Reporter leaves Nine after reaching confidential settlement – as it happened​on January 20, 2025 at 6:15 am

Star warns casino operations under threat

The embattled Star Entertainment warned shareholders today there is no certainty it can stay afloat, as the casino operator seeks additional funding and state government tax relief.

Star is on the brink of collapse amid a sharp reduction in revenue and elevated operating costs due in part to the fallout of multiple inquiries uncovering systemic breaches of anti-money-laundering rules.

It also recorded a massive project cost blowout at its new Queen’s Wharf casino in Brisbane.

Star said in an ASX announcement there is no certainty that any of its current negotiations will materially increase the company’s liquidity position.

In the absence of one or more of those arrangements, there remains material uncertainty as to the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Star could buy some time if it meets the conditions of a loan agreement that would give it access to $100m before March, although it would also need to turn around its unprofitable business, or attract a buyer, to avoid eventually falling into administration.

The casino company, which operates gambling facilities in Brisbane, Sydney and Gold Coast, has asked the NSW and Queensland governments for tax relief. While the state governments have expressed support for Star employees, they have baulked at providing financial support.

Star’s quarterly accounts, released today, show that its revenue fell 15% in the last quarter, while posting an earnings loss of $8m.

Three women have been sworn in as ministers to take over the portfolios of retiring former Labor leader Bill Shorten as federal cabinet reaches gender parity.

As AAP reports, social services minister Amanda Rishworth has taken on the NDIS in her portfolio and finance minister Katy Gallagher his other position of government services minister.

Early childhood education minister Anne Aly has become the junior minister for the NDIS.

The prime minister Anthony Albanese noted at the ceremony:

[It’s] the first time in Australian history, since federation, that we’ve had equal representation in the cabinet of the government of Australia.

If you factor in the PM, the gender split is actually 12-11.

Queensland records highest summer road toll for five years

The Queensland police service has urged road users to re-evaluate their driving as the state experiences its worst start to a year on the roads since 2020.

The force said in a statement that it had been a devastating start to 2025, with 17 people already dying on the roads. It said:

The figure more than doubles the fatalities recorded during the same period last year and is the highest lives lost toll for this period since 2020.

QPS road policing and regional support command, acting chief superintendent Garrath Channells, said these crashes are deeply concerning.

These tragic numbers are not just statistics, they represent fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends whose lives have been cut short.

Police are out there doing everything they can on the roads to try and bring this figure down and ensure people can return home to loved ones or their families. To then observe the deadliest start to the year since 2020 is truly harrowing.

Mutual obligations have been paused until next Monday following disruptions to the Workforce Australia IT system last week – which welfare recipients use to receive their Centrelink payments on time.

The government did not answer questions about what caused the IT system. In a statement, the Department of Employment Workplace Relations said:

Issues with the MyGov system administered by Services Australia were impacting employment services participants’ ability to report compliance with mutual obligations. These issues have been resolved.

The pause is in place for all participants in:

• Workforce Australia Services

• Transition to Work

• Disability Employment Services

• Community Development Program.

Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Jay Coonan said the pause to MOs had been poorly communicated and welfare recipients were “always an after thought”.

These delayed notices and confusing communications show it. All we know is that the way this has been handled again shows total disregard for the lives and humanity of welfare recipients – this has to stop, just put an indefinite pause on “mutual” obligations.

Ultimately, the government knows as well as we do that the only way to fully protect people in poverty from unnecessary harm is to abolish the cruel system of “mutual” obligations altogether.

Greens says Trump inauguration marks ‘time to soberly reassess relationship with US’

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has labelled Donald Trump a “danger to democracy and a danger to peace” ahead of his inauguration as US president. At a media conference in Melbourne earlier, Bandt said:

It is gravely concerning that over so many years, successive Australian governments have contracted out so much of Australia’s defence and foreign policy to the United States, especially now that a dangerous man like Trump is in charge.

With Trump now assuming charge of the United States, this would be the time for Australia to have a sober reassessment of our relationship with the United States.

It is time for Australia to say perhaps it is not such a good idea for us to be joined at the hip and for Australia to yet again be bound to follow Trump into whatever his next war is.

The Greens also said Australia should ask whether it has “contracted out far too much of its own sovereignty to Trump” via agreements like Aukus.

