What we learned, Friday 2 October
That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage for the week.
Before we go, let’s recap today’s top headlines:
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“Visa hopping” international students, migration agents and lawyers trying to “game” the migration system will be targeted by the federal government, as Labor unveils a further crackdown.
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NSW police believe two women who were allegedly assaulted and robbed during separate home invasions were targeted in premeditated attacks.
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Israeli embassy condemned “flydubai false flag” conspiracies theories circulating online about the alleged flydubai attack.
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New Greens leader, David Shoebridge, says ordinary party members will have input into the next leadership decision, pledging a “conversation” to occur across branches and membership.
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Online gaming services are failing to take enough action to prevent children being exposed to harmful content, a new report from the eSafety Commissioner has found. More on eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, who confirmed this morning “it’s probably time for new leadership” at the body after serving 10 years in the role.
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A union leader campaigning for public servants to be paid more by the federal government says the prime minister is vastly underpaid. Earlier today, Guardian Australia reported on 11 public servants being paid more than $1m, which is significantly more than the prime minister’s base wage of $622,000.
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The Coalition is railing against news the Australian Tax Office will no longer accept credit card payments from 20 November 2026.
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Significant rainfall is expected to continue across much of Victoria, which has already been battered by storms and flash flooding.
Thanks for sticking around, have a lovely weekend!
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Julian Hill backs Chris Minns’ comments on pace of migration
Assistant citizenship minister Julian Hill has backed comments made by the NSW premier, Chris Minns, about the pace of migration into Australia post-Covid.
During an appearance on Kylie Sandilands’ show, Minns said he believed “too many people came into the country in too short a space of time” in the years after Covid.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Hill said he had not seen the specific comments but “broadly” agreed with them, while adding there were “a couple of nuanced points”.
Post-Covid – remember when the government was elected in 2022 coming out of Covid – we have the lowest unemployment in our country for over 50 years and employers right across the country, whether cafes, farmers, businesses were screaming out for warm human bodies who could be workers.
That was the big reason why net overseas migration peaked a bit too high post-Covid is the border reopened and fell a bit too slowly because fewer people were leaving.
A series of changes since coming to office to get net overseas migration down from a peak, it has fallen by about 50% and it needs to fall a bit further to get back to a sensible balance and give housing a chance to catch up.
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Daylight saving starts this weekend. Here’s what you need to know.
It’s that time of year again: clocks will move forward one hour on Sunday in many parts of Australia as daylight saving time comes into effect.
Here’s all you need to know – and how it will affect you:
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Medibank facing dual court actions over data hack
Federal court justice Jonathan Beach heard evidence on Friday to help decide whether two separate cases against Medibank will be held jointly or as separate trials, AAP reports.
The health insurer is facing both a class action by affected customers and civil penalties brought by the privacy watchdog over the 2022 hack.
After Medibank declined to pay a ransom, personal data was leaked on the dark web under malicious file names, including boozy, STD and psycho.
A lawyer for the class action argued it was in the interests of justice to hear the cases together. Wendy Harris KC said.
The technical issues here overlap and intersect at multiple stages … in terms of the architecture of Medibank’s cybersecurity systems [and] the control deficiencies in them.
Neil Young KC, who is representing Medibank in both matters, called the class action a “total mess”, saying it went well beyond the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s case in its allegations of cybersecurity failures.
There are many new allegations of breach.
In order for us to address those new allegations, that’s going to require time.
Beach adjourned the matter until 16 October, in part to allow the class action party to consolidate its statement of claim.
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‘PM deserves pay justice too’: union leader
A union leader campaigning for public servants to be paid more by the federal government says the prime minister is vastly underpaid.
Earlier today, Guardian Australia reported on 11 public servants being paid more than $1m, which is significantly more than the prime minister’s base wage of $622,000. One public servant was paid more than $1.5m.
Jeff Lapidos, who leads a branch of the Australian Services Union that represents Tax Office staff, has spent more than a decade fighting for better pay and conditions. He has also seen significant job cuts.
