Chalmers says budget will help address One Nation surge
Josh Butler
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, admits the housing and tax systems are “not working for a lot of Australians”, saying tonight’s budget has an eye on addressing the factors driving voters to One Nation.
The government is promising bold reform and the budget will contain changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax in a move to level the playing field between ordinary people and wealthier classes and investors. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says a surge to rightwing populists such as One Nation is “what happens when people don’t think they have a shot at a fair go”. Chalmers echoed those comments on Tuesday morning.
“I think the housing market and the tax system is not working for a lot of Australians, and tonight we seek to address that,” Chalmers said.
I don’t dismiss or deny the very real concerns that a lot of Australians have about their ability to get a toehold in the housing market or to get a toehold in the economy more broadly.
Chalmers said the budget was “not a political document or a political strategy, it’s an economic plan”, but that it would respond to some of those concerns.
“It will respond to a lot of the pressures and anxieties that people are feeling, which is driving them to consider some of the parties outside the mainstream,” Chalmers said.
“The Australian Labor party is the last one standing in the sensible centre of Australian politics but we’re not standing still.”
Key events
Benita Kolovos
Vic opposition leader vows to deliver 2032 surplus
Victorian opposition leader Jess Wilson also repeated her vow from Friday to deliver a cash surplus by 2032, along with progressively lifting the payroll tax threshold for businesses and the land tax threshold for property investors. She told parliament:
Repairing the budget is how we build the strong foundation for Victoria to have a brighter future. We cannot pretend the challenges will fix themselves. We cannot keep borrowing from the future to pay for the present. We cannot keep asking Victorians to carry the burden of Labor’s debt. So let’s take a different path. Our 10-year plan will restore confidence, reduce debt, and build a stronger Victorian economy.
Unions on Friday lambasted the opposition’s economic plan, while Labor released an attack ad claiming it amounted to more than $40bn in cuts and would put one in seven public servants out of a job.
But Wilson said in her budget reply:
Anyone who tells you that a Coalition government will lay off public servants is lying to you.
The Victorian treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, earlier on Tuesday committed too releasing the details behind the government’s “$40bn black hole” calculation:
Victorians should be very worried about what the Liberal opposition have to say [in the budget reply]. They let the cat out of the bag on Friday, when they announced what we conservatively estimate as $40bn of cuts over the next five to six years. You can’t promise a net cash surplus without stopping building. You can’t promise one in seven job cuts without making devastating cuts to the public sector. Victorians deserve an explanation of where these cuts are going to come from, because $40bm is an incredible amount that will have a huge impact on everyday Victorians.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian opposition leader urges voters not to fall for ‘scare campaign’
Victorian opposition leader and shadow treasurer, Jess Wilson, has delivered her budget reply speech to state parliament, urging voters not to fall for what she calls a “scare campaign” from the government regarding her plans to reduce the size of the public service.
On Friday, Wilson announced a plan to implement an indefinite hiring freeze across all back-office public service roles if elected in November, in an effort to bring down the state’s ballooning debt. It followed last week’s state budget, which showed debt will grow from $165.3bn in June 2026 to $199.3bn in 2029-30. By then, interest payments on state debt are forecast to total $11.82bn – or $32m a day.
Wilson told the chamber the hiring freeze, which she estimates will save $22bn over 10 years, was a “necessary step” given the “massive increase” in the public service under Labor:
The Victorian public service has grown by 60% in 10 years – adding over 20,000 bureaucrats. Given our population over the same period has only increased by 19%, this is quite simply unsustainable, and this massive increase has not delivered better outcomes for the Victorian people. These savings will be achieved through natural attrition, not layoffs.
To put it in perspective, we are talking about a reduction in size of the total VPS by 2%.
Despite those opposite’s desperate and deluded scare campaign, no one is getting sacked. Existing staff have job security under a Liberal and Nationals government.
If any crew members on that charter flight remain in Australia they will also be subject to quarantine measures, Butler said.
It’s unclear what plane and crew will work on the flight to repatriate the cruise ship passengers, but the health minister said he’s confident they’ll have a plan in place in the next 48 hours.
Health minister provides update on repatriation plans for those from hantavirus ship
The health minister, Mark Butler, is speaking about the hantavirus situation as Australia works to repatriate five Australians – four citizens and one permanent resident – and a New Zealander.
Butler said the cohort has now arrived in the Netherlands and are in hotel quarantine. Dfat is still in the process of finalising repatriation flights. Butler said:
They are in good health, they have been kept informed … about the arrangements that the Australian government is currently put in place.
The hantavirus has now been listed under the Biosecurity Act as a listed human disease, which will allow the government to subject the travellers to quarantine arrangements when they arrive back in Australia.
