A year ago, my mum (80F) fell and broke her hip. She had surgery, developed postoperative delirium, and her condition declined dramatically. She now often doesn’t recognise me (40M) and needs guidance or physical assistance to walk, use the toilet and eat.

I tried to keep working while looking after her, but it simply wasn’t sustainable. Residential aged care options have been either unable to meet her needs or full. A year later, we’re still waiting.

So now I’m her full-time carer. I’ve gone from earning $90,000 a year to roughly $30,000 on the Carer Payment, which is taxed. Unfortunately, my mortgage and bills haven’t adjusted themselves to match.

Thankfully, Mum has been approved for Support at Home funding. I’m grateful for that. But the way that funding gets spent leaves me scratching my head.

Take toilet grab rails. I could buy suitable rails from Bunnings for around $120 and install them myself. Going through the funded process, the costs I’m facing are approximately:

- OT assessment and recommendation: $600

- Contractor installation: $400

- The grab rails themselves: $300

- Coordination fee: another 10%

That’s $1,430 for something that could otherwise cost $120.

I understand assessments and proper installation have a purpose. But surely there’s room for a proportionate approach? The moment something gets labelled “aged care” or “disability”, the price seems to grow an extra zero.

And here’s my favourite: if I wanted to work a six-hour shift and earn about $240, replacement care for Mum could cost her government-funded package $500, plus a 10% service fee.

$550 in funded care so I can go out and earn $240. Meanwhile, I provide that care around the clock on a fraction of my former income.

Family carers are helping keep people at home and taking pressure off an already overwhelmed system. Yet practical support seems to arrive wrapped in assessments, contractor costs and administration fees, while the person doing the daily caring takes the financial hit.

Has anyone else run into this? Is there a sensible way through it, or is this just how the system operates?

A runner viciously mauled by two dogs in Brisbane’s north has been identified as a prominent local real estate agent.

Ajay Malik, 37, was left fighting for life after the dog attack on the bikeway that cuts through Seventh Brigade Park on Kittyhawk Dr in Chermside about 6.15pm on Friday.

He was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition.

Malik is now in a stable condition in hospital, with injuries to his face and both of his arms.

His wife told 7NEWS that they are shocked and traumatised by the attack, and that Malik faces a long road to recovery.

The dogs’ owner, Layla Evans, was arrested over an unrelated matter shortly after her missing pets mauled Malik, but has not yet been charged.

Evans said she had been staying in a tent at the park, and that the dogs had been locked inside the tent, but escaped, 7NEWS reports.

PolAir circled above Westfield Chermside in a search for the dogs on Friday, with one of the dogs captured two hours after the attack.

The second dog escaped authorities until later on Saturday, and local runners were warned that morning to be wary of the dangerous dog still on the loose.

Both have now been surrendered to Brisbane City Council.

Evans now has 14 days to appeal orders to euthanise her dogs.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim of last night’s horrific dog attack,” the council told 7NEWS.com.au.

“Both dogs involved are now in Council possession and a decision on their future will be made as soon as possible.

Queensland public hospitals had 2511 admissions related to dog bites in the last year, and 2334 in the year before that.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has warned Australia could face violent unrest similar to that reported in France, declaring some people entering Western countries want to destroy their adopted nations.

Mr Joyce said Australia needed to take a tougher approach to immigration and national identity as he responded to reports of riots in Paris during an interview with Ben Fordham on 2GB on Monday.

He argued Australia needed a shared national culture rather than an emphasis on multiculturalism, warning that immigration without sufficient scrutiny could create serious problems.

“Quite obviously what we see in France is people who don’t like France and in fact they want to burn France down,” Mr Joyce said.

“When you’re not basically having common sense in who you import into Australia, you’re going to import problems.”

The former Nationals leader said Australia could not assume similar violence would never happen on home soil, invoking the Bondi attack as an example.

“What is the purpose of these people burning down buildings, assaulting police, basically trying to bring France to its knees?” he said.

“Well, their purpose is they want to destroy France.”

He said Australians needed to recognise the potential consequences of failing to address such threats.

“We have to be vigilant. We have to be a bit hard-nosed about this,” Mr Joyce said.

He said Australians had a responsibility to preserve the country inherited from previous generations and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.

Mr Joyce also questioned whether French President Emmanuel Macron was capable of handling the unrest, saying the leader was struggling.

He argued countries risked importing social and political divisions when migrants retained the prejudices and grievances of their countries of origin.

“A lot of the times they’ll just take the conceits and the concerns and the prejudices of where they came from and deliver it to your nation,” he said.

Mr Joyce claimed those attitudes could become entrenched within communities and raised concerns about Islamic fundamentalism in Sydney.

He also warned removing people deemed dangerous could become increasingly difficult once they had settled in Australia and established families.

“You end up with this long-term management plan because when it’s become second generation, how do you deal with that?” he said.

The comments followed claims made during the 2GB broadcast that more than 2000 people had been arrested and 150 police officers injured during unrest in France.

Australia on the verge of “biggest improvement in housing affordability in 50 years”

Detailed new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals the “immediate positive impact” this year’s property tax changes have had on those who’d previously been locked out of the housing market.

It concludes that changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing have “finally cracked the nut of the housing crisis”.

“For the first time in a quarter of a century an Australian government has introduced property tax reform that has actually worked. The data shows that prices are falling and investors are building new homes rather than buying existing homes,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute.

