Australia news as it happened: Albanese expects US tariffs to stay; Childcare fallout continues; US Congress passes Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Thanks for your company today. Amazing to think that we started this week with the big news being the jury retiring in the mushroom murder trial:

Since then, we’ve had horrifying charges laid on a Melbourne childcare worker, huge storms in NSW, a massive hack affect Qantas, and a result in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial... but the mushroom jury continues to deliberate.

This blog will be back next week with more live coverage, but until then, have a great weekend and here’s your recap of the day’s news.

• The big beautiful bill: US President Donald Trump’s signature tax cut and big-spending policy has passed US Congress. It permanently extends most of the cuts from Trump’s first term which were due to expire this year, and also cuts $1 billion from safety-net programs and clean energy credits.
• Meanwhile, the Prime Minister outlined his economic plan at a forum in Sydney today. Key takeaways: He expects Trump’s 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian exports to the US to stay, he’s happy to see lower taxes, and he wants the private sector to replace the government as the main driver of economic growth in Australia.
• Albanese also said the renewable energy transition would help Australia boost economic growth. Coincidentally, today the Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced $432 million to allow a Hunter Valley manufacturer to transition from gas to hydrogen.
• The shockwaves from Victoria’s childcare crisis continue, with federal Education Minister Jason Clare confirming today that he and his state and territory counterparts would discuss making CCTV cameras mandatory in childcare centres.
• And an algal bloom off the coast of South Australia has grown to the size of Kangaroo Island, having already killed hundreds of sharks, penguins, fish and crustaceans.

The Australian share market has finished above 8,600 for the first time ever after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report reaffirmed the strength of the world’s largest economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index edged 7.2 points higher to close at 8,603.0 on Friday, a gain of 0.08 per cent.

The broader All Ordinaries rose 8.3 points to 8,841.9.

The gains follow another record-setting day on Wall Street, where the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit new records after the June non-farm payrolls report showed US employment rising more than expected.

Analyst Kyle Rodda said the readout had all but extinguished the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in July.

But he said stocks had still reacted positively on relief that the US economy was holding up strongly despite risks from national trade policy and tariffs.

AAP

A website containing the work history of a childcare worker charged with 70 counts of child sexual abuse is yet to be updated, Victoria Police say.

Officers say they are still working with childcare providers that Joshua Dale Brown worked at - and when he worked at them - receiving further material in the days since the story broke earlier this week.

The Milestones early learning and childcare centre in Greensborough which is linked to Joshua Dale Brown.Credit: The Age

“All of the childcare providers are cooperating fully with police on this matter. This assessment is being completed by police as a priority,” police said in a statement on Friday.

“We understand that many in the community are feeling concerned and anxious, however it is incredibly important that this information is confirmed, then thoroughly reviewed with other relevant agencies prior to any public release.”

A list on the Victorian Department of Health website shows Brown worked at 20 centres across eight years, though earlier this week this masthead revealed significant errors in the employment dates sent to families and made public.

“Once the assessment is completed, authorities will seek to inform the impacted parties directly and also update the government website,” police said.

“The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with further information should contact Crime Stoppers via the website www.crimestoppersvic.com.au on 1800 333 000.”

The horror run for Brisbane’s embattled Star Entertainment Group continues, with hundreds of its employees walking off the job during the peak of post-work Friday drinks.

United Workers Union confirmed on Friday that members employed by Star Casino would take protected industrial action for the first time, striking from 4pm until 6pm.

Star Brisbane casino workers have walked off the job on Friday and marched in protest of a pay offer.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt

The strike will involve staff from the gaming floor, Star-owned restaurants and bars, including Sky Deck, and the housekeeping team.

Star Entertainment Group was in April saved from entering administration by a $300 million rescue package from US gaming giant Bally’s Corporation.

Throughout Star’s financial woes, the Queensland government has routinely said its focus is on workers at the Brisbane casino.

With AAP

A massive, unstoppable, toxic algal bloom that has turned beaches into “marine graveyards” has prompted calls for a federal investigation.

The microalgae, karenia mikimotoi, was identified off South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula in March.

More dead marine life on the SA coast. Scientists blame climate change.Credit: Instagram

The bloom grew to an unprecedented scale, close to the size of Kangaroo Island, at more than 4400 sq km, and as deep as 25m.

It’s now breaking up and has spread into most of Gulf St Vincent, including along Adelaide’s beaches and south into the Coorong wetlands.

There have been hundreds of reports of marine deaths, ranging from sharks and penguins to popular fishing species such as flathead, squid, crabs, and rock lobsters.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the bloom was a horrific and heartbreaking “environmental catastrophe”.

“When parliament resumes in two weeks time in Canberra, I will be moving for a federal parliamentary inquiry,” she told reporters on Friday.

“We need proper investigation and proper federal support.”

SA Environment Minister Susan Close said the bloom had lasted longer than experts thought it would.

