As it happened: Paul Keating slams Labor over AUKUS claims; ACCC survey finds consumers losing trust in supermarkets

Good evening,

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Former prime minister Paul Keating has berated the Labor government for claiming the AUKUS alliance will follow a similar path to his defence policy from three decades ago, escalating his attacks by calling the defence pact an act of “sublimation” to America.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australia can only benefit from China’s plans to pump billions of dollars into its sagging economy, but the country’s protracted ban on importing lobster continues to undercut the Canberra-Beijing trade relationship. The treasurer has strongly hinted China’s trade restrictions on lobsters could soon be removed.
• Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the treasurer have continued to refuse to rule out making changes to negative gearing or capital gains tax before the next election.
• An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report, labelled as “disappointing” by former regulator chair Graeme Samuel, has shown customers are losing trust in supermarkets.
• In Victoria, a statue of divisive former premier Daniel Andrews is in the works one year after he resigned from the state’s top job.
• In business news, shares in beleaguered casino business Star Entertainment Group plunged more than 50 per cent to just 21¢ when it recommenced trading on Friday morning as investors revolted against the group following its failure to lodge its full-year accounts on time.
• In world news, Hurricane Helene made landfall in north-western Florida as a category 4 storm.
• Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire across the Lebanese border.
• Japan’s ruling party picked Shigeru Ishiba as its next leader, positioning an advocate of an “Asian NATO” to become prime minister in a move that risks further increasing tensions with China.
• In sport news, Melbourne turned it on for the AFL grand final parade, with footy fans welcoming a return to land-based vehicles.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Cassandra Morgan, signing off.

Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire across the Lebanese border on Friday, killing dozens.

An Israeli strike killed nine members of a family, including four children, in the Lebanese border town of Shebaa, mayor Mohammad Saab told Reuters.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 600 people in Lebanon since Monday, the Health Ministry says. The dead include at least 150 women and children.

The Israeli military said four drones crossed the border on Friday, all of which were intercepted. The Israeli military said another 10 projectiles came into Israel from Lebanon, with some intercepted and others falling into open fields.

Hezbollah claimed it had targeted the Israeli city of Tiberias with missiles.

Speaking on ABC News on Friday evening, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner insisted it was effectively evacuating parts of Lebanon.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have fled across the border from Lebanon into Syria since the beginning of the week amid intense Israeli bombardment that Israel says is targeting Hezbollah militants and weapons.

Lerner claimed the IDF was taking “extensive steps” to limit civilian casualties.

“The activity of calling people to evacuate, broadcasting it, distributing it on media and social media, is effective. We’ve seen the traffic jams coming out of southern Lebanon,” Lerner said.

“Of course, it is a huge challenge. We’re committed to limiting civilian casualties on one hand, but on the other hand, taking out where Hezbollah have positioned those capabilities.

“Don’t take it up with Israel why we are conducting the strikes against their weapons and tools of terror Hezbollah has accumulated as the most significant terrorist army in the world. Take it up with Hezbollah.

“They need to evacuate. They shouldn’t have even been in these areas in southern Lebanon.”

A 21-day hiatus could give Hezbollah the chance to regroup, Lerner said.

It was up to the government to dictate their terms for a ceasefire, and it needed to result in Israelis being able to return home along the border of Lebanon after a year, he suggested.

With Reuters, AP

Japan’s ruling party has picked Shigeru Ishiba as its next leader, positioning an advocate of an “Asian NATO” to become prime minister in a move that risks further increasing tensions with China.

Ishiba, a 67-year-old party veteran who has served in several senior roles including defence minister, beat Sanae Takaichi in a run-off for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, helped by strong support among rank-and-file members.

Shigeru Ishiba (centre) celebrates after he was elected new head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.Credit: AP

He has supported the Bank of Japan’s efforts to tighten monetary policy and emphasised greater development of regional economies to tackle the depopulation of rural areas, aided by government spending.

The yen surged after the result, strengthening to 143.34 per US dollar after having weakened through the day on expectations central bank easing advocate Takaichi might prevail.

