The One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she consults mining billionaire and party donor Gina Rinehart on policy development.
Guardian Australia has revealed the depth of support from Rinehart. including her move to gift Hanson a new private plane, worth more than $1.5m, to be used in the run-up to the federal election.
“I consider her a friend and I’m very … grateful for her support. She’s an Australian identity. she’s one of the highest taxpayers in the country,” Hanson told ABC radio in Perth on Thursday night.
double quotation mark I won’t have anyone have a go because she’s, you know, OK she’s a billionaire.
Good luck to her. I don’t believe in the tall poppy syndrome of pulling someone down. they’ve made a success of their life or business.
Asked if Rinehart contributes to formulation of One Nation policy, Hanson said she had been “very beneficial”.
double quotation mark My policy on pensioners being able to work unlimited hours. without losing their pension or healthcare card came from Mrs Rinehart. And I think that’s great. I listen to anyone who brings good policy to me.
Vocus routing issue affects internet nationally in Australia
A routing issue for fibre network provider Vocus caused intermittent outages for internet users across Australia on Friday morning.
Vocus provides fibre links across Australia. connecting to the rest of the world, and, as a result, is the backbone for much of the internet and online services.
The outage. which occurred starting around 9am this morning, is understood to be an issue with a border gateway protocol configuration - which is used to determine the fastest way to transmit information across the internet.
Vocus indicated the issue was largely resolved as of midday.
A spokesperson for NBN Co confirmed it was not an NBN issue:
double quotation mark We are aware of an issue with broadband services being reported by customers nationally. across different internet service providers. nbn is investigating with internet service providers what may be occurring. Our initial checks have confirmed the issue does not seem to be related to the operation of the nbn network. We are actively monitoring the situation and we will provide more updates soon.
Matt Canavan Nationals on ‘same page’ with One Nation to oust Labor government
Canavan was also asked about One Nation’s “fire the liar” campaign. which has reportedly raised $2.7m in donations since the party launched a dedicated funding drive.
He said there was “a lot of anger out there,. a lot of frustration”, while adding “good on One Nation for doing this”.
double quotation mark I think you’re seeing that exercised through the vote for a minor party. I can understand that, as I’ve said since I became leader, I understand the frustration with the major parties. I’ve been in that frustrated camp,. I truly believe what our country needs is a solid, coherent economic plan for our future.
The Liberal. Nationals parties will do that, but look, I welcome everybody trying to take down this government, because that is the first step. So, good on One Nation for doing this. They’re saying that that funding, that now over $2m, is going to be used to root out Labor members of parliament,. I’d encourage them on that front, because we have seen Pauline Hanson spent a lot of time campaigning in the seats of Liberal and National members. That’s not going to help change the government. We’re all on the same page here of getting rid of this government.
Matt Canavan says tobacco excise is ‘going to have to come down’
The Nationals leader, Matt Cavanan, says Australia’s tobacco excise is “not working”. reiterated his party’s calls to have a regulated, taxed vapes market.
Appearing on Sky on Friday, Canavan said it was “pretty clear that the current excise rate is not sustainable”.
double quotation mark That’s going to have to come down in some way, shape or form. We’ve got to work out exactly how much. because it’s such a mess that it’s going to be very hard to recover now.
Canavan said the excise shouldn’t be removed altogether but the legal cigarette market needed to be a lower cost.
double quotation mark The problem. of course, is on the latest figures 80% of people are not buying cigarettes through that market. In fact, they’re buying cigarettes at prices that we haven’t seen for decades, because they’re not getting any excise. The excise rate on a black market cigarette is zero, so that’s not helping.
A shadowy overseas group is trying to influence Australian abortion policy. Who are CitizenGo and what do they want?
Among the hand-drawn signs warning of the “evil” of abortion at last week’s Sydney rally were some more professional placards.
“The greatest liberty is the right to life,” the blue-and-white posters read, under a small logo for CitizenGo.
CitizenGo will not be a familiar name to many in Australia. in Europe it looms large in the anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+ rights world. An offshoot of the ultra-conservative Spanish group HazteOír (Make Yourself Heard), it was founded in Spain in 2013. claims to have 20 million members across 50 countries.
Notorious pedophile loses sentence appeal bid
One of Australia’s worst pedophiles. former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has failed in his bid to reduce the life sentence he received for hundreds of sex offences against young children, AAP reports.
Lawyers for the 48-year-old in May argued in the Queensland court of appeal. the 27‑year non‑parole period he was handed in 2024 was ‘‘manifestly excessive’’ as they sought leave to appeal.
Justice David Boddice on Friday handed down the court of appeal’s decision to dismiss the appeal during a brief sitting in Brisbane.
“The appeal against sentence is refused,” he said.
Griffith pleaded guilty to 307 child sex offences against 65 victims aged between one and nine. Those offences include 28 counts of rape against girls mainly aged three to five at Queensland childcare centres between 2007. 2022.
Prosecutors in May urged the justices to reject the appeal, saying the sentence barely reflected the scale. cruelty of the crimes.
The conclusion of Griffith’s appeal clears the path for him to face court proceedings in NSW. where he is accused of committing 180 sex offences against more than 20 children.
ASX200 adds $50bn after Trump cancels Iran strikes
The Australian sharemarket has added over $50bn in value after Donald Trump said he had cancelled “scheduled strikes” on Iran early this morning.
