What we learned today, Thursday 21 May
That’s where we’ll leave things. Thanks for reading, and have a good night. Until tomorrow, here were today’s top stories:
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One Nation announced its new resources policy; a Norway-inspired government equity scheme in prospective offshore oil and gas projects.
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Queensland’s Olympics minister, Tim Mander, stood down from his cabinet position after being referred to the federal police over claims he may have committed a “potential criminal offence” by enrolling to vote at a staffer’s house.
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Australia recorded a surprise jump in unemployment, with the jobless rate lifting to 4.5% in April.
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Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, condemned the actions of a far-right Israeli minister who posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured while trying to sail an aid flotilla to Gaza.
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The federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced a $7.2m package to address the growing diphtheria outbreak. Later in the day, South Australia’s chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, confirmed a number of people have tested positive to diphtheria in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
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Paul Keating rubbished claims from the Coalition and the startup sector that Labor’s reforms to capital gains tax will undermine entrepreneurship.
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Australia’s national science agency confirmed at a staff town hall meeting that it is sacking 92 staff in its environment research team.
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New South Wales prison officers walked off the job across the state in solidarity with a local strike at Goulburn Correctional Centre, and in frustration over record prisoner numbers.
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Elon Musk’s X was fined $650,000 after failing to comply with an Australian child safety notice.
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And Victoria’s Avalon airport was sent into a partial lockdown, causing a series of flight delays after a security scare that police said was caused by a laser removal hair device.
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Diphtheria cases confirmed in the APY Lands
South Australia’s chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, has confirmed a number of people have tested positive to diphtheria in the state’s Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
Guardian Australia understands there have been at least seven confirmed cases in the APY Lands, since SA Health were notified of the first case in April.
The APY Lands have a population of about 2,500 people, spread across several main communities and homelands within an area of more than 100,000 sq km.
Clinicians have been told to stay vigilant for diphtheria in people who may have travelled to the APY Lands from the Kimberley, Pilbara, Goldfields or Northern Territory.
Spurrier told Guardian Australia that vaccines would be made free for “priority groups”, which include Indigenous people and frontline workers across the healthcare system.
She said:
SA Health is responding to cases of diphtheria which have been notified in the APY Lands, with an ongoing outbreak being managed in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Respiratory diphtheria is extremely rare in South Australia and the first case in 2026 was notified in early April.
Vaccination against diphtheria is effective at preventing severe disease. Vaccines to protect against diphtheria have been safely used in our immunisation programs to protect young children, teenagers and pregnant women against diphtheria for many years.
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NSW corrections minister assures striking prison officers there won’t be job losses
The New South Wales corrections minister has assured prison officers on strike that the closure of four wings at the Goulburn Correctional Centre will not result in job losses.
The local union branch at the Goulburn Correctional Centre moved a motion to strike earlier today over the NSW government’s plan to close four units at Goulburn jail that date back to the late 1800s.
Staff at other facilities joined the strike, sending prisons statewide into lockdown with only skeleton staff remaining. The guards’ union, the Public Service Association, which did not organise the strike, said other facilities joined in solidarity but also in frustration because the “custodial population is the highest it’s ever been”.
The minister for corrections, Anoulack Chanthivong, said that keeping the units open would mean “asking officers to continue working in conditions that independent experts have said should be phased out”, which was “not in the best interests of staff or inmates”.
He continued:
The Minns Labor government is not closing Goulburn Correctional Centre. Goulburn remains a proud prison town and that will not change. No staff member will be forced out of a job, and there will be no forced relocations or redundancies.
The decision to retire Goulburn’s Victorian‑era wings is the right one. These facilities are outdated, unsafe and no longer fit for a modern correctional system.
We are continuing a genuine six‑month consultation process and remain committed to engaging directly with staff and their representatives.
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One Nation announces Norway-inspired gas policy
The commonwealth would acquire a 30% equity stake in new gas ventures under a One Nation policy designed to extract “vastly greater returns” for Australian taxpayers from the resource.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, announced the Norway-inspired proposal in a speech to a major gas industry conference in Adelaide earlier today.
Hanson said under the proposal, the commonwealth would offer companies a 30% rebate on the cost of exploration in its waters in exchange for taking an equity stake of up to 30% in production licences.
The government’s stake would be overseen by a new commonwealth investment vehicle, which would stash any profits from production into a sovereign wealth fund.
She said One Nation – which has just two lower house seats in federal parliament but is surging in the opinion polls – would also replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) with a new royalty regime for offshore gas.
Hanson said the PRRT was a “failure”, echoing the same criticism as advocates calling for a 25% export tax.
The One Nation leader said her proposal was superior, describing the idea of a 25% export tax as “economic vandalism”.
