What we learned today, Tuesday 19 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. As always, thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live news. Until then, here were the day’s top stories:
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The health minister, Mark Butler, expressed concern about Australia’s biggest diphtheria outbreak in decades, as the serious bacterial infection continued to spread through the Northern Territory and bordering states.
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The second day of the federal court trial involving classical pianist Jayson Gillham and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra took place in Melbourne. Gillham is suing the MSO over a cancelled concert which he claims was an attempt to silence him over his views on Gaza.
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New South Wales police and the health department are expected to sign a new agreement on how to deal with mental health incidents, after a spate of fatal shootings.
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Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials were “urgently seeking” the status of 11 Australian Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Cyprus.
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NSW police said they had charged two men after officers allegedly found more than $1m worth of illicit cigarettes and tobacco in a ute on a regional highway during a roadside breath test.
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It was confirmed the ABC and SBS have chosen not to adopt the definition of antisemitism used by the royal commission into social cohesion.
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The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said he was “devastated” after the alleged domestic violence murder of a woman and two children in Sydney. A man was charged with three counts of murder in relation to the deaths.
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It was announced taxpayers will fork out an extra $11bn to extend the lifespan of Australia’s ageing Collins-class submarines for another decade, bridging the capability gap before the scheduled arrival of the first Aukus vessels in 2032.
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And ARN Media added two of Nine’s biggest names, Eddie McGuire and Karl Stefanovic, to its radio stable as it fights to survive $160m in lawsuits from Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson.
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Government tables response to antisemitisim royal commission interim report
The federal government’s response to the interim report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has been tabled in parliament.
The report made 14 recommendations, five of which remain classified. The federal government has accepted eight of the nine remaining, noting that recommendation 1 – around policing operations for Jewish festivals – was a matter for state governments.
The interim report criticised state and federal governments over gun laws, urging all levels of government to prioritise nationally uniform gun laws, and a gun buyback scheme similar to that seen in the wake of the Port Arthur atrocity.
The report said efforts towards reforming gun laws had been “unduly leisurely”, given the vital imperative of community safety.
The royal commission will resume hearings next week. The second block of hearings will examine the circumstances surrounding the attack at Bondi on 14 December 2025. In particular:
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The terrorism threat level and security environment in the lead up to the attack.
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The conduct of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies relevant to the attack, including what was known about the shooters and what was done with that information.
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The security arrangements for the Chanukah by the Sea event.
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How intelligence about individuals known to authorities is utilised and shared to inform decisions made by security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including, for example, decisions about whether and how individuals are monitored and decisions in respect of firearms licence applications.
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Resourcing for counter-terrorism, and the effectiveness of current powers, systems and processes of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
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Hancock mining riches battle shifts to legal bill fight
A massive legal battle that pitted Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, against two rival mining dynasties over iron ore riches has reignited – but this time it’s over legal costs, AAP reports.
The wealthy heirs of mining pioneer Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes in April won some of their claims for spoils from the massive Hope Downs mining complex, in Western Australia’s ore-rich Pilbara region.
Hancock Prospecting, of which Rinehart is executive chair, is fighting parts of a complex court ruling.
Today, more than two dozen lawyers for the parties returned to the WA supreme court in Perth to make submissions about the hefty legal bill resulting from the ongoing 16-year-long stoush, which some commentators have suggested could run beyond $100m.
Wright says Hancock should pay most of its costs because of a “favourable outcome” on many of its claims.
Hancock wants the same from Wright, prompting Justice Jennifer Smith to observe that it would equate to each paying half.
Also at issue is how the costs should be calculated, with Smith suggesting an experienced referee could oversee it.
Rio Tinto was also involved in the battle as the joint-venture partner in Hope Downs.
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Marles says Aukus nuclear submarine project ‘on track’
The deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, has given a speech to the Lowy Institute in Melbourne, arguing that, while the conservative side of Australian politics “has enjoyed a brand advantage when it comes to defence”, he believed “Labor has always been, and remains, the natural party of defence”.
Marles used the address to announce the government would begin, next month, the Life of Type Extension of the Collins Class submarine (essentially, extending the working lives of those diesel-electric submarines, while Australia waits for its promised nuclear submarines to arrive from the US).
The Aukus program remains “on track”, Marles said, despite recent concerns in both the US and UK over their capability to provide Australia with submarines.
The US heard evidence last week about shipbuilding rates:
And in the UK, there are significant concerns about that country’s capacity to design and build a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine:
Marles told his audience in Melbourne:
While the Morrison government deserves credit for establishing the Aukus partnership with the UK and US, when we came to office this was not expected to provide Australia with a new submarine until the early 2040s. The plans for acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability were embryonic.
