News live: Marles insists there is ‘a good story to tell’ in Australia-US defence relationship; search for missing four-year-old Gus to resume tomorrow

Marles insists there is ‘a good story to tell’ in Australia-US defence relationship

The defence minister, Richard Marles, says there’s been a “very positive relationship in respect of defence” with the Trump administration.

Asked on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program about whether he’s been able to assuage some of the concerns that the US had been raising about Australia’s defence spending, he said:

In all the conversations I have had with my counterpart, Pete Hegseth, now acting national security adviser, Secretary [Marco] Rubio and vice-president [JD] Vance, there is a good story to tell about building Australian defence capabilities. It is really about looking at what capabilities we need and resourcing them. What’s that resulted in is the biggest peacetime increase in Australia’s defence spending in our history. Relative to what we inherited, that’s an additional $70bn.

I make that point and it is one well understood. It is also well understood that we are like-minded countries and share values and we want to see rules-based order applied in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, and there is much work to do together to ensure that. All of our conversations are very much focused on the shared task we have before us and actually that is going very well.

Richard Marles. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 07.27 CEST

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Luca Ittimani

Bank branch closures hit 155 in 2024-25

Australia lost 155 bank branches and 333 ATMS on net over the year to June, new data shows.

One in three branches around the country have closed in the last five years, with 1,564 branches lost on net. Nearly half of all ATMS have been lost over the same period, or 4,478 on net, according to Canstar analysis of public data.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures show the branch losses have been most severe in the cities.

Canstar’s data insights director, Sally Tindall, attributed the slower regional losses to the federal government’s February deal with the big four banks to keep their regional branches open until at least mid-2027.

Tindall said:

As banking goes increasingly digital, there’s no doubt more customers are happy to tap, click, transfer and apply online instead of queueing at a branch. The challenge for banks is making sure no one is left behind in this shift.

The country now has just 3,205 bank branches. Australia Post’s Bank@Post services have endured the digital shift, with a total of 3,365 outlets offering this service.

ShareLuca Ittimani

ASX200 sets new record high

The Australian share market ASX200 index has closed at a new record 9,068 points as persistent strong company profits and resurgent hopes of interest rate cuts boost confidence in the economy.

It’s just the second time the benchmark index has closed above 9,000 points in its history, after the combined value of Australia’s 200 biggest sharemarket-listed companies rose nearly $30bn today.

Markets cracked the 9,000-point record in August amid a strong company profits reporting season but slipped as prices rose faster than expected and predictions of interest rate cuts fell.

Rate cut hopes resurged today, sending the ASX200 flying to an intraday record of 9,109 points.

ANZ briefly reached a record market value of more than $110bn, as investors regain faith in the bank after its new chief executive revealed his plan to rejuvenate its lending business.

NAB and Commonwealth Bank also rose in the day, while steady growth in gold prices sent miners surging, while Westpac slipped.

The broader All Ordinaries index, which captures the 500 biggest publicly listed companies, surpassed 9,000 points in July and is also at a record of 9,375 points.

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its long-range forecast for November to January. It shows:

Above average rainfall is likely across parts of northern Australia, with most of the country showing roughly equal chances of above or below average rainfall.

Daytime temperatures are likely to be above average for most of Australia except in parts of eastern New South Wales and the far north.

Overnight temperatures are very likely to be above average across almost all of Australia.

Updated at 08.11 CEST

Duniam says government should consider ‘changed circumstances’ in Gaza before approving Palestinian resettlement applications

Tony Burke, in his press club address, said there were approximately 600 to 700 people on the government caseload from Gaza, who haven’t been able to get out.

Duniam was asked whether he thinks they should be able to be resettled now if they had a visa but previously could not get out and get to Australia, he said:

Often with these visas, one thing that is taken into account is the circumstances of the country of where they’ve come from, and circumstances have changed. I need to know more about the cohort that we are talking about but I do think the minister and the government need to take into account recent developments in the Middle East and the peace deal that is currently holding there – I think the fact that war, thankfully, seems to be over is a good thing. I know there are still issues with regard to accommodation and essential services like housing, clean water and food provisions. But there is a new consideration and I would hope the government does take that into account before they make any different decisions.

Updated at 08.03 CEST

New shadow home affairs spokesperson says government needs to justify immigration figures

The newly appointed shadow home affairs spokesperson, Jonathon Duniam, has also appeared on ABC Afternoon Briefing, speaking about his priorities in the role:

I think some of the priorities relate to get into the bottom of some of these problems that we do have when it comes to immigration debate in this country.

