Australia politics live: Thorpe criticises ‘outrageous’ police search powers expansion in Melbourne; Optus mobile outage affects 14,000 Victorian users

12.55am GMT

Following on from our last post …
The potential legal action would be the latest in a series of obstacles for the Narrabri gas project, which received its state and federal environmental approvals several years ago.
A legal appeal by Gomeroi traditional owners is before the full federal court after the native title tribunal twice overruled their opposition to the project going ahead. That case was delayed this week after one of the judges, Justice Natalie Charlesworth, recused herself from the case due to a potential perception of bias.
Proposed pipelines in the Narrabri and Hunter regions are also facing significant community opposition. Mike Guerin said:

It’s a sad reality that governments, politicians and mining giants seem to be deaf to these genuine and real concerns about protecting this critical water source.
They don’t appear to care about the environment or the communities that will be impacted or the billions of dollars’ worth of food that won’t be grown because of contamination.

Guardian Australia has sought comment from Santos.

Updated at 12.59am GMT

12.54am GMT

Farmers ponder legal challenge to Narrabri gas project
The peak body for farmers in New South Wales is exploring avenues for a legal challenge to Santos’s Narrabri gas project in the state’s west.
The NSW Farmers’ Federation said it had engaged legal counsel “because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed”.
Acting chief executive Mike Guerin said the federation had engaged the same legal firm – Holmann Webb – that Queensland farm organisation AgForce used to successfully oppose mining company Glencore’s proposal to inject CO2 from a coal-fired power station into the Great Artesian Basin.
That case settled and the Queensland government legislated a ban on the Great Artesian Basin being used for carbon capture and storage.
Guerin said the federation was concerned about the potential impacts of the Narrabri project on the basin:

NSW Farmers has engaged the same senior legal counsel we used to defeat the federal government and Glencore a couple of years ago, and we are actively exploring the best way to defend Australia’s precious groundwater from mining giants.
The people who depend on the Great Artesian Basin for their water are living in fear that this project will go ahead and go wrong, like many of them do, creating tens of thousands of water refugees and forcing farmers to abandon half the continent because it’s been contaminated forever.
I’m happy to be getting the band back together on this one, because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed.

Updated at 12.58am GMT

12.46am GMT

Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended police plans to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD for six months.
Victoria police on Tuesday declared the CBD and its surrounds a “designated area” from Sunday, until 29 May 2026, meaning police and protective service officers (PSOs) will be able to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds.
The decision has been criticised by human rights and legal groups who have described it as a “vast overreach”, while independent Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe said it would lead to racial profiling.
However, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Allan said Victoria police were simply “doing its job and keeping the community safe”. She went on:

Whether you’re coming into the CBD to work, to shop, to enjoy our major events or go out for a meal, you deserve to do so safely, and this is Victoria police doing everything it can to keep you safe.

She said the declaration was consistent with the new chief commissioner Mike Bush’s plan to reduce crime and “see more police out on the streets”.

Related: ‘Vast overreach’: police allowed to conduct warrantless pat-downs of people across inner Melbourne for six months

12.40am GMT
Inflation rises, hitting hopes for interest rate cuts

Inflation has climbed to 3.8% in the year to October, from 3.6% the month before, as Jim Chalmers flagged he could announce further energy bill subsidies for households in the upcoming mid-year budget.
Electricity prices were 37% higher in the year to October, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics said mostly reflected the end of state government power bill rebates.
The ABS released its first “complete” monthly consumer price index, a milestone moment that will eventually lead to the more frequent inflation number superseding the quarterly figure.
It confirmed an unwelcome upswing in price pressures that has crimped hopes for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts, and even raised the potential that the next move could be up.
Underlying inflation, which removes the impact of large, temporary price swings like in electricity prices, lifted from 3.2% in September to 3.3% in the year to October.

Related: Inflation up to 3.8% as price pressures rise and hopes for Reserve Bank interest rate cuts fall

Updated at 12.46am GMT

12.34am GMT

Sarah Hanson-Young urges inquiry into Optus’ licence
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says there should be an urgent inquiry into Optus’ licence.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
Hanson-Young says “Optus has failed the Australian people again”:

There must be an urgent review of Optus’ licence. They are clearly not capable of providing this essential service and keeping Australians safe.
Big telcos continue to put profit over their obligation to safely deliver the Triple 0 service and Australians are sick of it.
The minister needs to take control of this. The regulator is failing to uphold the interests of the community. ACMA can not be trusted to carry out investigations on this on their own.

