Anthony Galloway

The Economic Reform Roundtable aimed for consensus. But Jim Chalmers and Ted O'Brien's stoush over spending stole the spotlight on the final day.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will work with his ministerial colleagues to scrap nuisance tariffs, reduce red tape in the National Construction Code, accelerate the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and tackle a backlog of approvals for new homes.

The Treasurer's economic reform roundtable delivered some quick wins and lofty principles — but the real tax debate is being saved for the next election.

In an exclusive interview, the opposition treasury spokesman suggests the Liberal Party will pursue a more lassiez-faire approach to regulating AI than Labor.

Premier Jacinta Allan will follow Queensland in adopting “adult crime, adult time” laws, promising to force children as young as 14 into adult courts and expose them to longer jail time, including life sentences, under a sweeping overhaul of Victoria’s youth justice laws.

The Allan government will cut Victoria’s public service by more than 1000 positions and deliver over $4bn in savings, as part of a plan to get its bloated bureaucracy and soaring debt under control.

Welcome to The Australian’s live coverage of the fire threat in Victoria and across the country as a nation-wide heatwave fuels increasingly dangerous conditions.

The administrator of the scandal-plagued CFMEU has hired a political polling firm to help rebuild the union’s standing with members and the broader public, offering $90 payments to those who take part in the focus groups.

Premier Jacinta Allan’s office urgently sounded the alarm to social media giant Meta after her Instagram account was flooded with tens of thousands of new followers, with many appearing to originate from countries including Bangladesh and Nigeria, sparking concerns about a suspected bot attack.