ABC election analyst Antony Inexperienced says it is ‘time to retire’
The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Inexperienced, has simply introduced that the upcoming federal election can be his final on-air with the ABC and that it’s “time to retire”.
Talking on ABC Information Breakfast, Inexperienced mentioned this coming federal election can be his final on-camera election for the ABC.
It’s time to retire. I flip 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I received’t be presenting elections in three years’ time after I’m 68, so this will likely be my final on-camera election for the ABC.
I’ll keep on for a few years, handing over work and doing different issues, however primarily I’m deciding to retire and work much less.
Inexperienced mentioned he started with the ABC 36 years in the past as an election employee and that “it’s been a long, fun journey” since. He mentioned all through his profession he took on issues such because the election information, which he has written as handbooks since 1990 and would now give to the Nationwide Library.
There are 80 or 90 of them, a guide on each election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned pc system. Once I first began this, you needed to be within the tally room to get the numbers. It was the one approach to get information from the Electoral Fee to the ABC pc, so that you needed to be there. It’s a totally completely different world now.
Key occasions
Hastie says ADF will ‘get weaker before it gets stronger’
Persevering with from our final put up: Andrew Hastie mentioned that “the Australian people need to realise that we’re living in a new world”.
It’s a extra harmful world, and we’ve to have the ability to defend ourselves.
Requested if Australia can depend on the US and different allies to come back and rescue us if issues go mistaken, he responded:
The lesson out of Ukraine, the lesson out of October 7, is you will have to have the ability to stand by yourself two ft. You want to have the ability to make issues to maintain your self, and also you want to have the ability to take a punch as effectively and be capable to punch again. And I believe the ADF goes to get weaker earlier than it will get stronger.
Shadow defence minister says China ‘testing’ US allies as Trump ‘resets relationships in Europe’
The shadow minister for defence, Andrew Hastie, was on ABC RN earlier the place he additionally spoke concerning the Chinese language warships conducting dwell firing within the Tasman sea.
He mentioned China was “undergoing the biggest peacetime military buildup since 1945” and dealing to ship a “strong message” that it’s a “global power”.
Hastie mentioned he believes China is “testing US allies as Donald Trump resets relationships in Europe”.
And I believe it’s a message to us … I believe they’ve labored out that [Anthony Albanese is] a weak prime minister they usually’re testing him.
When Scott Morrison was PM, commerce sanctions had been imposed and a few ministers had been unable to have their calls returned from Chinese language counterparts – given this, what makes repeating this method a good suggestion? Hastie maintained there was a “weakening of our position” beneath Albanese.
He’s claimed to have fastened the connection, but we’re seeing a flotilla of three warships conduct dwell fireplace workouts off our coast. So we’ve gone from wolf warrior diplomacy to gunboat diplomacy.
However requested if he conceded that Australia is now coping with the implications of a number of the selections from a decade in the past, Hastie responded, “I’m happy to concede that.”
Lambie says Australia can be ‘absolutely stuffed’ if China was to assault
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says Australia can be “absolutely stuffed” if China was to assault, as stories emerged of Chinese language warships conducting dwell firing workouts within the Tasman Sea.
It was revealed in Senate estimates that Australian officers didn’t know concerning the drills till a Virgin industrial pilot alerted aviation authorities half an hour after that they had begun.
Talking on the At the moment Present, Lambie accused China of being “undiplomatic” by not offering discover of the drills, and mentioned this was the “usual character of China”.
That is what they try to do. That is their huge boy ways are sticking their chests out … However I’ll say this, we’re rowing about Aukus. We’re rowing about submarines which can be coming in 20 years’ time, that are an absolute waste of cash. And I don’t perceive why we don’t have missiles all up the highest and round Australia … We can not defend ourselves … I’m telling you proper now, if we had been to be attacked, we’re buggered. We’re completely stuffed.
Requested if she is definitely calling for “thousands, hundreds of kilometres” of missiles round Australia’s enormous border, Lambie mentioned “[we] need to do something”.
We’re not ready at present to guard ourselves, and we’re definitely not going to be there tomorrow.
Watt says Dutton must reply questions on shareholdings
Circling again to our earlier put up: The employment minister, Murray Watt, was additionally on Dawn and mentioned there have been “some really simple answers” for Peter Dutton to reply round his historic shareholdings, that he “still hasn’t answered.”
What number of shares did he commerce? … How a lot revenue did he make on these share trades? Most significantly, was he conscious that the federal government was about to bailout the banks when he made the share trades?
Watt rejected that this was a smear marketing campaign from the federal government and mentioned:
No, these are reliable questions asking about somebody who needs to be the prime minister of Australia.
As we talked about, a spokesperson for Dutton mentioned he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”.
ABC pays tribute to Antony Inexperienced as he pronounces upcoming election will likely be his final on-air
Persevering with from our final put up: the ABC’s director of reports, Justin Stevens, has paid tribute to Antony Inexperienced as he pronounces the upcoming election can be his final on-air with the nationwide broadcaster.
