Coalition plans to cut net migration to 100,000
Angus Taylor would cut net migration to 100,000 a year and shrink temporary visa numbers by about 650,000 over four years. No costings were released.
Politics
Qld lawyers warn on three-year police DV directions
A Queensland bill would let police-issued domestic violence directions run three years with no automatic court review. Legal groups want evidence first.
Queensland the lone holdout as Thriving Kids starts
Queensland is the only state yet to sign up to Thriving Kids, the $4 billion program to move young children off the NDIS, days before it starts.
Farmers warn backpacker ballot caps will hit harvest
Second-year backpacker visas will be capped at 45,000 by ballot, below the 57,000 who qualified last year. Growers say harvest starts in two weeks.
NSW passes retrospective Crown land lease powers
NSW has given its Lands Minister power to declare defective Crown land leases valid from the date the error occurred, including on land under undetermined Aboriginal land claims. Labor and the Coalition backed it.
Draft gas law keeps must-sell, defers start to 2028
Exposure draft legislation released on Thursday requires LNG exporters to actually sell gas into the domestic market, not merely offer it. The obligation starts 1 January 2028, six months later than the department published in May.
Social media feed opt-out left to ministerial rules
The government released draft digital duty of care laws on Tuesday, promising Australians over 16 a choice to switch off algorithmic feeds. The obligation does not appear in the 75-page draft. It would be made later by the Communications Minister, through one of five instrument-making powers the bill creates.
Labor seats took 73pc of $561m invite-only grants
The Centre for Public Integrity has mapped every project invited into the Albanese government's $560.9 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program and found $409.1 million, or 73.2 per cent, went to notionally Labor-held seats. Forty-five electorates were invited to nothing.
Albanese presses Senate to double big tech fines
Anthony Albanese wants the Senate to pass a bill this week that lifts the maximum fine for breaching the under-16 social media ban to $109.2 million and lets eSafety compel documents from platforms. The regulator's own survey found 81.5 per cent of children aged 10 to 15 still use a restricted platform.
States press Butler to drop over-65 health rebate cut
State health ministers of both parties met in Sydney to press the Commonwealth to abandon its plan to strip the higher private health insurance rebate from Australians over 65, a $3 billion saving the Senate has yet to pass.
Coalition pledges 80pc cut to tobacco excise
Angus Taylor says a Coalition government would cut excise on a 20-pack from about $30 to $6, legalise and tax vapes, and spend $260 million on enforcement and advertising.
WA pushes coal mine merger after $240m in support
The WA government wants its last two privately owned coal mines merged, four years and $240 million after the state stepped in to keep one of them running.
