Australia news live: Crisafulli says protesters at Brisbane Olympic site moved on for their own safety as bulldozers roll in

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Victorians can access 20% off car rego and half-price public transport from today

Victoria has rolled out two cost of living measures amid the ongoing fuel crisis: 20% off car registration and half-price fares on public transport until the end of the year.

The half-price fares come on the back of free public transport across the state over the past two months, which has ended today. But the discount will apply from today until the end of December.

Under the discount, a full daily fare will cost $5.70 to travel anywhere across the state, down from $11.40.

To get 20% off your rego via a rebate, Victorians will need to have paid their registration between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 for a light vehicle for personal use. You can get the rebate for up to two vehicles in your name, and get it in full regardless of if you paid your rego in full or in instalments.

You have two months to apply, until 31 July. Applications open today.

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Updated at 20.41 EDT

Krishani Dhanji

Students would save $3bn over a decade if Labor changed Hecs indexation date

University graduates would save more than $3bn over a decade if the government changed the date of indexation on Hecs debts, dubbed a “broken system” in its current form by independent MP Monique Ryan.

About 3 million students and graduates will see their Hecs debts increase by a combined $1bn on Monday, when they are indexed by 2.8%.

Hecs debts do not accrue interest but increase yearly based on the rate of inflation or the wage price index, to maintain the “real value” of the money owed.

Students make compulsory payments towards their Hecs, which are collected and held by the tax office, but that money is not deducted from the debt until the person has filed their tax return.

That is done after the debt indexes.

Costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office, seen by Guardian Australia, show if the government changed the indexation date from 1 June to 1 November, after compulsory payments have been paid down, it would cost the budget’s underlying cash balance $1.2bn in forgone revenue over four years.

Read more here:

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Thousands of older Australians still waiting for care

More than 100,000 people are still on wait lists for in-home aged care despite wait times falling, AAP reports.

The latest quarterly data for the first three months of 2026 showed wait times go down by two weeks for high priority cases, from between 1.5 and 2.5 months to between one and two months.

Medium-priority cases have fallen from between eight and nine months to between six and seven months, while standard priority cases are down from between 10 and 11 months to between seven and eight months.

The figures also revealed 364,723 people now have access to support at home places, up almost 18,000 people on the previous quarter. But despite the increase in places, 100,191 people are still on a waitlist for approval.

The health minister, Mark Butler, conceded it was a difficult task to reduce the waitlist as the population ages. He told ABC Radio this morning:

double quotation markThere’s also an historic increase in demand as a particular generation comes into the aged care system, so satisfying all of that demand is going to be a very difficult job for government.

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Updated at 20.30 EDT

Andrew Messenger

Concept design for Brisbane Olympics stadium only 10% finished

Just 10% of the concept design for the Brisbane Olympics stadium is finished, as early works start today.

The Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (Giica) head, Simon Crooks, was asked about timelines at a press conference held to mark the area being handed over to the agency today. Sports luminaries and the premier held a groundbreaking ceremony this morning.

“We’re at 10% concept design,” Crooks told media.

double quotation markI won’t be in a situation where I’d be comfortable letting design drawings go to construction right through this year. There’s a long way to go. It’s $3.8bn of drawing.

Giica’s 100-day review recommended plans for the stadium be approved by the third quarter of 2026. But Crooks said they were still on schedule.

double quotation markI’m comfortable with it … pretty well everything we’ve done the last nine months, we’ve hit (timelines). We said we’d engage the main contractor by the end of the year, and we’re on program for that.

Crooks said the organisation was working to have the stadium finished a year before the 2032 games, but wouldn’t estimate when construction would start, because planning was still in its early contractor involvement stage.

The premier, David Crisafulli, said the job could be done on time. “It’s a race against time but I have every faith that we can get it done,” he said.

double quotation markThis can be our moment to shine, it can be the moment where the world looks at us and says there is the state with a bright future ahead of it.

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Updated at 19.56 EDT

Luca Ittimani

Capital city home prices fall as experts predict Australia’s property slump could last a year

Home prices in Australia’s capital cities have begun to fall, with experts predicting the decline could last at least a year and wipe as much as 10% from values.

The median capital city home price fell in May, the first decline since January 2025, as high interest rates and inflation stretched buyer budgets, Cotality reported on Monday. Auction success hit a new low for the year.

Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra median house prices ended May lower than they were at the end of 2025. Even homes at the cheaper end in those cities fell in value, losing the momentum maintained at the start of 2026.

