News & politics live recap: Tanya Plibersek calls for sporting standards and illicit tobacco crackdown

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Roger Cook has hit back at Victoria’s new Premier and accused other states of “hating” WA’s success, as he digs in for a new fight over the GST.

The WA Premier swiftly rejected Ben Carroll’s assessment that Victoria is a “powerhouse” and “it’s our people who deserve a fair share”, in the wake of an interim report by the Productivity Commission that called for WA’s GST deal to be rolled back.

And Mr Cook denied his jab at “east coast clowns” and “whingers” could backfire.

“Look, the other states are jealous of our industry. They’re jealous of our enterprise,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“They hate the fact that we are successful.”

Read full story here.

Australian workers have seen their wages lag behind inflation for a year, with higher paid public servants also suffering.

The wage price index rose by 3.2 per cent during the last financial year as headline inflation climbed by 3.8 per cent — meaning a 0.6 per cent cut in real wages.

The increase was even worse than the Reserve Bank of Australia’s prediction earlier this month of a 3.3 per cent wage rise for the year to June, with pay levels failing to outpace inflation in almost every sector.

Wages increases have been lagging behind inflation on an annual basis since the September quarter of 2025, which covered the first three months of the last financial year starting in July.

This means workers have been suffering a cut in real wages for a year, which has also coincided with inflation being consistently above the Reserve Bank’s 2-3 per cent target.

Read the full story here.

Shadow Education Minister Julian Leeser says the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion should be extended to hear from more people across universities, the arts and activist groups.

The Coalition moved a motion in the lower house calling for the inquiry to hear from additional witnesses.

Mr Leeser told Afternoon Briefing the commission needed more time to consider a wide range of views across the Jewish community.

“Most royal commissions go for more than a year. This has gone for 11 months,” he said.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended tobacco excise increases after NSW Premier Chris Minns called for a review and One Nation proposed cutting cigarette prices by 75 per cent.

Plibersek said states and territories needed to do more to prevent the sale of illicit tobacco, while arguing higher excise had helped drive smoking rates to some of the lowest in the world.

“We should not let criminals run our health system,” Plibersek said.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says sporting codes have a responsibility to set standards for behaviour, following an alleged sexual assault involving Sydney Swans players.

At least five players have been linked to a Victoria Police investigation into an alleged incident at the Pullman Hotel after the team’s win over Essendon on Sunday night.

Plibersek told Afternoon Briefing players are role models for young people and must send a strong message that sexual assault and family and domestic violence will never be tolerated.

“The strongest possible measures will be taken,” Plibersek said.

For years, One Nation’s rise has been easy to explain. People are worried about immigration and our major political parties not listening to them.

Pauline Hanson was happy to air those grievances, in particular people’s fears that our immigration levels are too high. That’s been the whole story. Vote One Nation, send a message on immigration, move on with your life.

But now that story is falling apart, with two issues forcing people to really think about their support for One Nation: gun ownership and superannuation.

Anthony Albanese and the politically savvy NSW Premier Chris Minns announced a Federal-State gun buyback deal on Sunday, the next step in the response to the Bondi Beach shooting.

The move will force about 50,000 gun owners to hand back their weapons under new ownership limits. Between them, they’re holding up to 274,000 legally registered firearms, roughly a quarter of every gun on the State’s register.

This is the most serious tightening of gun laws since Port Arthur, introduced after 15 people were shot dead at a Hanukkah celebration less than a year ago.

Read the full story.

Sydney chair Andrew Pridham says his club’s suspended players are “extremely remorseful for their actions” and says the decision to “effectively torpedo our season” showed how seriously the Swans had taken the matter.

Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice have been banned from playing for the rest of the year, in a club-enforced decision made separate to the sexual assault investigation being conducted by Victoria Police.

This masthead is not suggesting the players are guilty of any wrongdoing, just that they are assisting police with enquiries.

Addressing the bans on Wednesday, Pridham said the players regretted their behaviour in the hours following the club’s win over Essendon on Sunday night into Monday morning.

“They’re extremely remorseful for their actions and having breached the club’s standards,” he said.

The chair apologised to everyone impacted.

“I want to offer an apology, a sincere apology,” Pridham said. “Our thoughts go out to everybody who’s been impacted by these events, and we know it’s impacted many people, ranging from the partners of our staff, our players, our women’s program, our men’s program.”

Read the full story.

Independent senator David Pocock has criticised Labor for pressing ahead with its controversial gambling reforms as the legislation heads to the Senate, where the Coalition will help pass the measures.

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 passed the House of Representatives 103 to 14 on Tuesday.

Changes include a partial ban on advertising, restrictions on commissions based on customer activity, and a new opt-out register for gambling ads funded by a levy applied on betting companies.

On Wednesday, Senator Pocock – who is among the strongest critics of the proposed laws – warned Australians would be “hugely disappointed” by Labor’s reforms.

He pointed to the You Win Some, You Lose More report chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy as a “blueprint” that had been effectively ignored by the government.

A key recommendation of the Murphy report was a comprehensive, total ban on online gambling advertising. The government rejected this in its formal response released in May, more than 1000 days after the report was handed down.

“The government is trying to sell us this ‘getting the balance right’ (idea), which is three ads per hour on TV and a fairly unworkable opt-out system online,” Senator Pocock told ABC News Breakfast.

“It’s really tragic to see vested interests and their capture of the major parties, meaning that we don’t get evidence-based policy in this country.

“And we don’t get policy that actually puts Aussies and our kids ahead of the gambling companies.”

​with NCA Newswire ​

Superannuation funds will be banned from using social media and telemarketing cold calls to sell their products after 12,000 Australians lost a combined $1 billion in retirement savings.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino told the National Press Club in Canberra the Federal Government would be banning such tactics following the collapse of dodgy managed investment schemes First Guardian and Shield Master Fund.

“The people who experience loss in our superannuation system are typically not reckless investors chasing speculative returns,” he said.

“They are often ordinary Australians attempting to make sensible decisions about their retirement. Too often, the story begins the same way.”

The victims of First Guardian and Shield had been contacted out of the blue and sold products that had been listed on reputable superannuation platforms.

“A lead generator makes contact through social media, an online advertisement or an unexpected phone call,” Mr Mulino said.

“A persuasive sales process follows. Consumers are told their superannuation is underperforming, that they are missing opportunities, or that their retirement may be at risk. “