up resource rent tax, and accused Labor of being swayed by oil and gas vested interests.

The comments come after experts told Guardian Australia that the PRRT was allowing foreign companies to profit from Australia’s mineral wealth while delivering “almost nothing” to the national purse.

Chris Richardson said “it is fair to say that how we tax gas in Australia is a massive fail”.

The PRRT is levied at the rate of 40% on taxable profits, but has failed to operate as intended thanks to overly generous rules allowing gas companies to claim previous years of capital expenditure against those taxable profits.

Experts also say the taxable profits are based on an undervaluation of the underlying resource.

More on the no-confidence motion

Winter said Rockliff had lost the confidence of parliament after last week’s budget, including over a plan to sell publicly owned assets. He reaffirmed Labor’s commitment that it “will not do a deal with or form government with the Greens”.

The no-confidence motion, moved yesterday, is still being debated.

Several speakers have suggested Winter expected Rockliff to resign or be pushed out, and for the weakened Liberals to elect another leader if the motion was successful. But the Liberals have backed the premier.

The Liberals have been governing with just 14 seats in the 35-seat parliament. Labor has 10, the Greens five, the Jacqui Lambie Network one and there are five independents.

Watch some of Rockliff’s recent remarks below:

Tasmanian opposition leader says Labor won’t form government with Greens, ‘ready to go’ to early election

The Tasmanian Labor leader, Dean Winter, who kicked off chaos in the state parliament on Tuesday by proposing a vote of no-confidence on the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has declared his party will not form a government with the Greens and is ready for an early election.

As we reported earlier, Rockliff fronted the media before the start of parliament and said he would advise the acting governor to call an early election if the vote – as is widely expected – is passed today, and if Labor did not form government with the Greens.

Rockliff said an early election, just 15 months after Tasmanians last voted, would be “on Mr Winter’s head”.

In a statement, Winter responded that if this happened Rockliff would be “the only person forcing Tasmania to an early election”.

If he is granted an election, Labor is ready to go because we strongly believe Tasmania needs change.

PM again says bullying allegations against Dorinda Cox have been ‘dealt with’

Albanese was asked about allegations of bullying made by senator Lidia Thorpe against former Greens senator Dorinda Cox, who shockingly defected to Labor earlier this week. The prime minister reiterated that he believes those allegations had been handled. Thorpe, however, recently said the process had been “far from satisfactory”.

Albanese said this morning:

I have answered those questions, but they were dealt with. There is an independent process for those things to be dealt with. It is not surprising that the Greens political party will put forward some opposition to what has occurred, but Senator Cox has made a decision, and she has decided that the way that she will advance her values is through a party of government.

Nine newspapers first reported last October about the complaints, and at the time Cox apologised for “the distress this may have caused” while saying there was “significant missing context”.

Read more about Thorpe’s allegations here:

Head of one of the largest Australian gambling companies resigns

The chief executive of one of Australia’s largest gambling companies, Entain, has resigned and will leave the company at the start of July.

Dean Shannon, who runs the Ladbrokes and Neds brands in Australia, briefed staff on his departure on Thursday morning.

Shannon has not publicly commented on the reason for his departure but sources at the briefing, not authorised to speak publicly, said he told staff his departure would give the company clear air after a damaging few months.

The nation’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, recently commenced federal court proceedings against the company alleging serious and systemic violations of anti-money laundering rules between 2018 and 2024.

Austrac alleged Entain Australia accepted $152m in bets from 17 high-risk customers who had “suspected criminal profiles and associations” despite being aware they may have been laundering money.

Entain Australia is yet to file its response to Austrac’s statement of claim but has acknowledged the allegations and said the company is taking them “extremely seriously”. In late March, Shannon said the company was strengthening its anti-money laundering compliance arrangements.

Albanese goes after Stockdale’s comments about ‘assertive women’

The prime minister just addressed former Liberal party president Alan Stockdale’s comments, saying the party needed to have “a good look at themselves and their structures”. He said a press conference:

The statements by Mr Stockdale to the Liberal Women’s Group, of all people to make those statements to, that somehow you might need to actually have discrimination in favour of men because women were too assertive in the Liberal party, has been met with derision by members of the Liberal party. …

I think that the Liberal party need to have a good look at themselves and their structures and it will be interesting to watch what goes on with this restructuring of the New South Wales branch

An update on the Pheobe Bishop disappearance: police release housemate without charge

A man has been released without charge after police spent hours questioning him over the “suspicious” disappearance of a 17-year-old girl, AAP reports.