Butler said the additional cases reported overnight in a French national and a US citizen reflected the dynamic situation. He maintained that while there is still a risk of transmission, it is “relatively low” due to the way hantavirus spreads.
Benita Kolovos
‘Biggest threat to our democracy’: Victorian government told to scrap ballot ‘aberration’
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell has urged the government this morning to scrap group voting tickets, following plans to register yet another political party designed to funnel votes to One Nation and other conservative parties.
Muslim Votes Matter is seeking to register as a political party – using the identical name to the grassroots group set up prior to the 2025 federal election – and ultimately direct preferences to One Nation. The original Muslim Votes Matter has complained to the Victorian Electoral Commission.
It follows Avi Yemini’s plan to register a “Free Palestine party” and use it to funnel votes to conservative parties, which was inspired by anti-lockdown activist Monica Smit’s announcement in February that she would seek to register a “Save the Environment party” to attempt to influence the state election result.
The plans rely on Victoria’s upper house remaining the only house of parliament in Australia still using the group voting tickets system (GVTs), in which voters can only choose one party above the line on the ballot paper. The voters’ preferences are allocated by the party if it is knocked out during counting.
Sandell told reporters GVTs were “an absolute aberration.”
She added:
They are the biggest threat to our democracy because it allows parties with a tiny percentage of the vote to deceive voters. We have already seen far right actors openly say they will register political parties that have one name, such as Save the Environment, or Muslim Votes Matter, or the Free Palestine party, with express purpose of funnelling those votes to parties that have the exact opposite values and policies, such as the One Nation party … it is an absolute stain on our democracy. Victoria is the last state that continues to allow this dodgy practice. It must end.
Tom McIlroy
Penny Wong speaks with US counterpart about strait of Hormuz
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, spoke with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, this morning in a call covering the war in Iran and stability in the region.
US state department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the pair reaffirmed their commitment to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific during the conversation.
Secretary Rubio underscored the strength of the U.S.-Australia Alliance and its importance to the security and stability of the region.
They also discussed Iran and ongoing efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz.
Australia has signalled an openness to participate in operations to reopen the strait to trade and maritime traffic, with its closure leading to a global fuel crisis. But few details have so far been confirmed about what Australia could, or would, offer to assist.
Australia imposes sanctions on senior Iranian officials
Australia is imposing targeted financial penalties and travel bans on senior Iranian officials responsible for the oppression of women and girls under the regime’s crackdown on society, AAP reports.
Seven Iranians and four entities are being sanctioned in response to Tehran’s “brutal” oppression of its people, in addition to the wrongful detention of foreigners, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced on Tuesday.
More than 30,000 people are believed to have been killed by Iranian forces as protests erupted throughout the country in January.
The sanctioned officials include Iran’s interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, who is also deputy commander in chief of the law enforcement forces, which is responsible for the deaths of the protesters.
Ruhollah Nasab is another high-ranking official covered by Australia’s sanctions, for his role in deploying 80,000 forces to ensure mandatory hijab-wearing by Iranian women and surveil their dress in schools, universities, public spaces and online.
The sanctions will also target Iran’s shadow banking system, which allows it to fund terrorist proxies such as Hamas, and support its ballistic missile program.
Soldier’s parachute training death reminiscent of 2024 incident
The death of a soldier during a training exercise in Jervis Bay is reminiscent of a similar accident in 2024.
In the earlier incident, ADF soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former Labor defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon, died during a parachute incident during a training activity in Sydney.
The 33-year-old was injured in March 2024 at the RAAF airbase at Richmond, about 50km north-west of Sydney’s CBD. He received first aid at the scene and was taken to Westmead Hospital in a serious condition but later died from his injuries.
Another army soldier died, and two others were injured, during a training accident in north Queensland in October 2025.
Caitlin Cassidy
A year seven student is being treated in hospital after becoming trapped under a train at North Melbourne railway station.
A spokesperson for Fire Rescue Victoria said around 4pm yesterday, crews responded to multiple Triple Zero calls reporting a person trapped under a train.
Crews arrived on scene within five minutes to find one person trapped and worked swiftly to extricate the patient who was then treated by Ambulance Victoria and transported to hospital. Victoria Police was also on scene.
The ABC reported that the boy attends St Aloysius College in North Melbourne and had suffered serious injuries in the incident.
Paramedic, Alex Hemsley, told the ABC it had been a “traumatic scene” for all involved.
We transported the young person quickly under emergency conditions, lights and sirens conditions, with a pre-notification to the Royal Children’s Hospital with regards to their injuries.
Services on the Williamstown and Werribee lines were cancelled during the rescue operation.
Australian soldier dies in parachuting course accident
An Australian soldier has died during a training exercise at the Jervis Bay airfield, near the NSW south coast, the Department of Defence confirmed this morning.