Optus has been contacted for comment.

12.23am GMT

Acma asked to potentially build database of devices that can’t call triple zero
The triple-zero custodian, a newly established government role that oversees Australia’s emergency call system, has told a Senate inquiry into the September Optus triple-zero failure that it has asked the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) to look at device compatibility issues and a potential database of all affected devices.
A Lebara customer died earlier this month after their Samsung device was one of dozens that were unable to call triple zero on the TPG mobile network due to compatibility issues.
The telcos will be disconnecting an estimated 50,000 devices that have the compatibility issue in the coming weeks, but the government has faced calls from the federal opposition to be doing more to ensure those affected are aware and have access to devices that will work.
In its submission to the inquiry, the communications department said the custodian wrote to Acma earlier this month on its focus for the end of this year and early next, including “working with the Acma surrounding device compliance and possible databases”.
The custodian also held a large-scale simulation exercise with 130 participants in late October testing the emergency call system.
Optus has also been asked by Acma, on behalf of the custodian, to hand over information on outage policies and procedures, and outage testing prior to system changes.

Updated at 12.24am GMT

12.22am GMT

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says there should be an urgent inquiry into Optus’ license.
As Josh Taylor told you a few moments ago, Optus mobile services are out in areas of Frankston and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria following an aerial fibre break.
Optus advised on its website that it affects approximately 14,096 services, and is currently under investigation.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
Hanson-Young says “Optus has failed the Australian people again”:

There must be an urgent review of Optus’ licence. They are clearly not capable of providing this essential service and keeping Australians safe.
Big telcos continue to put profit over their obligation to safely deliver the Triple 0 service and Australians are sick of it.
The minister needs to take control of this. The regulator is failing to uphold the interests of the community. ACMA can not be trusted to carry out investigations on this on their own.

Optus has been contacted for comment.

12.09am GMT

Pocock questions logic of stripping fugitives of welfare payments before proven guilty
ACT independent senator David Pocock is on his feet in the Senate questioning the logic of the government’s plan to strip fugitives of welfare payments, before they have been proved guilty by a court:

We can’t even understand what sort of problem you’re trying to solve here.
I’m no expert in this space, but you’d think if someone is on the run, you probably want them to be withdrawing money so you can see where they are if you’re looking for them? But you’re going to cut off their money like this. It makes no sense. You surely want them to be going to an ATM?
I just do not understand what the Labor party is trying to do here.

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says the federal government has taken advice from the federal police and several other agencies:

It has been a gap identified in the social security legislation that needed to be addressed. It is an extremely rare set of circumstances that would see this power being used.

Updated at 12.15am GMT

11.58pm GMT

Ley questioned about Andrew Hastie amid leadership speculation
Despite raging speculation, Sussan Ley has survived the final sitting week (so far) from a leadership spill, and says her team is “united”.
During an earlier interview on Sky News, Ley sidestepped questions on whether Andrew Hastie – one of the main leadership challengers – should be returned to the frontbench.
While not inviting him back with the offer of a shadow portfolio, Ley says she has promised as leader to “enfranchise” all her backbenchers.

My frontbench is my frontbench, but every single member of my team, every single member of my team has value to add …
And I said when I became leader that I would enfranchise every single member in policy development, I did that with energy. It took time. We got it right.

Updated at 12.09am GMT

11.35pm GMT

More power bill rebates could be announced soon
Jim Chalmers says the government will decide in “the next few weeks” whether to extend household energy bill rebates beyond the end of this year.
The treasurer has said there will be no major policy announcements in the mid-year budget in three weeks’ time, but in a Sky television interview this morning opened the door to further relief.
With the Coalition hammering the government on energy prices in question time this week, Chalmers said: “We’ve been very clear and very upfront for some time now, this electricity bill relief is really important.”

It is taking some of the edge off power prices for families and pensioners and people in our communities right around Australia.

He repeated his mantra that energy rebates “won’t be a permanent feature of the budget”, but left the door open to extending the measures beyond December.

We’ll take a decision about that in the next few weeks.

