Australia news live: police conduct ‘planned operation’ in Victorian town as hunt for fugitive Dezi Freeman continues

Richard Marles says signing of major defence treaty with Papua New Guinea ‘imminent’

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has also been interviewed on ABC Afternoon Briefing, where he’s said a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea is “imminent”.

Anthony Albanese’s strategy of pushing back against China in the Pacific was dealt another blow last month when he left his trip to Port Moresby without having the treaty signed with his counterpart, James Marape, due to concerns about sovereignty.

Instead, the two governments signed a joint communique and pledged to continue negotiations on the wider Pukpuk mutual defence treaty.

This afternoon, Marles told the ABC that the communique – signed the day after the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence – was “historic” in its own right and that:

It paves the way for, really, Australia’s third alliance relationship after the US and New Zealand.

And I’m confident that that communique will make its way into a signed treaty in the very near future.

Let me leave it at that, but that was very much the sentiment that was expressed on the part of both prime ministers when they signed the communique a couple of weeks ago.

So, you know, this is imminent.

Angus Taylor says recognition of Palestinian statehood makes Hamas less likely to agree to Gaza peace plan

The opposition’s defence spokesperson, Angus Taylor, has been on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program talking about the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The Australian government has welcomed the plan and says it leaves the door open to a two-state solution, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, applauding its commitment to denying Hamas a role in any future governance of Gaza.

Taylor said he believed the plan offered the “best chance of peace” but criticised the Albanese government for already formally recognising the state of Palestine, saying the decision would provide an incentive for Hamas not to agree to the terms.

Taylor told the ABC:

I do think this gives us our best chance of peace. I think it gives us our best chance of a two-state solution.

But, you know, the problem with recognising Palestine before this goes into place and before we can see it’s working is it’s just provided an incentive for Hamas to not agree to it.

Now, we hope – and all of us, I think, hope – that Hamas does agree to it and that is the best outcome, I think, for everybody.

But the truth of the matter is I don’t think that that recognition decision by the government has provided any support at all to get to these outcomes.

And if you’d like to read the full story we published yesterday evening on the TGA’s latest sunscreen findings, you can do so here:

Related: Base formulation may be linked to 21 sunscreens falling short of SPF claims, drug regulator finds

More brands respond to TGA’s new list of sunscreens unlikely to meet SPF claims

We’ve heard back from three other brands named by the TGA yesterday as selling products using the base formulation the regulator is concerned about.

Jacqueline Hutton, the owner and director of GlindaWand, whose The Fountain of Youth Environmental Defence Cream SPF50+ was identified by the TGA, said it was “extremely distressing” to see her company named given the product was under review.

Hutton said she wanted to clarify that the product “has not been recalled” but said it had been “removed from sale” on 26 September as a “voluntary precaution” while the company works with the TGA.

Advanced Skin Technology has confirmed preliminary independent testing indicates the SPF protection for Aspect Sun SPF50+ Physical Sun Protection and Aspect Sun SPF50+ Tinted Physical Sun Protection are lower than the 50+ stated on packs.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the company – which has recalled both of these products – said:

Our priority will always be our customer’s skin health and so we will continue to work closely with the TGA while our investigation continues and provide clear guidance to our customer and clinic/retailer network.

A spokesperson for Aesthetics Rx said it had recalled the Ultra Protection Sunscreen Cream, another sunscreen identified by the TGA as using the base formulation of concern.

They said the company was working with its third-party manufacturer to independently test its sunscreen using “multiple, accredited laboratories” that meet the TGA standards and customers were entitled to a full refund.

Ultra Violette responds to TGA warning about other sunscreens using same base formulation as its recalled product

We brought you the news last night that the same base formulation has been identified in 21 sunscreens that Australia’s medicines regulator has warned are unlikely to have a sun protection factor (SPF) rating of more than 21, with some products as low as SPF 4.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) yesterday published a list of products, sold by 17 different brands, which it had identified as using the same base formulation as the recalled Ultra Violette Lean Screen Skinscreen SPF50+.

Another Ultra Violette product was on the list – the Velvet Screen SPF50, although the regulator said this is an export-only product which is not available in Australia.

The regulator said it also had “significant concerns” about the reliability of SPF testing undertaken by Princeton Consumer Research Corp (PCR Corp), a laboratory based in the UK.