She said:
This is a bold long-term vision that will give the Australian people vastly greater returns from their resources and align government objectives with our world-class gas industry.
Australians are rightly unhappy. Despite our enormous resource wealth, ordinary families are not seeing the benefits in affordable energy, reduced debt or improved services. Public unrest is building because successive governments have failed to secure a fair share while pursuing policies that risk killing the industry that generates that wealth.
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Some more on that story, the Jewish Council of Australia said it supported Australia’s decision to sanction Ben-Gvir and to demand a meeting with the Israeli ambassador but said Australia should go further, and issue country-level sanctions, and expel the ambassador.
The JCA argued Ben-Gvir was not a rogue minister in the government but represented “this far-right Israeli Government and its lack of regard for basic human dignity”.
In 2025, Australia sanctioned Ben-Gvir for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Bart Shteinman, the executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said the incident was yet another Israeli government betrayal of Jewish ethics and that:
Using Jewish symbols and the Israeli national anthem to mock captive human rights defenders, including the Jews among them, speaks volumes about Israel’s betrayal of Jewish values.
Ben-Gvir and the forces under his command do not represent Jewish Australians.
The federal government must move beyond its representations. It must take urgent action to ensure the immediate release of all Australian citizens who have been unlawfully abducted in international waters, and finally end Israel’s impunity by applying broad-based sanctions on its government.
Ben-Gvir has not commented on the footage or the criticism of it.
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Jewish Council of Australia condemns Israeli minister’s treatment of detainees
The Jewish Council of Australia has described the actions of Israel’s national security minister – mocking detained human rights defenders – as “a stomach-turning display of cruelty” and “another Israeli government betrayal of Jewish ethics”.
The council says Australia should issue country-level sanctions against Israel and expel its ambassador.
Video published by Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, shows him taunting and humiliating international volunteers who are zip-tied and forced to kneel in stress positions while the Israeli national anthem blares over loudspeakers.
Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right, racist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, mocked the bound human rights defenders, waving an Israeli flag and shouting “welcome to Israel, we are the landlords”.
As those detained scream in pain, Ben-Gvir yells “give them to us for the terrorists’ prisons”.
Bart Shteinman, the executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said the footage was “a stomach-turning display of cruelty that flies in the face of human dignity” and that:
Forcing humanitarian volunteers onto their knees while bound and subjected to psychological torment is completely indefensible.
We stand in solidarity with these courageous activists, including Jewish Australian Annie Mokotow, who risked their safety to challenge the illegal maritime blockade and highlight the horrific deprivation in Gaza.
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Nats senator Bridget McKenzie offers to help Pauline Hanson campaign in Brisbane
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has offered to help Pauline Hanson campaign for a seat in Brisbane, amid rumours the One Nation leader could look to run for a Nationals-held seat instead.
Hanson has approached government departments to ask whether she could open a new office in the seat of Capricornia, in central Queensland, now held by the Nationals MP Michelle Landry. That seat has also been discussed as a possible home for Matt Canavan, if the Nationals leader decides to switch from the Senate.
McKenzie was on Sky News earlier, and claimed Hanson should instead look to the outer Brisbane seat of Blair, held by the Labor MP Shayne Neumann. McKenzie said:
I think ‘Pauline for Blair’ has a really nice ring to it.
She’ll be actually taking a seat off Labor. Because if you want to change the government in this country, if you want to kick Albo out of the Lodge, Pauline, you’re going to have to start winning Labor seats. I’ll even come and help you campaign, if that’s what you’re going to do.
The Sky host Kieran Gilbert interjected:
You’ll help Pauline campaign, seriously?
McKenzie responded:
In the seat of Blair, absolutely. Let’s go.
With the surging One Nation vote leading to a corresponding cratering of the Coalition’s support, some in the rightwing parties have discussed whether they need to join forces, formally or otherwise.
While a formal minority government coalition between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation has been rubbished by many, others have said there could be other types of cooperation on the right.
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Job cuts at national science agency ‘a very worrying development’
The job cuts announced today at the CSIRO will hurt Australia’s ability to predict and adapt to the impacts of climate change, Science & Technology Australia warns.
Staff at Australia’s national science agency were told today that 92 jobs would be cut from its environment unit, with research programs reduced from eight to five years.
Ryan Winn, the chief executive of Science & Technology Australia, described the job cuts as “a very worrying development”. He said:
New funding for CSIRO announced in the federal budget was never going to save these jobs. It will be used to pay for infrastructure, like buildings and research equipment.
The climate modelling done by CSIRO and ACCESS-NRI contribute to global climate models. Australia is the only country in the southern hemisphere contributing to these … there will be flow-on effects for Australia and our Pacific neighbours’ ability to predict, adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change.
