Australia news live: Sarah Hanson-Young tells government to get on with real gambling reform or ‘we’ll do it in the Senate ourselves’ | Australia news

Coalition demands NDIS changes focus on fraud, corruption

Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson also called on the government to focus more on fraud and corruption issues in the NDIS, as the Coalition and Labor negotiate on changes to the disability scheme.

The government’s bill is being examined by a parliamentary committee, with a report due this coming Friday. Labor may seek to bring that bill back on for debate and vote in the second week of this coming parliamentary sitting.

Wilson accused the government of “an ongoing tolerance” to fraud in the system. NDIS minister Jenny McAllister was on News24 this morning also, and we’ll get you some of her contributions shortly.

He said:

We have people who are awarding either packages to people when they shouldn’t be used, we’re having people taking advantage of the system and we know this is being exposed.

And so as a consequence we’ve seen this massive growth continue to go on and we need to make sure that that’s the focus, not the targeting of the clients. You know, if you go out to voters in Australia, there are a lot of people who are on disability support packages who are very nervous about their future and it’s because of how this government has looked at reforms and they feel like they’re being targeted, not the fraudsters.

Wilson raises concerns about gambling ads reaching children

The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, says he’s concerned that gambling advertisers could still be able to reach children, under the government’s proposed wagering reforms.

Labor’s gambling bill has little support outside the government, with the Coalition, Greens and other cross benchers opposed. Amendments are being discussed to win support in the parliament, and while Wilson wouldn’t say which specific areas the Coalition was negotiating on, he said the bill may not go far enough to reduce harms for kids.

Speaking to News 24 this morning, Wilson said:

We’re not wowsers, we do believe in protecting children, particularly from harm,

Under the government’s proposed bill, it doesn’t limit the capacity to advertise to children and that’s something that I’m concerned about, making sure that we’ve got the measures that are consistent, appropriate, and also reflecting the changing nature of technology

Wilson noted many people are watching sport on other platforms beyond TV. The proposed gambling rules include a quirk where streaming platforms will be able to show more ads during breaks in play, if those platforms offer a “triple lock” function which includes an opt-out feature.

“What we need to make sure is that the interests are in alignment, we’re protecting children and of course we’re making sure that measures are taken so that people aren’t taken advantage of,” Wilson said.

Victoria’s new premier, Ben Carroll, says the state government will boost its funding for public schools before the November election, and opening up a pathway for a federal cash injection.

In an interview with the ABC, Carroll pledged to increase funding of the state’s public schools by 5% – fulfilling its obligations under the former Gonski plan.

Victoria’s school funding model lags behind other jurisdictions, with the state only paying 70% of the Schools Resource Standard – an estimate of a school’s funding based on student’s needs – and the federal government contributing 20%.

Under the national agreement, Carroll’s pledge means Canberra will match the funding increase to close the gap.

Carroll said he had discussed the funding increase with Anthony Albanese.

The teacher’s union has demanded the state fully fund public schools as part of its drawn-out pay dispute with the Victorian government.

ABC’s Insiders is marking its 25th birthday with a special anniversary edition this morning.

The show’s founding host, Barrie Cassidy, has returned to the couch for the first time since he retired in 2019.

Reflecting on how Australian politics has changed since the show began in 2001, Cassidy says:

You’ve had that degrading of the support for the major parties, 80% to 50% in the life of Insiders, and that’s quite extraordinary. It happened kind of like bankruptcy – slowly, and then all at once.

The all-at-once period was pretty much just in the lead-up to the last election.

(A reminder that you can hear more from Cassidy every week on the Guardian’s Back to Back Barries podcast.)

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young was also asked about her call for a moratorium on building of data centres until there are the proper laws in place to regulate their impact on the country’ energy, water use, environment and communities.

Asked about the proposal, Hanson-Young said:

I want an ironclad guarantee for the Australian people: their power bills won’t go up, their water is going to be protected, their jobs are going to be protected, and that they get some type of community benefit because without those things there is going to be no social license and it’s evaporating very quickly.

Hanson-Young says she had spoken to the communications minister, Anika Wells, about amendments to the government’s gambling reform but has not spoken directly to Anthony Albanese.

Asked if she expected to speak to the prime minister, the Greens senator said “I hope so”:

The government said they weren’t prepared to move at all, and now here they are. So, I mean … they’re playing games here.

Their own backbenchers know it’s not strong enough.

Hanson-Young said she would not vote for what was “on the table at the moment”

If you are not prepared to do what’s needed here, well, we’ll take this out of your hands and we’ll do it in the Senate ourselves.

Greens call on Albanese to put ‘cards on the table’ as gambling negotiations continue

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, has called for the Albanese government to put its “cards on the table” as part of a potential strengthening of its gambling reform.

Labor is expected to face strong opposition from gambling giants if it accedes to Coalition and Greens demands for a tough new ban on financial inducements for betting, as part of closely watched Senate deal making expected within days.

Speaking to the ABC’s Insiders, Hanson-Young said:

If the government’s now willing to move on some things … good. But the devil’s going to be in the detail. And what I say to the prime minister and to the government is, put your cards on the table.

SA premier meets Apple chief following social media ban

The premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas has visited Apple’s headquarters and met with outgoing chief executive Tim Cook in the United States.

Malinauskas posted on LinkedIn that Cook was keen to discuss the under-16s social media ban, which kicked off with South Australia’s proposal last year before the federal government adopted a national approach.

Apple has been keen to credit Australia with inspiring planned changes to parental controls on iPhones and iPads, with Cook calling the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, earlier this year when Apple announced the changes.

Documents released under freedom of information laws this week suggest the pair discussed the possibility of Albanese visiting Apple’s California headquarters on his next trip to the United States.

The documents surrounding the call between Albanese and Cook reveal an unnamed employee at Apple following up the call in late June and enquiring about “the possibility of the PM visiting Apple Park in Cupertino (California) when he visits the US for the UN General Assembly.”

Any potential visit by Albanese to Apple may come after Cook steps down as chief executive, and is replaced by John Ternus on 1 September, as the UN general assembly’s 81st session commences on 8 September.

New South Wales recorded its first cases of H5 bird flu in two local birds on Saturday, including one found near Wentworth on the Murray-Darling Basin.

Jack Gough, chief executive of the Invasive Species Council, said:

That should be ringing alarm bells for governments because it suggests it could soon be spreading among inland bird colonies ahead of spring breeding season.

Birds in the Murray-Darling basin are already in decline due to feral animals, insufficient water to critical wetlands and the loss of habitat – now they have a deadly disease to contend with.

Samples from two deceased greater crested terns in NSW – the other found near Narooma on the south coast – tested positive at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

On Saturday, a further 28 positive cases were confirmed in South Australia, bringing the state’s total to 147. An additional 13 suspected cases were also detected, including an ibis in Adelaide and a cormorant in Carpenter Rocks on the Limestone Coast.

Victoria confirmed 10 positive cases on Saturday, all from greater crested terns in south-west Victoria and Clyde in south-east Melbourne.

As of 3pm yesterday, Australia had a total of 215 H5 bird flu cases nationally.

This is Adeshola Ore here to take you through today’s news as it unfolds.

Let’s get into it.