When asked about the Future Fund salaries, Lapidos said he did not believe in common salary levels across the public service. He said officials should instead be paid for the value of their work.
After inflation, the value of ATO employees’ salaries has fallen by 9.55% over the last 13 years. This is disgraceful exploitation by successive Coalition and Labor governments.
The ASU is campaigning for pay justice for all ATO staff. The prime minister deserves pay justice too. His office is vastly underpaid.
The prime minister’s salary is set by an independent remuneration tribunal.
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Good afternoon! l’ll be here to take the reins.
That’s all from me. Achol Arok will take things from here and guide you into the weekend.
ANZ ends relationship with KPMG
A big four bank is ending its relationship with its auditor of nearly six decades in the latest fallout from a whistleblower scandal, AAP reports.
KPMG has been ANZ’s auditor since 1969 and while the partners who worked on the audit have regularly rotated, the bank is looking for a new firm.
“A tenure of this length is no longer considered appropriate and has been under consideration by the board for some time,” ANZ said in a statement on Friday.
ANZ will begin a competitive tender process to select a new auditor beginning with the 2028-29 financial year.
The tender process will wind up in April and KPMG won’t be eligible to participate, the bank said. KPMG earned $21.4m for auditing and reviewing ANZ’s accounts in 2024-25, with its total fees, including non-audit services, coming to $29.6m for that financial year.
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Shoebridge says party members will get input into leadership changes
New Greens leader David Shoebridge says ordinary party members will have input into the next leadership decision, pledging a “conversation” to occur across branches and membership.
The Greens’ party room chooses its federal leader, which is the same as the Liberal and Nationals, but unlike Labor, which has a party room and membership vote. Shoebridge said this week, in announcing his leadership tilt, that he supported membership having a say; Mehreen Faruqi, who was unsuccessful in her leadership candidacy, said after the party room vote that she wanted members to have input.
Related: ‘Politics can be brutal’: Sarah Hanson-Young speaks out about divisions within Greens
In a social media video this afternoon, with the caption “your say on Greens leadership”, Shoebridge said: “You absolutely should have a say in the leadership for the Greens”.
“The good news is Steph [Hodgins-May] and I are gonna make this happen,” he said.
Shoebridge didn’t commit to any specific type of model, but said it would be “a conversation we’re going to have right across the Greens. Every state and territory, hundreds and hundreds of branches, thousands and thousands of members, because members want to be engaged in this.”
Shoebridge committed that the change would happen “before we make the next decision on the federal leadership”, which under Greens rules, happens after every federal election – so, in other words, in this term of parliament.
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City of Yarra mayor cleared of assault allegation at election party
A prominent mayor has been cleared of punching a community activist who had gatecrashed his election after-party, Australian Associated Press reports.
The City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly, 64, said he was relieved to be acquitted of unlawful assault after Melbourne magistrate Jill Prior handed down her decision on Friday.
Jolly, whose council includes Carlton North, Collingwood and Richmond, fought the charge at a contested hearing, denying he intentionally struck activist Estella Burrows in the face on 1 November 2024.
Burrows and two other masked protesters had gatecrashed Jolly’s election after-party at a Collingwood venue, holding a banner and using a megaphone to accuse Jolly of abuse.
It was alleged Jolly punched Burrows to the face as he and other attendees forced the group to leave. The mayor denied intentionally hitting Burrows and separately argued he was acting in self-defence.
The magistrate on Friday determined Jolly did strike the left side of Burrows but she could not be satisfied he did so intentionally.
It was possible Jolly had been trying to disarm the group of their megaphone or he was reaching forward to move them away, the magistrate determined.
As a result, she found Jolly not guilty of the unlawful assault charge.
Outside court, Burrows told reporters she was disappointed but not surprised at the decision, claiming the justice system only worked in the favour of powerful white men.
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This crocodile just predicted the winner of the NRL grand final
Elvis the saltwater crocodile has his prediction for the winner of the NRL grand final: the Newcastle Knights.
The Australian Reptile Park gave Elvis the choice between the Knights and the Sydney Roosters (in the form of two pieces of meat dangled from sticks).
