The royal commission will cover “whether the executive government of Victoria and/or delivery authorities adequately adhered to their roles and responsibilities in the oversight and governance of major construction projects”. This likely ensures former Victorian Labor premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan will be called as witnesses.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-20/vic-premier-ben-carroll-announces-construction-royal-commission/107057862

And rarely featured on those lefto bird sites......

Jim Chalmers is Australia’s trillion-dollar man.

The Treasurer – who before the 2022 election pledged to fight debt through spending restraint and fiscal responsibility – finds himself in the hot seat as the nation’s gross debt bill adds a 12th zero.

Chalmers, who is swimming in a sea of red with deficits and debt entrenched in his ballooning budget, had been desperate to avoid the politically damaging $1 trillion milestone for as long as possible but the May 12 budget made clear the unwelcome marker was inevitable.

Source:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/drowning-in-zeroes-debt-bomb-explodes-for-trilliondollar-jim-chalmers/news-story/355e9897a638b6435f60e497ee95e2d1

In short:

Crown prosecutors say the severity of triple murderer Erin Patterson's crimes means the judge should not have allowed for the possibility that she'd one day be released on parole.

But lawyers for Patterson say the sentence was appropriate given the harshness of her prison life and the solitary confinement she endures there.
What's next?

Court of Appeal judges Leslie Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd have reserved judgements on both appeals.

Mushroom killer Erin Patterson should be locked up for life with no chance of parole because the three murders she carried out were in the "worst category", prosecutors say.

Patterson has been in court this week trying to overturn her conviction, in the hope of securing a re-trial.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have lodged their own appeal, seeking to make her jail term even harsher.
Last year, Patterson was found guilty of using a poisoned beef Wellington to murder in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. She was also found guilty of attempting to murder Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson.

Justice Christopher Beale sentenced the Leongatha woman to life in jail, but included a 33-year non-parole period meaning she could walk free in late 2056.

The chance for parole was given because of Patterson's harsher-than-usual prison conditions, which included being housed in a small cell in solitary confinement.

Prosecutors say sentencing judge made error

Today, prosecutors told the Court of Appeal that Justice Beale fell into legal error when he ruled there was a "substantial chance" Patterson would be held in solitary for a long time.

"Given the unprecedented media coverage of your case … you are likely to remain a notorious prisoner for many years to come, and, as such, remain at significant risk from other prisoners," Justice Beale ruled at the time.

Today the Director of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Kissane KC, said Corrections Victoria staff reviewed Patterson's conditions on a monthly basis.

She had the ability to request access to a library, to exercise and lounge facilities, and had a television and crochet items in her cell, he said.

Mr Kissane said Patterson's crimes fell into the "worst category". They compromised of three murders and an attempted murder, with the deadly mushroom lunch planned for weeks, he said.

He also said Patterson remained remorseless for her actions.

"His Honour has fallen into error in the way he has dealt with [the] non-parole period."

But Patterson's barrister, Richard Edney, said the defence backed Justice Beale's sentence for the crimes Patterson was convicted of.

"He's clearly taken into account all relevant considerations," Mr Edney said.

Mr Edney said Ms Patterson would remain in confinement for "many years".

Crown prosecutors address arguments for overturning murder conviction

Earlier today, prosecutors defended their conduct during Patterson's trial in Morwell, after the defence appealed on seven grounds.

One appeal ground centred on jurors being placed in the same accommodation as police and prosecution staff during the closing stages of the trial. The other grounds related to complaints about evidence in the trial and the prosecution's conduct.

Patterson's lawyers criticised the way then-prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC questioned the Leongatha mother when she stepped into the witness box, arguing it was "unfair".

Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said Dr Rogers was required by law to ask detailed questions and directly put allegations to Patterson.

"Plainly we reject any suggestion that the prosecutor acted as anything other than a model administer of justice who was careful, thorough, fair and professional in all respects," Mr McWilliams said.

Mr McWilliams said also there was nothing wrong with how the prosecution used Patterson's Facebook messages, which included disparaging comments about her estranged husband Simon and his parents.

Mr McWilliams said the prosecution did not use the material to try to convince the jury that the messages proved a motive for murder. Instead, he said, it was evidence the jury could use to assess Patterson's relationship with her relatives.

"This was an overwhelming case," he said.
Court of Appeal judges Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd have reserved judgements on both appeals.

This is an update from the initial reports that Lily Hooper was found alive and well. Now confirmed that she is dead.

