Australia news live: all children’s sand imports to be tested for asbestos ‘in light of recent findings’; ‘high chance’ storm system near NT becomes cyclone, BoM says

Coloured sand products to be retested for asbestos contamination and designated as ‘high-risk’

Catie McLeod

Coloured sand products, which have been contaminated with asbestos and used widely in Australian schools, were not required to undergo any testing for the hazardous material before they were imported, border officials have confirmed.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) this afternoon said it would now consider sand products designed for children’s sensory play to be “high-risk”, meaning they will require proof they are asbestos-free before they are allowed into the country.

Several ranges of children’s play sand sold at major retailers, including Officeworks, Target and Kmart, have been recalled in the past week after testing of samples of the products found they contained asbestos.

Because these products had previously been deemed low risk, their suppliers would not have been obliged to test them at any point before exporting them to Australia, and they would not have required any onshore testing before they were distributed, the ABF confirmed.

More than 70 public schools in the ACT were closed yesterday for cleaning, along with nine Catholic schools in Tasmania and others in New Zealand.

Some schools in New South Wales and Victorian schools wrote to parents confirming they had the sand products on site.

The ACCC on Sunday said respirable (airborne) asbestos had not been detected in any of the tested samples, and “the release of respirable asbestos fibres is unlikely to occur in its current state, unless the sand is processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising”.

Updated at 05.27 CET

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Some Samsung phone need to be replaced or updated to correctly connect to triple zero network

Following on from news that a person has died after they tried to call triple zero on an incompatible Samsung phone:

Samsung identified a list of older mobile devices that will not correctly connect to alternative mobile networks in order to make triple zero calls when a primary network is unavailable.

The tech company has urged users to update or replace those devices “to make sure they work reliably in an emergency”. The devices that need to be replaced were released more than seven years ago, while others can be fixed with a software update that can be completed directly on the device.

A full list is on Samsung’s website.

Network operators should have contacted customers directly by email or SMS to confirm if your device has been affected.

CSIRO to cut up to 350 research roles

Sarah Basford Canales

Australia’s national scientific agency is expected to cut up to 350 more research roles from next year as it frantically looks for savings and new sources of funding to plug budgetary shortfalls.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) held its town hall this afternoon where the agency’s leaders outlined the troubled times ahead.

A further 300 to 350 roles are expected to be cut, in addition to job losses earlier this year and last year, with CSIRO adding it would be looking for between $80m and $135m each year to renovate its ageing property portfolio. About 80% of CSIRO’s 800 properties are closely approaching their end-of-life cycles.

In a statement, CSIRO’s chief, Doug Hilton, said the changes would set up CSIRO “for the decades ahead with a sharpened research focus that capitalises on our unique strengths, allows us to concentrate on the profound challenges we face as a nation and deliver solutions at scale”.

CSIRO’s leader told staff the agency would be deprioritising research areas based on an updated statement of expectations from the minister. Guardian Australia understands the research areas affected by the latest round of job losses will include the health and biosecurity, agriculture and food and environment research units.

The CSIRO staff association secretary, Susan Tonks, said the cuts made under the Albanese government were worse than those under the Abbott Coalition government.

Tonks said:

They [Labor] are now responsible for cuts to public science that exceed the Abbott government – cuts current Labor MPs rightly slammed at the time. These are some of the worst cuts the CSIRO has ever seen, and they’re coming at a time when we should be investing in and building up public science.

Updated at 05.26 CET

Coloured sand products to be retested for asbestos contamination and designated as ‘high-risk’

Catie McLeod

More than 70 public schools in the ACT were closed yesterday for cleaning, along with nine Catholic schools in Tasmania and others in New Zealand.

Some schools in New South Wales and Victorian schools wrote to parents confirming they had the sand products on site.

Updated at 05.27 CET

Man armed with knife shot by Queensland police in Cairns

A man is in a critical condition after he was shot by police in Cairns, in far north Queensland.

In a statement, Queensland police said at about 10.30am, police responded to reports a man was armed with a knife at the intersection of Elphinstone Street and Ramsey Drive.