The benchmark S&P ASX200 saw predictions rise immediately after Trump’s announcement. This morning it’s added $51bn in value, rising 1.9% to just under 8,800 points.
For perspective. that’s back to about where the ASX200 was in mid-January, before the war, or in early August 2025, before November’s AI-driven tech selloff.
While it’s a big leap. we saw comparable jumps three times in May, typically precipitated by another Iran-war related announcement from the US president.
Australia’s 10 biggest companies have all seen their market value rise 1% at least this morning. The big four banks’ shares have risen at least 1.5% each. Miner BHP is up nearly $8bn to $317bn, after a 2.62% share price rise.
Goldminers are surging in price today. after steady falls in their market value as the price of gold fell while the US-Israel war on Iran dragged on.
Only a handful of top businesses are falling in value this morning. One is REA Group, which owns the realestate.com.au listings website. It’s down 3.19% today. nearly 20% since the federal budget on 12 May, as higher investor taxes are expected to slow down sales.
The broader All Ordinaries index is up 1.86%, back above 9,000 points.
Auckland sits near an active faultline, new research suggests, so what’s next for New Zealand’s biggest city?
A faultline south of New Zealand’s most populated city, Auckland, is active. could trigger a devastating earthquake, new research shows, dispelling the region’s long-held belief it was largely immune from intense seismic activity.
The research has also raised questions over the recent decision to exempt Auckland from earthquake building regulation.
The Mangatangi Fault, which runs along the Hunua ranges, is situated roughly 50km south-east of Auckland’s central city. is close to the southern suburbs Pukekohe, Drury and Takanini.
Research published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology. Geophysics shows the fault has ruptured in the past 10,000 years and could cause a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. A fault that has moved in the past 125,000 years is considered active.
Socceroos celebrate migrant roots and address anti-immigration sentiment before World Cup
The Socceroos have addressed growing anti-immigration sentiment in a powerful video message before the World Cup, speaking of their pride in their heritage. playing for the national team.
The One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she consults mining billionaire and party donor Gina Rinehart on policy development.
Guardian Australia has revealed the depth of support from Rinehart. including her move to gift Hanson a new private plane, worth more than $1.5m, to be used in the run-up to the federal election.
“I consider her a friend and I’m very … grateful for her support. She’s an Australian identity. she’s one of the highest taxpayers in the country,” Hanson told ABC radio in Perth on Thursday night.
double quotation mark I won’t have anyone have a go because she’s, you know, OK she’s a billionaire.
Good luck to her. I don’t believe in the tall poppy syndrome of pulling someone down. they’ve made a success of their life or business.
Asked if Rinehart contributes to formulation of One Nation policy, Hanson said she had been “very beneficial”.
double quotation mark My policy on pensioners being able to work unlimited hours. without losing their pension or healthcare card came from Mrs Rinehart. And I think that’s great. I listen to anyone who brings good policy to me.
Man charged with murder after woman in Sydney’s north-west allegedly kidnapped
A man has been charged over the alleged kidnapping. murder of a woman whose body is yet to be found, AAP reports.
Police have been investigating the disappearance of a 58-year-old woman who failed to returned to her home in Sydney’s north-west on Tuesday.
Family members told officers they last heard from her about 4.50pm on Monday. where she told them she was meeting a relative in Winston Hills. The woman’s car was found in the suburb, about 28km west of Sydney, around 9.30am the next day.
Police arrested a man, 33, yesterday south of Nowra. He was taken to Nowra police station, where he was charged with murder and has been refused police bail. He is due to face bail court on Friday.
Socceroos’ breakout star Jordan Bos at ease with the hype: ‘I’m a pretty chill guy’
Jordan Bos ’s career has moved swiftly towards this moment: a World Cup debut for the Socceroos’ not-so-secret weapon. “I just have to soak up the experience and just play football,” Bos says. “It’s kind of hard to ‘feel’ the moment as it is now,. I think afterwards I’ll really understand the experience that I’m in now.”
The World Cup’s first match is a day away. The Socceroos’ showdown with tournament dark horses Turkey barely three. The travelling Australian media cohort has swelled to about 30. They hang on every word of the 23-year-old, heralded as the side’s breakout star. Is there pressure? “Not really pressure,” Bos says. “I don’t really look at that stuff. Or think about it too much.”
While Bos might downplay it, he admits the praise is appreciated. “To have some positivity. having people believing in me and stuff like that, it’s really nice, and yeah, it does feel like [the work] is paying off a bit,” he says. “But yeah, we go on.”
The Victoria’s Secret chair. Donna James, has been re-elected to the board of the lingerie company after surviving a push by a dissident shareholder, the Australian billionaire Brett Blundy, to have her removed.
James received 83% of all votes cast, according to Reuters, at the US company’s annual meeting held overnight.
Blundy. who is the second-biggest shareholder at Victoria’s Secret, with a near 13% stake through his investment firm BBRC International, has been pushing for changes at the company since about 2021.
He has previously sought a position on the board,. has built a stake that could be used as a platform to launch a hostile takeover.
The Monaco-based Australian has a net wealth of $4.5bn, according to the AFR ’s rich list,. is chair of the Lovisa jewellery brand, founder of the Léays lingerie stores and former owner of the Bras N Things and Honey Birdette brands.
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