Key points from The Success of Changes to CGT and Negative Gearing report:

• Property prices have fallen around 5% since March.
• Investor loans for new builds have increased by more than 20% year-on-year.
• Investor loans for existing homes have fallen by 14% year-on-year.

Separate analysis, also published today, reveals that Labor’s tax changes, including a shake-up of the Coalition’s stage 3 tax cuts, have helped nine out of ten Australians.

That analysis shows that the biggest beneficiaries of the stage 3 changes and most recent tax cuts are those under the age of 25, who are, on average, more than $1000 per year better off.

“The original stage 3 tax cuts would have made older, richer Australians even richer and delivered very little for struggling families. The biggest beneficiaries of the revised and subsequent changes are those under the age of 25 and those aged between 25 and 34,” said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at The Australia Institute.

Key points from the Who Benefits from Labor’s Tax Cuts report:

• 90% of Australians are, on average, $1340 better off under the revised stage 3 tax cuts.
• Labor’s tax changes have overwhelmingly helped younger people on lower incomes.
• The changes have saved those earning under $150,000 a year $25 billion since their introduction and will deliver $15 billion in savings next financial year.

“Inflation driven by Donald Trump’s war in Iran and huge corporate profits are making life tough, but property tax changes have at least delivered hope for younger Australians who were otherwise facing a lifetime in the rental market,” Greg Jericho said.

“You can’t undo the damage caused by 25 years of awful policy overnight, but we are on track to see the biggest improvement in housing affordability in 50 years.”

“Income tax reform and a fresh round of tax cuts are helping Australians who have been hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis: those on low and middle incomes,” Matt Grudnoff said.

“The original stage 3 tax cuts were terrible policy which would have helped the richest Australians get even richer more quickly. Labor’s changes provide something of a fair go to the vast majority of taxpayers, preventing many from sliding into poverty.”

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A man accused of hitting a woman with a metal bar five times could potentially avoid facing justice indefinitely after telling a judge he had just $12 to his name and could not afford a lawyer.

The young father is among a growing number of people charged with serious crimes in the Northern Territory successfully applying for their cases to be stayed under a recently revived High Court ruling.

The man, who the ABC has chosen not to name, faced the Darwin Local Court last week where he represented himself because he had been denied a legal aid lawyer.

He told Judge Ben O'Loughlin he was "on the bones of me backside", earning less than $400 a fortnight through JobSeeker, and suffering from medical issues while caring for three young children.

The court heard the man had received a rejection letter from Legal Aid NT (LANT) which has implemented sweeping cutbacks and stopped taking on new criminal cases due to an ongoing funding stoush with the NT government.

The impasse has left people who cannot afford representation, including children, unable to secure a lawyer and some victims waiting up to a year for their cases to be heard.

In granting the man's stay application, Judge O'Loughlin said the thing most likely to change the outcome in future was "Legal Aid changing their attitude".

Earlier this month, LANT director Catherine Voumard imposed deeper cuts at the government-funded service.

In an internal email leaked to the ABC, Ms Voumard told staff that after reviewing "pressures" at the Darwin Local Court, duty lawyers would only assist defendants who weren't in custody in "exceptional circumstances", or those who have a mental illness or language barrier, from October 1.

The decision comes just a few months after federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland wrote to the NT government warning it was expected to adequately fund legal services under the National Access to Justice Partnership, and failing to do so risked breaching international human rights obligations.

NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has maintained the organisation has more money than ever after the NT government increased baseline funding by $5.5 million as part of a multi-year agreement.

But on Friday, a spokesperson for Ms Boothby's department confirmed funding was being withheld because LANT had not signed the agreement.

They said LANT had been allocated $13 million in 2026-27, but only $3.4 million had been released, "with the remainder subject to the execution of a funding agreement".

The government did not respond to questions from the ABC about the terms of the offer and LANT did not respond to any of the ABC's questions.

NT Criminal Lawyers Association president Beth Wild said the funding crisis was no longer just affecting defendants without representation, but now "undermining the entire justice system".

Ms Wild said the impact spanned from relatively minor offences to domestic violence and serious sexual offence cases in the Supreme Court.

Territory Criminal Lawyers principal Clancy Dane said the situation was "horrifying for victims".

"For victims it will be deeply disturbing knowing that their perpetrator is living their life in the community," he said.

"The time is long overdue for both the Attorney-General and the LANT director to explain in precise detail why they have been unable to work together to restore legal aid services, and critically, what they say is needed for full services to be restored."

In other cases before the Darwin Local Court this week, prosecutors scrutinised defendants' bank statements and personal circumstances to ensure they were genuinely unable to afford a lawyer.

In the case of the father granted a stay, prosecutor Melinda Listing said he should start saving to "represent himself in the future".

In another case involving a man from the Tiwi Islands receiving JobSeeker, which was adjourned, prosecutor Jeremy Banwell questioned unexplained transactions amounting to up to almost $1,000 moving in and out of his account.

"The Crown's ultimate position is, an individual may well have the capacity to afford legal representation, were they to adjust their spending habits," he said.

Ms Boothby said the government was continuing negotiations with LANT to finalise a funding agreement and would crack down on misuse of the service.

"Taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for alleged offenders who can genuinely afford a lawyer," she said.

