We’re wrapping up this live blog for the day. Here’s a reminder of today’s top stories:
The Greens announced they would support Labor’s negative gearing. capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate, with the deal including a delay and tweak to Labor’s planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme.
The treasurer. Jim Chalmers, accused the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, of playing “footsie with the monoculture language” of One Nation after he refused to back in multiculturalism at a press conference.
The One Nation leader. Pauline Hanson, has attempted to clarify her remarks about paid parental leave made at the National Press Club last week, saying “there’s no way, shape or form that I am actually saying to get rid of it”.
Western Australia’s agriculture. food minister, Jackie Jarvis, says there is no evidence bird flu has spread but samples from two seabirds found dead were being tested.
Public transport fares will be frozen for one year. vehicle registration cut by $100 under NSW budget measures designed to provide cost-of-living relief ahead of the upcoming election.
Queensland’s treasurer. David Janetzki, says he’s “not giving up” on halting a ratings downgrade of the state’s finances after handing down a budget full of red ink.
The alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will no longer attend the opening of the revamped Australian War Memorial tonight due to an illness. a court has heard.
The herbicide paraquat, banned in more than 70 countries, will remain legal in Australia despite Parkinson’s disease groups, scientists. neurologists arguing there is a strong correlation between exposure and the incidence of the disease.
The chair of the Australian arm of global accounting firm KPMG. two partners have resigned amid a growing scandal over alleged leaks of clients’ confidential information.
NSW man charged over alleged online threat to federal parliamentarian
The Australian federal police has charged a NSW man with allegedly posting a video threatening a federal parliamentarian.
The 35-year-old Mayfield man is scheduled to appear in Newcastle local court on 30 July, an AFP statement said.
The AFP’s national security investigations team began an investigation this month after receiving a report of concerning content being posted on a social media platform. including threats to harm a high office holder.
Further inquiries revealed other alleged threats, linked to the same social media account, posted between 28 October 2025. 10 June 2026, the statement said.
During a search warrant at the Mayfield property today, investigators seized an electronic device, a USB storage device, a black replica pistol with two magazines, clothing. face coverings.
Police will allege the seized clothing and face coverings were worn by the man when filming the threatening message.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young wants a moratorium on the building. approval of new datacentres, saying Australia needs a pause to allow for consultation and scrutiny of the new wave of technology.
Many billions of dollars of investment are flooding into Australia. with new datacentres – crucial for artificial intelligence tech – popping up all over the country, built by some of the world’s biggest companies. The issue has become a major political football in the United States, with community pushback against the energy. water usage, as well as the costs and impacts on the environment, of datacentres. The Labor government in Australia has largely welcomed the new investment around the nation.
Hanson-Young, the chair of a parliamentary inquiry into artificial intelligence. datacentres, claimed that AI companies “are getting their hooks into governments at all levels and we need a pause to allow time for public consultation and proper parliamentary scrutiny”:
double quotation mark We need a moratorium on the building. approval of new datacentres in Australia until we get the regulations right.
Hanson-Young was critical that Labor hadn’t done more on copyright protections for artists. creative industries, amid government consultation on AI rules:
double quotation mark We are sleepwalking into an AI crisis. Until Australia’s laws are up to the task of regulating the big tech bros. their power-hungry datacentres, they should not be given the greenlight to drain our power and water.
Until we have proper regulations for the use of energy. precious water and proper protections for Australian artists and businesses we cannot allow a tech bro free-for-all. Until the necessary safeguards are in place and Australia’s resources are protected, approval and development must be paused.
The industry minister. Tim Ayres, says the federal government will not permit “undermining of copyright protections” as it considers possible new regulations for AI.
The independent senator David Pocock used question time in the Senate to challenge the government over intense lobbying from global tech giants about possible new rules to allow Australian content to be used to train large language models.
Pocock asked whether Labor was considering a possible “carve out” or an extension to existing licensing arrangements to benefit AI proprietors.
Pocock said Anthony Albanese was preparing to announce a plan around mid-July, offering expedited approvals. investment for new datacentres in exchange for a new creative arts fund.
“There will be no undermining of copyright protections,” Ayres said in response.
“It is absolutely our intention to do what we can to make sure that people who produce content in Australia. who are currently getting ripped off all around the world … we are looking at that question.”
He said it was in Australia’s national interest to have “Australian sovereign capability in tech”.
“That makes a difference for future generations and for our national security.”
Western Australia’s agriculture and food minister, Jackie Jarvis, is providing an update about H5N1 bird flu in the state.
Poultry farms in the state have gone into lockdown this week after the deadly bird flu arrived on the country’s mainland. with tests confirming a second bird also carried the disease.
Speaking to reporters, Jarvis said there had been no additional positive cases in the state. On Monday, there were 36 reports to the animal emergency disease hotline, Jarvis said.
Only two required further investigation, with samples collected from two seabirds which were discovered dead.
double quotation mark At this stage there is no evidence the virus has spread. we have asked the community to remain alert.
