Australia news live: Chalmers dismisses reports of ‘frosty’ relationship with Albanese

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries. Forestry, Julie Collins, is speaking in Hobart about a suspected avian influenza or bird flu case.

If confirmed, the case would be the first of the deadly H5 strain to be detected in mainland Australia.

She says it was found in a single migratory wild bird. was found sick in an isolated area in southern Western Australia.

double quotation mark The initial testing at the Western Australian Laboratory has returned a suspected positive result for avian influenza.

Samples have now been sent to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for confirmatory testing, with results expected tomorrow.

We cannot confirm yet whether it is the strain of concern. is circulating at this stage known as the H5 bird flu.

There is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time, nor is there any evidence of infection in poultry.

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries. Forestry, Julie Collins, said a suspected deadly H5 strain was found in a single migratory wild bird in southern Western Australia. A second bird was also found sick and will be tested.

The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) has charged a third man over the alleged Adass Israel synagogue arson attack in December 2024. The Airport West man, 20, has been charged with criminal damage by fire (Arson), conduct endangering life. theft of motor vehicle.

AFL great Tony Modra was seriously injured in a truck accident on his South Australian property. Modra, renowned as one of the AFL’s most brilliant players in a career spanning 1992 to 2001 at Adelaide. Fremantle, was in hospital in a serious condition with undisclosed injuries on Thursday night.

The federal government announced another $100m in support for Ukraine as it continues its fight against Russia’s invasion. Australia’s ambassador to Nato. Angus Campbell, represented Australia at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels overnight, announcing plans to bring Australia’s overall support for Ukraine to over $1.8bn.

Thank you for spending part of the day with us, and have a good weekend.

Protester charged for disrupting traffic near Waterloo public housing estate

A woman protesting at the Waterloo public housing estate this morning was arrested. charged with disrupting traffic, NSW police have said.

Police will alleged that a 28-year-old woman. who had locked herself to the passenger side of the truck, did not listen to officers when asked to leave the roadway.

The woman was removed from the vehicle and placed under arrest. She was refused bail to appear at court tomorrow.

Earlier, police charged a 22-year-old woman who did not comply with a move-on order.

Chalmers dismisses reports of ‘frosty’ relationship with PM

Jim Chalmers says reports of a frosty relationship with Anthony Albanese are “rubbish”. insisting the pair are in lock-step on Labor’s contentious tax reforms.

The relationship between the treasurer. the prime minister is again in the spotlight after the government’s partial backdown on proposed changes to the capital gains tax.

Asked on Friday about media reports of a “frosty” relationship with the prime minister, Chalmers said:

double quotation mark It’s just rubbish, you know,. you shouldn’t believe that sort of trash that you read in some parts of the media. Now, I’ve talked to the prime minister almost every day since the budget. We work together very, very closely. On a personal level I’m very grateful to him for the work. we are doing together to bed down these really important changes.

NDIS inquiry report delayed with doubts over bill’s passage

A Senate inquiry into sweeping changes to the national disability insurance scheme has delayed its findings for a second time. leaving the fate of the legislation hanging in the balance ahead of a sitting fortnight in Canberra.

The Labor-chaired committee was due to table its findings on a major redesign of the NDIS on Friday. the report has now been pushed back until Tuesday, 23 June.

It is the second time the report has been delayed after it was initially due to be published on Tuesday.

The inquiry – which ran for less than a month – heard widespread concerns from disability advocates, providers. the states and territories about Labor’s drastic plan to curb the scheme’s ballooning costs.

More than 240,000 participants are expected to be forced off the scheme by 2031 under the contentious changes. which are forecast to save almost $38bn over four years.

The government also wants to slash the stream of funding that participants use to hire support workers to allow them to engage with the community, in a move advocates warn will lead to more isolation. segregation.

The Greens are staunchly opposed to the changes while the Coalition is yet to confirm its support. leaving Labor without the numbers to get it through the Senate.

The Greens disability spokesperson, Jordon Steele-John, criticised the delay to the report’s release.

double quotation mark The Greens are frustrated by the delay in the release of this report. The government demanded that disabled people, their families. advocates rush to prepare submissions and evidence for the inquiry, yet it is now dragging its feet when it comes to publishing the findings. Disabled people deserve certainty, transparency and respect.”

She said the bird was found in the south of Western Australia, but Australia was prepared for bird flu. She says the results will come in tonight or early tomorrow morning.

double quotation mark We’ve undertaken a series of national exercises. we’ve invested $113m to strengthen our nation’s preparedness for the H5 bird flu, including an additional $11m in the most recent budget.

If it is confirmed to be the H5 bird flu, this will be sobering. not unexpected given the spread globally.

I want to reassure the public that we’re well placed to respond to and to manage this situation.

We have called together a meeting of the States. territories and the industry experts to get together this afternoon, and they are meeting as we speak.

It is my intention this afternoon to fly to Canberra to receive further briefings tomorrow, should that be required.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries. Forestry, Julie Collins, is speaking in Hobart about a suspected avian influenza or bird flu case.

