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Cricketer Usman Khawaja gets meeting with PM on gambling ads
Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has met with the prime minister, after he told the media that meeting had been cancelled.
Khawaja had set up the meeting, ahead of a roundtable on gambling ads.
This morning, he was told the meeting would be cancelled, which he said was “disappointing” but that he has a lot of “love and respect” for Anthony Albanese.
Well, something changed – because we’ve now been told that the meeting did go ahead. We’ll chase more details on how that conversation went down.
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Jim Chalmers joined the PM in meeting with Usman Khawaja today, and says he was grateful to Albanese for making time for Khawaja, and grateful for the Australian cricketer coming to parliament house.
Khawaja is in parliament house focused on two key issues today – tackling gambling advertising, and advocating for stronger action against Israel in increasing support for Palestine.
Chalmers says they had a good discussion this morning, and calls Khawaja a friend and a “wonderful humanitarian”.
We have a lot of respect [for Khawaja], and we listened to him on the issues, as you’d expect… he’s a leader of real substance, not just the leader of in the faith community, but a leader more broadly. And so I take his contribution very seriously. I’m grateful… that he’s made the time to come and talk with us directly about these issues.
Jumping back to that press conference with Jim Chalmers, Don Farrell and Tim Ayres, Farrell says he was “disappointed” by the US raising tariffs on post being sent to the US, and has raised the issue with the administration.
The new tariffs, announced earlier this week, have forced Australia Post to temporarily suspend sending most parcels over the to the US. (You can read the details on that story here)
Farrell says he raised the issue with the General Counsel of the United States Trade earlier this week
[I expressed] our disappointment about the application of these tariffs on on small businesses in Australia, about 3000 of them. They’re often mum and dad operations that have had it successful product going into the United States…
We have said to the Americans, , firstly, we don’t agree with what you’ve done, but if you’re going to do it, and you’ve got to do it in a way that people can comply with these, these, these operators were given less than a month to make changes to get their product into the United States. And I’m hopeful that there’s result of our representations.
ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle avoids jail
Sarah Basford Canales
Richard Boyle has avoided jail time for blowing the whistle on unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office.
The former tax office employee received a 12-month good behaviour bond on Thursday morning, avoiding a conviction after admitting to four criminal charges linked to his 2017 exposure of the ATO’s practices in May.
In May, Boyle pleaded guilty to disclosing protected information to another entity, making a record of protected information, using a listening device to record a private conversation and recording other people’s tax file numbers.
The commonwealth director of public prosecutions withdrew 15 charges, while five others were dropped in March.
Last year, South Australia’s court of appeal ruled that Boyle was not protected by federal whistleblowing laws – because the charges related not to his whistleblowing but to steps Boyle had taken while preparing to blow the whistle internally, including taking photos of documents and recording conversations.
– with AAP
Cricketer Usman Khawaja gets meeting with PM on gambling ads
Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has met with the prime minister, after he told the media that meeting had been cancelled.
Khawaja had set up the meeting, ahead of a roundtable on gambling ads.
This morning, he was told the meeting would be cancelled, which he said was “disappointing” but that he has a lot of “love and respect” for Anthony Albanese.
Well, something changed – because we’ve now been told that the meeting did go ahead. We’ll chase more details on how that conversation went down.
Luca Ittimani
Qantas’ share price jumps to record high as profit soars
Qantas has achieved a record market value of $18bn after revealing a big boost to its profit margin by holding ticket prices steady in 2024-25 while enjoying lower fuel costs.
Early trading after the company handed down its annual earnings results saw Qantas’ share price jump 10% to a record high. It was worth just half as much a year ago.
Results released on Thursday showed the group’s operating margin picked up over the year from 10.4% to 11.1%. Jetstar grew its margin for the third year in a row, to 13.7% and as high as 16% for domestic flights.
Across the group, ticketed passenger revenue and ticket sales both rose by about 7%, reaching nearly $17bn from 56m tickets, so unit revenue held steady.
Costs fell for the second year in a row as fuel prices slipped, meaning air fares surged relative to the price of jet fuel, confirming analysis from the competition watchdog earlier in August.
All those profits will mean shareholders receive $400m in dividends on top of the $400m payout awarded in February, which was the company’s first dividend payment since 2019. A share buy-back meant earnings per share is at the highest since the pandemic began.
Qantas has forecast strong travel demand for the rest of 2025, further lifting revenue from passengers, and a further $50m lift in earnings from its frequent flyer program.
Chalmers speaks about removing nuisance tariffs
Today has definitely been a slower start to the day than yesterday (probably linked to last night’s Midwinter Ball), but Jim Chalmers, Don Farrell and Tim Ayres are now up doing a press conference about those nuisance tariffs.
