The commander of the AFP’s human exploitation unit, Helen Schneider, said:

The 41% rise in reports of online child sexual exploitation is hugely confronting, as it represents acts of unspeakable horror and trauma that involve Australians as both victims and offenders.

These acts range from the creation, distribution and consumption of child abuse material through to the livestreaming of child sexual abuse overseas.

Schneider said people should be mindful about what material is posted online.

It’s a natural impulse for parents and carers to want to celebrate and share their children’s lives, but it’s important to think about where this material could end up and what could be done with it.

Our message is: take a minute to think before hitting publish, and also be mindful of factors such as who has access to your posts and videos.

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Updated at 02.30 CEST

Seventh person charged over alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty

Josh Taylor

A 25-year-old Camperdown man has been charged with violent disorder, affray, unlawful assault and discharge missile over the alleged attack on the sacred Indigenous burial site in Melbourne known as Camp Sovereignty last Sunday.

Victoria police announced the charge on Saturday afternoon. He was bailed to appear in Melbourne magistrates’ court on 9 September.

The man is the seventh person charged over the alleged attack, and police say they will allege the men assaulted people in Kings Domain around 5pm after an anti-immigration protest in Melbourne last weekend.

Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell was also charged over the alleged attack and denied bail last week.

Police have said the alleged attack is still under investigation and have urged anyone with information or footage to make contact.

Camp Sovereignty in Kings Domain in Melbourne. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Guardian AustraliaShare

Updated at 02.16 CEST

NSW logging industry group calls koala national park an ‘own goal’

Not everyone is happy about the Minns government’s koala park announcement. Industry body Timber NSW accused the government of valuing “politics above science and people”.

Its chief executive, Maree McCaskill, said the government decision showed disregard for the “livelihoods of people in country areas” and it had “scored an own goal by putting another barrier in place to restrict the availability of timber to help solve the NSW housing crisis”:

“Minister [Penny] Sharpe has had her political win but we’re now calling on Premier Minns to show some compassion by making sure what is left of the industry is sustainable, diverse and equitable.

For example, extending the wood supply agreements past the expiry in 2028 so they can invest in new machinery, processing equipment and encourage investment in hardwood plantations.”

It’s worth noting that the park was subject to a lengthy scientific assessment before today’s announcement, and the decision comes with a broad support package for workers at affected timber mills as well as financial assistance for businesses. The government is offering priority placement for affected Forestry Corporation workers if they wish to transfer into the NSW national parks and wildlife service.

The government estimates the park’s value as a tourism destination will generate an extra $163m for the state’s economy over two decades. The native logging division of NSW Forestry Corporation has run at a loss for several years.

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Updated at 02.14 CEST

‘A lot of work being done’ within Coalition over energy and net zero policy, Ley says

Sussan Ley was asked about the ongoing debate within the Coalition over Australia’s net zero target.

She said energy policy remained under consideration by a working group being led by the opposition’s energy and emissions reduction spokesperson, Dan Tehan:

There is a lot of work being done, I want to reassure your viewers of that. We will deliver an energy policy with two fundamentals. That we have a stable, reliable energy grid for affordable energy for households and businesses and we play our role in reducing emissions.

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Updated at 01.50 CEST

Coalition will look at tax policy ‘as a whole’, Ley says

Insiders host David Speers asked Sussan Ley whether the Coalition was open to considering changes to the GST. Ley said “we will deliver tax policy that is lower, simpler and fairer. You would expect me to say that. I haven’t met an Australian who tells me they are not paying enough tax”. She added:

We will look at tax policy as a whole, connect it to our economic narrative, and that is about empowering Australians … giving them the opportunities they need to get ahead.”

Sussan Ley. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare

Updated at 02.08 CEST

Ley claims immigration a ‘complete mess’ under Labor

Sussan Ley claimed on Insiders that “migration under this government is a complete mess” and Australians were “losing confidence with the government in respect to its migration programs”.

Ley clarified these remarks by adding “we value our skilled migrants”, particularly in regional Australia, and “the issue is not the migrants but infrastructure”.

What I am hearing as I travel around the country is the pressures communities are facing …

This is not about any migrant or migrant community. We value every single one of them and what they bring to this country. This is not a failure of migration. This is a failure of government policy to build infrastructure, the services, to have the roads. Those pressures are reflected.

Federal government figures show net overseas migration for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 was 341,000 people. That’s down 37% compared with its peak of 538,000 in the 2022-23.