I heard the minister [Tony Burke] also today about laying down a challenge to the Coalition about landing where we can if we do need to reduce numbers. But my challenge for the minister is, tell us the why. What is the basis behind the number we have and what are we doing in terms of work to underpin the decisions we make when it comes to the immigration intake in this country?

What are we doing to analyse and assess truly – not just speculative numbers – how many houses we have coming online for completion in the next two or so years. How we track with hospital bed vacancy so we can provide essential services to new Australians? What are we doing when it comes to spacing public schools to assist some of these new Australian families who come with children?

These sorts of factors are not being brought into the decision making process and I think it’s time as a country – who deserve an immigration system that works for the people that are here now and the people that are wanting to come and get to come – that can provide all those things we love about this country, that’s where should start.

Jonathon Duniam (left). Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 07.57 CEST

Benita Kolovos

Victorian Labor MP Natalie Hutchins to step down at 2026 election

Victorian government minister Natalie Hutchins has announced she will not recontest the 2026 state election.

Hutchins, the MP for Sydenham and minister for government services, treaty and First Peoples, prevention of family violence, and women, was first elected to parliament in 2010 and has served in cabinet for more than a decade. She said in a statement:

After 15 years as the member for Sydenham, and over a decade as a minister, the time has come for me to focus on my health. I have dedicated my life’s work to improving gender equality and workers’ rights and fighting for justice alongside First Peoples.

She said after hearing the calls for treaty as minister in 2014 she was proud the bill was now before the parliament.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, said Hutchins “puts equality at the heart of everything she does”:

Born in public housing and having grown up in the western suburbs of Melbourne, she has always been a passionate advocate to create opportunities for others and has been a fierce voice for the diverse and growing communities she now represents.

Natalie Hutchins will not recontest the 2026 state election. Photograph: James Ross/AAPShare

Updated at 07.50 CEST

Marles says ‘opportunity and need’ to diversify critical minerals production beyond China

Richard Marles is being asked about whether Australia will follow the lead of the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, who says if China wants to be an unreliable partner to the world, the world will have to decouple from its economy when it comes to things like critical minerals.

Marles responds to whether Australia would be willing to decouple from its biggest trading partner:

We are very much proponents for building industry beyond China. We are proponents for building Australian industry in this sector and that is our focus and there are Australian companies doing that right now. But we do think there’s opportunity to work with the US on this and not just the US but also the UK …

We see there is opportunity and indeed need to diversify the range of production and refinement activities beyond China. That is a project that we want to be a part of given that so many of these raw materials are being extracted from Australia and the first place.

Updated at 07.41 CEST

Marles insists there is ‘a good story to tell’ in Australia-US defence relationship

The defence minister, Richard Marles, says there’s been a “very positive relationship in respect of defence” with the Trump administration.

Asked on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program about whether he’s been able to assuage some of the concerns that the US had been raising about Australia’s defence spending, he said:

Richard Marles. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 07.27 CEST

Andrew Messenger

Queensland recycling scheme hits back at damning report

Queensland’s Containers for Change recycling scheme has responded after the state government released a damning parliamentary inquiry into the program.

A spokesperson for COEX, the Container Exchange, said it was “one of Australia’s most successful recycling systems”:

Since the scheme launched in November 2018, almost 11 billion containers have been returned through Containers for Change, putting more than $1 billion in 10-cent refunds back into Queensland communities, including more than $17 million in donations to charities.

Our priority remains supporting the more than 1,500 Queenslanders employed through the container refund scheme and the communities across the state who rely on its service.

The scheme has consistently failed to meet its legislated target of 85% of eligible containers being recycled, which it was required to achieve since 2021. Just 67.1% were recycled this year.

The report alleges that the scheme was overly dominated by individuals from the beverage industry whose primary objective was to minimise scheme costs to their companies, with little interest in maximising recycling rates.

Updated at 07.19 CEST

NSW man dies after becoming impaled on steel bar in construction site fall

Luca Ittimani

A man has died after being impaled on a steel bar at a construction site on the New South Wales Central Coast.

The building site worker, 23, fell on to the reinforcing bar this morning at work on a suburban street in East Gosford.

Emergency services were called at 10.40am and the man was treated by paramedics before being taken to Gosford hospital, where he died.

Police established a crime scene to collect evidence but said they were not treating the event as suspicious.

SafeWork NSW was notified and a report for the coroner was being prepared, police said.

Updated at 06.49 CEST

Luca Ittimani

Rising chances of November interest rate cut

Financial markets are cautiously raising their bets on an interest rate cut in November after new data showed a jump in unemployment.