But within a year we had evolved Aukus into a detailed plan that will deliver Australia its first nuclear-powered submarine 10 years earlier, thus substantially closing the capability gap the Liberals had created.
Aukus is now properly funded and its milestones are on track. And developing our nuclear-powered submarine capability alone represents the biggest leap in our military capability in more than a century and the largest industrial project in our nation’s history.
We have also put the extension of the life of the Collins class submarines back on track.
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Here’s some more from that AAP report about the apology for families of those whose remains were taken in secret.
The Tasmanian health minister, Bridget Archer, who moved the motion in the state’s parliament for the formal apology, said recent investigations had fully or partly identified five people likely involved in carrying out the unlawful practice.
This was in addition to now-deceased forensic pathologist Royal Cummings, who was identified in the coronial findings as having provided the majority of the specimens.
Two of the five people had died and none work as pathologists in Tasmania or were employed by the state’s health department, Archer said.
Their names, along with the findings of the investigations, had been referred to the Department of Public Prosecutions, she said.
A further four people were likely involved but their identities cannot be ascertained due to inadequate record keeping at the time, she said.
Archer said the apology was an important step but would not undo past wrongdoing or ongoing harm and that:
It’s important to remember that these were not just body parts, specimens or human remains – they were people.
The Tasmanian opposition leader, Josh Willie, said the practice represented among the “most profound” failures of public institutions in the state’s history.
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Formal apology to families of people whose remains were secretly given to a Tasmanian museum
Families of more than 100 people whose remains were secretly kept after autopsies and given to a museum have received a formal apology, as authorities identify five people likely involved in the historical practice, AAP reports.
The apology comes after the state coroner in September released the findings of an investigation into 177 human specimens stored at the University of Tasmania’s RA Rodda Museum from 1966 to 1991.
The remains, which were stored at the pathology museum for teaching and research purposes, were collected without the knowledge or approval of families or loved ones.
Tasmanian politicians of all stripes contributed apologies after the state’s health minister, Bridget Archer, moved a formal motion in the state’s parliament earlier today.
The premier, Jeremy Rockliff, said the motion continued a tradition of acknowledging past wrongs and was needed to pay respects to affected families.
The premier said:
There was no respect given to those who had parts of their body stolen.
There was no dignity in the treatment of their bodies or the treatment of their families.
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NSW police charge two men after allegedly seizing more than $1m worth of illicit tobacco
New South Wales police say they have charged two men after officers allegedly found more than $1m worth of illicit cigarettes and tobacco in a ute on a regional highway during a roadside breath test.
In a statement, police said New England district officers were conducting patrols in the Moree area in the state’s north overnight, and stopped the vehicle on the Newell Highway for roadside testing about 2.15am.
Police said they gave the driver – a 19-year-old man – a roadside breath test, which returned a negative result.
However, police said they searched the ute while it was stopped, allegedly finding and seizing 37 boxes containing 434,600 illicit cigarettes, 11 garbage bags containing approximately 60kg of dried tobacco leaf, and $1,620 in cash.
Police said the driver and his 18-year-old passenger were arrested and taken to Moree police station, where the older man was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime greater than $5,000, and recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime less than or equal to $5,000.
The younger man was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime greater than $5,000, police said.
They were both were refused bail to appear before bail division court 5 today.
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‘You have lost your decency,’ father of Australian on flotilla to Gaza tells Australian government
Chris O’Connor, the father of student Neve O’Connor, became emotional when he spoke of his daughter’s detention. It is the second time she has been held by Israel while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He said when he looked at the global flotilla, he saw a “cross-section of decent humans across the world”, made up of:
Different nationalities, different genders, different religions, different age groups. However, when I look at the Albanese and Wong government, I wonder where is the red line? We have watched the genocide in Gaza … Israel has introduced a death penalty only for Palestinians. We see no sanctions from the Albanese government. The only conclusion that we can make is that they agree with the actions of the state of Israel.
I say clearly to Anthony Albanese and Senator [Penny] Wong, you have lost your decency, you have lost your dignity. If you wish to reclaim them, you will sanction Israel now and you will ensure that the 11 Australians held hostage are returned safely and quickly.
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Hello, I hope you’ve had a nice day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of the news this afternoon.
That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will take things from here. Take care.
NT health officials urge caution after two deaths linked to Murray Valley encephalitis
Health officials in the Northern Territory have urged residents and visitors to take precautions after two deaths linked to Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) this year.
