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What we learned, Thursday 17 July
We’ll leave our live coverage of today’s news there. Thanks for staying with us. The indefatigable Nick Visser and I will be back tomorrow to close out the week.
Until then, here were Thursday’s major developments:
Updated at 04.08 EDT
More on prosecution of sex abuse allegations against NSW MP
Continuing that AAP report: The 18-year-old’s evidence that he didn’t want to confess to pretending to be passed out was consistent with an understandable desire to avoid confronting a powerful man, Knowles said.
Similarly, Knowles suggested the 24-year-old was an “open book” who faithfully reported the alleged assault when he said he had allowed a kiss with Ward earlier in the night. She said:
He’s not trying to paint the accused completely in a bad light … He knew it was important to tell you what happened and did – warts and all.
Both men were honest and reliable witnesses who should be believed, the prosecutor told the jury. Inconsistencies in the complainants’ recollection of “peripheral details” were understandable, given the assaults took place years ago and traumatic memories may be pushed away, she said.
The evidence showed Ward had a tendency to act on his sexual interest in young men who were subordinate to his position of power by committing sexual offences against them, the jury was told. Knowles said:
These people weren’t overcome by force, they were taken by surprise.
His lawyers are expected to deliver their closing remarks to the jury on Friday.
Updated at 04.05 EDT
‘Real ring of truth’ in sex abuse claims against MP, court hears
There is a “real ring of truth” in separate accounts of sexual abuse levelled at a state MP by two young men, a court has been told.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the NSW district court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges. He is accused of inviting a drunk 18-year-old man to his south coast home in February 2013.
The man told the jury Ward plied him with drinks before indecently assaulting him three times in one night, despite his attempts to resist. Two years later, the longtime MP allegedly sexually assaulted an intoxicated political staffer after a midweek event at NSW Parliament House in 2015.
The man, who was 24 at the time, said Ward climbed into bed with him, groped his backside, and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly saying “no”.
Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles told the jury there were “too many similarities” in the accounts of the complainants for it to be chance.
The men didn’t know each other, but both described their relationship with Ward as “very unequal in terms of the power dynamic”, she said on Thursday.
During the trial, both complainants described looking up to Ward and appreciating his contributions as a politician.
The jury heard they were both emotionally vulnerable and had been drinking when Ward invited them back to his house, where they were alone. When they arrived, each man described the MP pouring them more drinks before he assaulted them while they were lying down in a vulnerable state.
There had been no discussion of sexual activity before the assaults, the men said, which involved Ward sliding his hands down their pants and continuing to touch them after they indicated they did not consent. Knowles told the jury:
You might think what happened to [the complainants] did not happen by random chance or just dumb luck … Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion. This is not a coincidence.
The only reasonable explanation was that the men were telling the truth, as evident in the “real ring of truth” in their accounts, the prosecutor argued.
Updated at 04.04 EDT
Dog theft leaves police seeking public’s help
Police are seeking information after a dog called Poppy was stolen from a home in Perth’s south in broad daylight.
The black and white American Staffy was taken from a home in Shoalwater before 1pm on Monday, 30 June 2025.
Video footage released by police shows two men getting out of a silver Toyota hatchback and walk on to a property then carry a dog back to the car, putting it in the back seat.
One person sat in the back seat with the dog before the car drove away, the footage shows.
Poppy has a mark resembling a maple leaf on her belly and chest, police said. Rockingham police invited anyone with any information in relation to this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated at 03.51 EDT
RBA interest rate cut now almost certain, markets predict
Financial markets are now treating an August cut to interest rates as a certainty, predicting today’s surprise jump in unemployment will push the Reserve Bank to continue lowering borrowing costs.
Each of the major banks had already predicted an interest rate cut when the RBA’s rate-setting board meets next month. Commonwealth Bank’s Kristina Clifton said markets had now backed in a cut all the way. She wrote in a note:
Financial markets are now effectively fully pricing an RBA interest rate cut in August, up from around a 93% chance yesterday.
The rise in unemployment to 4.3% may make the Reserve Bank more comfortable cutting rates even if inflation picks up, as is predicted for data to be released at the end of July, according to CBA economist Belinda Allen.
