New Victorian premier Ben Carroll to call a royal commission into the construction sector
Ben Carroll is speaking now, alongside his new deputy premier, Gabrielle Williams.
He said his first action as premier will be to call a royal commission into the construction sector. Carroll said he would also establish a special prosecutor to work in parallel with the royal commission.
He added:
Let me make one thing very clear: I am not Daniel Andrews. I am not Jacinta Allan.
I will do things differently, because different times require a new approach.
Key events
Two pedestrians left in critical condition after crash in south-west Sydney
A man and woman remain in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle in Sydney’s south-west suburb of Lakemba.
Emergency services responded just before 1pm on Tuesday, after a woman believed to be in her 30s and a man believed to be in his 60s were injured.
Both pedestrians were treated at the scene before being taken to separate hospitals.
The 82-year-old male driver was also treated at the scene and taken to hospital for mandatory testing.
Luca Ittimani
Markets think an RBA rate hike in August is now less likely
Markets are betting against an interest rate rise in August after the Reserve Bank governor said Australia’s economy was still slowing.
Michele Bullock has just said the RBA’s next move, at its 11 August meeting, is still an open question. She told a lunch in Sydney:
We are seeing the economy slow. We are seeing consumption slow. And we have seen the housing market slow more than we were expecting.
Core inflation is expected to be above 3% until late 2027, which Bullock said was a “long time”. She said:
What it’s going to come down to is whether or not the board thinks that interest rates are … going to bring inflation down sustainably, within a reasonable time period.
Markets are interpreting Bullock’s speech as a sign interest rates are not likely to rise again soon. Bonds and the Australian dollar have dropped and the ASX saw a bounce since her address at 1pm AEST.
Andrew Messenger
Justice for Palestine says legal challenge against Queensland ban on slogans ‘an important precent’
Justice for Palestine says its high court challenge against Queensland’s ban on the common pro-Palestine slogan “from the river to the sea” could set an important precedent for other states.
More than 30 people have been arrested since the ban went into effect in March. The Guardian revealed that the group had filed a high court challenge against the legislation yesterday.
Michael Bradley, a barrister and partner at Marque Lawyers, said the NSW government has been considering a similar ban and a successful challenge would stop them in their tracks:
This is the first time that a government has gone this far trying to criminalise specific words. So it’s not a type of case that the high court has had to deal with before.
We say, this [ban] is way outside the bounds of what the implied freedom in the constitution allows, but certainly [a challenge] would send a very strong signal to governments that that limit is there.
All seven plaintiffs – three of them previously arrested under the legislation – attended a Tuesday afternoon press conference. The lead plaintiff, Remah Naji, said the case was about the right to protest what she said was the crimes of Israel. She said:
I want to be able to say ‘from the river to the sea’ without fearing of getting arrested.
The deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, was asked about the challenge earlier today. He said it was a “hypothetical” and said he stands by the legislation:
We put the laws in place to take guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists, and to also protect the Jewish community members in Queensland.
Catie McLeod
Consumer watchdog defends decision not to ban unsolicited sales
Catriona Lowe, an ACCC deputy chair, said the regulator acknowledged that consumer groups considered a ban to be the most effective response, but:
We consider our targeted proposals to strengthen existing safeguards will protect consumers from harm, particularly when coupled with new laws banning unfair trading practices.
The proposed approach preserves the selling channel for the minority of consumers who value it.
We have also recommended that the effectiveness of the recommended measures is subject to review within two years of implementation to see if compliance and outcomes have improved.
Catie McLeod
ACCC finds unsolicited sales practices widespread, unwelcome and could be ‘manipulative’
The ACCC says in the past six months, 60% of consumers it surveyed were subject to telemarketing, 41% had been approached in a public place such as a shopping centre and about 30% had experienced door-to-door selling.
Solar panels and energy devices were among the products frequently bought through unsolicited selling, with many consumers who bought such devices spending more than $1,000, the ACCC says.
Two-thirds of respondents said they had felt pressured when contacted in unsolicited sales without their permission.
About 40% of those who had made a purchase in the past two years had regretted it, and 60% had experienced problems with their purchase.
