PM deflects question about literal red carpet for Putin and says Trump ‘an advocate for peace’ in Ukraine – as it happened

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Tim Wilson sidesteps question about whether Coalition will dump support for net zero

Finally, Wilson was asked about internal pressure within the Coalition to abandon support for any policies that might help Australia achieve net zero and to address the climate crisis.

We should make sure that we have net zero outages, net zero price increases, and net zero emissions, because you need to have things in a position of balance of policy to make sure that we can grow the future of the Australian economy, because that’s also the basis of social licence to cut emissions as well. If you don’t have net zero outages and net zero price increases, public support for net zero emissions reduction is also going to fray.

I’m going to work with my colleagues to make sure we drive them forward as part of a policy package to take to the next election. I’m absolutely committed to making sure we have simplification, to make it easier to employ more Australians, and to raise standards of living, and improve the number of Australians [getting jobs] and well-paid jobs.

We’ve got big challenges coming ahead around [things] like artificial intelligence and making sure we make workplaces more productive, but also building out the capacity for small businesses to be successful as part of a dynamic economy.

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Australia news live: Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister says Sydney Harbour Bridge marchers ‘useful idiots’

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Attorney general says Australia complying with international obligations regarding defence exports to Israel

Michelle Rowland says she is confident that Australia is meeting its obligations regarding defence approvals for exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets bound for Israel.

Certainly Israel is a democracy in the region. We maintain relations, obviously at that level. But as the prime minister himself has clearly said, these were difficult conversations that he needed to have with the government of Israel. We stand by the statements that we’ve made in terms of recognition – it has long been the policy of this government to have a two-state solution.

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Commonwealth Bank urged to repay fees of 2 million low-income customers after posting record profit

Australia’s biggest bank delivers bumper payout to shareholders as CBA vows to end lending to coal companies with no net zero plans

The Commonwealth bank has posted a record cash profit, sparking renewed calls for Australia’s biggest bank to repay more than 2 million low-income customers $270m in fees – something it has refused to do.

CBA recorded $10.25bn in annual cash profits for the year to June – a 4% lift on the previous year – and gave a bumper $2.60 payout per share to shareholders.

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Australia’s borrowers may have to wait weeks for Reserve Bank’s rate cut to reduce their mortgage

NAB said it would wait 13 days to pass on the 0.25% cut to borrowers, while Westpac announced it would wait 14 days

Mortgage rates will slide after the Reserve Bank announced a third interest rate cut of the year – but borrowers with some major banks may have to wait weeks for relief.

Lenders have lined up to reduce their rates by 0.25%, with 20 banks – including each of the big four – announcing on Tuesday that they will pass on the cuts but only two of them doing so immediately.

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Arts and media groups demand Labor take a stand against ‘rampant theft’ of Australian content to train AI

Productivity Commission report raises possible exemption for ‘text and data mining’ and expanding fair dealing rules, prompting fierce pushback

Arts, creative and media groups have demanded the government rule out allowing big tech companies to take Australian content to train their artificial intelligence models, with concerns such a shift would “sell out” Australian workers and lead to “rampant theft” of intellectual property.

The Albanese government has said it has no plans to change copyright law, but any changes must consider effects on artists and news media. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has demanded that copyrighted material must not be used without compensation.

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Jeremy Rockliff says he expects crossbenchers will allow Liberals to form government – as it happened

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Controversial MP Mark Latham says he has “broken no law” as he publicly responds to a former partner’s allegations of domestic violence.

The former federal Labor leader and NSW One Nation leader has described recent reports involving former partner Nathalie Matthews as “false, reckless and irresponsible”.

I have broken no law. The police did not involve themselves in the AVO matter.

I have breached no standing orders of the Legislative Council. The NSW parliament has stringent processes about inappropriate behaviour, and in my six years there, I’ve never been notified of a complaint against me.

The Marine Rescue Batemans Bay and Bermagui crews said sea conditions were favourable last night, but it was quite dark with little assistance from the moon, and they had to navigate around numerous whales.

