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Commissioner to delay final report into antisemitism to allow for commemorations of Bondi attack

Commissioner Virginia Bell will delay – but only by four days – the handing down of her final report into antisemitism and social cohesion, in order not to distract from commemorations of the Bondi attack.

On the last day of public hearings of the commission, Bell resisted a public push to extend the commission’s work by several months, in order to hear from more witnesses.

Bell said the letters patent for the royal commission stated her final report should be handed to government on 14 December 2027, the first anniversary of the Bondi terror attack.

She said she had noted the push, including from Jewish community leaders and parliamentarians, to extend the timeframe of her commission, but that the commission had worked hard to address all of its terms of reference “in accordance with that timetable, and I do not seek any meaningful extension of it”.

Among other considerations, I note the evidence that has been given by senior public officials that the implementation of important policy proposals is awaiting the recommendations of this Commission.

But the commissioner said she did not want the release of the report to distract from commemorations.

The 14th of December is the anniversary of the massacre. It will be a solemn occasion marked by memorials. I’m aware of concern within the Jewish community that delivery of the report on the anniversary would be a distraction. I fully understand that concern and to avoid that distraction I have asked for a short extension of the term with a view to the submission of my final report on Friday the 18th of December.

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Woolworths won’t run Ooshies promotion year-round

Supermarket giant Woolworths says it won’t be running Ooshies giveaways more regularly despite the success of this year’s campaign.

Customers received the blind bags of plastic Disney characters for every $30 they spent at Woolworths from mid-July to mid-August, the latest such campaign from the company. Its annual results today reported they boosted Woolworths’ sales growth by up to 2% compared to the same period in 2025.

Group chief executive Amanda Bardwell told reporters today the campaign had attracted shoppers who wouldn’t normally visit Woolworths. She said:

We see some customers who certainly might decide to add a few more items to their basket while they’re shopping with us so that they certainly qualify for the extra Ooshie. And then we do have some customers who might not shop with us very frequently, who choose to switch to Woolies during that period.

Bardwell said the promotions offered a “great opportunity to go beyond the routine shopping experience and create that real surprise, delight, community moment”.

But asked if Woolworths would capitalise on that momentum, Bardwell said:

As we move forward, collectibles will continue to be part of our offer, but we don’t offer them 365 days of the year. … we don’t think we need to be running them all the time.

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Victoria secretly increased transport fares to raise money for Suburban Rail Loop

The Victorian government secretly increased public transport fares to raise money to help pay for the Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects, an auditor general report tabled in parliament this morning reveals.

The report found the government’s plan to fund the first stage of the multibillion dollar project, dubbed SRL East, lacked transparency, and “some funding sources are uncertain”. This includes its target of generating a third of project costs through revenue raising measures.

The auditor general revealed one revenue raising measure: a levy on all public transport fares in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, which the government has used to help fund SRL East and other Big Build projects since 2025.

However, the government has not made this public. The report reads:

The government and Transport Victoria did not acknowledge the new public transport fare levy in their public communications about the 2025 and 2026 annual fare increases. As at June 2026, they still have not announced it.

The report also questions whether it will be completed by 2035, given the project has already “experienced significant delays” of up to six months on early works and station contracts are yet to be awarded. It also said the “on the evidence available to date” the project is “more likely than not to exceed its publicly disclosed cost of up to $34.5bn”.

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Future Fund boss steps down after bumper year

Raphael Arndt has announced he will step down as the CEO of the Future Fund, as the $290bn sovereign wealth fund reported a bumper 14.8% return for the past financial year.

Arndt has been at the fund for almost two decades – essentially since it was set up in 2006 to help pay for the public pension liabilities of government workers.

He has been CEO for the past six years and before that spent the same time as the chief investment officer. Arndt will stay on until the end of the year as they look for a successor, and after that will return to the private sector.

Separately, the Future Fund reported a 10-year return of 9% per annum, beating its target of 7.1%.

Greg Combet, the chair of the Future Fund board of guardians, said 2025-26 was one of the best years in its history.

This result has also been achieved while investing in national priority sectors with the board having now committed around $3.5bn of new investment into domestic housing, infrastructure and the energy transition. The Future Fund now has almost $20bn of investment in domestic infrastructure held in our portfolio.

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Sydney Harbour tunnel partially closed after car fire

The Sydney Harbour tunnel remains partially closed after a car fire, Transport for NSW says.

Officials said the tunnel was initially closed in both directions, but northbound traffic is now open. Southbound traffic remains closed and traffic to the city is being diverted to the Harbour Bridge.

