Australia news as it happened: Treasurer announces major changes to super taxes; Israel preparing for hostage release as Trump visits Middle East

Bush also complained about the cost of policing regular protests that have been gripping Melbourne since 2023, which have required 25,000 policing shifts.

“They [police] have empathy and compassion for whatever their cause may be – not for us to judge,” he said. “But what I ask is that they also have empathy and compassion for the people of Melbourne. If I took half of those 25,000 shifts and dedicated them to prevention, we would have less crime.”

The announcement came on the day a Hawthorn home owner, dressed only in his underwear, performed a citizen’s arrest on a 15-year-old whom he found inside his Kinkora Road home about 3.30am on Monday.

Bush said Victoria Police had become bogged down in paperwork, manning windows at police stations and processing people who had been arrested. An internal study had found 1.4 million personnel hours were consumed each year on police officers manning public-facing counters at stations, he said.

Read the full story from senior reporter Chris Vedelago here.

Another Victorian, Aaron Violi, has been made assistant spokesperson for communications.

This is the second change to the shadow ministry, following a minor change after Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was sacked by Ley after she failed to back the leader and made false and divisive comments about Indian immigration.

In a statement, Ley said the changes “strengthen Coalition efforts to simultaneously hold the Albanese government to account and develop a clear, credible policy platform that contrasts with Labor”.

Speaking at a Melbourne protest, Thorpe said: “We will fight every day ... and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point ... I am not there to make friends. I’m there to get justice for our people.”

Thorpe has since said the comments were a “metaphor for the pain in our communities”.

The federal police spokeswoman declined to comment further.

“It is not the usual practice of the AFP to provide a running commentary on matters,” she said.

“However, noting the public commentary and concern, the AFP is seeking to reassure the community that this issue is being appropriately considered and undertaken in a timely manner.

“Further comment will be made at an appropriate time.”

“Good people, innocent people going about their everyday lives, are being victimised on the streets and in their own homes. This cannot continue.”

Bush said that among the changes would be a new state crime co-ordination centre to be launched in the first half of next year.

Police said this would be a high-tech hub bringing together information, intelligence and operational capability by using data and technology to identify links between crimes, uncover patterns and provide real-time insights to frontline police.

From the centre, resources would be deployed in real time, 24/7, to respond to incidents, disrupt criminal networks and prevent crime before it occurred, Bush said.

He also announced a trial that will release sworn officers from police station reception counter duties.

This will be launched in the next three to six months and if successful, will be implemented across the state.

The initiative will involve dedicated teams of admin staff, including former police officers, being established in police stations to free members up from their paperwork after making arrests.

Bush said police were spending too much time in the office tied up in paperwork when they should be back on the streets.

O’Brien said he welcomed the decision to dump a tax that was “always super big and super bad” and thanked his colleagues, who he said had fought “this tax every step of the way”.

The treasurer backed down on plans to tax unrealised gains on superannuation and announced plans to introduce indexing for balances above $3 million.

It reflected changes business and economists had been pushing for since before the May election.

The announcement followed the news that Albanese had sought a briefing from the Treasury on objections to the original super tax changes.

“You cannot just hike taxes up and then leave them not indexed,” O’Brien said.

“We have known for a very long time that this tax is very bad for Australians, but the treasurer refused to budge.

“Now, finally, the government has made the right decision to dump its superannuation tax regime that it was planning on introducing.”