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Sharp says ‘multiple lines of defence’ prevented airport incidents escalating

Sharp sought to assure the public that aviation and Sydney airport were still safe and there were multiple “lines of defence” that prevented the three incidents from escalating into catastrophe.

He said:

I can understand concern when you get a run of these incidents and we certainly take it seriously …

I will say in all three instances, there was a layer of defence that kicked in and prevented an escalation. Now, we find in a lot of our investigations, it’s very rarely one single point of failure. For it to progress through to an actual accident, multiple things need to go wrong. In all three cases here, a line of defence prevented an escalation.

That line of of defence was actually multiple lines of defence in that we had aircrews onboard the aircraft identifying the situation and taking action.

But we also had air traffic control – in the case of the two Qantas planes that came in close proximity, it was also recognised by air traffic control, albeit after when it perhaps should have been, but equally in this one, this latest one that was reported to us, air traffic control cancelled the take-off clearance around the same time as the pilot onboard realised there was a potential conflict.

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Airservices CEO Rob Sharp: ‘the distance of 1.3km is quite substantial’

Airservices Australia’s Rob Sharp said the threshold for reporting the incident wasn’t met, in their view, because the air traffic controllers immediately rescinded the clearance on the plane, the aircraft remained stationary, and a Qantas aircraft was approaching the runway but still 1.3km away and “the distance of 1.3km is quite substantial”.

Sharp said:

So, based on that criteria, it didn’t meet the mandatory reporting requirements from our perspective. However, we’re quite open to reviewing the data that surrounds it; if there’s improvements to be made, we will make them. But that was the review decision at the time.

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Airservices CEO on Sydney airport near-miss: ‘we don’t think the threshold for reporting was actually met’

Airservices Australia’s chief executive Rob Sharp has been speaking to media just now about the near-collision between two planes at Sydney airport last Sunday.

He said:

VA555 was approaching to take-off; a qualified, experienced controller advised clearance, but immediately cancelled that clearance.

The controllers were under what’s called an endorsement process, so they weren’t trainees, they were experienced and regular endorsement process.

So there was a qualified controller who was also supervising.

The aircraft remained at the beginning of the threshold for the runway and the commentary that’s been around on reporting in this instance – I just want to flag we do take our reporting requirements very seriously. We work closely with our regulators and very openly. In this particular case, however, we don’t think the threshold for reporting was actually met …

But we will work closely with the ATSB because there are some data points that still need to be resolved and clarified and we look forward to any learnings that emerge from that particular incident.

You can read more about the incident here:

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Optus to keep KPMG auditor despite ‘flagrant breach of duty’

Optus will keep KPMG as its auditor even though the firm broke its promises and leaked its documents to its Telstra team, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

KPMG staff working on Optus’ audit shared confidential documents with colleagues who were pursuing, but eventually did not win, the contract for competitor Telstra.

Stephen Rue, chief executive of Optus, has told the inquiry KPMG promised its data and files would be accessible only by KPMG’s Optus team and that its Telstra team would not include any staff from its Sydney-based Optus team, working separately from Melbourne. He said:

My understanding is those assurances were not followed.

On top of the leaks, KPMG planned to have some of its Sydney-based partners work with Telstra if they had won the bid, Rue said. He said KPMG only told him about the confirmed leaks in “vague” terms in a phone call on 29 May.

Optus’ chair, John Arthur, said the leak was a “flagrant breach of duty” and an “egregious breach of professional responsibilities”. But he said the company decided to stick with KPMG as auditor as its financial year had already begun, on 1 April.

Arthur said Optus had changed the processes and personnel working on its accounts and boosted its focus on culture. He said:

We have what I would now describe as a much more rigorous control environment around our audit, which we will be watching like a hawk.

Jacinta Allan to quit politics

Victoria’s recently deposed Labor premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced she will leave politics at the next election.

In a statement today – posted to her social media pages along with a picture of her at 25 years old – Allan announced she would not recontest the seat of Bendigo in November.

Allan said:

In my first speech to Parliament, I said I wanted to be a representative who cared about people and listened to them … I finished that speech with a promise:

‘I intend to make a difference.’

Today, almost 27 years later, I have announced that I will not recontest the seat of Bendigo East at November’s election.

But I look around the place I have called home my entire life and know that, together, we did make a difference.

