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As it happened: Gaza hostages freed as world leaders back Trump’s peace deal; Chalmers says superannuation tax changes better for lower-income Australians

Emily Kaine and Angus Delaney
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

What happened today
Ley demands action on Thorpe’s ‘burn down Parliament House’ comment
Treasurer ‘brought to heel’ by PM on super tax, says Littleproud
MP Josh Burns tells of relief at hostage release
Taskforce established as search expands for missing boy
Australia, US progress missile deal ahead of PM’s meeting with Trump
Top bosses of scandal-ridden childcare giant step down
Reserve Bank curbs rate-cut hopes
Artist granted $100,000 commission after Venice Biennale backflip
Watch: Labor unveils under-16 social media ban ad campaign

What happened today

By Angus Delaney

Thanks for reading our live coverage of today’s biggest stories, we’ll be back tomorrow with continuing live coverage. Here’s a look back at what made news:

  • All 20 living hostages held by Hamas and almost 2000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are free as part of a ceasefire pausing two years of war that decimated the Gaza Strip and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. The first seven hostages were transferred by Hamas into the care of Red Cross personnel, then handed over to the IDF. In Gaza, Palestinians gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be freed by Israel as part of the peace agreement. US President Donald Trump, who helped broker peace, delivered a speech to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
  • Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has written to the heads of the House of Representatives and the Senate calling on them to investigate Senator Lidia Thorpe’s comment that she would “burn down Parliament House to make a point” about Palestinian and Indigenous rights. In a letter co-signed by the Coalition’s Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, Ley called on the leaders to “urgently investigate the credibility of Senator Thorpe’s threats, and the implications of her comments”. Thorpe’s remark, made at a pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne on Sunday, is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police to determine if it was illegal. Thorpe said it was “obviously not a literal threat”.
  • Two top executives at one of Australia’s biggest childcare chains, which employed accused Melbourne paedophile Joshua Brown, have stepped down from their roles effective immediately. Affinity Education staff were informed this morning that embattled chief executive Tim Hickey and chief operating officer Nishad Alani had stepped down after months of scandals.
  • The Coalition is set to oppose Labor’s superannuation tax changes, despite the government “capitulating and improving” its original policy, opposition housing spokesperson Andrew Bragg said. Labor scaled back its tax on superannuation earnings to a 40 per cent tax on balances over $10 million and 30 per cent on balances above $3 million, ditching taxes on unrealised gains. But Bragg said the revamped policy would be “very unlikely to pass [parliament] because this is just another tax increase”.
  • The Reserve Bank is in no rush to cut interest rates again, the minutes from its last meeting reveal, as it waits for more economic data to guide its next steps. The central bank is worried inflation may be stronger than expected, driven partly by price growth in the services economy, which includes sectors such as healthcare, finance and hospitality.
  • Brittany Higgins has been dealt another financial blow after her former boss launched bankruptcy proceedings to recoup costs awarded from her defamation win. Linda Reynolds sued Higgins over a series of social media posts the ex-Liberal senator believed damaged her reputation. Reynolds confirmed today that she has filed a creditor’s petition in the Federal Court, claiming Higgins failed to comply with a bankruptcy notice issued to her several weeks ago.

Ley demands action on Thorpe’s ‘burn down Parliament House’ comment

By Angus Delaney

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has written to the heads of the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking an investigation of Senator Lidia Thorpe’s comment that she would “burn down Parliament House to make a point” about Palestinian and Indigenous rights.

In a letter co-signed by the Coalition’s Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, Ley called on Speaker Milton Dick and Senate President Sue Lines to “urgently investigate the credibility of Senator Thorpe’s threats, and the implications of her comments”.

Senator Lidia Thorpe made the comment at Sunday’s pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne.Luis Enrique Ascui

“Our social cohesion is being tested by extreme ideologies and overseas conflagrations. It is beholden on parliamentarians to refrain from incendiary behaviour that may incite those unable or unwilling to differentiate between naive rhetoric and a call to arms,” Ley said.

Thorpe’s comment, made at a pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne on Sunday, is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police to determine if it was illegal.

ASX moves higher as mining rally offsets bank losses

By Staff writers

The Australian sharemarket edged higher today as a rally in mining shares helped to offset broader losses, after local investors shrugged off a Wall Street rebound and signs of possible easing in trade tensions between the US and China.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 16.6 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 8899.40, as a rally in gold, silver, rare earths and uranium stocks blunted losses by the big four banks and retailers.

The mixed trading performance came despite a rally on Wall Street overnight, as US President Donald Trump said things with China “will all be fine” just days after he sent markets reeling by threatening to step up his trade war. The Aussie dollar was trading at US64.77¢ shortly after 4pm today.

Retailers struggled across the board after the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan survey showed consumer confidence dropped for a second straight week after the Reserve Bank left rates unchanged this month. It’s now at its lowest level in more than a year. Only 10 per cent of Australians expect good times for the economy over the next five years.