Motorists are encouraged to allow plenty of extra time for travel, and buses are also delayed.

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Search continues for pilot who crashed into sea off Northern Territory

An air charter company has confirmed one of its light planes has crashed into the sea off a remote island, with fears held for the pilot as a maritime search continues, AAP reports.

Air Frontier says its twin-engined Beechcraft Baron aircraft went missing just before midday on Tuesday after taking off from Gove airport at Nhulunbuy on the Northern Territory coast with only the pilot aboard.

It was due to land at the remote Indigenous community of Numbulwar at 11.50am but never arrived.

A search led by NT police began after a witness on a vessel reported seeing the plane crash into the sea near Isle Woodah. In a statement on Tuesday evening police said no aircraft wreckage or persons had yet been located.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been notified of the crash and has initiated an investigation.

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Woolworths profit soars to $1.14bn as Ooshies continue to drive sales boom

Woolworths’ net profit has boomed 18% to $1.14bn as customers face cost-of-living pressures, the company has reported.

Supermarket sales were up 4.6% in the year to June, its annual results today show. Sales have accelerated since the start of July as the company brought in its Ooshies collectibles promotion, to run 7.6% above the prior year. The company estimates the Ooshies program alone accounted for about a quarter of that growth rate.

The Australian supermarkets division increased the profit margin on its earnings from to 5.5%, from 5.3%. Its pre-tax earnings rose $232m to exceed $2.95bn.

Woolworth’s strong result was helped by Big W returning to profit in the year, with pre-tax earnings of $64m, from a $33m loss the year before. But the department store chain has seen its sales decline in the last eight weeks, despite its inclusion in the Ooshies program.

Woolworths attributed the drop to “ongoing cost-of-living pressures on households, particularly budget customers and weaker trade in the Everyday business”.

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Productivity commissioner says ‘line was crossed’ by WA premier in GST scuffle

Angela Jackson, the commissioner of the Productivity Commission, said the body stands by the interim report into the GST, which found the deal with Western Australia to be a costly mistake that should be reversed.

Jackson spoke to RN this morning after WA premier Roger Cook said “east coast clowns” didn’t understand the state and any changes would “rip $6bn out of the Western Australia economy”.

The prime minister said earlier this week there would be no change to WA’s GST share while he is in power.

Jackson told RN Cook’s comments were unacceptable:

We are aiming, of course, to inform public policy debate, which can often get heated. Our view is that a line was crossed in terms of the nature of those comments from the Western Australian premier last month.

We welcome debate and we welcome criticism of our work and our report more broadly because it makes our work stronger. But to undermine and I guess attack our integrity, I think is an additional bridge too far. And I think something that more broadly we are seeing in public debate internationally.

Jackson went on to say the prime minister’s remarks were “disappointing”:

It’s important for us to indicate that that process will not be influenced by the prime minister’s comments, that we are above politics, and that’s a very important position that we hold within the public policy landscape in Australia.

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Albanese shares Dolly Parton memory in tribute

Prime minister Anthony Albanese shared a tribute to the late Dolly Parton this morning, saying the singer had “made our world a better place in so many ways”.

And the big, radiant heart of the Dolly universe was a personality as strong as it was compassionate, a vivacious woman of great humour and a sense of humanity sustained in no small part by the humble strength of her roots.

Albanese also reflected on his tenure as transport minister when, in 2011, he heard that Parton was considering cancelling her tour after being told her custom tour bus was too large for Australian roads.

He recounted in 2024:

Dolly Parton doesn’t like flying around, right? So she has a bus that is larger than the regulations and the bureaucrats say is not allowed on New South Wales roads and on roads in Australia, so I intervened and said ‘for goodness sake, surely going from A to B with Dolly Parton’s bus [should be allowed]’.

Albanese said he was able to meet Parton at the time. He wrote this morning:

It was a magical experience meeting her, but what was even better was seeing her among her legions of local fans.

There are a lot of broken hearts in Australia and across the world today. Wherever you are, turn your stereo or your phone to Dolly then turn the volume up.

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Finocchiaro makes ‘no apologies’ for controversial changes to child protection laws

Lia Finocchiaro, the NT’s chief minister, said controversial changes to child protection laws in the territory were meant to “strengthen care and protection so that the safety of a child comes first”.

The government announced sweeping changes to the territory’s child protection laws in May, which replace the Aboriginal child placement principle with what it calls a “universal principle”. The NT’s children’s commissioner later resigned over the changes, saying the Finocchiaro government had “sidelined” her.

