In a donation drive email today seeking contributions from supporters. Pauline Hanson’s party claims Labor is “destroying the Australia we know”, branding prime minister Anthony Albanese a “liar”.
“One Nation has proven we can win lower house seats – so it’s time to target Labor held seats,” the email says.
One Nation’s polling surge, now outperforming both Labor. Liberal on primary votes, has previously been seen as a threat to conservative parties – but outer suburban or regional Labor-held seats could also come under threat if current polling levels hold until the next election.
In a campaign they’re calling “fire the liar”. One Nation references a donation drive from Labor to its supporters, in which the government party sought funds from its backers to “prevent One Nation from turning polling momentum into seats”.
It is commonplace for politicians. parties of all stripes – Labor, Liberal, One Nation, independent and more – to regularly seek donations from supporters in email fundraising campaigns.
Hanson on Tuesday had claimed it was “disgusting” for Labor to seek donations:
double quotation mark I just can’t believe. they are brave enough to ask poor Australians to give over their money to fund their campaigns. It’s just disgusting.
One Nation has sent at least weekly emails to subscribers, suggesting donation amounts of between $5. $100 to “support our fight to challenge the two-party system – fund ads, materials, and campaigning on the ground”. The emails direct supporters to the party’s website. where a blurb states: “One Nation needs your help to break the party system.”
Homeless man found dead with burn injuries in Melbourne’s east
A man believed to be homeless has been found dead with burn injuries in a park on a quiet street in Melbourne’s east.
Police said a passerby found the man in parkland in Donvale about 4.20pm on Tuesday. The man was yet to be identified this morning but it appeared he had no fixed address. may have been sleeping rough in the area.
Arson squad detectives attended the scene but not homicide detectives, a police spokesperson said. They declined to share further detail on the suspected burns.
An autopsy will be carried out. a report prepared for the coroner to determine whether the man’s death was suspicious, police said.
Officers are making further inquiries into the man’s identity. Police urged anyone who may have seen him in the area. knows the man’s identity or has other information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Crowds gather for Neale Daniher’s funeral at MCG
Here are some more images coming from Neale Daniher’s state funeral at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. as crowds continue to gather:
Mourners have begun arriving at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the state funeral of AFL great. motor neurone disease crusader Neale Daniher, who died at home on 25 May, aged 65.
Daniher, the 2025 Australian of the Year, became the symbol of the fight against MND after his 2013 diagnosis with the incurable. fatal disease, which he dubbed “The Beast”.
He defied the odds, battling MND for 13 years when the average life expectancy is 27 months.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will lead tributes at the funeral – on the hallowed grounds where Daniher played for Essendon. coached Melbourne.
The state funeral comes just two days after the annual Big Freeze match between Collingwood. Melbourne, which raised $2.5m for FightMND. The governor-general, Sam Mostyn, was among the high-profile figures who slid into an ice bath as part of the festivities.
- Australian Associated Press
Government R&D spending falls when adjusted for inflation
Government spending on research. development (R&D) has fallen in real terms in the latest financial year, new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows.
Spending was $4.4bn in 2024-25, up 1% from 2022-23 before adjusted for inflation.
The head of business statistics at the ABS. Tom Lay, said the increase was the “lowest since 2018-19, when it grew 2 per cent”.
double quotation mark When adjusted for the impacts of inflation. government spending on R&D declined by 4 per cent in 2024-25 in real terms.
Government spending on R&D as a proportion of GDP fell from 0.17% in 2022-23 to 0.16% in 2024-25. the ABS data showed, well below the OECD average of 2.73%.
The largest rise was for environmental sciences, up $224m or 55%, followed by biomedical and clinical sciences.
University. science bodies have consistently lobbied governments to increase R&D spending to 3% of GDP in line with global competitors, arguing it drives productivity and economic growth.
In a donation drive email today seeking contributions from supporters. Pauline Hanson’s party claims Labor is “destroying the Australia we know”, branding prime minister Anthony Albanese a “liar”.
“One Nation has proven we can win lower house seats – so it’s time to target Labor held seats,” the email says.
One Nation’s polling surge, now outperforming both Labor. Liberal on primary votes, has previously been seen as a threat to conservative parties – but outer suburban or regional Labor-held seats could also come under threat if current polling levels hold until the next election.
In a campaign they’re calling “fire the liar”. One Nation references a donation drive from Labor to its supporters, in which the government party sought funds from its backers to “prevent One Nation from turning polling momentum into seats”.
It is commonplace for politicians. parties of all stripes – Labor, Liberal, One Nation, independent and more – to regularly seek donations from supporters in email fundraising campaigns.
Hanson on Tuesday had claimed it was “disgusting” for Labor to seek donations:
double quotation mark I just can’t believe. they are brave enough to ask poor Australians to give over their money to fund their campaigns. It’s just disgusting.
