Live news and politics: Anthony Albanese faces grassroots tax revolt as suspected bird flu case found in NSW

Australia has ramped up preparations for potential bird flu incursions, with Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins saying the country is “prepared” and there is currently “no evidence of mass mortalities” in wildlife.

Ms Collins said that the Government had been working closely with the egg and poultry industries to reduce the risk and strengthen response plans for H5 bird flu.

She said recent suspected positive cases in migratory birds were “disappointing” but not unexpected, given their long-distance travel patterns.

“At this point in time they are single migratory birds and we have no evidence of any mass mortalities in any other birds or animals in Australia,” she said.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty also moved to reassure consumers, urging Australians not to panic buy eggs or chicken products.

“Keep buying eggs, keep buying chicken. There is no spreading to our poultry in New South Wales,” she said.

Ms Moriarty confirmed that one bird in NSW was being tested at a national laboratory to determine the strain of H5 bird flu, while cases had so far been detected mainly in Western Australia, with a small number in South Australia and a single suspected case in NSW.

Officials said the situation remains a national issue, with monitoring and testing continuing across affected regions.

A political row over Sir Robert Menzies has escalated after former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo pushed back on Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy’s description of the former prime minister as a “nazi appeaser”.

Mr Conroy doubled down on his comments today, refusing to apologise for remarks made at the National Press Club and insisting that they were “historical fact”.

Mr Pezzullo told Sky News that the label was overly simplistic, arguing that if Mr Menzies were to be described that way then figures such as British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and US president Franklin Roosevelt would also fall into the same category.

“I don’t think any of them were nazi appeasers,” he said. “They had a policy of appeasement to try to buy time because they thought, only 20 years after the First World War, their countries were still devastated and needed time to rearm.”

Mr Pezzullo said that he understood the minister’s broader historical point but questioned the usefulness of the label.

“There was a big push to try to appease Hitler … to try to buy time. But I just don’t know that the label helps,” he said.

H5 bird flu has been detected for the first time in the Perth metropolitan area, in a migratory seabird found dead at a popular northern suburbs beach.

The discovery of the giant petrel at Mullalloo Beach has sparked a warning to Perth pet owners.

Preliminary testing on the bird returned a positive result this morning.

Food and Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said that she was expecting results to be confirmed over the weekend.

If confirmed, it would be the sixth confirmed case in the country and fifth in WA.

The Commonwealth Bank is set to cut more staff from its technology teams in the latest round of job losses at Australia’s biggest bank.

Employees were informed today of the cuts as the bank continues to reduce its tech workforce.

A bank spokesperson said it employs about 49,000 staff and regularly adjusts its workforce to meet changing business needs.

“Within a workforce of this scale, there is ongoing movement through hiring, internal mobility and recruitment in priority capability areas,” they said.

“We also regularly review the roles and skills we need to deliver the best customer outcomes. Some tasks and skills required are changing, some roles are reducing as programs finish, and new roles are being created.”

The latest cuts follow earlier job reductions this year, including about 300 roles linked to the rollout of artificial intelligence across its retail, business and institutional banking divisions.

The Greens have accused the Federal Government of using NDIS fraud to justify deep cuts to disability spending, while agreeing stronger action is needed to crack down on dodgy providers.

In a committee report, the Coalition said unregistered providers remained largely beyond the regulator’s reach and called for tougher entry checks that assess not only qualifications but also whether providers are suitable to work in the scheme.

Greens NDIS spokesman Jordon Steele-John said fraud was a serious issue but warned people with disabilities should not be treated with suspicion because governments had failed to stop those exploiting the system.

He said Australians deserved an NDIS that was protected from fraud while remaining focused on the rights of participants.

The Coalition says artificial intelligence companies must seek permission and pay Australian creators if they want to use copyrighted work to train their systems.

Shadow arts minister Angie Bell, who worked as a professional musician for 35 years, said Australia’s copyright laws should not be weakened to benefit multinational technology companies.

“If AI companies want to use Australian creative work, they should do what everyone else does: ask permission and pay for it,” she said. “That’s how copyright works and that’s how it should stay.”

Ms Bell said Australian creativity was “one of our greatest national assets” and not a free resource for global tech giants.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to face down a grassroots revolt at this weekend’s NSW Labor conference, with party members pushing to strip grandfathering protections from the Government’s controversial tax reforms.

Industry Minister Tim Ayres said Mr Albanese would be “very direct” with party members, insisting existing protections for property investors were a key part of Labor’s approach to negative gearing changes.

Senator Ayres said grandfathering remained a “very important principle” because Australians had made investment decisions based on the tax rules in place at the time.

He said the Government had already legislated its reform agenda, was consulting on the finer details and had ruled out changes in some areas.

Labor’s NSW branches are also expected to push for broader tax reforms including expanding the GST, introducing a tax on billionaires and increasing council rates on small business properties.

A farming business part-owned by independent MP Helen Dalton has been fined $550,000 after a “much-loved” employee and friend was killed in a quad bike crash.

Wumbulgal Agriculture, a crop and livestock farm near Yenda in southern NSW, pleaded guilty to breaching workplace safety laws over the death of the 82-year-old, who had worked there for 33 years.

The court was told that he was mustering about 800 sheep on February 3, 2023, when he hit a mound at speed, was thrown from the quad bike and suffered fatal head injuries.

The Industrial Court of NSW found the business had failed to require workers to wear helmets and had not fitted the quad bike with a roll-over protection device.

One suspected case of the H5 bird flu has been found in NSW, the State’s Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty has just confirmed.

The wild migratory sea bird was spotted by a member of the public near Hawks Nest on the NSW mid-north coast.

Local testing has returned a positive for the H5 virus, but Ms Moriarty says it’s not yet known whether it’s the worst strain. The bird has been sent to the national testing lab for further confirmation.

“Over 500 people are now working on surveillance, so they are checking this area of the state around Hawks Nest on the mid-north coast. That includes people in agriculture, looking for birds that might look ill so that we can see if there are any more,” the minister says.

“That surveillance has been increased now and will continue over the weekend.

“At this stage, there is no industry spread. We have informed the poultry industry of this case found this morning. We have not had any reports of the poultry industry being impacted.”

She tells people there is “no need for panic buying eggs” with only the one bird found sick.

Independent senator David Pocock has blasted Labor’s proposed gambling reforms, accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of “buckling” to the gambling lobby and squandering the chance to leave a lasting legacy.

Speaking to RN Breakfast, Senator Pocock said the Bill started from a “pretty weak” position and argued the Senate should strengthen it.

He also criticised Labor for voting against a Senate inquiry into its own legislation.

Senator Pocock said it was telling that even Liberal MPs believed the reforms did not go far enough, despite a Labor-chaired committee previously recommending tougher action.

He called for changes including the creation of an independent regulator and stronger measures to curb gambling inducements.