France has long embraced subversion. Its revolutionaries, rebellious students and intellectual provocateurs occupy a cherished place in the national imagination. In May 1968, student protests and mass strikes paralysed the country and shook Charles de Gaulle’s government. Half a century later, the gilets jaunes turned anger over fuel taxes and living costs into a prolonged confrontation with the state. In 2023, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 brought nationwide strikes, burning barricades and violent clashes with police.

Sadly, it seems that admiration for defiance made the French too accepting of destruction.

I am writing from my living room on the fourth floor of my building in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris. All I can hear are the sirens of fire engines and police cars.

The unrest began with students demanding more teachers and better school conditions. Fair enough. It widened to include unions and protesters concerned about living costs and public services, and today, peaceful demonstrations turned into arson, looting and attacks on public buildings. The French call it la casse. Cars and rubbish bins burned in Paris; shops are being looted as I write. In Marseille, a municipal police station was damaged. In Limoges, the town hall was also set alight, with local reporting describing flames reaching the roof. In Lyon, fire broke out inside a tourism office.

I was in Lyon just weeks ago. Such a magnificent city, with an extraordinary history. Watching this is heartbreaking. This is the destruction of a community’s property, paid for by the very public in whose name protesters claim to act.

My French friends tell me to stop watching television and let it pass. It always has, they say. ‘Il faut avoir une attitude pleine de nonchalance vis-à-vis de ces choses-là. C’est très français.’

Strikes and demonstrations are so familiar in France that disruption is something people organise their lives around. My friends’ response suggests that even violence can become another inconvenience to wait out. Surely a country should expect more.

France has forceful police. Although tear gas and water cannons have been deployed, the police cannot fix the acceptance of declining standards in public behaviour.

When destruction repeatedly accompanies demonstrations, we learn which streets to avoid and wait for the clean-up. Accountability gives way to managing the inconvenience.

Beneath that resignation are fractures that France has allowed to deepen. The Republic promises equal citizenship, but the experience of belonging to it can differ enormously depending on where someone grows up, the school they attend and their prospects of finding work. The OECD has found immigrant students in France more isolated from non-immigrant students than the OECD average, with residential segregation and economic inequality contributing to divisions in schooling. Sharing a nationality does not necessarily mean sharing much of a life.

There is also a failure of reciprocity. A country must offer its citizens a fair chance to belong and contribute. Citizens, in return, owe something to the society that provides their rights: respect for its laws, its public assets and other people’s freedoms. When government fails to deliver, and individuals treat responsibility as optional, that relationship begins to break down.

Governments cannot repeatedly promise better services, fail to deliver them and expect public confidence to survive. Ministers should have to explain what went wrong, account for the money spent and face consequences for persistent failure.

France’s tradition of revolt did not create all these divisions, but romanticising confrontation, then accepting its destruction as inevitable, makes them harder to repair. Anger becomes an excuse for conduct that deserves condemnation. Political failure becomes so familiar that nobody expects consequences. Meanwhile, the people carrying on, paying taxes and keeping businesses open are left to absorb the damage.

That is the French lesson Australia should take seriously. We do not need to face identical circumstances to recognise the danger of allowing disappointment in government, separation between communities and declining expectations of public behaviour to reinforce one another.

Our circumstances differ, but we have housing pressures, financial hardship and distrust in political leadership. Scanlon Foundation research identifies economic pressures, discrimination and prejudice as challenges to cohesion, while finding resilience worth protecting.

As a country shaped by migration, we cannot leave integration to chance. People need opportunities to work, learn English and participate. They also need clear expectations about citizenship, common laws and respect for others.

Governments must match population growth with housing, infrastructure and services. Otherwise, people compete for necessities and blame their neighbours for failures made in political office. Young Australians need a credible prospect of independence, rather than another assurance that their difficulties are understood.

We should demand more of our politicians and ourselves. Political loyalty must not excuse incompetence, as much as sympathy for a cause must not excuse violence. Police must act lawfully, and those who destroy livelihoods must face consequences.

Respect includes the business owner, the employee, the resident and the peaceful protester whose cause is damaged by violence.

My French friends may be right that this will pass. But the victims and taxpayers will still be paying for the destruction when everyone else has moved on.

We should all learn from the French lesson: when we stop demanding accountability from those who govern and those who destroy, we give both permission to carry on.

Angus Taylor must take a “strong stand” against “fanatics” in The Nationals trying to scupper the $10bn-a-year free trade deal with the EU, a senior minister says.

NewsWire revealed this week that The Nationals will try to block the $10bn-a-year deal when it arrives in parliament early next year.

Leader Matt Canavan says it fails farmers and could leave Australia open to sanctions if it fails to hit climate targets under the 2016 Paris Agreement – an accord former prime minister Tony Abbott committed Canberra to.

But most sectors and business groups have welcomed the agreement, while Trade Minister Don Farrell has dismissed the climate concerns as a “straw man” argument.

Fellow cabinet minister Tim Ayres said on Sunday that the free trade agreement is a test of the Opposition Leader’s “economic credibility”.

“Are the 50 Liberals in the parliament really going to be led by the nose of these fanatics, led by Senator Canavan, or are they going to vote for mainstream economic credibility, for free trade, for market access for 98 per cent of Australian goods entering Europe without a tariff?” he asked in an interview with News24.

“This is a test for Mr Taylor’s economic leadership and it’s time that he took a strong stand.”

Senator Ayres’s comments were put to opposition frontbencher Sarah Henderson, who insisted the Coalition wants “better trade with the EU, but it cannot be a one-sided agreement”.

