Federal energy rebates will not be extended, Jim Chalmers says
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking in Canberra, where he just announced the federal government’s energy bill rebates will not continue.
Chalmers is speaking to the press ahead of the release of the upcoming mid-year budget update, which he said would include “savings” and “difficult decisions”.
“And one of them is around these energy bill rebates,” he said. “The main game for the budget is obviously May, a big focus there will be to balance these two challenges.”
He added:
There have been three rounds of electricity bill rebates, and there won’t be a fourth. … These electricity bill rebates are an important part of the budget, but not a permanent feature of the budget.
Chalmers said changes to federal tax rates were a better system to permanently help with the cost of living.
Key events
Credit card debt holding at four-year high
Australians had nearly $18.3bn in outstanding personal credit card debts in October, after interest-accruing balances surged the prior month.
The national total rose almost $1bn over the preceding 12 months, hitting its second-highest level since October 2021, new data from the Reserve Bank.
A fall in credit card spending during the month saw total interest-accruing debt slip behind the $18.4bn recorded in September.
Debit card transactions picked up, though, as consumers continued to spend their higher real incomes. Card spending totalled $84.5bn for the month – more than $500m higher than in September and $4.2bn higher than October 2024, according to Canstar analysis.
Canstar spokesperson Laine Gordon said the rise in debt was a worrying sign:
It’s concerning to see credit card debt climbing back to levels we haven’t seen since July 2021 – a clear sign more households are leaning on plastic to get by.
Planned burn near Tasmania bushfire under investigation
Firefighters are investigating a registered burn near the bushfire that destroyed 19 homes near Dolphin Sands, Tasmania.
The former 700-hectare blaze near the Freycinet national park on the state’s east coast was contained after overnight rain, allowing the Tasmania fire service to investigate its cause.
Locals had planned to light a fire outside to burn off vegetation days before the fire broke out on Thursday, Matthew Lowe, the TFS deputy chief officer, said.
The TFS had heard unverified suggestions there had been other burns on Thursday but was investigating only that preceding burn, which had been registered through the state’s permit system, Lowe told reporters.
Permitted burn-offs were an important part of fire prevention, the responsibility for which was shared between communities as well as firefighters, he said.
We encourage all our community members to undertake proactive reduction of fuel on their properties, whether that’s simply cleaning out gutters, keeping grass low, removing clippings, and some of the bigger properties, fuel reduction burns.
That’s a shared responsibility. We’re proactive in our burning for our mitigation burns, but we expect community to pick up some of that responsibility.
Luca Ittimani
Thanks Nick Visser and good afternoon, I’ll be with you on the blog for the rest of the day.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me. Luca Ittimani will take things from here. Enjoy the rest of your Monday.
Daisy Dumas
Cronulla riots 20 years on: have attitudes changed since that hot December day when racial tensions exploded?
Julie Cutbush noticed the chanting first. At home in Cronulla, in Sydney’s south, on 11 December 2005, the then high school teacher could hear shouting in the nearby beachside park.
“So I took a walk,” she says. “I turned the corner at the surf life saving club and I saw this mass of young males.”
It was a hot afternoon and hundreds of young people – mostly men, many bare-chested, some with Australian flags draped over their shoulders – were streaming from the train station across Monro park and into Cronulla park. They ran, carrying eskies full of beer, and as the alcohol flowed the hundreds swelled to thousands and the chants grew louder and more aggressive.
20 years on, some wonder if Australia has still failed to tackle racism, and worry social media is a more powerful tool than text messages and talkback radio that stirred rioters in 2005.
Read more here:
Sydney to host Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur next year for Sydney Super Cup
Sydney will host two of the world’s biggest football teams next year for the Sydney Super Cup.
The NSW government says Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur have both confirmed as the headline clubs for the event, a four-team tournament staged in Sydney with the English Premier League clubs taking on Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers before facing off against each other.
The matches will be held at Accor Stadium and Allianz Stadium, beginning in July.