Allan listed what she saw as her achievements during her time in politics, and said:

Politics has changed a lot since this photo was taken.

So have I …

And when I leave Parliament, I’ll leave the same way I arrived.

A daughter of Bendigo. A daughter of workers. A proud Labor woman.

Still believing in equality. Still believing in public education and public health. Still believing in the dignity of work.

Still believing government can - and must - make people’s lives better.

And still believing politics, at its best, is very simple:

Care about people. Listen to people. Speak up for people. Make a difference.

Twenty-seven years ago, I promised I would.

And I am proud that I have.

Thank you, Bendigo.

You gave me the honour of my life.

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KPMG’s own documents suggest yet another breach of client trust, inquiry hears

A parliamentary inquiry has heard another KPMG client, Dexus, is worried the firm used its confidential information to win another contract with Dexus.

The real estate and infrastructure company had KPMG running its internal audit in 2023 and 2024, but the firm applied for and won Dexus’ external audit in 2024. A whistleblower alleged KPMG used confidential internal work to achieve that.

KPMG’s lawyers’ investigation in December 2025 found that KPMG staff believed they had told Dexus they were using internal knowledge to pursue the external contract.

Warwick Negus, chair of Dexus, spoke to the inquiry today. He said while KPMG’s own investigation suggested otherwise, KPMG’s leadership had told him that confidential information was not used in the tender process. He said:

It would have been completely inappropriate for the information to go in that direction. …I think our actions made it relatively obvious that this was not on.

He said Eileen Hoggett, the KPMG bidding partner, wanted to join Dexus’ internal audit committee meetings but Dexus rejected that as an “obvious conflict”.

Negus said KPMG’s lawyers did not interview Dexus about the issue. He told the committee:

The initial reaction is why didn’t you come and talk to us? .. Why wouldn’t you ask for our perspective on these things?

Young Talent Time's Johnny Young has died aged 79

Johnny Young, the singer-songwriter and producer who created and hosted the popular variety show Young Talent Time, has died aged 79.

Young’s family announced his death in a statement on Friday, saying that Young died “following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer”.

The statement read:

Johnny was the creator, host and producer of the much loved television show Young Talent Time. He wrote and produced many iconic hit songs including The Real Thing and Smily.

Johnny leaves behind his wife Marisha, sister Cornelia, daughters Anna and Fleur, son Craig (dec.), seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

The family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time. Details of a memorial service will be announced soon.

Young Talent Time, which originally aired from 1971 until 1988, launched the careers of several Australian singers including Tina Arena, Debra Byrne and Dannii Minogue.

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Jim Chalmers appoints new RBA board member

Melinda Cilento, the chief executive at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, has been appointed as a member of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate-setting board.

Jim Chalmers made the announcement this morning, with Cilento taking the spot left vacant by Ian Harper – a longstanding board member and one of the country’s most distinguished economists.

The treasurer in a statement this morning said Cilento “is a highly respected economist with broad and deep expertise and experience”:

This appointment will help ensure the board has the right mix of skills and perspectives.

Cilento has led CEDA, a public policy think tank, since 2017.

She was a commissioner at the Productivity Commission, deputy chair at the Business Council of Australia and is a former Treasury and International Monetary Fund official. She has also held positions in the private sector, including as a non-executive board member at Woodside Petroleum.

Cilento joins a nine-member board, which includes the RBA’s chair and deputy chair, the Treasury secretary and six independents.

Her appointment is for five years.

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Alleged victim of Alan Jones was required to iron broadcaster’s underpants, court hears

The Alan Jones trial has heard one of Complainant C’s tasks as Jones’s driver was to do household chores at his Macquarie Street apartment after the breakfast show ended at midday.

Complainant C’s tasks included ironing Jones’s underpants and handkerchiefs, collecting wine and cooking, the court was told.

C said he was given instructions by Jones’s butler on how to perform these tasks.

He told the court he was given the smaller items to iron:

If I stuffed it up it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.

The complainant said he was given instructions to deliver flowers to an Olympic diver several times before the diver won a gold medal.

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Alan Jones trial: Complainant had to make soft-boiled eggs and bread soldiers for Jones, court hears

The court has heard complainant C was required to make Jones a tray with soft-boiled eggs and Burgen bread soldiers every morning at 6.30am. If he subsequently left the empty tray for too long, he was berated by the broadcaster, C said.