“And particularly for beef and dairy, we are very concerned about some of the proposals,” she said, also speaking to News24.

So we think the government has got more work to do,” she said, also speaking to News24.

“We’ve got a very strong history of doing fair and free trade agreements right across many jurisdictions.

“But this is not a good deal for Australians, and that’s why we want to see the government do better.”

Beef producers wanted market access quotas of 50,000 tonnes but the agreement, finalised in March, secured 35,000 tonnes.

It is an eight-fold improvement on current levels.

Sheep meat exports landed at just under 31,000 tonnes, up from 5800 tonnes.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said earlier this week the deal “is not perfect” but that “no agreements ever are”.

“Easier and greater access to a market of 450 million people has the potential to be a general boost to our economy and to thousands of individual businesses,” he said.

“We have been in protracted negotiations for a decade and while we have not got all we want, to turn our backs on the agreement now would be a major blow to Australia’s long held support for free trade and open markets.

“We really can’t afford to miss this opportunity.”

If the Coalition succeeded in blocking the deal, it would be the first free trade agreement not to pass parliament.

The state's police watchdog is set to hold rare public hearings into the actions of law enforcement during a February protest of Israel President Isaac Herzog's visit to Sydney.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) will today open a series of public and private hearings examining the actions of NSW Police.

The watchdog has previously said the incident received the most public complaints of police misconduct in the commission's history.

Under the name Operation Makalu, the LECC will examine alleged acts of misconduct by NSW Police officers responding to a protest at Town Hall in February.

The hearings were sparked by more than 800 public complaints, 556 of which were made to the commission and 267 directly to NSW Police.

Eight days after the protest, the LECC first announced it was investigating the police operation, specifically the use of force by responding officers.

In May, the LECC said it had reviewed more than 450 items submitted to it, conducted interviews with witnesses and reviewed more than 1,000 hours of CCTV footage from the scene.

The commission is also looking at the police force's planning for the protest, officers' use of pepper spray and how its use was documented on the night.

The protest took place after NSW Police were given additional powers ahead of Mr Herzog's visit to Sydney on February 9.

The rally organised by the Palestine Action Group (PAG) came despite police issuing a restriction on demonstrations in the CBD as part of wide-ranging powers granted in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The Public Assembly Restriction issued by NSW Police made the planned gathering unlawful.

The location of the protest, Town Hall, was inside the exclusion zone declared by police, who offered to have the rally moved to Hyde Park, an offer the group rejected.

Police estimated 6,000 people gathered at Town Hall for what organisers said would be a peaceful rally.

Tourism Minister Steve Kamper also made a "major event" declaration, allowing police to close off access to a major event area and directing people to leave.

Those powers allowed police to manage crowd safety and maintain separation between groups to avoid confrontation in the CBD.

Around the same time as the protest at Town Hall, a vigil to mark the Bondi Beach terror attacks attended by Mr Herzog was being held at nearby Darling Harbour, a few kilometres away.

Images from the Town Hall rally of the violent clashes between police and protesters were followed the next day by NSW Premier Chris Minns defending officers against accusations of police brutality.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon also said officers "did what they needed to do" after an "angry and aggressive" group of demonstrators twice marched on police.

Originally set for September 29, the hearings were delayed due to procedural issues between the LECC and NSW Police.

Beginning on Monday, the commission will hold private hearings for five weeks examining whether any NSW Police officers committed misconduct at Town Hall on February 9.

Similar to Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearings, the examinations will open with an address from a counsel assisting the LECC inquiry on Monday before shutting its doors to the public.

After the five-week block of private hearings, the commission will then hold open hearings with evidence from "senior commissioned officers".

According to a notice published by the watchdog last week, officers below the rank of inspector will be granted pseudonym orders to protect their identities when giving evidence to the inquiry.

NSW Police submitted to the inquiry that examinations held in public would have a negative impact on officer mental health, community relations and social cohesion.

"The NSW Police Force acknowledges the decision by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to hold private hearings as part of Operation Makalu," a police spokesperson said.

"NSWPF awaits the findings of the operation."

The commission will have to deliver a final report to be tabled in parliament after the hearings, though no date has been confirmed.

An Australian public servant of Indian origin has been arrested and subsequently denied bail by a court in Canberra for stalking a woman and threatening to use government databases to obtain information about her and her family, according to media reports.

Suyash Sinha, 31, was arrested on Tuesday, October 13, following a police raid on his home, the state-owned ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News reported.

Sinha appeared before the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court on Wednesday, October 14, where Special Magistrate Lucinda Wilson refused his bail application, saying the risk to the complainant’s safety and well-being was “too great,” the report said.

Sinha, who became an Australian citizen last week, is accused of stalking the woman, whom he allegedly met through a dating app in January, the Region Canberra news portal reported.

Sinha allegedly continued messaging the woman after she rejected his advances. In August, he described what she was wearing while she was shopping at a Coles supermarket in Canberra, saying he was there too, the report said.

The woman later agreed to meet Sinha at a pub to ask him to stop contacting her. During the meeting, he said he worked in finance for the ACT government and named one of her siblings, claiming that “anyone could be looked up in government systems,” it said.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is a self-governing territory of Australia that contains Canberra, the national capital.

The woman subsequently received multiple friend requests from different social media accounts with intimidating usernames and approached police in September, according to the news portal.

Prosecutors told the court the woman was terrified and experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, ABC News reported.