In the July meeting the Board noted it wanted to see the outcome of [inflation] before next cutting interest rates. A weaker labour market report, we expect, lifts the tolerance for an upside surprise to the inflation data.
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Mike Hohnen
Looking for a wrap of Thursday’s news? Guardian Australia’s Afternoon Update newsletter will fill you in.
Read it here:
Father denied bail amid claims baby ‘thrown in’ water
A father charged over his infant son’s drowning has been denied bail after a court heard claims he threw the baby in a campsite’s lake, AAP reports.
Jaye Lee Walton, 42, was refused bail after facing Ipswich magistrates court on Thursday after being charged with domestic violence-related manslaughter over the death of Reef Hunter Walton, who was seven months old.
The baby boy drowned on 12 July at a campsite near Gympie, north of Brisbane. Walton, an Innisfail fishing trawler worker, appeared via video link in a green jail-issue tracksuit at his bail application.
Magistrate Robert Walker raised claims regarding the baby’s drowning, saying witnesses heard the defendant had “thrown him in” to the campsite’s nearby lake.
Defence solicitor Mark Butler said the claims, which came second-hand from Walton’s partner, were hearsay:
[Walton’s partner] states she said [in response]: ‘if they saw him, why didn’t they come over sooner? Why was I the first person here?’ … She does not believe what she has heard.
Walker told Walton he was facing a strong prosecution case before reading out details of the police’s allegations, saying Walton had been returning from NSW with Reef and the baby’s mother when they stopped at Chatsworth Park on Friday, before he allegedly drank four litres of boxed wine.
Police alleged Reef was unsettled the next morning and Walton took him for a walk to the toilet block. Thirty minutes later, Walton’s partner saw him lying down by the edge of the pond and Reef floating face down about 10 metres out, the court was told.
Butler said Walton had been described as a “loving father” and the alleged incident could be related to alcohol use or lack of sleep. He said:
[His partner] described his relationship with his son as amazing. He was his first son, he was his little mate.
Updated at 03.48 EDT
Josh Taylor
Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots and United Australia parties hit with data breach
The political parties run by Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer have been hit with a ransomware attack, with banking records, employment history and other personal information potentially compromised.
The Trumpet of Patriots, which ran but did not secure any seats at May’s federal election, announced to supporters on Thursday that a breach occurred on 23 June and related to information from the party as well as its predecessor, the United Australia party.
The party said there was unauthorised access to its servers on 23 June, resulting in access to and the possible copying of data records, potentially including all emails to and from the parties and documents and records created by the parties.
Trumpet of Patriots said this could include email addresses, phone numbers, identity records, banking records, employment history, and other documents, but said the party was unsure of the amount of information.
Read more here:
Working with children checks creating false sense of security, National Children’s Commissioner warns
Working with children checks are giving Australians a false sense of security, the National Children’s Commissioner has warned, saying responsibility for failures in the regulation of childcare lies with state and federal governments.
Anne Hollonds made the warning in the wake of new reports about a former early learning worker facing child sex abuse allegations. You can read more here:
The commissioner told the ABC:
This is extremely worrying and as we are getting this drip feed of more information daily on this horrendous case, it really highlights how unsafe this environment has been.
Hollonds, whose position exists under the Australian Human Rights Commission, said a uniform process for more comprehensive working with children checks should be applied across the country:
[The checks are] giving all of us a false sense of security and not supporting early childhood education providers, schools, sporting clubs or anyone employing someone to care for children.
It is giving them a false sense of security that this person is suitable. It is a very minimal baseline track of things like previous criminal record but it does not actually assess the suitability.
Race discrimination commissioner to meet with antisemitism envoy to discuss concerns
Jillian Segal’s plan to combat antisemitism demonstrates the urgency of implementing a national focus on fighting racism, Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has said.
Giridharan Sivaraman also confirmed he will meet with Segal to discuss concerns over her plan. He had earlier on Thursday called for a meeting with the antisemitism envoy to discuss her proposals’ implications for fundamental rights and freedoms.