NT Health said two people died from the virus in Alice Springs in April and May this year. MVE is a rare but serious and potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease that can be transmitted after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
The virus has been detected in the NT, with transmission most common between February and June, and most cases between March and May.
Health officials said the risk area for MVE had been extended to include all regions in the territory due to a period of significant rainfall this year.
Symptoms of MVE include severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting, muscle aches, drowsiness, confusion and seizures.
Mosquito populations are expected to remain high in large parts of the NT until the end of July.
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Mother of Australian detained by Israel says she is ‘terrified’ for her safety
Family of the Australians detained while attempting to transport aid to Gaza on a global flotilla have held an emotional press conference in Melbourne where they have urged the federal government to stand up to the government of Israel.
Suzie O’Toole, the mother of 23-year-old Gemma O’Toole, who was detained by Israel yesterday evening, said she and her husband were “terrified” about their daughter’s wellbeing.
She said her daughter was onboard the Adala ship, which translates to “justice”.
Gemma feels very strongly about justice. She’s determined to take a stand against racism, the genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians. She was taken hostage last night and is being held by Israel … for standing up and doing what needs to be done …
We are terrified about Gemma’s wellbeing. We demand the Australian government do everything they can to bring her home safely … These people would not have been sailing on these ships but for the fact that the Australian government has failed so pathetically to push back and take a stand against Israel.
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Greens skeptical of NSW police shift on drug dogs
The operational shift has drawn skepticism from Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who said it indicated that police were spreading their operations further rather than listening to health-based evidence.
“This first sounded like the police had finally acted on the expert evidence linking the use of drug dogs at music festivals with riskier drug taking behaviour from festival-goers by stopping the practice altogether,” Faehrmann said in a statement on Tuesday.
But they’re actually spreading their operations further. Whether police and drug dogs are at the entrance to the music festival or just around the corner, people will still react the same.
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NSW police say they will wind back use of drug dogs targeting music festival patrons
The era of police officers and drug-detection dogs targeting music festival goers as they enter a venue is at an end, a senior member of NSW police told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.
NSW police assistant commissioner Paul Dunstan confirmed the strategic shift, saying that operations would move away from high-visibility entrance chokepoints.
“We’ve now pivoted to a more drug supply focus,” Dunstan told the inquiry into live music.
The days of young people attending festivals, going through a gauntlet of police lined with drug dogs are behind us.
However, Dunstan said this did not rule out the presence of drug dogs at festivals.
We don’t apologise for having drug dogs in and around the festivals, but we focus on the supply of drugs, not the possession.
So you’ll see us more often around train stations, in parks or areas en route to the festival, trying to identify and locate those who are responsible for the supply of prohibited drugs.
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Sydney hikes developer taxes to fund $320m for affordable housing
The City of Sydney has raised its levies on property developers, aiming to collect an extra $320m revenue to fund dedicated housing for people on lower incomes over the next decade.
The city charges developers a 3% levy on residential projects, 1% on commercial and extra for rezoned extensions, collecting at least $20m annually which it gives to community housing providers. The program has supported the delivery of 1,525 affordable homes to date, which are rented out at a maximum of 30% of the tenant’s income.
The new proposal, approved on Monday night, will boost those levy base rates, with developers charged more if they’re in more expensive suburbs or fail to deliver actual apartments.
Sylvie Ellsmore, a Sydney Greens councillor, said:
The City of Sydney now has the most ambitious affordable housing program in the country.
Every year Council generates millions in wealth for private landholders when we rezone land: because of our changes we’ll raise an additional $320 million for rent-controlled homes over the next ten years.
You can read more about the affordable housing projects funded by Sydney’s developer levies here:
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Greens say federal government has refused to ‘stand up’ for Australians detained by IDF
The Greens have accused the federal government of “refusing to stand up” for its Australian citizens after 11 were detained in international waters off Cyprus overnight.
The Australians were part of the Global Sumud flotilla that has been attempting to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza. Twenty-two ships were previously intercepted off the coast of Crete a fortnight ago, including six Australians.
The Greens deputy leader and spokesperson for international aid and global justice, senator Mehreen Faruqi, said “it is frightening how little the Australian government cares”.
Israel is able to commit acts of piracy and kidnapping in international waters with complete impunity because countries like Australia refuse to stand up for their citizens …
It is beyond comprehension that this Labor government still calls Israel a friend after two years of genocide, and even the capture of Australian citizens is apparently not a red line for them. It is appalling. In the face of our government’s inaction and our government’s complicity, these courageous humanitarians have stood up and said enough is enough.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, and the Israel foreign ministry have been approached for comment.
