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2h agoAustralia Post chief paid ‘mind-blowing’ $1.2m bonus
4h agoAustralia pays biggest bill for global diesel crisis
4h agoeSafety commissioner and family subjected to ‘onslaught of online abuse and threats’
4h agoShoebridge to pitch increased welfare spending, hike in tax-free threshold
4h agoInflation expected to rise to 4.2%
The outgoing chief executive of Australia Post, Paul Graham, was paid a $1.2m bonus on top of his $1.64m base salary in the last financial year, after the $139.4m sale of property owned by Australia Post pushed the organisation into a profit for the year.
Graham, who announced this month he will retire after five years at the helm in June next year, confirmed to Senate estimates on Tuesday night he had been paid the bonus based on two performance components, with one component related to the “property strategy we had to execute”.
He said the strategy was critical to Australia Post’s transformation:
We do have the great fortune of sitting on property that has been in the network for some time, and it was important for us to get an articulated, clear strategy … releasing those non-core properties from our portfolio and ensuring that they provided the cashflow that not only got us back into a profitable position, but enabled us to make the substantial investments we’re making as part of our transformation.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson told Graham it was a “mind-blowing amount of money”.
Australia Post reported a profit before tax of $31.8m, but had the property sales been excluded, Australia Post would have reported a loss before tax of $107.6m, as the letter volumes fell a further 14.7% in the 2026 financial year.
Western Australians could be first to access plug-in solar
Renters and apartment dwellers in Western Australia could be the first in Australia to gain access to plug-in solar, with the state government opening consultation on the technology on Wednesday.
Plug-in solar systems, also called balcony solar, are small, standalone systems that can be attached to balconies or used in back yards and plugged into power points, offsetting the energy used by household appliances. Researchers from RMIT University have estimated Australians living in capital cities could save between $226 and $372 each year with a plug-in system.
The consumer technology has gained popularity overseas, and is available in the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand. While units can be sold in Australia, they are not yet legal to plug in and use.
The WA energy minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, announced consultation on a safety standard, the first step of a move to legalise the technology. She said:
For too long, the benefits of cheap solar have been out of reach for anyone who doesn’t own their roof. That isn’t fair, and the Cook Labor Government is doing something about it.
Heidi Lee Douglas, chief executive of the advocacy group Solar Citizens, welcomed the announcement:
All Australians deserve to save money on power by harnessing the sun. We look forward to renters, apartment dwellers and low income homes being able to plug-in, switch-on and save, save, save.
In September, federal, state and territory energy ministers agreed to explore the safe deployment of plug-in solar.
Aged care algorithm under scrutiny in estimates
Greens senator Penny-Allman Payne is grilling Department of Health and Ageing staff about the aged care algorithm following a scathing ombudsman report, which found a tool used to assess support at-home entitlements for older Australians is unfair, unreasonable and leading to poor outcomes.
She asked why aged care assessors were assured for months before the rollout of the algorithm that if the tool made a wrong funding package recommendation they would have the ability to override the algorithm and make sure their client received the right level of support.
Despite those multiple assurances to the aged care sector both publicly and privately, the department of health updated user manuals for the tool to say overriding the tool would be illegal and was banned, shortly before the tool was launched in November.
The deputy secretary of the department of health, Sonja Stewart, admitted the decision to ban assessor overrides was locked in by government in 2024, but departmental officials spent months giving incorrect guidance to health workers that clinician.
First assistant secretary Greg Pugh admitted that different teams within the department were working under entirely different assumptions, some believing human override was banned, while another team built IT features and told the public and assessment agencies that clinicians could change incorrect scores.
Ambulance patients who abuse paramedics will have to pay for care, Victoian premier vows
Violent and abusive ambulance patients will be forced to pay for their care under a Victorian Labor election pledge to strip them of their membership.
The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has taken a ride on Labor’s big red campaign bus to Sunshine, in Melbourne west, to make the commitment.
If you assault a paramedic, if you threaten or intimidate a paramedic, it does not give you the right to have free public transport by that paramedic. It is wrong, and we need to call it out and have a zero-tolerance approach.
If you assault a paramedic, if you threaten or intimidate a paramedic, it does not give you the right to have free public transport by that paramedic.
It is wrong, and we need to call it out and have a zero-tolerance approach.
Concession card holders whose ambulance bill is normally covered, even if they don’t have a membership, would lose their fee exemption if demonstrating such behaviour.
The government says there will be guardrails for patients with dementia, an acquired brain inquiry and other mitigating circumstances.