Stevens described Inexperienced as “an Australian institution and much-loved figure with the public”.
For greater than three a long time he has carried out one of many ABC’s most essential roles with precision, impartiality, dedication and unprecedented experience.
He has the ABC’s immense gratitude and respect. I’m positive our viewers joins me in thanking him and wishing him effectively as he prepares for his closing federal election broadcast.
The ABC mentioned Inexperienced would stay in a behind-the-scenes position, persevering with to work on election-related initiatives.
ABC election analyst Antony Inexperienced says it is ‘time to retire’
The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Inexperienced, has simply introduced that the upcoming federal election can be his final on-air with the ABC and that it’s “time to retire”.
Talking on ABC Information Breakfast, Inexperienced mentioned this coming federal election can be his final on-camera election for the ABC.
It’s time to retire. I flip 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I received’t be presenting elections in three years’ time after I’m 68, so this will likely be my final on-camera election for the ABC.
I’ll keep on for a few years, handing over work and doing different issues, however primarily I’m deciding to retire and work much less.
Inexperienced mentioned he started with the ABC 36 years in the past as an election employee and that “it’s been a long, fun journey” since. He mentioned all through his profession he took on issues such because the election information, which he has written as handbooks since 1990 and would now give to the Nationwide Library.
There are 80 or 90 of them, a guide on each election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned pc system. Once I first began this, you needed to be within the tally room to get the numbers. It was the one approach to get information from the Electoral Fee to the ABC pc, so that you needed to be there. It’s a totally completely different world now.
Hume defends Dutton as historic shareholdings come beneath microscope
The shadow finance minister, Jame Hume, has defended opposition chief Peter Dutton after his historic shareholdings got here beneath the microscope.
Labor has raised questions on a variety of investments within the huge banks disclosed by Dutton between October 2008 and March 2009, together with on the day earlier than a $4bn bundle to help banks in the course of the international monetary disaster was introduced by the Rudd authorities.
Talking on Dawn this morning, Hume mentioned Dutton was in opposition on the time and “of course, he wasn’t briefed”.
She described this as “a smear campaign from a desperate government that have run out of ideas and think they are going to lose the election”.
They’ve made these accusations beneath the shroud of parliamentary privilege from Senate estimates, as a result of they’ve run out of concepts. They’ve run out of excuses. They’ve run out of time.
In a press release yesterday, a spokesperson for Dutton mentioned he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”.
All updates to Dutton’s register of pursuits had been made on the acceptable time.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Howdy, and joyful Wednesday – Emily Wind right here, signing on for running a blog duties. I’ll be bringing you our rolling updates for many of at present right here on the weblog. Due to Martin Farrer for kicking issues off for us.
You may get in contact with any questions, suggestions and suggestions by e mail: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s go.
Queensland spiritual sect members to be sentenced over loss of life of Elizabeth Struhs

Andrew Messenger
Fourteen members of a Queensland spiritual sect are anticipated to be sentenced at present after being discovered responsible of the manslaughter of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs.
Elizabeth’s dad and mom, Kerrie and Jason Struhs, and brother Zachary Struhs, are among the many 14 grownup members of the Saints, a Toowoomba spiritual group which has been likened to a cult, who had been convicted of her manslaughter final month.
The group was discovered to have induced the loss of life of the kind 1 diabetic by intentionally denying her insulin for 4 days from 3 January 2022. They prayed and sang for her to be miraculously healed – and nonetheless imagine she will likely be raised from the useless. Elizabeth died of diabetic ketoacidosis by 7 January at her household residence in Rangeville, Toowoomba.
Elizabeth’s father Jason Struhs, and sect chief Brendan Stevens, had been discovered not responsible of homicide by reckless indifference, and as an alternative discovered responsible of manslaughter together with the opposite 12 sect members after a judge-only trial within the Queensland supreme court docket final yr.
Justice Martin Burns is because of start the sentencing listening to for the 14 sect members at 2.30pm Queensland time. Underneath Queensland regulation, the utmost potential sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco requested for Kerrie and Jason to be given the longest sentences of 15 years’ imprisonment, with a requirement they serve 80% behind bars. Brendan Stevens ought to serve 12 years, 80% of it behind bars, she argued. All different defendants ought to serve between seven and eight years, she mentioned, with out the identical authorized requirement.

Josh Taylor
NBN ‘advanced’ in choice course of for LEO satellite tv for pc supplier
NBN is “advanced” in its choice course of for a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite tv for pc supplier and can announce extra quickly, the corporate’s new CEO, Ellie Sweeney, has instructed Senate estimates.
The 2 present Sky Muster satellites are nearing retirement in 2032 and 2033, and clients in regional and distant elements of Australia have been flocking to LEO providers supplied by Elon Musk’s Starlink to get higher speeds than that accessible on Sky Muster. There are a reported 200,000 Australians utilizing Starlink now.