During the campaign, Ishiba emphasised the need to increase Japan’s defence capabilities and floated the idea of creating an Asian NATO-style collective security agreement to better deter aggression from countries such as China and North Korea.

A record nine candidates contested the LDP’s election after outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last month that he would not seek a second term. Kishida’s approval ratings had sagged due to a party slush-fund scandal and sticky inflation. Ishiba is all but certain to be approved as prime minister by parliament in a vote expected on Tuesday.

Bloomberg

A police sergeant has publicly challenged Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to visit Melbourne suburbs afflicted with increasing youth crime rates, and criticised the state’s bail system amid an ongoing industrial dispute with the government.

On Friday afternoon, Acting Sergeant Cassandra O’Loughlin told Melbourne radio station 3AW she could understand why many rank-and-file police did not want to air concerns publicly.

“But I think it’s really important for us at this time – especially when we’re going through our industrial action and we have the ability to do so – to voice what has been going on behind the scenes for frontline policing,” she said.

“It is definitely out of control, and we definitely aren’t getting the support that we would like, and we’re not getting the justice for our victims that they deserve.”

The rare pointed criticism from a serving Victoria Police member in a radio interview comes as Victoria’s police union ramped up industrial action last week to demand better pay and working hours.

Yesterday, crime statistics were released for the last financial year and showed older teenagers were driving child offending rates to levels not seen since 2010.

O’Loughlin, who is stationed in Melbourne’s affluent bayside suburbs, said she found it “frustrating” to continually arrest youth offenders “that are showing little to no remorse” only for them to get bail.

Asked if she had a message for the premier, O’Loughlin said it was the same as what she told Police Minister Anthony Carbines recently: “Pay us what we’re worth.”

“I’d love to see the premier come and speak to members of our community in Bayside and Glen Eira – the ones that are getting hit hard at the moment – and actually speak to them face-to-face and see what it’s like to have your home invaded.”

The local bourse has finished slightly up to close at a fresh all-time high, boosted by strong gains from the mining sector, which enjoyed its best week in nearly nine years.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended Friday up 8.5 points, or 0.1 per cent, at an all-time closing high of 8212.2, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 14 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8476.8.

The ASX 200 finished the week up slightly higher, the month up 1.5 per cent and the September quarter up 5.7 per cent – its result since the fourth quarter of 2023.

The Australian dollar was buying 68.82 US cents, from 68.67 US cents at Thursday’s ASX close.

The mining sector rose 2.8 per cent on Friday and 9.4 per cent for the week, its best weekly performance since a 10.3 per cent gain in October 2015.

You can read our full five-minute recap of the trading day here.

Children conceived through IVF and other reproductive technologies have a significantly higher risk of serious heart abnormalities than naturally conceived children, a large international study has found.

A study of 7.7 million children in four northern European countries found babies born through assisted reproduction including IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and embryo freezing have a 36 per cent higher risk of serious heart abnormalities.

Babies born via assisted reproductive technologies are more likely to have serious heart defects, a large study has found.Credit: Istock

The study, published on Friday in the European Heart Journal, found the risk of heart defects – the most common form of birth abnormalities – was particularly associated with babies born in multiple births, a practise not encouraged in Australia. Some defects cause life-threatening complications.

However, overall the risk of such defects was still low for children born through assisted reproduction: 1.84 per cent, compared with 1.15 per cent for those conceived naturally. The risk for multiples born through IVF was higher, at 2.47 per cent, compared with 1.62 per cent for those conceived naturally.

You can read the full story here.

Homes and businesses in eastern Australia are running dangerously short of gas as supplies tighten before next winter, prompting the consumer watchdog to launch an appeal for gas exporters to consider increasing deliveries to the local market instead of customers overseas.

Despite Australia ranking as one of the world’s biggest natural gas shippers, homes and businesses in Australia’s most populous south-eastern states are heading for a gas shortage within as little as three years, warns the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Australia’s enduring reliance on gas has come into sharper focus as governments step up commitments to decarbonise.Credit: John Woudstra

Surging demand on cold winter days – when many households crank up their heaters at once – could lead to shortages hitting even sooner, the watchdog says.