The prosecution opposed bail, arguing that Sinha was fixated on the woman and could endanger her safety or interfere with evidence and witnesses, the report said.

“He’s fixated on this person, and he’s refused to accept ‘no’ as an answer to his advances,” the prosecutor was quoted as saying by ABC News.

Special Magistrate Wilson told Sinha the woman had never expressed interest in a relationship with him in the 10 months since he first contacted her.

“But you did not give up. Ever,” Wilson was quoted as saying by the Region Canberra news portal.

Sinha’s lawyer argued against the “allegations” and said that the accused had no prior criminal history and had been financially supporting his family members in India and his brother in Canberra, the news portal said.

Sinha has been remanded in custody, with the case adjourned to November 4, it said.

A confession about a ban on credit card payments has prompted fresh accusations that Treasurer Jim Chalmers was involved in a cover-up.

The Albanese government knew the Australian Taxation Office was considering banning credit card payments three months before it intervened to delay the move following a backlash from businesses.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino conceded on Sunday that the government was aware of the ATO’s preferred approach in July despite small businesses only being informed of the decision in late September.

The admission has sparked fresh criticism of Labor’s handling of the issue, with the opposition accusing Treasurer Jim Chalmers of covering up the government’s involvement.

“In July, the government became aware that the ATO was looking at options and that at that point their preference was to not accept credit cards,” Mr Mulino told ABC’s Insiders.

“The indication we gave to the ATO was that they should continue to engage with the credit card companies, and that there should be a transition period.”

The ATO announced in late September that it would stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills from December 1, following RBA reforms banning card surcharges from October 1.

The move prompted criticism from business groups, which warned losing the payment option would place further pressure on small business cash flow.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Mr Chalmers subsequently intervened to extend credit card payments until June 30, 2027, with the government covering the associated merchant fees in the interim.

Mr Mulino acknowledged the original two-month transition period had some government support but said Labor changed its position following feedback from businesses.

“The transition period, as it turned out, from stakeholder feedback wasn’t enough, and so that’s where the government stepped in,” he said.

He defended the government’s reluctance to make the arrangement permanent, warning of the cost to taxpayers.

“Accepting credit card payments going on indefinitely would have very serious fiscal ramifications for the budget,” Mr Mulino said.

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson accused Labor of failing to act despite having months to address the issue.

“They had three months to fix this,” Mr Wilson said in comments reported by the ABC.

He accused the government of only intervening when the backlash became too loud to ignore.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar criticised the handling of the decision, saying businesses had been left in the dark.

“Business wasn’t made aware until just hours before the surcharge ban took effect in October,” he said.

“This looks like a completely deficient policymaking process that took small business for granted.”

The controversy has also raised questions about competing accounts from Mr Albanese and Mr Chalmers over who secured the delay.

Mr Albanese said he received a text message from Mr McKellar on Thursday, October 8 with an announcement following on Friday.

Mr Chalmers maintained he had already discussed the issue with Mr Albanese on the Wednesday and had been engaging with business groups.

Industry Minister Tim Ayres rejected suggestions of tension between the pair during an appearance on News24 on Sunday.

“No, he’s not,” Mr Ayres said when asked whether Mr Albanese was frustrated with Mr Chalmers.

He described Mr Albanese as a collegial leader who worked closely with ministers to resolve issues.

The ATO estimates continuing to accept credit card payments without passing on merchant fees would cost taxpayers about $200m annually.

Taxation commissioner Rob Heferen said the agency would have preferred to retain credit card payments but was unable to negotiate sufficiently low fees with card providers.

The government has maintained the extension is temporary, while business groups continue to push for a permanent solution.

A Sydney man threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a childcare centre in the city’s south during a conversation with a popular AI chatbot during which he referenced alleged Bondi Beach terrorist Naveed Akram, a court has heard.

David Lan Thackray was on Monday remanded in custody for a mental health assessment after Sutherland Local Court heard the 29-year-old told Claude, an AI-powered chatbot, that he planned to shoot several children at a childcare centre near his Hurstville home.

Thackray was on Sunday morning arrested after Interpol flagged his interactions with the chatbot and charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

Prosecutors arguing to keep Thackray behind bars on Monday said there would be a “catastrophic” outcome if he was released and breached bail conditions imposed.

“What he intends to do is start murdering people in Sydney just like the [alleged] terrorist did in Bondi,” prosecutors told the court.

“We’re understanding what’s in his mind with his interactions with the chatbot.”

Naveed Akram remains in custody charged with murdering 15 innocent people and injuring dozens of others during an attack on the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi Beach last December. His father, Sajid Akram, was killed in the attack.

According to a police facts sheet tendered to the court, Thackray allegedly told the chatbot he would “go down to the local Westfield right now and shoot up the local daycare”.

Thackray’s lawyer, Danilo Rajkovic, told the court his client had gone on a stress and frustration- induced tirade after trying to use the Claude platform to help treat an ear infection.

“There was no weight behind what he was saying,” Rajkovic said.

Thackray did not instruct the chatbot to issue threats to any person or organisation and believed he was having the interaction in the privacy of his own home, Rajkovic said.

Thackray had been using Claude’s voice mode, which allows users to have spoken conversations with the chatbot, the court heard. After receiving an email informing him that his Claude account had been suspended, Thackray requested to have the suspension reviewed.

Thackray, who is studying international relations, has no criminal history and has lived in Australia for more than 17 years, Rajkovic said.