The TGA said it was aware many companies responsible for sunscreens manufactured using the base formulation in question relied on testing by PCR Corp to support their SPF claims.

Ultra Violette has now responded to yesterday’s TGA announcement, with a spokesperson for the company saying:

Product integrity is of the utmost importance to us which is why we moved quickly on a comprehensive global recall for our product in August, informing our customers accordingly and offering refunds.

We ceased working with PCR earlier this year and test our products with a broad global network of ISO-accredited testing facilities.

We’ve re-tested the remainder of our range at new independent labs, with those results reinforcing our confidence in the rest of our line.

Hi, I hope you’ve had a nice day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of the day’s news.

That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will take the reins from here. Take care!

Government ‘deeply concerned’ about safety of Australians aboard Gaza flotilla

The Australian government has said it is “deeply concerned” about the safety of its citizens on board a flotilla to Gaza, with expectations the boats will be intercepted by Israeli forces on Wednesday afternoon Australian time.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said they have been in contact with six Australians confirmed to be on flotilla consisting of more than 40 ships.

Government officials have made representations to the Israeli government, over concerns Australians will be detained or arrested by the Israel Defense Forces.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, with more than 500 people including politicians, lawyers and Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver aid.

Read more:

Related: Government ‘deeply concerned’ about safety of Australians aboard Gaza flotilla

All hail Alaska’s fattest bear

After a record-breaking week of public voting, Katmai national park and preserve in Alaska has announced the winner of its “biggest Fat Bear Week yet”.

32 Chunk, frequently described as “the most dominant brown bear on the river”, won the fatness competition despite suffering for most of the season from a broken jaw, which locals suspected came from battling with another male over a female.

The annual bracket-style competition pits different wild bears against each other, based on before-and-after photos of the bears’ weight gain as they prepare for winter, as well as the bears’ personalities and ursine accomplishments.

Read more:

Related: ‘Dominant on the river’: 32 Chunk crowned champion in ‘biggest Fat Bear Week yet’

Police provide update on missing four-year-old in South Australia

SA police superintendent Mark Syrus provided an update earlier about the ongoing search for Gus, a four-year-old missing after last being seen on Saturday at his family’s property. Officials said they found a footprint that was similar to Gus’s, but Syrus cautioned things were getting difficult in the fifth day of searching.

He said:

We just need boots on the ground to do line searches … because looking is our best chance of finding [evidence] …

Yesterday we found a footprint, which we’ve identified as a foot size similar to [Gus’s].

Syrus said there was no suggestion of anything suspicious, but said he had spoken to the family about the length of the ongoing search:

It’s a long time, someone being without water, food and shelter.

Revoking recognition of Palestinian statehood would be ‘unprecedented’ step, human rights expert says

Should the Coalition move to revoke recognition of Palestinian statehood, as Sussan Ley has promised if she is ever in power, it would be an “unprecedented” step, Prof Ben Saul told the National Press Club.

He said:

Revocation of recognition of statehood, that’s a pretty unprecedented step, actually. It’s more common, of course, to revoke recognition of governments, if you don’t like the flavour of a new government.

But once a state has been established, to somehow say that, even though the rest of the world recognises it, we don’t – would be a very strange move, and not one which states are in the habit of doing.

Jim Chalmers concerned by reports of Chinese blockade of BHP’s iron ore

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will meet with the boss of BHP amid a shock report that the world’s largest mining company faces a Chinese blockade on its iron ore shipments, AAP reports.

Beijing’s state iron ore buyer has told steelmakers to pause imports of BHP ore, amid hardball negotiations over the price of the crucial resource, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Chalmers said the reports were “concerning” but ultimately a matter for the company to work through. He told reporters earlier today:

I’ll have discussions with (BHP chief executive) Mike Henry about that in due course, when we can set that up.

There is confusion over exactly what has happened, with sources telling AAP the mining giant was continuing to ship iron ore to China. Chinese commodities analyst Mysteel also suggested no order was given to stop shipments from BHP.

The minerals company said it wouldn’t comment on commercial arrangements.

Human rights lawyers says Australia should have reviewed ‘all aspects’ of relationship with Israel

Chris Sidoti, a human rights lawyer, is also speaking before the National Press Club. He said Australia should have taken several steps to better address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including re-evaluating “all aspects” of its relationship with Israel.

