AEC releases numbers on massive cash political donations
Josh Butler
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting donated practically $900,000 to rightwing marketing campaign group Advance within the final monetary yr, within the lead-up to the 2025 election.
The Australian Electoral Fee (AEC) launched its 2024-25 annual monetary disclosure return data on Monday, revealing the most important donors and spenders in federal politics. Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy was once more the most important donor, kicking in additional than $53m to political ventures backed by the mining magnate – $302,9012 to his United Australia social gathering, and $52.9m to the Trumpet of Patriots which Palmer bankrolled. Neither social gathering had any members elected on the Might 2025 election.
Professional-climate funding car Local weather 200 declared receiving $9.5m in donations and distributing $10.9m to candidates it supported, together with federal politicians Sophie Scamps, Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney. A few of its larger donations got here from Atlassian founders Scott Farquhar ($500,000) and Mike Cannon-Brookes ($300,000).
Advance, the rightwing marketing campaign group which has lobbied Coalition MPs to dump web zero and run campaigns to “cease mass immigration”, declared receiving $13.5m and spending $12.4m in 2024-25. Its two largest donations got here from Hancock Prospecting, of which Rinehart – Australia’s richest particular person – is govt chair.
Hancock gave two donations, of $500,000 and $395,000, to Advance in October 2024 and February 2025 respectively.
Key occasions
Patrick Commins
Most mortgaged householders gained’t see repayments improve if the RBA hikes rates of interest this week
A big majority of the three.3 million mortgaged householders won’t see their repayments improve ought to the Reserve Financial institution hike charges on Tuesday.
Monetary markets and most economists count on the RBA will carry its money charge goal from 3.6% to three.85%, marking the shortest and shallowest charge rise cycle in reminiscence after inflation roared again within the second half of final yr.
The central financial institution lower charges thrice final yr, however for many prospects of three of the 4 main banks, decrease variable charges didn’t robotically translate to decrease house mortgage repayments.
Nationwide Australia Financial institution experiences that eight in 10 of its variable mortgage debtors didn’t cut back their funds by means of final yr’s three charge cuts, and on the Commonwealth Financial institution the share was between 85% and 90%.
ANZ has not reported what number of of its prospects contacted the financial institution to decrease their repayments after every lower.
Westpac is the one massive financial institution to robotically regulate a borrower’s direct debit after a charge lower, if they’ve requested to pay the minimal.
Learn extra:
Albanese ready to get again to work as ‘different aspect’ continues ‘weird behaviour’
The prime minister stated:
We’re very targeted on the nationwide curiosity as we carry parliament again. We’ll proceed to search for how we are able to guarantee that we have now sustainability in our programs, that we offer accountable financial administration, that we proceed to ship for folks in lifting up their high quality of life.
That’s our focus each day.
He stated the federal government would get “again to work” whereas the “different aspect engaged of their weird behaviour”.
Albanese addresses Labor party room
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is addressing the Labor social gathering room in Canberra earlier than parliament formally resumes tomorrow.
He’s speaking concerning the effort to tighten gun legal guidelines and go hate speech laws after the Bondi assault, adjustments to Medicare to decrease drug costs, the continuing opening of recent pressing care clinics, an enlargement of subsidised childcare and different reforms.
“In January, in fact, we received loads achieved,” Albanese stated.
AEC releases numbers on massive cash political donations
Josh Butler
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting donated practically $900,000 to rightwing marketing campaign group Advance within the final monetary yr, within the lead-up to the 2025 election.
The Australian Electoral Fee (AEC) launched its 2024-25 annual monetary disclosure return data on Monday, revealing the most important donors and spenders in federal politics. Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy was once more the most important donor, kicking in additional than $53m to political ventures backed by the mining magnate – $302,9012 to his United Australia social gathering, and $52.9m to the Trumpet of Patriots which Palmer bankrolled. Neither social gathering had any members elected on the Might 2025 election.
Professional-climate funding car Local weather 200 declared receiving $9.5m in donations and distributing $10.9m to candidates it supported, together with federal politicians Sophie Scamps, Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney. A few of its larger donations got here from Atlassian founders Scott Farquhar ($500,000) and Mike Cannon-Brookes ($300,000).
