Australia news live: NDIS grown too big too fast, report finds; former Greens candidate charged after she was injured during arrest | Australia news

Minister rejects criticism of government inaction over online gambling

Amanda Rishworth says the government has not been “sitting on its hands” two years after the inquiry into online gambling made 31 recommendations that have yet to be fully implemented.

The minister for employment and workplace relations told Radio National the Albanese government had brought in “probably the largest number of measures” of any Australian government, including banning the use of credit cards, the introduction of activity statements and pre-verification.

“We will continue to recognise and look at how we can best support people when it comes to minimising the harm of online gambling, but there’s no silver bullet,” she said.

Critics say the government’s inaction is “costing lives”.

New South Wales Ambulance has confirmed a teenage boy was airlifted to hospital in the Gold Coast after being mauled by a shark on New South Wales’ north coast.

Emergency services were called to Cabarita beach at about 3.45pm on Sunday after a teenage boy was bitten by a shark.

The boy sustained injuries to his hand and arm and was taken to Gold Coast University hospital by helicopter.

We’ll update you when we learn more.

Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has been charged with resisting police.

Thomas sustained facial injuries during arrest at a pro-Palestinian protest in Belmore on Friday morning and was taken to hospital.

She shared a video on social media on Sunday evening, thanking her community for their support and explaining that there was a possibility she could lose her sight in one eye.

“I’ve been very lucky to have been looked after so well,” she said in an Instagram post recorded at Bankstown hospital.

“I don’t want to get into too much detail about the traumatic events on Friday but I’m five-foot-one, I weigh about 45kg, I was engaged in peaceful protest … My interactions with NSW police have left me potentially without vision in my right eye permanently.”

NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson has called for an investigation into the incident.

In a statement on Sunday evening, NSW police said a 35-year-old woman had been issued a future court attendance notice for hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty and refusing/failing to comply with direction to disperse.

She will appear at Bankstown local court on 12 August.

Cait Kelly

Grattan Institute blueprint would reduce NDIS payments by $12bn over 10 years

The Grattan report urges the Albanese government to make four big policy changes to save the NDIS.

1. The NDIS needs firmer boundaries so it is clear who the scheme is for and what needs it is intended to meet.

2. The way the NDIS manages claims needs to change so funding is allocated fairly and consistently. People should have more choice and flexibility in how they use their NDIS funding.

3. The federal, state, and territory governments should finally establish a strong tier of “foundational supports” to ensure disabled people get appropriate supports when and where they need them. Under Grattan Institute’s plan, the existing NDIS budget would be used to fund foundational supports from within the same funding envelope.

4. Australia needs a new National Disability Agreement, to clarify the relationship between all aspects of the disability policy landscape and to facilitate cooperation and greater accountability between governments.

The Grattan Institute blueprint to rebalance disability services would reduce NDIS payments by about $12bn over the next 10 years, and create further savings of $34 bn over the same period by not requiring new money to fund foundational supports.

NDIS has grown too big too fast and costs must be reined in, report says

Cait Kelly

The National Disability Insurance Scheme has grown too big too fast, and its future is now at stake, a new Grattan Institute report finds.

The report, Saving the NDIS: How to rebalance disability services to get better results, says costs must be reined in – but this can be done in a way that ensures disabled Australians can get the help they need.

The scheme cost nearly $42 billion in 2023-24 and is expected to cost more than $58 billion by 2028.

Grattan Institute Disability Program Director, Dr Sam Bennett:

The problem is the NDIS has become the only game in town: you either get an NDIS package, or you get minimal mainstream services.

That means disabled Australians have an incentive to try to get into the NDIS – and once people get in, they tend not to leave.

To address this issue, the federal, state, and territory governments agreed in 2023 to fund new ‘foundational supports’ – disability-specific supports outside of individual NDIS packages – which were supposed to be operational by 1 July 2025 – tomorrow.

Penny Wong heads to US to meet Quad counterparts

Tom McIlroy

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is off to the United States this week for a meeting of Quad countries in Washington, DC.

Hosted by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the meeting is the second time this year the foreign ministers of the US, Australia, Japan and India have gathered.

Wong said in a statement the trip will reflect “the importance of our partnership and the strategic circumstances confronting our region and the world”.

“I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts as we strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” she said.

Wong will use the visit to hold bilateral meetings with each of the participants.

It comes as Donald Trump presses Australia and other US allies to hike defence spending to at least 3.5% of GDP, and as the federal government works to get Prime Minister Anthony Albanese into the same room as the US president.

“The United States is our closest ally and principal strategic partner. Our alliance contributes to the peace, prosperity and stability of our countries and the region we share,” Wong said.

“We will continue to work together to further our important economic and security partnership and advance our mutual interests.”

Queensland nurses issue strike ultimatum

Andrew Messenger

The Queensland nurses union has issued the state government an ultimatum for a pay deal, threatening to authorise strike action as soon as this week.

The state government and Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union have been locked in negotiations since January.

The state government has offered an 8% pay rise over three years. The union has announced its demands of 13%, also over three years.

The QNMU secretary, Sarah Beaman, said Queensland’s health minister, Timothy Nicholls, had until Tuesday to agree to the union’s terms or they would escalate to stage two protected industrial action, effectively strike action, the following week.

“We thought we had made progress in defending the most serious attacks on members’ existing rights and conditions, but last Thursday it all fell apart,” she said.

“On the final day of talks, the government pulled the rug out from under us. They told us everything we thought was agreed was suddenly off the table.”

Beaman said union members are “furious”, claiming the government had continue to shift its position.

“That’s why Queenland Health’s 55,000 frontline nurses and midwives have formally put health minister Tim Nicholls on notice. The gaslighting stops here. A letter outlining our demands and a deadline of Wednesday July 2 has been delivered,” she said.

Strike action would begin in the week of 7 July, she said.

Nurses have not walked off the job since 2002. They voted to take protected industrial action earlier in June.

“This is a government who knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. The government needs to do better by putting forward a better EB12 offer,” Beaman said.

“It is also clear the state budget does not allocate adequate funding to deliver the nation-leading wages and conditions Queensland deserves – and was promised”.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, will meet with her US counterpart for crucial talks as America ramps up pressure on Australia to increase defence spending.

She will fly out to Washington on Monday ahead of a meeting of Quad foreign ministers, which includes the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, along with ministers from India and Japan.

Australia’s eastern states are in for another lashing of rain as a powerful low pressure system develops off the coast, with flood-weary regions a possible target.

And the search continues for a hiker missing on the New South Wales south coast.

We’ll be bringing you updates on all these stories and the latest news today, stay tuned.