If confirmed, the case would be the first of the deadly H5 strain to be detected in mainland Australia.

She says it was found in a single migratory wild bird. was found sick in an isolated area in southern Western Australia.

double quotation mark The initial testing at the Western Australian Laboratory has returned a suspected positive result for avian influenza.

Samples have now been sent to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for confirmatory testing, with results expected tomorrow.

We cannot confirm yet whether it is the strain of concern. is circulating at this stage known as the H5 bird flu.

There is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time, nor is there any evidence of infection in poultry.

Albanese government tells China it’s not happy with beef tariffs

The Albanese government has told China it is unhappy with a new 55% tariff on Australian beef exports. set to be imposed from this weekend.

The agriculture minister. Julie Collins, is expected to respond to the announcement from Beijing this afternoon, amid expectations the new tariff will be in place until at least the end of 2026.

Australian farmers will be hit by the new tariff regime. introduced after exports from Australia reached a new quota of 205,000 tonnes, set by authorities in Beijing in December.

Countries including Brazil and Argentina are also included in the new rules, designed to benefit domestic farmers in China.

Trade ties between Australia. China have stabilised in recent years, after severe restrictions introduced by Beijing in response to the former Morrison government calling for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That’s all from me! Cait Kelly will take things from here. Have a nice weekend.

Protesters disassembling encampment at Waterloo public housing estate

Protesters are disassembling an encampment at the Waterloo public housing estate after police moved them on early this morning. arrested one woman.

The encampment was set up 25 days ago to obstruct the staged demolition of the southern part of the estate. which was scheduled to begin on 25 May.

On Wednesday. Homes NSW issued a formal notice to the encampment stating that anyone who remained past midday on Thursday would be considered a trespasser.

At 7am on Friday morning, police said they went to the encampment to “prevent a breach of peace”. that all protesters, except for one 22-year-old woman, complied with the direction to move on.

Police charged the woman who allegedly defied the move-on order with “enter inclosed land not prescribed premises without lawful excuse”. She was granted conditional bail and will appear before Downing Centre local court on Monday.

Footage posted to the encampment’s social media account showed police cutting a woman free from a lock-on device after she allegedly attached herself to a truck carrying demolition equipment.

One of the protesters, Rachel Evans, told Guardian Australia just after 2pm that the protesters were packing up. leaving soon. Evans vowed they’d be back “in some form” in the future.

The NSW government is demolishing Waterloo south. which housed vulnerable Sydneysiders in 750 public housing properties, to make way for 3,300 properties. It’s expected the $4bn redevelopment will take between 10 and 15 years.

Half of the new properties will be private, 20% will be “affordable” housing,. the remaining 30% will be a mix of public and community housing.

The tenants displaced by the redevelopment are being relocated to other social housing estates in nearby suburbs. have been promised they can return when the new homes are complete.

The advocates defending the homes have argued. the government’s plan to redevelop Waterloo is a renege on a “pre-election 2023 promise to save Waterloo”.

A 26-year-old Palestinian Australian is considering suing the state after police agreed in court on Thursday. his prosecution following the anti- Isaac Herzog protest was “without reasonable cause”.

Eyad Shadid was arrested near where a group of Muslim men were praying when they were grabbed by police officers at the 9 February protest outside town hall. Shadid was later charged with refusing to comply with a police direction and resisting or hindering an officer.

Last month, police withdrew both charges against him.

An application for costs, initially opposed by police. then agreed, was heard before the Downing centre local court on Thursday. Shadid’s lawyer Nick Hanna said that during the hearing the police prosecutor conceded that they gave no move-on direction.

Hanna said that the prosecutor also agreed the criminal proceedings against Shadid were instituted “without reasonable cause”.

The facts sheet, seen by Guardian Australia. which outlines the police’s initial reasons for charging Shadid, had alleged that he was given a move-on direction and that he was arrested because of his refusal to comply with it.

Judge Rami Attia ordered the force pay Shadid $9,900 in costs.

double quotation mark By conceding that Mr Shadid was in fact never given a move-on direction, it necessarily follows their arrest of Mr Shadid had no basis. was therefore unlawful.

The next step for Mr Shadid will now be to consider bringing a civil claim against the state of NSW seeking compensation for the harm caused to him as a result of the arrest. which was violent and, in my view, plainly unlawful.

NSW police said in response to a request for comment:

double quotation mark Strike Force Laine continues to conduct inquiries into the public order event on Monday 9 February 2026.

As inquiries are ongoing, and a LECC investigation remains in place, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment.

Has Pauline Hanson’s federal campaign just begun? – Australian Politics podcast

For the first time in her 30-year political career, Pauline Hanson fronted the National Press Club this week. It was a blistering address,. a combative question-and-answer round with journalists – with Hanson attacking multiculturalism, the climate crisis, transgender rights, Indigenous policy, paid parental leave and the two public broadcasters.

Listen to our podcast digesting the speech, featuring longtime journalist Margo Kingston and political editor Tom McIlroy, here: