Victorian treaty bill hailed as ‘turning point in this nation’s history’
Ngarra Murray, the co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, said the move today was historic and reflected decades of work.
Murray said:
Now we stand at the beginning of a new era, the treaty era. We are at a turning point in this nation’s history. Treaty offers us the chance to reshape the story of this country. So today is a historic day. Victoria has been on the journey to treaty for nearly a decade, but treaty is the culmination of many decades of activism and work.
Treaty recognises that Aboriginal people are the experts on our own lives and communities, cultures, and our countries and it’s an opportunity to make sure we can use our local knowledge to come up with and deliver practical solutions at a community level. This is a chance for all Victorians to acknowledge our past, heal and move forward together.
Ngarra Murray (left) and Rueben Berg of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 20.10 EDT
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NSW police investigating after brawl on Bondi Beach during Gaza protest and counterprotest
An ugly brawl between members of rival protest groups at Sydney’s Bondi Beach over Gaza is being investigated by police, AAP reports.
The clash between the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel supporters broke out on Sunday morning as hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters were gathering on the beach on Father’s Day for a paddle-out in support of the fathers of Gaza.
The event was organised by Jews against the Occupation, a Jewish-led pro-Palestine group, who called on local board riders to take part in the “peaceful event”. A counter-protest was held at the same time.
Amid concerns about community safety, local police were called in to manage the protests alongside the public order and riot squad.
As investigations continue, police have released images of three men they believe may be able to assist with their inquiries.
NSW Health warns of rise in opioid overdoses linked to drugs thought to be cocaine
NSW Health has issued a public warning to those using drugs thought to be cocaine after an increase in opioid overdoses in Sydney and parts of northern NSW.
Official say 10 people were hospitalised in August with suspected opioid overdoses after using substances they thought were cocaine, three of whom required treatment in intensive care. NSW Health said the figures were a “marked increase” on the numbers normally seen in that period, with only two of the cases believed to be linked.
In cases where blood or urine tests were taken, results showed heroin was present with the cocaine. Dr Darren Roberts, the medical director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre, said:
One of the dangers of illicit drug supply is the contents and strength of the substance you are getting is uncertain and can be inconsistent. An opioid overdose could quickly result from a single line.
Opioids such as heroin can be sold as or found in cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy). You cannot always tell the difference between these drugs by appearance.
Symptoms of opioid use include pin-point pupils, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, slowed breathing/snoring and skin turning blue/grey. The drugs can be life-threatening.
NSW Health also urged those that may be around drugs or at risk of an opioid overdose to carry Naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverse the effects of opioids. It does not require a prescription and is free via many methods.
Naloxone is a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of opioids. A nasal spray option is seen in the US. Photograph: Matt Rourke/APShare
Updated at 21.26 EDT
Patrick Commins
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund tops $250bn
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has cracked $250bn for the first time, after reporting a robust 12.1% return in the most recent financial year.
The Future Fund’s annual return was twice its target and over a decade has delivered 8% per annum, against the target of 6.9%. The Future Fund’s main fund pays for the superannuation liabilities of public servants but it also manages a number of other, smaller pots of money.
That includes the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund, which grew to $10.9bn as at mid-2025.
Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Jim Chalmers late last year changed the fund’s investment mandate to force it to “consider Australia’s national priorities”, including boosting housing supply, getting more infrastructure built and supporting the net zero transformation.
Greg Combet, the Future Fund’s chair and a former federal Labor minister appointed to the role in June 2024, in a statement highlighted how the fund had achieved stellar returns while also satisfying its new mandate.
He pointed to investments in a data centre developer and operator, and a 10% stake in electricity transmission operator Transgrid.
Chalmers said “this vindicates our investment mandate because it shows maximising returns is entirely consistent with modernising our economy for the future”.
Updated at 21.15 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Battin thanks O’Brien for serving Victoria and Liberal party
In a statement, opposition leader Brad Battin thanked O’Brien for serving Victoria and the Liberal party “with passion, wisdom, and dedication”.
Battin said:
For almost 20 years he has represented the people of Malvern. And his commitment to his local community never wavered even as he assumed greater roles and responsibilities.
Updated at 20.54 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Former Victorian opposition leader to resign from parliament at 2026 election
Former Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien has announced he will resign from parliament at the 2026 state election.
O’Brien, who has also served as treasurer in the Napthine government, was first elected in 2006. He was Liberal leader between late 2018 to mid-2021, when he was toppled by Matthew Guy before the 2022 election.
Michael O’Brien will resign from parliament at the end of this term. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP
O’Brien said in a statement:
When I gave my maiden speech back in 2006, my daughter was a toddler and my son was a baby in his mum’s arms. Today, they are university students making their way in the world. It is a measure of how much time has passed and why it is now the right time for me to pass the baton.
He said serving as the member for Malvern has been the “greatest honour of my professional life” but it was a “relentless occupation”:
While I continue to relish the challenge it provides, it is time to provide that challenge to another and for me to pursue new opportunities. It is also an opportunity for the Liberal party to renew; to choose a new candidate to represent the wonderful Malvern community and strongly advocate for Liberal values.
