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NT parliament to be lit in honour of fallen Victorian police officers
In the Northern Territory, Parliament House will be lit up in blue tonight and on Monday night to honour the lives of Victorian police officers Vadim De Waart and Neal Thompson who were killed in the line of duty last month in Porepunkah.
The chief minister and police minister, Lia Finocchiaro, said the Territory stood united with Victoria in grief.
The loss of Officers De Waart and Thompson is felt across the entire nation. Every day, police officers put their lives on the line to keep us safe, and their service and sacrifice must never be forgotten. On behalf of all Territorians, I extend my deepest condolences to their families and colleagues.
The speaker of the legislative assembly, Robyn Lambley, said that as a mark of respect Parliament House will be illuminated in blue on 5 and 8 September 2025.
The acting commissioner of the NT police, Matt Hollamby, attending today’s funeral service in Melbourne, said the tragedy has deeply affected policing families across Australia. Flags at police stations in Victoria will be flown at half mast.
Updated at 19.43 EDT
Former NSW police commissioner appointed to Queensland state DNA lab after body stripped of independence
Andrew Messenger
The former NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller has been appointed head of Queensland’s state DNA lab, Forensic Science Queensland.
It comes after, the state government passed laws last week to remove the body’s independence and put it under the control of attorney general Deb Frecklington, against the recommendations of a 2022 commission of inquiry.
The lab has been at the centre of repeated scandals. In 2022 it was found to have used bad science to avoid testing thousands of DNA samples, including in serious crimes like murder and rape, amid a funding shortfall. In August, a second inquiry found that it had done the same thing again.
The government also announced that American firm Bode Technology has won the contract to retest tens of thousands of samples which were mis-analysed as part of the scandal, at a cost of $50m.
“I’ll be focused on re-shaping the organisation and very much look forward to working with the expert team to deliver important scientific reforms,” Fuller said.
Updated at 19.11 EDT
Tom McIlroy
Vulnerable elderly people could be priced out of laundry and showering help under Labor’s new model for aged care, the independent watchdog has warned, two months out from a co-payment system coming into force.
The aged care inspector general, Natalie Siegel-Brown, has used a major report to warn of “genuine fears” the model asking some elderly people to pay more for non-clinical care could see some forgo services.
Read the story here:
‘Taken a dig’: Senator Nampijinpa Price slammed for migration vote claim
A Coalition senator’s claim migration policy is used to bolster votes has been widely rejected and risks fuelling harm to migrant communities for questionable political pay-off critics say.
The NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said she did not believe she had anything to apologise for after claiming the Labor government “allow those in that would support their policies”, pointing to the Indian diaspora.
The senator’s effort to bolster her argument had undermined the nation’s non-discriminatory immigration policies and risked eroding public trust, the Sikh Association of the Northern Territory’s president, Harpal Singh, told AAP.
She has taken a dig, but it has lasting impacts. She should at least apologise, people make mistakes right? But the problem is the timing.
Violent and widely condemned anti-immigration rallies around the nation have stoked debate about Australia’s immigration policy. Singh said just after those protests “saying something like this, it just alienated people from Indian ethnicity”.
The former president of the Indian Cultural Society of the Northern Territory, Bharat Desai, said the NT senator’s comments did not reflect widely held views and her thoughts were either “misdirected or she wasn’t advised properly”.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, did not support the senator’s comments.
-AAP
Updated at 18.39 EDT
Anti-immigration protesters have made some big claims about Australia’s immigration numbers and the effect that migration is having on the economy. But are they correct?
Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley goes through how wrong some of these claims about immigration are.
Factchecking protesters’ claims of ‘mass migration’ into Australia – videoShareSenior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart to be farewelled at private funeral in Melbourne
An avid traveller with the world at his feet, Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart should be plotting his next holiday adventure. Instead, policing colleagues will form a guard of honour as the 35-year-old is taken on one final journey to his resting place.
The 35-year-old Belgian native moved across the globe to join the Victorian police for what was shaping up to be a long, successful career until his life was cut short in the line of duty.
His colleague, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, was also killed, while another officer was badly injured in a violent confrontation with Dezi Freeman while they were serving him a warrant last week.
De Waart-Hottart had recently arrived in Wangaratta for what was meant to be a temporary assignment from his role in the public order response team. Described as an eternal optimist by colleagues in the force, he was fluent in four languages and proud to have purchased his first home in Melbourne in recent years.
