Federal parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence continues this week. Follow today’s news live
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1h agoFederal parliamentary inquiry focusing on racism in sports and media
2h agoSpaceX share slump leaves Gina Rinehart with $283m loss on paper
4h agoMan, 60, dies after alleged assault by group of youths in Melbourne
5h agoNew South Wales man charged on allegations of threatening MP on social media
5h agoNews Corp’s Australian division weighs on robust results
5h agoEbikes to face new safety standards
6h agoStates and territories shut down hundreds of substandard childcare services
The federal parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is continuing this week, with hearings held in Melbourne.
The inquiry has heard harrowing evidence from sportspeople, including community-controlled sporting groups and Olympian boxer Marissa Williamson Pohlman, the first Indigenous female boxer to represent Australia and competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Williamson Pohlman, a Ngarrindjeri woman, told the inquiry there was widespread racism, sexism and violence in the sport, saying there was a lack of support, and made allegations of inappropriate behaviour and assaults – urging an inquiry into Boxing Australia.
“I think there needs to be an independent investigation on that organisation and there’s something terrible going on there.” Williamson Pohlman told the inquiry.
“All these athletes come from the school of hard knocks. So the racism, the sexism, the misogyny, the homophobia, and just the violence is rife in those places. It’s in the organisation too.”
Records smashed as Australian share market pushes higher
Australia’s share market has soared to record heights for a second straight day, shrugging off a weak US session as gold stocks shine, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 gained 50.2 points by midday, up 0.56%, to 9.279.5, as the broader All Ordinaries advanced 53.9 points, or 0.57%, to 9.459.3.
The top-200 hit a fresh intraday record of 9,296.7 in early trade and was on track to top Wednesday’s record close.
The exchange shrugged off a weak Wall Street session and dips across indices in Japan and South Korea as chip stocks sold off, while Australian mining stocks continued to rally on hopes of an imminent US-Iran peace deal.
The Australian dollar is buying US70.57 cents, up from US70.49 cents on Wednesday.
Greens question return of some welfare payment cancellations
In response to some payment cancellations being turned back on, the Greens’ spokesperson on social services, senator Penny Allman-Payne, has said there is nothing in the secretary’s statement that gives confidence to the system now running lawfully.
There was nothing about improving DEWR’s capacity to monitor providers’ misconduct. They told the ombudsman that they had an ‘app’ for that, which turned out to be a new dashboard on their existing system. There is no mention of any improved capacities in this regard anywhere.
Providers use threats of payment suspensions and cancellations to force people to comply, in some cases to bolster the provider’s incentive payment.
If these sanctions are resumed, the providers will be administering them. How can Minister Rishworth or her department trust these providers to do the right thing when they are financially incentivised to do otherwise? The TCF appears fundamentally at odds with lawful and fair decision-making. The minister and the department’s failure to communicate these matters in a timely, effective or comprehensible fashion is characteristic of all the worst Robodebt-style governance.
If these sanctions are resumed, the providers will be administering them. How can Minister Rishworth or her department trust these providers to do the right thing when they are financially incentivised to do otherwise? The TCF appears fundamentally at odds with lawful and fair decision-making.
The minister and the department’s failure to communicate these matters in a timely, effective or comprehensible fashion is characteristic of all the worst Robodebt-style governance.
Welfare cancellations back on, but some question legality of system
There is big news for jobseekers this week, with the government announcing it will be slowly turning back on payment cancellations.
Many of you will remember that payment cancellations are currently switched off because the Targeted Compliance Framework – the automated system that runs mutual obligations – has been paused since January last year after the government found it was working illegally.
On Tuesday, Simon Duggan PSM, secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, announced that from 26 October the system will start suspending and cancelling payments for a refusal or failure to accept an offer of suitable work and a failure to “reconnect” with a provider within four weeks.
Resuming these decisions on 26 October 2026 is contingent on successful completion of assurance activity and system testing to ensure the necessary IT changes, improved guidance for decision-makers and additional safeguards to ensure decision-making under these provisions align with the law. The department has a responsibility to ensure the systems we administer are operating within the law as enacted by the Australian parliament, and this is an important step in returning the TCF system to lawful operation.
Resuming these decisions on 26 October 2026 is contingent on successful completion of assurance activity and system testing to ensure the necessary IT changes, improved guidance for decision-makers and additional safeguards to ensure decision-making under these provisions align with the law.
The department has a responsibility to ensure the systems we administer are operating within the law as enacted by the Australian parliament, and this is an important step in returning the TCF system to lawful operation.
Two other types of cancellations, those relating to persistent MO failures and work refusal failures, will still be turned off as the government works to ensure they are overseen by a human who can make a legal decision.
It’s unclear exactly how many people had their payments illegally cancelled but, speaking at Senate estimates earlier this year, representatives for DEWR said the number of illegal cancellations, where people were not given enough time to reconnect to a job provider after missing a compulsory activity as part of their mutual obligations, was in “the vicinity” of 300,000.
Late former Liberal party president Teena McQueen may have made payments to the Reformers, inquiry hears
Icac’s Operation Rosny has heard about the ways in which the late former Liberal president Teena McQueen may have supported conservative factional group the Reformers.
McQueen, who served as the federal Liberal party vice-president from 2017 to 2023, died in June this year after battling severe sickness. McQueen, known for her conservative commentary and long-term membership of the Liberal party, had defected to One Nation in May.
Previously, Reformers associate Dylan Whitelaw said McQueen would “pay for a bar tab” for Reformers events. Reformer Robert Assaf told the inquiry had provided a venue for training sessions, and a call centre for recruitment. “I think … we used Teena McQueen’s boardroom, God rest her soul,” Assaf said.