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Budget receives ‘very mixed’ review from gloomy consumers
Households remain “deeply pessimistic” despite a small improvement in consumer confidence as petrol prices retreated from their March peaks, as the federal budget received a “very mixed” review.
Westpac’s latest monthly survey showed households are about as gloomy as they were at the depths of the pandemic. Easing concerns around family finances thanks to lower fuel costs was offset by worries about higher interest rates and the outlook for the economy amid the global oil shock.
The survey asked participants whether their family finances would be better or worse off under the budget.
The share of respondents saying they would be worse off was 34%, versus 15% saying they would be better off.
After excluding the 7% who said they didn’t know, that represented a gap of 21% and was about the 16-year average, said Matthew Hassan, a senior economist at Westpac:
While that’s typical, it is a significant deterioration on the 10% gap last year, and well down on the 3% gap in 2024 when the ‘stage 3’ tax cuts were centre stage.
Hassan said the “intergenerational” aspect of the budget – including proposals to raise investor property taxes and abolishing negative gearing – was evident in the response to the budget by age.
Among baby boomers and generation X, those expecting to be worse off outnumbered those expecting to benefit by 30-36% compared with a gap of just 9% for millennials and small net positive spread (+1%) among generation Z.
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Violet Coco’s husband says Australian government must ‘publicly condemn’ Israel’s detainment of its citizens
The husband of prominent activist Violet Coco, who has been detained while attempting to transport aid to Gaza on a flotilla, says Australia should “follow the lead” of Spain in accusing Israel of violating international law.
Brad Homewood said he last spoke to Coco via FaceTime on Monday evening when they went into an “orange alert”. Coco was onboard the Perseverance alongside seven others, including fellow Australian Helen O’Sullivan.
Her spirits were good. She’s obviously very concerned, but they’ve had a lot of training. She was very determined to follow through with the mission.
Footage showed the Perseverance being boarded by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the activists being detained. Homewood said the French embassy had provided advice that they would be transported to Ashdod prison in Israel, a claim not verified by Guardian Australia.
Homewood described his wife as a “genuine humanitarian with a heart of gold”.
We’ve both wept on numerous occasions about the situation in Gaza … She was determined to … put her body on the line with one of the most vicious regimes that the world has ever known.
What we’re calling on the Australian government to do is follow the lead of the Spanish prime minister and publicly condemn these blatant acts of piracy, but also call for justice in the international court and for an end to the genocide and an end to the ethnic cleansing.
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Albanese government secures 100m litres of jet fuel from China and new fertiliser shipments from Brunei
The Albanese government announced a new deal with China this morning, securing 100m litres of jet fuel for the country. The jet fuel will arrive in three cargos from China from early June.
Anthony Albanese also said the government had secured 38,500 tonnes of fertiliser from Brunei, bound for Australian farmers to keep the country’s “food and fiber production systems strong”. The prime minister said:
The additional 600,000 barrels of jet fuel will help keep Australia moving, and the extra fertiliser will help provide certainty to our farmers.
To put that in context, according to the latest government statistics, Australia has 970 megalitres of aviation kerosene as at 10 May, which amounts to 35 days of supply. So the new shipment of 100ML corresponds to about 3.6 days of supply.
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Four in five tobacco purchases among young adult smokers are illegal
New research from the Cancer Council NSW Generation Vape found illicit tobacco has become normalised among young adults, with almost 80% of their recent tobacco product purchases likely to be illegal.
The findings come as the government faces growing pressure from the tobacco industry to weaken evidence-based tobacco control measures, including tobacco tax settings, which have been shown to discourage smoking uptake while promoting quitting.
Earlier this month, health experts accused the Coalition of secretly giving tobacco giants access to a parliamentary inquiry into illicit tobacco, a move they say undermines more than 15 years of precedent to protect public health. The companies want the tobacco tax lowered.
The survey of young Australians aged 18-24 who smoke shows they are buying illicit tobacco, with nearly 80% of their recent cigarette or roll-your-own purchases likely to be illicit.
The findings come from 232 participants, whose responses were analysed to determine whether their most recently bought tobacco product was likely illicit or not based on factors such as price paid, whether or not the product was mentholated, the brand name and the image uploaded. It was determined that 184 had very likely bought an illicit product as their most recent purchase.
The Generation Vape study is a national research project involving surveys at six month intervals, and interviews and focus groups at 12 month intervals.
Chief investigator on the study, Prof Becky Freeman, said the push by the tobacco industry to lower tobacco taxes would only further push down the price of illicit tobacco and increase availability.
“Making all cigarettes cheaper, both taxed and illicit products, will in no way improve public safety or public health,” she said.