Susan Tonks, the secretary of the CSIRO Staff Association, said the cuts “hurt Australia’s core environmental science capacity, research that supports our oceans, atmosphere, our land, water and our climate”, adding:
Despite the extra funding support from the federal government – some $620m over the next four years – the CSIRO job cuts just keep on coming.
This extra funding support was promised to provide a more sustainable and stable organisation. We’re calling on CSIRO executive to make good on that commitment and rule out further job cuts until the end of the decade.
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Minimum wage panellist suggests 6% boost could add inflation
A member of the Fair Work Commission’s panel to set minimum wages has suggested union demands for a 6% increase risk adding to inflation.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has argued the 3 million workers on minimum and award wages should get a pay rise that exceeds inflation.
Employer groups, the Reserve Bank governor and now, it seems, the federal government, have warned big pay rises in today’s high-inflation environment risk adding to inflation pressures.
At an expert hearing yesterday, Mark Cully, a wage panellist, grilled the ACTU’s Thomas Greenwell on the claim a 6% rise wouldn’t add to inflation. He said:
Are you seriously contending that there would be no flow-on implications of a 6% increase to the rest of the workforce?
If that risk was to manifest itself, then I’m not sure how it ends up serving your members, because the consequence of that would be higher inflation … I’m just puzzled by how blithe you are about the immateriality of seeking a 6% wage increase.
Greenwell said enterprise agreements dominate Australia’s workforce and have seen increases of just 4.1%, while inflation is not presently being driven by wage growth and Australians still expect inflation to fall.
His ACTU colleague, Alister Kentish, said the wage panel should boost real wages as the RBA and government expect inflation from the US-Israel war on Iran and oil prices to ease quickly.
However, Adam Hatcher, panellist and FWC president, said:
Well, that inflation prediction is based on some brave assumptions about external events, isn’t it?
Kentish said the inflation prediction is based on the “best available material to the RBA and the commonwealth”, to which Hatcher said:
The best available data: what’s that? Truth Social, is it?
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NSW is locking up a record number of people under the Minns government, which enacted major bail reforms in response to domestic violence. There were more than 14,000 people in jail in March.
The prison population grew by 1,200 in the four months to March, which was more than in the previous four years, according to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data released last week.
The abrupt rise in the prison population began in November, a month after Mal Lanyon became commissioner.
Bocsar data shows the surge is due to an increase in enforcement activity by NSW police, mostly around domestic violence offending, rather than any increase in crime.
Troy Wright said:
The system is certainly stretched … We’ve got infrastructure for 15,600 inmates but there’s never been this many inmates before.
The Industrial Relations Commission is holding a hearing this afternoon over the strike.
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NSW prison officers undertake a statewide strike
A statewide strike across New South Wales prisons began this afternoon after officers walked off the job in solidarity with a local strike at Goulburn Correctional Centre, and in frustration over record prison numbers.
Troy Wright, of the Public Service Association, said the local branch at the Goulburn Correctional Centre moved a motion to strike over the state government’s plan to close facilities at Goulburn jail that date back to the late 1800s. He said the staff were concerned about job losses and the impact on the community.
In March, the NSW government announced two prison facilities would be closed in September under changes designed to make conditions safer for prisoners. This included facilities at Goulburn jail along with ageing facilities at Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre.
Wright said staff at other prisons have joined the strike, sending prisons statewide into lockdown with only skeleton staff remaining.
He said the other facilities joined in solidarity but also in frustration because the “custodial population is the highest it’s ever been”.
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Hi, I hope you’re having a good afternoon. I’ll see you through the rest of the day’s news.
That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will be your guide for the rest of the day. Take care.
More on the students injured after their school bus crashed in Sydney’s west this afternoon
NSW police said five students were injured and taken to various hospitals for treatment, including one with suspected fractures. They are in years 11 and 12 and range in ages from 16 to 18.
The remaining students and teacher were “shaken but not physically injured” and have all been taken home or back to school, officials said.
The driver has been taken to Westmead hospital for further treatment and mandatory testing.
Albanese government avoids calling for a real ‘real’ wage increase
The Albanese government seems to have stepped back from demanding wages rise faster than inflation after its officials avoided calling for exactly that.
The Fair Work Commission is set to decide how far to lift minimum and award wages for about 3 million workers in a few weeks, in its annual wage decision. Back in March, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, called for a “sustainable real wage increase”.
Inflation is rising and is expected to reach 5% by June, on a headline basis. Trade unions are calling for a 6% wage boost, to exceed inflation.