We’ll see if his prophecy comes true.
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Death row inmate Christa Pike survives two lethal injections in Tennessee – The Latest
The convicted murderer Christa Pike, sentenced to death, has survived two lethal injections and was taken to hospital.
Pike, 50, has spent three decades on death row after she was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. She would have been the first woman to be executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
A last-minute appeal to stop the lethal injection was overturned by the supreme court, but the state governor, Bill Lee, has suspended executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year.
Lucy Hough speaks to the attorney and anti-capital punishment campaigner Clive Stafford Smith about the case in The Latest.
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Coalition rails against ATO's decision to stop taking credit card payments
The Coalition is railing against news the Australian Tax Office will no longer accept credit card payments from 20 November 2026.
The ATO made the announcement yesterday, the first day of the new policy by the Reserve Bank to bar businesses from charging a surcharge on credit or debit card purchases.
Related: New fees, higher costs: Card surcharges have been banned – how will it affect the way you pay?
Angus Taylor, the opposition leader, said the decision by the ATO was “beyond comprehension” by an “insensitive government”. He said during a press briefing today:
This government that just doesn’t get it, on the day that they impose these surcharges on small businesses, has decided that the ATO won’t take credit card payments because they don’t want the surcharges. I mean, seriously, you couldn’t make it up.
None of them have worked in the real world.
Jane Hume, the deputy opposition leader, said the government needed to reverse the ATO shift. She told Channel 7 this morning:
The Coalition is calling on the government to reverse this change that the ATO is imposing on small businesses because, quite frankly, it’s been very clear that this government doesn’t understand small business, and it’s imposing unnecessary costs on them.
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Israeli embassy condemns ‘flydubai false flag’ conspiracies
Conspiracy theories circulating online about the alleged flydubai attack have “recast” Jewish people as the culprits, the Israeli embassy in Australia says.
In a statement, the embassy said it “condemns the anti-Semitic ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories” being posted online which accuse Israel of staging the attack.
A false flag is a harmful act carried out with the intention of blaming an enemy for it.
An Omani co-pilot is alleged to have stabbed his colleague during the flight en route to Tel Aviv.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, confirmed yesterday two Australians who were onboard the plane were safe.
Related: Co-pilot in flight stabbing had ‘Islamic radical indoctrination’, says Netanyahu
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NSW police allege two women targeted in ‘excessively violent’ home invasions
NSW police believe two women who were allegedly assaulted and robbed during separate home invasions were targeted in premeditated attacks.
Speaking at a press conference, the sex crimes squad commander, Detective Supt Virginia Gorman, said the three men charged had allegedly planned the offences.
I believe that these men had done some research and they believed that these women might be home alone and they might have money on the premises. So they were specifically targeted.
Gorman described the alleged offences as “very violent”. She said:
Excessively violent for three men armed with a weapon against vulnerable women home alone – excessively. It’s excessive violence.
They were armed with a knife. They used duct tape to restrain them. They had duct tape over their mouths. They assaulted the women, punching a woman. You don’t need to do that to overcome a solo female. The violence is over the top for what they’ve done.
Police said both women were treated for “minor physical injuries”.
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Jackie O’s $80m legal fight with ARN Media delayed by months
Federal court justice Wendy Abraham on Friday postponed radio host Jackie “O” Henderson’s two-week trial until late April after a crucial pre-trial hearing was aborted on Thursday.
AAP reports a civil trial between the owner of KIIS FM, ARN Media and its former breakfast star was set to begin on 12 October, but a delay in pre-trial proceedings and the filing of documents have caused a mammoth delay.
Dozens of documents in the 3,900-page court book have been caught up in battles between the two sides over legal privilege.
Henderson is suing the radio giant for unlawful termination of her $100 million contract after refusing to work with her co-host.
Related: Jackie O seeks $82m for wrongful termination in legal action filed against her former radio station
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Victoria set for ‘much more’ rainfall after period of wild weather
Significant rainfall is expected to continue across much of Victoria, which has already been battered by storms and flash flooding.