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Treasurer ‘brought to heel’ by PM on super tax, says Littleproud

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The Nationals will examine Labor’s revamped superannuation tax but remain opposed to any policy that will tax more Australians, party leader David Littleproud said.

Although Littleproud said the party would “look at the detail and work through it constructively”, he queried: “Why are we continuing to take more money off Australians?”

Nationals leader David Littleproud.Alex Ellinghausen

Yesterday Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed the government would establish a 40 per cent tax rate for earnings on super balances above $10 million, while earnings on balances above $3 million will be taxed at 30 per cent. Plans to tax unrealised gains at 30 per cent were ditched in Labor’s back-down on the policy.

Littleproud said the government’s backflip was a sign that the treasurer “has been brought to heel by the prime minister because this was as popular as the pox”.

Coalition opposes Labor’s revamped super tax plan

By Angus Delaney

The Coalition is set to oppose Labor’s superannuation tax changes, despite the government “capitulating and improving” its original policy, opposition housing spokesperson Andrew Bragg said.

Yesterday Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed the government would establish a 40 per cent tax rate for earnings on super balances above $10 million, while earnings on balances above $3 million will be taxed at 30 per cent.

Plans to tax unrealised gains – the increase in the paper value of unsold assets – at 30 per cent were ditched, and the thresholds will now be indexed alongside inflation or wages growth.

Bragg said the revamped policy would be “very unlikely to pass [parliament] because this is just another tax increase.”

“Certainly, the government has capitulated and improved the overall position of this measure, but it is still a new tax,” he told the ABC.

MP Josh Burns tells of relief at hostage release

By Angus Delaney

The release of Israeli hostages by Hamas was a relief and a sign fracturing social cohesion in Australia could begin to repair, Labor MP Josh Burns said.

Burns, who represents the prominently Jewish seat of Macnamara in Melbourne, said watching hostages be reunited with their families was “an extraordinary day”.

“There is obviously a lot more work now, but I think the overwhelming experience watching yesterday was one of relief and quiet and cautious optimism,” he told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Labor MP Josh Burns.Alex Ellinghausen

He said he hoped acceptance of the first phase of the US-led ceasefire plan would also cool domestic tensions which have flared since October 7, 2023.

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Greater access to assisted dying given to terminally ill Victorians

By Angus Delaney

The Victorian government will amend its voluntary assisted dying laws to remove barriers to access for terminally ill and suffering people.

The new changes to the law will remove a “gag clause” so doctors can freely bring up the subject of assisted dying, extend the life expectancy access baseline from six to 12 months and remove citizenship and permanent resident requirements for people who have lived in Australia for more than three years, among other changes.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.Penny Stephens

Premier Jacinta Allan said the changes would make the law “clearer and more compassionate for patients and their families, while keeping the safeguards secure”.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said: “We’ve listened to doctors who have told us they want to have open, honest conversations with patients about all their end-of-life options, so they can make safe and informed decisions.”

Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws first came into effect in 2019.

Taskforce established as search expands for missing boy

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A taskforce has been set up to investigate a four-year-old’s disappearance, more than two weeks after the boy vanished from an outback sheep station.

Police today expanded their search for Gus Lamont, who went missing at the Oak Park Station homestead about 40 kilometres south of Yunta, in South Australia’s Mid North region on September 27.

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says there is no evidence Gus met with foul play and the taskforce was aimed at expanding the search area around the property.

August “Gus” Lamont was last seen about 5pm on September 27.SA Police

“Our focus is largely on an exhaustive search of the property, on the basis that Gus has wandered off, and we’re hopeful that we can find him and return him to his family,” he said.

Trump and Zelensky to meet, discuss Russian energy strikes

By

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington this week to discuss air defence, long-range weaponry and energy as Russia intensifies strikes on the war-battered nation’s energy system.

The Ukrainian leader said the meeting, scheduled for Friday (US time) follows up on two detailed phone conversations with Trump over the past week, in which Zelensky discussed the Kremlin’s latest attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure, as well as “some sensitive issues”.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the Oval Office in August. They are to meet again at the end of the week.Getty Images

“We need to discuss the sequence of steps that I want to propose to the president,” Zelensky said at a briefing in Kyiv.

Trump confirmed to reporters he would meet Zelensky, but did not elaborate on which topics they would discuss.

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Australia, US progress missile deal ahead of PM’s meeting with Trump

By Michael Koziol

Australia and the US have progressed a defence partnership under which Australia is set to begin producing guided missiles, including for export to the US and beyond, by the end of the year.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who is in the US to meet Trump administration officials, announced that Australia, the US Department of War and American weapons giant Lockheed Martin had signed a statement of intent and would open an office in Alabama to underpin the project.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (left) and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy at Garden Island, Sydney, last month.Janie Barrett

The announcement was made days before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was due to fly to Washington for his first proper face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump in which the controversial AUKUS submarine pact is expected to be a key topic of discussion.

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