NBN is planning to exchange Sky Muster with a LEO choice, which is able to provide greater speeds.
NBN’s chief community officer, Dion Ljubanovic, mentioned, nevertheless, providers like Starlink would by no means exchange the fibre parts of the NBN community:
That upgradeability [of fibre] and the price to improve in future a long time is less expensive in comparison with, clearly, the lifecycle of worldwide satellites, and what that might seem like too. So we do see LEOs as an essential advance in low-density populated areas [but] once we take into consideration medium density and high-density areas, fiber is the selection for the long run.
Seek for lacking fisherman suspended
Police in New South Wales mentioned final evening that the seek for a person lacking from a leisure fishing vessel has been suspended.
Police had been alerted on Sunday afternoon that Paul Barning had fallen overboard throughout a fishing competitors off the coast of Port Stephens.
Crews from the NSW police marine command, PolAir, Marine Rescue NSW and Westpac rescue helicopter responded to the world, about 55km off the coast.
The seek for the 58-year-old continued throughout daylight on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday however he has not been discovered. The search was suspended at 5pm yesterday and won’t resume at present.
‘Jobs-ready’ graduates scheme is ‘self-defeating’, UA chief warns

Caitlin Cassidy
Universities are receiving virtually $1bn much less for pupil locations a yr beneath the controversial jobs-ready graduates scheme, a brand new report has discovered.
The bundle, which hiked the prices of arts levels to fund an growth of locations for “in-demand degrees”, was launched by the Coalition in 2021.
The schooling minister has deferred reforms to greater schooling to the yet-to-be-established Australian Tertiary Schooling Fee (Atec), as a consequence of function in an interim capability from July.
Addressing the Nationwide Press Membership at present, the chief govt of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, will say the scheme has price virtually $1bn yearly, the equal of 33,000 fewer locations per yr.
The report additionally warns authorities funding in analysis has by no means been decrease and most universities are in deficit, with “once reliable” worldwide pupil enrolments now trending downwards as a consequence of federal authorities reforms.
Sheehy will name jobs-ready “epically self-defeating”, urging the following federal authorities to scrap the bundle and set new funding charges which can be fairer for college students.
My query at present to the prime minister and the chief of the opposition is easy. If getting our universities match match isn’t a first-order nationwide precedence, how are we going to ship all our different nationwide priorities?
Our universities have every thing to do with constructing Australia’s future – they’re an important ingredient and ought to be handled as such.
Chalmers talks tariffs in US
Jim Chalmers was in Washington DC in a single day. The Australian treasurer was there for talks and to listen to US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent ship his first main financial coverage handle since taking workplace.
Reuters stories that within the wide-ranging speech at an funding convention hosted by the Australian embassy in Washington, Bessent mentioned his aim was “to re-privatise the economy”.
Bessent mentioned Donald Trump’s deliberate tariffs had been a device to appropriate and handle inner imbalances in different economies and deter extra manufacturing and provide from different nations, equivalent to China.
In deciding on reciprocal tariff charges, Trump’s administration, together with the Treasury, will study a variety of things, together with different nations’ tariff charges, non-tariff limitations and foreign money practices, Bessent mentioned.
Requested about how Australia, which has a US free-trade settlement, was doing on this regard, Bessent mentioned, “So far, so good, but I’m not [US official trade agency] USTR.”
He mentioned he mentioned Australia’s request to be exempted from Trump’s restored 25% international metal and aluminium tariffs throughout a gathering with Chalmers. He added nevertheless that that was a matter for the commerce division and USTR to resolve.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our dwell information weblog. I’m Martin Farrer with a number of the prime in a single day tales earlier than Emily Wind takes you thru the day.
The boss of Inventive Australia has conceded at a late-night Senate estimates listening to that the Australian Pavilion at subsequent yr’s Venice Biennale could stay empty following its choice to rescind the contracts of the artist and curator it selected to signify the nation. However Adrian Collette and the chair Robert Morgan instructed to Senate estimates final evening they’d not resign over the fiasco. Extra developing.
The chief govt of Universities Australia will warn in an handle to the Nationwide Press Membership at present that Labor’s ‘“jobs-ready” graduate scheme is self-defeating on an epic scale. Luke Sheehy says the scheme has cost almost $1bn annually, the equivalent of 33,000 fewer places per year, and will use his speech to urge Labor to scrap the program introduced by the Coalition in 2021. More details coming up.
Fourteen members of “the Saints” religious group will be sentenced today over the manslaughter of eight-year-old diabetic, Elizabeth Struhs. She died after the cult members, including her two parents and brother, withheld her insulin treatment. More coming up.
And the treasurer was in Washington DC overnight, arguing for an exemption to the US’s broad new tariffs on metal and aluminium. Did he succeed? We’ll quickly discover out.