4m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 9:04pm

‘Look across the budget’: Chalmers brushes off revenue dip

Reworking the super tax policy will leave the government with a $4.2 billion hole in the budget over the forward estimates.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has attributed a “big chunk” of the difference in revenue — from $6.2b to $2b — was due to delaying the start date until next July.

Speaking with ABC Radio National Breakfast, Chalmers said it was “not the only action we’re taking in the budget”.

“You’ve got to look right across the budget … we’ve already found $100b in savings. We’ve delivered two surpluses,” he says.

“Even in the most recent financial year, $14. 5b worth of savings, the budget is in much better nick than what we inherited because of the effort that we’ve put into it.”

16m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:52pm

Chalmers defends super backflip, insists changes are still ‘meaningful’(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Switching gears for a moment because Treasurer Jim Chalmers is answering questions about Labor’s backflip on it’s superannuation reforms.

To catch you up to speed quickly, Chalmers yesterday confirmed the government had reworked its contentious policy to double the tax on earnings on super balances above $3m.

But under changes announced yesterday a new 40 per cent rate for people with balances above $10m will also be rolled out. The thresholds will be indexed and only apply to realised capital gains.

Speaking with ABC Radio National Breakfast, Chalmers argued the policy was still significant as he bristled at suggestion the government couldn’t achieve tricky tax reform.

“This is a very significant tax reform. It’s a very meaningful change and meaningful change doesn’t come easy, as we’ve seen, not just in this area but in recent decades as well,” he said.

“So I wouldn’t accept the characterisation that this is anything other than substantial or anything other than meaningful.

“We have found another way to deliver those objectives. We have listened. We have worked through the issues over a period of time in our usual considered and methodical way.”

26m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:42pm

No specific request made for Australia to assist in Gaza

Richard Marles says it was “impossible” not to get emotional seeing the images of the Israeli hostages being returned to their loved ones after two years.

“One can only imagine the sense of loss and fear that would have accompanied having a relative, a loved one, a child, a partner, as a hostage for more than two years,” he told ABC News Breakfast. 

“It’s genuinely unimaginable what that experience would be like.”

The acting PM says he hopes the “peace holds and that all the points in President Trump’s plan be adhered to”.

“There has to be in this moment resolve to never see this again. And that can only occur if … a pathway is walked to an enduring peace and it has to involve a two state solution,” he said.

Asked what role Australia could play in that process, Marles says there has been no specific request made to Australia “right now”.

“But, you know, we want to be a constructive member of the international community in terms of how this moves forward,” he said, adding he didn’t want to speculate on it further.

40m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:28pmTrump ‘deserves an enormous amount of credit’ for peace deal: Marles(ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Richard Marles has described the peace deal between Israel and Hamas as an “incredible achievement on the part of President [Donald] Trump and his administration”.

“This really must be the moment that this region moves forward … President Trump and his administration deserve an enormous amount of credit. This will be remembered by history,” the acting PM told Seven.

It comes as Israel’s military says the bodies of four dead hostages were being handed over by Hamas and follows the return of 20 surviving hostages overnight.

About 2,000 Palestinians held by Israel have also been released.

If you’re interested in reading more the ABC has a dedicated live blog running here:

50m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:18pm

Call for further tax reform as independent backs super backflip

Independent MP Monique Ryan has backed in the government’s reworking of its proposed changes to how superannuation is taxed but hopes to see broader reforms in the future.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced the changes yesterday, bowing to pressure on two of the most controversial elements of the government’s previous proposal by indexing earnings thresholds and dumping plans to tax unrealised gains.

Ryan said the government’s change of heart was a win for women and young people in particular.

“But I think we also need to acknowledge that we do need tax reform in this country,” she told Nine.

“We need tax reform that will make housing more affordable for young people and so I’m glad that the government made this change yesterday.

“They responded to the evidence and I hope that they will continue to respond to the evidence in the tax reform that this country needs.”

54m agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:14pmAI fuelling the next wave of cyber threats

Artificial intelligence is amplifying the cyber threat landscape, enabling attackers to operate faster and at greater scale, according to Australia’s federal cyber agency.

