We’re going to close the blog now, thanks for joining us. Here are today’s top headlines:
Poultry farms in Western Australia have gone into lockdown after the deadly H5N1 bird flu arrived on the country’s mainland. with tests confirming a second bird also carried the disease.
Zali Steggall is poised to launch a new political venture as soon as this week after months of secret talks about the future of the teal movement.
Police claim to have made Australia’s biggest ever cocaine bust after finding $800m worth of the drug buried under false flooring on a semi-rural property.
Clearance rates in Australia’s capital cities have fallen to a six-year low. with fewer than half of homes at auction finding buyers.
We’ll be back again tomorrow morning. Have a lovely evening.
A measles warning has been issued for people in Potts Point, Darlinghurst and the Sydney CBD.
NSW Health was notified about a confirmed case who visited several locations while unknowingly infectious. A full list of locations is available on the NSW Health website, which includes a healthcare facility. a backpacker’s hostel.
Public health physician Dr Anthea Katelaris said people should monitor for symptoms of measles. particularly if they have visited any of the exposure locations at the listed time.
double quotation mark If symptoms develop. you’ve been at one of the locations at the time listed on the website, see your doctor or health service, including an emergency department.
Call ahead to let them know that you may have come into contact with measles …
Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes, runny nose. a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head and face to the rest of the body.
There have been 51 cases of measles confirmed in NSW since 1 January 2026.
Duniam says One Nation policy ‘untested’ and ‘untried’
Asked whether he thought One Nation was a better option than Labor, Duniam said:
double quotation mark The problem with One Nation is they’re untested. they’re untried … I know where Labor stand on a lot of things.
Sadly, of course, they do say one thing before an election. perhaps go a different way, but I know what their basic values framework is. I know what their policy sets are.
Whereas One Nation, there is a lot to learn.
Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam has called One Nation a party that offers “no solutions”. Duniam labelled their claims that the government has lost control of migration as “kind of weird”. called leader Pauline Hanson’s push for a monoculture “bizarre”.
Asked on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program whether he thinks Angus Taylor is being “outfoxed” by Hanson, Duniam said:
double quotation mark Pauline Hanson is capitalising on a sentiment in the community. people have had enough of the major parties …
So far, they haven’t really been able to provide the detailed. substantial answers that are required of shadow ministers, of leaders of parties, and I think that’s where the wheels will start to come off.
Duniam. who announced last we he would quit politics by the end of the year, said he found Hanson’s call for Australian “monoculture” to be a “bizarre concept”.
double quotation mark I don’t even really know what it means,. we all must dress the same, believe the same religion. Look, it’s a bizarre concept.
Because, frankly, at the end of the day,. the success of multiculturalism has depended on our capacity for people to accept their differences and park them and look at what unites them.
Agriculture minister says CSIRO working on H5N1 bird flu vaccines for animals
The agriculture minister. Julie Collins, says the CSIRO has been working on vaccinations to protect animals from the H5N1 bird flu strain.
With two confirmed cases discovered in WA. Collins was asked on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program if Australia had been vaccinating animals against the deadly strain. The minister said:
double quotation mark The CSIRO have been doing work on the vaccinations. the vaccinations, would primarily be in wildlife threatened species in terms of particularly bird populations …
Obviously, what we don’t want to do is to put those vaccinations into wildlife, where we haven’t tested it,. we don’t know whether or not it would actually work, but that can only obviously happen on a small scale for threatened and endangered species.
That’s not something we can do on a wholesale scale.
MPs call for more NACC hearings to be made public
Transparency advocates in parliament want the new NACC commissioner to help usher in a new era of public corruption hearings. with calls for the threshold to be lowered for the commission to hold open hearings.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, has said the appointment of a new commissioner. deputy, with applications opening today, should be an opportunity for a “reset and refresh” of the anti-corruption commission. Rowland was asked on Radio National this morning whether the NACC should hold more hearings in public. Labor’s legislation states. such hearings can only be held in “exceptional circumstances” – a threshold higher than some state-based corruption commissions.