Chalmers says removing the nuisance tariffs is an important step and “capitalises on the momentum” built from the economic roundtable.
These nuisance tariffs often do more harm than good. Nuisance tariffs push up compliance costs, they push up input costs, they push up prices for consumers as well. This decision that we are announcing jointly today is all about making it easier for business and governments when it comes to these nuisance tariffs.
Farrell says tariffs are the “top word” being used around the world right now – it’s a bit of a dig at the US, and says the government is focused on free trade.
We’re putting out money where our mouth is right here with these changes.
Government to ditch 500 more nuisance tariffs
The government will abolish 500 more nuisance tariffs, following last week’s economic roundtable discussion.
What is a nuisance tariff, you ask?
Great question, the Productivity Commission defines them as tariffs that “raise little revenue for the government, have negligible benefits for Australian producers, but impose compliance costs on businesses”.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers has announced he’s got a list of 500 nuisance tariffs to ditch, including levies on TVs, tyres and wine glasses, and will consult on the proposed list.
Chalmers says the full list of tariffs to be removed will be in next years’ budget.
With this reform, we’ll have removed around 1,000 tariffs over two years and streamlined approximately $23bn worth of trade, saving Australian businesses $157m in compliance costs annually.
The idea was canvassed at last week’s roundtable, so no surprises that it has been announced today.
Coalition pushes to remove PM’s power to determine parliamentarian staffing numbers
The Coalition is trying to push forward legislation that would remove power from the prime minister to determine staffing numbers for parliamentarians.
The prime minister cut staffing numbers from the independents in their previous term of government, and then cut the opposition’s staffing numbers this term, a move which was labelled “vindictive” by the Coalition.
In the Senate a little earlier, Cash accused the prime minister of “undermining democracy”.
Parliament isn’t the prime minister’s private office, and it is the people’s house. And those who are not on the govt benches have an obligation to the Australian people to ensure that the actions of the government are properly scrutinised … Mr Albanese has treated parliamentary staffing like a political weapon.
The Coalition’s bill, which will receive support from some independents on the crossbench (but is unlikely to get over the line), would legislate a minimum number of staff for the opposition, minor parties and independents.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters says that the government has given the Greens just 3% of the government’s staffing levels, despite receiving a national vote of 12% and 35% of the government’s vote at the last election.
But while not supporting the prime minister’s power to pick staffing levels, she accuses the Coalition of trying to “entrench” the power of the major parties. Under the Coalition’s bill, a minor party with more than eight members would still only get 5% of the government’s staffing levels.
It’s completely inappropriate that minor party and independent parliament staffing is at the discretion of the prime minister. Under the current arrangements the government of the day can disempower minor parties and independents and use staffing allocations punitively … the model proposed by the Coalition however, is more of the same.
Plibersek says sovereign citizen movement a ‘growing risk’
Tanya Plibersek says the sovereign citizens movement is a “growing risk in Australia”.
Speaking to Sky News, Plibersek says the belief by the movement, that the laws don’t apply to them, is a “very dangerous slippery slope”.
In Germany, we saw an attempted coup, in fact, by a similar sort of ideologically motivated group.
Our law enforcement and intelligence personnel take this risk very seriously. The government takes the risk very seriously. [The] Asio director has reminded us, numerous times, that the growing threat of rightwing extremism is something that cannot be ignored in Australia.
The alleged shooter, who allegedly killed two police officers in Porepunkah, has been described as a sovereign citizen.
Qantas’ net profit rises by a third to $1.6bn
Luca Ittimani
Qantas’ net profit rose by a third to $1.6bn in the year to June as customer numbers surged and Jetstar revenue surged while fuel costs fell.
The airline’s profit boost will see shareholders paid 26c per share, on top of the 26c they have already been paid for the financial year 2024-25.
Underlying earnings rose more than $200m to $2.6bn, with Qantas domestic flights contributing $1bn of that. Jetstar saw its contribution to underlying earnings rise for third year in a row, to $769m, as the cheaper alternative brought on new plane fleet.
Qantas’ loyalty program also delivered underlying earnings of over $550m, after an increased number of customers earned 222bn frequent flyer points but redemeed only 185bn of them.
Higher earnings meant Qantas saw cash inflows rise to $4.2bn in 2024-25 despite its many legal difficulties, a point its annual report made sure to note:
These were higher than the prior corresponding period primarily due to an increase in earnings and working capital, despite the impact of ACCC penalties, compensation to date and legal fees as well as ground handling compensation in financial year 2024/25.
PM pulls out of Khawaja meeting on gambling ads
The prime minister has pulled out of a meeting with Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja at parliament today.