Treasury boss says government spending not to blame for high inflation
Jenny Wilkinson, the Treasury secretary, says government spending is not adding to the country’s inflation challenge, and the surprisingly strong pick-up in the private sector has contributed to the recent upswing in price pressures.
Since the middle of 2025 … we have observed public demand growth coming off and private demand growth lifting. So public demand has made less of a contribution to economic growth over this last period than private demand.
Jane Hume, senator and deputy opposition leader, pointed to numerous economists who have said high government spending was adding inflationary pressure.
But the Treasury boss also said changes in the overall budget position over the last 18 months “have taken some pressure from the government out of the economy”.
There is a separate argument about whether there’s additional activity that should be taken out. But … if you’re asking me whether the changes in the net fiscal position have contributed to this increase in inflation that we have observed over the past 18 months, then I think it’s very hard to sustain that argument.
There is a separate argument about whether there’s additional activity that should be taken out.
But … if you’re asking me whether the changes in the net fiscal position have contributed to this increase in inflation that we have observed over the past 18 months, then I think it’s very hard to sustain that argument.
Racism affecting patients, GPs and healthcare workers, report reveals
One in three GPs reported witnessing racism towards patients in the past 12 months, according to data in the 2026 Health of the Nation report.
The report also showed that one in five GPs reported experiencing racism from a patient within their practice.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president, Dr Michael Wright, said the results show that racism continues to affect patients, GPs and healthcare workers across Australia. He called for better monitoring and measurement of racism in the healthcare system.
No healthcare professional should face racism at work, and no patient should experience racism when accessing healthcare. Every Australian deserves safe, respectful and culturally responsive healthcare. Racism has no place in our health system.
No healthcare professional should face racism at work, and no patient should experience racism when accessing healthcare.
Every Australian deserves safe, respectful and culturally responsive healthcare. Racism has no place in our health system.
The RACGP has called on all levels of government to adopt the National Anti-Racism Framework and invest in its implementation.
The report also found the proportion of general practitioners bulk-billing all of their patients has more than doubled in a year.
Continuing on from last post …
Greens senator Barbara Pocock has criticised the high salaries at the Future Fund:
$2.2 million is an outrageous sum of money for a single public servant to earn. What’s more, we see the number of highly paid people on more than a million bucks in the Future Fund leaping from 11 to 17, and only one woman among them. Australians across the country, who can barely afford groceries, will share my outrage.
$2.2 million is an outrageous sum of money for a single public servant to earn.
What’s more, we see the number of highly paid people on more than a million bucks in the Future Fund leaping from 11 to 17, and only one woman among them.
Australians across the country, who can barely afford groceries, will share my outrage.
The government and the Future Fund have justified the remuneration based on the scale of investments being made, the risk involved, and the need to secure the best possible investment managers in a competitive and well-paid finance industry.
In the private sector, senior managers at major Australian banks commonly receive annual bonuses of more than $1m. But these salaries remain controversial with shareholders.
Million-dollar public servants: Future Fund staff paid more than $1m jumps from 11 to 17
The number of federal public servants being paid more than $1m at one government agency has increased from 11 to 17 in one year.
Guardian Australia reported 11 managers at Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, were paid significantly more than the prime minister. One was paid $1.5m, more than double Anthony Albanese’s salary.
The Future Fund’s chief corporate affairs officer, Will Hetherton, told a Senate estimates hearing the number of staff receiving more than $1m increased in the last financial year.
Hetherton said one public servant at the fund was paid $2.2m, including a deferred short term bonus and a long-term incentive.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said no other Australian government employee earned that much money. She asked Hetherton to justify the remuneration, who said:
The approach to remuneration is set by the board and has been in place since the fund was established. There have been some tweaks along the way, but it is largely the same approach. The Future Fund is really quite distinct from other agencies and departments within the public service. Our job is to maximise risk-adjusted returns and we operate in competitive global markets both for investment opportunities and talent. The board’s remuneration strategy reflects that. Short-term incentives and long-term incentives are tied directly to investment performance. A large part of the remuneration that is paid and reported in detail in annual reports is at risk and reflects the strong performance of the fund.
The approach to remuneration is set by the board and has been in place since the fund was established. There have been some tweaks along the way, but it is largely the same approach.
The Future Fund is really quite distinct from other agencies and departments within the public service. Our job is to maximise risk-adjusted returns and we operate in competitive global markets both for investment opportunities and talent. The board’s remuneration strategy reflects that.
Short-term incentives and long-term incentives are tied directly to investment performance. A large part of the remuneration that is paid and reported in detail in annual reports is at risk and reflects the strong performance of the fund.