Shortly after, the man approached officers with the knife and an officer discharged a firearm.

Medical assistance was immediately provided to the man by police, and he was taken to the Cairns hospital in a critical condition.

The matter is being investigated by the ethical standards command, with oversight from the crime and corruption commission.

Updated at 05.10 CET

Penry Buckley

More on the proposal to reintroduce two-way tolling on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

The New South Wales government plans to make permanent a $60 weekly cap for tolls on Sydney’s roads, with the premier saying it could be funded by reintroducing two-way tolling on the Harbour Bridge.

The cap – under which drivers can claim up to $340 a week back from the government after spending $60 per vehicle – started in early 2024 and was due to expire at the end of this year.

A 2024 independent report found Sydney drivers were spending $2.5bn annually on tolls in Sydney, with the greatest impact on residents of the western suburbs.

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the government was considering two-way tolling on state-owned assets, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and tunnel, and the yet-to-be completed Western Harbour Tunnel and M6 motorway, to pay for making the cap permanent.

“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but we think it’s the fairest thing to do when you consider that a lot of the communities that will use the Harbour Bridge have access to public transport,” the premier said.

Many communities in western Sydney and the Central Coast just don’t have anything like that.

Minns said two-way tolling on state-owned toll roads was likely to align with the completion of the Western Harbour Tunnel, which is scheduled for 2028.

South African man in Villawood detention centre after neo-Nazi rally

Josh Butler

A South African man whose visa was cancelled after attending a neo-Nazi rally in Sydney was taken into immigration detention in the early hours of this morning, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said.

Burke said South African national Matthew Gruter had his visa cancelled on Monday, and was taken into detention early Tuesday morning “between 4 and 5am”. It’s understood he was taken to Villawood detention centre, where he will stay until he is deported.

The white supremacist group of which Gruter is a member has launched an online fundraiser for him, which has garnered nearly $20,000 in donations since being set up today. The fundraiser page claims Gruter would “fight to remain in Australia via every possible avenue”.

Burke says the man has “very limited” options to appeal, because the visa was cancelled by a ministerial decision, adding that he expects Gruter “will be gone very soon” even with the right to appeal to courts.

The minister defended his decision to cancel the visa, saying today:

What could be a clearer example of someone showing they don’t care about cohesion in Australia, than turning up to a Nazi rally?

Multicultural Australia and modern Australia are the same thing. Someone who gets involved in neo-Nazism in Australia shouldn’t pretend they’re somehow patriotic. They hate modern Australia.

My priority is that Australians feel at home, feel safe, that they are safe in Australia. Anyone who wants to stand in the way of that can find the full force of the law coming down on them.

Updated at 04.19 CET

Donna Lu

Australians in climate risk areas twice as likely to face energy hardship

Australians in flood, bushfire and blackout-prone areas are twice as likely to face energy hardship, a new report suggests.

The Scenarios for Future Living household survey has found that more than half (54%) of Australians living in self-reported climate risk zones reported difficulty paying their energy bills or meeting essential needs in the past year, compared with 24% in non-risk areas.

The report’s lead author, Dr Fareed Kaviani of Monash University, said climate pressures were exacerbating inequalities in Australia’s energy system. He said:

Energy hardship is no longer just about affordability. It is about whether households can stay safe and well as extreme weather becomes more frequent.

Without targeted policies and support, the gap between those who can invest in clean technologies and those who cannot will only widen.

The report’s authors suggest that an increase in climate risks may result in more households struggling to cool their homes during heatwaves, maintain clean air during bushfires and power medical devices during outages.

Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPShare

Updated at 04.15 CET

Andrew Messenger

Drew Hutton readmitted as Queensland Greens member

Greens founder Drew Hutton has been reappointed as a life member of the Queensland party.

Party delegates met at a special state council meeting on Monday night, with the Greens’ constitution and arbitration committee meeting on Tuesday morning. Both voted to reverse decisions that had expelled him earlier this year.