The March budget extended the commonwealth’s energy bill relief fund for six months, which gave another $150 to all households and about one million small businesses, split into two quarterly instalments.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, in an interview this morning repeatedly dodged questions of whether the Coalition supported extending the power bill subsidies.

Updated at 11.37pm GMT

11.27pm GMT

PM grilled by school students on social media ban
The PM is facing the heat from Australia’s teenagers today, with a group of school students pressing Anthony Albanese and the communications minister, Anika Wells, on the upcoming social media ban for under-16s. It’s for an episode of the ABC’s Behind the News youth program.
The social media ban is due to take effect from 10 December – just a fortnight from today.

Updated at 11.30pm GMT

11.19pm GMT

Senate debates Hanson’s bill for plebiscite on immigration
The Senate are currently debating Pauline Hanson’s bill for a national plebiscite that would ask Australians if the rate of immigration is “too high”.
Due to her suspension yesterday – where senators across the political divide heavily condemned her actions – she’s not in the Senate to debate on her own bill.

It’s not the first time this has been introduced – it was first brought into parliament back in 2018, and has been reintroduced over several parliamentary terms. All legislation that isn’t passed during a term is automatically lapsed.
Once again it won’t get through – there’s no support from Labor, the Coalition or the Greens, and there’s plenty of criticism of it, including from independent Fatima Payman:

Days after reheating a stunt from 2017, the spirit of senator Hanson now reheats a bill from 2018 … nothing says serious policymaking like asking Australian to vote on a question that won’t actually change a single law.

Updated at 11.23pm GMT

11.12pm GMT
Optus outage hits Frankston, affecting 14,000 users

Optus mobile services are out in areas of Frankston and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria following an aerial fibre break, the telco reported on Wednesday.
Optus advised on its website that it affects approximately 14,096 services, and is currently under investigation.
Customers who need to call triple zero will need to be within coverage of another mobile network, or able to call via wifi, the telco said.
Optus has been approached for comment.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
A Senate inquiry has been examining the cause of the outage, with the next hearing to be held early next month.
In its submission to the inquiry, Optus noted there was a network uptime of 99.45% for the past quarter. Local outages are not uncommon, however. There were 332 significant local outages between the end of June and 11 October this year, the company said.

Updated at 11.17pm GMT

10.57pm GMT

Ley says Liberal focus remains on reducing personal income tax
Sussan Ley has promised a “compelling” economic agenda, as the latest ANU Australian electoral survey reveals Labor are now seen as the better economic managers, a mantle the Coalition has held for years.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, the opposition leader says she’s focused on reducing personal income taxes.

I said we would develop a serious, compelling policy agenda around the economy that includes … living within our means, and the next thing I said was we would deliver personal income tax cuts to low and middle-income earners, we would have a substantial package in the lead-up to the next election.

You might remember the Coalition said it would reverse Labor’s personal tax cut promised at the last election. On whether Ley would admit that was a mistake, she says, “We pretty much acknowledged that.”
She doesn’t directly address that finding by the ANU that the Coalition is no longer trusted as the better economic manager.

Related: Peter Dutton’s unpopularity ‘broke several records’ and Labor more trusted on economy, ANU study finds

Updated at 11.02pm GMT

10.46pm GMT

Department budget reprioritisation ‘moving deckchairs on the Titanic’, says Hume
The Coalition has accused the government of “lying” by telling the public service to find savings, but it has been skirting questions over whether there should be cuts to department budgets.
On Sky News this morning, Jane Hume, who was shadow public service minister at the last election when the Coalition promised to cut 41,000 public service jobs, won’t say whether the opposition supports the move, just that she’ll be asking questions of the finance minister at estimates next week.

Where are these cuts going to take place? Because when we know, when this government talks about efficiency and reprioritisations, what all that simply means is that they’re moving they’re moving the chess pieces around, moving the deck chairs on the Titanic, but they’re not actually making the savings that they need.
These are the questions that we’re going to be asking the finance minister next week at Senate estimates. Because, quite frankly, this is the first that we’ve heard of this in February this year, finance minister Katy Gallagher came out and said, the public service is the right size.

Hume says the public service has grown “unsustainably” and wants to know where any jobs will be cut – whether in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Social Services or other frontline services.
They’re the exact same questions the government was asking of the opposition during the election campaign.