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Burnet Institute deeply concerned by Australia’s biggest diphtheria outbreak in decades
Dr Milena Dalton, the head of immunisation at the Burnet Institute, has said the spread of diphtheria from the Northern Territory into Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia is “deeply concerning”.
Dalton released a statement a short time ago, after the federal health minister, Mark Butler, said the outbreak was Australia’s biggest in decades and that almost all of the cases were in Indigenous Australians.
Speaking to ABC radio, Butler confirmed that there had been reports of a death from the outbreak, but said the NT government was still investigating.
In her statement, Dalton said:
This is no longer an isolated outbreak and it highlights how quickly vaccine-preventable diseases can re-emerge when there are immunity gaps.
Diphtheria remains rare in Australia because vaccination works. But this outbreak is a reminder that rare does not mean impossible, and that protection needs to be maintained through timely boosters for adolescents and adults.
The most important message is that diphtheria is preventable.
Dalton said that the fact the outbreak was affecting Aboriginal communities highlighted the need for a rapid and culturally safe public health response, working with community-controlled health services, trusted local leaders and frontline workers to make testing, treatment and vaccination as accessible as possible.
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ARN signs Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire amid Kyle and Jackie O stoush
ARN Media, the broadcaster battling Kyle Sandilands and “Jackie O” Henderson over their $100m contracts in federal court, has signed Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire for a weekly radio show.
McGuire is a former co-host of the Hot Breakfast on Triple M and Stefanovic is co-host of the Today show on Nine and has his own eponymous podcast and YouTube show.
The new format, The Long Weekend, will broadcast live on ARN’s Gold network on Fridays from 12 to 3pm and will be live-streamed and available on demand on iHeart.
Michael Stephenson, chief executive officer of ARN, said:
Karl and Eddie are two of the biggest stars in Australian media and they are now at ARN. The Long Weekend is an excellent example of our strategy coming to life: premium audio and video content distributed across every platform, amplified on social and distributed across the globe on the iHeart Network. This is going to be brilliant.
Stefanovic’s network, Nine, will stream the three-hour The Long Weekend on 9Now and Stan, as part of a multiplatform arrangement with ARN Media.
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Melbourne psychiatrist refuses new patients who don’t consent to AI note-taking
A Melbourne psychiatrist has refused new patients unless they agree to allow her to use an AI scribe to transcribe the conversations in their sessions.
AI-driven note-taking tools are becoming popular within the medical industry – with two in five general practitioners now using such scribes, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
But there have also been concerns about the security of the data and how it might be used by the AI companies, along with the accuracy of the transcriptions.
Read more here:
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Angus Taylor dismisses criticism from Liberal senator over migration policies
Angus Taylor has dismissed criticism from his colleague, Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan, who said this morning he had “deep concerns” about the Coalition’s migration policies.
McLachlan spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the country shouldn’t take a “negative approach to migration” and that such a stance risked “alienating” migrant communities. Taylor was asked about those remarks, saying:
It only alienates the government, that has got it wrong, this has nothing to do with communities. We think migration is incredibly important to this country. It always has been and always will be.
The numbers cannot be too high and the standards cannot be too low, or Australians say it’s got to be fixed.
Taylor went on to say the government had failed, not communities, when it came to migration.
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NSW premier ‘devastated’ after alleged murder of woman and two children in Sydney
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the government will continue to push for reforms on bail conditions and for tougher stances for those who commit certain crimes.
His comments come after a man was charged with three counts of murder, after a woman and two children were found dead inside a Sydney home. Minns said earlier this morning:
We need to make sure that justice is served for those who lost their lives, and family members.
I’m devastated by this because I know that New South Wales police and domestic violence prevention centres have been putting enormous amount of resources and money, and we were starting to see glimmers of progress, but then an event like this happens, and it reminds you that there are violent people out there that need to be confronted.
Minns was asked if he would increase funding to police, adding it was something “we’ll look at very closely”.
I’ll try and do everything I possibly can to ensure we don’t see repeats of this, but I can’t promise it. I can’t promise it because despite the best efforts and the tireless dedication of New South Wales police and domestic violence prevention offices, it continues to happen and it’s heartbreaking.
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Albanese says all quarantined travellers from hantavirus-affected cruise remain well
Albanese says every traveller from the MV Hondius, the ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, remains well.
It was a difficult task to take people from the other side of the world to bring them here.
The restrictions we have imposed are the strongest in the world, but that is the right thing to do to keep people safe.
He said those who helped bring the travellers back to Australia were doing well so far too.
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Albanese maintains that WA will get its ‘fair share’ of GST
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Perth. He said he maintains his support that WA gets its “fair share” of the GST.
