Category Archives: Australian education

Governments are leaving ‘heavy lifting’ on Closing the Gap to underresourced Aboriginal groups, review finds

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‘Inaction’ from governments and ‘baked in’ racism are hampering efforts to address entrenched disadvantage, according to first independent review

Australian governments are failing to do “the heavy lifting” needed to address entrenched disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, an independent review of the national Closing the Gap strategy has found.

The review by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney is the first to independently assess the implementation of the Closing the Gap agreement since its establishment in 2008.

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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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‘Wake-up call’ for Australian universities as 70% suffer a fall in latest global ranking

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Australia still had two universities, the University of Melbourne and University of NSW, in the top 20 of the QS World University Rankings

Dozens of Australia’s top universities have dropped in a global ranking amid a “turbulent year” for higher education, as attacks from Donald Trump’s second administration exacerbated years of disruption for the embattled sector.

The University of Melbourne, Australia’s highest performer, dropped seven places to 19th in the QS World University Rankings, run by the global higher education specialist Quacquarelli Symonds, while the University of Sydney dropped from 18th in the world to 25th.

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

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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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Australian universities hesitate on antisemitism definition amid academic freedom concerns

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Peak Jewish groups accuse ANU of making campus ‘unsafe’ after board declines to adopt definition endorsed by Universities Australia

Months after the release of a new definition of antisemitism, a string of Australian universities are yet to adopt it amid concerns it may contravene academic freedom.

The academic board at the Australian National University (ANU) has declined to adopt the definition, paving the way for the university to become the first to reject the policy, while at least 11 other institutions have not yet made a decision.

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Tim Wilson backs working from home as ‘happy workers tend to be more productive’ – as it happened

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With the count in the seat of Bradfield finalised, where the difference in the result came down to 26 votes, Paterson says he can’t confirm whether the Coalition will seek to challenge the result.

I understand that the New South Wales Liberal party is reviewing our legal options, and I really hope that we can find a way to have Gisele Kapterian in the parliament, because she’s exactly the type of person to make the Liberal party better and the parliament better. She has great insights and professional experience. She’s a person that I hope to be playing a big role in the future of the party. But it is up to the New South Wales division and ultimately, if we decide to make any application in the court of disputed returns to that.

I’m not going to publicly engage on debate about internal policy about that. I have the opportunity to do so through the shadow cabinet process. But if there is a byelection, I would back Gisele because she’s an outstanding candidate and outstanding Liberal and someone who is placed to make a big contribution to the future of our country inside one of the major parties that will ultimately form government in this country.

That’s not something that an independent can do. And if the independents were relatively inconsequential in the last parliament, they’ll be even less relevant in this one.

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Instagram account dedicated to masturbation suspended after allegedly infringing University of Melbourne’s trademark

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One now-deleted post described the ‘best room to goon in on all of campus’ and received more than 12,000 likes

A social media account dedicated to “gooning” on campus has been suspended by Meta after allegedly infringing the trademark rights of the University of Melbourne (UoM).

The Instagram page, titled the “University of Melbourne Gooning Club” used the handle “unimelbgooning” and posted satirical memes related to the slang term, which colloquially refers to lengthy masturbation.

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Australia news live: McCormack says ‘never say never’ on Nationals leadership after ‘madness’ of Coalition’s brief breakup

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Nationals backbencher says we ‘weren’t told everything that went on between Sussan Ley’ and David Littleproud. Follow today’s news live

McCormack says he expects Nationals to revisit net zero position eventually

McCormack expects the Nationals to revisit net zero by 2050:

I think we need to have a very serious discussion about that. When I go to places such as Crookwell, and others, where they have got huge wind towers, they have done their heft lift as far as making sure they put these massive turbines up, the solar … that are popping up all over, taking up arable country, farmland, you know.

I think regional Australia has done its fair share and we need to revisit that, given the fact the world, indeed America and other countries and other political parties in other nations, have really revisited this net zero. I think the Nationals will do the same.

Look, you never say never. I’m not going to draw a line through my name because that would be silly, but, look, it’s up to the party room. It’s the gift of the party room. I have always accepted that.

I had the great honour of leading the party for three and a bit years and being the deputy prime minister at the same time. [A] truly great honour. One that I’ll cherish. But if it comes to pass that the party decides that I’m the one to lead them again in the future so be it.