Markets and major banks have lost confidence in more interest rate cuts this year since the Reserve Bank left rates on hold in late September. The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, then suggested a slower job market despite persistent inflation “could mean a couple more reductions, it might not, I don’t know”.

Predictions of a full 25 basis point rate cut slipped, with markets pricing in just 10 basis points of a cut for November ever since. Today’s jobs data saw that jump up to about 18 points – much closer to the full 25.

The chance of a cut jumped from about 40% to about 75% according to swaps market pricing, Westpac reported. The ASX200 jumped about $9bn (0.34%) and the Australian dollar slipped form 65.2 to 64.8 US cents in the wake of the release, both also indicating regained faith in a rate cut.

Westpac is the only big four bank expecting a November cut. Belinda Allen, a Commonwealth Bank economist, said it wasn’t clear whether the jump in joblessness would outlast price rises:

There is debate whether stickier inflation or slower employment is temporary. Until this is resolved we expect the cautious nature of the RBA cutting cycle to date to remain in place.

Markets and major banks have lost confidence in more interest rate cuts this year since the Reserve Bank left rates on hold in late September. Photograph: David Gray/ReutersShare

Updated at 06.42 CEST

Tom McIlroy

Government names new ambassador to Japan

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has announced plans to name Andrew Shearer as Australia’s new ambassador to Japan next year.

Shearer – a known China hawk – will take up the role after finishing his term as the director-general of the Office of National Intelligence.

Before the ONI, Shearer served as cabinet secretary and national security adviser to Liberal prime ministers including Scott Morrison. He has also held senior roles at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Lowy Institute.

Shearer is expected to be succeeded at the ONI by Kathy Klugman, Anthony Albanese’s international adviser.

Klugman will be the first woman appointed to the role.

She has worked for Albanese since Labor’s 2022 election victory and was with him at the UN general assembly in New York earlier this month.

Updated at 06.37 CEST

Parliamentary committee into Queensland container recycling scheme makes corruption referrals

Andrew Messenger

A report by a government-dominated parliamentary inquiry into Queensland’s container recycling scheme has made 10 referrals to the state’s corruption watchdog, alleging it was dominated by two large beverages companies.

It was tabled in parliament on Thursday.

The Labor leader, Steven Miles, then the state’s environment minister, established the scheme in 2018. It pays a rebate to people recycling cans, and has successfully increased the state’s beverage container recovery rate from 18% prior to introduction of the scheme to 67.1% this year.

But the parliamentary committee claimed that the structure he adopted for the scheme gave Coca-Cola and Lion, two of the biggest companies in the industry, too much control. Government members of the committee wrote:

Of particular concern was COEX’s [the not-for-profit organisation appointed to manage and grow the container refund scheme] commercial relationship with Circular Economy Systems, a joint venture between its two founding members, Coca-Cola and Lion. CES has received significant – and increasing – payments over the life of the scheme.

The arrangement “effectively handed monopoly control of the scheme to two of Australia’s largest beverage corporations. Those corporations dominated the board, and awarded a key contract to their own joint venture.”

LNP members of the committee said they had made 10 referrals to the Crime and Corruption Commission as a result of the inquiry.

Queensland Labor leader Steven Miles. Photograph: Darren England/AAPShare

Updated at 06.52 CEST

Daisy Dumas

Search for Gus Lamont to resume tomorrow

The search for Gus Lamont has been called off for the day after extreme heat and windy conditions hampered efforts.

An undated police supplied portrait of Gus, a missing four-year-old boy in South Australian outback Photograph: SA POLICE/AAP

South Australia police said the third day of the renewed and expanded hunt for the missing four-year-old ended “with no evidence being found”. Police said on Thursday afternoon:

The search resumed in zones outside of the original search area at sunrise, but was concluded at midday because of extreme heat and windy conditions.

Search efforts will resume on Friday, with police anticipating the search will be completed in all remaining “identified zones” that day.

On Wednesday, police said more than 100 search team members, including SA Police, ADF members and SES volunteers, had been walking up to 25 kilometres a day in hot, harsh conditions.

Gus was last seen at about 5pm on Saturday 27 September, when his grandmother saw him playing on a mound of dirt at his homestead near Yunta, about 300km from Adelaide.

Gus was wearing a blue T-shirt with a yellow Minion on the front, a grey sun hat, light-grey long pants and boots.