The ACCC’s warnings underscore a deepening challenge for state and federal political leaders who are being forced to balance efforts to slash emissions with the need to shore up traditional energy supplies for homes and businesses that depend on them. Governments are heeding the warnings, and are increasingly promoting projects to boost supplies of the fuel.

Read the full story here.

People eligible for mpox vaccinations are being urged to get them as cases surge across Australia, swelling from a handful to hundreds in the space of a few months.

More than 600 cases have been notified to federal authorities in the current reporting quarter, as of Friday, amid an explosion in the virus worldwide.

The tally is up from only six confirmed cases in the first three months of 2024.

More than half of the 737 diagnoses throughout the year have been in NSW, while there have been another 254 cases in Victoria and dozens in Queensland.

The vast majority of cases are among men, although two women have also been diagnosed.

Vaccination is recommended for men who have sex with men, sex workers, and healthcare and laboratory staff at risk of exposure.

University of NSW Centre for Social Research in Health expert James MacGibbon said some people had reported waiting to get vaccinated until more cases emerged following the initial, 2022 outbreak.

“We’d like to see increases in vaccination that reflect the change in transmission patterns in Australia,” he said.

Some 275 mpox cases had been recorded nationwide in September as of Friday, a new monthly peak.

Most new cases have been locally acquired, rather than in people coming from overseas, and changes to how the vaccine is administered have addressed the risk of post-injection marks that appeared for some vaccinated people.

“This might have put some people off getting the vaccine because they didn’t want to be outed ... they can put that fear behind them,” MacGibbon said.

Eligible groups can be vaccinated for free with no Medicare card required.

AAP

Shares in beleaguered casino business Star Entertainment Group plunged more than 50 per cent to just 21¢ when it recommenced trading on Friday morning as investors revolted against the group following its failure to lodge its full-year accounts on time.

The Star finally unveiled its full-year loss of $1.7 billion for the 12-months to June 30 on Thursday and confirmed a $1.44 billion write-down of its assets in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The Star’s chief executive Steven McCann.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

It was expected but unwelcome news for shareholders, who have suffered through five consecutive annual losses and have watched the company’s market capitalisation fall from more than $2.7 billion in 2022 to less than $1.3 billion now.

On Friday afternoon, Star shares were trading at 25¢, a drop of 44 per cent.

The share price collapse is the result of various regulatory and financial failings since it was disgraced for extensive anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings in 2022.

New boss Steve McCann fronted investors on Thursday, after spending most of September convincing the company’s lenders to issue a new $200 million loan. Before securing the new loan, The Star had just $130 million in cash and was on the brink of a liquidity crisis. But it’s far from out of the woods.

You can read the full story here.

Qantas engineers plan to strike in Sydney, coinciding with the NSW school holidays and the lead-up to the NRL grand final, as they step up their fight for better pay.

Many workers will stay at home on Monday as their union pushes for a 15 per cent pay rise in the first year of a new enterprise agreement, followed by 5 per cent each year after that.

On Thursday, strike action by Qantas engineers in Melbourne threatened disruptions ahead of Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, but the airline said customers weren’t affected.

Qantas says it has contingencies in place for the next round of industrial action taking place at the start of school holidays and days ahead of the NRL Grand Final on Sunday, October 6.

Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Farrow said there was no “strategy” behind the timing of Monday’s strike, following four months of negotiations.

He sympathised with Qantas passengers who might face delays.

“It’s completely understandable but that’s a problem for Qantas, not a problem for our members, because our members only have a window to negotiate their wages and that’s when their agreement expires,” he said on Friday.

“Anyone that’s got any frustrations, please take it up with Qantas.”

He described the airline’s offer, of an annual three per cent pay rise, as a “slap in the face” particularly after wage freezes and redundancies during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qantas made a net profit of $1.25 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, down 28 per cent from the previous year.

About 1100 aircraft maintenance workers, which is about 45 per cent of the airline’s engineers, are covered by the agreement under negotiation.

AAP