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Australia news live: Ley to unveil shadow ministry after deal done to reunite Coalition; Labor seizes third Senate spot in Victoria

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Liberal leader begins contacting MPs to inform them of their roles in her new frontbench. Follow today’s news live

Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has insisted her party never made free votes for cabinet members a condition of returning to Coalition with the Liberals, as the two parties draw closer to a deal.

McKenzie also took a shot at Liberal MPs who were giving her and her colleagues free advice. She told Channel Seven’s Sunrise:

There are many Liberal MPs who want to give us gratuitous advice about how to run our party room. I’m happy to give them membership forms if they’d like to join it. But a coalition works best when everybody respects the independence of both parties.

That wasn’t put to the room.

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Australia news live: new analysis links NSW floods to climate change; count in Bradfield narrows teal’s lead over Liberal to a handful of votes

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BoM says heavy rainfall will extend south through NSW today with some areas set to receive up to 160mm. Follow Australia news and NSW floods live updates today.

Darren Chester says focus on Coalition split ‘frustrating’

Nationals MP Darren Chester says “there are bigger issues” than the makeup of the coalition.

It’s been frustrating to be talking about ourselves at a time when, you know, much of the mid coast, the central coast and north coast of New South Wales is facing devastating floods including loss of life. And in close to home in Victoria central and western Victoria and northern Victoria right through South Australia there’s a devastating drought.

We need to resolve our issues as quickly as we can, because there are bigger issues facing rural and regional Australians than the make-up of the coalition. We need to make sure we get back being a strong and incredible opposition as quickly as possible and I’m hoping that these negotiations can consider – can continue now in a positive and constructive way.

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Littleproud says discussions about reuniting Coalition a ‘positive move’ – as it happened

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Liberals will attend a virtual party room meeting this afternoon after Ley and Littleproud attempt to broker agreement two days after dramatic split. Follow today’s news live

Minns says community ‘no doubt bracing’ for more bad news after flooding death

The NSW premier is “bracing for more tough news” following news of a death in the state’s inundated mid-north coast.

It’s devastating for that man and his family and his friends. [It’s] a tight-knit community on the mid-north coast, and to lose anyone in these natural disasters is obviously horrifying. So I’m very sorry for that man’s passing.

We should be bracing for more tough news over the next 24 hours. We’re very grateful we got enormous amount of expertise, emergency service personnel and thousands of volunteers who are on site, but when you have major natural disasters, obviously, you get terrible news as a result, and that community no doubt will be bracing in the next 24 hours.

I’m sorry about that. That would be incredibly anxious period, waiting that period of time for a rescue.

I can assure the public that we have got a massive emergency service contingent on the Mid North Coast. There’s 2,500 emergency service workers including 2,200 SES volunteers and professionals that are on site. Over 500 vehicles and boasts, 13 helicopters, hundreds of drones, so this is a major operation.

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Australia news live: Nationals’ decision to break up Coalition not unanimous; ‘treacherous’ weather hampering chopper NSW flood rescues

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Nationals leader hints there might still be a possibility of joint tickets in 2028 if state officials from the two parties can come to agreement. Follow today’s news live

People trapped by flooding as river rise breaks record

Intense falls and major flooding have hit Australia’s most populous state as a slow-moving system dumps rain, causing a major river to rise to the highest level in almost 100 years.

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Passengers freed from stranded train – as it happened

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Liberals question role of advocacy group Advance

We have an exclusive story this morning about the bitter aftermath within the Liberal party after its election defeat with some senior Liberal sources questioning the impact of Advance Australia, the rightwing advocacy that campaigned for the party.

We are absolutely deeply and gravely concerned about the situation in Gaza. For anyone who is watching the images or reading about what is happening there, we have been calling to ensure that aid is getting through and this is something that the Australian government keeps a watching brief on.

I will leave it to the foreign minister to make any further updates, but we … certainly … are seeking support for the people of Gaza and for Israel to allow that support to be provided.

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Bradfield counting paused until Monday – as it happened

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After a marathon legal battle spanning seven years, disgraced special forces veteran Ben Roberts-Smith will learn this morning whether he has cleared his name of war crime allegations, Australian Associated Press reports.

The Victoria Cross recipient sued Nine newspapers and journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters for defamation over their reports in 2018 which claimed he had committed war crimes.

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Lidia Thorpe says she would not rejoin Greens ‘even if my daughter became leader’ – as it happened

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The Reserve Bank is watching closely as the last data domino falls before a pivotal rates meeting.