Updated at 20.53 EDT
Australia Post will resume postal sending to US by 25 September
Australia Post will resume postal sending to the US by Thursday 25 September after suspending some services last month amid president Donald Trump’s tariff regime that changed the customs rules for most parcels. Parcels to the US are now subject to duties equivalent to the tariffs imposed on the country they are sent from, which would be the 10% baseline tariff in Australia.
Gifts valued under US$100 are exempt from the tariffs.
Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
Australia Post said it was working with a third-party provider authorised by the US government to allow business customers a solution to “meet the new rules and allow deliveries to the US to resume”. Gary Starr, the company’s executive general manager for parcel, post and e-commerce, said:
Along with more than 190 other postal providers internationally, we’ve been caught in a fast-moving situation not of our making. The real impact has been on our customers who export their goods to the US accessing our cost-efficient postal service, so we’ve been working around the clock to find a solution.
Our priority has always been to have a solution up and running as soon as possible, while keeping our customers updated and informed.
Australia Post said it would lift the block on shipments early if able to do so.
Updated at 20.35 EDT
Lifeblood issues urgent call for 12,500 extra donors in next seven days
A perfect storm of record demand for blood over winter, coupled with cancellations, has left Australia’s stock levels critically low, AAP reports.
Red Cross Lifeblood has issued an urgent call for donors as reserves of most blood types and plasma drop to critical levels. An extra 12,500 donors are needed in the next seven days to ensure Lifeblood can continue to meet patient needs across the country.
Data show that demand for blood reached record levels in June, July and August.
That demand surge coincided with the highest appointment cancellation rates since the Covid-19 pandemic, severely impacting the supply of multiple blood types.
Demand for blood reached record levels over winter, coinciding with the highest appointment cancellation rates since the pandemic, severely impacting the blood supply. We need donors of all blood types, help us find them by sharing this post. https://t.co/kWT0eFNpSu. pic.twitter.com/akEDtoOf5X
— lifebloodau (@lifebloodau) September 8, 2025
Stephen Cornellison, the CEO of Lifeblood, said:
We’re urging anyone who is eligible and feeling healthy and well to book a donation immediately and help restore our blood stocks. Right now, we need donors of all blood types. If you’ve never donated before, now is the time to start.
Updated at 20.13 EDT
Victorian treaty bill hailed as ‘turning point in this nation’s history’
Ngarra Murray, the co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, said the move today was historic and reflected decades of work.
Murray said:
Now we stand at the beginning of a new era, the treaty era. We are at a turning point in this nation’s history. Treaty offers us the chance to reshape the story of this country. So today is a historic day. Victoria has been on the journey to treaty for nearly a decade, but treaty is the culmination of many decades of activism and work.
Treaty recognises that Aboriginal people are the experts on our own lives and communities, cultures, and our countries and it’s an opportunity to make sure we can use our local knowledge to come up with and deliver practical solutions at a community level. This is a chance for all Victorians to acknowledge our past, heal and move forward together.
Ngarra Murray (left) and Rueben Berg of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 20.10 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Allan says push for treaty won’t take anything ‘away from anyone’, but will improve the lives of Aboriginal Victorians
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said for years governments have spent “huge amounts of money” trying to improve outcomes for First Nations people but the gap hasn’t closed.
She says Aboriginal children are 20 times more likely to be placed in out of home care, preterm birthrates for Aboriginal babies are almost double those of non-Aboriginal babies, Aboriginal people are more likely to have cancer and less likely to be employed.
Allan went on:
We’re doing this because it gets better outcomes. We know we need to make change. We know the current practices and systems that have been in place for a very long time just simply aren’t working. There needs to be change and that’s what this treaty agreement and this bill will deliver.
I want to be also clear that none of these changes that are in the bill that we’re introducing to the parliament today or indeed in the treaty agreement itself, none of these changes are about taking anything away from anyone. It’s simply about improving services, improving the lives for Aboriginal Victorians.
Jacinta Allan: ‘We know we need to make change’ Photograph: James Ross/AAPShare
Updated at 20.00 EDT
Treaty bill to be introduced into Victorian parliamentBenita Kolovos
Australia’s first formal treaty with traditional owners closer to reality
Australia’s first formal treaty with traditional owners is one step closer to becoming a reality, with the Victorian government introducing a bill to parliament formalising the agreement.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the minister for treaty and First Peoples, Natalie Hutchins, are holding a press conference to announce the introduction of the Statewide Treaty Bill into Victoria’s parliament today.
The bill proposes to make the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria – the state’s democratically elected Indigenous body – permanent and expand its responsibilities to include:
Making decisions and rules about specific matters that directly impact First Peoples
Form an independent accountability mechanism as required by the National Agreement to Close the Gap
Be consulted by government departments on laws and policies affecting First Peoples
Lead ongoing truth-telling and healing across Victorian towns and regions, including capturing stories and retaining an archive of this information to support education of the broader public
Make certain statutory appointments for existing designated First Peoples’ seats such as First Peoples appointments to the Heritage Council of Victoria
Lead the Aboriginal Community Infrastructure Fund, Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll and Naidoc week
Develop a First Peoples’ Institute to enhance leadership capability across the sector
Once it passes parliament, the state’s treaty agreement will be signed by both parties.
Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly will have expanded responsibilities under the bill. Photograph: Leroy MillerShare
Updated at 20.02 EDT
Hanson-Young says SA algal bloom shows new criteria for climate disasters needed
The Greens’ environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young says the algal bloom in South Australia reflects the need for a new set of criteria for climate disasters as the Senate begins an inquiry into the toxic event.
Hanson-Young spoke to ABC News this morning:
Right where I’m standing, just 50 metres away, we have had dead dolphins washing up, dead stingrays and even penguins. It’s been absolutely distressing for the local community here and it’s obviously a devastation for the environment. This is a climate disaster and one of the things that this inquiry needs to look at is how the federal government is going to respond to these types of catastrophes into the future.
This still hasn’t been declared by the prime minister a national disaster because the government says it doesn’t fit the criteria. Well, we need a new set of criteria for climate disasters like this, because this has happened here, it’s happened in Adelaide, but it could just as well happen on Bondi Beach.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.21 EDT
Teenage girl dies after dog attack in NSW
A 17-year-old girl died in hospital yesterday after she was mauled by a dog at a home in Singleton in New South Wales last week.
The teenager was found with critical injuries to her head, neck and body on Thursday after emergency services were called to the home, police said.
She was treated at the scene, described to police as a friend’s house, and airlifted to a local hospital.
The dog, described as a large animal around 10 years old, lived at the home. Officials later destroyed the dog with the consent of its owners.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Updated at 19.09 EDT
Victoria constable charged with sexual assault and other charges after internal investigation
A senior constable from Victoria’s specialist department has been charged after an internal investigation, a statement from the force said.
The man has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, course of conduct sexual assault, sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16 and common law assault.
The force said the alleged incidents occurred between June 2023 and November 2024 while the officer was off-duty.
The 34-year-old has been charged on summons and is expected to appear before a magistrates’ court at a later date.
ShareAlbanese says Price should ‘of course’ apologise for comments on Indian migrants
Albanese added he believes senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price should apologise for her remarks last week in which she said Labor was bringing Indian migrants into Australia to boost its electoral hopes.
Price has since walked back the remarks, but not explicitly apologised. The prime minister said she should do so to rectify the “hurt that has been caused”, telling RN Breakfast:
People in the Indian community are hurting and it is important to make clear my position, which is that the Indian Australian community has made our nation stronger. They contribute to our economy, our communities. They’re a vital part of modern Australia.
And I just say to the Indian community, you’re valued, you’re welcome here, you make our country stronger by being here. And thank you for everything that you do to make Australia a better place.
The comments are not true that the senator made and of course she should apologise for the hurt that has been caused and her own colleagues are saying that, but even more importantly leaders in the community are asking for that as well.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 18.45 EDT
Albanese says issues with social cohesion causing him a ‘great deal of distress’
The prime minister spoke about his feelings after the funerals of two police officers killed in Porepunkah, Victoria, saying the incident remained extraordinarily sad for the country. Albanese said issues with social cohesion remained top of mind and said Australia needed to “cherish” what had been built in the country.
He told RN Breakfast:
Quite clearly, the social cohesion issue is something that causes me a great deal of distress. The fact that some people think that the government isn’t legitimate, the so-called sovereign citizens … and the danger which is there has also reminded us that those people who serve us in police forces around Australia take a risk every time they don that uniform to protect their local communities. …
It is a fact that we need to continue to nurture social cohesion in this country, and this isn’t the only threat. We need to cherish what we’ve built in this country overwhelmingly.
Police pay their respects during a funeral procession for detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAPShareANZ to make 3,500 employees redundant
ANZ has just announced it will make about 3,500 employees redundant over the next year.
The bank said the changes will “simplify the bank, strengthen its focus on its priorities and deliver for its customers”, adding it would also limit engagements with consultants and “other third parties”.
Nuno Matos, the CEO of ANZ, said in a statement:
We know this will be difficult news for some of our staff. While some of these changes have already commenced, we are committed to working through the impacts as quickly and safely as we can, with both care and respect for our teams affected.
The bank estimates the restructuring will cost about $560m before tax. The redundancies are set to finish by September 2026.
Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersShare
Updated at 18.27 EDT
Albanese said security and economic agreement with Vanuatu may not be signed today, but progress is being made
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he probably won’t sign a security and economic pact with Vanuatu today, but he’s travelling to the island nation in good faith and remains confident the deal will be secured soon.
Albanese told RN Breakfast Australia had a good relationship with Vanuatu’s prime minister, Jotham Napat, but said politics on the island were “complex”:
There’s still some work to do, but we’re making good progress, and I look forward to progressing that face to face, which is why I’m travelling to Vanuatu this morning.
What we’re looking for is to build on the relationship to be able to both benefit from shared prosperity.
Anthony Albanese is headed for Vanuatu today. Photograph: Dominic Giannini/AAPShare
Updated at 17.59 EDT