The two were supposed to meet to discuss gambling ads, and the war in Gaza, before a roundtable discussion on gambling with public health experts and doctors.
Khawaja tells journalists in Parliament House that he’s disappointed and hopes the cancellation is just a “scheduling conflict”.
I texted the Prime Minister a couple of days ago. I said, look, if you give me a 15 minute phone call… I don’t have an agenda. I just want to talk to you, mano e mano, because my heart’s in the right place. So hopefully he’ll accept that invitation, at some point, I will talk to him.
Khawaja says he respects the prime minister, that Anthony Albanese has shown courage by recognising Palestinian statehood, and says that this is the start of the prime minister’s legacy.
I actually wanted to go up and shake his hand and say, I want to congratulate you. For the first time in my life someone is recognising Palestine.
You look at the great presidents of us in the past. They fought for the people. Will they fight for civil rights, or they fight for slavery, whatever it might be their road, the great ones, the road was never easy. They had to do something. They had to make some hard choices. So for the prime minister, he has an opportunity right now to cement his legacy.
Tory Shepherd
Scientists to meet with PM over South Australian algal bloom
A group of scientists, mayors and industry representatives will meet with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and others today to brief them on the South Australian algal bloom, and to call for a $6m investment to develop a “health record” for the Great Southern Reef.
SA’s deadly algal bloom looks set to continue and potentially worsen into summer.
On top of existing state and federal funding, the group wants extra investment for underwater monitoring of the health of the reef. In the longer term, the group wants a $40m, 10-year national reef health program. Stefan Andrews, from the Great Southern Reef Foundation, said:
This bloom has been devastating for communities and coastal industries across SA. $6m is the bare minimum to finally give the Great Southern Reef a national framework and baseline biodiversity data it needs.
Without that coherent picture, recovery efforts stall, species assessments lack context and future crises will hit us just as hard.
Labor’s Dan Repacholi and s senator Bridget McKenzie call for faster implementation of national firearm registry
There are growing calls from within parliament for the government to accelerate the implementation of a national firearm registry, after the deadly shooting of two police officers in Victoria this week. Two officers were killed and another is in hospital, while the alleged shooter is still at large.
Earlier on the Today show, Labor MP – and former Olympic shooter – Dan Repacholi and s senator – and shooting enthusiast – Bridget McKenzie were on a joint ticket on accelerating a national register.
State, territory and federal governments agreed to establish a national firearms registry after a national cabinet meeting in December 2023 but it’s only due to take effect in 2028.
Repacholi said he knows the issue “intimately” and that the work is happening to get the registry established.
We need to make sure that we know where our firearms are in this country … We’ve got to get the states and territories to all work together because they’re the ones that ultimately look after firearms registrations for their states.
McKenzie said a registry is needed but it must be secure.
When Dan, as an Olympian and a Commonwealth Games shooting athlete goes to compete in different states, it’s a problem. If we had have had Albury police head down to Porepunkah, being from NSW, they might not have been able to appreciate that this guy had firearms. So we do need a national firearms register.
We don’t need law-abiding firearm owners like Dan and I’s personal details leaked like we’ve seen from some states, because then organised crime can come and get our firearms. So we need it to be secure.
After last week’s top-level discussions about productivity, it might interest the country’s political classes that a trial of a four-day week for two Scottish government agencies resulted in higher productivity and better morale.
The two organisations, which had 259 employees in total throughout the trial, implemented a 32-hour working week for a year without any loss in pay or benefits for staff, while committing to maintaining standards of service.
Staff at the two organisations reported less work-related stress and greater satisfaction with their jobs and work-life balance.
Almost all (98%) workers at one of the agencies believed the four-day week trial improved motivation and morale, while there was a decrease in workers taking time off sick and a 25% fall in those taking sick days for psychological reasons.
Read our full story here:
Questions over whether Marles and Hesgeth had formal meeting
Did Richard Marles and his US defence counterpart, Pete Hegseth, actually have a formal meeting?
There are reports from Nine News that the meeting wasn’t a meeting but more of a “happenstance encounter”.
Marles flew over to Washington DC and was expected to do a media press conference after meeting with Hegseth – but so far that hasn’t happened. In fact, Marles arrived in the US without having formally confirmed a meeting with his counterpart.
James Paterson isn’t fazed and tells Sky News it’s a “good thing” that Marles went over and has had extensive dealings with Hegseth since the Trump administration was elected. He’s less enthusiastic about the fact that Anthony Albanese still hasn’t met with his counterpart.
What we need is for them to go the next step and ensure the prime minister meets with President Trump. We’re now 290 odd days on since he was elected and that meeting hasn’t happened, and it’s getting embarrassing and awkward for everybody.