At an expert hearing yesterday, government representatives refused to say the government wanted a wage boost that exceeded inflation, a commonly accepted definition of real wage increase.
The department of employment’s Matt Cowgill told the hearing the government was not calling for a specific number. An official suggested a boost of less than 5% would mean real wages would go backwards, to which Cowgill said:
I think that’s arguable … The government doesn’t take a position as to which of those measures, over which period of time, is the specific measure that should be used to assess whether an economically sustainable real wage increase has been awarded.
Chris Perks, from Treasury, said the budget forecast for 3.5% wages growth over the year to June 2027 was contingent on a similar wage decision of just 3.5%. He went on to say:
If nominal unit labour costs do not moderate as forecast then this could have implications for inflation, potentially weighing on growth and employment … An economically sustainable real wage increase is one that is consistent with inflation returning to the RBA’s target band in 2026-27.
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Bus carrying dozens of students crashes into tree in western Sydney
A bus carrying dozens of schoolchildren crashed in western Sydney’s Erskine Park this afternoon, with multiple students and the driver taken from the scene via ambulance.
Fire and Rescue NSW said emergency services were called to the scene just before 1pm amid reports the bus had crashed into a tree. The vehicle had 41 students and teachers on board, who were able to get out of the bus after the incident. The driver remained trapped, but was able to be freed by specialist rescue firefighters and paramedics.
Five students and the driver were taken from the site of the accident via ambulance.
Police, Transport NSW and Department of Education officials were also on the scene after the incident.
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Aboriginal health peak body welcomes diphtheria support package
The CEO of the Northern Territory’s peak body for Aboriginal community-controlled health services says the diphtheria outbreak is “serious” but “preventable”, and urged Territorians to check their vaccination status.
On Thursday, Donna Ah Chee, the CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), welcomed a $7m commonwealth emergency support package, which includes additional vaccines, surge workforce support and expanded public health measures.
More than 220 cases of diphtheria have been recorded nationally in 2026 and primarily in remote Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland, making it the largest outbreak seen in Australia in decades.
Ah Chee said vaccination remained the “best protection against serious illness”, and that improving immunisation rates in remote communities required more than making vaccines available.
“Vaccination works, but access can be much more complicated in remote communities,” she said.
We know overcrowded housing and limited access to services can increase the spread of infectious diseases in remote communities and affect how quickly vaccines can reach people.
That’s why long-term investment in housing, a strong workforce and community-controlled primary healthcare remains so important.
Vaccination remains the best protection against serious illness.
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CSIRO confirms environment research job cuts
Australia’s national science agency has confirmed at a staff town hall meeting that it is sacking 92 members of its environment research team.
CSIRO staff members said they had been told the number of redundancies had been reduced from 102 after a months-long consultation period.
As Guardian Australia reported on Wednesday, about a third of the team working on the national climate model have been told they have lost their jobs.
Senior scientists said the cuts meant Australia could lose the ability to submit climate projections to form part of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and have significantly reduced ability to forecast future damage to the country.
The cuts have been made despite CSIRO receiving an additional $387m in funding over the next four years in last week’s federal budget.
More to come on this story later today.
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Man charged with stealing camera equipment from Bondi shooting victim in aftermath of terror attack
New South Wales police have charged a man for allegedly stealing camera equipment from one of the victims of the Bondi beach terror attack in the aftermath of the shooting.
In a statement, police allege that the man had been at the Hanukah event before the shooting on 14 December, in which 15 people were killed.
During their investigation into the attack, detectives “identified that one of the victims – a 61-year-old retired police officer and photographer – had his camera equipment stolen in the aftermath of the attack”.
Peter Meagher, 61, a member of the NSW police for 35 years, was one of the victims of the Bondi shooting. In a statement released by police last year, Meagher’s family said he was “struck down in retirement while pursuing his passion for taking photos”.
Read more here:
Australia backs historic UN climate vote
Australia has voted in favour of a landmark United Nations resolution spearheaded by its Pacific island neighbours to strengthen state responsibility to act on climate change, AAP reports.
The 193-member global body endorsed an advisory opinion provided by the world’s top court on Wednesday, which notably warns a failure to curb fossil fuel production might constitute an “internationally wrongful act”.
The hard-fought legal opinion from the international court of justice delivered in July 2025 was first conceived by a group of Pacific students and initially taken up by Vanuatu.
The climate-vulnerable island nation, supported by its Pacific allies, was also the first to sponsor the UN general assembly resolution that passed with 141 votes in favour, eight against and 28 abstentions.
The Australia-based Climate Council chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, said the ruling left the federal government’s stance on fossil fuel exports exposed.
Australia, which has been pursuing significant domestic emissions cuts with ambitious renewables targets but remains a major exporter of coal and gas, voted in favour of the resolution.