He told the press club:

There are things that we can do and should do that we have barely begun to do. One immediate step that should have been taken was a complete review by the Australian government … of all aspects of the relationship between Australia and the state of Israel. To identify those aspects that could be considered aiding or assisting the continuation of unlawful acts.

And to consider any aspects of the relationship that may be assisting the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity or in any way preventing the risk of genocide in Gaza. And yet I know of no such review.

Sidoti went on to say Australia should prohibit all military-related trade with Israel, saying the country shares responsibility if any locally made items are being used against Palestinians.

If components that are being manufactured here in Australia are finding their way into F-35 aircraft being used by the Israeli aircraft to bomb the hell out of Gaza, we share responsibility. It’s as simple as that.

Australia should take ‘more concrete action’ on Gaza, human rights professor says

Prof Ben Saul, a professor of international law at the University of Sydney and a UN special rapporteur on human rights, is speaking before the National Press Club alongside human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti.

Saul said while he welcomed Australia’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Australia should “take more concrete action and play a stronger leadership role on human rights in Palestine”. He said:

International law does not enforce itself. Selectivity and double standards are contributing to the breakdown of international law and its de-legitimation. Australia is the world’s 13th-largest economy, more than a modest middle power.

If we don’t step up in a world where democracy and human rights are critically endangered at this moment, and our closest ally cannot be relied upon, then who will step up?

Australia could split Cop31 hosting rights with Turkey under potential compromise

Australia could split hosting rights for the Cop31 climate summit under a potential compromise being considered with Turkey, as Anthony Albanese concedes Ankara is determined to stay in the race, even risking both countries’ claims on the 2026 event.

Returning home from the UN general assembly and visits to the UK and the Middle East on Wednesday, Albanese told Guardian Australia he wished host countries were not decided using consensus rules, but pledged to continue diplomatic talks with the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Only one country can hold the Cop presidency but a range of set-piece meetings take place before and after the leaders’ summit.

Government sources said there was precedent for previous climate summits to be co-hosted or organised across different locations.

Read more:

Related: Australia could split Cop31 hosting rights with Turkey under potential compromise

The new penalties for unlicensed tobacco retailers in NSW come amid concern about Australia’s booming black market.

The changes introduce a maximum penalty of up to $1.5m, seven years’ imprisonment, or both, for the sale or commercial possession of illicit tobacco.

Retailers who have submitted a valid licence application on or before 1 October can continue to trade until they are notified of the outcome of their application.

The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, says the laws will not “solve this issue overnight” and that:

I’m a dad to a 15-year-old and this scares the hell out of me because [illegal tobacco] is a product that is dangerous in every sense of the word.

It is a product designed to get people hooked on nicotine and it is a product and a business model that is associated with criminal activity.

NSW government uncertain on number of unlicensed tobacco stores as penalties kick in

The NSW government says it is uncertain how many unlicensed tobacco retailers there are in the state, as new laws designed to curtail the illicit tobacco trade come into effect tonight after a three-month grace period.

From midnight, tobacco retailers must display a valid licence at the point of sale or risk fines from $11,000 to $44,000, and individual fines up to $660,000, under changes which became law on 1 July. About 4,500 retailers have obtained a licence under the scheme, with another 1,000 applications under review.

Initially, the government estimated there were 19,000 retailers in the state, although the NSW chief health officer, Kerry Chant, said today this was “probably an overestimate” which included former retailers which had not deregistered from the previous licensing scheme. She said she “wouldn’t want to hazard a guess at this time” about the number of unregistered retailers.

Briggs on AI replacing him: it doesn’t know ‘what a lounge room in Shepparton smells like’ – video

Australian rapper Briggs was asked by independent senator David Pocock yesterday whether AI could currently make a fake Briggs track. He said:

I doubt it very much. I don’t think AI at the moment understands what a lounge room in Shepparton, Victoria smells like. It is the innate human quality of the art.

No preselection challenge mounted against John Pesutto in Victoria

Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto will not face a preselection contest in his seat of Hawthorn ahead of the 2026 state election.

Conservative forces in the Liberal party had been planning to mount a challenge on the once blue-ribbon, now ultra-marginal inner Melbourne seat – but nominations closed on Tuesday afternoon without any other candidate putting their hand up.