Updated at 10.51pm GMT

10.34pm GMT
‘Unprecedented’: Lidia Thorpe criticises Victorian police over expanded search powers

Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe has criticised a decision by state police to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD and surrounds from Sunday, until 29 May 2026.
The declaration of the city as a “designated area” for six months will give police and protective service officers (PSOs) the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds. The decision has been criticised by human rights and legal groups who have described it as a “vast overreach”.
Thorpe told ABC Radio Melbourne this morning it was “outrageous”. She went on:

This is unprecedented police powers. And I think [Victorian premier] Jacinta Allan is throwing us all under the bus. We know that racial profiling is a massive problem in Victoria. There’s been a recent report which the premier has seen from the Centre Against Racial Profiling that clearly points out that police profile black and brown people in Victoria. So I see a lot of harm being done from these ridiculous powers. Police have enough powers, and we see through that report that Aboriginal people, particularly, are 15 times more likely to be searched than white people.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 10.42pm GMT

10.23pm GMT

Education minister to introduce bill to establish Australian Tertiary Education Commission
Later this morning the education minister will introduce a bill to formally establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), which is the body that has been charged with looking at the job-ready graduates program – among other university reforms.
As reported a little earlier this month, the legislation won’t pass this week (with only one more sitting day to go after today), with the government’s focus on the environment legislation.
It means that while the Atec is now operating in an interim capacity, the formal legislated body will only be set up later next year – despite the government initially planning for it to be established by 1 January.

Related: David Pocock condemns delay in establishing job ready graduates body to end $50,000 arts degrees

Former Labor leader and University of Canberra vice-chancellor, Bill Shorten, also urged the government to take more urgent action on the job-ready graduates program this morning.

Updated at 10.26pm GMT

9.49pm GMT
Pocock to lead Senate motion opposing CSIRO cuts

Speaking of the CSIRO, David Pocock will lead an urgency motion that the cuts to the CSIRO, “which have led to the loss of 1,150 jobs, have weakened Australia’s ability to diversify our economy and respond to major challenges.”
The urgency motion has been co-signed with Liberal senator Claire Chandler and Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson.
It means with the Coalition and Greens, Pocock will have the numbers to pass the motion against the government. It will be the latest of several challenges the Labor has faced in the Senate – including being forced to drop its defence honours bill this week.
An urgency motion allows the Senate to debate the issue and then vote on it being a matter of urgency.
You can catch all the action this afternoon, after question time.

Updated at 10.24pm GMT

9.40pm GMT
‘No funding cuts’ to CSIRO says government, as agency looks at hundreds of job cuts

Up to 350 research roles are on the cutting room floor at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), but the government says it’s not due to funding cuts.

Related: Climate of fear: are CSIRO’s sweeping job cuts a sign Australia doesn’t care about the extinction crisis?

Speaking to ABC’s AM this morning, the industry minister, Tim Ayres, says the agency is still being funded “to the tune of around a billion dollars every year”.

There are no funding cuts to the CSIRO. That is the most important point.
What’s going on in the CSIRO is after 15 years of not doing a systemic review of the CSIRO’s programs of research, this management and this board are getting on with that work to make sure that all the programs of research match very closely the federal government’s national science priorities. That’s the work that’s going on here. We have funded the CSIRO fully.

Updated at 10.27pm GMT

9.27pm GMT
Bill Shorten urges government to reconsider property tax reform

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten, who’s now enjoying post-political life as vice-chancellor at the University of Canberra, has made a public push for the government to reconsider property tax reform.
Shorten took a progressive approach to tax reform to the 2019 election – proposing changes to negative gearing, trusts, franking credits and capital gains tax. Since that election loss, Labor’s looked at those policies like kryptonite.
Speaking to RN Breakfast earlier this morning, the former leader hinted that it might be time to look at them again.

Oh well, people had a chance for some big tax reform in 2019 and didn’t, and 49% of people wanted it. I’m not going to give advice to the government on what they need to do there. There’s no doubt in my mind that income is taxed too heavily in Australia and property is taxed too lightly. But, you know, I’ve hung up my legislative spurs.

As a VC (and we know universities hate the job-ready graduates program), he also implored Jason Clare to fix the failed scheme, but did give the education minister credit for “ambitious” reform in other areas.