Other big fossil fuel producers, including the US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, opposed the measure.
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House prices to fall as almost half of homes for auction fail to sell
Australia’s housing market is slowing, with homes being pulled from auctions and prices starting to fall.
Almost half of all homes listed for auction nationwide last week failed to sell, sending Australia’s auction clearance rate to 50.4%, its lowest since pandemic lockdowns in May 2020, according to Cotality.
More than half of all homes up for auction in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Canberra did not sell.
Annabelle Mezieres, a Cotality economist, said:
Clearance rates holding in the low 50% range across the largest two capitals is likely to signal further downward price movement.
Median home prices have fallen slightly in the last month across the five biggest cities, separate Cotality data shows.
Sydney and Melbourne home values have each fallen 1.3% in the last two months to today, Cotality’s daily index shows. Prices in Brisbane and Adelaide are close to running flat this month, though Perth prices are still rising.
Homebuyers have been rocked by three back-to-back interest rate rises, resurgent living costs and now fewer investor tax breaks after Labor’s budget, as you can read here:
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Queensland minister referred to federal police over electoral enrolment allegations
The Australian Electoral Commission has referred allegations about the voter enrolment of the Queensland sports and Olympics minister, Tim Mander, to the federal police for further investigation.
Mander has denied any wrongdoing and referred himself to Queensland election authorities after The Australian published stories alleging the former NRL referee and Scripture Union CEO had enrolled to vote at the home of an electorate officer after the breakdown of his marriage despite not living there.
The Electoral Commission Queensland passed the matter to the AEC.
In a statement on Thursday, the AEC said it had sought information about the matter that included an opportunity for Mander to provide information to support his enrolment claim and that:
While a determination has not been made, the AEC does consider that there is currently an absence of compelling evidence to determine Mr Mander resided at the enrolled address.
As such, on 19 May the AEC referred this matter to the AFP for their consideration, and any action they consider appropriate.
As the matters in question concern a potential criminal offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995, the appropriate authority to undertake any further investigation into these issues is the Australian Federal Police.
Mander told parliament last week he had complied with electoral laws “at all times” and that:
I updated the Electoral Commission of Queensland with my correct details when my circumstances changed.
I am currently enrolled at my permanent address and I have complied with the requirements of the Electoral Commission of Queensland at all times.
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Woman dies after being hit by police car in far north Queensland
A woman in her 70s has died after she was hit by a police four-wheel-drive in far north Queensland.
Queensland police confirmed in a statement just before noon that the woman had died after she was hit by the car at an intersection in Cairns.
Police said emergency services were called to the intersection about 7am today.
Officers in the car gave her first aid before she was taken to Cairns hospital with life‑threatening injuries, police said, but she was declared deceased later in the morning.
Motorists have been told to avoid the area while the forensic crash unit investigates.
The case will also be examined by the Queensland police ethical standards command.
Police have asked witnesses or anyone with relevant information to contact them.
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ATO issues $1,650 fine to 97-year-old woman who had not ‘prioritised tax obligations’ after husband’s death
The Australian Taxation Office fined a 97-year-old Brisbane woman $1,650 because she had not “prioritised her tax obligations”, despite the recent death of her husband who managed their financial affairs.
The decision was only overturned after her accountant posted details of the incident on LinkedIn – catching the attention of industry associations and the tax ombudsman, who issued a stinging rebuke direct to the ATO.
After a lifetime of submitting tax returns on time, the elderly Brisbane resident lost her husband in mid-2023, according to details provided to Guardian Australia by accountant Nathan Watt.
Her circumstances were further complicated by the sale of the tax practice formerly used by the couple.
Read more here:
Jobless rate jumps to 4.5%
The unemployment rate climbed to 4.5% in April, from 4.3% in the month before, as the number of employed Australians dropped by 18,600.
The unexpected lift in the jobless rate threatens a lengthy period of extraordinary job market resilience, as economists predict the global oil crisis will drive a sharp slowdown in growth this year.
Full-time employment fell by 10,700 people, and part-time employment decreased by 7,900, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
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New Zealand finance minister to Australians annoyed with CGT changes: ‘where the bloody hell are you? Come over.’
Nicola Willis, New Zealand’s finance minister, said the country would be willing to welcome any Australians hoping to “start or grow a business” and have an “epic opportunity” to do so amid Australia’s upcoming changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
Willis spoke to Sky News this morning, saying New Zealand had a “very simple tax system” with a “low rate” of taxation. She went on:
We keep it simple, we allow you accelerated depreciation and deductibility on your capital investments. And you’ve got a government that is very pro growth, anti-red tape.