Read more here:

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Crisafulli says protesters at Brisbane Olympic site moved on for their own safety

Andrew Messenger

Queensland premier David Crisafulli says protesters and an Aboriginal tent embassy had to be moved out of Brisbane’s Victoria Park this morning for safety reasons.

The Goori Camp embassy was issued a policy direction at 1am on Monday on behalf of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority.

It came after a series of arrests of protesters on Friday and a major rally against the project on Sunday.

Asked if they had been treated with respect, Crisafulli said

“Everyone’s got a right to protest but from midnight this becomes a construction zone,” he said.

double quotation markI think most people would acknowledge that the place to do that wouldn’t be in the middle of a construction site.

Crisafulli said the “vast majority of Queenslanders” want the state government to get on with building the stadium, and said the federal government had endorsed the plan.

The construction of the Olympic stadium and aquatic centre is in the heart of Brisbane in a park that traditional owners say is a First Nations sacred site.

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Updated at 20.15 EDT

Abbott unbothered by One Nation poll showing but says Coalition ‘obviously’ in competition

Tony Abbott, the new party president of the Liberals, said he wouldn’t get “too excited” by the poll showing One Nation’s surging support. But he told RN this morning he believes the country is in trouble and the Liberal/National Coalition is best positioned to lead the nation.

Abbott spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:

double quotation markOur economy is stagnant, our society is fragmenting, our security is imperiled, and yes, we don’t believe in ourselves nearly enough. I think the current government is making all of this worse. And it’s really important that we get a better government as soon as possible. …

Obviously, we are in a degree of competition with other parties and voices on the centre-right. But in the end, our opponent, our enemy, if you like, is a really bad Labor government, a really bad Green-left-Labor government. Which in its budget, [has led an] assault on aspiration and wealth creation.

Abbott went on to say it would take “hard work” to appeal to Australians, saying the Coalition was still “by far the most credible” alternative to the current government:

double quotation markThe point I make is: if you normally vote Liberal, if you’re interested in public life, if you think our country is in trouble, please don’t complain on the sidelines. Join the party and make a difference.

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Updated at 19.07 EDT

Andrew Messenger

Press conference gathers to break ground on controversial Olympic stadium

A team of sports figures is gathered for a press conference to break ground on the controversial Olympics in Victoria Park, Brisbane.

Security is high, with the park fenced off and Queensland police patrolling the area and access to the press conference tightly controlled.

There were five arrests on Friday as a protest camp was cleared to make way for the stadium. Hundreds of protesters gathered to criticise the project yesterday.

The state says it intends to start early works on the project today.

Scores of sports figures, including Lions CEO Sam Graham and Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson, and junior players from West’s Juniors AFL club are gathered to mark the milestone.

There are 28 shovels marked “I helped build Brisbane stadium” set aside.

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Barnaby Joyce says One Nation would get rid of ‘most of’ Labor’s budget

Barnaby Joyce said politics in Australia have “changed” amid a new poll that shows One Nation surging in support.

Joyce spoke to Channel 7’s Sunrise this morning, saying the latest data that suggests Pauline Hanson’s party is the most popular in the country amounted to an “incredible honour”, but he said he wouldn’t get ahead of ourselves as that would be “hubris”.

Joyce added:

double quotation markIt’s an indicator, not a vote …

It’s not One Nation that’s changed. It’s the Australian public that’s changed and they’ve changed in waves.

It’s not an aberration. It’s real.

Speaking alongside Tanya Plibersek, Joyce said if One Nation came to power, he would get rid of the Labor government’s “climate change department” and “most of your budget”.

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Updated at 18.43 EDT

Tom McIlroy

Solomon Islands prime minister to visit Australia

The new prime minister of Solomon Islands, Matthew Wale, arrives in Canberra tonight, the start of a significant visit for Australian foreign policy.

Wale replaced former PM Jeremiah Manele who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote earlier this month. The contest was widely seen as a choice between Solomon Islands continuing close ties with China, or a rebalancing relations toward Australia and western allies.

Wale has long advocated a more cautious approach on ties with Beiking and is expected to push for a closer security relationship with Australia and the United States in office.

He will touch down in Canberra on Monday night, before high-level meetings on Tuesday and talks with prime minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

Located 1,600km north-east of Australia, Solomon Islands is considered strategically significant to Australia because of its proximity, its central location in the South Pacific, and its long history of security cooperation with Canberra.