We’ve got to have the overdue discussion about reforming the jobs-ready graduate program, the unloved policy child of the Morrison era.

Updated at 10.27pm GMT

9.13pm GMT

Chalmers won’t put a number on public service savings
While the 5% figure has been floating around, Jim Chalmers skirts around the question and won’t confirm whether there’s a hard target on each of the departments to find savings.
Speaking to ABC’s News Brekky, the treasurer is also quick to distance the move from the Coalition’s proposed staff cuts during the election.

We’re not proposing that every department cut their staff or cut their programs or their budget by 5% across the board. We’re doing what we always do, which was – we asked for suggestions and ideas for areas where we could redirect lower-priority spending to higher-priority areas.

Asked earlier on RN to respond to Sussan Ley’s accusation that the reprioritisation of resources is a “broken promise”, Chalmers says, “We won’t be taking lectures on responsible economic management from Sussan Ley or Ted O’Brien.”

Updated at 9.27pm GMT

9.01pm GMT
Labor looking for ‘political fix’ on environment laws, says Ley

Jumping back to Sussan Ley’s appearance on ABC News Breakfast, the opposition leader has accused the environment minister, Murray Watt, of “mismanaging” the negotiations.
The opposition has said it’s not in a “rush” to pass the legislation this week, as the government moves closer to securing a deal with the Greens on the environment protection and biodiversity conservation laws (EPBC).
She points out just how much the government is willing to compromise by offering two very different deals to both sides.

I’ve actually said to the prime minister – through the media – I’m ready, every week through summer to take a phone call from him and have a meeting and work out how to do this.
There’s the minister with two sets of amendments. One for the Coalition, and one for the Greens. They’re completely different, and [Watt’s] saying, ‘Please, somebody agree with me.’ That is a political fix, not a proper legal approach.

Updated at 9.22pm GMT

8.50pm GMT

Coalition’s energy plan ‘harebrained’ and will push up power prices, treasurer says
Continuing his media rounds, and joining ABC RN Breakfast, Jim Chalmers rips into the Coalition with modelling released by the government that if Australia kept all coal-fired plants open for 10 years from 2028, it would cost the budget more than $17bn.
Pressure on energy prices comes from ageing coal-fired power, not renewables says the treasurer.
Chalmers says the modelling shows the Coalition’s energy plan is “harebrained”.

What the Coalition is proposing with this harebrained approach to net zero would push up power prices and swing a wrecking ball through the budget and the economy.
The older, traditional sources of energy are becoming less reliable as they get closer and closer to closure. I think, from memory, yesterday we had parts of six major power plants out of operation, and that puts upward pressure on prices.

The treasurer adds the Coalition’s energy policy is driven “100% by the internal party politics of the Coalition party room”.

Updated at 9.03pm GMT

8.42pm GMT

Ley says government has ‘lied’ or ‘mismanaged’ their budget
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, says the government has either “lied” or “mismanaged” their budget, in response to Labor directing departments to find savings.
Jim Chalmers defended the move a moment ago, saying it’s about “reprioritisation” of lower priority spending to high priority projects.
On ABC News Breakfast, Ley says Labor promised no cuts of public service jobs during the last election.

Labor promised this city that there wouldn’t be any cuts … So, are they backing away from the promise? Or have things got so bad since the election that they actually have to address savings as a matter of urgency? … Either they lied to you at the election or they really, really have mismanaged the budget.

Ley, who says she previously worked in the public service before entering politics, accuses the government of “letting Canberrans down” and questions how these savings will “solve the over $1tn debt that this country is facing”.

Updated at 8.46pm GMT

8.35pm GMT

What’s going to happen to interest rates?
Jim Chalmers won’t speculate on whether – if inflation continues to stay out of the Reserve Bank’s target band – the interest rate could go up or down.
The treasurer says the central bank has already cut rates three times this year, but admits it doesn’t go far enough for families still under pressure.

It’s why we’re cutting taxes two more times to provide that relief that people need and deserve. At a time where this inflation is a little bit higher than we’d like and expect to see later today, the headline inflation tick up a little bit.