Australia’s 47 billionaires each take home an average of $67,000 an hour, more than 1,300 times more than the average Australian, according to Oxfam Australia.

The data, released as part of its “Takers Not Makers” report, showed that in 2024 Australian billionaire wealth rose by more than 8% or $28bn, at a staggering rate of $3.2m an hour.

Across the world, total billionaire wealth grew by $3tr last year, equivalent to roughly $8.4bn a day, at a rate three times faster than the year before.

Oxfam Australia said this is the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began.

Last year, Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace, this projection has been adjusted significantly – the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe.

Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain said the “capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable”.

The crown jewel of this oligarchy is a billionaire president, backed and bought by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, running the world’s largest economy. We present this report as a stark wake up call that the futures of the vast majority of the global population are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few.

Oxfam Australia is calling on the federal government to implement a wealth tax on Australian billionaires and the super-rich, and implement a permanent crisis profits tax on big corporations “so that when crises hit, corporations can’t profiteer as they did during the pandemic”.

Search continuing for pastor swept away in flood waters

The search is continuing today for Queensland pastor William Strickland, who was swept away by flood waters on Saturday night in the Northern Rivers of NSW.

He had attempted to cross a causeway near Limpinwood when he and his vehicle were swept away around 9.30pm. The vehicle was located 400m downstream on Saturday night by flood rescue operators, but he remains missing.

Strickland was the sole occupant of the vehicle, and had been returning to his accommodation after a wedding rehearsal with a convoy of other vehicles. His family said there was poor visibility on the road amid the sudden onset of torrential rain.

Man charged after critically injured man found inside Sydney unit dies

A man will face court today after a man was found critically injured inside a Sydney unit at the weekend.

After 5pm on Saturday, there were reports of an assault at a unit in Ryde. Officers and paramedics responded, who located and treated an unconscious man inside the home.

The 48-year-old man was taken to Royal North Shore hospital, where he was declared deceased. He is yet to be formally identified.

Officers established a crime scene and an investigation began into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

A 34-year-old man was arrested at a home in Leumeah yesterday afternoon, and a crime scene established. He was taken to Campbelltown police station and charged with murder and contravening a domestic AVO.

He was refused bail to appear before Campbelltown local court today.

The Victorian government has announced a plan to cap and lock petrol price rises, in what it’s described as a “cost of living shake-up” ahead of a byelection in one of their heartland seats.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, said under the “fair fuel plan”, the government will require the 1,500 service stations across the state to report their prices in real time.

The data will then feed into a new page on the Services Victoria app, where people will be able to lock on fuel prices for 24 hours.

This is a measure that we expect will save motorists hundreds of dollars and it comes on top of those other really meaningful, practical cost of living measures that we know are about supporting families, supporting household budgets.

New legislation will be required to enforce the price cap, and is expected to include enforcement measures and penalties. Allan said government will consult with industry on the plan, which will be phased in over 2025.

She made the announcement at the Victoria University campus in Werribee, where a byelection will be held on 8 February. The seat, which Labor holds on a 10.9% margin, was vacated by the former treasurer Tim Pallas.

Labor insiders are concerned they will face backlash in the area, where many people are doing it tough due to cost of living pressures and consecutive interest rate rises.

Watch and act alert for those hiking Boroka Track or Grampians Peaks trail

Earlier this morning, a watch and act alert was issued west of Halls Gap in Victoria amid an out of control bushfire.

Forest Fire Management Victoria said the bushfire at Boroka Track was travelling south towards the Wonderland area, with the watch and act alert aimed at those “who may be walking along the Boroka Track or Grampians Peaks Trail”.

People in the Halls Gap township can remain … Don’t wait, leaving now is the safest option – conditions may change and get worse very quickly. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.

A cyclone emergency warning has been issued for communities in the path of Tropical Cyclone Sean, which is currently at a category 3 level.

The Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services issued a warning 20 minutes ago, as the tropical cyclone continues to affect the Pilbara coast, and is set to continue moving west this morning.

The “shelter indoors now” warning covers Thevernard Island to Ningaloo, including Exmouth and North West Cape. It reads:

Shelter indoors now. It is too late to leave. Stay in the strongest, safest part of the building. Stay away from doors and windows, and keep them closed. Keep your emergency kit with you …

Motorists are urged to take care on the roads, obey road closure signs and not drive into floodwaters.

Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister has criticised the Albanese government’s “clearly ineffectual response” on antisemitism after a meeting with the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, in West Jerusalem last week.

Sharren Haskel posted on X she believed the Australian government’s actions, in part, had led to a rise in antisemitism within the country:

I emphasised our deep concern regarding the shocking rise in antisemitism in Australia and the clearly ineffectual response from the Australian government and state governments. There is no doubt this has been caused in part by the Australian government’s ongoing campaign against Israel.

Dreyfus has characterised his meetings with Israeli officials as warm, saying on Friday “what I’ve felt in all of the meetings is that we should be strengthening that already strong relationship between Australia and Israel”.

The first law officer said concerns had been raised but in a “constructive way”.

Haskel’s post went on to urge Australia to “return to reflecting our long-standing relations based on shared values and interests”.

Australia has shifted its votes at the United Nations in recent months, joining more than 150 other countries to demand that Israel reverse its ban on the Palestinian aid agency Unrwa and to call for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded critically to Australia’s shift at the UN, claiming Australia has taken an “extreme anti-Israeli position”.

Can an aluminium smelter run on just wind, solar and batteries?

Just circling back to a comment Peter Dutton made at his press conference this morning: he asked the prime minister to provide an example of “anywhere in the world [where] an aluminium smelter … is only run on wind and solar and batteries”.

Well, there are currently plans to power an entire smelter in Victoria using wind power.

As Royce Kurmelovs reported in late 2021, Alinta Energy hopes to build an offshore windfarm off the coast to help Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter go green:

It’s now at the stage of getting preliminary approval, according to the DCCEEW. Last September, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, said he was undertaking “further consultation with First Nations groups before making a final decision on the feasibility licence”.

If feasibility for the Spinifex Offshore project is proven, the developer must obtain all necessary approvals, including rigorous environmental assessments, before applying for a commercial licence which would enable construction to commence.

Proposed changes to residential car park sizes in South Australia

Residential car park sizes will have to be half a metre wider and 60cm longer to accommodate big cars and utes under proposed changes to planning laws in South Australia.

The changes are to tackle congestion on streets from cars that are too big to fit in the standard off-street parking space.

The premier, Peter Malinauskas, has also announced today that new one-bedroom homes must have at least one parking space, and those with two or more bedrooms must have at least two.

The size of a single car park under the proposed changes would be 3.5 metres wide and 6 metres long. Malinauskas said:

South Australians are sick of seeing their suburbs being overrun by cars often double parked on otherwise quiet streets.

It is ridiculous that many modern garages are not built big enough to fit the most popular cars sold in our country, from dual-cab utes right down to SUVs. We’re going to fix it – by bringing our planning laws up to date.

Standards Australia has recommended an increase to standard on-street carparks.

Man charged after alleged offensive behaviour forced domestic flight to turn around

A Cairns man has been charged after allegedly causing a disturbance on a flight to Perth that led to the flight being turned around.

The Australian federal police responded to a request for assistance from the airline after the man, 38, allegedly behaved aggressively towards fellow passengers on a domestic flight on 10 December.

Police will allege he was intoxicated and touched other passengers without consent, and twice banged on the walls while in the airplane toilet.

The captain returned the flight to Brisbane airport as a safety precaution, the AFP said in a statement.

Officers at Brisbane airport escorted him off the plane and charged him with one count of behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner.

AFP detective acting superintendent Natalie Scott said the flight was delayed for about two hours.

Dutton says Albanese’s lack of legislation on gambling reform ‘demonstrates weak leadership’

Wrapping up the press conference, Peter Dutton criticised Anthony Albanese for not introducing gambling reform legislation as he had promised. He told reporters:

The prime minister – after the death of one of his members of parliament [Peta Murphy] who was very passionate about this issue – committed himself to reform and change of the law in this area.

We’re at an election, and obviously the prime minister’s not going to introduce this legislation. So it’s just another demonstration of the weakness of leadership.

Continuing to criticise Albanese, Dutton said he had known seven prime minister since joining parliament and “I’ve never seen somebody so incapable of making a decision or so captured by his own incompetence and weakness”.