As a result, Hutton is once again a member. A lawsuit over his dismissal remains under way.

Drew Hutton. Photograph: Krystle Wright/The Guardian

Hutton was accused of allowing his Facebook page to be used to publish transphobic comments by other people.

The party took the decisions after it received legal advice that the way the two bodies had voted to expel him lacked “procedural fairness”.

Wilson says support from colleagues ‘clear’ after being elected unopposed

Wilson was asked if she wanted the job as leader. She told reporters:

When I came into the party room, I had colleagues come to me and say they wanted me to stand. I knew I had something to offer the state of Victoria. I knew I could lead them to the next election and be unashamedly talking about the issues that Victorians talk to me about every single day.

I will fight for Victorians. I will be in their corner so that I am talking about what is best for them, not talking about ourselves, not being self-interested, not trying to protect our mates, but actually trying to deliver for Victorians and provide that credible alternative government …

I’ve had many conversations with colleagues over the recent days, but what is clear to me is that I was elected unopposed.

Updated at 03.41 CET

New Victoria Liberal leader says party will be focused on ‘single’ goal of winning the next election

MP Jess Wilson is speaking in Victoria after becoming the next leader of the state’s Liberal party.

She said:

My message to Victorians is that I’m in your corner. I want to back you in, and ensure that every single day I am working in your best interests to deliver the Victoria that we all know it can be and that we can have hope in again.

Wilson said the party was now united and would become focused on winning the state’s next election in 2026. She added:

We are united and we are focused on one single thing, that in 12 months’ time Victorians have a choice. They have a choice of 16 years of a tired government, a government that has its priorities all wrong. And us, a new team that has hope in Victoria and wants to focus on the core issues that are actually gonna deliver for Victorians.

She thanked Brad Battin for doing a “terrific” job as leader before he was dumped.

Jess Wilson. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShareAnne Davies

NSW prepared to compromise on workers’ compensation threshold for psychological injuries

The NSW government is willing to compromise on a new threshold for people to receive workers’ compensation for psychological injuries – with a figure of 25% whole person impairment being suggested.

The compromise first proposed by independent MP Alex Greenwich would mean more people with serious psychological injuries from work could qualify for long-term support on the state’s Icare scheme. The government originally proposed a 30% threshold in its legislation, but that was met with a fierce backlash from the Coalition and minor parties.

Alex Greenwich. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Labor’s move appears designed to put further pressure on the Coalition, which so far has supported the status quo of 15% whole of person impairment.

The opposition, along with the Greens and a majority of independent and minor party MLCs, have balked at passing the bill in the upper house, where Labor doesn’t have a majority.

The premier, Chris Minns, said on Tuesday that NSW businesses had faced a 46% increase in workers’ compensation premiums since 2022.

“You can go and stare down the 340,000 businesses in NSW that face a further 17% increase,” he said.

Updated at 03.26 CET

ACCC issues warnings to shoppers about scams before Black Friday bargains

In the first nine months of 2025, Australians reported losing nearly $260m in more than 150,000 separate scams, the consumer watchdog said on Tuesday.

AAP reports shopping scams were the most common ruse, rising 19% this year, sparking warnings for those looking for Christmas or Black Friday bargains online.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said:

Scammers love Black Friday sales too because they know shoppers are looking for bargains. They rely on creating urgency and pressure that can come with a busy shopping period.

Nearly half of all scam losses come from an online contact including fake websites, advertisements or social media pages. Compromised social media accounts, particularly on Facebook and Instagram, are used to target people’s personal networks to build trust with unsuspecting victims.

Updated at 03.21 CET

Historic moment in Victorian parliament after Jess Wilson becomes Liberal leader

Newly minted Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson shook hands earlier with the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, in a historic moment in the state parliament. It’s the first time both major parties have been led by women.

Jess Wilson, left, shakes hands with the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Wilson is the first woman to lead Victoria’s Liberal party in history after MPs voted to oust Brad Battin earlier today. The party has now had three leaders in less than a year.

Updated at 03.22 CET

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