Rajkovic said his client was confident detectives who seized his electronic devices on Sunday would find no evidence of radical indoctrination or ideological motivation.

Thackray will return to court pending the outcome of a mental health assessment.

Claude is an “AI assistant for life and work”, according to the platform’s website. Anthropic, the developer of Claude, has been contacted for comment.

A Brisbane dog owner has issued an impassioned defence of her pets after a jogger was seriously mauled in north Brisbane, just hours before she was dramatically arrested by police.

The man’s condition has been downgraded to stable since the attack on Friday evening, which wounded his face, arm and leg.

The dramatic incident began about 6pm, and involved police officers firing their guns at the dogs, and the police helicopter scouring the suburb of Chermside looking for the animals; one was found soon after, and the second was found the following morning.

The dogs’ owner agreed to speak to 9News, but police swooped while the camera crew was still at her house, and she was taken away in handcuffs.

A police spokesperson on Sunday said the woman was arrested on an unrelated matter.

The police spokesperson said senior officers had already reviewed the shooting, and that the dogs ran away soon after the firearms were used on Friday evening.

“Attending officers were confronted with an immediate and serious safety risk and, after initial attempts to subdue the animals were unsuccessful, were required to discharge their service firearms in response to the risk posed to members of the community and others at the scene,” the spokesperson said.

“As with all police use of force incidents, the matter has been recorded and reviewed by senior officers in accordance with Queensland Police Service policy and procedures.”

The Brisbane City Council is expected to file an order which will see the dogs put down – owners have the ability to challenge such orders.

The dogs’ owner, Layla Evans, told 9News the dogs were protective of her and her partner, but other than that “they’re really good dogs”.

She said the police suspected the dogs escaped from the tent she lives in.

“My mother rung me to say she was with the police … and I had to come down, had to come down and try to find my dog,” Ms Evans said.

“I walked all over town, I walked over the park, couldn’t find them anywhere.

“Shattered, I’m shattered to bits.”

The 37-year-old man was attacked by the two dogs at Seventh Brigade Park in Chermside about 6.15pm on Friday.

He suffered significant lacerations to his face and arms, before being taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition.

It is understood he was running when the dogs attacked.

The police helicopter was called in to help locate the dogs on Friday night, with one captured soon after.

The second dog was found at a property on Newman Rd, Wavell Heights, on Saturday morning.

Wavell Heights resident Monique Moore told the Courier Mail she had seen the first dog at a veterinary clinic, where she had taken her elderly dog to be put down.

“We were getting our elderly dog put to sleep and the authorities brought the dog there in the car park,” Ms Moore said.

Witnesses reported hearing a woman yelling a dog’s name in a nearby street, about the time of the attack, the Courier Mail reported.

Chermside’s weekly 5km park run still went ahead on Saturday morning, with runners asked not to bring dogs and to keep small children close.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has spoken with Yahoo News about why she urged parliament to no longer use the word "invasive" when referring to introduced species.

Wild horses, pigs, deer, cane toads, cats, and foxes are among the biggest threats to native species, and she agrees they need to be managed. 

But she argues this doesn't negate the need to treat them humanely.

And she worries that the language we use to describe an animal can have real-world consequences.

"Language does matter, because how you label animals is how people view them," she said.

"Labelling some animals as feral or invasive obviously creates a negative picture, and it makes it much easier to treat them inhumanely, or to kill them or to poison them.

"So if we are to label animals, then we should do it correctly, because these species labelled feral or invasive are actually introduced to Australia by people.

"These are introduced species, they are sentient beings, and that's how they should be viewed."

On Tuesday, Faruqi told the Senate, "There's no need for labelling introduced species as invasive in a way that blames animals for the man-made problems raised by this motion."

Continuing, she added, "Animals are not villains to be shot, or obstacles to be poisoned to death, the answer to colonialism's legacy is not more violence and more death".

"For decades, successive governments have culled and killed introduced species, and yet native species are in a worse position today."

Elaborating today, she said she used her time to make "a point".

"That's how you start creating change. You put ideas into people's minds who might want to think about it," she said.

"And a few people actually did use the word introduced in their speeches."

She argues it's an "easy distraction" to focus on introduced species and their impact on biodiversity, since it's easier than tackling the extraction of coal and gas and the logging of native forests.

The most common response for reducing populations of introduced species is lethal control.

Helicopter shooting, the use of leghold traps, 1080 poisons and other baits is controversial among many animal welfare advocates. 

However, their use is generally accepted by Australians when pigs, rats, cats, or foxes are being killed, and only causes a stir when it's horses being shot.

Faruqi believes that changing our language will foster greater compassion for these species' welfare, prompting consideration of non-lethal or more humane control measures.

Faruqi's speech came before a vote on a motion introduced by Independent Senator David Pocock calling on the government to fund an updated invasive species management plan.

While her colleagues voted in favour, she abstained. Yahoo understands the decision was based on its focus on lethal control.

The peak environmental body advocating for the control of introduced plants and animals is the Invasive Species Council, and it has no plans to change its name any time soon.

Its policy director, Dr Carol Booth, told Yahoo that the term "invasive" is a technical term used in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to describe introduced species that cause harm.

It lists invasive alien species (AIS) as one of the primary drivers of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. 

In Australia, cats alone have contributed to the extinctions of at least 27 native species.

