Second Australian reporter impacted by police action at LA protests
Amanda Meade
The ABC’s North America correspondent Lauren Day has become the second Australian journalist to allegedly be impacted by police action against the protesters in LA.
Day and her crew were caught in the middle of a teargassing by LAPD as they tried to disperse the crowd around Little Tokyo in LA, the ABC has reported.
Day’s incident came after Anthony Albanese said footage of the Nine correspondent Lauren Tomasi being shot by a rubber bullet live on air is “horrific” and he has expressed his concern to the US government. Day said:
In a sign of just how quickly things can escalate, after a long standoff with protesters, all of a sudden we heard large bangs and the crowd started running.
I then felt the unmistakable burn of teargas – first in my eyes, then in my nose, lips and throat.
It really stings your entire face and makes it difficult to breathe, until the point you almost want to throw up.
You can see why this is such a popular crowd dispersal method because it’s extremely unpleasant.
Key events
The chair of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, has said Coalition politicians considering moving away from a net zero emissions target for 2050 are “weird” and pursuing “nonsense policies.”
Kean, the former Liberal treasurer of New South Wales, warned opposition MPs’ open calls for a net zero policy to be dropped was a sign the parties were “heading for electoral oblivion”. He told the ABC:
I am not anti-nuclear but I am anti-nonsense. … Those arguing away from net zero are arguing for nonsense policies.
Those Coalition MPs saying they should walk away from net zero are just weird.
Kean said the Coalition would struggle to recover from its “absolute electoral drubbing” unless it met public demand for stronger climate action:
The sooner [Coalition MPs] start talking about those policies the sooner our path back to electoral relevance.
Kean said the Climate Change Authority was “close” to making a decision on a new 2035 target for emissions reductions after last year setting a range of 65% to 75% on 2005 levels, which he warned would be affected by US president Donald Trump’s threat to repeal green energy legislation.
Christopher Knaus
A third Australian jurisdiction will consider reforms to fix an “accountability gap” allowing institutions like the church to avoid liability for the actions of child abusers.
Last year, the high court delivered a landmark judgment ruling the Catholic church could not be held vicariously liable for the actions of a parish priest who abused children, because he was not a formal employee.
The standing council of attorneys-general – a body consisting of attorneys-general from the Commonwealth and every state and territory – is currently considering whether legislative reform is required. But crossbenchers in three states – Victoria, New South Wales, and now the Australian Capital Territory – have introduced legislation seeking to address the issue.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said on Tuesday:
Institutions like churches, sporting groups and scout groups have an obligation to protect the children in their care. And that obligation must extend to those acting on their behalf. The bill I’m introducing will remedy this in the ACT so that children who were abused by those people can receive justice. It will mean that institutions can be found vicariously liable for crimes committed by volunteers, those carrying out a role within the organisation and those who are carrying out activities for the benefit of that organisation.
The move is supported by legal experts and the Grace Tame Foundation, which said institutions were continuing to “exploit every legal loophole they can find to evade their corporate responsibility for the decades of harm inflicted on children in their pastoral care”.
Adam Morton
Supply bills have passed Tasmanian parliament, Rockliff off to governor
Tasmania’s parliament has completed its work for the day, passing two emergency supply bills needed to ensure government operations and services will be paid for during an election campaign.
The premier, Jeremy Rockliff, is now expected to visit the governor, Barbara Baker, to recommend an early state election, possibly on 19 July.
Turnbull has advice for Albanese on how to handle Trump
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for Anthony Albanese to “get on the front foot” and pressure Donald Trump for tariff reductions rather than give away greater access to critical minerals.
Turnbull said the tariffs were an “affront” and there was “not much” Australia should be willing to negotiate on for tariffs. He told the ABC Albanese should not give away access to critical minerals and instead warn the US that Australia could cut back on favourable defence spending and access:
No deal is better than a bad deal. Mr Albanese has got to be prepared to actually get on the front foot with Trump.
Hopefully, we are not giving [critical minerals] to him. Australia has always been prepared to get involved but the Americans have not been prepared to make the investment.