James Wood, 34, was taken into custody on Wednesday and released several hours later without charge, police said in an update on Thursday.

Pheobe Bishop was last seen near Bundaberg airport about 8.30am on 15 May after booking a trip to Western Australia to see her boyfriend. CCTV footage showed Pheobe never arrived at the airport terminal.

You can read more here:

Environment minister says it’s time to ‘get reforms done’ years after review of country’s nature laws

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has met with the chair of the review of Australia’s environment laws, Graeme Samuel.

In a post on his LinkedIn page, Watt wrote that five years had passed since the former competition watchdog chief delivered his report which found widespread failure in Australia’s system of environmental protections, but “it’s now time to get the reforms done”.

The Albanese government failed to deliver necessary reforms in its first term and killed off a potential deal with the Greens and crossbench to establish a national environment protection agency.

Australia has more than 30,000 ‘mid-tier millionaires’, report finds

Global consultancy firm Capgemini’s annual global wealth report shows the value of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Australia remained above the US$1tn level, recording an increase of 3.3% to US$1.087tn.

Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2025 also shows that there was a 2.6% increase in the number of HNWIs around the world, compared with an increase of 0.5% to 334,800 individuals in Australia.

Of this Australian total, there were 30,240 individuals with known as “mid-tier millionaires” with wealth between US$5m to US$30m, and 2,450 with more than US$30m.

Now in its 29th edition, the report noted that the defining trend is the unprecedented transfer of wealth.

In Australia, by 2030, 22% of HNWIs will receive an inheritance, rising to 69% in 2035 and 80% by 2040, the report said.

If an election is called, it would be Tasmania’s fourth state election in 7 years.

Bridget McKenzie responds: ‘Read the room’

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie had a terse reply to Stockdale’s remarks this morning, telling Nine’s Today:

Honestly, Alan, read the room. I hope women are assertive as they represent their communities, they fight for the future of their countries.

It was a shocking comment. I think it’s time for Alan to head back to the Melbourne club, have a stiff whisky and chat with the old boys about what went wrong.

More Australians can’t afford specialist fees. Experts say it’s ‘not in the spirit of Medicare’

The cost of an initial dermatology appointment is now up to nearly $300 on average, new data shows. It reflects a broader problem: Medicare rebates are not keeping up with the pace specialist fees are rising.

Online healthcare directory Cleanbill, which has tracked bulk-billing rates among GPs, is expanding to provide data on out-of-pocket costs to see other health professionals, starting with dermatology.

The report, released on Thursday, found the Medicare rebate in March 2017 for an initial appointment with a dermatologist was $72.75, while the out-of-pocket cost was $148.73.

By March 2025, the rebate had risen by $11.40, to $84.15, while the average out-of-pocket costs, at $210.18, were $61.45 more expensive.

Read more from here:

Chalmers: Australia ‘won’t be immune’ from Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs

Earlier this morning, the treasurer Jim Chalmers spoke about the impact US president Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium would have on Australia. He had this to say on RN Breakfast:

We’ve made it really clear we don’t want to see an escalation of tariffs. They are an act of economic self-harm. They are very damaging to the global economy. And we won’t be immune from that, even though we’re better-placed and better-prepared than most countries to deal with it.

Chalmers said the tariffs would have an impact on Australian steel manufacturers, but called those businesses “among the best in the world”.

We’re confident that they can find good markets, good, reliable markets for wonderful Australian steel and aluminium.

More from Climate Change Authority chief Matt Kean yesterday

In his speech at the Australian Museum, Matt Kean also briefly referred to the Climate Change Authority’s work advising the Albanese government on a 2035 emissions reduction target.

The advice was delayed before last month’s federal election. The advice and a government announcement is now expected by September, before the Cop30 summit in Brazil in November.

Kean said he wanted a target that was “ambitious, informed by the science, but also achievable”. He has previously said the authority was consulting with stakeholders on a target range – a 65% to 75% cut below 2005 levels.

He said part of the authority’s work was to understand what Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle the Biden administration’s decarbonisation funding would mean for Australia – whether it would hamper or help a rapid shift to cleaner practice.

Some political or business leaders have suggested if a target appears beyond reach, we should throw in the towel.

In fact, there are many ways we can do more, mostly by going with the electron flow. The pace of electrification will determine whether we succeed.

He said giving households more help to take up solar and batteries was “not only good politics. It could pick up some of the slack if the larger grid overhaul takes longer than expected”.