“Now that it’s here, it’s going to be hard to get rid of,” she said.

The last large event of this type of algae recorded in SA was 11 years ago.

AAP

While New South Wales is recovering from its bomb cyclone weather event and eastern Victoria was also drenched this week, it’s a different story for much of the state.

On Friday, the Victorian government announced an extra $75 million to help farmers in the southwest, who continue to experience drought conditions despite a few rain events in June.

The fresh round of support includes cash payments, as well as dedicated money for mental health service and fee and duty relief.

Victorian Farmers Federation President Brett Hosking called the money “a step in the right direction”.

Hosking said the region’s farmers were now waiting for federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to confirm that Canberra would co-fund a new water pipeline project planned for the east Grampians region.

Trust in Australia’s principal arts funding body Creative Australia has reached an all-time low in the wake of the Venice Biennale controversy, according to culture sector researcher Ben Eltham.

In February, the body axed artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its picks for the Venice Biennale, prompted by Sabsabi’s early works being raised in federal parliament.

People protest outside Creative Australia offices in February, after Sabsabi was removed as the Australian representative for 2026 Venice Biennale.Credit: Fairfax media

Creative Australia announced the pair had been reinstated on Wednesday.

The Biennale is regarded as the Olympics of the art world, with Australia winning the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024.

An independent review of the episode commissioned by Creative Australia revealed cowardice and incompetence at the agency, Eltham argued.

“The sector’s trust is at an all-time low, it’s poisoned the well,” he said. “There’s deep suspicion of Creative Australia’s integrity in the wake of this controversy.”

The review by consultants Blackhall and Pearl found Creative Australia has a “considerable task” ahead to rebuild trust with parts of the creative community and some of its own employees.

Sabsabi’s gallerist Josh Milani also agreed trust has been “greatly diminished”, but said the decision to reinstate the artistic team will allow healing to begin.

AAP

The federal government has committed $432 million to wean a NSW ammonia and explosives business off fossil fuels.

Orica, which operates an ammonia facility on Kooragang Island, north of Newcastle, will use the money to construct a 50-megawatt electrolyser. Electrolysers turn water into hydrogen, which Orica will use instead of gas to power its ammonia production process.

The hydrogen project will be built next to Orica’s Kooragang Island plant in Newcastle.

“[This] will help open Australia to exporting clean renewable hydrogen and renewable ammonia overseas, and the jobs and economic benefits that will come with it as the world looks to decarbonise,” Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in a statement on Friday.

Orica must now work with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to meet several conditions and demonstrate its ability to meet contractual milestones before it receives the funding.

Orica said the government support was “essential” to bridging the project’s “commercial gap”.

The explosives maker added that it had received strong interest from potential project partners in the past few months and would work towards a final investment decision “in due course”.

“We hope to further contribute to our domestic and international customers’ decarbonisation goals by offering low-carbon products, while supporting Orica’s next phase of decarbonisation,” Orica chief executive Sanjeev Gandhi said.

The government has previously committed $814 million to a green hydrogen project in Western Australia.

Last Sunday, plans to build a $12.5 billion CQ-H2 plant in the Queensland city of Gladstone collapsed after its lead developer, state-government owned energy company Stanwell, ended its involvement. It was one of the country’s largest and most advanced projects.

With Reuters, AAP

We’re spending more money on new clothes, shoes, cars and eating out, according to new national data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released new figures showing household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May.

New figures suggest Australians are becoming less shy about spending on non-essential items.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Robert Ewing, the bureau’s head of business statistics, said this was driven by a 1.1 per cent increase in “discretionary” – such as non-essential – purchases.

“Meanwhile, non-discretionary spending was up 0.5 per cent, rising for a fifth consecutive month,” he said.

Household spending was 4.2 per cent higher than the same time last year, while Australians were also spending less on alcohol and tobacco.

It may be the United States national holiday, but two cities in the UK are also in party-mode this weekend.

Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne’s alma mater band and widely credited as the inventors of the heavy metal genre, are playing their final show with the four original members in their hometown of Birmingham on Sunday (Australian time).

Ozzy Osbourne performs with Black Sabbath at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.Credit: Getty Images

Pretty much every heavy rock artist in history owes something about their style and success to Black Sabbath, and the list of support acts – including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and members of Aerosmith, Soundgarden and Limp Bizkit – serves as a testament to that.

Drive for two hours west of Birmingham and it’s fans of the ’90s who are gearing up for the time of their lives: the long-awaited reunion of Britpop titans Oasis kicks off with the first of two shows in Cardiff on Saturday.

Rockstar brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher are set to put more than a decade of feuding behind them in Wales this weekend.

The hype couldn’t be much bigger. Yesterday, hundreds of drones made the band’s logo above the stadium.

Noel and Liam Gallagher and their bandmates will be in Australia in October and November, with Brisbane’s Ball Park Music as their opening act.