Race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, releases a national plan for eliminating racism in Australia. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Segal has suggested withhold government funding from universities that “facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism” and monitor media organisations “to avoid accepting false or distorted narratives”. You can read more about the commissioners’ concerns about Segal’s plan here:
The commissioner said Segal had responded to his request. He told the ABC:
We need to know more about how these recommendations might work. … She has indicated she is happy to meet [and] we are arranging now.
Sivaraman said the envoy’s report showed the need for the Albanese government to commit to the national anti-racism framework launched by Australian Human Rights Commission in November:
I think the reports we are seeing from the envoys, other instances of racism coming to the fore, for example the report into the tragic death of Kumanjayi Walker … show that we need a national coordinated approach that can help against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism for First Nations people and other forms of racism that are happening on a daily basis.
Updated at 02.49 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Victoria’s acting premier, Jacyln Symes, has welcomed the arrest of a man accused of stealing “a communal crime car” used in an arson attack at the Adass Israel synagogue Ripponlea last year.
She told reporters in Sunshine, in Melbourne’s west:
The community welcomes the progress of the investigation and charges send a really strong and comforting message that police have been actively investigating this and justice is being applied.
Symes thanked police and described the charges as a “breakthrough”.
Getting to an arrest demonstrates that the investigation is at a critical point. I’m sure that once they have the ability to question who they’ve arrested, that there may be further arrests down the track.
ShareBenita Kolovos
Acting Vic premier on latest reports about the child sexual abuse allegations
The acting premier, Jaclyn Symes, was also asked about the story, first reported by the ABC, that Joshua Dale Brown was sacked from a Melbourne childcare centre after working there for just three weeks.
Nido Early School on Thursday confirmed it terminated Brown from its Werribee childcare service during his probation period in July 2021, after he allegedly breached the company’s internal policies around handling of incident reports. It did not relate to any behaviour with children.
Three months later, in October 2021, Brown started working at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, where police allege he sexually abused children in his care between 2022 and 2023.
Symes said it was a “horrific series of events that has shocked and distressed Victorians, and rightly so”.
She said:
This is why making sure that we have clearer data, sharing, clearer registration and knowing where people are in the future will make sure that you can identify more concerning behaviour.
Updated at 02.28 EDT
Australian dollar falls to lowest point in nearly a month
The Australian dollar has fallen to its lowest level against the US dollar in almost a month, after unemployment jumped in June, as traders hike their bets on a Reserve Bank interest rate cut.
The dollar has levelled off at less than 64.9 cents after hitting a low of 64.76 US cents on Thursday afternoon. It hasn’t been that low since 24 June, when global markets shuddered after the Trump administration bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran followed by the Reserve Bank’s surprise decision to leave interest rates on hold helped the dollar higher in the weeks since, peaking at nearly 66 US cents on 11 July.
One week on, the dollar has slipped after a surprise jump in Australia’s unemployment rate to 4.3% in June, above the RBA’s expectation of a smaller rise to 4.2% and market predictions the rate would hold at 4.1%.
Strong job creation and a shortage of workers has been one of the key reasons the RBA has cited when deciding to delay rate cuts this year, so a weaker jobs market points to a higher chance of an interest rate cut. That would lower the return on Australian investments, which is why investor demand for local dollars has dropped.
Updated at 02.14 EDT
Australia to seek more ‘direct investment’ from China
Albanese has signalled his government will push for greater business and financial ties with China, singling out emissions reduction and green steel production as a sector for future focus.
The prime minister the said he had told Chinese leaders he wanted more Australian dollars flowing into China:
I want to see more direct investment here. It’s something that I’ve raised.
Albanese said the preceding Coalition government had overseen a decline in Australian investment in its major trade partner, and cheered the business-to-business conversations that have occurred during his visit this week:
The year in which it began to decline, 2019, [involved the specific issues during that term of the Morrison government … What you have had with this [trip], though, is concrete discussions and agreements going forward between Australian companies and Chinese companies.
Updated at 02.05 EDT
‘Nothing that he has said to me has he not fulfilled’, says Albanese on relationship with Xi
Albanese has declined to say whether he trusts Xi Jinping, saying his visit to China had showed him the regional power was confident and innovative.