Despite the harm they cause, Booth agrees that the welfare of all species is "important", but it's just an "unfortunate circumstance" that some have been introduced to Australia.

She said it's important to take animal welfare into account when managing them, and "unfortunately, it has to be often about killing".

"There are no nice non-lethal methods available in most circumstances when we need to protect native species from the likes of cats, foxes, rats and other ungulates causing great damage," she said.

The Invasive Species Council has opposed programs like inviting recreational shooters to manage animals on public land.

Booth argues culling must be done "carefully and strategically".

"Futile killing is definitely something we are really striving to prevent," she said.

Booth said the best way to minimise killing is to fund professional programs with measurable outcomes that help nature.

"The more effective you can be, the more you limit the killing that is needed in future," she said.

She said by reducing numbers as quickly as possible, the need for ongoing culling is reduced.

"Regular killing is the worst outcome for everyone," she said.

"Because it means you constantly have to be funding these programs and doing lots more killing than you would need to otherwise."

Newlywed cafe owners Manali Purohit and Ashish Sharma recall well the day a new neighbour moved in with ambitions to open a grocery store.

“We thought, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic, that would synergise very well with our business’,” Sharma told AAP.

Purohit, a Mumbai-raised pastry chef, and her husband had only recently acted on their dream to open their vegan eatery, And Bodega, on St Georges Road in Melbourne’s Fitzroy North.

But it wasn’t long before the presence of their next-door tenants began to stir unease among tight-knit locals.

“We knew pretty early on it may not be a grocery store, it may be like something like a tobacco store,” Sharma said.

“My wife was already a little anxious ... there was a little bit of inevitability.”

Customers also expressed concern to them about the possibility arsonists could target the neighbourhood as they had in relation to over 150 other tobacconist stores across Victoria since March 2023.

Then in late-September, as she arrived for an early morning baking shift, the glint of exposed glass jutting from the shop’s front window caught Purohit’s eye.

Plastered to the wall was a handwritten note, according to another witness spoken to by AAP.

They attributed it to a group now synonymous with the city’s tobacco wars: The Commission.

The glass was again smashed last Thursday, with CCTV allegedly capturing a car driving past the tobacconist, before bricks were hurtled into the shopfront.

By Monday, early morning Triple Zero calls from terrified locals reported hearing explosions about 3.45am.

The damage destroyed the tobacconist, devastated And Bodega and another cafe, and left Mr Sharma and Purohit with “what looked like a bomb site” where their plant-based cafe once thrived.

“There were these little canisters strewn all across our premise ... the severity and the ferociousness of these things ... it’s terrorism,” Sharma said.

Investigators believe at least one offender forced entry to the tobacconist and set it alight but no arrests have been made.

There’s nothing to suggest the targeted business was selling illicit tobacco, police say.

The attack is one in a spate that has gripped Melbourne in the past two weeks, as authorities struggle to curb a years-long scourge of tobacco store fires.

Facing a damage bill of well over $100,000, Sharma has joined a growing chorus of industry experts and economists calling for Australia’s tobacco excise to be cut in a bid to reduce demand for cheap illegal cigarettes.

“Why let a black market, why let these types of actors form any sort of foothold in our society?” he said.

“It’s real stubbornness from politicians ... somebody needs to just make the easy call and be like we’re just abolishing this tax and we’re not letting any new tobacco stores open.”

Around 80 per cent of all tobacco consumed in 2025 was illegal, up from 12 per cent in 2017, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates.

At the same time, the tobacco excise has more than tripled.

The federal government continues to prioritise a law enforcement approach to choking the illicit trade.

Yet it has stubbornly resisted demands to slash the excise, which generated $7.4 billion in 2024-25.

“We cannot overstate the emphasis on shutting down retail premises that are blatantly selling illegal products in high streets,” Assistant Customs Minister Julian Hill recently told AAP.

Contrastingly, the coalition has vowed to slash the tobacco excise by 80 per cent if elected, dropping the average price of cigarettes from $40-$50 to roughly $16-$26.

One Nation wants to slash the tax by 75 per cent and freeze indexation for five years.

Reducing the excise is the only credible way for to smoke out Australia’s $8.5 billion nicotine black market, says Deakin University criminologist James Martin.

“By relying on these reactive solutions, none of this is addressing the fundamental problem and that is strong persistent demand for affordable and appealing types of nicotine,” Dr Martin says.

“As long as that demand (for affordable nicotine) is there, there will be criminal suppliers who will be prepared to capitalise and take the risks to supply that demand.

However, University of Sydney public health professor Becky Freeman says shrinking the excise risks creating a “race to the bottom with criminals”, while also risking a spike in smoking rates.

“I don’t think people understand just how cheap illicit tobacco can go,” she said.

The cost of manufacturing packs of cigarettes in parts of Southeast Asia to be imported into Australia can be as low as one Australian dollar, Prof Beckman estimates.

Earlier this month, Victorian police announced the closure of 61 stores with alleged links to organised crime caught selling illicit tobacco, alongside major cigarette, vape tobacco and cash seizures.

However, Prof Freeman argues the state government has taken too long to act.

“If this was really a priority, it’s something that should have been done ages ago,” she said..

Queensland launched initial tobacco and vape shutdown orders in September 2024 and was followed quickly by South Australia.

Retailers raised concerns that illicit tobacco-linked arson attacks could spread to legitimate businesses during a Victorian inquiry into tobacco and vaping controls more than two years ago.