Hetherton told the estimates hearing the fund had delivered a return of 14.8% in the last financial year, adding $37.4bn to the portfolio.
Former secretary paid almost $900k after being sacked after welfare debacle
Former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secretary Natalie James was paid an $828,980 “termination benefit” after being sacked by the Albanese government in February.
James’ contract was cut short by 18 months after two commonwealth ombudsman reports found the targeted compliance framework was operating unlawfully and cancelling people’s welfare payments when it should not have been.
Despite this controversy, and the huge amount of stress and financial concern for some of the most vulnerable Australians, it was just revealed in Senate estimates that James got paid almost $900,000 on her way out the door.
The payment was part of DEWR’s $12.9m redundancy costs for the 2025-26 financial year.
Compensation for at least 50,000 people for illegal welfare payment cancellation
The head of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Simon Duggan, has defended the decision to turn the majority of the targeted compliance framework (TCF), the automated system that issues welfare penalties, back on.
The TCF was operating unlawfully, cutting off or reducing the income of an estimated 310,000 people between 2020 and 2024. Payment cancellations related to compulsory activities have now resumed.
Opening Senate estimates this morning, Duggan said the government had begun the process of offering compensation but that anyone who believes they are affected should apply:
The department will be proactively inviting 50,652 people to apply for compensation, who have been identified through data analysis as most likely to be eligible for compensation under the requirements of the CDA scheme.
He said the deponent is monitoring the system as payment cancellations begin to roll out. Duggan also said there were four other elements which have not been turned on yet:
The remaining four paused elements of the TCF, all of which relate to ensuring that legally required human discretion is supported in decision-making, will remain paused until further safeguards and assurance arrangements are in place. At this stage, those elements are expected to resume in the first quarter of 2027, subject to completion of comprehensive system decision-making and assurance work.
The remaining four paused elements of the TCF, all of which relate to ensuring that legally required human discretion is supported in decision-making, will remain paused until further safeguards and assurance arrangements are in place.
At this stage, those elements are expected to resume in the first quarter of 2027, subject to completion of comprehensive system decision-making and assurance work.
Treasury boss blames higher interest rates for property slump
Jenny Wilkinson, the secretary of the Treasury, says the government’s tax reforms to capital gains and negative gearing have had “some effect” on property prices, but said the recent slump had more to do with “higher interest rates, heightened global uncertainty, and weak consumer sentiment”.
Wilkinson, speaking at Senate estimates this morning, said it was “important to distinguish between the cyclical and structural drivers of the housing market”.
“Interest rates have a particularly strong cyclical effect because Australia’s high share of variable rate mortgages means monetary policy passes relatively quickly to existing and new borrowers,” she said.
The budget tax reforms are expected to have a more structural effect through their impact on the relative attractiveness of housing to investors, as outlined in the budget papers, the impacts of the tax measures on house prices and rent are expected to be modest over the medium term, while shifting the ownership of the housing stock towards owner-occupiers.”
Home values were down 5.2% from their March peak, but they were still 6% higher than “a couple of years ago”, Wilkinson said.
The price declines have been sharper than in the early stages of most other housing slowdowns over the past 20 years, but the run-up in house prices was also more significant.
Woolworths claims demand for Ooshies assisting in 6.9% increase in revenue
Woolworths, Australia’s largest supermarket, has had a strong start to the financial year, with almost $15bn in grocery sales amid cost-of-living pressures.
The company posted its results for the first quarter of the financial year (July to September) to the ASX a short time ago, ahead of separate inflation data being released by the government later this morning.
Woolworths has attributed its strong results to growth in customer demand for groceries amid the ongoing success of its Ooshies collectable campaign rather than rising shelf prices.
Across the Woolworths group, which includes stores in New Zealand, the company sold $19.4bn worth of products, an increase of 4.7% from the same three-month period last year.
Most of the revenue came from Australian food sales, which amounted to $14.8bn, a 6.9% increase compared with the corresponding period.
Woolworths will hold two calls with journalists and investors this morning, and we’ll bring you more updates after that.
Man arrested after making false claims about Bondi terror attack injuries
A man who allegedly made false claims about getting injured in the Bondi Beach terror attack has been charged.
The 46-year-old is accused of making a false statement about getting injured during the mass shooting and making fraudulent claims for compensation after the event.
NSW police have charged the man with publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage and false representation resulting in police investigation after he was arrested on Tuesday morning.
He has been granted conditional bail and is set to appear at Parramatta local court today.
Continued from the previous post …
At a brief appearance late last night, the Australian federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, revealed the force had received 785 protective security reports regarding adverse content against federal parliamentarians in the first six months of this year.