Finocchiaro told RN this morning:

I challenge any Australian sitting at home listening to this, what would you do when you are faced with a situation where a child is unsafe? Would you leave them just because that child is Aboriginal? It’s not right. Every child, no matter what their background, what their religion, what their race, where they come from or where they live, should be supported to live their very, very best life. And that starts with being safe.

So we make no apologies for the care and protection reforms we have implemented.

NT chief minister says territory can power datacentres with Beetaloo gas

Lia Finocchiaro, the chief minister of the Northern Territory, maintained the region should be able to “decide its energy policy and its energy mix” when it comes to datacentres, without rules imposed by the federal government.

She told RN:

Ultimately, we don’t need the federal government coming in heavy-handed and trying to dictate to states and territories how they should be developing datacentres or not and what energy mix they should be using.

Finocchiaro said the gas coming from the Beetaloo basin would be an “enormous energy resource” that should be used.

There is no question that the territory can handle datacentres and rapid investment as a result of the Beetaloo basin. It will actually support and underpin economic growth that we are fighting desperately for. …

I completely appreciate, particularly with the east coast energy crisis, that there are concerns about datacentres in southern states. But the Northern Territory has the answers to all of those problems.

We can properly fuel, we can properly provide the energy in abundance to every Australian, to every datacentre, to every ally that needs it.

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Industry minister says datacentres need ‘collaborative approach’ ahead of national cabinet meeting

Tim Ayres, the federal minister for industry and innovation, said it’s important for all states and territories to have a “collaborative approach” when it comes to datacentres, but said federal intervention is needed to ensure “we don’t have a race to the bottom” on electricity and water standards.

Ayres spoke to RN Breakfast this morning ahead of national cabinet, saying:

This is a big challenge and a big opportunity for Australia. If we lean back and miss the opportunity that has negative consequences for our economy, our productivity and our security.

If we lean in and get this right as one country with one approach rather than eight different approaches, then that offers the opportunity to make sure that artificial intelligence and datacentres and AI training is harnessed here in the national interest in a coordinated and effective way that makes Australia stronger.

Ayres said he doesn’t think it’s “likely” there will be a big constitutional dispute if federal and state rules around datacentres butt heads.

These AI standards are all about making sure that Australia maximises the advantage, maximises the right kind of investment in the right places, and that delivers to support our ambitions to build a modern electricity system for Australia.

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Greens say national cabinet needs to refocus on gendered violence ‘before it’s too late’

The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said the prime minister should address the epidemic of violence against women during national cabinet today, “before it’s too late”.

The Greens put out a statement saying Australians have been waiting after a national cabinet meeting to address gendered violence was convened two years ago. But many of the commitments from that event remain “unfinished or ignored”.

Waters said:

Tomorrow’s National Cabinet must commit to fully fund frontline services so no woman or child is turned away when they seek to escape violence, and to increase funding for prevention work to address the worrying slide in attitudes to violence, particularly by young men. …

Too many women and children are being killed by violence, primarily by men and most often by someone known to them, to wait any longer. We don’t need more ideas, we need the funding and the political will to turn them into action.

The government seems to always be able to find money for war but when it comes to keeping women safe or helping us recover, Labor cries poor.

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Australia may face a rush of datacentre construction as AI firms look to avoid upcoming rules

Planned datacentres around Australia may avoid strict new rules being proposed by Anthony Albanese if they can secure approvals in the coming months, amid growing calls for a moratorium.

The prime minister is aiming to come to an agreement with national cabinet on federal regulations for datacentres at a meeting on Wednesday.

The rules will require datacentres to avoid pushing up power prices – including by bringing renewable energy to the grid to cover their electricity demands – while meeting their own connection costs and minimising water use.

Developers will also need to ensure their datacentres are appropriately sized and located away from schools, homes, potential housing or agricultural locations.

Read more here:

Man charged after allegedly stabbing woman with scissors

A man has been charged after allegedly punching a young boy and stabbing his mother with a pair of scissors in a random attack outside a police station in Melbourne’s CBD, AAP reports.

The man from Sunshine West, in the city’s inner west, was overnight charged with a series of assault-related offences including affray, intentionally causing injury, two counts of unlawful assault, conduct endangering life and conduct endangering serious injury.

He was remanded to appear at Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday.

The boy and his mother, who were visiting from the Phillip Island township of Cowes, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police do not believe the parties knew one another.

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Good morning

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. It’s Nick Visser here to get the morning news off to a start, with a bit of melancholy as we remember the unmatched Dolly Parton. Let’s get to it.

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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’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.

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