I will continue to back WA consistently as I have throughout my time … I back WA across the board.
WA has an important role to play in our economy and we have a very strong WA contingent in our caucus.
The WA premier, Roger Cook, was asked if he could trust the prime minister.
“Absolutely,” Cook said. “The prime minister gave us a rock-solid commitment that WA will receive its fair share of the GST.”
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Man charged with three counts of DV murder after woman and children found dead inside Sydney home
A man has been charged with three counts of murder after the bodies of a woman and two children were found inside a Sydney home.
Officers attended the home in Campbelltown, in the city’s south-west, on Monday night “following a call from the home to triple zero” at about 7.50pm, New South Wales police said.
The bodies of a 46-year-old woman and two boys, aged 12 and four, were found inside.
A 47-year-old man was arrested at the house and taken to Campbelltown police station.
Early on Tuesday morning, he was charged with three counts of domestic violence murder.
Read more here:
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Researchers find illicit, contaminated alcohol at many Australian bottle shops
Unsuspecting Australians could be drinking contaminated illicit alcohol stocked in regular bottle shops, leaving them at risk of serious health consequences, AAP reports.
Almost one-in-three bottle shops visited in Victoria contained suspected illicit alcohol products, researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW and National Drug Research Institute found.
The team have since gone to over 200 stores across different socioeconomic areas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland to find the same proportion of bottle shops stocking suspected illicit alcohol. Some products stocked in bottle shops were found by researchers to contain methanol and plastic debris.
Postdoctoral research fellow Michala Kowalski said methanol concentrations in products they tested were lower than the deadly threshold. “But finding it at all is a really big concern about product quality, and we don’t know what’s out there in other products,” she told AAP.
Consumers could reduce their risk by sticking to their trusted brands and shops, keeping an eye on prices that don’t make sense, and paying attention to bottle quality, including missing pregnancy warnings or barcodes on labels.
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Rate hikes now to prevent recession later, Reserve Bank says
The Reserve Bank fears it would have to push the economy into recession if soaring fuel costs from the global oil shock become part of a wider and more entrenched inflationary outbreak.
Sarah Hunter, the RBA’s chief economist, in a speech this morning explained that the central bank was bent on preventing a temporary oil shock from getting “baked into” higher prices across the economy.
Central to this was containing “inflation expectations” – an intangible measure of whether employers and workers believe rapidly raising prices will continue beyond the Middle East war.
“If businesses and households expect high future inflation, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as these expectations get baked into contracts for goods, services and wages,” Hunter said.
She then warned that if that were to happen, the RBA may have to engineer a dramatic slowdown in the economy to get entrenched high inflation back towards the 2-3% target.
Doing so may require a more substantial slowing of economic activity, as we saw during the early 1990s recession. So it’s crucial for central banks to keep inflation expectations anchored around the inflation target.
The central bank’s board has hiked its cash rate target three times this year, to 4.35%. Financial markets are pricing in only a small chance of a hike at the next meeting in mid-June, but a much higher 76% chance at the August 10-11 meeting.
Dfat ‘urgently seeking’ welfare updates of 11 detained Australians on Global Sumud Flotilla
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) says it is “urgently seeking” confirmation of the welfare of 11 Australian citizens it believes have been detained off the coast of Cyprus.
A spokesperson said in a statement:
We will continue to make clear our expectation that any detainees receive humane treatment in line with international norms. We understand people want to respond to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but we continue to urge Australians not to join others seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade as they will be putting themselves and others at risk of injury, death, arrest or deportation.
The spokesperson said Dfat encouraged those wishing to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza “to do so through established channels”.
Australia has been part of the international call on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the International Court of Justice, including to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.
Dfat remains in contact with local authorities in Israel. Last month, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, arranged for Dfat to provide a briefing on the most current travel advice for the region and consular services ahead of future flotilla departures.
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Global Sumud Flotilla participants urge Australian government to intervene and ‘keep us safe’
The Australians that the Global Sumud Flotilla allege have been kidnapped by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are academics, doctors, students, activists and film-makers.
They include Anny Mokotow, Dr Bianca Pullman-Webb, Neve O’Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O’Toole, Sam Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O’Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla Lamont and Surya McEwan.
Ethan Floyd, who returned to Australia after being temporarily detained by the IDF when 22 boats were intercepted off the coast of Greece two weeks ago, said it wasn’t a “radical act” to attempt to deliver food, water and medicine to a “starving population”.
This is now the second time Israel has illegally abducted Australian citizens in international waters, and our government has said nothing … For as long as Australia continues to support Israel’s genocide, Australians will keep sailing.