We’re on a reforming mission to make this one of the best places in the world to do business.
Willis had a simple message for Australians: “Where the bloody hell are you? Come over”.
On the flip side, many New Zealanders have looked to Australian shores for opportunity. Read more about that shift here:
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Taylor says gas tax would be ‘harmful’ as Hanson prepares to unveil Norwegian-style policy
The opposition leader said a gas tax would be “harmful”, trading relationships would be damaged, investors would take capital elsewhere and projects wouldn’t proceed.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, is scheduled to address the gas conference later this afternoon, where she is expected to unveil a policy to replace the PRRT with a 10% royalty on all offshore oil and gas production.
Hanson will also reportedly push a Norwegian-style scheme in which the Commonwealth takes an equity stake in projects in exchange for helping to cover exploration costs.
Taylor tells gas industry to ‘start making noise’
The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, has urged the oil and gas industry to “start making noise” and fight their detractors in a speech reaffirming the Coalition’s opposition to a 25% export tax.
Taylor used an appearance at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide on Thursday to renew his commitment to abandon a net zero emissions target, scrap the safeguard mechanism and promote more “digging and drilling” to achieve what he describes as “energy abundance.
The opposition leader also issued a message to the oil and gas industry, which is fighting against a campaign to replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) with a flat 25% tax on gas exports.
The federal government balked at changes in last week’s federal budget but will face ongoing pressure – including from Labor-aligned trade unions. Taylor said:
We have a government that’s hostile to your sectors and doesn’t appreciate the Australians who work in it – or what they do for our country. The Coalition can’t take the fight up for your sectors alone. You need to start making noise. You need to use every campaign tool at your disposal – especially social media. Push back against your detractors.
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Bomb response unit determines suspicious item at Avalon airport a laser hair removal device
Victoria police say the suspicious item found at Melbourne’s Avalon airport this morning was determined to be a laser hair removal device.
The bomb response unit conducted checks after emergency officials were called to the domestic terminal around 6am, prompting the terminal’s evacuation and closure.
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Melbourne’s Avalon airport reopens
The domestic terminal at Melbourne’s Avalon airport is now reopen and operations have resumed.
A spokesperson for the airport said Victoria police have deemed the item is no longer a risk. They added:
Today’s response demonstrates the vigilance of the screening and security processes, with precautionary measures taken immediately to ensure the safety of passengers, staff and the broader community, which will always remain our highest priority.
Passengers are encouraged to chat with their airline for flight updates.
A ‘very serious outbreak of a very serious disease’, health minister says of diphtheria spread
The health minister, Mark Butler, is speaking about the diphtheria outbreak in the Northern Territory and neighbouring Queensland and WA. He said the federal government has been providing thousands of vaccine doses to be administered to remote communities, adding a booster is a highly effective way to protect yourself.
“This is a very serious outbreak of a very serious disease,” Butler said. The health minister went on:
Obviously we also need to ensure that there are adequate doses of antibiotics for those who have acquired the infection, particularly the respiratory form of the infection, because that can be a very, very serious disease as well. …
There are sufficient doses of vaccines, I’m told, in the Territory, but the need for additional workers to get out and get the needles into the arms that need them.
Back to the shutdown at Melbourne’s Avalon airport this morning
Several travellers have called into local radio this morning to discuss their snarled travel plans. David told 3AW Breakfast that he arrived on the scene before a schedule flight to Brisbane, but he couldn’t get in the terminal. He said:
There’s people queued up for miles. They blocked it off at the entrance way where the roundabout is, people actually walking out on foot from the airport. They’re sort of blocked us off.
I’d love to know what’s going on.
He went on to say “no one’s telling us a thing”, adding people had been leaving the airport on foot after it was shuttered.
Stuart said he saw similar scenes while driving past Avalon airport, telling 3AW:
I’ve just come past Avalon … there’s cars everywhere out in the front, and people have even pushed their luggage trolleys all the way from the airport … to outside the premises on the road.
Minister for Indigenous Australians speaks on the latest on the growing diphtheria outbreak
Malarndirri McCarthy, the minister for Indigenous Australians, was just on ABC’s News Breakfast program speaking about growing concerns on the worst diphtheria outbreak in decades with more than 220 cases across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland, largely affecting First Nations communities.
The federal government announced a $7m support package to further support national and Aboriginal-controlled community health responses to the disease; McCarthy said the package will immediately support vaccination drive efforts.
“We have seen programs rolling out in places like Yuendumu in language. We know that we’ve got over 100 Aboriginal languages. We need to ensure that the communication is there, not misinformation, McCarthy said.
We certainly saw that through Covid and we need to ensure that the right information is getting out to our remote and regional communities.