“It was pretty aggressive – ‘Get this out of here’ sort of thing,” he told the court.

C said it was his dream to work at a radio station but he didn’t want to be a butler or a chauffeur.

“Alan had a kitchen in his office and I had to make soft-boiled eggs and Burgen bread … and cut it into soldiers,” C said. “I took it in on a tray and had a cloth napkin on my arm.”

C got a job as Jones’s driver for $40,000 a year but didn’t sign a contract because Jones said contracts were too confusing for young people, the complainant told the court.

“I just wanted to work in radio,” C said. “It was a dream to work at that radio station and to be able to say I worked with Alan Jones was as good as it gets for a young kid who wants to work in radio.”

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Albanese touts ‘extraordinarily safe’ aviation record in Australia

Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking again in Sydney this morning, where he was just asked about a series of incidents, including another reported yesterday, at Sydney airport.

Albanese said:

There needs to be immediate reporting of any incident and following of any investigation; any measures which have to be taken need to be taken.

My electorate, of course, basically borders Sydney airport, and people who use aviation expect to do it safely. We have an extraordinarily safe record here in Australia. It’s important to make that point.

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Alan Jones trial continues

The second alleged victim to give evidence in Alan Jones’s indecent assault trial has entered the witness box in a closed court at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court.

The man, known as complainant C, has told the court he started working at 2GB in the mid-2000s when he was 18 years old after he finished school.

He said he wrote an email to broadcaster Ray Hadley and asked if there was any work available, and he invited the school leaver to meet with him.

“He offered to pay me out of his own pocket for three months,” C told the court, and he later secured full-time employment at the radio station.

Jones’s defence barrister, Gabrielle Bashir SC, has argued during the trial that some of the complainants were egged on to complain about Jones by media rivals.

They included, Bashir alleged, shockjock Hadley, who worked at 2GB alongside Jones.

Jones has pleaded not guilty to 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. The trial continues.

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Qantas refunds passengers stuck in Johannesburg for two nights after A380 issue

Qantas has refunded hundreds of customers aboard an A380 jet that was delayed for days after mechanical issues stranded passengers in Johannesburg, South Africa, for two nights.

Flight QF64 was initially due to depart South Africa on 10 August en route to Sydney, but shortly after it left the gate the aircraft returned due to a mechanical issue. Passengers were told to disembark and spend the night after a spare part needed to be flown in from Dubai. By the time the part came in, it required extra work to make the plane safe to fly, resulting in a two-night stay for those travellers.

A replacement plane ultimately ventured to Johannesburg to pick everyone up, and the group returned to Sydney yesterday evening.

All passengers were offered either $200 in compensation or 20,000 frequent flyer points, and were told upon landing back in Australia they would also be refunded for the leg from Johannesburg to Sydney, less taxes, as well as an Uber home.

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Westpac hits out at KPMG ‘drip feeding’ alleged audit leak details

Westpac has made its first public criticism of KPMG, accusing the firm of “drip feeding” details to clients affected by its alleged audit leaks at a parliamentary inquiry into the scandal.

KPMG partners in 2023 leaked board papers from a client, Lendlease, to colleagues who were pursuing and eventually won Westpac’s lucrative audit contract.

Law firm Allens investigated some of the alleged leaks and concluded the information was “not particularly sensitive”, in a December 2025 report. More leaks have since been confirmed.

Michael Ullmer ran the big four bank’s audit selection. He told the inquiry this morning Westpac was not told about the breach until the scandal became public in March and did not get a full explanation of the allegations on 13 May in a process of “drip feeding” information.

Even then, KPMG told Westpac the allegations had not been substantiated. He said:

We go back to KPMG each time, and there’s a drip feeding of information coming out, and so from within Westpac there’s been this escalating concern and strength of our engagement with KPMG.

Ullmer said he subsequently learned KPMG “may have” told Peter Nash, a former KPMG chair and chair of Westpac’s Board Audit Committee, in May 2025 of unsubstantiated allegations, but Nash did not escalate this at Westpac.

Nash resigned from Westpac in July. Ullmer said he believed Nash had failed to discharge his obligations, because he kept a “range of social engagement and connections with KPMG throughout this [audit tender] process”.

Westpac has previously said Nash declared his conflicts of interests and the process was “carefully governed”. Nash has not commented publicly.