Advance, the rightwing marketing campaign group which has lobbied Coalition MPs to dump web zero and run campaigns to “cease mass immigration”, declared receiving $13.5m and spending $12.4m in 2024-25. Its two largest donations got here from Hancock Prospecting, of which Rinehart – Australia’s richest particular person – is govt chair.
Hancock gave two donations, of $500,000 and $395,000, to Advance in October 2024 and February 2025 respectively.
Australia’s Tame Impala wins Grammy
Tame Impala, one in every of a number of Australian acts up for awards tonight, have taken house a Grammy for the most effective dance/digital recording.
The nod comes for the observe Finish of Summer season.
Different native acts within the working tonight embrace punk darlings Amyl and the Sniffers and alt dance group Rüfüs Du Sol.
Preserve a watch out for the Guardian’s Grammys liveblog, coming quickly.
Josh Taylor
Snapchat disabled greater than 415,000 Australian accounts in social media ban
Snapchat locked or disabled the accounts of greater than 415,000 customers in Australia recognized as being below 16 as a part of its compliance with the social media ban.
The corporate stated it continues to lock extra accounts day by day, however stated there are “important gaps” within the implementation of the ban that might undermine it.
In a weblog publish on Monday, the corporate stated:
First, there are actual technical limitations to correct and reliable age verification. The Australian authorities’s personal trial, printed in 2025, discovered that out there age estimation know-how was solely correct to inside 2-3 years on common. In follow, this implies some younger folks below 16 might be able to bypass protections, probably leaving them with diminished safeguards, whereas others over 16 could incorrectly lose entry.
Snap stated there have been additionally different apps the place customers talk that escaped the ban, that means teenagers would flip to different, much less regulated, messaging apps.
Whereas we don’t but have information to quantify this shift, it’s a danger that deserves severe consideration as policymakers consider whether or not the legislation is reaching its meant outcomes.
Snap, like others within the sector, has referred to as for app-store-level age verification. The corporate has confronted criticisms over experiences of teenagers capable of simply bypass the facial age assurance know-how, and it stated it’s working constructively with the federal government to enhance the implementation.
The whole variety of account deactivations for the reason that ban got here into impact is 4.7m throughout the ten platforms, nonetheless it’s understood this contains not simply accounts recognized as being below 16, however contains historic, inactive and duplicate accounts for YouTube specifically.
Might Cory Bernardi be the following One Nation recruit?
Josh Butler
Former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi’s current endorsement of One Nation has set off hypothesis he would be the subsequent recruit for the social gathering, which has hyped an announcement of “some very massive names” to their ranks this week.
Bernardi, who give up the Liberals in 2017 to begin his personal social gathering, the Australian Conservatives, earlier than quitting the Senate in 2020, wrote in a Substack publish final week “seeing One Nation’s progress is a superb lesson for anybody aspire to make a change in their very own life or within the lives of others” and that he was “lending my shoulder to the ON wheel”.
That publish was shared by one other former Coalition MP, George Christensen, in current days.
In an electronic mail to One Nation supporters final week, the social gathering’s chief of workers, James Ashby, stated “within the coming days, we will probably be revealing some very massive names”, which he claimed would “shock the nation”. Nationals turned One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has additionally teased extra doable switches from the Coalition this week.
2GB radio this morning reported “rumours” that Bernardi may run for One Nation in South Australia. Pauline Hanson’s workplace declined to remark, refusing to verify or deny when contacted this morning. We’ve additionally contacted Bernardi for remark.
Covid-19 circumstances gained’t trigger stir at Winter Olympics, Aussie delegation says
Australia’s Winter Olympics preparations will proceed with minimal fuss in northern Italy regardless of two members of workers testing constructive for Covid-19, AAP experiences.
The people, who gained’t be competing on the twenty fifth version of the winters, had been symptomatic and examined constructive on 28 and 31 January, with measures in place to comprise any doable unfold of an infection.
“The Australian Winter Olympic staff has medical protocols in place for any infectious illness or sickness and are commonplace working procedures for top efficiency environments that are being adopted,” chef de mission and former aerial skier Alisa Camplin stated.
Fifty-three women and men will compete in inexperienced and gold, the second-largest Australian staff ever and largest for 12 years.
Josh Taylor
Actual property brokers in Australia utilizing apps that depart thousands and thousands of lease paperwork in danger, digital researcher says
Australian platforms utilized by actual property brokers to add documentation for renters and landlords are leaving folks’s private data uncovered in hyperlinks accessible on-line.
