Chalmers says John Lyons ‘just doing his job’ after Trump rebukes reporter
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, speaking at a refinery in Brisbane, was also asked about the clash between ABC reporter John Lyons and the US president, Donald Trump.
When it comes to the ABC – I respect the ABC and I respect its independence and that extends to not second-guessing the questions asked legitimately by journalists at press conferences.
Journalists have a job to do and as far as I can tell, that journalist was just doing his job in Washington, DC. I don’t second-guess the decisions taken – the questions asked by journalists whether it is in DC or elsewhere. I respect the independence of the ABC.
Key events
Nino Bucci
Police officer charged after Sydney ‘fare evasion’ arrest
A NSW police officer has been charged with assault after the arrest of a man who was reportedly seen jumping ticket barriers at Sydney’s central station.
In a statement released on Wednesday morning, NSW police said that officers were patrolling the station on 27 May 2024 when a man was reportedly seen jumping ticket barriers.
The man ran from police and was chased, the force said, before he was arrested at Broadway. Police said in the statement:
During the arrest, an officer deployed OC spray before further police attended and restrained the man.
Police commenced an internal investigation in relation to the incident.
A 36-year-old senior constable attached to a specialist command was issued with a court attendance notice for common assault, police said.
He is due to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on 23 October 2025.
Police said “the officer is being managed in the workplace and his employment status is under review”.
Ley says Coalition would undertake an audit of government spending where ‘every dollar would be tested’
Ley is outlining the Coalition’s economic priorities, including reining in spending and accounting for every dollar going out of the government coffers.
She says:
Spending should only grow where it delivers real value, not just because the economy has grown. Every new dollar of spending would require a saving, a re-prioritisation or a reform that makes government leaner …
Every dollar would be tested. Is it delivering results? Does it reflect the core responsibilities of government? Can it be done more efficiently or not at all? This is not about mindless cuts, it is about smart choices and hard priorities.
‘Discipline is now essential,’ Ley says
Ley is calling for re-establishing “fundamental principles” that used to be “broadly accepted across politics”, saying the default should be about balanced budgets and restraining spending growth.
She says:
Discipline now is essential to ensure the economic legacy we hand to the next generation is stronger, not weaker.
She says part of that plan would be winding back welfare payments and creating a system of “targeted welfare to those who truly need it”.
Universal free everything might sound nice, but it drains resources from everyone.
Sussan Ley is delivering first major economic speech as opposition leader
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is delivering her first major economic speech in Melbourne after signalling the Coalition plans to ramp up means-testing for welfare payments.
Read more from our preview here and follow along:
News Corp to run Jewish Council ads calling for sanctions on Israel
Daisy Dumas
News Corp says it is inaccurate to say a pro-Palestinian advertisement was pulled from its newspapers and has agreed to publish a progressive Jewish group’s call for sanctions on Israel.
The Jewish Council of Australia claimed on Tuesday evening its ads in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun had been pulled at the 11th hour after being legally approved and paid for.
The quarter-page ads feature the photos of hundreds of Australian Jews to mark the start of a national campaign and a petition calling for sanctions on the Israeli government, a two-way arms embargo and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Australia in response to the atrocities committed in Gaza.
A News Corp spokesperson said it was inaccurate to say the ads had been pulled and that the delay was due to “normal internal processes”.
The JCA said it was told on Wednesday morning an amended version of the ad could run on Thursday with the inclusion of the word “advertisement” in the image.
Sarah Schwartz, the executive officer of the JCA, said:
Our ad really disrupts the message that all Jews support Israel and the message frequently put forward in News Corp newspapers that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic.
We have to keep persevering to have our voices heard in spaces where they otherwise wouldn’t be heard. We can’t give up on News Corp’s readership – this is a human issue.
Andrew Messenger
First 2032 Olympics contractor picked, but no location or timeline
Queensland’s deputy premier has announced the first successful contractor for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics – but there’s not yet a location or timeline for the project.