Rowland said the NACC was independent and wouldn’t interfere with its operations. However Guardian Australia later asked whether she thought the threshold for public hearings should be lowered. Rowland pointed to a statutory review of the NACC, due by end of 2027, which would examine that issue,. also said the new NACC executive may have different views on how to interpret that provision.
“I don’t think that we should pre-empt how those provisions will be interpreted under a new commissioner. deputy commissioner, which is why I think this is a really important opportunity for that refresh,” she said.
Crossbench MPs have previously raised anger at the “exceptional circumstances” provision. saying it would mean most work is done in private. Helen Haines has said she will consider a private member’s bill by end of year if the government doesn’t change the legislation itself.
Greens senator David Shoebridge claimed on Monday the NACC had been “defanged” with an “impossibly high threshold for public hearings”. said Labor needed to fix that issue.
Independent senator David Pocock also called on the government to act, calling to remove the “exceptional” threshold.
“The appointment of a new commissioner is an opportunity to rebuild trust in the NACC that we can’t afford to waste. lowering the threshold for public hearings is integral to that,” he said.
We heard earlier today that a second bird – a giant petrel – had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Australia. after confirmation at the weekend that a brown skua had delivered a positive test.
Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has confirmed to the Guardian the petrel has died. It had already been confirmed the skua had died.
The H5N1 strain had breached every continent except Australia until the confirmed tests.
Governments. experts have said today there was no evidence yet that the two infections had led to any further outbreaks, but tests and surveillance was ongoing.
Ingham’s shares fall after ‘complete lockdown’ over bird flu fears
Shares in Ingham’s Group fell sharply today after Australia’s largest poultry producer locked down its farms in Western Australia after the deadly H5N1 bird flu was detected in the state.
The share price fell by as much as 14% early in the day. before retracing some of the losses to close down by almost 5% at $2 a share.
Ingham’s said in an ASX announcement that its breeder farms. grower networks are mostly located north of Perth, several hundred kilometres from where the positive cases have been found in the Esperance region.
The company said it had implemented a “complete lock-down, preventing all non-essential access” across its WA farms.
Go slow on tax time, ATO warns
The Australian Taxation Office has issued its annual warning to taxpayers about not rushing to file tax returns immediately after 1 July, reminding them early filing can cause delays. changes.
Taxpayers who lodge as soon as the financial year ticks over risk submitting incomplete. inaccurate returns, which can trigger processing delays and follow up contact from the ATO.
The ATO corrected more than 140,000 individual tax returns last year, where discrepancies appeared in employment income, interest, dividends, welfare payments, Medicare levy exemptions. private health insurance.
By late July, most of the pre-filled information submitted by banks, government departments. insurers is already in ATO systems, making it easier for taxpayers.
“Many taxpayers assume getting in first means getting a faster refund,. that is not always the case,” ATO assistant commissioner Anita Challen said.
double quotation mark Early lodgment increases the likelihood of missing information. mistakes being made, which can delay processing and require amendments.
Shark attack victim remains in critical but stable condition
The family of Leah Stewart, who was critically injured in a horrific shark attack at Coogee beach, say she remains in a “critical. stable condition”.
In a statement released today via St Vincent’s hospital. the family said her condition will remain the same for some time.
double quotation mark There is a long road ahead for her and her family. We appreciate the media’s interest in Leah’s wellbeing. we will not be giving any interviews at this time although we may post updates on her progress to her GoFundMe page as appropriate.
Bells Beach closed due to whale carcass
Bells Beach in Victoria has been temporarily closed after a whale carcass washed ashore on Sunday.
VicEmergency issued its most recent alert for the iconic surf spot at 2pm, confirming Bells Beach. nearby Winkipop remain closed:
double quotation mark A whale carcass can attract sharks to the area. mean they are closer to the shore than normal.
While it is not uncommon for sharks to be present off the Victorian coast. you should exercise additional caution in the area.
The Victorian Fisheries Authority will continue to monitor the Bells Beach area for shark sightings.
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