Barrett said women politicians were three times more likely to report receiving offensive or threatening contact that was sexualised or gender-based in nature while those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities were also more likely to experience “frequent and varied offensive contact”.
Death threat emails received during Senate estimates, WA senator reveals
The Western Australian senator, Fatima Payman, revealed she had received yet another threatening email in a Senates estimates hearing last night, causing her to cancel a local event this weekend.
Federal politicians are continuing to sound the alarm about safety fears after the brutal alleged attack against Helen Haines last week.
Payman said her office had received an email yesterday evening, saying “watch your back, c***. You’re going to die very, very soon. You dog c***.”
Now, this is something we receive daily, but this weekend we were due to hold a community stall at a local market. We have had to cancel it because my staff told me they don’t feel safe after the AFP advised us, and I quote: “An assessment of all available information has been undertaken, and unfortunately, at this stage, the AFP won’t be in attendance to assist.” Can you please tell me how this assessment was made and with what rationale?
The AFP’s deputy commissioner, Scott Lee, responded he could not go into operational details but said:
I know our team is certainly looking to talk to your office and your staff as a matter of priority on that assessment.
Greens leader says people are disillusioned with Labor delivering for 1%
During his address at the National Press Club today, the leader of the Greens, David Shoebridge, is set to propose a $21-a-week tax cut by increasing taxes on gas exports.
Shoebridge told ABC News Breakfast:
We keep hearing that there’s nothing that the commonwealth government can do to deal with the urgent cost-of-living crisis that people are feeling. People need to have faith in politics, and people need to believe that if the current lot you’re voting for are not going to help you in your daily life, if the current lot you’re voting for seem to be delivering for the 1% rather than the people they’re meant to be representing – the millions of Australians who are having trouble paying their daily bills – you have a choice here. Ideas have a power, hope has a power, and we bloody well need that right now in politics.
We keep hearing that there’s nothing that the commonwealth government can do to deal with the urgent cost-of-living crisis that people are feeling.
People need to have faith in politics, and people need to believe that if the current lot you’re voting for are not going to help you in your daily life, if the current lot you’re voting for seem to be delivering for the 1% rather than the people they’re meant to be representing – the millions of Australians who are having trouble paying their daily bills – you have a choice here.
Ideas have a power, hope has a power, and we bloody well need that right now in politics.
One Nation must explain how Bluey cartoon is satire, Wells says
The communications minister, Anika Wells, said Bluey is one of Australia’s most loved and well-known exports and the ABC is “well within its rights” to explore legal options over One Nation’s use of the dog in its own cartoon series.
Australia’s national broadcaster indicated it would send a cease and desist letter to One Nation for using Bluey in a “shocking and disrespectful” cartoon.
Asked whether One Nation’s depiction goes “over the line”, Wells told ABC Radio National:
Satire is one thing, scrutiny is important … the people that are making this cartoon should explain why this errs on the side of satire and not something more.
Coalition must ‘go back to the drawing board’ on latest social media bill
Asked why the Coalition has not put forward amendments on the reforms, the opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, said the government had to “go back to the drawing board”.
He told ABC Radio National the opposition was concerned about the amount of power offered to the e-safety commissioner, “ill-defined” definitions and harms, and risks to small businesses.
The government will not budge on this, which is why we have come to the point where we’ve just said, they have to go back to the drawing board. The Coalition will always stand ready to be constructive on these things. But when the governor of the day just refuses to engage, then unfortunately you end up with a bill, which is so untidy – in fact, I think it’s going to be counterproductive to the objects of the bill.
The government will not budge on this, which is why we have come to the point where we’ve just said, they have to go back to the drawing board.
The Coalition will always stand ready to be constructive on these things.
But when the governor of the day just refuses to engage, then unfortunately you end up with a bill, which is so untidy – in fact, I think it’s going to be counterproductive to the objects of the bill.
Note: this post has been amended after it was mistakenly attributed to Tim Wilson.
Opposition accused of ‘refusing to participate’ on digital duty of care
The communications minister, Anika Wells, has said she is discussing the government’s latest tranche of social media reforms and has kept her door open to all parliamentarians who want to find ways to improve the bill.
But she told ABC Radio National:
The oppositions say they care about kids’ safety online and I believe them – but parliament is where you prove it. Where are their amendments? The test is simple here, they should bring an amendment, not a slogan to kill the bill.
The oppositions say they care about kids’ safety online and I believe them – but parliament is where you prove it.
Where are their amendments?
The test is simple here, they should bring an amendment, not a slogan to kill the bill.