Over on Sky News, Chalmers is asked whether he will concede government spending has led to inflation remaining sticky. He says “there’s no evidence of that” and that it hasn’t been brought up by the Reserve Bank either.
Pete Stefanovic also tries to push him on whether the government will extend the electricity bill rebates, but Chalmers won’t give anything away, and says decisions will be taken on that in “coming weeks”.

Updated at 9.31pm GMT

8.23pm GMT
Chalmers defends public service 'savings' push

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who’s doing the media rounds this morning, is next to defend the “savings” the departments have to come up with.
On the Today show, he is asked: is the government being hypocritical here, considering the criticism they hurled at the Coalition for their proposed public servant cuts during the election?
It’s different, Chalmers says:

What the Coalition was proposing was to cut tens of thousands of jobs. What we are proposing or what we’re asking departments to suggest is ways to reprioritise their lower priority spending so that we can invest it in higher priority areas.

He argues it’s consistent with previous budgets, and “all about reprioritising”.

Updated at 9.44pm GMT

8.18pm GMT

Clare O’Neil defends Labor’s move to make cuts in government departments
Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil has defended the government’s move to find savings in departments, following reporting yesterday that the minister for the public service, Katy Gallagher, has instructed all departments to find savings of 5%.
In the Senate, Gallagher said yesterday the reporting was “incorrect” but suggested Labor’s attempts to rein in spending was an example of “fiscal discipline” and that there would be no reductions to the average headcount in the next budget.
On Sunrise this morning, O’Neil said taxpayer dollars “are really precious”. When pushed on that (rather large) $100m spend for the BoM website, O’Neil said it was an “historic spend” and that the minister is “unhappy” with it.

There’s absolutely areas in the public service where we do need to think about making sure that we’re spending taxpayers money wisely.

On the panel with her, Bridget McKenzie accused the government of putting “Christmas job cuts” on the table.

[There’s a] trillion dollars worth of debt, $50,000 in interest repayments every single minute of every single day because they refuse to make the tough decisions and now you’ve got Christmas job cuts on the table that they’re saying won’t be cuts.

O’Neil hit back, saying the trillion dollars of debt was “racked up” by the previous Coalition government.

Updated at 8.26pm GMT

8.03pm GMT

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
As we brought to you a moment ago, time is ticking for the government to get a deal on its environmental reforms, but it seems pretty confident it can get there within the next two days – tomorrow is the final parliamentary sitting day for the year.
This morning, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is doing the media rounds, ahead of the latest monthly inflation data coming out later this morning.
Stay with us, it’s going to be another big day!

8.02pm GMT
NSW doctors union case begins in Industrial Relations Commission

The NSW industrial relations commission will this morning begin hearing the doctors’ union case for a new award.
You’ll remember the state’s public system doctors took strike action in April, claiming they have the worst wages and working conditions of their profession anywhere in the country. Without a resolution reached in arbitration with the government, the commission will now be judging their case.
The union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, says it will be the first full review of doctors’ work value, responsibilities and conditions in more than two decades and will feature testimony from approximately 100 witnesses, including 54 representing ASMOF.
ASMOF NSW’s president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, said “their evidence will show the depth of the crisis facing the NSW health system, including unsafe hours, chronic fatigue and burnout, worsening understaffing and a widening pay and conditions gap between NSW and other states.”

ASMOF will argue that the current award is outdated and no longer reflects the reality or value of modern medical work.
Our goal is straightforward. Safe and enforceable working hours. Fair and competitive pay that allows NSW to attract and retain the doctors it needs. Proper staffing levels.
This is the case that will decide the future of the NSW health system.

7.55pm GMT
New bill means fines and jail time for NDIS breaches

NDIS providers who repeatedly breach a code of conduct designed to keep participants safe could face major fines of up to $16.5m in the latest federal government attempt to tighten up the scheme’s rules.
The Albanese government will today introduce a new bill to introduce tougher penalties, and even jail time, for NDIS providers who engage in misconduct and unsafe practices.
The NDIS provider’s code of conduct requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, abuse and neglect; provide services with competence and skill; and to act with integrity and honesty among other things.
The changes would increase the fine for serious breaches of the code from $400,000 to $16.5m for a company. Additionally, if passed, NDIS providers required to be registered – such as specialist disability accommodation – could face two years jail and fines up to around $16.5m if they operate unregistered.
The NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, said the scheme must be “sustainable, effective and must operate with integrity”.