The RBA’s preferred measure of inflation – the trimmed mean – fell back into target at 2.9% in April, but tightness in the labour market remains a concern for the central bank.

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Five vice-chancellors in Victoria paid more than $1m in 2024, prompting claims of ‘largesse’

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Union says universities blaming budget deficits for job cuts while pushing executive salaries ‘into the stratosphere’

Just three of Victoria’s vice-chancellors took pay cuts last year despite growing outside pressure to address “broken” university governance and accusations of “executive largesse”.

The universities’ latest annual reports, tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, showed six of Victoria’s nine vice-chancellors increased their pay or left it unchanged last year compared with 2023.

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Australia news live: Anthony Albanese says Tanya Plibersek ‘very positive’ about new role after being shifted from environment portfolio

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Labor’s Tanya Plibersek has avoided comment about her ministerial desires or expectations, offering little other than general remarks when pressed this morning on the issue of the forthcoming cabinet announcement from Anthony Albanese.

Plibersek, who previously held the environment portfolio, told Sunrise this morning that cabinet decisions were “completely a matter for the prime minister” and that she was just “very grateful” to be on the front bench, and to have won the election, and to get to do “a good job for the government and for the people of Australia” again … and, well, you get the idea.

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Australia news live: Erin Patterson’s daughter says her mother was a ‘very good cook’; PM’s department boss quits

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Erin Patterson’s daughter’s pre-recorded video evidence is being played to the jury in Patterson’s triple murder trial. Follow today’s news live

‘I want to harness all the talent in my team’

“We do need to reflect a modern Liberal party,” Sussan Ley says. She is speaking on Sunrise before the Liberals’ party room meeting on Tuesday, when they will select a new leader:

It’s about making sure that I am listening to my colleagues and … demonstrate to them we want a strong approach that includes everyone. I want to harness all of the talent in my team, take it forward under my leadership and meet the Australian people where they are because, clearly we didn’t do that at the last election. But we do need to reflect a modern Liberal party, meeting modern Australians in every single walk of life across the country.

On the weekend, we suffered a significant election defeat and since then, I have been having many conversations with my colleagues, members of the community, with members of the party, indeed the Coalition, with everyday Australians. I have listened. We got it wrong. We need to do things differently, going forward, and we do need a fresh approach. So, on Tuesday morning when the Liberal party room meets in Canberra, I will be putting myself forward for the position of leader of the federal party.

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Australia news live: Rudd criticises Trump’s proposed ‘tax on Bluey’; Faruqi refuses to concede Bandt will lose Melbourne

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Australia’s ambassador to the US has taken aim at the proposal to put tariffs on screen productions. Follow today’s news live

Ben Raue’s predictions for Menzies, Bullwinkel and Bradfield

Analyst Ben Raue also predicted that Labor’s Gabriel Ng lead by 1,145 votes in Menzies, Victoria, will “grow slightly”.

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Australia news live: federal election 2025 results; AEC and Senate vote count continues today – latest update

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Liberal candidate says he is ‘proud’ to represent electorate after being ‘written off’ three years ago. Follow today’s live news and reaction to the 2025 Australian federal election results

Max Chandler-Mathers on housing: Labor refused to negotiate then told media the Greens were blocking their bills

Asked about criticism that the Greens slowed down progress on housing on Triple J Hack, Max Chandler-Mather said Anthony Albanese was “basically saying that, and it just wasn’t true, but then the media repeated as fact”.

It was odd for me, I have to say, because I would be sitting in a negotiating room with the prime minister or with the housing minister, and we’d be privately saying we’re willing to give up everything on our side of negotiations if you just build a bit more public housing. And then they say, ‘Nah, no way, we’re not giving you a thing’. And then they go out into the media and say, ‘The Greens are blocking housing’.

In the house, a lot of those things didn’t get across that you were hoping or that you were promising, the rent freezes, the rent caps, the negative gearing changes, the doubling of capital gains tax … That stuff didn’t get across the line, but Labor’s housing policies still did.

I’ll be honest, one of the things I’m quite happy about at the moment is I don’t have to spend more time in the House of Representatives, because, like, basically every time I stood up, I got screamed and yelled at. In terms of a workplace, it was bloody awful, and frankly, a lot of the times miserable.

The only reason I kept going back because it felt like we were one of the few voices fighting for millions of people who feel really let down by this political system …

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