You can read more on these figures in Josh Butler’s explainer here:

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Updated at 01.39 CEST

Ley says Price’s comments on Indian migrants wrong and ‘will not be repeated’

Ley has told Insiders that comments by senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price claiming Labor was bringing Indian migrants into Australia to boost its electoral chances were wrong:

The comments were wrong, not correct. They should not have taken place. Corrections have been made.

They will not be repeated. They will not be repeated. What I said subsequent and what I say now is to express my deep appreciation to the Indian community for all they have brought to Australia.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 01.31 CEST

Ley accuses Labor of “hollowing out” defence spending

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has told the ABC’s Insiders that this week’s military parade in China, attended by the former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews alongside Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was an opportunity for Australia to “reflect on our own defence policy and foreign policy”.

We’ve been saying that defence spending should increase to 3% of GDP. That is an important reminder for us about avoiding conflict – peace through strength. It’s about recognising the increasing tensions in the region.

Ley accused Labor of “hollowing out” defence spending and “using Aukus funding to cannibalise the rest of the defence budget”:

A significant display of military strength as we saw from the Communist party is a reminder at this point. It’s a reminder of what prime minister Anthony Albanese could do to step up engagement with regional partnerships. Regional engagement matters at this point.”

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Updated at 01.27 CEST

NSW Greens call for end to native forest logging after koala national park announcement

The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, who is based in the state’s north, said the long-awaited announcement of the great koala national park was a victory that “belongs to the communities, First Nations leaders, scientists and forest defenders who never gave up”.

Higginson welcomed the moratorium on logging within the park’s boundaries and called on the Minns government to work to end native forestry operations across the state:

Now the Government must keep going and protect the Richmond River koala stronghold, commit to the Great Southern Forest National Park on the South Coast, and end native forest logging across NSW.

Higginson said “native forest conservation, threatened species survival, clean drinking water, carbon storage and science should not be political sport in 2025”. She said it was “hard to reconcile” the destruction from logging that occurred within the great koala national park’s boundaries since the 2023 election while communities waited for the government to fulfil its commitment to protect the area.

Logging intensified inside areas that should have been protected, and the community has carried the heavy environmental, emotional and financial cost – that era must end.

NSW Greens MP and environment spokesperson Sue Higginson. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShare

Updated at 01.19 CEST

Conservation advocates welcome NSW koala national park

Confirmation that 176,000 hectares of state forest will be added to reserves in northern NSW to create a 476,000-hectare great koala national park has been widely welcomed by conservation advocates.

A moratorium on logging in the area between Grafton and Kempsey will begin on Monday.

Gary Dunnett from the National Parks Association said: “This park will ensure future generations will be able to see koalas, greater gliders and other threatened species in the wild for many years to come.”

The permanent protection of this magnificent area will also safeguard critical water catchments for the people of the Coffs coast, protect sacred Indigenous sites and open up huge economic opportunities for regional green tourism. It is truly a win-win for the people of NSW and nature.”

Jacqui Mumford, CEO of the Nature Conservation Council NSW, said: “The conservation and economic values of this park have always been apparent and we welcome a science- and evidence-based decision to deliver the park in full.”

Read more:

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Updated at 01.10 CEST

Police suspect ‘targeted attack’ as two boys fatally stabbed in Melbourne

Two youths were fatally stabbed in the Melbourne suburb of Cobblebank on Saturday evening, detectives said.

AAP reports a 12-year-old boy with critical injuries was found by emergency services about 8pm and later died at the scene.

Shortly afterwards a seriously injured 15-year-old boy was given treatment nearby before he also died.

Officers said they believed the two fatal attacks were connected but the exact circumstances were still being determined.

“At this time police are treating it as a targeted attack and the investigation remains ongoing,” Victoria police said.

“Too many Victorians have been victims of crime,” the Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin, said in a statement.

“Last night, two more Victorians were tragically added to that tally.”

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Updated at 01.08 CEST

Good morning

Good morning everyone. Lisa Cox here as we get started for the day.

Making news this morning, the Minns government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park in mid-north New South Wales, a victory for community forest advocates who have pushed for the establishment of the park for more than a decade.

In Melbourne, two boys have been fatally stabbed in what police suspect is a series of targeted attacks.

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is up on the ABC’s Insiders this morning. We will bring you that when it happens.

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Updated at 01.07 CEST

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