The former prime minister, who criticised Trump’s first tariff s in March, predicted Trump would welcome a warmer relationship with Albanese after the US president’s public disputes with other world leaders. Turnbull said:
Trump is alienating so many people that I would be surprised if he wants to alienate and pick a fight with Anthony Albanese. He picked a fight with Canada and the only results was … [a] prime minister of Canada who got elected on an anti-Trump ticket.
Rather than rush for a tariff deal with the US, Australia should expand its free trade values with other countries, Turnbull said.
Second Australian reporter impacted by police action at LA protests
Amanda Meade
The ABC’s North America correspondent Lauren Day has become the second Australian journalist to allegedly be impacted by police action against the protesters in LA.
Day and her crew were caught in the middle of a teargassing by LAPD as they tried to disperse the crowd around Little Tokyo in LA, the ABC has reported.
Day’s incident came after Anthony Albanese said footage of the Nine correspondent Lauren Tomasi being shot by a rubber bullet live on air is “horrific” and he has expressed his concern to the US government. Day said:
In a sign of just how quickly things can escalate, after a long standoff with protesters, all of a sudden we heard large bangs and the crowd started running.
I then felt the unmistakable burn of teargas – first in my eyes, then in my nose, lips and throat.
It really stings your entire face and makes it difficult to breathe, until the point you almost want to throw up.
You can see why this is such a popular crowd dispersal method because it’s extremely unpleasant.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Push within Labor to include climate impacts in environmental assessments
The environment minister, Murray Watt, will face internal pressure to make the climate crisis a factor in the assessment of projects as part of his planned rewrite of national nature laws.
Under the existing Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), the minister is not required to consider a proposal’s impact on climate change in the approvals process.
The absence of a so-called “climate trigger” or “climate considerations” was again brought into focus after Watt provisionally approved a 40-year extension to Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing plant – a project that scientists estimate could be linked to 6bn tonnes of greenhouse gases in the coming decades.
Greens and environmentalists have long advocated for the inclusion of some form of climate trigger in nature laws as a vehicle to block or limit new fossil fuel projects.
Without referencing the Woodside project, the Labor MP, Jerome Laxale, said the impact of global heating should be a factor in the decision-making process.
Speaking with Guardian Australia, Laxale said:
Commentary always highlights how narrow the scope is for the environment minister to consider when making an assessment. My electorate and I would like to see climate change as one of the considerations that the minister has in new environment laws.
We’ve got a 43% emissions reduction target by 2030 and we will have a new emissions reductions target for 2035. I think we should have laws that reflect our ambition to meet those targets, and environmental law should give consideration to our emissions reduction here in Australia. Currently, they don’t.”
Laxale is a patron of LEAN – Labor’s grassroots environmental action group.
The Albanese government currently has no plans to legislate a climate trigger as it believes the safeguard mechanism is the appropriate scheme to regulate emissions from heavy polluting facilities.
Footing the bill at tax time
As tax time rolls around, many of us turn to the Australian Taxation Office for guidance.
This year, the ATO has taken to social media, captioning a Facebook post about tax and the gig economy:
Selling your feet pics as a side hustle? Make sure you report ALL income from ALL of your jobs!
In the comments, one questioned the desperation of tax collectors stooping to need “foot pic money taxes”, saying “I knew y’all were broke but cmon”.
The Albanese government’s decision to extend the North West Shelf gas project to 2070 has been top-of-mind over the last week. The Guardian’s Adam Morton digs into the PM’s commitments to address the climate crisis while supporting a major fossil fuel project. Read more below:
Nick Visser
That’s all for me. Natasha May will guide you through the rest of today’s news. Have a good one.
Adam Morton
An update on the goings-on in Tasmanian parliament
For those wondering what has been happening in Tasmania’s parliament as the state edges towards a likely election, the answer is: not a great deal.
Things hit a snag when a typographical error was found in a budget supply bill that was rushed through the parliament’s lower house this morning to ensure the government stays open during a campaign. That had to be fixed.
Then there was a lunch break from 1pm until 2.30pm.