In a video distributed by flotilla supporters as the boats were being intercepted on Monday, documentary film-maker and mother, Juliet Lamont, can be heard saying “it’s all on now”.
You never know the minute when the Israelis decide that ‘yeah, let’s fuck over some ordinary people,’ 500 of them, who have got a whole load of baby food in boats trying to break their illegal siege in international waters.
Here we are in international waters, and our governments are completely failing us. Do everything that you can to keep us safe.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong and Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade have been approached for comment.
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Lifeblood calls for urgent donations of A and O blood in Victoria
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is urgently calling for 5,500 Victorians with A and O blood to donate within the next week as its blood supplies run very low.
Victoria needs more people to donate than anywhere else in the country. It is one of the most populated states, and demand is high after a long and intense 2025 winter saw people cancel donations due to cold and flu infections.
More donors are needed urgently to prevent Lifeblood’s stocks falling to critical levels by June, and to protect the blood supplies hospitals rely on for cancer treatment, surgery, trauma care and childbirth.
Lifeblood spokesperson Cath Stone said Type O and A blood are among the types most frequently ordered by hospitals.
“Winter is always a challenging time for blood donation,” she said.
When people are unwell with colds or flu, they can’t donate, even if they want to. But the need for blood doesn’t slow down. Patients undergoing cancer treatment, people needing surgery, and those injured in accidents rely on blood every single day.
To book a donation, call 13 14 95, or visit lifeblood.com.au
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Butler says risk of Ebola to Australia ‘still low’, but officials monitoring situation very closely
Health minister Mark Butler said the Centre for Disease Control has been monitoring the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republican of the Congo and Uganda, which was declared a public health emergency of international concern this weekend.
The health minister said Australian officials had been working with the World Health Organization to monitor the spread of the virus, adding the chief health ministers of every state and territory met yesterday. Butler told RN this morning:
The risk to Australia is still low, but we’re monitoring it very closely because, first of all, the case numbers are increasing almost every day there. The number of deaths, as I think one of your reports said, is now over 100. And it’s a rare strain that’s not responsive to vaccines or treatments that we have. So we’re monitoring it very closely.
The minister added that the government would work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Border Force if needed to determine if any changes to travel advice were warranted.
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Eleven Australians intercepted on global aid flotilla to Gaza
Eleven Australians onboard a Global Sumud Flotilla that was attempting to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza have been intercepted off the coast of Cyprus.
According to a live tracker, 60 boats have been intercepted in recent hours, carrying hundreds of activists, including the Australians.
The Global Sumud Flotilla alleges those on board have been “illegally attacked” and “abducted” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with footage posted to social media showing armed military boarding the boats. Guardian Australia has not independently verified these claims.
In a statement, the Flotilla said:
We are outraged by the normalization of these violations of international maritime law and the kidnapping of peaceful civilians in international waters. We demand the immediate release of our participants, the safe passage of our entire fleet, and an end to the illegal siege of Gaza.
Among the Australians onboard are five who were intercepted a fortnight ago by the IDF off the coast of Greece and temporarily detained.
The Israeli foreign ministry and the Israeli embassy have been approached for comment.
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Queensland rescue crews helped 42 stranded students near the Gold Coast overnight
Brad Moore, coordinator with the Queensland State Fire Control Centre, said officials helped rescue 42 schoolchildren and their teachers trapped by flood waters near the Gold Coast last night.
Moore spoke to the ABC this morning, saying rescue crews undertook 15 rescues overnight, mostly around the Gold Coast area. The group of year 12 students and their teachers phoned in to get help after they were stranded and realised they couldn’t cross a dangerous area.
Moore said the rescue took some time, but they were able to safely transport the group around 9.30pm last night. He added:
The conditions can change quite quickly, particularly with the amount of rainfall … the water heights can change dramatically. …
It’s very important for people if they are in those areas or visiting those areas to kind of look ahead and plan the worst-case scenario.
Liberal senator says Coalition’s migration policy ‘alienates’ migrants and ‘doesn’t meet the needs’ of the community
Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan said he has “deep concerns” the Coalition’s immigration policy will divide the nation, saying he doesn’t think the country should take a “negative approach to migration”.
McLachlan broke with opposition leader Angus Taylor, who said last week the nation should heavily restrict immigration, tying migration rates to the ongoing shortage of housing. The senator told RN Breakfast this morning:
I have deep concerns, coming from a multicultural community, that we are going to create two types of members in the community going forward with this policy suite. … If you’re both contributing to the wealth of the nation and one is entitled to certain entitlements, you could have almost a form of a strata-ing of our society. And I’m not sure that’s the Australian way.
