As it happened: Right to disconnect laws come into effect to tackle unpaid work; Airline passengers to be protected under new watchdog

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

Here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Unhappy passengers will have to wait until next year to complain about flights to the federal government’s new ombudsman.
• Far-right US commentator Candace Owens is on a collision course with Immigration Minister Tony Burke, vowing to push on with her Australian tour in defiance of calls to reject her visa application.
• Workers across Australia can refuse to monitor, read or respond to work communication outside paid hours – unless doing so is unreasonable – as the federal government’s workplace reforms come into force.
• The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s managing director has left the organisation, which also appointed former federal arts minister and Midnight oil frontman Peter Garrett to lead an independent external review into the organisation.
• As we flagged below, construction will grind to a halt around the country tomorrow when tens of thousands of angry workers walk off the job to protest against the Commonwealth’s takeover of the construction union.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is heading to Tonga for a three-day trip for the high-stakes Pacific Islands Forum, when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck.

That’s all from us this evening, we will return first thing tomorrow. This is Caroline Schelle, signing off.

Construction will grind to a halt around the country tomorrow when tens of thousands of angry workers walk off the job.

It comes as the federal government and the union movement’s peak body separately rejected “fanciful” claims of broken promises from former CFMEU state secretary John Setka.

Members of the CFMEU, Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, Electrical Trades Union and the plumbers’ union (Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union) are preparing to stop work from 10am to protest against the Commonwealth’s takeover of the construction union.

Former CFMEU boss John Setka. He quit before the Building Bad investigation was published.Credit: Chris Hopkins

It followed the Building Bad investigation by this masthead, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review, which aired allegations of corruption, coercion and bikie infiltration in the union.

Tens of thousands of workers were planning to congregate outside the Trades Hall in Carlton, on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD, from 11am.

The unprotected action is expected to stop work on some of the state government’s pipeline of infrastructure projects for the rest of the day.

One union source put the estimated number of attendants in Melbourne about 30,000. “It’ll be big,” another said.

Melbourne protesters were expected to march to the Fair Work Commission, said another union source unable to speak publicly.

More on what to expect tomorrow.

The economic gap between wealthy homeowners and younger Australians struggling to get into the housing market has deepened after the pandemic, according to the chief executive of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and it will widen until the central bank begins cutting the cash rate.

Handing down her final full-year results today, Marnie Baker said while the vast majority of customers were ahead on their repayments, she was concerned about a growing number who were feeling squeezed under the weight of high inflation and interest rates.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chief executive Marnie Baker said the economic gap has widened after the pandemic.Credit: Oscar Colman

“Coming out of COVID-19 with the stimulus, the gap widened between those who are in an OK position, people who own their homes or close to owning their home [outright] … and the younger generation in the rental market or trying to get into the housing market,” Baker said. “It’s extraordinary what has happened around rentals, if you can even get a rental.”

The regional lender said consumer confidence remained very low despite the release of the stage 3 tax cuts and the federal government’s $8 billion cost of living package in this year’s budget, and that housing affordability had deteriorated.

Those conditions weighed down Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s full-year cash profits, which slid 2 per cent to $562 million in the last financial year. It declared a full-year dividend of 63¢, up 3 per cent on last year.

Customer deposits and residential loans grew by 3 per cent to $68 billion and $60 billion respectively and customer numbers were up 9 per cent to more than 2.5 million.

More on this here.

Santos could lose control of its Bayu Undan gas project north of Darwin on Friday unless it agrees with the Timor-Leste government to give it a share of the project, according to a letter from the country’s minister of petroleum seen by this masthead.

Timor-Leste Minister Francisco da Costa Monteiro told Santos it must drop outstanding issues “not relevant to the transaction … [that] will not be entertained” in negotiations for the state oil and gas company TIMOR GAP to obtain a stake in the project, which has underpinned the nation’s revenue for 20 years.

The Bayu Undan gas fields are nearly depleted and Santos is investigating using them to store carbon dioxide from its Barossa development.

Monteiro said the production-sharing contracts, which give Santos and its partners rights to the project and expire on August 30, were at stake.

“In line with our prior position, no extension will be granted if negotiations are not satisfactorily concluded prior to such date,” he wrote.

Timor-Leste is seeking a Bayu Undan stake of more than 10 per cent for no payment, according to a person familiar with the negotiations but not authorised to talk to the media.

Continue reading this here.

Kogan.com founder and chief executive Ruslan Kogan says cost-of-living pressures haven’t stopped Australians from splashing cash on TVs to satisfy their love of watching sport.

With customers keeping a close eye on their budgets and opting to spend more time at home to save money, Kogan said the online retailer has been buoyed by higher sales for consumer staples such as TVs and appliances.