Things are now back on, with debate on the supply bills having moved to the Legislative Council (the upper house). It is unclear how long that will take, and when the premier, Jeremy Rockliff, will be able to visit the governor, Barbara Baker, to advise her there should be an election. But it is still expected today.
It’s also unclear how Baker will respond. She could choose to seek other opinions, including from the opposition leader, Dean Winter, before making a decision.
Pedestrian dies in Sydney after alleged hit and run
NSW Police said a pedestrian died in Sydney’s south west after an alleged hit-and-run this morning.
Emergency services responded to calls of a crash in the suburb of Leumeah around 10am. They were told on arrival a pedestrian had allegedly been hit by a Mitsubishi sedan while exiting another vehicle, before the sedan left the scene.
The man, 46, was treated by paramedics and was taken to the hospital. He later died.
Police began an investigation and located the sedan that allegedly hit the man at a nearby sports centre. A 77-year-old woman was arrested and taken to the hospital for mandatory testing.
Luca Ittimani
More on the country’s supersized dwelling prices
The combined value of the country’s 11.3m houses and units reached nearly $11.4tn at the end of March. Every state and territory has seen its average home price rise since September, except for the Australian Capital Territory, where values have fallen consistently since June.
Nationwide averages steadied in the middle of last year amid high interest rates and poor affordability but hopeful homebuyers have started bidding higher prices as rate cuts and gradual growth in incomes increase their budgets.
NSW homes reached an average value of nearly $1.25m in March. No other state or territory has an average above $1m, but the sheer number of homes in the biggest state pushes the national figure up to seven figures.
Today’s ABS data confirms property analytics firm Cotality’s indication in May that Australia’s average home value had cracked $1m. Cotality today reported average values were nearing $1.01m.
Averages can be skewed towards more expensive homes, with Sydney’s $100m harbourside mansions dragging the national number upwards. But while the middle-of-the-pack Australian home is worth on Cotality’s median value $831,288, more than a third of homes nationally are now valued at $1m or higher – so the average isn’t ridiculously far off.
Burst Fremantle sewer main causes ‘temporary odour’ in some areas
WA’s Water Corporation is working to repair a “major burst” in a sewer main in Fremantle that has bogged a reserve used by a farmers’ market and the local football club in overflows of wastewater. The sewerage includes human waste, AAP reports.
The City of Fremantle said it was assisting with an incident, which began Friday, in the suburb of Beaconsfield, with wastewater flowing into South Terrace, South Fremantle and the harbour at Fremantle Sailing Club. The Water Corporation advised community members to keep windows closed and consider using fans or air purifiers to counter “temporary” but “strong odours”.
Water Corporation said in a statement:
While flows have been stopped, repairs are expected to take some time to ensure the safety of crews. Given the complexity of the wastewater network and the amount of wastewater backed up in the system, there remains a risk of further localised overflows. Remediation of the affected sites will start as soon as practical.
ABS confirms average Australian dwelling price above $1m
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new data today confirming the average dwelling price in the country is now above $1m for the first time. Dwellings include houses, apartments and townhouses.
That’s a 0.7% rise over the March quarter of 2025. The ABS said the surge was driven by property prices in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, with the latter reaching the second-highest mean price in the nation behind NSW.
NSW woman charged with ‘wine-fuelled’ behaviour on international flight, police say
A woman is expected to appear in court in Wollongong today on allegations she assaulted an airline crew member during an international flight. Australian federal police (AFP) allege the woman, 64, consumed a bottle of her own wine on a flight from New Caledonia to Sydney on 3 June.
When the woman was told she could not consume her own alcohol onboard the aircraft, she allegedly became verbally abusive and at one point kicked a crew member in the stomach, with AFP describing the incident as “wine-fuelled”.
The woman also allegedly refused instructions to sit down during the descent, prompting crew to attempt to physically restrain her in her seat. AFP officers responded on the ground in Sydney, and she was later taken to hospital and discharged the next day.
The woman has been charged with four counts, including assaulting a crew member, offensive and disorderly behaviour on an aircraft, failing to comply with safety instructions by cabin crew and consuming alcohol not provided by crew.