Heartbroken loved ones, friends and colleagues will farewell him at a private funeral on Friday at the Victoria Police Academy in Melbourne’s east – the same place he started his police career just seven years ago. The Police Air Wing will perform a flyover as his colleagues line the surrounding streets and pay their respects following the service.
The policing family will again mourn a colleague when Thompson is farewelled with full honours on Monday. Both funerals are private and members of the public have been asked not to attend.
-AAP
Updated at 19.40 EDT
Kevin Rudd says the Australia and US relationship going from ‘strength to strength’
The ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd AC, has welcomed the fourth phone call between the prime minister and President Trump.
A readout of the meeting said Anthony Albanese discussed economic cooperation, trade and critical minerals, as well as the importance of shared security interests.
There was no word on when the two leaders will hold their first face-to-face meeting, which Australia has been pursuing since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Posting on X, Rudd said:
Great to have the President and the prime minister in another call this morning – their fourth since the president was elected.
Lots going on in the US-Australia relationship. And going from strength to strength.
Updated at 19.40 EDT
Coalition ‘undermining’ business certainty on renewable energy investment, Allegra Spender says
The independent member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, says the Coalition has been “undermining” business certainty on climate change for a decade.
Appearing on ABC Radio National after the shadow environment minister, she said she was a “bit disappointed” that the Coalition had not commissioned modelling as part of their review into their emissions and energy policy.
They’re saying net zero is on the table, what are the metrics they’re considering then if they’re not considering modelling on different aspects?
If you’re talking about how to make this transition as cost effective as possible it’s about giving businesses certainty and the Coalition has been undermining that for a decade.
I would really urge them to sort it out, get on board … and get behind some serious targets because businesses need the certainty to invest.
Allegra Spender in February. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 18.15 EDT
Coalition ‘working methodically through’ emissions and energy policy, shadow environment minister says
The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, has appeared on ABC Radio National this morning after new modelling commissioned by the Business Council of Australia found the Commonwealth would need up to $530bn worth of capital investment and a potential curbing of coal and gas exports to achieve a 2035 emissions target of 70% or more.
Asked why the Coalition was “dragging its feet” on their emissions and energy policy, Bell said they were “working methodically through” the process of reviewing it while continuing to “highlight the government’s failings”.
There’s lot of work in sitting weeks to look at all energy options but also the cost and I think it’s important to outline here that the Labor government are failing on all measures … We are back at the same [emissions] levels that we were at when we left government.
Asked if the Coalition would release a 2035 target, she said they would respond when Labor outlined theirs.
No modelling had been commissioned as part of the Coalition’s policy review, Bell said, but they were engaging with “various organisations when it comes to facts and figures”, particularly in the gas industry.
Queensland police seize 609 firearms in eight-month crackdown
In Queensland, police have seized 609 firearms in the state’s northern region during the first eight months of a targeted operation.
Operation Whiskey Firestorm was launched after 2024 statistics recorded more than 3,290 offences involving firearms across Queensland, including attempted murder, assault and unlawful entry.
The seizures included 108 illicit firearms and 112 firearms parts and accessories.
Townsville District detective inspector Jason Shepherd and Mount Isa District detective inspector Dave Barron said they were sending a “clear message” about the priorities when it came to firearm ownership – “safety first, secure always”.
Once a stolen firearm is in the community and in the hands of criminals, then there is real potential for it to be used to seriously harm someone or worse. Stolen firearms are often used in serious and organised crime and can cause significant harm to the community.
Updated at 17.45 EDT
PM’s phone call with Trump builds on their ‘warm relationship’, minister for employment says
The minister for employment, Amanda Rishworth, says Anthony Albanese’s phone call with President Trump has built on what was already a “warm relationship” between the pair.
Appearing on Sunrise this morning, Rishworth was asked whether tariffs were discussed on the call.
She said she wasn’t on the line, but it was the fourth conversation the PM has had with Donald Trump.
I have no doubt there were a lot of important things discussed. Of course, we have the lowest trade tariffs of any country in the world when it comes to the US, but no doubt this builds on what is already a warm relationship between the two of them.
Obviously, as the prime minister’s indicated, they will meet when it’s convenient for both parties, but look, I think, clearly, there’s a connection there with four phone calls.