Meanwhile, luxury electronics – such as drones and DSLR cameras – that are particularly exposed to trends, had taken a back seat with consumers, Kogan added.

Ruslan Kogan, founder and CEO of Kogan.com.Credit: Louis Trerise

“People are at home watching the Olympics, they’re watching the tennis grand slams, the footy finals and so on, which means that they’re buying new TVs. They’re buying new appliances for their house to help them live their best lives,” he said.

The online retailer’s full-year results today showed a return to profitability. Kogan posted a net profit of $83,000 for the period following a loss of $25.9 million in 2023. Full-year revenue clocked 6.1 per cent lower at $459.7 million.

Here’s the latest from the firm.

In breaking international news, Italian prosecutors have begun an official investigation of the New Zealand captain of the super yacht belonging to British tech magnate Mike Lynch that sank off the coast of Sicily last week, killing its owner and six others.

James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealand national, is being investigated for manslaughter and shipwreck, Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera reported.

An Italian fire service helicopter flies over the harbour of Porticello, southern Italy.Credit: AP

Being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow.

While the yacht had been hit by a very sudden meteorological event, it was plausible that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed, the head of the public prosecutor’s office said.

Reuters

Workers will down tools in solidarity with the CFMEU as it moves to challenge external administration in the courts.

Rallies will take place in capital cities tomorrow after the union’s construction arm and all associated branches were taken over following allegations of criminal links and corruption.

Angry rank and file union members have taken to social media groups condemning the government’s action against the CFMEU.

The CFMEU flag visible from Citylink Kensington last month. Credit: Joe Armao

The Maritime Union is backing the protest, calling the administration process an “attack on trade unionists’ rights and democracy”.

The Electrical Trades Union has also called for members to support the protests.

While people have a democratic right to peaceful protest “the taking of unprotected industrial action is not lawful”, a spokesperson for the CFMEU administrator said.

“The CFMEU is no longer involved in organising any protest tomorrow,” the spokesperson said.

The union has also flagged a legal fight to the process.

“What else is new?” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on ABC Radio today when asked about a court challenge.

AAP

In Victoria, a database blunder by the police’s top-tier lawyers prevented hundreds of crucial documents from being provided to the royal commission on police informers and contributed to delays and cost blowouts in the civil case of a man suing the force over the Nicola Gobbo scandal.

The bungle by law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth included details of Gobbo’s request for part of a $100,000 reward in a murder case, a controversial plan to obtain evidence against underworld figure Mick Gatto and 30,000 potentially relevant emails.

Nicola Gobbo, pictured in an interview in 2019, was a barrister used by police to inform on her clients.Credit: ABC

The revelation is expected to fuel concerns over the government’s contentious decision to introduce legislation that would limit the state’s civil liability concerning cases arising from the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.

While the Allan government insists the new law would reduce the financial burden on taxpayers, the opposition and several lawyers involved in ongoing civil trials claim the main objective of the legislation is to avoid further scrutiny of police misconduct.

Catch up on this here.

In crime news, the man accused of going on a stabbing rampage in southern Sydney yesterday has been identified.

Police have confirmed Antony Benson, 58, is the man who allegedly slashed his partner in his car with a box cutter and attacked five others who came to the woman’s aid, including a police officer.

Government sources show he has lived in Sutherland and in the city’s west.

Several bystanders stepped in to help subdue the alleged attacker Antony Benson (left) and help the injured woman in the car.Credit: Nine News

This afternoon, police charged Benson with causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder his partner, wounding a person with the intent to resist arrest, reckless wounding, and dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He was also charged with failing to stop and render assistance after a crash causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray and hindering a police officer.

Here’s the latest on the incident.

In case you missed it, Rio Tinto and Woodside Energy have signed up to underpin the launch of a $60 million Australian research hub.

The hub will see scientists will work with big polluters on novel ways to cut down their emissions and convert their waste into lower-carbon fuels and materials.

As governments and climate-minded shareholders ratchet up pressure on major emitters to tackle global warming, the ASX-listed mining and gas giants have emerged as two key partners of the new bio-sustainability hub at the University of Queensland, the first of its kind in Australia.

Professor Esteban Marcellin, a synthetic biology expert with the University of Queensland.

The hub will focus on “synthetic biology” processes, including the use of a carbon-eating bacteria to convert energy giant Woodside’s waste carbon emissions into higher-value products, such as a feedstock for ethanol that could ultimately be used to make sustainable aviation fuel.

If successful, proponents say the technology could restrict the amount of harmful emissions released from gas-production activities, and reduce the proportion of jet fuel made using crude oil.

Learn more here.