Jarrod Bleijie announced that international engineering consultancy firm Arup had won the bid to become principal contractor for the Victoria Park precinct master plan on Wednesday – planning how people get to and from venues, a process that will take about 12 months, he said. But despite announcing in July that geotechnical work on the project was already under way, he admitted it hadn’t yet begun.
“There is so much work that’s been happening, and you’ll physically see people digging holes here within a matter of weeks, I suspect,” Bleijie said.
He said the state government’s timeline for the stadium is “to have it done before 2032; we’re working backwards. That’s the timeline.”
I know Queenslanders are now excited about the prospect of this, and Queenslanders are not getting hung up on the detail in terms of, can it be done in time? It can be done in time, it has to be done in time, and it will be done in time, and this is part of the process of making sure it can be done in time.
Asked if the government would press ahead if the response during its consultation process was that the local community didn’t want a stadium, Bleijie said “yes”.
Petra Stock
‘Spring is record season for electricity’: Victoria sets record low 24 hours for brown coal
Wild winds in Victoria have helped deliver the state its lowest 24-hour period of brown coal generation on record.
Dylan McConnell, an energy systems expert at the University of New South Wales, said from about 5am Sunday to 5am Monday, renewable energy met about 77% of the state’s electricity demand.
At the time, some coal units were offline at Loy Yang B and Yallourn, demand was mild and there was more than enough wind to fill the gap.
“Spring is record season for electricity,” McConnell said. It’s the season when lower demand – after heating demand in winter, before air conditioning in summer – combines with generation from new solar and wind capacity that has come online during the year as the power grid transitions to renewable energy.
He said:
One the one level, we expect these records to be broken and there will be a lot of them broken in the next couple of weeks.
But on another level, they are important markers of the transition. It’s a signpost of progress that should be celebrated.
Clean Energy Council reports show the share of renewable energy in Victoria has grown from about 10% in 2014 to 40% last year.
Chalmers says John Lyons ‘just doing his job’ after Trump rebukes reporter
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, speaking at a refinery in Brisbane, was also asked about the clash between ABC reporter John Lyons and the US president, Donald Trump.
When it comes to the ABC – I respect the ABC and I respect its independence and that extends to not second-guessing the questions asked legitimately by journalists at press conferences.
Journalists have a job to do and as far as I can tell, that journalist was just doing his job in Washington, DC. I don’t second-guess the decisions taken – the questions asked by journalists whether it is in DC or elsewhere. I respect the independence of the ABC.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, have been speaking at a refinery in Brisbane about the previously announced $1.1bn cleaner fuels fund.
Chalmers said low-carbon fuels represented a “very big” economic opportunity for Ausralia that would maximise the benefits of the shift to net zero.
From the farm to the refinery, primary production to processing, this will create more jobs and more opportunities for more Australians right around the country.
We know that cleaner and cheaper energy is one of the most important ways we can build a stronger economy and lift living standards into the future … this is also all about making sure that we maximise the benefits of the net zero transformation in our economy.
Bowen said he wanted to see the refinery the ministers were speaking from – and other refineries across the country including in the Victorian city of Geelong – continue to operate for decades more:
We want to see more Australian jobs across the country taking great Australian products like canola, tallow, and other agricultural products and waste products and turning it into cleaner fuels …
Things like aviation and shipping and [to] some degree heavy transport are hard to decarbonise. A big part of the answer is lower-carbon fuels. Cleaner fuels. And as … every worker here knows that places like this are very important but will need to change. Consumers, investors, everyone is demanding lower-carbon fuels.
SBS resists calls to join EU boycott of Eurovision 2026 if Israel allowed to compete
SBS has indicated it will not follow the lead of a growing number of European Union countries and boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest if Israel is permitted to compete.
The decision on Israel’s inclusion will be made by the contest’s governing body in December, but SBS told the Guardian on Tuesday it intended to participate in the 2026 event in Vienna, regardless of December’s decision.
The deadline for broadcasters to file their applications for participation was initially to expire on Monday, followed by a 28-day grace period during which a country could subsequently withdraw its application without incurring a financial penalty.