They are searching an area offshore from just north of Narooma to south of Bermagui under the direction of Marine Area Command and will continue to do so until otherwise instructed.

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Labor moves to bolster penalty rates and overtime pay protections for millions of workers

Legislation will prevent award wage penalty rates from being cut in exchange for higher rates of base pay if it will leave workers worse off

Workers who rely on award wages would have their rights to penalty rates and overtime pay protected under one of the first pieces of legislation to be introduced to the new federal parliament.

The changes to the Fair Work Act would effectively ensure workers paid under awards cannot have their penalty rates reduced in return for a higher rate of base pay if it leaves workers worse off.

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Social services department warned Tanya Plibersek she faces uphill battle amid ‘political polarisation’

Brief obtained under freedom of information laws shows new minister told of ‘increased risk of entrenched disadvantage’ in Australia

Tanya Plibersek has an uphill battle to justify and prioritise Australia’s multibillion-dollar social services system, her department has warned, against a backdrop of “rising geopolitical tensions and political polarisation”.

The Department of Social Services, which is responsible for a quarter of federal government spending, delivered the warning to the new social services minister about the flow-on effects of global uncertainty in a brief dated 13 May and obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws.

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Australia news live: Bob Brown takes out ad praising woman injured in pro-Palestine protest; AMA welcomes new medicinal cannabis guidelines

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The political leader of the central Tibetan administration – Tibet’s government in exile – is visiting Australia this week.

It comes as Anthony Albanese heads to China this weekend.

It is not enough to have freedom only in a few countries in this world. Freedom is necessary for every human being in this world.

When prime minister Albanese’s visiting there, I would urge him to also say that he would like to visit Tibet.

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Segal says stripping universities of funding a ‘last resort’ – as it happened

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Australia’s biggest peanut supplier set to shut down

The corporate owners of Australia’s biggest peanut processor will scale down the century-old business in the coming 18 months before shutting it down for good.

There isn’t detail, and it’s unclear whether those tariffs will ever actually be applied.

We do know that the contributions from the pharmaceutical industry in the US to that investigation has been to urge the US government to focus their levers on non-friendly countries and not apply tariffs or punitive levers to allies such as Australia.

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Australia news live: Chalmers ‘urgently seeking more detail’ after Trump flags 200% pharmaceutical tariffs; head-on collision on Sydney Harbour Bridge

Treasurer says Trump’s tariff threats on foreign pharmaceuticals and copper ‘very concerning developments’. Follow the latest news live

Chalmers says millions of people were hoping for interest rate relief yesterday

Jim Chalmers says “there were millions of people who were hoping for more rate relief yesterday and didn’t get it”.

As per letters sent to various countries yesterday, in addition to letters that will be sent today, tomorrow, and for the next short period of time, TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 - No extensions will be granted. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

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Celebrity chef Peter Russell-Clarke dies aged 89 – as it happened

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Here’s how Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel will transform the city and commuting

For nearly a decade, deep beneath Melbourne, tunnel boring machines and construction crews have been quietly reshaping the city with the creation of the Metro Tunnel.

I think every Liberal seat in the country is a marginal seat, right now. But my feelings around quotas and the talk in the media oversimplifies the issue, which is around the culture in the Liberal Party and how women are treated in the Liberal Party …

I had two attempts to take me out as a sitting member of parliament by blokes, very aggressively. So, until the culture is addressed, we could have all the quotas in the world, but it will be a revolving door of women.”

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Australia news live: man shot dead by police in siege in Victorian town; boy dies after e-bike crash in Sydney

Victoria police say they attempted to engage with armed man before ‘siege of several hours’. Follow the latest updates live

Smoke coming from Sydney tram causes to be suspended on Randwick line

Light rail services on the Randwick line have stopped due to smoke coming from the roof of a tram.

The man managed to get back into his car and drive a short distance before being overcome by his injuries.