Updated at 06.03 CEST

Andrew Messenger

Queensland energy minister tables bill aimed at repealing ‘unachievable’ energy targets

Queensland’s energy minister has introduced a long-awaited bill repealing the state’s renewables targets into state parliament.

Aside from eliminating a legislated 80% by 2035 green energy target passed under the previous, Labor, government, it would also remove a ban on private ownership on new generation, which unions have said would be akin to privatisation by stealth.

The bill also eliminates a requirement for the government to report progress towards the targets and allows the state to close three bodies, Energy Industry Council, the Queensland Energy System Advisory Board and the Queensland Renewable Energy Jobs Advocate, which provide advice about renewable energy.

The bill also renames renewables energy zones established in the prior act to “regional energy hubs”.

Queensland’s treasurer and energy minister, David Janetzki, flagged the move at a media club event last week. He said the government doesn’t plan to amend a separate law mandating a 75% by 2035 emissions reduction target. He told parliament on Thursday:

Labor’s renewable energy targets were always unachievable. Repealing the targets means Queensland’s energy system will reflect a more pragmatic approach to our changing energy mix.

By properly embedding this model into the regional energy hub legislative framework, this bill will provide greater industry certainty and facilitate private sector investment into new energy infrastructure.

The bill will go to a parliamentary committee inquiry before returning to parliament for a final vote.

Updated at 05.46 CEST

Melbourne’s Montague Street Bridge strikes again

In a story regular blog readers will be familiar with, another truck has found itself stuck underneath Melbourne’s notorious Montague Street Bridge.

The incident involving a taxi-box truck occurred yesterday. 7News reported the driver was uninjured and was able to quickly move their vehicle to restore traffic flow, but it nevertheless ended a 60-day streak without incidents.

You can read more about the perennial problem here:

Updated at 06.53 CEST

Coalition extends condolences to AFD officer who died after training incident

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has sent her condolences to the family of the solider who died after an incident occurred during a training exercise. In a statement released just now she said:

The Coalition extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the Australian Army soldier who tragically passed away following a training incident near the Townsville field training area.

Our thoughts are also with the two other ADF personnel who were seriously injured, their families, and their fellow service members during this difficult time.

Incidents like this are a stark reminder of the risks our Defence personnel face, even in training, in their commitment to serve and protect our nation with pride.

…The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), is a tight-knit infantry unit. In times of tragedy, their strength as a community is clear.

We extend our condolences to them as they rally around one another in the face of this heartbreaking loss.

Updated at 05.15 CEST

Sarah Basford Canales

Burke says about 700 Palestinians with Australian visas are still in Gaza

Tony Burke says there are around 700 Palestinians in Gaza with Australian visas who have yet to arrive in Australia.

At the National Press Club on Thursday, the home affairs minister shared a story about a video call he had with a woman hiding in a church in Gaza. She ended up staying in the church for 18 months before she arrived with her daughter in Sydney recently.

Burke was asked about Pauline Hanson’s suggestion that anyone who arrived in Australia from Gaza after 7 October 2023 should be sent back now that there’s a temporary ceasefire and a peace proposal in the works.

Burke said:

Sometimes we have people on our caseload, where we don’t know if they’re still alive, but we’ve got roughly six-to-seven hundred on our caseload. And for those individuals – and they’ve had all the [security] checks I just described effectively – they would have been here some time ago, but they haven’t been able to get out. Some of them may well start coming.

It’s also true, if the peace is successful, as happens with any conflict, some people might decide they don’t want to leave [Gaza] …

Some people, the moment they know it’s safe and the place that all their memories and parents and grandparents live, they want to go back, and they do. And that has been the story of Australia. You know, there’s no longer a potato famine [in Ireland], but I got to stay.

Updated at 04.59 CEST

Sarah Basford Canales

Burke predicts Aukus will drive net overseas migration figures up

Circling back to the National Press Club: Tony Burke says Aukus will be an upwards driver of net overseas migration (Nom) but he won’t offer a “magic number” on what future Nom levels will be.

Asked what he thinks the appropriate Nom level should be going forward for Australia, Burke said it could only be partially predicted because some levers were outside of government control.

Burke said as the Aukus deal ramps up in the coming years, it will be a significant driver of Nom:

There are going to be really significant high paying jobs that a lot of Australians will move to, and we will need to make sure that the jobs they are going [from] are still backfilled.

Some of that might be done by Australians moving up a little bit, but I have no doubt there’s going to be some situation, particularly in South Australia and Western Australia, where Aukus as a driver of employment is going to create new situations. So I won’t give you a magic number. I don’t think there is a magic number.

Updated at 04.42 CEST

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