AAP reports Melbourne recorded one of its wettest October days in several years after the city received up to 25mm of rain within an hour on Thursday afternoon, with other areas of Victoria also hard hit.
More than 200 calls for help were made to the SES, including six water rescues, after parts of Melbourne were hit by the flash flooding. The city was plunged into darkness about 3pm as the system moved through, with the Melbourne (Olympic Park) measuring station recording 47.8mm of rain since 9am on Thursday.
David Crock, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said the total marked the city’s highest daily rainfall total since April 2024.
Rainfall will continue on Friday and Saturday in Victoria, with a flood watch current for catchments across much of central and eastern parts of the state.
“There is much more to come,” Crock said.
Conditions are expected to ease on Sunday as the low pressure system moves offshore, with conditions predicted to ease from the west.
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Anthropic pushes for opt-out model for Australian content
The AI giant Anthropic has urged the Albanese government to consider giving “conditional approval” for big tech to train its models on Australian copyrighted works under an opt-out model, after conceding it won’t secure a blanket copyright exemption.
But Australia’s public broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, have strongly criticised AI firms, calling on the government to enact strict new rules to compensate media organisations and protect public interest journalism.
In submissions to a federal parliamentary inquiry, the ABC demanded AI companies be subject to the same copyright, defamation and privacy rules as media outlets, warning of a “cannibalisation” of mainstream news.
Read more here:
Related: Anthropic pushes for opt-out model for Australian content as ABC warns of ‘cannibalisation’ of news
Steam has age checks – but just with credit cards for now
Earlier in the blog we had the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, calling out Valve and its gaming platform Steam as “outliers” in relying on self-declaration for age instead of having age assurance technology – similar to the social media ban – which they have been required to have since March this year.
In the eSafety report out today, it clarifies that Steam did not have these measures in place during the reporting period when the questions were issued to Valve.
Steam has since brought in a form of age checking as of last month. There’s been a bit of controversy about it because to access content meant for people aged 18 and over in Australia, the only form of age checking Steam is accepting is credit cards.
This presents an issue for anyone who doesn’t have a credit card, or doesn’t want to use it for Steam.
The eSafety commissioner’s statement out today makes clear the office is “engaging with the company to seek commitments that it will put in place additional forms of age assurance to give its customers choice”.
Card surcharge ban will take time to work through
Australian businesses will need time to adjust to the new ban on card surcharges as the major banks prepare for a potential merchant fees war, AAP reports.
The change, driven by the central bank to give consumers transparency at the till, only came into effect on Thursday.
Commonwealth Bank says that from its end, the transition has been relatively smooth, although it has sensed pockets of anxiety.
Even though consumers will no longer see the surcharge on eftpos, Visa, Mastercard and Amex transactions, businesses are still on the hook to cover the cost by either absorbing it or increasing product prices.
The banks have already remotely removed the surcharge option from the in-shop terminals used by merchants, including key hospitality operations that were the biggest fee users.
At the same time, banks still have to cover the interchange fee – paid by the merchant’s bank to the customer’s bank when a payment is processed – even though it has now dropped to 0.3%, from 0.8% (roughly three cents on every $10) – and shopkeepers still pay merchant fees to their banks.
Labor to make it harder for international students to 'course hop'
International students will soon find it harder to transfer courses, and remain in Australia for longer, under a series of rule changes to stop the increase of “permanently temporary” migrants.
The assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, is giving a speech this morning to the Migration Institute of Australia and says under the rules a student will now need a separate visa to transfer courses, making it much harder to “course hop”.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, announced at the press club last month that transfers could only be to courses of equal or higher value, meaning a student could not start a bachelor or masters’ degree and then drop to a vocational course.
Hill will say:
One of the biggest problems has been the growth in permanently temporary migrants. People who hop from visa to visa, who may have spent most of their adult lives here, with kids who are now Australian, but who will never make the cut for skilled migration or who wait for years on bridging visas for a permanent visa.
Hill will also crack down on migration lawyers and agents who try to “game” the system by profiting off people who have baseless visa claims.