An evaluation of seven hire platforms supplied to Guardian Australia by a researcher, who wished to stay nameless, revealed thousands and thousands of leasing paperwork may very well be accessed by risk actors.
Actual property brokers handle delicate tenant and landlord information each day, together with lease agreements, identification paperwork, payslips and private references. On-line platforms allow brokers to retailer these paperwork within the cloud and make them accessible through hyperlinks.
The researcher discovered these hyperlinks may be scanned by net crawlers and cached.
Learn extra right here:
McCormack says One Nation surge fuelled by ‘clickbait publicity’
Krishani Dhanji
Former Nationals chief Michael McCormack says One Nation’s polling is choosing up as a result of members of the general public are “cranky”, however he doubts that polling will transpire into actual votes at an election.
Heading over from the ABC into the Sky Information studio this morning, McCormack additionally says he helps David Littleproud, who will face a spill in a celebration room assembly this afternoon, and urges his social gathering to get again to “core enterprise”. As he instructed the ABC earlier, “cool heads” ought to prevail – however doesn’t go into whether or not which means a change in chief from both aspect.
On Pauline Hanson’s surge within the polls, the previous deputy PM tells Sky that whereas the One Nation chief has been round federal politics for the reason that 90s, she’s by no means “constructed” something.
She’s [Hanson’s] very efficient at that clickbait publicity … I’m not fairly certain what it achieves. One Nation is, by and enormous, a protest motion, and individuals are, for the time being, they’re dissatisfied, and so when the pollsters ring up, they’ll all the time inform a pollster that they’re cranky, that sure, ‘I’ll give One Nation a vote’, however whether or not that transpires right into a vote the following basic election, I doubt it.
Residence worth progress speeds forward to date in 2026
Progress in Australian house values re-accelerated in January, defying predictions 2026 could be a softer yr for the property market and fears of an imminent Reserve Financial institution charge rise, AAP experiences.
The median dwelling worth hit a recent nationwide report of $912,465, information agency Cotality revealed in its month-to-month house worth index on Monday.
Residence values grew 0.8% in January, sooner than the 0.6% progress recorded in December.
The property market confirmed indicators of slowing within the final couple of months of 2025, which turned out to be a bumper yr for worth progress on the again of three rate of interest cuts.
Progress was highest within the mid-tier markets, with median costs up 2% for the month in Perth, 1.6% in Brisbane and 1.2% in Adelaide. Values rose barely in Sydney (0.2%) and Melbourne (0.1%).
McCormack says he thinks Littleproud has the numbers to outlive any spill movement
Michael McCormack, the previous Nationals chief, was requested a few potential spill movement in opposition to David Littleproud later at this time, saying: “That’s democracy.”
McCormack instructed RN Breakfast he thinks Littleproud has the numbers to take care of his management, however the Nationals should wait and see what occurs, including:
Anyone’s entitled to place their palms up and we’ll must see the way it performs out. I do know that. Colin is a bit sad for the time being with how issues are going.
McCormack added that he doesn’t know if or how a reunified Coalition will type, however stated any probability required “cool heads, diplomacy, self-discipline and customary sense”.
Andrew Bragg says Liberal social gathering dangers trying like a Days of Our Lives episode
Krishani Dhanji
Liberal frontbencher and shadow minister for deregulation, Andrew Bragg, says the opposition must provide you with severe coverage options, as hypothesis grows over when Angus Taylor will try to roll chief Sussan Ley.
Bragg was requested if Ley remains to be the proper particular person to guide the social gathering, and appeared to dodge the query, simply saying that the Liberals are a “severe social gathering”. He was then requested level clean he if helps Ley. Bragg says “in fact”.
He then warned:
Individuals will mark us down if we seem extra of a Days of Our Lives episode than a coverage providing machine.
Bragg and Ley have this morning introduced a “deregulation agenda”, which he says will lower purple tape:
We’re going to lower a big chunk of that purple tape by means of a brand new goal which implies there’ll few fewer rules, fewer legal guidelines, and it signifies that bus can get on with creating properly and using folks fairly than filling Canberra’s kinds.
Dan Tehan says ‘no purpose’ good religion negotiations can’t reform Coalition this week
Dan Tehan, the shadow minister for power, stated senior leaders from the Nationals and the Liberal party want to satisfy in Canberra this week and work by means of their variations amid a cut up within the Coalition final month.