“The prevalence of artificial intelligence almost certainly enable[s] malicious cyber actors, cybercriminals and hacktivists to execute attacks on a larger scale and at a faster rate,” the ASD’s Annual Cyber Threat Report says.

“The potential opportunities open to malicious cyber actors continue to grow in line with Australia’s increasing uptake of and reliance on internet-connected technology.”

ASD recorded more than 1,700 notifications of potential malicious cyber activity last year — an 83 per cent increase from the previous period — with critical infrastructure again a major target.

ASD director-general Abigail Bradshaw said the financial toll of cybercrime continued to climb.

“The average self-reported cost of a cybercrime showed a significant increase for medium and large business of $97,200 (up 55 per cent) and $202,700 (up 219 per cent),” she said.

The ASD warns that as organisations integrate AI systems, they must do so with security in mind.

“Businesses must ensure that in order to harness the full benefits and productivity associated with AI, a safe and secure approach is taken to the integration of AI technologies,” the report says.

1h agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 8:04pm

The race toward post-quantum cryptography

The Australian Signals Directorate says quantum computers could be able to break the encryption methods that secure passwords and anything else kept under digital lock and key within the next five years, as it calls on businesses to bolster their defences.

The agency’s annual cyber threat report warns quantum technology could arrive as soon as the 2030s, with the “years ahead [bringing] challenges for organisations in emerging technology, such as post-quantum cryptography”.

“Effective transition plans will be critical to operating in 2030 and beyond — a post-quantum computing world — and this planning must start now,” the report says.

To prepare, ASD recommends businesses focus on four “big moves”: implement best-practice logging, replace legacy IT, effectively manage third-party risk, and prepare for post-quantum cryptography.

ASD director-general Abigail Bradshaw said the rapid technological advancement and the shift in threat capability was being mirrored by a change in criminal behaviour.

“Over the last year ASD has observed networks are increasingly not being hacked, but are being breached through compromised or stolen credentials to gain unauthorised access,” she said.

“Australia is increasingly targeted by cybercriminals looking to steal credentials. Once access is gained they mimic legitimate user behaviour to steal sensitive personal or corporate information, install ransomware or malware, and take over accounts.”

The warning came as the personal details of 5 million Qantas customers was dumped on the dark web over the weekend, sparking concerns about how businesses were protecting user data.

1h agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 7:56pm

State actors and Australia’s critical infrastructure under fire

Australia’s cyber intelligence agency has warned state-sponsored cyber groups are increasingly targeting the nation’s most vital systems amid a 111 per cent spike in malicious activity on critical infrastructure over the past year.

The Australian Signals Directorate’s annual cyber threat report shows the body notified operators of critical services — things like energy, food, water, transport, communications, health and banking — of cyber interference more than 190 times over the past financial year, up from 90 the year before.

“Critical infrastructure is, and will continue to be, an attractive target for state sponsored actors, cyber criminals, and hacktivists, largely due to large sensitive data holdings and the critical services that support Australia’s economy,” the report says.

Two federal government agencies also met the threshold of being “extensively compromised” during this time period.

“State-sponsored cyber actors pose a serious and growing threat,” the report warns, noting they “may seek to degrade and disrupt Australia’s critical services and undermine our ability to communicate at a time of strategic advantage”.

ASD director-general Abigail Bradshaw said the agency was now receiving one report of a cyber attack every six minutes.

“Cybercriminals are leveraging new and emerging technology to increase the speed and scale of their attacks, and continue to target Australians,” she said.

1h agoMon 13 Oct 2025 at 7:47pm

👋 Good morning

Welcome to our federal politics live blog! I’m Courtney Gould and I’ll be guiding you through the morning.

After much speculation the government bowed to pressure yesterday on its superannuation tax policy, confirming it would overhaul its contentious plan.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his Coalition counterpart Ted O’Brien will join ABC’s Radio National Breakfast within the next hour to discuss the changes.

Elsewhere, a new report looking at cyber threats to Australia has been released. More on that shortly from friend of the blog Olivia Caisley. 

The sun is up and so am I, so let’s get blogggginnnnnnggggg!

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