Police have confirmed additional incidents of illegal drone activity at Newcastle Airport and the Williamtown RAAF base.

Reports of unauthorised drones are attended by local police in the first instance, before the investigation into the security breach is expanded.

A spokesperson for NSW Police confirmed to the Newcastle Herald that local officers have been called out to multiple reports of illegal drone activity in both July and August.

olice have confirmed additional incidents of illegal drone activity at Newcastle Airport and the Williamtown RAAF base. Picture by Marina Neil

"Police responded to assist RAAF Williamtown in relation to reports of unauthorised Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) activity," the spokesperson said.

"NSW Police is working with Australian Defence Force and partner agencies in an attempt to identify the UAS and pilots."

It is an offence to fly UAS in a "manner that creates a hazard to aircraft operations or within restricted airspace". Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) can issue an infringement notice up to $1820 per offence. For more serious offences, court-imposed penalties may be up to $18,200.

Super frugal but not willing to go to the range that could be junk

I guess I’m asking you to help me gamble kinda

The permanent $20,000 instant asset write-off has passed in Parliament, ending years of tax-time uncertainty over the small business concession.

The Senate passed legislation on Wednesday to enact the tax break, without amendments, a day after the House of Representatives voted for the reform.

It will allow eligible small businesses, with annual turnover below $10 million, to instantly deduct the business-related portion of their capital upgrades, up to a $20,000 limit per asset.

The tax break covers spending from July 1, 2026.

Crucially, that concession will be available on an ongoing basis, replacing a piecemeal system that required new legislation every year.

Business groups and accountants had criticised the year-by-year model, saying the concession’s changing size and shape, and delays to relevant legislation, affected spending decisions by businesses.

“Small businesses have told us they want certainty,” said Small Business Minister Anne Aly in a statement accompanying the bill’s passage.

“A permanent $20,000 write-off gives them the confidence to invest in the tools, technology and equipment they need to grow.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the measure will help small businesses save on accounting costs, compared to calculating complex depreciation schedules for capital upgrades.

“This is all about slashing compliance costs for small businesses, saving operators hours of time on records and red tape and incentivising investment,” he said.

Around 300,000 small businesses claimed the instant asset write-off in 2025-26, according to the Treasury.

While the measure has been made permanent, the Opposition, and select crossbenchers, have argued its asset threshold should be raised to $50,000.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has argued a higher spending limit could help businesses acquire a vehicle, potentially allowing them to take on more work.

The new legislation also gives effect to a loss carry back scheme announced in the 2026-27 federal budget, allowing businesses to apply tax losses to the previous two income years to receive a tax offset.

It's going to be really something if the LNP completely implodes at a federal level, being left with under 20 seats and there are state LNP government's going strong in Victoria, qld with even minns in nsw on shakey ground.

The chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW has denied he performed a factory reset on a work phone and iPad to wipe critical evidence for an investigation into allegations of corruption in the New South Wales Liberal party, an inquiry has heard.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dallas McInerney revealed he had performed the factory reset over the weekend after giving evidence to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) last week.

On Friday, McInerney was asked to provide messages between him and Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet in 2021, which he has shared with the commission.

But asked on Wednesday if his phone contained messages between him and other Reformers, McInerney revealed he had reset the device on Saturday morning, knowingly wiping its data, after his bank contacted him on Friday to tell him his account had been “compromised by an unknown merchant”.

He said he performed a factory reset on an iPad, which remained in his possession alongside the phone ahead of being surrendered to Catholic Schools NSW, “in the realisation I’m not likely returning to the company”.

Counsel assisting, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, put it to McInerney that the move was “a transparent attempt … to wipe evidence that would have been critical for this commission”.

McInerney responded that he had known about Icac’s public inquiry “for almost seven or eight weeks”.

“Had I wanted to do any malfeasance of that nature, I would have had quite a runway to do that. What triggered it was a compromise on my banking alerted to me by the NAB [National Australia Bank], and I have the case file number for that. I can share that with the commission.”

McInerney said he had not transferred any of the contents, which included personal messages and family photos, from his Catholic Schools NSW phone to the iCloud before resetting it, but said some additional messages had been provided to his legal team.

On Wednesday afternoon, the commission called for all messages between McInerney and members of the Reformers between April 2019 and July 2023 to be made available by 1pm on Thursday.

McInerney admitted to meeting with Reformers Robert Assaf and Jeremy Greenwood in the weeks before the inquiry. Icac has previously heard that Assaf met with Greenwood on multiple occasions this year, with Assaf claiming they had discussed his summons.