But earlier this month the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the Eurovision song contest reference group had decided to extend the deadline to mid-December.
Read more here:
Penry Buckley
NSW government to establish ‘single front door’ for development applications
The NSW government will introduce legislation to parliament today which it says will deliver more homes through an overhaul of the state’s planning system.
The Minns government’s planning system reforms bill will establish a new development coordination authority, which will act as a “single front door” for development applications and planning proposals on behalf of all state government agencies.
The government says the changes will see fewer development applications going through regional planning panels and environment agencies. It will also reform the existing environmental planning act, under which every decision about development is currently determined, to include housing delivery in its objects.
Under the changes, councils will be given 10 days to approve small variations on a development application, or have it deemed approved. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the change will remove councils’ ability to “sit on a development application forever”:
What this will mean is that councils will have to make an active decision to put resources into blocking complying developments. Our suspicion is they won’t. That’ll free up more time for them to look at strategic plans, how they want to make amenable, good communities.
The reforms follow the government’s establishment of the transport-oriented development zones, and low and mid-rise housing reforms, and of the housing delivery authority (HDA), which fast-tracks state significant developments by removing councils’ powers to block development. The changes will also see the HDA permanently enshrined in legislation.
Pet owners can now book their cats and (small) dogs on some Virgin Australia flights
Pet owners are now able to book flights for their dogs and cats on some Virgin Australia routes, with the airline set to become the first in the country to allow pets in the main cabin.
The new policy will start as a trial on flights between Melbourne and the Gold Coast (cats won’t be allowed on this route at first) and Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast, with the first planes taking off from 16 October. Tickets for small dogs and cats (they’re the only pets allowed at the moment) will be available for $149 an animal, per flight.
A limit of four pets in the cabin will be allowed on each eligible flight, and all animals must weigh less than 8kgs. The change does not impact service animals, and Virgin will continue to allow pets to be transported as cargo.
Dave Emerson, the chief executive officer of Virgin Australia, said:
With almost 70% of households owning a pet, we expect the service to be embraced by pet lovers all around the country. Beyond convenience for pet owners, the service is also set to boost the pet-friendly travel sector, including hotels and tourism operators.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
More on Hastie, net zero and Ley
On Tuesday, Hastie’s senior colleague Jonno Duniam warned of a “mass exodus” from the Liberal frontbench if it adopted net zero at “any cost”, raising the spectre of a net zero rebellion against Ley.
Hastie played down suggestions that a potential move to the backbench could prompt a leadership challenge, conceding the majority of colleagues didn’t share his view on net zero.
Most of my colleagues, in fact, don’t support my position so I’m in the minority here. If you pulled out a spreadsheet … you’d find that a lot of people don’t support my energy position. So I am in the minority here, and I know that.
On his relationship with Ley, Hastie said:
It’s fine. We’re doing well. It’s perfectly fine. We’re in communication. We’re not besties on the phone every day, as you’d expect. I’m not talking to all my colleagues every day. We’re all back in our electorates at the moment doing our jobs.
Hastie concedes most of his colleagues don’t support his anti-net zero stance
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie says the majority of his colleagues don’t share his strident opposition to net zero but he won’t back down even if it costs him his job.
In an interview on Sky News on Wednesday morning, Hastie also said his relationship with Sussan Ley was “perfectly fine” but admitted the pair weren’t “besties” amid ongoing speculation of a future leadership challenge.
The Western Australian MP reignited the Liberals’ climate wars – and set up a fresh test of Ley’s authority – after signalling on Monday he would quit his frontbench position if the party recommitted to net zero by 2050.
Hastie reaffirmed that position on Wednesday:
Energy policy is something I care very deeply about. It’s a hypothetical question, but fundamentally, I wouldn’t be much use to the Coalition if I’m out the front trying to sell a policy I don’t believe in.
‘Hurting Australia’: Trump threatens ABC journalist and hints at Albanese meeting – video