Respondents said salespeople were often pushy, refused to take “no” for an answer and manipulated consumers, according to the ACCC.
Consumers who made a purchase after an unsolicited sales approach in the last two years reported that only 70.9% of salespeople identified themselves, 54.1% of salespeople provided a written copy of the agreement and 63% of salespeople informed them of the termination period.
However, the ACCC says some smaller businesses in the solar devices sector claimed that up to 80% of their business is generated from unsolicited selling and they would not be in the market without these sales channels.
Catie McLeod
ACCC finds unsolicited sales practices misleading consumers but stops short of ban
The consumer watchdog says businesses that use unsolicited sales – such as door-to-door and telemarketing – are frequently engaging in high-pressure tactics, breaching existing safeguards and misleading consumers.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has stopped short of banning these kinds of sales practices, and instead has recommended recommends increasing penalties for breaches of consumer safeguards, a new “opt in” approach for consumers targeted by unsolicited sales practices and “clarifying existing rules”.
The ACCC makes the recommendations in a report it released earlier today, based on its sweep of the sector, which follows a “designated” or “super” complaint made by the Consumer Action Law Centre in 2025.
That complaint, the first of its kind under new powers for certain business and consumer groups introduced by the Albanese government, compelled the ACCC to review the issue and respond within 90 days.
It led to an investigation by the ACCC which found that unsolicited selling was widespread and often unwelcome.
Court fines Harvey Norman and Latitude over misleading promotion
Jonathan Barrett
The federal court has ordered Harvey Norman and credit provider Latitude pay a combined $55m in penalties over an advertising campaign offering “60 months interest-free” purchase terms for household goods.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) launched the legal action over concerns the advertisements masked that consumers were required to take out a credit card offered by Latitude to purchase products and pay service and establishment fees.
Harvey Norman will pay $35m in penalties, while Latitude will pay $20m, according to the court order. They must also display “corrective advertising” on their homepages for 90 days.
The Asic chair, Sarah Court, said:
The substantial penalties and the corrective advertising orders imposed on Harvey Norman and Latitude is a significant outcome for consumers and sends a strong warning to the market about the importance of truthful and transparent advertising.
A spokesperson for Latitude said the company “accepts responsibility for its conduct and apologies to its customers”.
Harvey Norman was contacted for comment.
Nick Visser
That’s all for me, it’s been a busy day so far. Achol Arok will take things from here. Take care.
Angus Taylor won’t give ‘running commentary’ on Icac after mention
Josh Butler
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has responded after his name was raised in today’s Icac hearing, with a spokesperson for the federal Liberal leader saying he would not give “a running commentary” on the issue.
As the Guardian’s Penry Buckley reported, Icac today heard that chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, planned to solicit a $10,000 donation from Angus Taylor to support the efforts of a conservative Liberal group, which is now being investigated by the state corruption watchdog.
Dylan Whitelaw, a former Liberal staffer described as an associate of the Reformers, was shown a message in which he allegedly wrote that “Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!”
Approached for comment, a spokesperson for Taylor said “the Leader is not a party to the matters before the commission, nor has he been approached”, adding:
These matters should be allowed to run their course free from political interference or commentary. As such the Leader will not be providing a running commentary on any matters before the commission. Donations and fundraising activities are declared in accordance with the rules and are a matter for the Party.
Luca Ittimani
Origin heard hack threat three weeks ago but dismissed it as not ‘credible’
Origin Energy has revealed it was aware of a threatened hack but dismissed it as not credible three weeks before telling customers.
The energy retailer’s chief executive, Frank Calabria, has just spoken to media. He said Origin received emails from someone claiming to have accessed customer records on 2 July. The company did not determine it was a credible threat as there was no proof of data being accessed.
Calabria said Origin only received proof customer data had been accessed on 22 July, last Wednesday, at which point it announced the hack.
The company today confirmed about 900,000 customers’ records had been accessed. A “significant” proportion of those had been former customers, Calabria said. The company will tell customers whose data has been accessed in the coming days.
He said the data appeared to have been accessed from “historical data” and Origin had worked to secure its system to prevent similar incidents. He said the company did not believe any information had been put on the dark web.