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Online game ‘threat environment is getting more serious’, eSafety chief says
Julie Inman-Grant, the eSafety commissioner, said she expected by now there would be “better protections” for children in the online gaming space as “the threat environment is getting more serious”.
She told RN this morning some changes had been made, but other companies were lagging behind:
Some are doing better than others. We’re starting to see Roblox uplift. And Minecraft has education-based games that are safer than, say, the online version. But we would expect to see more from Fortnite.
And Steam and Valve are really the outliers. They’re still relying on self-declaration for age assurance, even though in March we have required all gaming platforms to be able to age assure those under 18 and prevent harmful content being served to them.
Inman-Grant said it was a “shame” that some companies needed regulatory pressure to better their safety standards.
We’re starting to see gaming platforms act more like social media platforms. They’re trying to keep the kids on the platforms longer. … They’re introducing new services like dating services and shopping malls where the primary demographic is 8 to 13 and they’re allowing adults to intermingle. I mean, what could possibly go wrong there?
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Man charged with sexually assaulting woman in Sydney park
A Sydney man has been charged after allegedly restraining, choking and sexually assaulting a young woman in a park, Australian Associated Press reports.
A 23-year-old woman was walking from Flemington Station through Airey Park in Homebush, in Sydney’s west, around 11.15pm on Friday 18 September when she was stopped by a man not known to her, police say.
Police will allege the man, 27, then allegedly restrained the woman and dragged her into nearby bushland, where he sexually assaulted her.
Police searched a Padstow property about 8.50am on Thursday, arresting the 27-year-old man and seizing several items for forensic examination.
He was charged with aggravated sex assault - inflicting actual bodily harm, intentionally choking without consent, taking a person with intent to commit a serious indictable offence and stalk/intimidating with intent to cause fear of physical harm.
The man is due to appear in Bankstown local court on Friday.
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Some findings from the eSafety report on online game companies
The eSafety commission released a major new report into online game service providers today, examining how the companies keep kids safe on the internet, or fail to do so.
The report found that “left unchecked or unmoderated, there is a risk that these games could contain unlawful material or serve as high-risk environments for child sexual exploitation and abuse or activity which promotes, incites or instructs in matters of crime or violence”.
Most of the providers employed tools to proactively detect unlawful or harmful material, but the quality and coverage of those tools varied across each one, eSafety said. It expected the industry to raise the bar to combat serious harms like child sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual extortion and material or activity that promotes or incites violence.
Some of the providers also took longer than others to respond to user or automatic reports of specific harms, which could leave other users exposed to serious harms for longer.
The full findings are available here.
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eSafety commissioner says ‘time for new leadership’ after 10 years in role
Julie Inman-Grant, the eSafety commissioner, confirmed this morning “it’s probably time for new leadership” at the body after serving 10 years in the role.
She spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying 10 years was a “good, round, solid number”, adding:
We’ve increased the office tenfold. We’ve done amazing things. I think with the new digital duty of care, I’m going to be actively shaping that to the extent that I can and getting all the right pieces in place.
But it’s probably time for new leadership. This is not an easy gig from a personal perspective, but also professionally, it’s been the role of a lifetime. And, you know, to be able to try and make some positive change has been an incredible opportunity. But yeah, I think it’s time to be thinking about what’s next.
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Industry minister says it is important Australia works in tandem with AI
Tim Ayres, the minister for industry and innovation, was asked this morning why the government’s rhetoric on artificial intelligence had softened after an initially stern tone on the OpenAI breach.
Ayres said the government had, in fact, been direct with OpenAI, but maintained the country and tech giants had to work in tandem. He told RN Breakfast:
It reinforces the government’s approach here, which is about making sure that artificial intelligence investment here supports Australia’s national interest, happens on Australia’s terms.
He said Albanese had initially given a direct, firm message to the founder of OpenAI, but that has since been followed by “extensive, enhanced cooperation, working through the issues in a constructive way”.