The agency said the accident involved an Australian army soldier during a parachuting training course on Monday evening. Another soldier was injured but did not require hospitalisation.
“We request that the privacy of Defence members and families is respected at this time,” an official said in a statement. “Defence will provide further updates when possible.”
The Jervis Bay airfield lies within the Jervis Bay Territory.
Chalmers says budget will help address One Nation surge
Josh Butler
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, admits the housing and tax systems are “not working for a lot of Australians”, saying tonight’s budget has an eye on addressing the factors driving voters to One Nation.
The government is promising bold reform and the budget will contain changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax in a move to level the playing field between ordinary people and wealthier classes and investors. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says a surge to rightwing populists such as One Nation is “what happens when people don’t think they have a shot at a fair go”. Chalmers echoed those comments on Tuesday morning.
“I think the housing market and the tax system is not working for a lot of Australians, and tonight we seek to address that,” Chalmers said.
I don’t dismiss or deny the very real concerns that a lot of Australians have about their ability to get a toehold in the housing market or to get a toehold in the economy more broadly.
Chalmers said the budget was “not a political document or a political strategy, it’s an economic plan”, but that it would respond to some of those concerns.
“It will respond to a lot of the pressures and anxieties that people are feeling, which is driving them to consider some of the parties outside the mainstream,” Chalmers said.
“The Australian Labor party is the last one standing in the sensible centre of Australian politics but we’re not standing still.”
Benita Kolovos
Victorian Greens criticise failure to introduce donation reforms
The Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, has criticised the government for failing to introduce donation reforms to parliament this week.
Speaking outside parliament, she told reporters the Greens have heard “very little” from the government in the last few days after weeks of negotiations. Sandell went on:
I do not know what is holding Labor back. I can only conclude that Labor is not interested in stopping dark money flowing into politics, and want to keep a whole bunch of corporate and billionaire donors for themselves, because the Greens we have an open door, and we’ve said, come and talk to us and we would be happy to talk about laws that actually stop this dark money flowing into Victorian politics.
While the major parties are mulling increasing the donation cap, she said it shouldn’t be increased:
We think that the donation cap, which is just under $5,000, is fine where it is. That allows people to make a small donation but it does not allow corporations and billionaires to donate tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to influence our politics.
Sandell said there was a “pathway” to pass reforms via the Greens and the crossbench:
We are happy to move very quickly if they bring legislation that closes these dodgy loopholes and puts a cap on political donations, we’re happy to do that, and I don’t understand why they haven’t brought that legislation this week or last week.
More here:
Benita Kolovos
Democracy Counts criticises delay in introducing new donation laws in Victoria
Democracy Counts campaign director Tom Mooney commented on our report this morning that the Victorian government won’t introduce legislation to parliament this week to plug a gap left by a high court decision that ruled the state’s donation laws unconstitutional.
The high court ruling last month invalidated the entire section of Victoria’s electoral act governing political donations – including a ban on foreign donations, caps on how much candidates and MPs can receive and disclosure requirements.
The Victorian premier committed to fast-tracking legislation through parliament but negotiations between Labor, the Liberals and Greens have stalled.
Mooney says waiting another month to reach an agreement “means another month that dodgy political donations could flow without any limit, oversight or transparency”. He went on:
With Victorian parliament sitting today we were hoping and anticipating a bill that would plug the hole allowing undisclosed donations to flow into politics ahead of the state election.
Victorians deserve to know who is funding the parties and candidates vying for their votes in November.
In the long run, we need to take a considered look at all aspects of electoral funding. But in the meantime, restoring transparency should be the number one priority for all parties.
Tom McIlroy
Taylor the right person to lead, Hastie says
Andrew Hastie says Angus Taylor is the right person to lead the Coalition, despite a “significant battering” received in Saturday’s Farrer byelection.
Taylor has been plagued by poor polling results since ousting Sussan Ley in February.
“Angus is the right man to lead,” Hastie told Sky. “Our party made that very clear only three months ago.”
The expectation for Farrer was always that we were going to struggle, and the vote that we achieved, which was a significant battering from the people of Farrer on the weekend, was about what we expected.
So we’ve got work to do. It’s early stages. We’re going to keep building.
Tom McIlroy
One Nation doesn’t want a coalition with the Liberals: Hastie
Senior Liberal Andrew Hastie has ruled out a coalition or governing agreement with Pauline Hanson, days after the One Nation won the critical Farrer byelection.
“I’m not open to that,” Hastie told Sky.
I don’t think One Nation wants us as a coalition partner. I don’t think we want One Nation as a coalition partner.
The feeling is mutual. We don’t want to be in coalition. They don’t want to be in coalition with us and that’s the reality.