Calabria declined to answer a series of questions, saying:
It is a criminal matter which is under active investigation and given that we are constrained by the level of information we can provide at this time.
Those questions related to: when the breaches had occurred; whether Origin staff had been identified as having a role in the breach; whether a ransom had been sought, paid or was being considered; and whether the leak risk was “live” or resolved.
Deadly bird flu confirmed in seven local South Australian birds
Lisa Cox
CSIRO testing has confirmed deadly H5 bird flu in seven greater crested terns found at South Australian beaches.
But the federal government said analysis was still under way to establish whether the disease was spreading between local birds.
One of the terns was found at Port MacDonnell, one at Cape Jaffa and five were found around Southend Jetty near Beachport.
There have now been 27 confirmed cases nationally, 10 in greater crested terns – a common local seabird – in South Australia.
Before the cases in terns found in South Australia, all detections of the disease in Australia had been in migratory birds.
A spokesperson for the agriculture department said:
All of these have been wild seabirds found in coastal locations. Further laboratory analysis will be undertaken to help determine if there is evidence of local transmission.
Jack Larkin
Australian Bureau of Statistics reports 4.1% increase in divorces in 2025
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its annual report on the marriages and divorces for 2025, showing a 4.1% increase on divorces from the previous year, with more than 49,000 granted.
The median age of divorce also rose to 47.3 years for men and 44.4 years for women, with the average duration of a marriage also increasing to 13.4 years.
There were over 118,000 registered marriages in 2025, a 1.7% decrease from 2024. Victoria had the largest decrease with 5.5%; Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT also registered fewer marriages.
The most popular date to get married was 25 October, with over 2,000 marriages taking place on that day, followed by the 22 November with 1,527.
Saturday remained as the most popular day to get married, with over 52,000 marriages taking place, followed by Friday with 22,000.
Jordyn Beazley
New process being developed for Jewish patients and staff to raise complaints
A new process is being developed for Jewish patients and staff to raise complaints if they experience antisemitism in the health system, the royal commission has heard.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel, the chief executive of Jewish House and a chaplain at a number of hospitals, is the first to give evidence today in the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
Kastel said of the new system he is helping to design:
At the moment, it’s looking like that it’ll be a separate protocol where people will initially raise it … with a more senior staff member.
There’ll be a form that people will fill out, which will then go to the leadership of the hospital and the [local health district], and be overseen by the ministry.
He said an antisemitic video that allegedly featured two nurses from Bankstown hospital had raised fears in the community. But beyond this incident, he said there is largely “a very good culture within New South Wales health”.
After the Bankstown nurses, I must say that I was nervous to go there myself. I didn’t know what to expect.
But I went to Bankstown hospital, and the warmth and the kindness was just fantastic across the board. [It] didn’t matter what religion, which culture, everybody was welcoming.
Catholic Schools NSW chief executive allegedly planned to ‘shake down Angus for 10k’, corruption inquiry hears
Penry Buckley
The chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, planned to solicit a $10,000 donation from Angus Taylor to support the efforts of a conservative Liberal group being investigated by the state corruption watchdog, an inquiry has heard.
Dylan Whitelaw, a former Liberal staffer described as an associate of the Reformers, who have been accused of soliciting or accepting illegal donations to support moves to shift the party to the right, is under questioning from by counsel assisting the commission, Juliet Curtin.
Whitelaw has been shown a screenshot from a message from McInerney, sent to a group chat including Whitelaw and members of the Reformers. In the message, McInerney allegedly says:
I have breakfast club with ministers this Thursday morning, who can I get an update from? Re SCD [state council delegate] progress in the last six to 12 months. I want to shake down Angus for 10k.
Asked if “Angus” refers to Angus Taylor, Whitelaw says: “I would assume it’s Angus Taylor”.
Whitelaw is shown another message in which he allegedly wrote that “Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!”.
Whitelaw says he does not recall sending the message, nor does he recall Taylor making a financial contribution to the Reformers. Taylor is not accused of any wrongdoing. In a statement reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on 2 July, McInerney said he had offered to stand aside “to allow the work of Catholic Schools NSW to continue its important mission”.