Steve Kamper, the NSW minister for tourism, said:
Sydney has kicked another goal as Australia’s home of football, with two of the world’s best clubs coming to compete in the Sydney Super Cup 2026.
These four matches will give visiting fans the chance an extended stay in our beautiful harbour city, taking in our iconic natural attractions and vibrant cultural experiences in one of the world’s great sporting destinations.
Pedestrian dies after car crashes into Melbourne medical centre
A man has died after a car crashed into a medical centre in the Melbourne suburb of Niddrie this morning.
Victoria police said emergency services were called to the area about 9.30am amid reports a car had struck a pedestrian on the footpath before crashing inside the building. The male pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman inside the medical centre was also struck by the vehicle and airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
The driver of the car, a 63-year-old man, was taken to the hospital with injuries under a police guard.
No charges have been laid. Police have opened an investigation into the matter.
Josh Butler
Anika Wells claimed more than $8,500 for family travel to Melbourne during AFL grand final weekends over three years
Anika Wells claimed more than $8,500 in family travel expenses to Melbourne during AFL grand final weekends in 2022, 2023 and 2024, when she received free suite tickets to the matches.
The minister for communications and sport has stood by her use of family travel expenses as within the rules, but the Coalition opposition is demanding reforms to expense rules and an inquiry into Wells’ spending by the independent parliamentary expenses authority (IPEA), which tracks and reports politicians’ spending on travel and office expenses.
On Monday, the Nine newspapers reported Wells had used family travel entitlements – available to all MPs to help politicians stay connected with their families – to fly her husband from Brisbane to Melbourne for the Boxing Day cricket test in 2022 and 2024.
It came after revelations Wells had used the entitlement to fly family members to the Thredbo ski resort and the Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix, as well as scrutiny of her travel to France for sporting events, to Adelaide for meetings coinciding with a friend’s birthday, and nearly $100,000 in air fares for the minister and two staff to fly to New York City.
Read more here:
Ed Husic to lead new inquiry into credit card companies
Tom McIlroy
Labor MP Ed Husic will lead a new parliamentary inquiry into how credit card companies and digital wallet providers treat their customers.
The House of Representatives economics committee has announced the new inquiry, promising consumers will have the chance to give their views on fairness, competitiveness and affordability of the products.
Husic announced the inquiry as Christmas spending ramps up. Last year, Australians spent nearly $70bn online, a new record. Year-on-year spending grew by about 12% in 2024.
The inquiry will take into account concerns raised by small business operators, and the way technology could shape the future of payments. It will also consider digital currencies and blockchain technology.
“The way credit card systems work, their costs and other impacts on everyday consumers really matters to Australians confronting cost of living challenges,” Husic said, adding:
After spending up ahead of Christmas, many Aussie consumers will scan a sharp eye over their credit card statements and ask questions about how they’re charged.
Running a small business is hard work. Minimising costs and overheads is a priority for Australia’s small business people who are always looking for payment systems that can offer a better deal and make their lives easier.
The closing date for submissions is 30 January 2026. A final report is expected by April.
Chalmers: Coalition ‘now so bad not even Barnaby Joyce wants to hang around them’
Chalmers was just asked about Barnaby Joyce’s decision to join One Nation. He said:
The Coalition is now so bad that not even Barnaby Joyce wants to hang around them. And I think that says something about the Coalition.
The Coalition is so divided and so divisive and so bereft of any economic credibility that they’re losing members left, right and centre. And this is what happens when a Coalition major party goes out of its way just to be a pale imitation of One Nation.
Federal energy rebates will not be extended, Jim Chalmers says
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking in Canberra, where he just announced the federal government’s energy bill rebates will not continue.
Chalmers is speaking to the press ahead of the release of the upcoming mid-year budget update, which he said would include “savings” and “difficult decisions”.
“And one of them is around these energy bill rebates,” he said. “The main game for the budget is obviously May, a big focus there will be to balance these two challenges.”
He added:
There have been three rounds of electricity bill rebates, and there won’t be a fourth. … These electricity bill rebates are an important part of the budget, but not a permanent feature of the budget.
