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NSW considers temporary ban of e-bikes and e-scooters on trains and metro servicesThe NSW government is considering a temporary ban on e-bikes, e-scooters and other e-mobility devices on trains and metro services amid growing concerns about the fire safety risk of lithium-ion batteries.Officials will open a public feedback period on the matter for three weeks, beginning today, to get a “better understanding of how a temporary ban would impact e-micromobility users, and alternative options for safe use on public transport”.The proposed ban comes after several incidents on public transport overseas and a battery fire on a Melbourne metro train in March, as well as a fire in a lift at Blacktown station in Sydney in April.Officials say NSW Fire and Rescue has reported 183 lithium-ion battery fires so far this year, more than a third of which are linked to e-micromobility devices. NSW transport minister John Graham said:
As the number of e-bikes and e-scooters in NSW surges past 1.3m, we need to find the right way to mitigate the fire risk on trains.
The risk of a lithium battery fire on a train in a tunnel or in an underground station is very concerning and the safety of our passengers and staff is our number one priority.
The ban would apply on carriages, platforms and station areas for Sydney Trains, Sydney Metro and NSW TrainLink services. Buses, light rail and ferries would be excluded as there is a greater ability to rapidly remove passengers in an incident. Mobility aids for disability purposes would also be excluded. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The GuardianShareUpdated at 01.07 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureNino BucciHome affairs wrongfully detained 11 people, including an Australian citizen, watchdog findsThe commonwealth ombudsman has found the Department of Home Affairs wrongfully detained 11 people in the past year, including an Australian citizen and another person improperly held for 18 months.In a report released on Wednesday, the ombudsman found that only one of the people wrongfully detained had made a civil claim against the government.It made three recommendations, including that the department provide each “affected individual” with a personal apology, including an acknowledgment of wrongdoing and “assurance as to remedial actions the Department has taken/intends to take to ensure these errors do not occur in future”, and information about how to apply for compensation.Iain Anderson, the commonwealth ombudsman, said most wrongful detention cases were a result of errors previously known to Home Affairs and could have been avoided if existing policies and procedures were properly followed.The department accepted the recommendations. Photograph: James Ross/AAPShareNSW considers temporary ban of e-bikes and e-scooters on trains and metro servicesThe NSW government is considering a temporary ban on e-bikes, e-scooters and other e-mobility devices on trains and metro services amid growing concerns about the fire safety risk of lithium-ion batteries.Officials will open a public feedback period on the matter for three weeks, beginning today, to get a “better understanding of how a temporary ban would impact e-micromobility users, and alternative options for safe use on public transport”.The proposed ban comes after several incidents on public transport overseas and a battery fire on a Melbourne metro train in March, as well as a fire in a lift at Blacktown station in Sydney in April.Officials say NSW Fire and Rescue has reported 183 lithium-ion battery fires so far this year, more than a third of which are linked to e-micromobility devices. NSW transport minister John Graham said:
As the number of e-bikes and e-scooters in NSW surges past 1.3m, we need to find the right way to mitigate the fire risk on trains.
The risk of a lithium battery fire on a train in a tunnel or in an underground station is very concerning and the safety of our passengers and staff is our number one priority.
The ban would apply on carriages, platforms and station areas for Sydney Trains, Sydney Metro and NSW TrainLink services. Buses, light rail and ferries would be excluded as there is a greater ability to rapidly remove passengers in an incident. Mobility aids for disability purposes would also be excluded. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The GuardianShareUpdated at 01.07 BSTACTU will push for four-day work week ‘where appropriate’ at economic roundtableUnions are pushing for a shorter working week at next week’s economic summit, as the prime minister says there’s room for bold ideas at the roundtable, AAP report.The ACTU will call for a four-day week in sectors that can support it, arguing that this will allow workers to benefit from productivity gains and technological advances.It will further argue that reducing working hours, from a standard five days a week, is key to lifting living standards. The ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, said in a statement:
Shorter working hours are good for both workers and employers. They deliver improved productivity and allow working people to live happier, healthier and more balanced lives.
Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty ImagesShareUpdated at 00.44 BSTLuca IttimaniFewer households falling behind on loan repayments, CommBank saysHouseholds have stopped falling further behind on loans over 2025 and are hiking their savings and spending on nice-to-haves, according to Commonwealth Bank.More from Australia’s biggest bank’s financial results, out this morning: the share of customers behind on home loan payments by 90 days or more rose to 0.7% over the first half of 2025, but CommBank said that had now stopped rising.Easing pressure on mortgage holders helped the bank save $76m, with impaired or unpaid loans costing CBA $726m in the year to June, down from the previous year’s $802m.More customers are ahead on their minimum monthly loan repayments, with the share rising to 85% in June compared to just under 80% the previous year.CommBank’s chief executive, Matt Comyn, said:
Pleasingly, many households have seen a rise in disposable incomes due to the recent relief from reduced interest rates, lower inflation and tax cuts.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareUpdated at 00.37 BSTSussan Ley says government’s algal bloom response has been ‘woefully inadequate’Opposition leader Sussan Ley also spoke to ABC News this morning, saying she was disappointed with Watt’s remarks. Ley said:
The response so far from the government has been woefully inadequate. This is a natural disaster and it is a national disaster …
This needs a dedicated state and federal government approach that is for the longer term, because this is not just something that comes one day and goes the next. And our communities deserve so much better from their government. …
It looks to me like the prime minister is ignoring regional communities, ignoring domestic issues.