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News live: Wong says Trump ‘keen’ for meeting with Albanese; Creative Australia apologises to Venice Biennale artists

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Power continues to be restored in NSW

About 5,800 customers remained without power at 7am Thursday, according to network operators Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy.

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Man in critical condition with lyssavirus after bat bite – as it happened

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NSW wild weather: ‘Conditions can become dangerous quickly’

Wild weather has brought down trees, damaged properties and flooded roads on the NSW coast, NSW SES says.

These incidents are a timely reminder that roads are slippery, and conditions can become dangerous quickly.

Please, never drive, walk or play in flood waters. If you do come across a flooded road, turn around and find an alternative route.

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Australia news live: some Central Coast residents told ‘evacuate now’ amid coastal erosion threat; children’s commissioner says child safety ‘not a priority in this country’

NSW braces for damaging winds and heavy rain from coastal low. Follow the latest updates live

Gas market review will ‘drive efficiencies in the system’, King says

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a review into gas market regulations will drive efficiencies into the system.

Our existing policy has made sure that that gas is available. So that’s that combination of existing policies brings in that extra 600 petajoules. So indeed, that work is already happening.

What we’re trying to do and will endeavour to do, and the industry is very supportive of, is to make that more coherent, and how we can make sure we learn from the whole system, reduce duplication in some of the regulation, some of the reporting factors, simply how we can make it work better for consumers, for industrial users, and for the Gas industry itself. And that drives efficiencies in the system, which we expect will help with pricing.

We were honest with the public from day one: the toll situation would get worse before it got better. That’s the reality of the infrastructure pipeline locked in by our predecessors.

And now, the most recent NSW Budget reflects that – with toll revenue projected to rise from $180m to $283m in the 2028–29 financial year.

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Australia news live: Minns’ team asked why premier focused on possibility of ‘terrorism’ in NSW caravan plot announcement

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The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is expected to join a meeting of her Quad counterparts in Washington DC next week.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Friday he would host foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan on 1 July, with the meeting set to discuss geopolitical issues and China’s treatment of Indo-Pacific nations.

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Greens demand Labor reveal whether Pine Gap used in Iran strikes – as it happened

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‘We’re not just a vassal state’

Hastie says he would be reluctant to commit Australian troops to any conflict with Iran that the US elects to join, but said any decision about logistical support would be “a decision for the government”.

We need greater transparency. Secretary Hegseth appeared before the arms committee this week, last week, he talked about the Indo-Pacific and named communist China as the Pacific threat – his words and he talked about the US building up its forward posture in the Indo-Pacific. He spoke specifically of Australia, Japan and the Philippines. We’re very much part of the integrated deterrence that the US is building in the region.

We need greater transparency, to talk about operationalising the alliance, building guardrails for combat operations and defining our sovereignty. This will make things clearer for us, so we can better preserve our national interests. We’re not just a vassal state, we’re an ally, partner and it’s time we had a discussion about what that looks like.

One thing is clear. If you are Iran and you survive this conflict with your regime intact and a nuclear program intact, I think you will move at best speed to build a bomb, to put yourself in the strongest position the, in time this happens.

They will use it.

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Australians can look forward to a bigger nest egg as super guarantee rises to 12%

The last in a series of increases to employers’ minimum contribution from 9% over more than a decade will come into effect on 1 July

Australian workers can look forward to a bigger nest egg, with an increase to the superannuation guarantee to add tens of thousands of dollars to the average super account.

From 1 July, employers’ minimum required contribution to employees’ superannuation accounts will rise from 11.5% to 12%.

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News live: PM secures meeting with Trump; Australian man killed in Bali

Albanese says he will meet with US president Donald Trump to discuss tariffs. Follow today’s news live

Good morning, and welcome to today’s blog. And if you were hoping to ease into it, apologies – there’s quite a bit going on.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has managed to shore up a meeting with US president Donald Trump. They’ll catch up on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday. Tariffs are top of the agenda, but the Aukus deal is now looking shaky so that will likely feature as well. Albanese said:

Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement.

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