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Queensland police help deliver baby girl in station’s driveway

Quick-thinking officers have helped safely deliver a baby girl in the back seat of a car parked at a Queensland police station, AAP reports.

Police were returning to the station on Tuesday when they were flagged down by a panicked father in a red hatchback, alerting them his 22-year-old heavily pregnant partner was in the late stages of labour.

The couple had been on the way to Logan hospital when they realised they weren’t going to make it and pulled into the Browns Plains station in Queensland.

Officers swooped in to assist, rushing over to the car parked in the station’s driveway.

Constable Jenna Ziviani, with assistance of an ambulance operator on the phone, helped deliver the baby within seven minutes. Paramedics then arrived shortly after and took the family to the hospital.

Both mother and baby are happy and healthy, recovering at home.

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Parents call for penalties for social media companies to be increased

Parents of children who took their own lives, who campaigned for the under 16s social media ban prior to its introduction, have rejected claims the ban is not working or has failed, as they call for the government to increase the fines for non-compliance beyond the planned $99m level.

Speaking at an inquiry into the Albanese government’s legislation to give the eSafety commissioner more investigatory powers and boost the fines for breaches for non-compliance with the ban legislation, parents such as Wayne Holdsworth, father of Mac and founder of SmackTalk, called for the legislation to pass.

Holdsworth compared the ban to other society changes such as seatbelts, and said it would take three to five years to bed. He said Australia should consider fines of up to $500m to make the companies take it seriously.

He said:

The tech giants monetise our children … and it is not in their commercial interest to restrict children’s access to these dangerous platforms.

So that implies that their driver is money, obviously.

So we must target their driver to get them to comply, target their money, their bottom line, their share price. They’ve shown that they do not have a moral compass, but it’s a badge of honour for them.

The inquiry will later hear from eSafety, the communications department, Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap, as well as digital rights groups.

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Why do Victorian Liberals want a weekly red bin collection?

“Under a government I lead, your red bin will be collected every single week.”

These were not the words of a candidate running for local council but the leader of the opposition in Victoria. Roads, rates and rubbish have traditionally been the domain of local government but, at this year’s state election, bins have become a political talking point.

We’ve rummaged through the claims to sort the trash from the treasure.

Read more:

Is Australia’s buy now, pay later boom at an end?

Afterpay has never turned a profit in Australia. Last month, it spent millions to take over a Sydney Olympic Park arena.

The company says Afterpay Arena will be the first venue where Australians can “buy now, pay later” for their event tickets, merchandise, dinner and even alcohol.

The deal to take the naming rights from a traditional lender, Qudos Bank, is the latest evolution for a sector that has rapidly expanded over the past decade. But as growth slows and players leave the market, is the buy now, pay later (BNPL) boom over?

Read more here:

Albanese says he always does a ‘range of interviews’ amid criticism over melon comments

Albanese was just asked about a series of events for which he’s faced heavy criticism in the media, including his appearance on a comedy podcast that prompted an apology over his remarks on Kylie Minogue and his recent comments about a gift of melons from Japan’s prime minister.

Albanese said of the podcast comments, referred to as “melon-gate”:

I reiterate the fact that the interpretation that some have put on it was not correct. … I do a range of interviews … you can look at these things in hindsight.

In modern media, I talk to a range of people, many of whom I don’t agree with.

The issue of the relationship with Japan though, the relationship has never been stronger.

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Albanese says gambling inducements are ‘over the top’

Albanese said gambling inducements are “over the top and need to be wound back”.

The government is hopeful about getting its gambling reforms past parliament next week. The prime minister said:

Look, we’re working constructively across the parliament to put in place these reforms. They are important.

The problem is addiction and when someone has an addiction, if there are inducements that are encouraging that addiction, that’s a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with people having a punt on a Saturday … the problem is if it’s an addiction.

He said he welcomes the “constructive discussions” the parties have had so far.

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Albanese says he had ‘productive’, ‘substantial’ call with Trump and Aukus still ‘full steam ahead’

Anthony Albanese is speaking in Canberra after he held a “productive” and “substantial” call with Donald Trump. He said the pair spoke about a “number of global and regional issues”, including the conflict in the Middle East and recent developments in the Pacific.

Albanese said the pair spoke about the Aukus submarine deal, which “remains full steam ahead”.

We agreed it was a project that is and will continue to deliver benefits for the United States, for Australia, and for the United Kingdom.