Tehan spoke to RN Breakfast a day earlier than lawmakers are set to return for the following parliament.
I feel we have to quietly get senior folks collectively and work by means of how we are able to get the Coalition again collectively. And that ought to be achieved behind closed doorways, and there must be a gathering from either side to say, “let’s put apart what has occurred and let’s deal with what we have to do to reform the Coalition”.
There’s no purpose, if everybody enters into this in good religion, that we are able to’t obtain that. And I feel that ought to be an absolute focus this week.
Ben Smee
Who’s Colin Boyce?
When the Taroom cattle farmer Colin Boyce was elected to the Queensland parliament in 2017, his strongest opposition got here from One Nation.
Three years later, Boyce’s plain-spoken first time period as a Liberal National party backbencher – which included crossing the ground on a mining rehabilitation invoice and a local weather speech that claimed we should always “rejoice” international heating – had gained over One Nation chief Pauline Hanson.
This week Boyce introduced a tilt on the Nationals management, claiming he was “livid” on the implosion of the Coalition. He stated occasions in Canberra had left the Nationals “the nothing social gathering”.
Learn extra right here:
David Littleproud could face spill movement at this time
The fallout from the Coalition’s newest spectacular cut up will come to a head with a Nationals backbencher transferring to skewer David Littleproud’s management, AAP experiences.
Queensland MP Colin Boyce will try to set off a spill movement in opposition to the Nationals chief on Monday as politicians descend on Canberra for the return of federal parliament. A number of Nationals members count on the movement will fail to set off a vote on Littleproud’s management as it is going to want the backing of a colleague within the social gathering room.
Boyce beforehand stated he would put himself ahead for the management and urge the Coalition to reunite, warning the social gathering confronted “going over the political cliff” in any other case.
Hypothesis has swirled over whether or not Sussan Ley’s job can also be below risk, regardless of West Australian backbencher Andrew Hastie ruling himself out of competition on Friday. His determination may pave the way in which for conservative rival Angus Taylor, who has not dominated out vying for the opposition’s prime job regardless of sitting on the frontbench.
‘Gunshot’ heard shortly after Porepunkah taking pictures focus of renewed police seek for Dezi Freeman
Victoria police stated the renewed seek for Dezi Freeman is predicated on intelligence in “relation to a gunshot heard a short while after the deadly incident at Freeman’s Rayner Monitor property”.
The brand new search is scheduled to go for 5 days, and can deal with an space of Mount Buffalo nationwide park close to an identical search that occurred in December, which encompassed thick bush and heavy terrain. Police stated detectives have held a spread of firearms assessments within the neighborhood as a part of the inquiries.
There’s nothing to point that Freeman is being aided by a selected particular person, however police say that continues to be a chance. Adam Tilley, a detective inspector with a taskforce targeted on discovering the person, stated in an announcement:
It stays our primary precedence to find Freeman and the in depth and systematic searches carried out over the previous 5 months are testomony to this.
The identical three prospects stay open to us – Freeman is both lifeless, being harboured, or has gotten out from the world and surviving alone. Right now there is no such thing as a intelligence to maneuver us away from these prospects or to make anybody the extra doubtless state of affairs, so we have now to maintain an open thoughts.
There isn’t a doubt that everybody concerned needs a solution and I need to reaffirm that Victoria Police stays dedicated to doing every part we are able to to find Desmond Freeman and get that reply.
Good morning
Good morning, and welcome to Monday. Nick Visser right here to take you thru the day’s information. Right here’s what’s on deck to begin the week:
Victoria police will start a renewed seek for fugitive Dezi Freeman within the Mount Buffalo nationwide park. Greater than 100 police and volunteers will hunt for the person close to an space searched in December, greater than 5 months after two officers had been fatally shot at Freeman’s property in Porepunkah. Police stated the brand new five-day search is predicated on “intelligence derived from data police obtained in relation to a gunshot heard a short while after the deadly incident at Freeman’s Rayner Monitor property” in August.
A Queensland MP will try to set off a spill movement in opposition to Nationals chief David Littleproud at this time as politicians return to Canberra for the following parliament sitting. A number of Nationals members count on the movement will fail to set off a vote on Littleproud’s management as it is going to want the backing of a colleague within the social gathering room.
Keep on with us.
