Politics news

• Accounting firms could be split post KPMG audit scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
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• ‘Disillusioned’ customers discover the catch in three hours of free power

  01-07-2026 11:30 via smh.com.au
  
  Many households are hearing unwelcome news when they contact their electricity retailers as power retailers increase rates outside the free midday window.
  
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• Write us a cheque: Australian authors, musicians want AI forced to pay for using their work

  01-07-2026 07:57 via smh.com.au
  
  Senator David Pocock has accused the government of entertaining the idea of weakening copyright laws for AI giants.
  
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• Saying there’s an upside to falling house prices is sacrilege. But Labor needs to admit it

  01-07-2026 07:31 via smh.com.au
  
  Last year, disaster was coming from higher house prices. Now it’s disaster as prices fall. Australia needs to find some consistency.
  
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• South-east Qld water retailer backs down on planned price hike

  01-07-2026 06:32 via abc.net.au
  
  A major south-east Queensland water retailer has backed down on a planned price hike, which left the government's key cost-of-living measure in tatters.
  
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• Plan to add hundreds of parking meters at Sydney beaches rejected

  01-07-2026 04:58 via abc.net.au
  
  Randwick councillors vote against a plan to introduce hundreds of parking meters at some of Sydney's popular eastern beaches, with council staff to now look for other ways to improve the turnover of parking spaces.
  
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• Australian spy agency spars with China over foreign interference claim

  01-07-2026 04:21 via abc.net.au
  
  China's ambassador to Australia attacks ASIO over allegations of foreign interference and says the agency is at risk of damaging the bilateral relationship.  
  
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• Vanuatu deal is significant but a harbinger of what's to come in the Pacific

  01-07-2026 03:57 via abc.net.au
  
  Although a big moment in diplomacy, the Vanuatu agreement has come at a clear reputational cost to Australia.
  
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• Outrage as Ukrainian teens forced to face Russians at Australian AI summit

  01-07-2026 03:52 via smh.com.au
  
  An international hackathon hosted at an Australian university has drawn protests from Ukraine after organisers ignored pleas to bar the Russian delegation.
  
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• Liberals can't keep on track even with a prize in sight

  01-07-2026 02:51 via abc.net.au
  
  The Liberals, it seems, can't resist returning to damaging infighting even in the one part of the country where things have been going quite encouragingly for them.
  
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• PM sidesteps question on whether house prices will continue falling — as it happened

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  Anthony Albanese has sidestepped questions about whether house prices will continue falling, following the release of data today showing a 0.4 per cent drop in home values.
  
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• Live: PM sidesteps question on whether house prices will continue falling

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  Anthony Albanese has sidestepped questions on whether house prices will continue falling, following the release of data today showing a 0.4 per cent drop in home values. Follow live. 
  
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• Live: Government defends budget housing tax changes as market cools

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  The government has again defended its housing tax changes included in the budget after a fresh report suggested house prices fell again in June. Follow live. 
  
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• Live: 'Alarming': PM questions why Ernst and Young grads had access to banking data

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  Anthony Albanese has questioned how two Ernst and Young graduates had access to personal banking data after one was charged with accessing his account. Follow live.
  
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• Coalition talking points make scant mention of One Nation

  30-06-2026 21:08 via abc.net.au
  
  Coalition talking points, obtained by the ABC, make almost no direct mention of One Nation despite the minor party surging in the polls.
  
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• Coalition avoids direct One Nation messaging in daily talking points

  30-06-2026 21:08 via abc.net.au
  
  Coalition talking points, obtained by the ABC, make almost no direct mention of One Nation despite the minor party surging in the polls.
  
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• China ambassador attacks ASIO, rejects foreign interference accusations

  30-06-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  China’s top diplomat attended a speech by ASIO boss Mike Burgess last week, sitting in the second row. He didn’t like what he saw.
  
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• 'Not fair and honest': Accounting firms face split after KPMG scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
  Read more

• Accounting firms could be split in wake of KPMG audit scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
  Read more

• ‘An assault on our democracy’: New push to clean up election day chaos

  30-06-2026 20:00 via smh.com.au
  
  A new federal report recommends a serious crackdown on election campaigners’ behaviour: “It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured.”
  
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• Three free hours of power begins now – if you ask for it

  30-06-2026 16:04 via smh.com.au
  
  Home owners and renters could save hundreds of dollars by opting into a new scheme available to all electricity customers.
  
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• House values fall – but homes are not getting more affordable

  30-06-2026 16:01 via smh.com.au
  
  Rate rises, unaffordable homes and the government’s tax changes are behind another fall in value of the nation’s homes.
  
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• Best of cartoons, July 1, 2026

  30-06-2026 13:16 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
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• This Liberal took his teacher to gambling anonymous

  30-06-2026 12:00 via abc.net.au
  
  When Liberal backbencher Simon Kennedy was a teenager, one of his high school teachers asked to borrow money for his gambling addiction. He says he ended up accompanying the teacher to Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
  
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• Minister urged to deny visa to comedian who has accused Israel of ‘false flag’ operation

  30-06-2026 11:45 via smh.com.au
  
  Australia’s peak Jewish group is urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny a visa to a prominent comedian who has accused Israel of bombing its own embassy.
  
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• Foreign digital army behind pro-One Nation posts flooding social media

  30-06-2026 11:30 via smh.com.au
  
  A network of paid overseas influencers is targeting Australian voters to turbocharge support for One Nation. And it seems to be working.
  
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• Coalition, Greens team up to delay Labor’s ‘half-arsed’ gambling bill

  30-06-2026 11:30 via smh.com.au
  
  A handful of Liberal MPs told a Coalition party room meeting that the opposition should take a strong line on gambling reform rather than wave Labor’s laws through.
  
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• Taylor rejects claim he gave rural firefighters a ‘kick in the guts’ with bushfire comments

  30-06-2026 08:36 via smh.com.au
  
  Angus Taylor claimed bureaucrats let catastrophic 2003 fires rip. That narrative has been rejected by the man who led the containment effort, who also demanded an apology.
  
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• Childcare centre that exposed kids to rat poison stripped of funding

  30-06-2026 08:35 via abc.net.au
  
  The Melbourne childcare provider has been cut off under new powers that allow the federal government to withdraw funding due to safety breaches.
  
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• Bassem Youssef's controversial comments

  30-06-2026 08:03 via smh.com.au
  
  Australia's peak Jewish group is urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny a visa to prominent comedian Bassem Youssef.
  
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