It underscores why it is that we’re legislating AI standards, why it is that we’re seeking to secure the right level of artificial intelligence investment, including training investment here in Australia, because it makes Australia stronger and means that we are part of shaping the technology and that is crucial for Australia and Australians.
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Minns government vows to regulate labour hire in NSW
The Minns government has pledged to regulate labour hire in New South Wales if reelected, a move meant to protect workers and businesses from dodgy labour hire providers.
An independent report found earlier this year a number of labour supply companies had been incorporated within days of each other at the same address, with the same director and secretary, during the Western Sydney Airport Metro project.
The investigation found suspected underpayment of workers, insurance fraud, tax fraud and unaccounted invoices worth than $10m.
The contractor was terminated after the report.
Other entities, including farmers and unions, have raised concerns about labour hire providers in the horticulture sector.
Sophie Cotsis, the minister for industrial relations, said in a statement:
The NSW Government has zero-tolerance for the exploitation of workers, and this commitment builds on the work we are doing to stamp out dodgy labour hire firms.
Every worker deserves fair pay, access to their entitlements, and to work and live in a safe environment and a labour hire licencing scheme is an important step in ensuring safer workplaces for labour hire workers.
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Former Wallaby hooker Nathan Charles diagnosed with MND at 37
The former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who became the first cystic fibrosis sufferer in the world to play a contact sport professionally, has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).
AAP reports the 37-year-old, who played four Test matches for Australia, revealed he has been diagnosed with the same disease as retired South Sydney NRL star Jai Arrow.
During a Stan Sport interview with former Wallaby turned commentator Justin Harrison, Charles said he had only recently been diagnosed.
Read more:
Related: Former Wallaby hooker Nathan Charles diagnosed with MND at 37
Good morning, and happy Friday. Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s get to it.
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Atlassian enters 10-year solar energy deal with community co-op to power Sydney HQ
A solar farm owned by a group of community investors has secured a 10-year deal with one of Australia’s biggest technology companies to help power its headquarters, Australian Associated Press reports.
Atlassian announced its virtual power purchase agreement with the Goulburn Community Energy Co-operative on Friday in a deal that will fund almost 70% of the project’s output over the next decade.
Electricity generated by the project in NSW’s Southern Tablelands will help to meet the renewable energy needs of the tech firm’s 39-storey Sydney base, currently in construction near Central station, when it opens in 2028.
The announcement comes amid heated debate over whether technology companies should be required to invest in renewable energy generation to meet growing demands from data centres and artificial intelligence operations in Australia.
The solar and battery farm, located on 2.2 hectares of industrial land in Goulburn, features 2,300 solar panels and a four megawatt-hour battery. Owned by a group of about 288 local investors, who contributed a minimum of $400, the farm connected to the electricity grid in March 2026, 12 years after it was proposed.
The agreement follows a $2.3m NSW government grant and would support local workers and suppliers, Andrew Bray, the Goulburn Community Energy Co-operative chair, said:
Our active volunteers and investor community worked patiently and diligently across a number of years to see this project come to fruition.
To have a blue-chip Australian company like Atlassian come on board as a commercial partner is a huge vote of confidence in what we have built.
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Online gaming 'shortcomings' put children at risk, eSafety report finds
Online gaming services are failing to take enough action to prevent children being exposed to harmful content, a new report from the eSafety Commissioner has found.
In a report published today, the online safety watchdog found measures adopted by gaming providers were not up to standard and varied in quality between platforms.
Platforms with the dominant purpose of gaming are not covered under Australia’s under-16s social media ban but are subject to the eSafety Commissioner’s information gathering notices.
The report – which drew details from Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, Roblox, Minecraft and Valve’s Steam – found some positive signs but overall determined “disparities and shortcomings”.
Among them, examples of some platforms relying on age self-declaration resulting in children being able to easily access third-party content lacking sufficient content moderation as well as a limited number of human moderators to respond to harmful content.
The commissioner, Julie Inman-Grant, said:
While we have seen some safety improvements as a result of sustained regulatory pressure, including the recent court-enforceable undertakings we accepted from Roblox, there is still significant work to be done across the board to prevent serious harms in online gaming to children.
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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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