Surge in calls for help from kids
Counselling service Kids Helpline has recorded a more than threefold increase in calls for help since 2018. with a new report revealing nearly 130,000 contacts received last year alone.
The organisation’s latest impact report shows staff help about 350 callers each day, with 36% of interventions related to suicide attempts, 34% to child abuse. 8% to mental illness escalation.
Kids Helpline counsellors also undertook 5,190 duty of care interventions last year.
Tracy Adams, the chief executive of yourtown which operates the helpline, said:
double quotation mark 50 per cent of our contacts in 2025 came via webchat. This is the first time a contact method has surpassed phone in our 35-year history.
This shift highlights how young people are choosing to communicate and what they are comfortable with. For many. typing feels safer than speaking, particularly when discussing sensitive issues, when privacy is limited, or when they’re reaching out late at night.
Kids Helpline is calling for increased funding from the federal. state governments, including to boost early intervention tools and better support the growing numbers in crisis interventions.
Australia’s biggest class action settlement in history will be paid out to victims of the government’s robodebt scheme after a lengthy court approval process. AAP reports.
The robodebt system was designed to fix overpayment of social security benefits, but it resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being wrongly accused of owing the government money between 2015. 2019.
Some of Australia’s most vulnerable people entered into extreme debt. went without food or even died by suicide as a result. The bungled program has cost the government more than $2.4bn after multiple class actions.
The federal court justice Jonathan Beach ruled on Tuesday that an additional settlement of $548.5m, including the approved compensation figure, was fair. reasonable.
Beach thanked victims who had been part of various class actions since 2019, particularly Jenny Miller. Kath Madgwick who lost their sons after they were issued with robodebt notices.
Queensland man charged over alleged threats targeted at federal parliamentarian
A 33-year-old Queensland man has been charged with allegedly sending offensive emails to a federal parliamentarian.
The Australian federal police national security investigations (NSI) team began inquiries in April, after the electoral office of a federal parliamentarian reported receiving offensive. threatening emails and voice messages.
Police linked the man to the alleged threatening behaviour and executed a search warrant at a Gympie home on Monday. The man was arrested. charged with six counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
The man is scheduled to appear in Gympie magistrates court on 3 August.
WA premier backs BHP’s decarbonisation efforts after revelations of delays and abandoning of emissions reduction projects
The Western Australian premier. Roger Cook, says his government is “fully behind” BHP’s decarbonisation efforts just weeks after revelations it had abandoned or delayed key emissions reductions projects.
A cache of internal documents, leaked to Guardian Australia. the ABC, show that BHP has delayed vast renewable projects, pushed back the rollout of electric trucks and scrapped a plant that could have vast volumes of steelmaking emissions, casting doubt on its commitments to hit net zero by 2050. The vast leak of documents. dubbed the BHP Files, prompted experts to warn that the mining giant was “fundamentally putting Australia’s emissions targets at risk”.
On Tuesday, Cook helped promote BHP and Rio Tinto’s joint trial of battery-electric trucks in the Pilbara. BHP announced its trial of two battery-electric trucks was making “meaningful progress”.
Both Cook and the petroleum minister, David Michael, appeared alongside BHP executives for the event.
double quotation mark I want Western Australia’s economy to remain the strongest in the nation, which is why my government is fully behind BHP. Rio Tinto’s efforts to decarbonise and help make WA a renewable energy powerhouse.
Thanks to Caterpillar, these electric trucks will help deliver my government’s vision of reducing emissions in the Pilbara so this region can continue keeping both the WA. national economy strong.
Gallagher says Labor has ‘more work to do’ to pass NDIS changes
The finance minister. Katy Gallagher, says the government has “more work to do” to pass its planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme.
The Greens and Labor secured a deal today to pass the federal government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes. The deal will delay and tweak Labor’s planned overhaul of the NDIS.
Speaking to the ABC, Gallagher said:
double quotation mark We’ve agreed to have an extension to the current [NDIS] inquiry. We know there’s a lot of interest in these changes. It gives us the opportunity to talk those through further … particularly with the disability community.
We think there is a lot of support for these changes across the country … people understand that a program like that cannot keep growing at the speed with. it’s growing.
Farley asked about reports Hanson ‘had to have a conversation’ on flags
Speaking to the ABC earlier, the One Nation MP David Farley was asked about reports the party’s leader, Pauline Hanson, “had to have a conversation” with her new colleague after he appeared to defy her policies on immigration. flying Indigenous flags.
After the Farrer byelection last month, the Border Mail reported Farley would display three flags: the Australian, the Aboriginal. the Torres Strait Islander flags. But Hanson has said the One Nation policy is to fly only the Australian flag.
Farley told the ABC he doesn’t have any flags in his electorate office. But he added someone was trying to install a State of Origin flag:
double quotation mark I’ve got no flags in my office.
Farley said his grandfather fought under the Australian flag. He added:
double quotation mark What does a flag do, one flag do? It unites a nation.