Today, Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet has been read messages between Reformers which suggest McQueen may have also donated $500 directly to the group via the Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney, who has been named in Icac’s allegations. Perrottet says he does not know if McQueen donated to the group.
Pauline Hanson details who she wants to remove from the country under mass deportation push
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was interviewed on Sky News a moment ago, where she detailed more about her plans for a mass deportation of some 75,000 people she says have overstayed their visas.
She said she wasn’t concerned about those who she is targeting with the move, and was focused on Australians:
I don’t care. My concern is for those Australians that can’t get a roof over their head and a decent standard of living and way of life …
When asked who she would target if in government, Hanson had this to say:
They had a contract to come out here for only a certain period of time. That was a visa that was given to them. They’ve overstayed. I’m not against migration … never have been. But we’ve got to bring in people who are going to make the country prosperous, that they have something to offer, that they want to be Australians … We don’t need any more Uber drivers, nail technicians, dog walkers. These people, gone, stop all that.
They had a contract to come out here for only a certain period of time. That was a visa that was given to them. They’ve overstayed.
I’m not against migration … never have been. But we’ve got to bring in people who are going to make the country prosperous, that they have something to offer, that they want to be Australians …
We don’t need any more Uber drivers, nail technicians, dog walkers. These people, gone, stop all that.
Police official says suspected murder-suicide in outback Queensland town confronting for officers and small community
Matthew Vanderbyl, the southern region assistant commissioner for Queensland police, said police responding to a suspected murder-suicide in an outback town overnight were confronted with a “terrible” scene.
Vanderbyl said the investigation was still in its very early stages, with officials still heading to the remote town of Charleville, and couldn’t provide much information about the pair’s relationship or circumstances of the deaths.
But he said the region was a small, tight-knit community:
These types of events affect communities badly, let alone small communities. It will be something that will have a tragic impact on the wider community of Charleville and the police, friends and relatives of the deceased, who our thoughts remain with today.
Gina Rinehart has lost an estimated $283m on paper as Elon Musk’s SpaceX company slumps in value.
SpaceX shares fell overnight to US$108.27, 19.8% below its price of US$135 when it listed on share markets. It is now valued at US$1.4tn. Musk, its founder, was briefly the world’s first trillionaire but is now worth US$693.7bn, according to Forbes.
The company had released financial results showing strong revenue growth but capital spending on AI development was particularly high. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said the report had unsettled investors.
Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, took a stake in SpaceX at its share market debut. It has republished articles on its website reporting it bought over US$1bn worth. Wednesday’s price fall implies the company has lost about US$200m (A$283m) on paper.
A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the company was still invested in SpaceX but did not directly answer when asked whether it had sold or bought more shares since its initial investment. A spokesperson said Hancock was a “long-term investor” with a diverse portfolio and a particular focus on companies with “outstanding leadership”. They added:
Our investment in SpaceX reflects our confidence in Elon Musk, an exceptional and brilliant person, and SpaceX’s execution under his leadership, as well as in Elon Musk’s proven ability to use science for the betterment of mankind.
SpaceX’s share price is at risk of falling further tonight. Early investors and company insiders may rush to cash out when they gain permission to sell their shares in the company, after a lockup period expires on Thursday, US time.
Unprecedented images may explain one of greatest mysteries of the sun
Golden bands and swirling vortices have been spotted on the sun in the most detailed images ever captured of the turbulent surface of our home star.
Astronomers observed the sun with the Inouye solar telescope in Hawaii, the world’s most powerful solar telescope, and saw new features smaller than 20km (12 miles) across in a magnetically active region close to a sun spot.
The unprecedented pictures show processes on the surface that are likely to explain the decades-long mystery of why the corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere, is millions of degrees hotter than its surface.
Icac resumes as factional ally of Angus Taylor due to appear next week
The NSW Icac’s Operation Rosny hearings into corruption in the NSW Liberal party have resumed this morning, with Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet, the younger brother of former premier, Dominic Perrottet, giving evidence again.
Yesterday, he admitted he occasionally paid for memberships of people he was signing up to the Liberal party, which the inquiry has heard is against party rules. Branch stacking is not itself illegal, but the group is under investigation for allegedly soliciting or accepting illegal donations as part of branch-stacking efforts. Jean-Claude Perrottet has previously denied any wrongdoing, while Dominic Perrottet has not been named in any allegations by Icac.
Icac has also announced next week’s witnesses. They include Jeremy Greenwood, who was originally scheduled to appear this week.
He has been named in two allegations. The corruption watchdog is examining a second allegation that between 2020 and 2023, Liberal figures including Greenwood solicited or accepted donations from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and his company, Toplace in exchange for the pursuit of outcomes sought by Nassif.
Also expected to appear on Wednesday and Thursday next week is Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney. Icac is investigating the allegation that illegal donations were made by the schools governing body, arranged and approved by McInerney.
Last week the inquiry heard a message sent by McInerney, who is a factional ally of federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, to Reformer advising of a plan to “shake down Angus for 10K”. Taylor has not been named in Icac’s allegations and has denied he ever made payments to the Reformers.
Man and pregnant woman found dead in outback Queensland home in apparent murder-suicide
A sad update from our earlier post:
A pregnant woman and a man have been found dead at a home in the outback Queensland town of Charleville, in an apparent murder-suicide after a protracted overnight standoff with police.
Several streets in the remote town, 600km west of Toowoomba, were locked down by police on Wednesday evening after officers arrived at the property on King Street after reports of “a serious assault”.