Boele says she will be ‘very bold’ from the crossbench

Boele said she will focus on climate change and affordable housing, among other issues, in her new role on the crossbench. She told RN Breakfast that Labor’s strong majority in parliament demanded independents and others to hold the Albanese government to account.

She pointed to the recent decision to extend the North West Shelf gas project until 2070:

Even Labor, before we’ve even started the next parliament, has approved an extension to the North West Shelf, for example. That’s a climate bomb. And this is a party that says they understand climate science.

So there is always going to be a need for people who courageously talk.

Nicolette Boele ‘very confident’ with outcome of Bradfield recount

Independent Nicolette Boele called the weeks-long effort to count and recount ballots in the seat of Bradfield one of the “most impressive and comprehensive” processes, saying she was “very confident” with the outcome that saw her triumph over the Liberal’s Gisele Kapterian. She told RN Breakfast:

I think I’m very confident with the process that’s been run by the AEC and the outcome that we have here. So I’m keen to get on with the job, but I can understand you might need to ask that question to Giselle Kapterian.

Boele called her competitor a “formidable candidate”.

Chalmers doesn’t rule out concessions to get super tax across the line

Jim Chalmers addressed the need to work with the crossbench to get Labor’s superannuation tax plan passed. The ABC’s Sally Sara asked if the government was offering a “take-it-or-leave-it” deal and had ruled out making concessions with the Greens on the matter. Chalmers told RN Breakfast:

We don’t have the numbers in the Senate to pass our legislation on our own. We need to engage with the crossbench, in particular, in this instance. And I intend to do that.

… But our intention, our preference, is to legislate the plan that we announced almost two-and-a-half years ago now.

The treasurer said he would engage “respectfully” with the crossbench, noting there was also a lot of “disunity” in the Coalition over the tax increase.

Chalmers says Australian economy performing ‘relatively well’ despite GDP numbers

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said this morning Australia’s economy remained in a good place, citing lower inflation, an increase in real wages and the lowering of interest rates, despite yesterday’s news that the country’s GDP grew just 0.2% in the first three months of 2025. He told RN Breakfast:

The Australian economic story is a very compelling one. The economy continues to grow, we’ve got inflation lower, real wages and incomes are growing, interest rates have started to come down, we’ve got the debt down in the budget. And so, overwhelmingly, Australia’s economy is performing relatively well compared with the rest of the world.

Even modest growth in these global circumstances is welcome. We do have a global economy which is characterised by uncertainty and volatility and unpredictability.

You can read more about the GDP and Greg Jericho’s take here:

Shadow treasurer says Labor’s super tax plan centred on ‘egregious idea’

The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, said Labor’s plan to increase taxes on large superannuation balances over $3m will be “an absolute disaster”. O’Brien spoke to Radio National Breakfast this morning amid the political tussle over the proposal, saying any tax on unrealised gains was an “egregious idea”:

We believe in lower taxes. We believe in simpler taxes. We believe in fairer taxes. …

This crosses a red line in Australian tax law. It will be an absolute disaster. … Where does that then go? Will Labor start taxing unrealised capital gains on your primary residence? We don’t want a bar of that. This is not good at all.

O’Brien, the deputy Liberal leader, went on to say that he would prefer to see “this entire bill scrapped”, but that’s “probably not going to happen”.

Matt Kean tells fossil fuel-friendly MPs to stop ‘holding our country back’

Matt Kean made an assertive case for why climate action makes economic sense while giving the Talbot oration at the Australian Museum in Sydney on Wednesday night.

In comments that were a less-than-subtle swipe at Coalition MPs, and possibly some others, the Climate Change Authority chair and former NSW Liberal energy minister said “opponents of climate action don’t give up even when their political parties cop an electoral hammering”, but urged Australians to ignore “doubters whose main mission seems to be to prolong the life of fossil fuel industries”:

To those politicians who are still providing a cover for vested interests, I say get out of the way. Stop holding our country back and stop holding your political parties back. Try acting in the national interest – or take the low road to political oblivion.

Kean quoted André Corrêa do Lago, the Brazilian diplomat who will head this year’s Cop30 UN climate summit in the Amazon, and who last week told the Guardian that opposition to ambitious steps to address the climate crisis was now largely “not scientific denial”, but “economic denial”.

On this, Kean said “it helps that the economics are also aligning with the science”.

As US energy innovator Hal Harvey put it, ‘it’s now cheaper to save the Earth than to ruin it’. Investors are lining up trillions of investment dollars to decarbonise economies. Even so, we must be realistic about the scale of the task ahead.