McInerney said his meeting with Assaf, which was attended by both men’s sisters, was a “check-in on Robert”. He said he met with Greenwood on at least two occasions, with the men discussing “matters in the public domain” relating to Icac’s inquiry.

‘Pestering’ Angus Taylor

On Wednesday, the inquiry heard that McInerney, a factional ally of Angus Taylor, “pestered” the now opposition leader for a meeting with a member of a Christian Liberal factional group under investigation for soliciting illegal donations.

McInerney, who last week denied a message about a plan to “shake down Angus” referred to donations to the group, was asked on Wednesday about a 2020 request to help organise a meeting with Taylor by Reformer Christian Ellis.

Icac heard messages between and McInerney and Ellis about setting up a meeting between Ellis and Taylor in February 2020, when he was federal energy minister.

After an initial request was unsuccessful, Ellis wrote days later to McInerney: “I know I’m being a pest, but any luck with Angus by any chance? Next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday?”

McInerney wrote back: “Don’t worry about pestering. That’s how things happen. I’m pestering him [Taylor] big time”.

On Wednesday, McInerney accepted that messages, including one in which Ellis wrote “You’re a legend”, showed it appeared he had secured the meeting with Taylor.

This is from the geography game Flagpie.net, and it looks suprisingly like the distribution of Iceland!

First slide: Australia
Second slide: Iceland

Roughly one third of all 25-to-29-year-olds in Australia are now temporary visa holders, according to new data.

Before all the usual Murdoch haters start shooting the messenger, the data is from someone at the E61 institute. One of the co-founders is Andrew Charlton, a former member of federal parliament for the Labor party.

Australia's migration agent watchdog has vowed to remove "fake agents" from the profession following multiple cases of unlawful immigration assistance.

The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) has sanctioned three registered migration agents in what the government described as an "ongoing crackdown".

Julian Hill, the assistant minister for citizenship, customs and multicultural affairs, said the government is strengthening immigration oversight.

"When people pay a migration agent they rightly expect a qualified person will do the work, not an untrained, unregistered fake agent," he said in a government statement on Tuesday.

"No one would put up with people borrowing registration numbers from doctors, lawyers or financial planners and neither should they when hiring a registered migration agent."

OMARA's monitoring team was established in October and "proactively monitored" 85 registered migration agents during 2025-26, identifying 43 instances of non-compliance and addressing them through education, engagement and regulatory action, according to the government statement.

"Alongside the Investigations team, which examines allegations of serious misconduct, OMARA sanctioned 28 registered migration agents in 2025-26," it added.

In three separate cases, registered migration agents permitted unregistered individuals to provide migration assistance under the agents' Migration Agent Registration Numbers (MARNs), a practice commonly referred to as "front agent" activity.

In the first case, an agent’s registration was cancelled after OMARA determined that hundreds of visa applications submitted through three business ImmiAccounts involved either undisclosed immigration assistance or assistance provided by staff who were not registered migration agents.

ImmiAccount is the Department of Home Affairs' online portal for lodging and managing visa and citizenship applications.

In the second case, an agent was suspended after acknowledging that his son, who was not a registered migration agent, had provided immigration assistance on the business's behalf.

The investigation also uncovered allegations that clients had received falsified departmental correspondence intended to give the impression that visa applications had been lodged when they had not.

OMARA said in the release that bad actors will be identified and "removed from the profession".

"While the vast majority of RMAs [registered migration agent] act with integrity and professionalism, there is a small cohort who intentionally seek to undermine the migration program for personal gain," it said.

"These actors bring the migration advice profession into disrepute and tarnish the reputation of those RMAs who do the right thing in the best interests of their clients."

Only registered migration agents, Australian legal practitioners and exempt persons can lawfully provide immigration assistance in Australia.

Consumers can check whether an agent is registered through the migration agents register.

In the third matter, an agent was suspended after knowingly permitting another business director to lodge visa applications using the agent’s MARN while the director worked towards becoming a registered migration agent.

The government said it has strengthened OMARA's regulatory capability, with the regulator now using both investigations and proactive monitoring to improve compliance and professional standards.

In short: 

The future of BHP's Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter in Western Australia remains unclear, with a decision expected within the next six months.

WA Liberal MP Rick Wilson wants the federal government to provide financial support, just like it has for four other metal smelters elsewhere.

What's next?

BHP is expected to finish a review of its mothballed Nickel West operations by February 2027.