Chalmers said changes to federal tax rates were a better system to permanently help with the cost of living.
Luca Ittimani
New Zealand man allegedly caught trying to bring $10m of heroin into Australia
A 21-year-old New Zealander has been caught allegedly attempting to bring $10m worth of heroin in floral-patterned bags from Thailand to Australia.
The man flew into Sydney Airport on Sunday and was chosen for a baggage examination by Border Force officers, who searched his two suitcases, according to the Australian Federal Police.
Officers allegedly found 21 floral-patterned, vacuum sealed bags with a combined weight of 21kg, containing a white powdery substance, which testing determined was heroin.
Police said the heroin would have had an estimated street value over $10m and accounted for about 100,000 street-level sales had it reached the Australian community.
AFP officers arrested the man at the airport and he was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, an offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. He was expected to face court today.
Luca Ittimani
Littleproud says Joyce’s move to One Nation ‘about Barnaby wanting to be leader of a party’
David Littleproud has condemned Barnaby Joyce’s move to One Nation after the Nationals supported him “during his darkest moments,” saying the split was driven by Joyce’s ambitions.
Littleproud has circulated a statement saying Joyce has broken his contract with his constituents and disappointed local Nationals branch members and volunteers. He said:
The Nationals supported Barnaby through many difficult times, including during his darkest moments.
Barnaby has chosen to turn his back on the Nationals and on his electorate and instead join a party of protest, which is never able to achieve anything other than headlines.
Joyce’s move, confirmed by Pauline Hanson this morning, will see him lead One Nation’s Senate ticket in NSW at the next federal election and has sparked speculation he could take over from Hanson as party leader.
Littleproud claimed that prospect motivated Joyce’s split:
I have never had a personal issue or problem with Barnaby Joyce. This issue is about Barnaby wanting to be the leader of a party.
Read more here:
Patrick Commins
Gambling and tobacco firms to lose R&D tax incentives
The government has released draft legislation to strip gambling and tobacco firms from research and development tax concessions from July next year.
The government announced the planned change to the R&D incentive scheme at last December’s mid-year budget, after Jim Chalmers said he thought it was “problematic” that poker machine and betting companies were allowed to claim the government tax credits.
The assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, said in a statement:
These exclusions will ensure taxpayers are not subsidising this kind of research and development that can exacerbate serious health risks, addiction and associated harms.
Tabcorp had an R&D budget of $43.8m in 2022-23, according to the Australian Taxation Office’s latest report on the tax incentive, while pokies businesses Aristocrat Leisure and Ainsworth Game Technology had R&D budget of $19m and $7.9m, respectively.
There would be a carveout for R&D activities related to harm minimisation, Mulino said.
Melissa Davey
Health experts on US hepatitis B vaccine reversal: ‘no suggestion of any change to Australian recommendations’
Australian health experts have expressed significant concern after the US reversed the longstanding recommendation that all medically stable newborns who meet a weight threshold receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
Since routine childhood vaccination began in Australia, hepatitis B rates in young people have fallen by a 60%.
Hepatitis Australia and the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine are urging Australians to maintain routine hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns.
“Australia’s hepatitis B vaccination program is safe, effective and has been proven to save lives,” Hepatitis Australia CEO Lucy Clynes said.
The birth dose remains an essential part of protecting babies from a virus that can quietly cause lifelong liver damage and even fatal liver cancer. Parents should know that there is no suggestion of any change to Australian recommendations.
Prof Jane Davies, an infectious diseases expert who chairs Hepatitis Australia’s research and clinical advisory group, said hepatitis B can be passed from mother to child during birth.
Without vaccination, babies who are exposed to the virus have around a 90% chance of developing chronic hepatitis B.
Krishani Dhanji
Three charged across Australia over banned Nazi symbols
The AFP has charged three people across Australia for allegedly displaying or distributing prohibited Nazi symbols.