One Nation has sent at least weekly emails to subscribers, suggesting donation amounts of between $5. $100 to “support our fight to challenge the two-party system – fund ads, materials, and campaigning on the ground”. The emails direct supporters to the party’s website. where a blurb states: “One Nation needs your help to break the party system.”
The Australian government is liable for paying damages to a man it unlawfully held in immigration detention for 18 months because he could not be removed to another country. the high court has ruled.
The case of Safwat Abdel-Hady could be a watershed moment on whether the government could be liable for damages for more than 350 unlawful non-citizens released after the high court ruled against indefinite detention in 2023.
The Austrian citizen was unlawfully held in immigration detention for a period of 18 months because his health conditions restricted his travel,. meant he had no real prospect of removal to another country.
The high court’s ruling this morning means the government cannot defend against damages claims on the basis that it relied on the high court’s previous 2004 ruling in Al-Kateb –. was overruled in 2023 – allowing non-citizens without a visa who cannot be removed to another country to remain in indefinite detention.
Abdel-Hady’s matter will now be heard in the federal circuit court, which will determine whether he is liable for damages.
We’ll bring you more once we work through the reasons.
Prosecutors have filed court attendance notices today for 19 fresh charges laid against Naveed Akram for his alleged role as a gunman in the Bondi terror attack. taking the total number of charges against him to 78.
A commonwealth prosecutor told Downing Centre local court on Wednesday. the documents had been filed today after the new charges against Akram were first revealed last month.
Akram, 24,. his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, allegedly killed 15 people after opening fire at a Hanukah festival at Bondi beach on 14 December.
Akram, who survived a shootout with police, was charged in December with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder. one count of committing a terrorist act that investigators allege may have been “inspired by Isis”. Sajid Akram was shot and killed by police at the scene.
The new charges include 10 counts of shooting with intent to murder. six charges of discharging a firearm with intent to resist arrest.
Prosecutors sought another extension on Wednesday to file the brief of evidence. with the court setting a new due date of 12 August. The prosecutor said they were still working through about 230,000 CCTV images. numerous devices “from other persons purportedly linked to the defendant” that required translation. She told the court:
double quotation mark We are progressing really steadily and well through the preparation of this matter towards charged verification.
An interim suppression order was placed over a number of the victims. complainants named in the fresh charges, which the court heard included police officers.
ACT will move to abolish stamp duty for first home buyers
First home buyers in the ACT will no longer have to pay stamp duty. the territory government will reveal, as it hands down a budget mired in debt, AAP reports.
Housing is central to ACT treasurer Chris Steel’s second budget, to be unveiled on Wednesday.
The latest milestone in ACT Labor’s long-term project to abolish stamp duty in favour of higher property rates will extend the exemption to all first home buyers from 1 July.
Currently, only homes under $1m are exempt and purchasers must be below income eligibility thresholds.
The ACT will become the first jurisdiction in Australia to fully abolish stamp duty for people entering the property market.
Australia’s emergency warning system will get its first test today, in the Canberra suburb of Duffy, with the federal government advising it is only a trial run. recipients of alerts don’t need to do anything.
The AusAlert system will see text messages sent to all mobile phones in each area, accompanied by a siren warning. The system is to warn Australians about natural hazards like bushfires. floods, security threats like public safety events or terrorism, and biosecurity or health emergencies.
The system will be operational later this year, with a nationwide test on 27 July,. small local tests will be carried out in the coming weeks.
Duffy is the first test site, with more scheduled in Launceston on 15 June, Cooya Beach in Queensland on 16 June, Liverpool in New South Wales on 17 June,. Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and Victoria’s Geelong on 18 June, with more tests in following days.
The government is saying that people who receive a test alert don’t need to do anything. because it is just a test.
“A test alert will be sent to all mobile devices in the selected testing area at the time of the test. If you are in the test area with a compatible mobile device you may receive the alert,” the government website states.
double quotation mark Devices may vibrate and play a siren-like warning sound for about 10 seconds. An AusAlert message may appear on device screens. It will clearly say it is a test. Exactly how it appears will depend on your device type and operating system.
Disability discrimination commissioner warns NDIS changes will leave participants in ‘unsafe situations’
The disability discrimination commissioner. Rosemary Kayess, has called for a halt to the Albanese government’s planned overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as she warns proposed participant budget cuts will leave “people in unsafe situations”.
Kayess is appearing on the second day of a Senate inquiry into Labor’s sweeping changes to the NDIS. which are designed to save $37.8bn over four years.
Among the changes are new powers that would allow the federal minister to make cuts to entire categories of support.
The health minister, Mark Butler, intends to use that power to order cuts of 50% to funding for social. community participation activities. Participants use the funding to hire support workers to accompany them into public, helping to build independence. reduce social isolation.