McLachlan went on:
I don’t think our rhetoric meets the needs of the broader community. I think our rhetoric used alienates migrant communities. I don’t think we should take a negative approach to migration. Certainly it should be controlled and we don’t want to invite people here without giving them a society that can accommodate them. Both economically and culturally. But we cannot continue to blame migrants for the problems of our economy.
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More than $57bn of Victorian infrastructure at risk due to climate hazards
More than $57bn of public infrastructure across Victoria will be at risk from extreme weather by 2030, with bushfires, flooding and heat posing the greatest threat, according to new research by Infrastructure Victoria.
The independent adviser assessed risks to $318bn in government-owned or regulated assets, finding that transport, energy and health assets were the most exposed to climate hazards. By 2070, the value at risk could increase to more than $71bn.
Dr Jonathan Spear, chief executive of Infrastructure Victoria said it highlighted the importance of climate resilient infrastructure.
Following a summer that saw bushfires, flooding and landslides hit many Victorian communities, we know extreme weather is a reality now.
The government needs to update and fund its adaptation plans. Funding high-priority, cost-effective infrastructure adaptation actions can save millions in recovery costs and lost productivity.
Erwin Jackson, the head of Australia programs at Climateworks Centre – who was not involved in the research – said:
The policies at a high level need to start integrating both reducing emissions and adaptation, but also focusing on the key risks, whether that be heat, bushfire, coastal inundation.
Part of the challenge was the scale of investment required to make infrastructure more resilient, he said. So, governments needed to identify the communities and assets that were most vulnerable, and work with the private sector to unlock investment in adaptation and resilience building.
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Health minister acknowledges change to private health insurance rebates for seniors ‘unwelcome’ but says they are necessary
The health minister, Mark Butler, said he understands changes to private health insurance rebates for older Australians have left many seniors troubled, but said it was “difficult to sustain” a system that benefited people based on age, but not on income.
If legislated, the budget would remove subsidies that encourage people over 65 to take out private health insurance. Australians aged 65-69 would see their rebates cut from 28% to 24%, and those 70 and over would see their rebate cut from 32% to 24%. The savings would be funnelled back into aged care.
Butler said he understood it was an “unwelcome change”, but added:
We’ve taken this hard, but I think responsible decision to re-equalise, if you like, private health subsidies based on household income rather than household age, and putting every single dollar we save there back into aged care. …
I know it’s unwelcome to many, but at a time of real challenge in our budget and the need to find every dollar we can into aged care, we just took the view that where there are two households next door to each other on the same income, paying them a different subsidy for their private health insurance simply based on age was not sustainable.
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Restricting welfare to citizens not ‘punishing’ but ‘incentivising’, shadow minister says
The shadow immigration minister, Jonno Duniam, has said Angus Taylor’s budget reply proposal to limit welfare payments only to Australian citizens was not a punishment for permanent residents but a “pro-migration policy” that would “incentivise that pathway to Australian citizenship”
ABC 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson asked Duniam how does “punishing tax-paying permanent residents appeal to would-be migrants that the country so badly needs?”
Duniam responded that “countless” people who have migrated to Australia and have become wealthy because of the opportunities have not been punished, and people like them who want to come won’t be punished either.
He said:
But they’ll still have to wait under the visa system a number of years, in almost all cases, to receive the kinds of welfare benefits that you are talking about.
And in many cases now, under Labor’s current approach, there are wait times between 4 and 10 years for various supports that people may want to take advantage of.
So this is not about punishment, but it is about trying to incentivise that pathway to Australian citizenship.
He said the Coalition is pro-migration, noting Australia’s ageing population, but says that “we want to determine who is coming here [and] in what number”:
We want to ensure that we have houses for them to live in.
And can I say, we want to preserve, for those who eventually become Australian citizens – which I hope is all of them that want to come here – the services that we provide in this country.
That’s a pretty pro-migration policy, if ever I’ve seen one.
But there will always be critics, and they will say what they say.
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Good morning
Good morning, it’s Nick Visser here again to dive into this gloomy Tuesday, in Sydney at least. Here’s what’s on deck in the news:
More than $57bn of infrastructure in Victoria is at risk due to climate hazards, according a new study. An independent adviser assessed risks to government-owned or regulated assets, and found many were exposed to climate hazards. By 2070, the value could rise to more than $71bn.
A flood warning remains in place for the Nerang and Coomera Rivers in the Gold Coast after moderate to heavy rainfall in the region since Sunday night, and there are reports of flash flooding across roads. Rainfall is forecast to continue into Tuesday, with further river and creek level rises and flooding expected, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
We’ll bring you more soon.