He said he raised the issue of tariffs, asking the president to consider full exemption or at the very least no increase of those in effect.

I always put forward Australia’s national interest during these discussions.

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Cherry-Evans confirms NRL exit

Daly Cherry-Evans has given himself every chance to book-end his NRL career with a second premiership, after confirming 2026 will be his last in Australia, AAP reports.

The Sydney Roosters star announced on Friday he would finish in the NRL at season’s end, before moving to the English Super League for a one-year swansong at Hull FC.

His exit will bring the curtain down on one of the NRL’s most storied careers, after making his debut at Manly in 2011 before his shock Sea Eagles exit at the end of last season.

At the age of 37, Cherry-Evans is the second-most capped player in NRL history and has a string of records including the most 40-20s ever kicked, most golden-point winners and most field goals in the NRL era.

He also captained both Queensland and Australia, helping lead the Maroons to three series wins and also claiming a Clive Churchill Medal in 2013.

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The prime minister will speak about the call in a few minutes, at 7.30am, Canberra time. We’ll bring you details from the presser soon.

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Albanese and Trump speak overnight

Anthony Albanese and the US president, Donald Trump, spoke overnight, the prime minister’s office confirmed.

Albanese is expected to say more about the call early this morning from Canberra.

The call comes a day after US defence official Eldridge Colby gave an endorsement of the Aukus nuclear submarine pact. Australia and the US are also discussing concerns about Trump’s latest round of trade tariffs and the ongoing Iran war.

More to come soon.

Updated

Good morning, and happy Friday. We’re back to regular news today after another week in parliament. Nick Visser here – let’s get to it.

Parliamentary committee urges reform of whistleblower laws

The Labor-led parliamentary committee investigating KPMG’s audit leaks has put pressure on the Albanese government to reform laws that could have protected the scandal’s whistleblower.

The committee, which includes five Labor MPs, on 9 July asked Anthony Albanese to urgently fix whistleblower protections. On Thursday, it published a 30 July letter from Albanese’s assistant minister, Patrick Gorman, acknowledging the concerns and saying Treasury was reviewing tax and corporate whistleblower laws.

The committee also shared its submission to Treasury’s review, in which it said Australian law failed to protect the whistleblower and was “largely ineffective in deterring misconduct”.

The laws had issues that were “long standing, well known, and have been well-ventilated over many years”, demonstrated most recently by the KPMG whistleblower’s difficulties, the submission reads.

The committee said it had made dozens of recommendations in the past decade, unanimously backed by members across the political spectrum, and noted “the ongoing importance of all the recommendations made by the committee that have not yet been implemented by the government”.

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KPMG apologises to whistleblower as inquiry looms

KPMG has contacted the man who blew the whistle on its audit leaks scandal to apologise, ahead of an inquiry into its failures today.

The whistleblower was a KPMG employee who sent an email raising alarm in May 2024, in which he claims he was covered by Australia’s legal protections.

In a letter published by the inquiry committee, Mike Ebeid, KPMG’s new chair, offers a series of mea culpas.

Ebeid told the whistleblower that KPMG still believed not think his email was protected by Australia’s complex whistleblower laws. Ebeid said the firm had still treated the issue as if it were being raised as an official whistleblower issue and would not challenge the matter if a legal case was brought against it.

Ebeid has also admitted the firm did not ask its lawyers to investigate “every aspect” of the whistleblower’s allegations, meaning it did not look into some of the ethical issues now being examined.

He said KPMG had in April 2026 wrongly claimed it had “not substantiated” allegations of internal leaks because investigations by December 2025 had found confidential information was being shared.

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Man dies after house fire on NSW south coast

NSW police have declared a critical incident investigation into the death of a man who allegedly barricaded himself inside a home and started a fire.

Emergency services attended a unit on the state’s south coast at about 1.15pm on Thursday, after reports of concern for the man’s welfare.

Authorities were forced to gain entry to the unit and extinguish the fire.

The 57-year-old man was treated for his injuries at the scene but could not be revived.

The man has yet to be formally identified. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.

KPMG has reached out to apologise to the man who exposed its audit leaks scandal before an inquiry into its failures today, while Labor MPs want the government to do more to protect whistleblowers. More coming up.

NSW police have declared a critical incident investigation into the death of a man who allegedly barricaded himself inside a home in Bomaderry and started a fire. More details coming up.