The federal government and health authorities are urging those in affected areas to ensure they are vaccinated and up to date with their inoculations.
We know that the immunisation rates have been there for our children … Our call is really to adults to not think that you are immune, make sure you’re getting checked. So, it’s really important that adults also know that this isn’t just about children. This is actually all people of all ages.
Albanese leaves door open to extending fuel excise cut
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has not ruled out extending the temporary cut to the fuel excise as the Middle East conflict continues to disrupt the global oil market.
The three-month halving of the fuel excise is due to end on 30 June, as is the pausing of the heavy road vehicle user charge.
Asked on Sydney’s 2Day FM radio if the relief for motorists and truckies, which has cost the budget $2.9bn, would be extended, Albanese said:
We’ll do an assessment closer to the day. It is very costly but it has made a difference. We’re doing pretty well, I’ve got to say, compared with what the expectations were, people have stopped asking me about it (fuel supplies).
Pressed again, Albanese said:
We’ll make the assessment, like, it’s really volatile times. We don’t know when this war in the Middle East will end. We’ve got the ceasefire still going at the moment. We want it to end.
The prime minister noted the average petrol price had fallen to about $1.87 a litre – close to what it was prior to the start of the conflict in late February.
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Domestic terminal at Melbourne’s Avalon airport evacuated after suspicious item found
The domestic terminal at Melbourne’s Avalon airport was evacuated this morning after a suspicious item was found during the screening process. A person has since been detained by police. A spokesperson for the airport said:
The domestic terminal at Melbourne Avalon Airport was evacuated this morning following the identification of a suspicious item during the screening process. Victoria police attended and an individual has been detained.
The matter is now being managed by police and any further enquiries should be directed to Victoria police.
Victoria police said emergency services were called to the airport just before 6am and were conducting a safety check. A police spokesperson confirmed the building had been evacuated and the area cordoned off as a precaution while the investigation is ongoing.
The spokesperson for the airport added passengers travelling today should stay in contact with their airline:
At this stage, passengers are being advised that, due to safety precautions, delays are expected. Passengers are advised to contact Jetstar regarding their flights. We will provide further updates regarding any additional delays as more information becomes available.
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Keating lashes Coalition, John Howard and startup sector over CGT claims
Paul Keating rubbished claims from the Coalition and the startup sector that Labor’s reforms to capital gains tax will undermine entrepreneurship, insisting the changes are “marginal” and badly needed to improve housing affordability.
Amid a week-long assault on Jim Chalmers’ budget, the former Labor prime minister said wealthy individuals had been the beneficiaries of preferential treatment for investments for decades – rules he said had distorted the tax system and disadvantaged wage earners.
The proposed CGT changes – replacing the 50% tax discount on profits with a new cost-base indexation model, meaning tax on profits after inflation, and a minimum 30% tax rate imposed – have been strongly opposed by some tech founders.
Keating had this to say:
Punters with a big idea won’t be put off by some marginal change to the tax rate. The rush of entrepreneurial blood to the brain always dominates.
The simple fact is that income is taxed too heavily while capital is taxed too lightly. That is the fact of it – and has been the fact of it. And that distortion has made housing unaffordable for a whole generation.
Read more:
Rogue AI poses ‘extinction’ risk to humanity, federal minister warns
The assistant productivity minister, Andrew Leigh, will declare rogue AI or an engineered pandemic are the most likely ways the human species could end over the coming 100 years, AAP reports.
“Extinction means the complete loss of our species. No survivors, no recovery, no second act,” Leigh will tell the Tasmanian Economic Society on Thursday.
One estimate, from Australian philosopher Toby Ord, puts the odds of such a catastrophe at one-in-six over the coming century.
Policymakers could consider limits on what AI is allowed to do and how it approaches problems in a bid to reduce the risk, Leigh will say.
The danger is not only that such a system might ‘go rogue’ in the science-fiction sense. It is that a government or corporation with access to machine intelligence far beyond human level could gain a strategic advantage so overwhelming that normal forms of competition, geostrategic balancing, political correction and international negotiation cease to work.
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Federal government announces diphtheria support package
As the diphtheria outbreak spreads, the federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced a $7.2m package targeting vaccines and health worker support, particularly in the Northern Territory.
About 60% of the 230 cases are in the Northern Territory, but there are also cases in South Australia, Queensland, and a significant number in the northern part of Western Australia.
The package will support the Northern Territory government and the Aboriginal community controlled health sector, with $5.2m for the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre to provide a surge workforce to administer booster vaccinations and treatments, and to procure additional vaccines and antibiotics.
A lack of health staff to administer vaccines and booster shots has slowed down the outbreak response to date.