Some Liberals flagged a possible agreement to form government with One Nation but frontbenchers including Ted O’Brien and Tim Wilson sought to walk back the comments yesterday.
Jordyn Beazley
Police suspect Julian Ingram died by suicide
Police believe the gunman suspected of killing his pregnant former partner in remote New South Wales took his own life likely “some time ago”.
Yesterday police found 37-year-old Julian Ingram’s body in a “decomposed state”, ending a four-month long manhunt that had been under way since January when he allegedly shot and killed Sophie Quinn, her new boyfriend and her aunt in Lake Cargelligo, about 450km west of Sydney. Ingram was on bail at the time for alleged domestic violence related offices against Quinn.
Ingram, also known as Julian Pierpoint, was last seen driving a Ford Ranger ute with council signage from the town on 22 January, shortly after the alleged shootings.
Assistant commissioner Andrew Holland told 2GB a short time ago that “there’s certain indications at this point” that Ingram took his own life.
He said it was difficult to say when he died but “given the decomposition of the body, it would appear to be some time ago”. He said the timing would form part of the coroner’s investigation.
Holland said liaison officers were in contact with the families of the three people Ingram allegedly killed immediately after his body was found. Holland said:
Obviously they have a sense of relief, but obviously there’s a sense of anger as well. It’s going to take a long time for the community and the families to get over this tragedy.
Leaders making’massive mistake’ by sucking up to Trump, says Turnbull
As Donald Trump prepares to meet Xi Jinping this week in Beijing, Malcolm Turnbull has been urging global leaders to “stand their ground” when dealing with US president and China.
Turnbull, who was speaking on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program while on a trip to the UK, said leaders were making a “massive mistake” by “sucking up” to the great powers.
You simply have to be true to yourself. This is critically important both with China and Washington. In the imperial capital they regard deference as their due so people who go to Washington and suck up to Donald Trump will frankly do the same in Beijing. They are making a massive mistake.
The bottom line is, sovereignty matters and you have to stand up and defend your sovereignty … and all of the flattering and grovelling is a massive mistake, particularly with Trump.
Turnbull recalled how he had “a very big row” in his first encounter with Trump during the latter’s first term.
I stood my ground. He started off saying no way … ended up grudgingly and unhappily agreeing to stick with an agreement [on immigration] I’d done with a predecessor. But that won his respect.
There’s no need to be rude or performative. Stand your ground. Whether in the playground or geopolitics
If you are dealing with strong men, bullies … the only way to do that is respectfully stand your ground. Do not take a backward step.
Butler says Australia will likely have ‘strongest quarantine response’ of any country taking passengers back from hantavirus ship
Mark Butler, the federal health minister, just spoke about quarantine arrangements for those who were stuck aboard the MV Hondius, the ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak.
The four Australian citizens, one Australian permanent resident and one New Zealand citizen were due to land in the Netherlands this morning before their repatriation flight to the country is secured. Butler said the arrangements had been difficult to sort out, including finding crew willing to isolate at the end of the flight. He told the ABC:
We’re confident they’ll be back over course of this week. And it’s important that we’ve put those quarantine arrangements in place, ready to go when they do land in Australia.
Butler said the crew will need to quarantine as well on arrival. He said Australia will have strong quarantine requirements and those from the ship will need to quarantine for three weeks in purpose-built facilities before receiving advice about how best to move forward at the end of that period for the reminder of the potential 42-day incubation period for a hantavirus infection.
Butler added:
This is probably the strongest quarantine response of any country that is taking passengers back from this cruise ship.
NSW government introduces tougher bail laws in organised crime crackdown
Penry Buckley
The NSW government will make it harder for organised criminals to apply for bail under a suite of reforms which also target the recruitment of children and the use of “kill cars” to carry out crimes.
Under legislation being introduced to parliament today, courts would be required to consider when an offence has been in committed in the context of organised crime, as well as any non-compliance with Serious Crime Prevention Orders and Firearm Prohibition Orders.
It will allow a decision to grant bail for certain serious firearm offences or specially aggravated kidnapping to be stayed for up to three days, which is currently only the case for serious offences such as murder, sexual assault and domestic violence.
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, says:
“These comprehensive reforms will help keep the community safe, and hold organised criminals to account for the destruction and harm they inflict on our streets.”
After changes to bail laws for domestic violence offenders in 2024, there are a record number of prisoners on remand in NSW, or 6081 as of December. Sentenced prisoner numbers are down, but the jail population overall – at about 13,100 in December – has been climbing since the pandemic.
Under the changes, a new aggravated offence will be created for destroying a vehicle by fire after it has been used to commit serious crimes such as firearms supply, drug trafficking and illicit tobacco offences. The maximum penalty for recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity will increase, with a higher maximum penalty of 15 years if the child is under 16.
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