The federal police charged a 43-year-old UK citizen in Queensland with allegedly displaying Nazi symbols. It came ahead of a separate national blitz that also saw police charge a 21-year-old Queensland man, while a 25-year-old Sydney man was served a court attendance notice.
Police allege the UK citizen used two different handles on X to display the symbols, which violated the law, between October and November. While the first account was allegedly blocked, police claim the man kept posting on a second account.
The man has been charged with three counts of public display of Nazi symbols and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years and three years imprisonment, respectively. He faced Caboolture magistrates court on 3 December, with the matter adjourned until 7 January.
The AFP’s national security investigations team has conducted a separate operation to disrupt the importation and sale of prohibited symbols across NSW, Queensland, WA and Victoria.
As part of that operation, police arrested the 21-year-old Queensland man, charging him with two counts of possessing possessing or controlling violent extremist material. He appeared before Brisbane magistrates court on Friday, with the matter adjourned until 16 January. The 25-year-old Sydney man was issued with a court attendance notice for allegedly using a Nazi salute at a public gathering in Sydney.
AFP assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt said:
This week of disruption was as much about ensuring people were not inadvertently committing criminal offences as it was about bolstering our efforts to safeguard social cohesion.
Penry Buckley
NSW firefighter died while ‘checking in on colleagues’, RFS commissioner says
The NSW emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, and the NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, Trent Curtin, have provided more detail about the firefighter’s death, as well as an update on the current risks posed by bushfires in the state.
Dib says there are still 52 fires burning, with nine of those still yet to be contained. More than 500 firefighting personnel are in the field, as well as 160 vehicles.
Curtin says the blaze at Bulahdelah is now 3,500 hectares in size. He says the 59-year-old firefighter died “moving around the fire ground, checking in on colleagues, making sure everyone was safe and making sure everyone had the right information on the fire ground”.
Curtin said high fire danger conditions expected tomorrow would not be as severe as the extreme conditions experienced across the state on the weekend.
About 100 firefighters are still fighting the blaze in Koolewong, where at least 16 homes have been lost. A large, uncontrolled fire burning in Milsons Gully is about 11,000 hectares in size.
“It’s a very, very large fire, and it’s going to take a while for us to be able to bring that fire under control,” says Curtin.
Barnaby Joyce joins One Nation
Josh Butler
Pauline Hanson says Barnaby Joyce has joined One Nation.
In a statement, Hanson says the former Nationals leader will become a One Nation MP in the lower house “until the next federal election, at which he would lead the party’s New South Wales Senate ticket”. He will be One Nation’s sole representative in the lower house.
Joyce reportedly confirmed the move on Tamworth radio, saying: “Pauline made an offer to me to come to One Nation, and I have taken that up.”
In a statement, Hanson said: “I welcome Barnaby Joyce to One Nation.”
I have always been very straightforward about asking Mr Joyce to join our team, and on making it clear this was always his decision. I am pleased he’s chosen One Nation, and I welcome his experience, his advice and his determination to get a fair go for farmers and regional Australia. Mr Joyce strengthens One Nation’s position in parliament just as many Australians are strengthening our position in the polls.
I look forward to working with Mr Joyce and One Nation’s Senate team as we continue to expose and oppose the Albanese Labor government’s agenda.
Firefighter killed fighting NSW blaze identified as 59-year-old man
Penry Buckley
The NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has provided more details on the death of a firefighter battling a blaze in Bulahdelah on the mid north coast overnight.
Sharpe says the family of the firefighter, a 59-year-old-man, have now been notified. She says he was a field officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service who started working for the service in 1996.
It is believed the experienced firefighter and divisional commander suffered a cardiac arrest after being struck by a falling tree. Sharpe says national parks staff performed CPR until ambulance crews arrived, but he could not be saved at the scene and died there.
Sharpe says:
My thoughts are with his family, but my thoughts are also with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This is a very close and well networked group with someone who has been in service for that long. There are many people who are touched today, as are all of the firefighters who work so closely together between the RFS and National Parks and Wildlife Service.