We will at a time be called upon to contribute, in an uncomfortable way, ultimately, to defend our neighbour or defend ourselves. we’ll fight under one flag. We will defend ourselves under one flag. And we’ve got to be real about that.
Larissa Waters says the delay to Labor’s planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme will be “meaningful” for participants:
double quotation mark That’s eight more weeks of support that people will be able to have, to have a shower, to leave the house, to get to work, to have some dignity. freedom. That’s really meaningful for people.
Waters says the Greens will use the delay to continue to fight for the proposed bill to be dumped:
double quotation mark I have to have hope that with eight more weeks of an inquiry, which the Greens have now secured, hearing from the disability community, it’s going to be a brave government. opposition that continues to ignore the evidence of real harm that this bill will do to people, and if they do so, well, let it be on their heads.
‘The job is not done’ on housing, Greens leader says
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, is speaking to the ABC after her party reached a deal with Labor to pass the federal government’s negative gearing. capital gains tax changes.
The deal means there will be a delay and tweak of Labor’s planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme.
Waters says the tax changes are a “small step forward” to tackle inequality in the housing market:
double quotation mark We’ve announced today that we will support it, but the job is not done. The housing crisis is still real. The government did absolutely nothing for renters, and it’s baked in this inequality.
One Nation MP pressed on what it means to ‘act Australian’
The One Nation MP David Farley says his party’s position on a “monocultural society” means “you’re an Australian first”. “act Australian”.
Last week, the party’s leader, Pauline Hanson, declared that Australia cannot be multicultural and must exist as a “monocultural society”.
Speaking to the ABC, Farley was pressed on what it meant to “act Australian”. He said Australia was a “society of a fair go”:
double quotation mark We’re a society. doesn’t like being ripped off … it’s Australia that builds its own future in an isolated part of the world.
It’s about Australia first, and that’s why they’re here. They wanted a better life … we’re generous enough to give a better life.
NSW opposition: ‘This budget isn’t boring. This budget is bad’
The NSW opposition says the Minns government’s budget shows the state is entering a “per capita recession” with population growth expected to exceed economic growth in the next year.
The budget has forecast economic growth in the state to be 1% in 2026-27, down from its December prediction of 2.5%, avoiding recession,. the opposition says forecast annual population growth at 1.1% mitigates this.
The opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has endorsed cost-of-living measures including reducing the road toll cap from $60 to $50,. cutting vehicle registration by $100, which the opposition had itself called for itself ahead of the election.
At a press conference this afternoon. Sloane said the government’s measures, which would last for 12 months, do not go far enough:
double quotation mark It can’t just be temporary. There has to be hope for the community. Hope is going to be driven by a stronger economy, and there is no plan for a stronger economy.
The shadow treasurer, Scott Farlow, added: “This budget isn’t boring. This budget is bad.”
Farlow said the budget does not have a “growth plan”. failed to provide tax relief for businesses, with the budget forecasting record earnings from payroll tax over the next four years.
NSW budget a ‘lost opportunity for housing supply’
Turning to the NSW state budget. there’s been reaction rolling in after it was handed down by the treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, this afternoon.
Property industry lobby group Urban Taskforce Australia, says the budget, which has forecast $8bn less in projected stamp duty. land tax revenue over four years but contains nothing like last year’s $1bn pre-sale finance guarantee to help developers secure loans, was a “lost opportunity for housing development”.
double quotation mark We can only hope that the NSW government is keeping its powder dry for pre-election announcements. because this budget has very little by way of new support for new housing supply.
The Committee for Sydney CEO, Eamon Waterford, who has praised cost-of-living measures. commitments to health and schooling, described this year’s offering as “a fairness budget but without a growth story”, saying it had done nothing to address the stagnation of household income.
But some have praised other landmark commitments, including $184m in additional funding for frontline family and domestic violence services. The Australian Services Union. which represents domestic violence workers, said the “budget boost for workers on the frontline of the state’s domestic violence crisis will make a difference”.
Sydney’s record-breaking run of June days above 20C has finally ended
Sydney’s record-breaking run of consecutive June days above 20C has finally ended. easily breaking the previous mark of nine days that had stood since 1919.
Sunday marked the 15th day in a row where temperatures had gone above 20C but. on Monday, the mercury only hit 19.3C, the Bureau of Meteorology’s official Sydney record shows.
Temperature measurements have been taken at Sydney’s Observatory Hill since 1859. The average daily maximum over that span of 167 years is 17C.
What caused the run? The bureau has said slow-moving high pressure systems over New South Wales had kept the usual winter cold fronts at bay.
When we first reported on the record last Tuesday. one Sydney-based climate scientist said something else was likely contributing to the record. Any guesses?
Thank you all so much for joining me on the blog today. can’t say it wasn’t a huge day in politics!
I’ll leave you now with the excellent Adeshola Ore, and see you bright and early here tomorrow.
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