Where we see fraud, too often we see violence, abuse and neglect. This isn’t just about cracking down on the bad actors in the system, it’s also about keeping NDIS participants safe. These are common sense measures that are ready to go. We also know there’s more work to do.

7.51pm GMT

Ted O’Brien to outline Coalition’s economic strategy at National Press Club
Ted O’Brien, the shadow treasurer and deputy opposition leader, is speaking to the National Press Club today, and will argue that a future Coalition government will offer a disciplined, growth-focused economic strategy to build prosperity in Australia.
O’Brien will frame his speech around Jess, a 38-year-old with two children, who he says is doing it tough under the Albanese government’s policies. In the speech, O’Brien will say Jess and her husband, Matt, live in a townhouse in the outer suburbs but can’t afford a home of their own.
According to an advance copy of the speech, O’Brien will say voters such as Jess need to be kept front of mind by politicians in Canberra.

A strong economy is not an end in itself – but a means to an end. It is the means by which Jess, Matt and their kids can aspire to a better life.
But the sad truth is that, today, our intergenerational compact is disintegrating – and all signs point to it only disintegrating further.
As Liberals in 2025, our mission must be to assure Jess and the millions of Millennials just like her, the younger Gen Zs and the younger-still Gen Alphas that we see them and we are here to serve them.

He will use the speech to highlight growing government debt, and growing government spending.

7.47pm GMT
Catastrophic fire warning in NSW

A catastrophic fire warning has been issued in NSW, the first in two years, as a total fire ban is placed across Sydney and large swaths of the state.
In a statement, the NSW rural fire service said the catastrophic fire danger is forecast for the lower central west plains district on Wednesday, due to forecast high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds, making conditions dangerous:

Catastrophic is the highest level of bush fire danger and the most dangerous conditions for a fire. Your life may depend on the decisions you make, even before there is a fire.

The fire service said the safest course of action was to leave the fire risk area.

Stay out of paddocks and bushland areas during the hottest parts of the day.
Homes cannot withstand fires in these conditions. You may not be able to leave and help may not be available.

Extreme fire warnings are also in place for Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, Central Ranges, North Western, Upper Central West Plains, Southern Slopes, Eastern Riverina, Southern Riverina, Northern Riverina.

Updated at 8.41pm GMT

7.41pm GMT

Labor closer to striking deal with Greens on nature laws than Coalition
Guardian Australia understands that as of Tuesday night, the government was closer to striking an agreement with the Greens than it was with the Coalition after the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, described Labor’s offer as “totally insufficient”.
The Greens were not satisfied with their offer either, which included changes to prevent the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects, but remain in active negotiations with Labor.
Watt has signalled he is prepared to shorten the proposed three-year timeframe to subject native forest logging to national environment standards, giving further ground on one of its initial concessions to the Greens.
If Labor does land a deal with the Greens, it would mark a dramatic turnaround from 12 months ago when Anthony Albanese intervened to spike an EPBC deal with the minor party amid pressure from miners and the Western Australian premier, Roger Cook.

Updated at 8.31pm GMT

7.41pm GMT
Labor optimistic of nature laws deal with Greens as summer break nears

Labor is growing optimistic it can land a deal with the Greens to rush through its signature environment protection laws before parliament suspends for the summer break.
The government is desperate to pass legislation to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act in the final two sitting days of the year, finally delivering on Graeme Samuel’s blueprint to fix the nation’s broken nature laws.
The bill was not listed on the draft program for Wednesday but Guardian Australia understands it will be quickly added to the run-sheet as soon as Labor is confident it has the numbers to ram the 1,500-page bill through the upper house.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, is genuinely open to a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens and has offered a raft of concessions to both in the hope of winning the support of either side.
As we reported yesterday, those concessions failed to woo either side.

7.35pm GMT
Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Stand by for a frenetic last two days of parliament, with Labor believing it will be able to make a deal with the Greens to rush through its signature environment protection laws before the summer break. Details coming up.
And outside of politics this morning, New South Wales has woken to its first catastrophic fire warning for two years with high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds putting the lower central west plains district – covering eight local governments areas across the state’s central western river area – on alert.
A total fire ban has also been placed across Sydney and large swathes of the state.
More coming up.