Under questioning from the independent senator, David Pocock, Kayess warned the cuts could cause significant harm to participants.
double quotation mark We know it will leave people in unsafe situations. We had four-and-a-half years of evidence given to the disability royal commission. People with disability in 2009, 2010 after the first round for a disability strategy identified the way that the vulnerability that is created when people are isolated. that’s how they become vulnerable, they end up in either closed environments or isolated environments and they are at risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation.
Asked if the bill should pass in its current form, Kayess said:
double quotation mark No, I think it needs to stop and slow down so there can be far more analysis. I feel the analysis we’ve been able to do over the last couple of weeks is still inadequate.
Western Sydney airport opening date set for 25 October
Western Sydney international airport’s inaugural flight will take off on 25 October. with its executives pledging to help ease demand on some of Australia’s busiest domestic routes, AAP reports.
Jetstar. Qantas tickets go on sale from Wednesday morning, with the budget carrier to run a combined 21 services a week to Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Qantas will begin flying to and from the airport in March 2027.
The first flight out of Sydney’s second airport will be a Jetstar service to the Gold Coast at 11am on 25 October.
Two international routes – Auckland and Changi – had previously been announced.
KPMG loses contracts and leaders amid scandal over alleged confidential leaks
The Australian chief executive of global accounting firm KPMG has resigned. its lucrative government contracts are under threat amid a growing scandal over alleged leaks of clients’ confidential information.
The London-headquartered company allegedly leaked secret documents. breached independence rules, around the same time its competitor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was banned from working for the Australian government for leaking confidential tax information for commercial gain.
KPMG has already lost at least one $10m-a-year contract and will face two inquiries.
Here’s what you need to know:
Albanese urges ‘civil’ discourse on immigration debate amid One Nation rise
Anthony Albanese says he wants to dial down the temperature on the immigration debate, refusing to launch attacks against the opposition. One Nation’s policies.
The prime minister joined ABC Melbourne this morning. was hesitant to label the opposition’s policy to remove welfare access for permanent residents as “racist”.
double quotation mark Quite clearly. [Angus Taylor] has decided to compete with One Nation in that sphere … I’m not about using slogans. I’m saying that it’s not factually correct to say that someone who is an Australian permanent resident from a place, like India or China, where you can’t have dual citizenship, who, for practical reasons, or indeed there are so many people from the United Kingdom. from a range of countries who’ve been here almost their whole life who aren’t citizens …
We need to be able to have discourse, which is civil, where people are able to discuss things in a factual way, put different views, sure,. do it in a way that has some respect rather than the way that discourse is occurring.
Albanese was also asked by a listener whether the immigration debate occurring is due to higher levels of non-white migrants entering the country.
double quotation mark There are a range of factors which will drive people’s views,. I don’t think Australians aren’t homogenous. They don’t have one view, people will have a range of different views,. what I say is that we are stronger because of the diversity that is here in this country.
Disability workers will push for 35% pay rise
Community. disability workers are pursuing the largest pay rise in decades in an historic claim, as the government continues to defend significant cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, AAP reports.
The Australian Services Union will push for a 35% wage increase for 300,000 workers in the claim, citing the growing demands. complexity of their roles.
Emeline Gaske, the ASU’s national secretary, said the workforce, which is overwhelmingly made up of women, has been undervalued. underpaid for decades.
“We surveyed our members and what they told us was stark. More than half say they cannot get ahead financially. One in three won’t have enough to retire on,” she said ahead of the claim being filed on Wednesday.
double quotation mark As the sector continues to grow. demand for workers is surging, we cannot afford to lose workers because pay is failing to keep up with the cost of living. Something has to give, and that something is pay.
How the war in Iran could leave one Australian farmer $600,000 out of pocket
John Bennett’s farm is more than 11,000km from the strait of Hormuz. yet the war in the Middle East is having a daily impact on the grain grower’s life. He estimates increased fertiliser costs could strip about $600,000 from his farm’s bottom line this season.
“Numbers are big in farming,” Bennett says. “And in the end not a lot comes out at the end of the pipe.”
Albanese was asked if he’s been surprised by any backlash to the changes to the capital gains tax discount. negative gearing.
“Tax reform’s hard … We’re working through these issues,” the prime minister said. pointing to efforts to support first home buyers. “The changes that we’ve made are modest.”
He went on to note the changes include grandfathering provisions that won’t hurt those already with negatively geared assets.
Albanese maintained that Treasury forecasts on house prices don’t show falls,. rather a much smaller increase over time rather than large gains.
double quotation mark It is certainly the case that since the changes were made in 1999. house prices have increased by 400%. That’s more than double the increase in incomes, and that’s what leads and explains the gap that’s there in affordability.
What we’ve done is thrown everything at supply … But we need to do more. Which is why these changes are aimed at boosting supply as well as giving first home buyers a fair crack.
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