Sources close to Pesutto say they challengers were likely scared off by the strong support he has in the community and the Hawthorn branches.

Pesutto lost the leadership after the federal court found he repeatedly defamed fellow Liberal MP Moira Deeming by falsely implying she sympathised with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. He was ordered to pay her $300,000 in damages and her $2.3m legal bill.

He managed to fend off bankruptcy proceedings by securing a $1.5m loan from the Liberal party and more than $500,000 in crowdfunding.

Base formulation may be linked to 20 sunscreens falling short of SPF claims, drug regulator finds

More on yesterday’s reports that more sunscreens have been pulled from shelves across the country:

The same base formulation has been identified in 20 sunscreens that Australia’s medicines regulator has warned are unlikely to have a sun protection factor (SPF) rating of more than 21, with some products as low as SPF 4.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Tuesday identified sunscreens sold by 17 different companies using a base formulation made by manufacturer Wild Child Laboratories as likely to fall far short of their sun protection factor claims.

The TGA published the list of sunscreens as part of an investigation it launched in June after the consumer advocacy group Choice released its own testing that found several leading Australian sunscreens did not provide the protection that they claimed.

You can find the whole list here:

Related: Base formulation may be linked to 21 sunscreens falling short of SPF claims, drug regulator finds

The statement from peak health bodies highlighted that eight medical practitioners issued more than 10,000 scripts each for the highest-strength THC products over just a six-month period, according to analysis conducted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).

An upper house inquiry report released earlier this year recommended cannabis be legalised, pointing to an unequal system where those who can obtain medicinal cannabis for recreational use are not penalised while those cannot are punished harshly:

Related: NSW politicians say cannabis decriminalisation inevitable after report points to unequal system

Patients ‘learning the answers’ they need to guarantee medicinal cannabis script, health bodies warn

Some of NSW’s peak health bodies are calling on the state government to reform medicinal cannabis prescribing and dispensing as clinics are operating in a way there is a conflict of interest while patients are “learning the answers they need to guarantee a script”.

The NSW branches of the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP), the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and Australian Medical Association (AMA) have written a joint letter to state’s health minister, Ryan Park, citing concerns around poor regulatory oversight allowing profits to come before quality healthcare.

They say the numbers of patients using medicinal cannabis products “continue to explode” – from 18,000 in 2019 to more than a million by January last year. The concerns raised in the letter are:

• Medicinal cannabis clinics operating predominantly via hasty telehealth consultations.

• “Closed loop” arrangements where the telehealth prescriber sends the prescription to a dispensary owned by the same operation facilitating a clear conflict of interest and “cannabis only” clinics effectively acting as a production line for the supply of these products.

• Inappropriate prescribing of medicinal cannabis and cynical promotion of these products to patients.

• Strategies demonstrating a singular focus on profit over quality healthcare, which risks fragmenting patient care.

Optus has failed customers and needs to restore confidence, Albanese says

Albanese said Optus had failed their customers and needed to be transparent as the telco investigates multiple triple-zero outages. He told reporters:

I think it is in Optus’ interests to restore confidence. Optus has failed customers. They need to be transparent. …

This should never have occurred.

Gambling harms more pronounced as online betting jumps

Australians are gambling more than they can afford, with harm rates increasing despite the number of people betting overall decreasing, AAP reports.

The number of people gambling has steadily decreased over the past 15 years, but gambling harm and problem betting rates haven’t reduced, meaning a larger proportion of people who gamble do so in riskier ways.

Online gambling has more than quadrupled to cover more than 33% of adults since 2017, according to research out of ANU. Almost one in five adults bet at risky levels in the past year.

There has been a spike in problem gambling due to the prevalence of online gambling, including the ease of access through sports betting apps, report author Aino Suomi said:

It’s the online gambling that is really driving risky gambling and it’s bringing gambling into family homes with kids.

Optus asks tech provider Ericsson to investigate Dapto tower outage

Optus has said it is working with equipment provider Ericsson to determine the cause of the outage of the tower in Dapto, NSW, on Sunday that caused nine triple zero calls to not go through during the outage.

Late on Tuesday, Optus said it was Ericsson’s equipment that “did not appear to operate as it should”. The tower appeared active on the network but the calls being made via that tower did not connect or transfer to other networks, Optus said.

The initial assessment shows 5G was working but 4G was not, which is what prevented calls from connecting – 4G is used to carry voice calls on Optus’s network.

The tower did not alert Optus that 4G was not operational. Ericsson has undertaken a review of its elements of the Optus network and found that what occurred on the site was an “anomaly” that has not been seen elsewhere.

An Optus spokesperson said:

We are assured by Ericsson that they have their global product development unit urgently analysing this.

To be clear, the tower is fully operational.

Clare O’Neil notes Treasury has advised the government scheme will push up home prices by 0.5% over six years.

Guardian Australia’s Luca Ittimani wrote an explainer on the new plan, and experts’ concerns with that estimate, below:

Related: It’s about to get easier to buy your first home as Australia’s first home guarantee expands

Housing minister says criticisms the 5% deposit scheme will be used by billionaires ‘out of touch’

Clare O’Neil said the Coalition’s criticisms that billionaires would be using the scheme to buy a first home were “extraordinarily out of touch”.

She told RN Breakfast of the opposition:

They’ve spent the last three years trying to slow our government down and stop us from providing supports to Australians who are struggling. Now, I say out of touch because if you think, firstly, that billionaires’ children are going to be using this scheme, then you haven’t looked very hard at it.

We’ve got probably people listening right now who are on reasonable incomes but are paying high rents and are not in a position to save for a home deposit. This is for them. This is for every single young person around the country who’s struggling to get those savings together.

Opposition takes issue with the 5% deposit scheme, but will develop its own plan before next election

Julian Leeser, the shadow attorney general, said while home ownership was one of the “most important things” to have as an economic goal, the Coalition believed the government’s scheme had a few issues.

Leeser told RN Breakfast the proposal for a 5% scheme should be means-tested, adding the opposition was concerned it could lead to a surge in home prices “anywhere between 5% and 10%”.

It’s a $60bn scheme that’s not only open to low-income earners, but it’s open to billionaires as well.

He said the Coalition would put forward its own plans before the next election:

It’s very hard for first homeowners to, or for potential first homeowners, to buy homes in cities like Sydney and in electorates like mine. My electorate used to be regarded as an affordable part of Sydney but it’s not that any more.

We’ll be developing our housing policies between now and the next election and Australians will have a very strong sense of what our policies are before the next election.

Housing minister says 5% deposit scheme ‘meaningful, real difference’ for young homebuyers

Clare O’Neil, the housing minister, said the government’s new 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers will help “tens of thousands” of young people get on to the property ladder. The plan went into effect today, which will waive the lender’s mortgage insurance charged to borrowers with small deposits.

The scheme is meant to help young people buy homes sooner, but many experts say it could lead to an increase in property prices, with median values tipped to rise up to $85,000 higher than they are today.

O’Neil described the 5% scheme as “meaningful, real difference” the government could make to help first home buyers, telling RN Breakfast:

What government is doing today will slash the time it takes people to save for a home deposit. As of today every single first home buyer around the country will be eligible to get into the market with a 5% deposit, and our government is backing it.

This is meaningful, real difference that we can make to the younger generation who are facing very different housing opportunities than their parents and grandparents.

I won’t look a generation of young people in the eye and tell them they have to wait until we address the supply issues before they get support. People around the country need help right now, that is what they are getting from our government today.

Victoria’s housing crisis has worsened in almost every key measure, report finds

Over 13,000 Victorians every month are seeking homelessness services due to family violence, the Council to Homeless Persons’ 2025 Housing Insecurity Index has found.

Victoria’s housing crisis has worsened across almost every key measure, with more than 66,000 people now on the social housing waitlist – up 7.4% in a year.

The private rental sector has become harder to access with, median rents increasing 3.9% across Victoria in the past year – and regional rents growing 6%.

State investment in housing and homelessness services is just $399.80 per person, below the national average, despite Victoria accounting for one-third of demand.

Victoria’s proportion of social housing is just 3% – the lowest in the country.

The CHP chief executive, Deborah Di Natale, said:

This report makes it crystal clear that the government must do more. We need a social housing building blitz of at least 4,000 new homes per year, stronger prevention measures to stop people becoming homeless in the first place, and urgent investment in crisis accommodation and services.

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s jump in.