There will also be $2m for culturally safe communications, community liaison and other on the ground public health supports. It is the biggest outbreak since national record-keeping began.
Diphtheria, which can cause either skin (cutaneous) or respiratory disease, is considered rare in Australia following a vaccination rollout that began in the 1930s.
Declining vaccination rates, overcrowding, and adults not receiving booster shots are all thought to be contributing to the spread.
Respiratory diphtheria can be deadly and a significant number of cases in the outbreak are the respiratory type, with one quarter of cases requiring hospitalisation, putting pressure on services.
Read more:
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Shadow treasurer says Australians should keep ‘reward of their work’ in calls to slash top tax rate
Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, said he agrees with NSW premier Chris Minns that the top marginal tax rate of 47% should be slashed to ensure Australians can “keep the reward of their work”.
Minns said yesterday the country should do more to “make sure we’re taking urgent action” when it comes to personal income taxes, adding a lot of families were getting “stung”. He took particular issue with the top marginal rate of 47%, paid for each dollar earned above $190,000 annually.
Wilson spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, a day after delivering a budget reply at the National Press Club. He added the recent changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing amounted to a “betrayal of trust”. Wilson said:
I will absolutely always focus on how we get not just the top marginal tax rate down, but every tax rate down, because there are so many Australians right now who are working harder than ever, and they don’t feel like their hard work is paying off.
The government has basically gone after a complete assault on the self-starters and small business of this country … and we are going to stand up and we are going to fight for them.
Thousands of childcare workers prepare to walk off job over federal government payment
As many as 20,000 childcare workers are preparing to walk off the job around the country in July, after the Albanese government failed to extend a key workers retention payment in last week’s federal budget.
In November, the government’s childcare worker retention payment will run out, leaving staff facing a pay cut before the fair work commission’s staged pay rise for the sector takes full effect.
A walk-off is different to a strike – it would not be a sanctioned action, and generally involves workers leaving centres at the same time during the day or afternoon.
The industry widely expected the government to fund the extension in the budget, which has increased worker salaries by 15%.
The federal government’s payment essentially brought forward pay rises for the sector ahead of the FWC’s gender undervaluation review – so instead of the workers reaching the 15% increase by 2028 or beyond, most now already have it. But if the government does not extend the payment, they face going backwards.
The government wrote in the budget that it supports undervaluation review and that “further decisions [are] expected to be finalised this year.”
The United Worker’s Union’s Carolyn Smith says most workers would face a pay cliff of between 4% and 15% if the payment isn’t extended:
We cannot go backwards. Educators fought hard for this and the government had every opportunity in the budget to finish the job. The 15% pay rise recognised that early childhood educators had been undervalued for too long.
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Job statistics to be released today by ABS
An uptick in Australia’s unemployment could scare the Reserve Bank off more rate hikes as fears grow about the impact of the Iran war on the economy, AAP reports.
The jobless rate is expected to remain at 4.3%, with another 20,000 jobs added for April, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases the results of its latest labour force survey on Thursday.
Money markets were pricing in about a one-in-10 chance of a hike at the next RBA meeting in June but had fully priced in one rate rise by November.
Minutes from the central bank’s meeting earlier in May, released on Tuesday, showed most board members still agreed fighting inflation was the priority, even though the risks to economic activity and employment were gathering. Market economists also warned of worsening impacts on the labour market the longer the Iran war drags on.
That poses a dilemma for the Reserve Bank board, which must balance the dual priorities of keeping price growth under control and targeting full employment.
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Wong condemns ‘shocking, degrading’ footage of Israeli minister taunting captured activists
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has condemned the actions of Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured while trying to sail an aid flotilla to Gaza.
Wong joined international condemnation of the footage, which shows Ben-Gvir waving an Israeli flag, mocking and taunting the detainees, including shouting: “The people of Israel live” in the face of one bound man.
In a statement, Wong said: “The images we have seen are shocking and unacceptable”.
We condemn the actions of Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir – who Australia has sanctioned – and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained.
I have asked Australia’s Ambassador to Israel to make representations to Israel, reiterating our call for the release of the detained Australians and for Israel to ensure no ill treatment of any detainees and to act in line with international obligations.
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Good morning
Hello everyone, it’s Nick Visser here once again to hand down the day’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has issued a sharp rebuke to Israel over footage of the country’s far-right national security minister mocking and taunting activists who were captured on the Global Sumud Flotilla this week. Wong said in a statement the images were “shocking and unacceptable”.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is set to release its latest figures on the country’s jobless rate today. Any major uptick will be closely watched by the Reserve Bank and any plans for future rate hikes.
Stick with us, we’ll have more for you soon.