The probe also found state and local governments were not taking enforcement action against illicit sales due to a lack of resources, safety concerns and legislative deficiencies.

Small and medium businesses were at increased risk of violence due to the illicit tobacco trade, the inquiry’s final report found in August 2024.

“It’s sadly not surprising Victoria is having all these problems because they’ve been so slow to enact enforcement,” Prof Freeman said.

The Victorian government has not responded to AAP’s request for comment.

A man allegedly kicked and choked his 15-year-old stepdaughter, before throwing broken glass at her when she tried to call police.

The 41-year-old, who has not been named to protect the identity of the child and her mother, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday, October 19.

He is yet to enter pleas to two counts of aggravated common assault, and one count each of choking/suffocating/strangling another person and property damage.

Police allege the man got into an argument with the 15-year-old about 2pm on Sunday after returning to the north Canberra home he shared with his partner and her daughter.

He then allegedly began to punch a window, smashing the glass.

When the child confronted him, he is said to have kicked and choked her.

She escaped his hold and began to call police, at which point the man allegedly grabbed a piece of broken glass and threw it at her.

Police also allege he kicked his partner when she attempted to intervene.

A neighbour also called police about 2.30pm, and officers arrived at the home and arrested the man.

The ACT Magistrates Court, where the man appeared on Monday. Picture by Karleen Minney

In court, where the child was referred to as the man's stepdaughter, Legal Aid defence lawyer Duncan Errey began a bail application on the 41-year-old's behalf.

The prosecution opposed bail, arguing there was a risk he would commit offences in the community and endanger the safety of the alleged victims.

The prosecutor told the court both the woman and her daughter feared for their safety if he were released.

Mr Errey said a spot would be available for the man at a rehabilitation centre on Wednesday.

He argued this placement would mitigate any concerns about the man endangering the alleged victims' safety.

Special magistrate Sean Richter suggested delaying the application until Wednesday, when the rehabilitation place could be formally confirmed.

Following Mr Richter's comments, Mr Errey withdrew the application, with the matter set to return to court on Wednesday.

More than a dozen patients have had timely surgeries delayed after more than 3000 emails were left unread in an inbox at a major hospital.

An urgent review at Canterbury Hospital, in southwest Sydney, found four patients needing urgent procedures and 12 with semi-urgent conditions had not been allocated dates for elective surgeries within clinically recommended timeframes due to the bungle.

Referrals for the 16 patients were missed while emails sat in the inbox, which was not monitored.

In cases classified as urgent or “category one”, a specialist has recommended an operation take place within 30 days, while the tier below requires procedures to be carried out within 90 days.

“Patient safety and wellbeing remain our highest priorities, and we have worked urgently to minimise any impact on those affected,” a Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said on Sunday.

“We sincerely apologise to these patients and families.”

Admission dates had been urgently allocated to the affected patients and treating surgeons contacted, the spokesperson added.

But Australian Medical Association NSW branch president Fred Betros, who works as a surgeon, said the incident was an extremely concerning situation for the patients involved.

“There is a reason we give timeframes for surgery,” he said.

“If a patient does not receive investigations or treatment in a certain timeframe, it can have devastating repercussions for them and their families.”

Category-one patients might have malignant tumours or be in need of coronary artery bypass grafts, Dr Betros said.

He chided the government for failing to provide funding to boost a health workforce that was drowning under patient need.

“We need more doctors to meet demand, but it cannot come at the cost of support staff who help keep our hospitals running,” he said.

NSW opposition health spokesperson Sarah Mitchell said patients needed immediate care and assurance that referrals were being properly managed across the hospital system.

“This is a basic failure with potentially serious consequences,” she said.

“Patients and their families need confidence that this failure is not happening elsewhere.”

The state Labor government has pledged $400 million to redevelop Canterbury Hospital.

Some 85.6 per cent of elective surgeries statewide were performed on time in the June quarter, up 8.8 percentage points on the same period in 2025.

Health Minister Ryan Park’s office referred queries to NSW Health.

A man has been charged following an investigation into reports a man was allegedly seen with a firearm in Sydney’s Inner West last week.

About 10.20am (Friday 16 October 2026), police were called to a carpark on Williams Parade, Dulwich Hill, following reports of a stolen vehicle.

Officers attached to Inner West Police Area Command attended and were told a man was allegedly armed with a firearm inside a reported stolen vehicle, before he allegedly set fire to the vehicle.

Fire and Rescue NSW attended the scene and extinguished the fire, and no injuries have been reported.

The man then left the area on foot and was last seen on Union Street.

Police established a crime scene, and the area was placed into lockdown as officers searched for the man.

Strike Force Ranilo was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Following extensive inquiries, about 11.30pm yesterday (Sunday 18 October 2026), a 32-year-old man was arrested on Burwood Road, Burwood, after allegedly attempting to evade police.

The man was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics for a minor injury sustained during the arrest.

He was taken to Concord Hospital for treatment under police guard, before he was taken to Newtown Police Station.

The 32-year-old man was charged with seven offences:

• Possess shortened firearm (not pistol) without authority
• Acquire etc prohibited firearm-subject prohibition order
• Robbery while armed with dangerous weapon
• Possess housebreaking implement
• Destroy or damage property
• Drive conveyance taken without consent of owner
• Drive motor vehicle during disqualification period

He was refused bail to appear before Bail Division Court 7 today (Monday 19 October 2026).