The country also sits near major undersea cable routes that carry most of the world’s internet traffic, with the security of that digital infrastructure of key importance.

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Updated at 18.24 EDT

One dead after house fire in Melbourne

A person has died and another was seriously injured after an early morning house fire in Melbourne, Australian Associated Press reports.

Emergency services were called to Newbury Street in Werribee, in Melbourne’s south-west, after reports of a fire just after midnight.

One resident died at the scene and another was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.

Fire crews arrived at the scene within three minutes, by which time its tiled roof was fully alight, Fire Rescue Victoria said.

A 40-year-old man was treated for burns. Authorities have not yet confirmed the age of the person who died, but media reports say it may have been a young child.

The circumstances surrounding the fire are being investigated and an arson chemist will attend the scene, police said.

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Updated at 19.50 EDT

Shadow treasurer says Coalition still major player amid stagnant polling

Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, said the Coalition needed to be “better” in light of the One Nation polling, but said any notion the opposition was now a minor party was “cute”, but untrue.

Wilson told RN:

double quotation markWhat Australians are right now is despairing of the state of this government. … We need to be better and make sure that we clearly communicate to the Australian community what we’re going to do. But I’m absolutely convinced that, not just we will be here in the next parliament, but we will go on to win. …

I think there’s a chunk of voters who are just going into the orange paddock of despair because there’s a lot of noise and attention there, but we need to actually make it clear where we want to take the country.

Wilson said the Coalition still needed to ensure that “we’ve got ways to connect with people where they are, and particularly to speak to key constituencies”.

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Health minister says don’t read ‘too much’ into polls showing surging One Nation

Mark Butler, the federal health minister, said he wouldn’t “read too much into the numbers” showing surging support for One Nation, noting the country is two years out from the next election.

He spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:

double quotation markThere’ll be a million polls between now and the election day, which will determine future government.

I think we all understand that households are under enormous pressure right now. They have been for a period of time. We saw even before the war in Iran that our economy was pretty hot, building a lot of price pressures in the system, but that’s been greatly aggravated by the impact of this war in Iran. So I think you see that in the polls, you see it in private research.

People are just wanting government to deliver more relief.

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One Nation the most popular party in the country, survey suggests

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is the most popular political party in the country, a survey suggests.

AAP reports the Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll, published on Monday by the Australian Financial Review, shows support for One Nation has risen four points to 31%.

Labor’s primary vote is at 28%, down three points since the poll firm’s last survey a month ago and the government’s budget that was announced on 12 May, and the coalition dropped two points to 20%.

Support for the Greens dipped one point to 12% and backing for the “other” category of parties rose two points to 9%.

Labor leads One Nation 51% to 49% on the Redbridge poll’s two-party-preferred basis, calculated by asking respondents how they would direct their preferences.

The poll of 1005 voters was conducted between Monday and Thursday, and has a 3.4% margin of error.

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Updated at 18.37 EDT

Tom McIlroy

Aged care waiting times coming down, Labor says

Amid persistent delays and funding challenges, some aged care wait times have started coming down, according to the federal government.

The aged care minister, Sam Rae, said every person classified as urgent priority for the Support at Home program is getting funding within one month.

High-priority case wait times have dropped by a fortnight to between one and two months while medium-priority wait times have dropped from between eight and nine months to between six and seven months. Standard priority cases currently wait seven to eight months, down from 10 to 11 months in November last year.

Rae said the median wait for an assessment is consistently under one month, and the time for in-hospital assessments remains under one day.

“While we know there’s much more to do, these numbers are encouraging signs our methodical work to secure more care for more older Australians than ever is shifting the dial,” he said.

double quotation markOlder people told us they want care they can trust, close to home and at a fair price. We have listened, and Labor’s getting things moving in the right direction to ensure every older Australian can get the care they deserve, sooner.

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Updated at 17.29 EDT

Good morning

Happy Monday: Nick Visser here to take you through the news as we start off the week. Here’s what’s on deck:

One Nation is the most popular political party in the country, a new survey suggests. The poll, published Monday by the Australian Financial Review, shows support for Pauline Hanson’s party has risen four points, to 31%. Labor’s primary vote is at 28% and the Coalition sits at 20%.

Victorians are now eligible for two cost of living measures meant to help during the ongoing fuel crisis: 20% off vehicle registration and half-price public transportation until the end of the year. The state had instituted free public transport for the past two months, which ended on Sunday.

Stick with us, there’s more to come.

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