The prime minister told reporters he had a warm relationship with the Chinese president but did not directly answer when asked whether Xi had earned his trust.
Albanese had previously avoided saying whether he trusted Xi in 2023 following his trip to China that year. He gave a similar answer today:
I have no reason – nothing that he has said to me has he not fulfilled. So I give the same answer that I gave last time.
The prime minister praised the Chinese president for visiting every Australian state and territory in the past, adding he had valued the chance to travel widely through China on his trip.
Albanese said the trip had shown him China had a confident and forward-looking sense of itself.
China sees itself as confident going forward, and you come to this city [Chengdu] … more innovative architecture than in any city I have been to around the world. Quite clearly new, dynamic, it’s creative.
Updated at 01.55 EDT
Coalition ‘didn’t have a phone conversation’ with China during term, says Albanese
Albanese has said his focus is on reaching “more agreement and less disagreement” with China when asked about criticism his visit this week had not achieved tangible benefits for Australia.
The prime minister pointed to increased cooperation between China and his government compared to the previous Coalition government as proof of results. He told reporters:
If you compare the difference of this visit with the failure of the Coalition during the last term, during the term in which I was opposition leader, they didn’t have a phone conversation between a single minister in Australia and our major trading partner.
What we’ve had is constructive engagement. … The fact that you have the four major Australian resource and iron ore exporters – BHP, Rio Fortescue and Hancock – all sitting down with their Chinese purchasers of their products, that benefits Australia enormously.
Albanese said he was looking forward to continuing conversation over points of cooperation with Chinese leaders, with visits from Communist party chair, Zhao Leji, to come later this year. He said:
What I’d like to see is to be able to talk about those issues regularly, get as much agreement as possible … Out of understanding, can come greater cooperation.
Updated at 01.40 EDT
PM denies Coalition claims China trip lacked concrete diplomatic outcomes
Anthony Albanese denied his trip to China had been “indulgent,” after opposition frontbencher James Paterson criticised the prime minister for visiting the Great Wall of China and meeting pandas in Chengdu.
The visit had focused on building diplomatic relations, Albanese said, pointing to the economic benefits of stronger ties between China and Australia. He told reporters:
The Great Wall of China symbolises the extraordinary history and culture here in China, and showing a bit of respect to people never cost anything. But you know what it does? It gives you a reward.
Paterson had criticised Albanese’s focus on “a Gough Whitlam history tour” of China and a lack of concrete diplomatic outcomes. Asked whether he had past prime ministers’ visits to China in mind during the visit, Albanese said:
“I was thinking more of them than I was of James Paterson, it’s fair to say. But it’s also the case I was thinking of how worthwhile it is for Australia as well. Those pictures go to 27 million people, potentially, in Australia. They go to over a billion people in China … who increasingly are rising up the income ladder and are potential tourists and therefore job creators in Australia.
If James Patterson doesn’t understand that, then he doesn’t understand much.
Updated at 01.32 EDT
Albanese praises Xi after ‘very successful visit’ to China
Australia is focused on “today and tomorrow rather than the past” in its relationship with China, Anthony Albanese has said, as he approaches the end of what he described as a “very successful visit” to China.
Asked about Chinese leaders’ references to past difficulties in the relationship between the two countries, Albanese said he was looking to the future:
Overwhelmingly what we discuss is moving forward is issues of today and tomorrow rather than the past. And it’s something that I very much have concentrated on. What I speak about is the potential that’s there to grow the relationship, to develop further economic ties.
Speaking after a medical technology luncheon in Chengdu, the prime minister pointed to the signing of two-way trade agreements and two way tourism agreements and his meetings with China’s top leadership as evidence of his success.
Chinese President Xi Jinpings hakes hands with visiting Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese prior to their bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China. Photograph: Huang Jingwen/AP
Albanese praised China’s Xi Jinping, who he said had congratulated him on his election win earlier this year:
President Xi is warm and engaging. We have had four bilateral meetings but have also engaged at other times as well on an informal basis. That’s a positive thing. President Xi sent a very warm message of congratulations, as did other leaders after the May 3rd election.
Updated at 01.27 EDT