Sussan Ley. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareUpdated at 00.17 BSTEnvironment minister says SA algal bloom ‘more like a drought’ with long-term impact, rather than natural disasterThe environment minister, Murray Watt, said there is no doubt the ongoing algal bloom in South Australia is a “very severe environmental event,” but said while there have been growing calls to label it a natural disaster, the government was treating the bloom more like a long-running drought.Watt has stopped short of the declaration in recent weeks, despite expert calls that the bloom is one of the worst marine disaster “in living memory”.Murray Watt. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAPHe told ABC News this morning the $14m in federal funding to help address it was akin to a package used during a longer-term phenomenon:
On the natural disaster declaration, and I realise there’s been many calls for that to occur, this is much more like a drought, in the sense that it is a long-running event and builds up over time. We’re waiting for weather conditions to intervene before it ends and that’s quite different to what we think of as natural disaster and the rapid onset [events] like floods and cyclones and bushfires that come through an area, leave a trail of destruction and move on.
That’s not the kind of situation we’re dealing with here and that’s why we’ve come up with a support package which is probably a bit more like how we respond to droughts with state and federal governments responding to thinking about the short-term needs and long-term needs.
ShareUpdated at 00.07 BSTLuca IttimaniCommBank borrowers took out extra $34bn in home loans in last financial yearBorrowers took out an additional $34bn in home loans, up 7% from June 2024 to June 2025. Personal loans also picked up by $400m.The bank delivered shareholders a dividend payout of $2.60 per share, to a total of $4.85 over the last 12 months, up from the $4.65 it paid in 2024. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAPThe value of CBA shares has risen greatly over the last 12 months, from $134 a year ago to nearly $180 today – one of the most overvalued stocks on the market, according to some analysts, with UBS last week saying it should be worth something more like $120. But CommBank said its success was Australia’s to share, noting in its annual report:
CBA paid [in second half 2024 and first half 2025] dividends to over 800,000 direct shareholders, indirectly benefitting over 13 million Australians through their superannuation.
ShareUpdated at 23.50 BSTCommBank records $10.25bn in annual profitLuca IttimaniThe Commonwealth Bank has recorded $10.25bn in annual cash profits – a 4% lift – and delivered a bumper $2.60 payout per share to shareholders.The gap between the interest CommBank pays deposit holders and the interest it receives from borrowers widened to a net interest margin of 2.08%, up from 1.99% over the year to June 2024. Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersIn its annual report released this morning, CommBank said the improvement mostly reflected a change in its investments and was partly squeezed by competition with other banks to offer good deposit interest rates.That saw the bank’s net interest margin narrow slightly for its household and business lending, by 0.03 and 0.04 percentage points respectively.Australians deposited an additional $34bn in CommBank accounts over the year to June, with savings deposits up 10% over the year and transaction account deposits, which do not receive interest, up 11%.ShareUpdated at 23.45 BSTFatima Payman doesn’t regret leaving Labor over Palestine stance, and would not go backIndependent senator Fatima Payman said she has let “bygones be bygones” after leaving Labor last year amid major disagreements over the government’s action on Palestine, but said she was hopeful after seeing Anthony Albanese say Australia would recognise a Palestinian state.Payman spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the recognition should just be a first step, pointing to calls for targeted sanctions and further accountability. Payman said:
It’s great to see that the government’s finally catching up with what’s morally right and politically necessary. It’s a monumental step, definitely long overdue, but we can’t stop at this. …
I’ve let bygones be bygones. I have not regretted the decision of leaving the Labor party. It’s unfortunate that it, you know, the whole thing panned out the way it did. But I know that … I was on the right side of history.
Host Sally Sara asked Payman if she would go back to the Labor party.“No”, Payman said.
It’s ridiculous that it’s taken them this long. You know, symbolism matters, but saving lives matters more.
Fatima Payman. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/AAPShareCoalition will support roundtable ideas that ‘reduce red tape and regulation’, but there are limitsJames Paterson, the shadow finance minister, said the Coalition will support the Labor government if “good ideas” come out of the economic roundtable, saying those that “reduce red tape and regulation” would earn the opposition’s support. But Paterson told RN Breakfast that support was not endless:
We’re open-minded about anything that can improve productivity because it is so critical to our prosperity as a country. Where we have reservations is if the government tries to do things it doesn’t have a mandate for because it didn’t earn it at the election. For example, increasing taxes.
Labor didn’t tell anyone before the election that they would raise taxes, and a hand-picked roundtable of people in Canberra doesn’t provide them the mandate they failed to earn at the election.
James Paterson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareMan arrested after police firearm discharged inside Sydney Airport terminalMore from the incident at Sydney Airport this morning, as we reported earlier in the blog:The Australian Federal Police said a man has been arrested at Sydney Airport after an incident where a police firearm was discharged inside the T2 domestic terminal.An AFP spokesperson said the agency has launched an investigation into the incident and a crime scene has been established. There were no injuries and there is no ongoing threat to the public.Sydney Airport said earlier the airport is operating as normal.Sydney Airport. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShareUpdated at 23.08 BST
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